Reference: Cattle
Easton
abounded in the Holy Land. To the rearing and management of them the inhabitants chiefly devoted themselves (De 8:13; 12:21; 1Sa 11:5; 12:3; Ps 144:14; Jer 3:24). They may be classified as,
(1.) Neat cattle. Many hundreds of these were yearly consumed in sacrifices or used for food. The finest herds were found in Bashan, beyond Jordan (Nu 32:4). Large herds also pastured on the wide fertile plains of Sharon. They were yoked to the plough (1Ki 19:19), and were employed for carrying burdens (1Ch 12:40). They were driven with a pointed rod (Jg 3:31) or goad (q.v.).
According to the Mosaic law, the mouths of cattle employed for the threshing-floor were not to be muzzled, so as to prevent them from eating of the provender over which they trampled (De 25:4). Whosoever stole and sold or slaughtered an ox must give five in satisfaction (Ex 22:1); but if it was found alive in the possession of him who stole it, he was required to make double restitution only (Ex 22:4). If an ox went astray, whoever found it was required to bring it back to its owner (Ex 23:4; De 22:1,4).
(2.) Small cattle. Next to herds of neat cattle, sheep formed the most important of the possessions of the inhabitants of Palestine (Ge 12:16; 13:5; 26:14; 21:27; 29:2-3). They are frequently mentioned among the booty taken in war (Nu 31:32; Jos 6:21; 1Sa 14:32; 15:3). There were many who were owners of large flocks (1Sa 25:2; 2Sa 12:2, comp. Job 1:3). Kings also had shepherds "over their flocks" (1Ch 27:31), from which they derived a large portion of their revenue (2Sa 17:29; 1Ch 12:40). The districts most famous for their flocks of sheep were the plain of Sharon (Isa 65:10), Mount Carmel (Mic 7:14), Bashan and Gilead (Mic 7:14). In patriarchal times the flocks of sheep were sometimes tended by the daughters of the owners. Thus Rachel, the daughter of Laban, kept her father's sheep (Ge 29:9); as also Zipporah and her six sisters had charge of their father Jethro's flocks (Ex 2:16). Sometimes they were kept by hired shepherds (Joh 10:12), and sometimes by the sons of the family (1Sa 16:11; 17:15). The keepers so familiarized their sheep with their voices that they knew them, and followed them at their call. Sheep, but more especially rams and lambs, were frequently offered in sacrifice. The shearing of sheep was a great festive occasion (1Sa 25:4; 2Sa 13:23). They were folded at night, and guarded by their keepers against the attacks of the lion (Mic 5:8), the bear (1Sa 17:34), and the wolf (Mt 10:16; Joh 10:12). They were liable to wander over the wide pastures and go astray (Ps 119:176; Isa 53:6; Ho 4:16; Mt 18:12).
Goats also formed a part of the pastoral wealth of Palestine (Ge 15:9; 32:14; 37:31). They were used both for sacrifice and for food (De 14:4), especially the young males (Ge 27:9,14,17; Jg 6:19; 13:15; 1Sa 16:20). Goat's hair was used for making tent cloth (Ex 26:7; 36:14), and for mattresses and bedding (1Sa 19:13,16). (See Goat.)
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And he treated Abram well on her account; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and bondmen, and bondwomen, and she-asses, and camels.
And he said to him, Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.
And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
And he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great number of servants; and the Philistines envied him.
Go, I pray thee, to the flock, and fetch me thence two good kids of the goats. And I will make of them a savoury dish for thy father, such as he loves.
And he went, and fetched and brought them to his mother. And his mother prepared a savoury dish such as his father loved.
and she gave the savoury dishes and the bread that she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.
And he looked, and behold, there was a well in the fields, and behold there, three flocks of sheep were lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks, and a great stone was at the mouth of the well. And when all the flocks were gathered there, they rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again on the mouth of the well in its place.
While he was still speaking to them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
And they took Joseph's vest, and slaughtered a buck of the goats, and dipped the vest in the blood;
And the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs, to water their father's flock.
If a man steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for the ox, and four sheep for the sheep.
If the stolen thing be actually found alive in his hand, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep, he shall restore double.
If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt certainly bring it back to him.
And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make them.
And he made curtains of goats' hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains did he make them.
And the prey, the rest of the spoil, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,
the country that Jehovah smote before the assembly of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle;
and thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied,
If the place which Jehovah thy God will choose to set his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt slay of thy kine and of thy sheep which Jehovah hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates according to all the desire of thy soul.
Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them back unto thy brother.
Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case help him to lift them up.
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.
And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city; both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred of the Philistines with an oxgoad; and he too delivered Israel.
So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them.
Mano'ah said to the angel of the LORD, "Pray, let us detain you, and prepare a kid for you."
And Samuel said to Jesse, Are these all the young men? And he said, There is yet the youngest remaining, and behold, he is feeding the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and fetch him; for we will not sit at table till he come hither.
And David said to Saul, Thy servant fed his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and also a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock.
And Michal took the image, and laid it in the bed, and put the net of goats' hair at its head, and covered it with the coverlet.
And the messengers came in, and behold, the image was in the bed, and the net of goats' hair at its head.
And there was a man at Maon, whose business was at Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep at Carmel.
and honey, and cream, and sheep, and cheese of kine to David, and to the people that were with him, to eat; for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.
And he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was ploughing with twelve yokes before him, and he with the twelfth; and Elijah went over to him, and cast his mantle on him.
and those too that were near them, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought food on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen; provisions of meal, fig-cakes and raisin-cakes, and wine and oil, and oxen and sheep, abundantly; for there was joy in Israel.
And over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagarite. All these were comptrollers of the substance which was king David's.
And his substance was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and very many servants; and this man was greater than all the children of the east.
GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant and I shall live; and I will keep thy word.
Our kine laden with young; no breaking in and no going forth, and no outcry in our streets.
All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all.
And the Sharon shall be a fold for flocks, and the valley of Achor a couching-place of the herds, for my people that have sought me.
But shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
For Israel is refractory as an untractable heifer; now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a wide pasture.
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine inheritance, dwelling alone in the forest, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine inheritance, dwelling alone in the forest, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; be therefore prudent as the serpents, and guileless as the doves.
What think ye? If a certain man should have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not, leaving the ninety and nine on the mountains, go and seek the one that has gone astray?
but he who serves for wages, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf seizes them and scatters the sheep.
but he who serves for wages, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf seizes them and scatters the sheep.
Hastings
The word commonly used in OT is miqneh, meaning primarily possessions or wealth
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And that year ended; and they came to him the second year, and said to him, We will not hide it from my lord that since our money is come to an end, and the herds of cattle are in the possession of my lord, nothing is left before my lord but our bodies and our land.
behold, the hand of Jehovah shall be on thy cattle which is in the field, on the horses, on the asses, on the camels, on the oxen and on the sheep, with a very grievous plague.
And his substance was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and very many servants; and this man was greater than all the children of the east.
And he gave their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust;
Morish
Various Hebrew words are used in reference to the cow and the ox as 'cattle.' The word miqneh, however, often used for 'cattle,' signifies 'possession,' because the principal property of nomadic tribes consisted of their cattle: the word includes also sheep and goats, but not horses and asses. Ex 9:3-21, etc. Another word, tson, signifies small cattle, that is, sheep and goats. Ge 30:39-43; 31:8-43; Ec 2:7. seh has the same meaning, Ge 30:32; Eze 34:17-22: in Isa 7:25 it is translated 'lesser cattle,' and in Isa 43:23 'small cattle.'
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I will pass through all thy flock to-day, to remove thence all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and that shall be my hire.
And the flock was ardent before the rods; and the flock brought forth ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he made himself separate flocks, and did not put them with Laban's flock. read more. And it came to pass whensoever the strong cattle were ardent, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might become ardent among the rods; but when the sheep were feeble, he put them not in; so the feeble were Laban's, and the strong Jacob's. And the man increased very, very much, and had much cattle, and bondwomen, and bondmen, and camels, and asses.
If he said thus; The speckled shall be thy hire, then all the flocks bore speckled; and if he said thus: The ringstraked shall be thy hire, then all the flocks bore ringstraked. And God has taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. read more. And it came to pass at the time of the ardour of the flocks, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams that leaped upon the flocks were ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. And the Angel of God said to me in a dream, Jacob! And I said, Here am I. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see: all the rams that leap upon the flock are ringstraked, speckled, and spotted; for I have seen all that Laban does to thee. I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, where thou vowedst a vow to me. Now arise, depart out of this land, and return to the land of thy kindred. And Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? Are we not reckoned of him strangers? for he has sold us, and has even constantly devoured our money. For all the wealth that God has taken from our father is ours and our children's; and now whatever God has said to thee do. And Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels, and carried away all his cattle, and all his property that he had acquired the cattle of his possessions that he had acquired in Padan-Aram, to go to Isaac his father, into the land of Canaan. And Laban had gone to shear his sheep. And Rachel stole the teraphim that belonged to her father. And Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he fled. And he fled with all that he had; and he rose up and passed over the river, and set his face toward mount Gilead. And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled. And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey, and overtook him on mount Gilead. And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, Take care thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. And Laban came up with Jacob; and Jacob had pitched his tent on the mountain; Laban also with his brethren pitched on mount Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast deceived me, and hast carried away my daughters as captives of war? Why didst thou flee away covertly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have conducted thee with mirth and with songs, with tambour and with harp; and hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now thou hast acted foolishly. It would be in the power of my hand to do you hurt; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, Take care that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. And now that thou must needs be gone, because thou greatly longedst after thy father's house, why hast thou stolen my gods? And Jacob answered and said to Laban, I was afraid; for I said, Lest thou shouldest take by force thy daughters from me. With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live. Before our brethren discern what is thine with me, and take it to thee. But Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two handmaids' tents, and found nothing; and he went out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the teraphim and put them under the camel's saddle; and she sat upon them. And Laban explored all the tent, but found nothing. And she said to her father, Let it not be an occasion of anger in the eyes of my lord that I cannot rise up before thee, for it is with me after the manner of women. And he searched carefully, but did not find the teraphim. And Jacob was angry, and he disputed with Laban. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my fault, what my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me? Whereas thou hast explored all my baggage, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, and let them decide between us both. These twenty years have I been with thee: thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten. What was torn I have not brought to thee; I had to bear the loss of it: of my hand hast thou required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Thus it was with me: in the day the heat consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from mine eyes. I have been these twenty years in thy house: I have served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock; and thou hast changed my wages ten times. Had not the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, been with me, it is certain thou wouldest have sent me away now empty. God has looked upon my affliction and the labour of my hands, and has judged last night. And Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flock is my flock, and all that thou seest is mine; but as for my daughters, what can I do this day to them, or to their sons whom they have brought forth?
behold, the hand of Jehovah shall be on thy cattle which is in the field, on the horses, on the asses, on the camels, on the oxen and on the sheep, with a very grievous plague. And Jehovah will distinguish between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that the children of Israel have. read more. And Jehovah appointed a set time, saying, To-morrow will Jehovah do this thing in the land. And Jehovah did this thing on the following day, and all the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go. And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Take to yourselves handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens before the eyes of Pharaoh. And it shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall become boils on man and on cattle, breaking out with blisters, throughout the land of Egypt. And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it toward the heavens; and it became boils with blisters breaking out on man and on cattle. And the scribes could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the scribes, and on all the Egyptians. And Jehovah made Pharaoh's heart stubborn, and he did not hearken to them, as Jehovah had told Moses. And Jehovah said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and set thyself before Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go, that they may serve me. For I will at this time send all my plagues to thy heart, and on thy bondmen, and on thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now shall I put forth my hand, and I will smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And for this very cause have I raised thee up, to shew thee my power; and that my name may be declared in all the earth. Dost thou still exalt thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? Behold, to-morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since its foundation until now. And now send, and secure thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field: all the men and the cattle that are found in the field, and are not brought home on them the hail shall come down, and they shall die. He that feared the word of Jehovah among the bondmen of Pharaoh made his bondmen and his cattle flee into the houses. But he that did not regard the word of Jehovah left his bondmen and his cattle in the field.
I acquired servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that had been in Jerusalem before me.
And all mountains that have been dug up with the hoe thither will they not come, from fear of briars and thorns; and they shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of small cattle.
thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt-offerings, neither hast thou glorified me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to toil with an oblation, nor wearied thee with incense.
And as for you, my flock, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between the rams and the he-goats. Is it too small a thing unto you to have eaten up the good pastures, but ye must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures; and to have drunk of the settled waters, but ye must foul the rest with your feet? read more. And my sheep have to eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and to drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, it is I, and I will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the weak ones with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad, I will save my flock, that they may no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
Smith
Cattle.
[BULL].
See Bull, Bullock