separate the sheep from the goats

Meaning

Verb

• To divide the members of a group into those that are superior and those that are inferior.

Origin

• 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.”