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.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And he will do good to Abram on account of her; and there shall be to him sheep and oxen and he-asses, and servants and maids, and she-asses and camels.
And he will say to him, Take to me a heifer of three, and a goat of three, and a ram of three, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
And Abraham will take sheep and oxen, and give to Abimelech; and they two made a covenant
And there will be to him possession of flocks, and possession of oxen, and service of many; and the Philistines will envy him.
Go now to the flocks, and take to me from thence two kids of the she-goats good, and I will make them dainties for thy father, as that he loved.
And he will go, and will take, and bring to his mother: and his mother will make dainties as that his father loved.
And she will give the dainties, and the bread which she made, into the hand of Jacob her son.
And he will see, and behold, a well in the field, and behold there three flocks of sheep lying by it; for from that well they will water the flocks and the great stone upon the mouth of the well. And they gather there all the flocks; and they rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep, and turned back the stone upon the mouth of the well to its place.
He yet speaking to them, and Rachel came with the sheep were to her father; for she fed them.
Two hundred she-goats, and twenty he-goats, two hundred sheep and twenty rams.
And they will take Joseph's tunic, and will slaughter a he-goat of the goats, and will dip the tunic in the blood.
And to the priest of Midian, seven daughters: and they will come and will draw and fill the watering troughs to water the sheep of their father.
If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep, and slaughter it or sell it, he shall recompense five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
If finding, the theft shall be found in his hand, from an ox to an ass, to a sheep; living, he shall recompense two.
If thou shalt meet thine enemy's ox or his ass wandering, turning back, thou shalt turn him back to him.
And make a curtain of goats' hair for the dwelling of the tent: eleven curtains shalt thou make them.
And he shall make curtains of goats' hair for the tent over the temple: eleven curtains he made them.
And the remainder of the spoil plundered which the people of war plundered, will be six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,
The land which Jehovah smote before the assembly of Israel, it is a land of cattle, and to thy servants are cattle.
And thy cattle and thy sheep shall multiply, and thy silver and thy gold shall multiply to thee, and all which is in thee shall multiply;
When the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose to put his name there shall be far off from thee, and thou shalt sacrifice from thy cattle and from thy sheep which Jehovah gave to thee, as I commanded thee, and eat thou in thy gates in all thy soul desired.
These the cattle which thou shalt eat: the ox, the sheep of the lambs, and the sheep of the goats,
Thou shalt not see the ox of thy brother or his sheep wandering, and thou shalt not hide from them: turning back, thou shalt turn them back to thy brother.
Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fallen in the way, and hide from them: lifting up, thou shalt lift up with him.
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox treading.
And they will devote all which in the city, from man and even to woman, and from the youth even to the old man, and ox and sheep and ass, to the mouth of the sword.
And after him was Shamgar, son of Anath; and he will smite the Philistines, six hundred men with an ox-goad; and he also will deliver Israel
And Gideon went in, and he will do a kid of the goats, and an ephah of flour of unleavened: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and he will bring forth to him under the oak and will bring near.
And Manoah will say to the messenger of Jehovah, We will detain thee now, and we will do before thee a kid of the goats.
And Samuel will say to Jesse, Are these the whole of the boys? And he will say, The small was yet left, and behold, he fed among the sheep. And Samuel will say to Jesse, Send and take him, for we will not turn about till his coming here.
And David went and turned back from Saul to feed his father's sheep at the House of Bread.
And David will say to Saul, Thy servant was feeding for his father among the sheep, and there came the lion and with the bear, and lifted up a sheep from the flock.
And Michal will take a teraphim and put into the bed, and put a braiding of goat's hair at its head, and will cover with a garment
And the messengers will come in, and behold, the teraphim in the bed, and the braiding of goats hair at its head.
And a man in Maon and his work in Carmel; and the man very great, and to him three thousand sheep and a thousand goats: and he will be in shearing his sheep in Carmel.
And honey and curdled milk, and sheep, and cheeses of kine, they brought near for David and for the people which Are with him, to eat; for they said the people are hungry and faint and thirsty in the desert.
And he will go from thence and find Elisha son of Shaphat, and he ploughed with twelve yoke before him, and he with the twelve: and Elijah will pass away by him, and he will cast his wide cloak to him.
And also those being near to them, even to Issachar, and Zebulon, and Naphtali, bringing bread upon asses and upon camels, and upon mules, and upon oxen; food of flour, round cakes, and dried grapes, and wine and oil, and oxen and sheep for multitude: for joy in Israel.
And over the sheep, Jaziz the Hagerite. All these the chiefs of the possessions which were to king David.
And his possession will be seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred pair of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and service exceedingly much; and that man shall be great above all the sons of the east.
Benefit to thy servant, I shall live and watch thy word.
Our oxen bearing no breaking, and no coming forth, and no complaining in our broad places.
All we as sheep went astray; we turned a man to his way; and Jehovah caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him.
And Sharon was for a dwelling of sheep, and the valley of Achor for a resting place of the herd, for my people who sought me.
And shame consumed the labor of our fathers from our youth; their sheep and their herd, their sons and their daughters.
For as a stubborn heifer Israel was stubborn: now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a wide place.
And the remnant of Jacob was 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 passed through, and he trod down and pulled in pieces, and none delivering.
Feed my people with thy rod, the sheep of thine inheritance dwelling by themselves in the forest, in the midst of Carmel: they shall feed Bashan and Gilead as the days of old.
Feed my people with thy rod, the sheep of thine inheritance dwelling by themselves in the forest, in the midst of Carmel: they shall feed Bashan and Gilead as the days of old.
Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore discerning as serpents, and pure as doves.
What does it seem to you? if there be to any man a hundred sheep, and one of them have been led astray, does he not, having left the ninety-nine upon the mountains, having gone, seek the one led astray?
But the hired one, and not being the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and he leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf plunders them, and scatters the sheep.
But the hired one, and not being the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and he leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf plunders 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 will be ended, and they will come to him in the second year, and will say to him, We will not hide from my lord if the silver was spent; and the possession of the cattle to my lord; and there was not left before my lord except but our bodies and our lands.
Behold, the hand of Jehovah is upon thy cattle which are in the field; upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen and upon the sheep: death exceedingly heavy.
And his possession will be seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred pair of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and service exceedingly much; and that man shall be great above all the sons of the east.
And he will give their produce to the devourer, and their labor to 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.'
See Verses Found in Dictionary
I will pass over among all thy sheep this day, removing from thence every sheep speckled and patched, and every sheep black among the lambs; and the patched and speckled among the she-goats; and it shall be my hire.
And the sheep shall conceive at the rods, and shall bring forth sheep banded and speckled and patched. And Jacob separated the lambs, and he will give the faces of the sheep to the banded and every one black among the sheep of Laban: and he will set to himself the flocks, to himself alone, and not put them with Laban's sheep. read more. And it was in every one conceiving of the strong sheep, and Jacob put the rods before the eyes of the sheep in the floorings, to conceive among the rods. And in the sheep being feeble, he will not put in: and those being feeble, were to Laban, and those being strong, to Jacob. And the man will break forth greatly, greatly; and there will be to him many sheep and maids, and servants, and camels and asses.
If thus he will say, The speckled shall be thy hire; and all the sheep shall bring forth speckled: and if thus he will say, The banded shall be thy hire, and all the sheep will bring forth white-footed. And God will take away the cattle of your father and will give them to me. read more. And it shall be in the time the sheep shall conceive, and I shall lift up mine eyes, and I shall see in a dream, and behold, the he-goats ascending upon the sheep, banded, speckled and sprinkled with spots. And the messenger of God will say to me in a dream, Jacob: and I shall say, Behold me. And he will say, Lift up now thine eyes and see all the he-goats ascending upon the sheep, banded, speckled and sprinkled with spots; for I saw all that Laban did to thee. I the God of the house of God, where thou didst anoint there a pillar; where thou didst vow to me there a vow: now arise, go forth from this land, and turn back to the land of thy kindred. And Rachel will answer, and Leah, and they will say to him, Is yet to us a portion and inheritance in our father's house? Were we not reckoned strangers by him? for he sold us, and also eating, he ate up our silver. For all the riches which God took away from our father, that is to us and to our sons: and now all which God said to thee, do. And Jacob will rise, and lift up his sons and his wives upon the camels. And he will lead away all his cattle and all his horse which he acquired, the cattle of his acquisition, which he acquired in Padan Aram, to go to Isaak his father in the land of Canaan. And Laban went to shear his sheep; and Rachel will steal the family gods which were to her father. And Jacob will steal the heart of Laban the Syrian, for not announcing to him that he broke away. And he will break away, and all which was to him; and he will rise and pass over the river, and will set his face to Mount Gilead. And it will be announced to Laban in the third day, that Jacob broke away. And he will take his brethren with him, and pursue after him a way of seven days: and he will overtake him in Mount Gilead. And God will come to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night and will say to him, Watch to thyself, lest thou shalt speak with Jacob from good to evil. And Laban will overtake Jacob. And Jacob pitched his tent in the mount; and Laban pitched with his brethren in Mount Gilead. And Laban will say to Jacob, What didst thou and thou didst steal my heart, and will carry away my daughters as captives of the sword? For what didst thou hide to break away, and didst steal me, and didst not announce to me? and I will send thee away with gladness and with songs, with the drum and with the harp? And didst not permit me to kiss my sons and to my daughters? now thou wert foolish doing it It is for the power of my hand mighty to do with you evil: and the God of your father yesterday spake to me, saying, Watch to thyself from speaking with Jacob from good to evil. And now going thou didst go, for desiring thou didst greatly desire after the house of thy father; for what didst thou steal my gods? And Jacob will answer and say to Laban, Because I was afraid; for I said, Lest thou wilt tear away my daughters from me; With whom thou shalt find thy gods, he shall not live: before our brethren, behold for thyself what is with me and take to thee: and Jacob knew not that Rachel stole them. And Laban will go into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two maids, and he found them not And he will go out from the tent of Leah and will go into Rachel's tent And Rachel took the family gods, and she will put them in the camel's saddle and will sit upon them. And Laban will feel all the tent, and he found not And she will say to her father, My lord will not be angry in his eyes, that I shall not be able to rise from thy face, for the way of women is to me. And he will search and he found not the family gods, And it kindled to Jacob, and he will contend with Laban, and Jacob will answer and say to Laban, What my fault? what my sin that thou didst hotly pursue after me? That thou didst feel all my vessels, what didst thou find of all the vessels of thy house? Set here before my brethren and thy brethren, and they shall decide between us two. These twenty years I am with thee; thy sheep and thy she-goats were not barren, and the rams of thy flock, I ate not. The torn I brought not to thee; I shall bear the blame of it; from my hand thou will seek it, thefts of the day, and thefts of the night I was in the day, the drought consumed me, and cold in the night, and sleep will flee away from mine eyes. Here to me twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy sheep; and thou wilt change my hire ten portions. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaak was not with me, then now, empty thou hadst sent me away. My affliction and the labor of my hand God saw and he rebuked yesterday. And Laban will answer and say to Jacob, The daughters, my daughters, and the sons, my sons, and the sheep, my sheep, and all which thou sawest, this to me, and to my daughters: what shall I do to these this day, or to their sons which they brought forth?
Behold, the hand of Jehovah is upon thy cattle which are in the field; upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen and upon the sheep: death exceedingly heavy. And Jehovah separated between the cattle of Israel and between the cattle of Egypt: and nothing shall die from all the sons of Israel, spoken of read more. And Jehovah will set an appointment, saying, To-morrow Jehovah will do this word in the land. And Jehovah will do this word in the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt will die: and from the cattle of the sons of Israel, not one died. And Pharaoh will send, and behold, from the cattle of Israel, there died not even one And the heart of Pharaoh will be heavy, and he sent not forth the people. And Jehovah will say to Moses and to Aaron, Take to you your two fists full of ashes of the furnace; and Moses sprinkled it towards the heavens in the eyes of Pharaoh. And it was for dust upon all the land of Egypt, and it was upon man, and upon quadruped for a burning sore breaking forth with pustules over all the land of Egypt And they will take ashes of the furnace and will stand before Pharaoh; and Moses will sprinkle it towards the heavens; and it will be a burning sore, breaking forth with pustules upon man and upon quadruped. And the sacred scribes will not be able to stand before Moses on account of the burning sore: for the burning sore was upon the sacred scribes, and in all Egypt And Jehovah will bind fast the heart of Pharaoh, and he heard not to them: as Jehovah spake to Moses. And Jehovah will say to Moses, Rise early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus said Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Send forth my people, and they shall serve me. For in this time I send all my plagues into thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people: so that thou shalt know that there is not as I in all the earth. For now I sent forth my hand, and surely I will smite thee and thy people with death; and thou shalt be destroyed from the earth. And yet for this I raised thee up in order to cause thee to see my strength; and for the sake of declaring my name in all the earth. As yet lifting up thyself against my people not to send them forth? Behold, I rain at this time to-morrow, hail exceedingly heavy, which was not as this in Egypt from the day it was founded even now. And now send forth to secure thy cattle, and all which is to thee in the field: every man and quadruped which shall be found in the field, and shall not be gathered together to the house, and the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. He fearing the word of Jehovah from the servants of Pharaoh, caused his servants to flee, and his cattle to the houses. And he who set not his heart to the word of Jehovah, will leave his servants and his cattle in the field.
I obtained servants and maids, and sons of the house were to me; also obtaining cattle, and many sheep were to me more than all that were before me in Jerusalem.
And all the mountains which shall be dressed with the hoe, the fear of sharp points and thorns shall not come there: and it was for the sending forth of the ox and for the treading of sheep.
Thou broughtest not to me the sheep of thy burnt-offering, and thou honoredst me not with thy sacrifices I caused thee not to serve with a gift, and I wearied thee not with frankincense.
And ye, my sheep, thus said the Lord Jehovah; Behold me judging between sheep to sheep, to the rams and to the he goats. Is it small for you ye will feed the good pasture, and the remainder of your pastures ye will tread down with your feet? and ye will drink front the settled waters and that being left they will tread with your feet read more. And my sheep will feed of the trodden down of your feet; and they will drink of the treading of your feet. For this, thus said the Lord Jehovah to them: Behold me I also judged between fat sheep and between lean sheep. Because with side and with shoulder ye will thrust away, and with your horns ye pushed all the sickly till that ye scattered them without; And I saved my sheep, and they shall no more be for plunder; and I judged between sheep to sheep.
Smith
Cattle.
[BULL].
See Bull, Bullock