1. cattle, oxen — A noun denoting domesticated bovines, primarily cattle or oxen used in agricultural tillage and animal husbandry. This is the first homonym (I. אֶלֶף) meaning 'cattle', distinct from the far more common II. אֶלֶף 'thousand'. Occurrences include the blessing/curse formulae of Deuteronomy 7:13 and 28:4, 18, 51 ('the increase of your cattle'), Psalm 8:8 ('oxen' as part of God's creation under human dominion), Isaiah 30:24 ('the oxen and donkeys that till the ground'), and Proverbs 14:4 ('where there are no oxen the manger is clean'). The multilingual glosses consistently point to bovines: Arabic بَقَر (cattle) and ثِيرَان (bulls), German Rinder/Ochsen, Korean 소들/황소, Spanish ganado/bueyes/vacas. All four clusters share this same referent, with splits arising from possessive suffixes ('your cattle') and conjunction prefixes ('and oxen'), not distinct meanings. 7×
AR["بَقَرِكَ","ثيرانٍ","وَ-الثِّيرَانُ","وَ-بَقَرًا"]·ben["এবং-গরুগুলি","ও-গরুরা","তোমার-গবাদিপশুর","তোমার-গরুদের","তোমার-গোরুর","বলদের"]·DE["[אלפים]","[והאלפים]","dein-Rinder","und-Ochsen"]·EN["And-the-oxen","and-oxen","oxen","your-cattle"]·FR["[והאלפים]","et-milliers","ton-bétail","אלפים"]·heb["אלפיך","אלפים","ו-אלפים","ו-ה-אלפים"]·HI["और-बैल","गायों-तेरी-के","तेरे-बैलों-की","बैलों-के"]·ID["Dan-lembu-lembu","dan-lembu-lembu","lembu","lembu-lembumu","lembu-sapi-mu"]·IT["[והאלפים]","e-bestiame","oxen","tuo-bestiame"]·jav["lan-sapi","lembu-lembu-panjenengan","lembu-panjenengan","saha-sapi","sapi"]·KO["그리고-그-소들과","그리고-소들","너의-소들의","네-소들-의","황소-들-이"]·PT["E-os-bois","bois","e-bois","teus-bois","tuas-vacas"]·RU["-быков-твоих","И-волы","быков-твоих","волов","и-волов"]·ES["bueyes","tu-ganado","tus-vacas","y-bueyes","y-los-bueyes"]·SW["Na-ng'ombe","na-ng'ombe","ng'ombe","ng'ombe-zako","wa-ng'ombe-wako"]·TR["Ve-sigirlar","sığırlarının","ve-sığır","öküzlerin"]·urd["اور-بیل","بیل","تیرے-بیلوں-کے","تیرے-گائے-بیل"]
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. clan, tribal division — A secondary sense of אֶלֶף referring to a social unit or subdivision within an Israelite tribe, typically translated as 'clan' or 'family group'. This usage appears in Judges 6:15 where Gideon protests that his 'clan' (אַלְפִּי) is the weakest in Manasseh, using the first-person singular possessive suffix. The meaning 'clan/family' likely derives from the notion of a 'thousand' as a military-administrative unit that became a term for the social group itself. The multilingual glosses confirm a non-bovine, non-numerical reading: German 'Sippe' (clan), French 'clan', Korean 씨족 (clan), Spanish 'clan'. This is a genuinely distinct sense from the 'cattle' meaning, representing a social organizational term rather than an animal designation. 1×
AR["أَلْفي"]·ben["আমার-হাজার"]·DE["mein-Sippe"]·EN["my-clan"]·FR["mon-clan"]·heb["אלפי"]·HI["हजार-मेरा"]·ID["ribuan-ku"]·IT["mio-clan"]·jav["kulawarga-kula"]·KO["나의-씨족은"]·PT["meu-milhar"]·RU["род-мой"]·ES["mi-clan"]·SW["ukoo-wangu"]·TR["klanim"]·urd["ہزار-میرا"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. [אֶ֫לֶף] n.m. ψ 8:8; only pl. cattle (Ph. אלף, Assyrian alpu, COTGloss.)—אֲלָפִים Pr 14:4 Is 30:24 used in tillage; subject to man ψ 8:8 (‖ צֹנֶה); their increase שְׁגַר אֲלָפֶיךָ a blessing Dt 7:13; 28:4, 18, 51 (‖ all עַשְׁתְּרֹת צֹאנֶ֑ךָ).