Ox, Oxen, Herd, Cattle
Ox, Oxen, Herd, Cattle
OX, OXEN, HERD, CATTLE
1. shr, Gen 32:5, 1Sa 22:19 etc.; Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] tor (cf. Arab-thaur) is used in Ezr 6:8; Ezr 6:17; Ezr 7:17 and Dan 4:25; Dan 4:32-33; shr is used collectively and also for a single member of the bovine species of any age and either sex.
2. lphm (only in pl.); a general term for oxen, Deu 7:13; Deu 28:4; Deu 28:18; Deu 28:51, Psa 8:7, Pro 14:4, Isa 30:24.
3. par young hull, bullock; and prh young cow. See Heifer.
4. abbr (in plur.) bulls in Psa 22:12; Psa 50:13, Isa 34:7; but strong ones or horses elsewhere.
5. te, Deu 14:5 AV [Note: Authorized Version.] wild ox, RV [Note: Revised Version.] antelope; t. Isa 51:20 AV [Note: Authorized Version.] wild bull, RV [Note: Revised Version.] antelope.
6. dher herd; in Joe 1:18 conjoined with bqr = herds of oxen; and in same versa with tsn = herds (EV [Note: English Version.] flocks) of small cattle (sheep and goats).
7. migneh usually tr. [Note: translate or translation.] cattle; in Gen 47:17 conjoined with bgr = herds (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] cattle of the herds.
8. bhmah cattle; in Gen 47:18 conjoined with migneh = herds of cattle.
Oxen are specially valuable in Palestine for ploughing (Deu 22:19, 1Ki 19:19) and for threshing, i.e. treading out the corn (Deu 25:4, Hos 10:11). They were used for carts (Num 7:3); the Circassians, recently settled in Palestine, use them extensively in this way, but not the fellahn. In 1Ch 12:40 oxen are also mentioned as burden-bearers. Their use for sacrifice is repeatedly referred to (see 1Ki 8:53, 2Ch 29:33). The cattle of Palestine are small and mostly lean, owing to poor food and much work. They are most plentiful in Galilee, where the pasturage is better; and a much larger breed, the cows of which give excellent milk, flourishes around Damascus. In several parts of the Jordan Valley, notably in el-Batiha, N. of Lake of Tiberias, and near Lake Huleh, the buffalo or jamus (Bosbubalus) is kept by the Bedouin; it yields excellent milk.
For the wild ox (RV [Note: Revised Version.] tr. [Note: translate or translation.] of rm), see Unicorn.
E. W. G. Masterman.