Goats and Eschatological Judgment

In Matthew 25:31–46 Christ reveals that on the day of judgment, God will separate believers, whom He identifies as sheep, from nonbelievers, whom He identifies as goats. Standing behind this statement is a shepherding practice common to the ancient world (Ezek 34:17). Sheep and goats were the most commonly owned animals in the ancient world, and they frequently grazed together. However, shepherds would eventually separate the animals, and Christ compares this process to the separation of people that occurs on judgment day. The text offers no definite answer as to why goats are the animals chosen to illustrate perdition rather than sheep (compare Darrett, “Unfair to Goats”; Nolland, Matthew, 1026).