Etymology

separate the sheep from the goats

Today it means: To divide the members of a group into those that are superior and those that are inferior. Full definition →

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The story

From the New Testament discourse of the Sheep and the Goats, particularly Matthew 25:32–33: “And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.”

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.