βοῦς G1016
Ox, bull, cow; domesticated cattle, used in agricultural, sacrificial, and proverbial contexts.
The common Greek noun for an ox or head of cattle, encompassing bulls, oxen, and cows. In the New Testament, βοῦς appears in everyday rural scenes — five yoke of oxen just purchased (Luke 14:19), an ox fallen into a well on the Sabbath (Luke 14:5), an ox untied and led to water (Luke 13:15). It also appears in the temple cleansing, where Jesus drives out those selling oxen and sheep (John 2:14-15). Paul twice quotes Deuteronomy 25:4, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain' (1 Cor 9:9; 1 Tim 5:18), applying it to the right of ministers to earn their living. Spanish 'buey' and French 'boeuf' derive from the same Indo-European root.
Senses
1. ox, cattle — A domesticated bovine — ox, bull, or cow — appearing in agricultural, legal, sacrificial, and proverbial NT contexts. Jesus references oxen in Sabbath-controversy parables (Luke 13:15; 14:5) and the excuse of a banquet invitee who bought five yoke of oxen (Luke 14:19). The temple cleansing involves sellers of oxen (John 2:14-15). Paul's quotation of 'do not muzzle the ox' (1 Cor 9:9; 1 Tim 5:18) gives the word a metaphorical-ethical extension. Spanish 'buey,' French 'boeuf,' and German 'Rinder' all denote the same domesticated beast of burden. 8×
AR["الثِيرانِ", "بَقَرًا", "بَقَرَ", "ثَوْراً", "ثَوْرَهُ", "ثَوْرُهُ", "ثِيرَانٍ"]·ben["গরু", "গরুকে", "গরুদের", "বলদ", "বলদকে", "বলদের"]·DE["Rinder", "βοῦν", "βοῦς", "βοῶν"]·EN["an-ox", "of-oxen", "ox", "oxen"]·FR["bœuf"]·heb["בָּקָר", "שְׁוָרִים", "שׁוֹר", "שׁוֹרוֹ"]·HI["बैल", "बैल;", "बैलों", "बैलों-की"]·ID["Lembu", "lembu", "lembu-lembu", "lembu;"]·IT["boun", "bue"]·jav["Sapi", "lembu", "sapi", "sapi;"]·KO["소가", "소들-과", "소들-을", "소들을", "소를", "소의"]·PT["Boi", "boi", "bois", "bois;", "de-bois"]·RU["быка", "вол", "вола", "волах", "волов"]·ES["Buey", "a-buey", "buey", "bueyes", "de-bueyes"]·SW["Ng'ombe", "ng'ombe", "ngʼombe", "za-ngʼombe"]·TR["ağzını bağlayacaksın", "Öküzü", "öküz", "öküzler için-", "öküzleri", "öküzü", "öküzünü"]·urd["بیل", "بیل؛", "بیلوں", "بیلوں-کے"]
Related Senses
H6629 1. flock, sheep/goats (small livestock) (274×)H1241 1. cattle, herd (bovine livestock) (183×)H0352a 1. ram (male sheep) (156×)H6499 1. young bull, bullock (130×)H3532 1. lamb, young male sheep (105×)H2543 1. donkey (male ass) (96×)H7794 1. ox, bull (79×)H7462b 1. shepherd (agent noun) (76×)H5795 1. she-goat(s), female goat(s) (68×)H7462b 2. to shepherd, tend, pasture (60×)H1581 1. camel (domestic animal) (54×)H0738b 1. lion (46×)G4263 1. sheep (39×)H5739 1. flock or herd of livestock (38×)H5695 1. calf, young bull (35×)H0738a 1. lion (large predatory feline) (34×)H0860 1. female donkey (34×)H3611 1. dog (animal) (32×)H3715a 1. young lion, lion cub (31×)G0721 1. Lamb (29×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
βοῦς, Doric dialect βῶς Refs 3rd c.BC+, poetry also βοῦ Refs 8th c.BC+ and Doric dialect, Refs 3rd c.BC+, Ionic dialect and poetry also βόα Refs 8th c.BC+, rarely contraction βοῦς Refs 5th c.BC+, contraction βῶν Refs 8th c.BC+, Epic dialect βόεσσι, βοσί Refs 1st c.AD+; Boeotian dialect βούεσσι Refs 8th c.BC+, and Attic dialect, NT+4th c.BC+:—bullock, bull, ox, or cow, in plural cattle, commonly…