Sheep
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Gen. 4:2). The ancient Israelite patriarchs were shepherds and occupied themselves chiefly with the raising of sheep and other small livestock. Their flocks of sheep were so numerous in the days of the patriarchs that they constituted their chief wealth. This is why, among the Hebrews, the tending of sheep was considered the most ancient and most honorable occupation (Ex. 3:1, 1 Sam. 16:11). Rebekah, Rachel, and all seven daughters of the priest Jethro occupied themselves with sheep-keeping (Ex. 3:16).
The patriarch Jacob tended the flocks of Laban’s sheep; Moses tended sheep for Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. “Mesha, king of Moab, was rich in cattle, and rendered unto the king of Israel a hundred thousand sheep” (2 Kings 3:4). The sheep of Syria were distinguished by long, broad tails (the fat tail), which grew large from the abundance and excess of fat.