Ox
OX
The male of the beeve kind when grown, synonymous in the Bible with BULL; a clean animal, by the Levitical law; much used for food, 1Ki 19:21, and constituting no small part of the wealth of the Hebrews in their pastoral life, Gen 24:35 Job 1:14 42:12. Oxen were used in agriculture for ploughing, 1Ki 19:19 ; and for treading out the grain, during which they were not to be muzzled, 1Co 9:9, but well fed, Isa 30:24 . The testing of a new yoke of oxen is still a business of great importance in the East, as of old, Luk 14:19 . A passage in Campbell’s travels in South Africa well illustrates the proverbial expression, “as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke,” Jer 31:18 : “I had frequent opportunities of witnessing the conduct of oxen when for the first time put into the yoke to assist in dragging the wagons. On observing an ox that had been in yoke beginning to get weak, or his hoofs to be worn down to the quick by treading on the sharp gravel, a fresh ox was put into the yoke in his place. When the selection fell on an ox I had received as a present from some African king, of course one completely unaccustomed to the yoke, and attempting to make its escape. At other times such bullocks say down upon their sides or back, and remained so in defiance of the Hottentots, though two or three of them would be lashing them with their ponderous whips. Sometimes, from pity to the animal, I would interfere, and beg them to be less cruel. ‘Cruel,’ they would say, ‘it is mercy; for if we do not conquer him now, he will require to be so beaten all his life.'”The “wild ox,” mentioned in Deu 14:5, is supposed to have been a species of stag or antelope. See BULLS OF BASHAN.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
ox
Emblem in art associated with
Saint Ambrose of Milan
Saint Blandina ; it was the means of her martyrdom
Saint Eustachius who was martyred with his family in a bronze bull
Saint Luke , symbolic of sacrifice and thus of death on the Cross
Saint Saturninus who was martyred by being dragged to death by a bull
Saint Thomas Aquinas, who was called The Dumb Ox for his early problems at school
New Catholic Dictionary
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Ox
See Cattle
Fuente: Plants Animals Of Bible
Ox
(, Vulg. Idox), given (Jdt 8:1) as the son of Joseph, and father of Mereri, among the ancestors of Judith (q.v.).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Ox (2)
the different terms denoting this family, or part of it, in the A.V. are the renderings of the following Hebrew words:
1. Abbir’, , is translated bulls in Psa 22:12; Psalms 1, 13; Psa 68:30; Isa 34:7; Jer 1:11. This word is properly an adjective, derived from , to be strong, and means mighty; hence transferred to the bull in allusion to his strength. But in Psa 68:30 it should probably be rendered princes (see Gesenius, Thesaur. s.v. ).
2. E’leph, , which occurs only in the plural, alaphim’, , derived from , to learn, in allusion to the domestic and docile disposition of the animal, and used in the common gender, including the whole family, like the English beeve an ox or cow. In Deu 7:13; Deu 28:4; Deu 28:18; Deu 28:51, it is translated kinze; in Psa 8:7; Pro 14:4; Isa 30:24, oxen.
3. Alluph’, . also written, defectively, , is from the same root, in the same signification, but is used in the mascllline gender only, grammatically, while including animals of both genders. It is found in this sense in Jer 11:19, rendered ox, and in Psa 144:14, in the plural, oxen; but in Jer 11:19 the word is properly an adjective, tame, gentle, and the rendering should be, I was like a tamed lamb, not, as in the English Version, I was like a lamb or an ox. See Gesenius. Thesaur. s.v. .
4. Bakar’, , in the common gender, a word for all oxen or neat cattle; generically a herd. The word is derived from , to cleave, to lay open, in allusion to the use of the blast for plowing (comp. Latin armentun, from arare). This very general and very common word is usually rendered head, herds, as Gen 13:5; Deu 16:2; Hab 3:17; or oxen, as Gen 12:16; 1Sa 11:7; Amo 6:12. But two phrases deserve especial notice, the ben-bakar, , son of the herd, or of a bull, which is translated calf; calves, in Gen 18:7-8; 1Sa 14:32; but bullock in Lev 1:5; Num 15:8-9; and again, par ben-bakal, , literally, an ox, son of the herd, which is rendered bullock, or young bullock, as Lev 4:3; Lev 16:3; Eze 43:19; Eze 43:23; Eze 43:25, and often. SEE CATTLE.
5. E’gel, , from an obsolete root, said to signify to roll (see Gesenius, Thesaur. s.v. ), a calf possibly from the idea of the embryo as rolled or wrapped together; and so always translated, as Exo 32:4; Isa 11:6; Mal 4:2; except in Jer 31:18; Jer 46:21, where our English Version wrongly has bullock, bullocks. The feminine form, eglah, is also frequent, and is rightly rendered: heifer, as Gen 15:9; Isa 15:5; but in Hos 10:5 the English Version represents the plural by the word calves. SEE CALF; SEE HEIFER.
6. Par, or , probably from the root , to be borne, referring to the bearing of the yoke; but the word usually means a bull, young bullock, and is hence often referred to the root , in its more usual sense, to break, in allusion to the fierceness and violence of his anger. It is usually spoken of bullocks for sacrifice only, as Exo 24:5; Lev 4:3-5; Lev 4:7; Num 28:11; Num 28:19, and often; so Hos 14:2, where the meaning is, So will we offer our praise as victims, or sacrificial bullocks. But in Psa 22:13 it means bulls, without reference to sacrifice. (See also No. 4 above.) SEE BULLOCK.
7. Tse’med, from the root , to subject to the yoke; hence a pair or yoke, as of asses, Jdg 19:10; 2Sa 16:1; even of horsemen, as Isa 21:7; Isa 21:9; and also of oxen, as 1Sa 11:7; Job 1:3; Job 42:12. SEE YOKE.
8. Shor, , from a root denoting to be strong or bold. It is a general term for animals of the beeve kind, without distinction of age or sex, and hence is variously rendered, according to the context: ox, oxen, as Gen 32:5; Exo 20:17; Exo 22:1; Exo 22:4; Deu 5:14; Eze 1:10; bullock, Lev 4:10; Lev 9:4; Lev 22:23; Hos 12:11; cow, Num 18:17. In Lev 22:27, where the English Version has bullock, the context requires calf; and in Job 21:10, where it renders bull, the cow is meant. SEE BULL.
9. Teo’, , only in Deu 14:5, where our version has wild ox, and with transposition of the last letters, t6, , only in Isa 51:20 rendered wild bull; probably means a species of antelope or mountain-goat; so called from its swiftness, from the root , to outrun. Yet the ancient interpreters generally render wild ox, and the exact meaning is uncertain (comp. Bochart, Hieroz. 1:973; Gesenius, Thesaur. s.v. ). SEE ANTELOPE.
10. Tor, , the Chaldee term for ox, corresponding to the Hebrew , No. 8, above. It is found only in the plural, in Ezr 6:9; Ezr 6:17; Ezr 7:17, where it is translated bullocks, and in Dan 4:25; Dan 4:32-33; Dan 5:21, where our version has oxen.
Natural History of the Bovidoe (scientifically considered). The earliest pastoral tribes appear to have had domesticated cattle in the herd; and judging from the manners of South Africa, where we find nations still retaining in many respects primeval usages, it is likely that the patriarchal families, or at least their movables, were transported on the backs of oxen in the manner which the Kaffres still practice, as also the Gwallahs and grain-merchants in India, who come down from the interior with whole droves bearing burdens. But, as the Hebrews did not castrate their bulls, it is plain some other method of enervation (bistournure?) was necessary in order to render their violent and brutal indocility sufficiently tractable to permit the use of a, metal ring or twisted rope passed, through the nostrils, and to insure something like safety and command to their owners. In Egypt, emasculation, no doubt, was resorted to, for no ring is observable in the numerous representations of cattle, while many of these indicate even more entire docility in these animals than is now attained.
The breeds of Egypt were various, differing in the length and flexure of the horns. There were some with long horns, others with short, and even none, while a hunched race of Nubia reveals an Indian origin, and indicates that at least one of the nations on the Upper Nile had come from the valleys of the Ganges; for it is to the east of the Indus alone that that species is to be found whose original stock appears to be the mountain yak (Bos grunniens). It is born with two teeth ill the mouth, has a groaning voice, and is possessed of other distinctive characteristics. Figures of this species or variety bear the significant lotus flower suspended from the neck, and, as is still practiced in India, they are harnessed to the cars of princesses of Nubia. These, as well as the straight-backed cattle of Egypt, are all figured with evident indications of beauty in their form, and they are in general painted white, with black or rufous clouds, or entirely red, speckled, or grandinated, that is, black, with numerous small white specks; and there are also beeves with white and black occasionally marked in a peculiar manner, seemingly the kind of tokens by which the priesthood pretended to recognize their sacred individuals. The cattle of Egypt continued to be remarkable for beauty for some ages after the Moslem conquest.
The domestic buffalo was unknown to Western Asia and Egypt till after the Arabian conquest: it is now common in the last-mentioned region and far to the south, but not beyond the equator; and from structural differences it may be surmised that there was in early ages a domesticated distinct species of this animal in Africa. The buffalo (Bos bubalis) is not uncommon in Palestine; the Arabs call it jamus. Robinson (Bib. Res. 3:306) notices buffaloes around the lake el-Huleh as being mingled with the neat cattle, and applied in general to the same uses. They are a shy, ill- looking, ill-tempered animal. These animals love to wallow and lie for hours in water or mud, with barely the nostrils above the surface. In Syria and Egypt the present races of domestic cattle are somewhat less than thee large breeds of Europe, and those of Palestine appear to be of at least two forms, both with short horns and both used to the plow, one being tall and lank, the other more compact; and we possess figures of the present Egyptian cattle with long horns bent down and forwards. From Egyptian pictures it is to be inferred that large droves of fine cattle were imported from Abyssinia, and that in the valley of the Nile they were in general stall- fed, used exclusively for the plow, and treated with humanity. There are now fine cattle in Egypt; but the Palestine cattle appear to have deteriorated, in size at least, since Biblical times. Herds of cattle, says Schubert (Oriental Christian Spectator, April, 1853), are seldom to be seen; the bullock of the neighborhood of Jerusalem is small and insignificant; beef and veal are but rare dainties. Yet the bullock thrives better, and is more frequently seen, in the upper valley of the Jordan, also on Mount Tabor and near Nazareth but particularly east of the Jordan on the road from Jacob’s-bridge to Damascus. See also Thomson (Land and Book, 1, 518), who observes that danger from being gored has not ceased among the half-wild droves that range over the luxuriant pastures in certain parts of the country. In Palestine the Mosaic law provided with care for the kind treatment of cattle; for in treading out corn the Oriental mode of separating the grain from the straw it was enjoined that the ox should not be muzzled (Deu 25:4), and old cattle that had long served in tillage were often suffered to wander at large till their death a practice still in vogue, though from a different motive, in India. But the Hebrews and other nations of Syria grazed their domestic stock, particularly those tribes which, residing to the east of the Jordan, had fertile districts for that purpose. Here, of course, the droves became shy and wild; and though we are inclined to apply the passage in Psa 22:12 to wild species, yet old bulls, roaming at large in a land where the lion still abounded, no doubt became fierce and as they would obtain cows from the pastures, there must have been wild breeds in the woods, as fierce and resolute as real wild Uri which ancient name may be a mere modification of Reem. SEE UNICORN.
There was no animal in the rural economy of the Israelites, or indeed in that of the ancient Orientals generally, that was held in higher esteem than the ox; and deservedly so, for the ox was the animal upon whose patient labors depended all the ordinary operations of farming. Ploughing with horses was a thing never thought of in those days. Asses, indeed, were used for this purpose, SEE ASS; but it was the ox upon whom devolved for the most part this important service. The pre-eminent value of the ox to a nation of husbandmen like the Israelites, to use an expression of Michaelis in his article on this subject, will be at once evident from the scriptural account of the various uses to which it is applied. Animals of the ox family were used for ploughing (Deu 22:10; 1Sa 14:14; 1Ki 19:19; Job 1:14; Amo 6:12, etc.); for treading out corn (Deu 25:4; Hos 10:11; Mic 4:13; 1Co 9:9; 1Ti 5:18), SEE AGRICULTURE; for draught purposes, when they were generally yoked in pairs (Num 7:3; 1Sa 6:7; 2Sa 6:6); as beasts of burden (1Ch 12:40); their flesh was eaten (Deu 14:4; 1Ki 1:9; 1Ki 4:23; 1Ki 19:21; Isa 22:13; Pro 15:17; Neh 5:18); they were used in the sacrifices, SEE SACRIFICE; they supplied milk, butter, etc. (Deu 32:14; Isa 7:22; 2Sa 17:29). SEE BUTTER; SEE MILK.
The law which prohibited the slaughter of any clean animal, excepting as an offering unto the Lord before the tabernacle, during the time that the Israelites abode in the wilderness (Lev 17:1-6), although expressly designed to keep the people from idolatry, no doubt contributed to the preservation of their oxen and sheep, which they were not allowed to kill excepting in public. There can be little doubt that during the forty years’ wanderings oxen and sheep were rarely used as food, whence it was flesh that they so often lusted after. (See Michaelis, Laws of Moses, art. 169.) SEE FLESH.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Ox (3)
The ox and the ass are often represented round the cradle of the Nativity, in allusion to Isa 1:3. Beleth says that the lion and ox in front of doors, and a cock or eagle upon the church, were common representations.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Ox
Heb. bakar, “cattle;” “neat cattle”, (Gen. 12:16; 34:28; Job 1:3, 14; 42:12, etc.); not to be muzzled when treading the corn (Deut. 25:4). Referred to by our Lord in his reproof to the PhariSee s (Luke 13:15; 14:5).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Ox
(See BULL.) The law prohibiting the slaughter of clean beasts in the wilderness, except before the tabernacle, at once kept Israel from idolatry and tended to preserve their herds. During the 40 years oxen and sheep were seldom killed for food, from whence arose their lustings after flesh (Lev 17:1-6).
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Ox
OX.See Animals, vol. i. p. 63b.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Ox
OX.An ancestor of Judith (Jdt 8:1).
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Ox (1)
See ANTELOPE; CATTLE; WILD OX.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Ox (2)
oks (, Ox): One of the ancestors of Judith (Judith 8:1). The name is not Hebrew. Perhaps the Itala Ozi and the Syriac Uz point to the Hebrew Uzzi.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Ox
Having already noticed the domestic beeves under Calf (to which we refer), the few words added here will apply to the breeds of Western Asia and the manner of treating them. The earliest pastoral tribes appear to have had domesticated cattle in the herd; and judging from the manners of South Africa, where we find nations still retaining in many respects primeval usages, it is likely that the patriarchal families, or at least their moveables, were transported on the backs of oxen in the manner which the Caffres still practice, as also the Gwallahs and grain-merchants in India, who come down from the interior with whole droves bearing burdens.
The breeds of Egypt were various, differing in the length and flexures of the horns. There were some with long horns, others with short, and even none, while a hunched race of Nubia reveals an Indian origin, and indicates that at least one of the nations on the Upper Nile had come from the valleys of the Ganges; for it is to the east of the Indus alone that that species is to be found whose original stock appears to be the mountain yak.
The domestic buffalo was unknown to Western Asia and Egypt till after the Arabian conquest: it is now common in the last-mentioned region and far to the south, but not beyond the equator; and from structural differences it may be surmised that there was in early ages a domesticated distinct species of this animal in Africa. In Syria and Egypt the present races of domestic cattle are somewhat less than the large breeds of Europe, and those of Palestine appear to be of at least two forms, both with short horns and both used to the plow, one being tall and lanky, the other more compact; and we possess figures of the present Egyptian cattle with long horns bent down and forwards. From Egyptian pictures it is to be inferred that large droves of fine cattle were imported from Abyssinia, and that in the valley of the Nile they were in general stall-fed, used exclusively for the plow, and treated with humanity. In Palestine the Mosaic law provided with care for the kind treatment of cattle; for in treading out cornthe Oriental mode of separating the grain from the strawit was enjoined that the ox should not be muzzled (Deu 25:4), and old cattle that had long served in tillage were often suffered to wander at large till their deatha practice still in vogue, though from a different motive, in India. But the Hebrews and other nations of Syria grazed their domestic stock, particularly those tribes which, residing to the east of the Jordan, had fertile districts for that purpose. Here, of course, the droves became shy and wild; and though we are inclined to apply the passage in Psa 22:12, to wild species, yet old bulls, roaming at large in a land where the lion still abounded, no doubt became fierce; and as they would obtain cows from the pastures, there must have been feral breeds in the woods, as fierce and resolute as real wild Uri.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Ox
See Bullock; Cattle
Bullock; Cattle
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Ox
Ox. There was no animal in the rural economy of the Israelites, or indeed in that of the ancient Orientals generally, that was held in higher esteem, than the ox and deservedly so, for the ox was the animal, upon whose patient labors depended, all the ordinary operations of farming.
Oxen were used for ploughing, Deu 22:10; 1Sa 14:14; etc.;
for treading out corn, Deu 25:4; Hos 10:11; etc.;
for draught purposes, when they were generally yoked in pairs, Num 7:3; 1Sa 6:7; etc.;
as beasts of burden, 1Ch 12:40;
their flesh was eaten, Deu 14:4; 1Ki 1:9; etc.;
they were used in the sacrifices;
cows supplied milk, butter, etc. Deu 32:14; 2Sa 17:29; Isa 7:22.
Connected with the importance of oxen, in the rural economy of the Jews, is the strict code of laws, which was mercifully enacted by God, for their protection and preservation. The ox that threshed the corn was by no means to be muzzled; he was to enjoy rest on the Sabbath, as well as his master. Exo 23:12; Deu 5:14. The ox was seldom slaughtered. Lev 17:1-6.
It seems clear from Pro 15:17 and 1Ki 4:23, that cattle were, sometimes, stall-fed, though as a general rule, it is probable that they fed in the plains, or on the hills of Palestine. The cattle that grazed at large in the open country would no doubt, often become fierce and wild, for it is to be remembered that, in primitive times, the lion and other wild beasts of prey roamed about Palestine. Hence, the force of the Psalmist’s complaint of his enemies. Psa 22:13.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Ox
denotes an “ox” or “a cow,” Luk 13:15; Luk 14:5, Luk 14:19; Joh 2:14-15; 1Co 9:9 (twice); 1Ti 5:18.
Latin taurus, is translated “oxen” in Mat 22:4; Act 14:13; “bulls” in Heb 9:13; Heb 10:4.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Ox
, in Arabic, boekerre and bykar, the male of horned cattle of the beeve kind, at full age, when fit for the plough. Younger ones are called bullocks. Michaelis, in his elaborate work on the laws of Moses, has proved that castration was never practised. The rural economy of the Israelites led them to value the ox as by far the most important of domestic animals, from the consideration of his great use in all the operations of farming. In the patriarchal ages, the ox constituted no inconsiderable portion of their wealth. Thus Abraham is said to be very rich in cattle, Gen 24:35. Men of every age and country have been much indebted to the labours of this animal. So early as in the days of Job, who was probably contemporary with Isaac, the oxen were ploughing, and the asses were feeding beside them, when the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away. In times long posterior, when Elijah was commissioned to anoint Elisha, the son of Shaphat, prophet in his stead, he found him ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen, 1Ki 19:19. For many ages the hopes of oriental husbandmen depended entirely on their labours. This was so much the case in the time of Solomon, that he observes, in one of his proverbs, Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, or rather empty; but much increase is by the strength of the ox, Pro 14:4. The ass, in the course of ages, was compelled to bend his stubborn neck to the yoke, and share the labours of the ox; that still the preparation of the ground in the time of spring depended chiefly on the more powerful exertions of the latter. When this animal was employed in bringing home the produce of the harvest, he was regaled with a mixture of chaff, chopped straw, and various kinds of grain, moistened with acidulated water. But among the Jews, the ox was best fed when employed in treading out the corn; for the divine law, in many of whose precepts the benevolence of the Deity conspicuously shines, forbad to muzzle him, and, by consequence, to prevent him from eating what he would of the grain he was employed to separate from the husks. The ox was also compelled to the labour of dragging the cart or wagon. The number of oxen commonly yoked to one cart appears to have been two, Num 7:3; Num 7:7-8; 1 Samuel 5, 7; 2Sa 6:3; 2Sa 6:6.
The wild ox, , Deu 14:5, is supposed to be the oryx of the Greeks, which is a species of large stag.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Ox
Job 1:14 (c) As in other cases where these two animals are mentioned together, the ox represents the believer who has been made clean by the sacrifice of the lamb, while the ass, an unclean animal, represents the unsaved man who has not been redeemed. In this case the oxen were producing value for their owner, and this the Christian does. The ass was eating up what the owner had, and was not producing any value. This is as the sinner does.
Isa 1:3 (b) This type represents the Christian who is more interested in his blessed Lord than he is in His gifts. The ass represents the unsaved, who is more interested in the gifts than in the Giver.
Isa 32:20 (c) Our Lord is teaching us that His people should be busy at profitable work for Him among all people (the waters), and that we should have a part in sending forth those who will labor for our Lord in every clime and nation.
Isa 66:3 (b) Our Lord uses this strange language to express His feelings about those who come to Him with a good offering from a bad heart. These people were enemies of our Lord while they were performing the religious rites prescribed by the law of Moses. They were hypocrites, and the Lord saw through their hypocrisy.
Eze 1:10 (b) This symbol represents the Lord JESUS as the servant of GOD and the servant of man. The ox lives entirely for the service of others. It is a beast of burden and is used for no other purpose. Our Lord JESUS was GOD’s servant, as we read in Isa 42:1. He also came to serve us, as we read in Luk 22:27. This same figure is used about our Lord in Eze 10:14, and again in Rev 4:7.
1Co 9:9 (b) By this figure the Lord is describing our obligation to the servant of GOD who preaches and teaches in the church of GOD. As the animal who works for his owner is entitled to the food, so the servant of GOD is entitled to remuneration from those whom he serves.