CATTLE. This word has a wide meaning (see below) but is here taken in its narrower sense of oxen. All words applied to this group are treated.

1. Hebrew names. Some are perhaps semi-technical terms such as farmers use today, or they may refer to separate breeds. These are not easy to classify in the original Heb. and the wide range of tr. in most Eng. VSS makes distinction even more difficult. אַבִּיר, H52, (strong). Fig. only, applied to men, angels and animals, tr. chiefest angel, bull, stallion, etc. in Eng. VSS. בָּקָר, H1330. Collective term for larger cattle, usually pl.; if sing. then one of larger group, tr. bull, beeve, herd, kine, ox, etc. Hence בֶּנ־בָּקָ֜ר, etc. פָּרָה֮, H7239, פַּר, H7228, tr. bull, bullock, calf, heifer. Close to Eng. heifer. שׁﯴר, H8802, tr. bull, bullock, ox, etc. Basically masculine and seldom feminine. The usual word for individual animal. תּﯴר, H10756, is Aram. derivative in Ezra and Daniel.

These are all beasts available for sacrifice, the first rather generally and the third for certain purposes only, including peace offerings. It is possible that each name is for a class, i.e. breed or grade, rather than age group: e.g. Leviticus 22:27 “When a bull (shōr)...is born.” Cf. v. 23 ruling that a bull (shōr) that is deformed was acceptable only for freewill offering. פָּרָה֮, H7239, (feminine) is used for the heifer of Numbers 19 (introduced as “red” in v. 2, required for Levitical purification. The single exception is in Hosea 4:16, “a stubborn heifer.” See ’ēglāh below. It seems unlikely that Hosea, with an agricultural background, would use two words for cow unless they were distinct. בְּעִיר, H1248. beasts (4) cattle (2) KJV; beasts (2) cattle (4) RSV. This is a collective name, prob. for beasts of burden. e.g. Genesis 45:17, “Pharaoh said...load your beasts.” בְּהֵמָה, H989, tr. beast, cattle, etc. (See Beast.) When tr. cattle it stresses animal aspect, i.e. cattle as providers of food, clothing and labor. Only in one context is it sacrificial (Lev 1:2), where it refers to a general class from which suitable animals may be taken. Like Miqneh the word has no fig. significance. עֵ֫גֶל, H6319, עֶגְלָה֒, H6320; (masculine) ēglāh (feminine) from root “to roll,” tr. bullock, calf, heifer, etc.; found widely in literal and fig. passages; more than half refer to heathen calf worship, including Aaron’s calf; a range of other uses including two burnt offerings. עֶגְלָה֒, H6320, (feminine) tr. heifer; involves sacrifice in all literal passages except Judges 14:18. There are sundry fig. contexts; in one of which (Hos 10:11) the heifer is used for threshing. אֶ֫לֶפ֒, H546, from root “training” (i.e. breaking in) tr. kine KJV; cattle RSV when used literally (3). Tr. oxen all Eng VSS when used fig. (2). מִקְנֶה, H5238. Close to Eng. chattels. KJV tr. cattle (63) flock (3) possession, etc. (8). Usually emphasizes cattle as wealth. First two occurrences are typical: Genesis 4:20, “Jabal...the father of those who...have cattle”; Genesis 13:2, “Abram was very rich in cattle.” The few uses in the prophets are consistent, e.g. Ezekiel 38:12, “nations...who have gotten cattle and goods.” This word appears never to be used for sacrificial animals. מְרִיא, H5309, (well fed), tr. fat beast or cattle, fatling, fed beast. All except one fig. (Isa 11:6) refer to sacrificial animals. שֶׂה, H8445, and צֹאן, H7366, refer to small cattle only; i.e. sheep and goats (q.v.).

2. Greek names. Seven Gr. words are used so seldom that they are listed in detail. Δάμαλις, is NT equivalent of red heifer (Heb 9:13). Θρέμμα (John 4:12) “Jacob...drank from [this well]...and his cattle”—meaning “what is fed.” Two other words have a similar meaning. Μόσχος used three times for the fatted calf (Luke 15) and twice calf of sacrifice (Heb 9:12, 19) where it represents Heb. פַּר, H7228, (Hos 14:2). Once in symbolic context (Rev 4:7). Σιτιστός (Matt 22:4) fatling, corresponds to Heb. מְרִיא, H5309. Ποιμαίνω (Luke 17:7) “feeding cattle” KJV is better tr. “keeping sheep” RSV. Βοῦς, tr. ox, Eng. VSS corresponds closely to Heb. שׁﯴר, H8802, and occurs eight times. Three, in our Lord’s sayings, refer to working oxen; e.g. Luke 13:15. Two concern humane acts to animals which did not infringe upon Sabbath law. In three others Paul also refers to the welfare of cattle, e.g. 1 Corinthians 9:9, quoting Deuteronomy 25:4, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” In all these the stress is on the deeper moral meaning. This word is also used twice for sacrificial animals (John 2:14, 15). Ταῦρος, once as a beast killed for meat and once for heathen sacrifice (Acts 14:13).

3. English definitions. The Eng. terms for cattle in various Eng. VSS are as follows: Bull, masculine, esp. adult used for breeding. Cow, feminine, esp. after first calf. Bullock, young bull, esp. after castration. Steer, in some countries used instead of bullock and bull. Heifer, young cow before calving. Calf, young of first year. Beeves, pl. of beef; now obsolete and poetic only. Kine, archaic pl. of cow; now cows. Ox, oxen. Still widely used for bovine animals, but now mostly in combination, as ox-tail, ox-cart. Becoming obsolete in most contexts for animal itself. Herd, usual group name for cattle and other large animals. Cattle, from old Eng. catel (property), hence livestock. Chattels, from same root, now obsolete or legal. In technical usage cattle are bovines wild and tame; in general use, domestic cattle only.

4. Origin and domestication. Cattle are descended from a group of races of the aurochs (Bos primigenius) (see Ox). Nothing is likely to be found of the beginnings of domestication, but it was in Neolithic times, distinctly later than goats and sheep, and its focus was prob. in SW Asia. A more or less settled form of agriculture seems a prerequisite for dealing with animals as large and strong as oxen, that needed both enclosing and feeding. The cattle nomads of central Africa and elsewhere, e.g. Masai, came much later, with their pattern of life based on fully domesticated herds. Meat was prob. the prime object of bringing wild oxen under control; milking followed, then their use for draught purposes, on plows and later on carts. Their hides had always been used. The order and speed of development can only be conjectured, but their use for draught purposes must have been largely dependent on knowledge of the effect of castration in making them docile. The technique used will never be known, yet these primitive people, without even metal tools, undertook successfully the capture and breeding of wild cattle standing some six feet tall, a task now beyond the scope of any but a few experts armed with modern equipment.

5. Economic importance. Taming the ox changed the pattern of farming as radically as the horse improved transport some 2,000 years later. By the Bronze Age, long before the patriarchs settled in Pal., it had become part of the farming scene over much of Eurasia and in the Nile valley, with breeds serving particular purposes in various climates. Zoologists recognize several stocks as having contributed to the great complex of domestic cattle, notably longifrons, primigenius and zebu. It is generally thought that these came from geographical races tamed independently and later interbred. Cattle have now become by far the most important domestic animals, with a world population of perhaps 700 million. Of these some 200 million are sacred cattle of India, of no productive use, and many others, of poor quality, are kept in parts of Africa, largely as “wealth.” Milk and/or meat are now the main objects of management, but cattle also provide most of the world’s leather, and many other by-products, including manure. Their value as draught animals is steadily decreasing.

6. Cattle in early Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India. Horns and other features are useful for identifying the many paintings, carvings and figurines, often highly stylized, which can now be dated accurately. Several sites of c. 4500 b.c. in Mesopotamia give evidence that distinct types had already developed, including the humped zebu cattle now typical of India and Africa. Mosaics and seals from many sites of 4th and early 3rd millenniums show cattle in a wide range of uses. In Egypt the earliest material is dated about mid-4th millennium, but within a short period four distinct breeds can be found. Painted temple reliefs and models show that these cattle had a range of colors, including black, brown and multi-colored. In early dynastic times the bull became important in Egyp. religion, esp. the deity Apis, which had its origin in prehistoric Egypt. The bull cult reached its peak in Minoan Crete, about the time the Hebrews were in captivity. It had also been a vogue in ancient Mesopotamia, with bull-men, winged bulls, etc. prominent in art and architecture. Early Indian civilization, 4th millennium b.c., had humped cattle, prob. from a local race, as well as other forms. Western Europe was then in a much earlier phase of development; sub-sequently the sudden appearance of several types suggests that immigrant people brought them.

7. Cattle in Palestine. Evidence from Pal. is still incomplete as regards races, but the Biblical record makes it clear that cattle were kept widely and in great numbers. To the Hebrews and many contemporary peoples, cattle meant wealth, animals for sacrifice, and providers of everyday needs in food, clothing and labor. Abram brought cattle back from Egypt, and the Hebrews, at the Exodus took their herds. The Hebrews became skilled at animal husbandry and prob. developed several breeds suited to the various natural regions of Pal. (see ¶ 1 above). Oxen were used esp. for plowing and threshing, which was done by pulling a hardwood sledge, on which the driver stood, around the threshing floor. They also used a simple cart, usually drawn by a pair of oxen. Apart from four figs. mentioned, the ox cart features in only two incidents, both concerning the transport of the Ark (1 Sam 6 and 2 Sam 6). Modern experience shows that to thrive in summer in the Jordan valley cattle need to be heat-resistant; modern local breeds have this quality, perhaps derived from the Zebu, which had reached Egypt and become widespread by the 18th dynasty (1570 b.c.). The hump is a good diagnostic feature, and illustrations show that the zebu was in Mesopotamia much earlier. It would be expected that Abram and Lot had this type of semi-tropical breed in the hot plains of the northern Rift Valley, but the oldest evidence from Pal. so far is from the 6th cent. b.c., early in the postexilic period, although this is no proof of its absence. The deeper significance of cattle to the Hebrews and their place in religion is discussed in the detailed analysis of Heb. and Gr. names.

Bibliography F. E. Zeuner, A History of Domesticated Animals (1963).