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What's the difference between כשב and כבש? Why does the Torah use both?

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I once heard a dyslexic fellow struggle mightily to read a Gemara about this. It was heartbreaking to watch.

A כבש means a "lamb", namely a young sheep.

A כשב means any member of the sheep species. Thus, a female sheep (a ewe) is a "kisba."

For instance, the Torah talks about:

"When an ox, or sheep, or goat is born ..."; it uses the name of each animal referencing the species, rather than the young.

Similarly, (Deut. 14:4), שה כשבים ושה עזים, "a young member of the sheep species, or a young member of the goat species" (the term שה means "young sheep or young goat"). In this context, the Torah is saying that the entire sheep species (irrespective of age or gender) is kosher. Contrast with Exodus 12:5, מן-הכבשים ומן-העזים, "if you're looking to bring a Passover sacrifice, the animal must be less than a year old, so get a lamb or kid goat."

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Can you source this distinction? – Double AA♦ Jul 13 '12 at 20:38
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According to Malbim (Ayeles HaShachar 279), the Torah uses the word כבש when talking about כבשים alone; and uses כשב when talking about כבשים as well as other species. Wherever this is not true, it means to include its tail fat with it.

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Yes, and nice find, but I think haikar chaser min ha-answer: his main point seems to be that k'savim refers to the type of animal (whereas k'vasim refers to something else, perhaps as in Shalom's answer). – msh210♦ Aug 8 '12 at 22:50
@msh210 What I was trying to write is that it's a grammatical distinction, and not a real difference. Do we ask why the Torah writes "את" before every ה"א הידיעה? – b a Aug 8 '12 at 23:09
I didn't see the source inside yet, but I'm not following your last sentence. How do we know when it's not true? Why would we not include the tail as part of the animal (I assume this is a korbanot thing)? Perhaps you can reword it to clarify (in case I'm not the only one who didn't follow). – Double AA♦ Aug 9 '12 at 3:35
@DoubleAA I edited it. The tail parts, I think, are not used for anything in korbanos (except, of course, in the exception). His source seems to be the Sifra. – b a Aug 9 '12 at 16:35
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I thought the answer was clearer before the edit. – Seth J Aug 9 '12 at 16:46

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