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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He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.
Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents.
He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
Then Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.
He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him.
Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father-the kind he loves.
So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved.
Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
He looked and saw a well in a field. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it because the sheep were watered from this well. A large stone covered the opening of the well. When all the flocks were gathered there, the [shepherds] would roll the stone from the opening of the well and water the sheep. The stone was then placed back on the well's opening.
While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,
So they took Joseph's robe, slaughtered a young goat, and dipped the robe in its blood.
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
"When a man steals an ox or a sheep and butchers it or sells it, he must repay five cattle for the ox or four sheep for the sheep.
If what was stolen-whether ox, donkey, or sheep-is actually found alive in his possession, he must repay double.
"If you come across your enemy's stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.
"You are to make curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; make 11 of these curtains.
He made curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he also made 11 of them.
The captives remaining from the plunder the army had taken totaled: 675,000 sheep and goats,
which the Lord struck down before the community of Israel, is [good] land for livestock, and your servants own livestock."
and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases,
If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, you may slaughter any of your herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want.
These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,
"If you see your brother's ox or sheep straying, you must not ignore it; make sure you return it to your brother.
If you see your brother's donkey or ox fallen down on the road, you must not ignore it; you must help him lift it up.
"Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain.
They completely destroyed everything in the city with the sword-every man and woman, both young and old, and every ox, sheep, and donkey.
After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath [became judge]. He delivered Israel by striking down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad.
So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from a half bushel of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to Him under the oak.
"Please stay here," Manoah told Him, "and we will prepare a young goat for You."
Samuel asked him, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," he answered, "but right now he's tending the sheep." Samuel told Jesse, "Send for him. We won't sit down to eat until he gets here."
but David kept going back and forth from Saul to tend his father's flock in Bethlehem.
David answered Saul, "Your servant has been tending his father's sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,
Then Michal took the household idol and put it on the bed, placed some goats' hair on its head, and covered it with a garment.
When the messengers arrived, to their surprise, the household idol was on the bed with some goats' hair on its head.
A man in Maon had a business in Carmel; he was a very rich man with 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats and was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep,
honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd for David and the people with him to eat. They had reasoned, "The people must be hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the desert."
Elijah left there and found Elisha son of Shaphat as he was plowing. Twelve teams of oxen were in front of him, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah walked by him and threw his mantle over him.
In addition, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen-abundant provisions of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine and oil, oxen, and sheep. Indeed, there was joy in Israel.
Jaziz the Hagrite was in charge of the flocks. All these were officials in charge of King David's property.
His estate included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.
Deal generously with Your servant so that I might live; then I will keep Your word.
Our cattle will be well fed. There will be no breach [in the walls], no going [into captivity], and no cry of lament in our public squares.
We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all.
Sharon will be a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for cattle to lie down, for My people who have sought Me.
From the time of our youth the shameful one has consumed what our fathers have worked for- their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow. Can the Lord now shepherd them like a lamb in an open meadow?
Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, among many peoples, like a lion among animals of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which tramples and tears as it passes through, and there is no one to rescue [them].
Shepherd Your people with Your staff, the flock that is Your possession. They live alone in a scrubland, surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in ancient times.
Shepherd Your people with Your staff, the flock that is Your possession. They live alone in a scrubland, surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in ancient times.
"Look, I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves.
What do you think? If a man has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, won't he leave the 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray?
The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and doesn't own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them.
The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and doesn't own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them.
Hastings
The word commonly used in OT is miqneh, meaning primarily possessions or wealth
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When that year was over, they came the next year and said to him, "We cannot hide from our lord that the money is gone and that all our livestock belongs to our lord. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.
then the Lord's hand will bring a severe plague against your livestock in the field-the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.
His estate included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.
He gave their crops to the caterpillar and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned many herds of cattle and flocks, more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.
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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Let me go through all your sheep today and remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted, every dark-colored sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the female goats. [Such] will be my wages.
The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young. Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face the streaked and the completely dark sheep in Laban's flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and didn't put them with Laban's sheep. read more. Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs, in full view of the flocks, and they would breed in front of the branches. As for the weaklings of the flocks, he did not put out the branches. So it turned out that the weak sheep belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob. And the man became very rich. He had many flocks, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.
If he said, 'The spotted sheep will be your wages,' then all the sheep were born spotted. If he said, 'The streaked sheep will be your wages,' then all the sheep were born streaked. God has taken your father's herds and given them to me. read more. "When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females. In that dream the Angel of God said to me, 'Jacob!' and I said: Here I am. And He said, 'Look up and see: all the males that are mating with the flocks are streaked, spotted, and speckled, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you poured oil on the stone marker and made a solemn vow to Me. Get up, leave this land, and return to your native land.' " Then Rachel and Leah answered him, "Do we have any portion or inheritance in our father's household? Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? For he has sold us and has certainly spent our money. In fact, all the wealth that God has taken from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has said to you." Then Jacob got up and put his children and wives on the camels. He took all the livestock and possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, and he drove his herds to go to the land of his father Isaac in Canaan. When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household idols. And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean, not telling him that he was fleeing. He fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates, and headed for the hill country of Gilead. On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him at Mount Gilead. But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night. "Watch yourself!" God warned him. "Don't say anything to Jacob, either good or bad." When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his brothers also pitched [their tents] in the hill country of Gilead. Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war! Why did you secretly flee from me, deceive me, and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and lyres, but you didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters. You have acted foolishly. I could do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me: 'Watch yourself. Don't say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.' Now you have gone off because you long for your father-but why have you stolen my gods?" Jacob answered, "I was afraid, for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. If you find your gods with anyone [here], he will not live! Before our relatives, point out anything that is yours and take it." Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen [the idols]. So Laban went into Jacob's tent, then Leah's tent, and then the tents of the two female slaves, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. Now Rachel had taken Laban's household idols, put them in the saddlebag of the camel, and sat on them. Laban searched the whole tent but found nothing. She said to her father, "Sir, don't be angry that I cannot stand up in your presence; I am having my monthly period." So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols. Then Jacob became incensed and brought charges against Laban. "What is my crime?" he said to Laban. "What is my sin, that you have pursued me? You've searched all my possessions! Have you found anything of yours? Put it here before my relatives and yours, and let them decide between the two of us. I've been with you these 20 years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams from your flock. I did not bring you any of the flock torn by wild beasts; I myself bore the loss. You demanded [payment] from me for what was stolen by day or by night. There I was-the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes. For 20 years I have worked in your household-14 years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks-and you have changed my wages 10 times! If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work, and He issued His verdict last night." Then Laban answered Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters; the sons, my sons; and the flocks, my flocks! Everything you see is mine! But what can I do today for these daughters of mine or for the children they have borne?
then the Lord's hand will bring a severe plague against your livestock in the field-the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that the Israelites own will die." read more. And the Lord set a time, saying, "Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land." The Lord did this the next day. All the Egyptian livestock died, but none among the Israelite livestock died. Pharaoh sent [messengers] who saw that not a single one of the Israelite livestock was dead. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not let the people go. Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of furnace soot, and Moses is to throw it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the entire land of Egypt. It will become festering boils on people and animals throughout the land of Egypt." So they took furnace soot and stood before Pharaoh. Moses threw it toward heaven, and it became festering boils on man and beast. The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had told Moses. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh. Tell him: This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. Otherwise, I am going to send all My plagues against you, your officials, and your people. Then you will know there is no one like Me in all the earth. By now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been obliterated from the earth. However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you My power and to make My name known in all the earth. You are still acting arrogantly against My people by not letting them go. Tomorrow at this time I will rain down the worst hail that has ever occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Therefore give orders to bring your livestock and all that you have in the field into shelters. Every person and animal that is in the field and not brought inside will die when the hail falls on them." Those among Pharaoh's officials who feared the word of the Lord made their servants and livestock flee to shelters, but those who didn't take the Lord's word seriously left their servants and livestock in the field.
I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned many herds of cattle and flocks, more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.
You will not go to all the hills that were once tilled with a hoe, for fear of the thorns and briers. [Those hills] will be places for oxen to graze and for sheep to trample.
You have not brought Me your sheep for burnt offerings or honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings or wearied you with incense.
"The Lord God says to you, My flock: I am going to judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and male goats. Isn't it enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of the pasture with your feet? Or [isn't it enough] that you drink the clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? read more. Yet My flock has to feed on what your feet have trampled, and drink what your feet have muddied. "Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them: See, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Since you have pushed with flank and shoulder and butted all the weak ones with your horns until you scattered them all over, I will save My flock, and they will no longer be prey for you. I will judge between one sheep and another.
Smith
Cattle.
[BULL].
See Bull, Bullock