Ezekiel 34:17

34:17 “‘As for you, my sheep, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats.

Leviticus 27:32

27:32 All the tithe of herd or flock, everything which passes under the rod, the tenth one will be holy to the Lord. ¹ 

Jeremiah 33:13

33:13 I, the Lord, say that shepherds will once again count their sheep as they pass into the fold. ²  They will do this in all the towns in the southern hill country, the western foothills, the southern hill country, the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, and the towns of Judah.’ ³ 

Matthew 25:32-33

25:32 All ⁴  the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 25:33 He ⁵  will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

¹ sn The tithed animal was the tenth one that passed under the shepherd’s rod or staff as they were being counted (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 485, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 200).

² sn Heb “Sheep will again pass under the hands of the counter.” This appears to be a reference to counting the sheep to make sure that none was missing as they returned to the fold. See the same idiom in Lev 27:52 and in the metaphor in Ezek 20:37.

³ sn Compare Jer 32:44.

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.