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BULLOCK

animal theological_term standard

A bullock is a young bull or ox, especially one used in Old Testament sacrifice.

At a Glance

Archaic Bible term for a young bull or ox, especially one used in sacrifice.

Key Points

Description

In biblical usage, a bullock is a young bull or ox, especially one offered in sacrifice under the Mosaic law. English Bibles and older Christian literature often use the term in passages dealing with burnt offerings, sin offerings, ordination, and other forms of tabernacle or temple worship. Because such animals were valuable, the word can also carry associations of strength, prosperity, or costly devotion, but those ideas arise from context rather than from a fixed symbolic meaning. The term is therefore best understood as a concrete animal word that becomes theologically significant when used in sacrificial settings.

Biblical Context

Bullocks appear in Old Testament farming and sacrificial life. They are used in offerings connected with atonement, consecration, thanksgiving, and public worship, especially in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and the Prophets.

Historical Context

In ancient Israel, cattle were a major measure of wealth and a significant source of labor and sacrifice. A bullock was therefore both economically valuable and ritually important.

Jewish and Ancient Context

Within ancient Israel’s sacrificial system, cattle offerings were among the costlier forms of worship. Such offerings underscored the seriousness of sin, the holiness of God, and the need for substitutionary sacrifice under the old covenant.

Primary Key Texts

Secondary Key Texts

Original Language Note

English bullock usually reflects Hebrew terms for a young bull or cattle, depending on the passage and translation. The precise Hebrew word varies by context.

Theological Significance

When used in sacrificial contexts, the bullock points to the costliness of worship and the seriousness of sin under the Mosaic covenant. Its significance lies in the offering system it serves, not in a stand-alone symbolism detached from context.

Philosophical Explanation

The term is concrete rather than abstract: it names a real animal. Any symbolic value comes secondarily from what the animal represents in a given passage, not from the word itself.

Interpretive Cautions

Do not assign one fixed symbolic meaning to bullock in every passage. In some contexts it is simply livestock; in others it is a sacrificial animal. Read the term according to genre and immediate context.

Major Views

Most interpreters treat bullock as a straightforward animal term, with theological weight arising mainly in sacrificial passages. It is not normally treated as a distinct biblical symbol with a single, uniform meaning.

Doctrinal Boundaries

Bullocks in sacrifice belong to the Old Testament ceremonial system and should not be pressed into unsupported allegory. Their use may illustrate substitution and worship, but doctrine should be derived from the broader teaching of Scripture.

Practical Significance

The term reminds readers that Old Testament worship involved costly offerings and that sin required atonement under the law. It also helps modern readers understand older Bible translations and sacrificial passages more accurately.

Related Entries

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Data

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