And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. He shall set the sheep, etc. - The right hand signifies, among the rabbins, approbation and eminence: the left hand, rejection, and disapprobation. Hence in Sohar Chadash it is said, "The right hand is given, the left also is given - to the Israelites and the Gentiles are given paradise and hell - this world, and the world to come." The right and left were emblematical of endless beatitude and endless misery among the Romans. Hence Virgil: -
Hic locus est, partes ubi se via findit in ambas,
Dextera, quae Ditis magni sub moenia tendit:
Hac iter Elysium nobis; at laeva malorum
Exercet poenas, et ad impia Tartara mittit
Aen. vi. 540
Here in two ample roads the way divides,
The right direct, our destined journey guides,
By Pluto's palace, to the Elysian plains;
The left to Tartarus, where bound in chains
Loud howl the damn'd in everlasting pains.
Pitt
Of the good and faithful servants he approves, and therefore exalts them to his glory; of the slothful and wicked he disapproves, and casts them into hell.
Sheep, which have ever been considered as the emblems of mildness, simplicity, patience, and usefulness, represent here the genuine disciples of Christ.
Goats, which are naturally quarrelsome, lascivious, and excessively ill-scented, were considered as the symbols of riotous, profane, and impure men. They here represent all who have lived and died in their sins. See Ezekiel 34:17, and Zephaniah 10:3.