Cattle are large farm animals that people raise for meat, milk, and other uses. Cattle typically refers to cows and oxen, but in the Bible "cattle" sometimes also refers to sheep and goats.
Early Uses of Cattle
The Old Testament often emphasized the beauty of cattle. Egypt, especially the area called Goshen near the Nile River, had many cattle. The Hebrew people lived there when Joseph brought them to Egypt.
Early peoples may have first kept cattle mainly for milk rather than meat. They got their meat from wild animals they hunted. Cattle provided strong hides for shields, replacing wood. They used their dung as fuel when there was not enough wood (Ezra 4:15). Cattle were also used for heavy loads and plowing. Farmers used cattle to pull wheeled transport more than any other animal.
Types of Cattle
The Bible uses “cattle” to refer to all trained animals or livestock (Genesis 1:24; 2:20; 7:23; 47:6, 16–17; Exodus 9:3–7; Numbers 3:41, 45). Sometimes, it meant all large trained animals (Numbers 31:9; 32:26). However, sometimes the King James Version uses cattle to refer only to sheep and goats (Genesis 30:32, 39, 43; 31:8, 10; Isaiah 7:25; 43:23).
Various cattle types were tamed in the holy land. In southern Judah, small, short-legged, black or brown shorthorn cattle thrived. They were easy to train and vital for farming. Along the coast, a larger cattle type was found. Meanwhile, the wild areas east of the Jordan River were home to large black cattle.
Breeding and Laws about Cattle
Cattle breeding was widely practiced by the patriarchs (see Genesis 32:15; Job 21:10). Strict laws in Mesopotamia, as well as in Israel, penalized the owner of a bull that gored a man or other cattle (Exodus 21:28–36). Bulls were sometimes used as a symbol of strength or violence (Deuteronomy 33:17; Psalms 22:12; 68:30; Isaiah 10:13). Usually, one bull can breed with about 30 cows. However, more bulls were kept in Israel. This was because bulls were often used for general sacrifices (Leviticus 22:23; Numbers 23:1) or for special sacrifices (Judges 6:25; 1 Samuel 1:24).
Particular sacrifices were offered at the:
anointing of priests (Exodus 29:1)
Purification of the Levites (Numbers 8)
Sin offerings (Leviticus 16)
Day of the new moon (Numbers 28:11–14)
Feast of Weeks (Numbers 28:27)
Feast of Trumpets (Numbers 29:1–2)
Day of Atonement (Numbers 29:7–9)
The Feast of Tabernacles required the most bulls for burnt offerings of all the annual feasts. A total of 71 were slaughtered over eight days.
Calves in the Bible
Calves were sometimes called “sons of the herd” in the original Hebrew (Genesis 18:8; 1 Samuel 6:7; 14:32). The calf was a symbol of peacefulness (Isaiah 11:6). It was also used to refer to the weak (Psalm 68:30). A calf’s head decorated the back of Solomon’s throne (1 Kings 10:19). Calves were sometimes fed in stalls to keep them from running and losing weight in the field (Amos 6:4; Malachi 4:2; Luke 15:23). They may also have been kept around the house. The witch of Endor kept a calf in her house. She killed it and served it to Saul and his men (1 Samuel 28:24–25). Calves supplied veal (Genesis 18:7), a delicacy of the rich. Amos criticized the wealthy for their luxurious, careless lives. He mentioned the stall-fattened calves (Amos 6:4).Calves also supplied meat for all Saul’s armies at the great slaughter of the Philistines (1 Samuel 14:32). The “fatted calf” served roasted or boiled was gourmet fare, suitable for the finest banquet (Genesis 18:7; Matthew 22:4; Luke 15:23).
Cattle were included in the law of firstborn (Exodus 13:12). They were a sign of wealth (Genesis 13:2) and were allowed to be spoils of war (Joshua 8:2). Aaron, the first high priest, made a golden calf to rival the ark of the covenant (Exodus 32; Deuteronomy 9:16, 21). hough he called the calf an image of the invisible God, it was offensive. The calf was a fertility symbol linked to Egyptian and Canaanite practices. Two calves were later made by Jeroboam I of Israel for the shrines at Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28–33). Hosea’s prophetic rejection of calf worship were directed at those shrines (Hosea 8:5–6; 13:2).
Oxen and Their Uses
An ox is an adult bull that has been neutered (had its reproductive organs removed). A young ox is called a steer. People used oxen to do work (Numbers 7:3; Deuteronomy 22:10; 25:4). However, cows were used to move heavy objects because they were gentler.
Oxen were also used as pack animals (1 Chronicles 12:40). However, they had less energy than donkeys, camels, or mules. They usually ate grass (Numbers 22:4; Psalm 106:20), but they also ate straw (Isaiah 11:7) and salted fodder (food prepared for cattle) (Isaiah 30:24). They were kept in stables (Luke 13:15). Oxen could not be offered as sacrifices because they had been castrated (Leviticus 22:24). They could be used for food but were rarely eaten. In ancient Palestine, an ox and an ass were the bare minimum for survival in the agricultural economy (Job 24:3; compare Exodus 20:17).