A UNIQUE EXAMINATION OF FOODS, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS IN THE BIBLE
YITRO
BULL SESSION
Cattle, baker (from “to distinguish,” the same root as “morning,” the generic term for domesticated bovine, both singular and a herd) in Hebrew, were integral elements of ancient Middle Eastern civilization, depicted in the earliest Sumerian and Egyptian inscriptions. There are two species of the Bovidae family of particular importance to contemporary humans: Bos taurus, which originated in the eastern Mediterranean area and includes all breeds of western cattle, and Bos indicus, a native of India, characterized by a hump, encompassing the zebu or Brahman. Close relatives include buffalo, bison, and yak. Another branch of the family, not as considered by some to be the ancestor of domesticated cattle, the even larger wild European aurochs (Bos primigenius), became extinct when the last one was killed in Poland in 1627.
Many urban dwellers currently think of cows as docile, even comical figures. On the contrary, they can be extremely dangerous, as any cowboy or bullfighter will attest. The generic Hebrew word for bull, abir, derives rom the root “to be strong/mighty.” The average domesticated bull grows about 8 to 12 feet long and 36 to 44 inches high and weighs 1000 to 2200 pounds (90 to 110 cm). Even among domesticated oxen, the not uncommon occurrence of being gored or trampled by them resulted in severe injury or death (Exodus 21:28). The still bigger and always fearsome wild bulls were once the largest and most powerful animals throughout many parts of the ancient world. Wild bulls are quite proficient at fending off potential predators, their horns certainly capable of maiming or killing a lion. The Midrash (i.e. Genesis Rabbah 31:13 and Midrash Tehillim 22:25) recounted several tales about the r'em ("wild ox," derived from the root "height"), probably referring to the untamable aurochs. Tradition focused special poetic emphasis on the might of its horns (Deuteronomy 33:17, Numbers 23:22,24:8, Job 33:9, Psalms 92:11, 22:22, 29:6). The left face of the “divine chariot” (Ezekiel 1:10) was a shor.
Not only was the Fertile Crescent home to these important grains, but also to three of the most useful animals capable of being domesticated –- cattle, sheep, and goats –- cows quickly becoming an important part of agriculture. The Torah, which mentioned cattle hundreds of times, contained numerous examples of the importance of these animals in ancient Israel. The first letter of the alphabet, alef, represents the symbol of an ox head. The Patriarchs, in addition to their flocks, also owned cattle, a sign of their wealth. The tribes of Rueben and Gad opted to reside on the east bank of the Jordan River, its vast pastureland ideal for their massive herds. David pled to be delivered from, “Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me (Psalms 22:13),” a praise of God despite imminent danger as represented by the bulls. (The cattle of Bashan, Transjordan, were considered stronger than other ancient breeds.) As the tribes settled in Canaan and adapted to agriculture, cattle became even more essential to them and their way of life. Thus "So he (Elijah) departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shapat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth (I Kings 19:19)." In the basic civil laws of Israel laid out in the Mishpatim (Exodus 21-23), oxen are mentioned a total of twenty times.
Although most Westerners tend to think of beef, the meat of cattle over the age of nine months, in terms of dining, this was not the primary reason that these creatures were originally considered so valuable. Around 2625 B.C.E., Egyptians began maintaining records of cattle, including their use for milk, skins, tallow, meat, sport, and particularly for draft purposes. Humans have used very few animals in agriculture and for most of history the single most important one was the mighty ox. The Hebrew word shor (derived from tor, “to enclose” or “journey/observe” and related to the Greek Taurus) refers to an ox, a domesticated bull or cow used for work. In order to yield more manageable and even larger animals, male oxen were commonly castrated, a practice forbidden under Jewish law.
With the advent of rudimentary irrigation systems during the late Stone Age, which dramatically increased the amount of cultivated land, cattle became all the more significant. Oxen not only plowed the fields, but also turned the wheels that drew water from canals and wells, hauled the harvest in carts from the field, carried items on its back, and provided fertilizer for the crops and as fuel. In the warmer climates around the Mediterranean Sea and in parts of the Near East, they could be fed year round for free on the plentiful supply of wild grass. In addition, before the advent of money, cattle, along with sheep and goats, formed the earliest medium of exchange. In essence, bulls provided a low maintenance pump as well as self-perpetuating, tractor, truck, and currency, while the cows contributed the additional benefit of milk and future cattle. Thus the Torah established that if someone stole a shor, thereby seriously effecting the victim's livelihood, he must pay back "five oxen for an ox (Exodus 21:37)," a fine levied exclusively for this particular animal. The ox, along with the other ancient beast of burden, the donkey, are singled out for being allowed to rest on Shabbat (Exodus 23:12). Although eventually horses supplanted oxen in a few areas and technology replaced animal power in the industrialized regions, in some parts of the world bulls remain the primary draft animals. In any case, domesticated oxen served as one of the predominant agents in the development of early civilization, while massive wild bulls inspired awe and admiration.
Considering the physical power, economic importance, and sexual prowess of cattle, it is hardly surprising that polytheistic people worshiped them. The bull was the most powerful god of the Minoans of Crete, viewed as the “shaker of the earth,” rendering earthquakes and volcanoes. Egyptians counted the bull among its most important gods and venerated the black Apis bull of Memphis, regarded as the reincarnation of Ptah, the creator and god of fertility. Thus in Pharaoh's dream healthy cattle, the instruments of plowing and symbol of potency, represented the period of fecundity (Genesis 41:1-4) and the name Potiphar, head of the guards, meant "bull of Africa" or "massive bull" (Genesis 39:1), reflecting his power and status. Sin, the moon-god of Ur, Abraham's home, was depicted as a bull and subsequently bull gods guarded the entrances to Babylonian temples and houses. The head of the Canaanite pantheon, El, the god of fertility, frequently called "the Bull El," was frequently pictured riding an ox. The infamous worship of the god Molech (Leviticus 18:21) involved rolling children into a fire through the hollow center of bronze statues shaped in the image of a man with a bull's head. Baal, the most popular of the pagan gods and one adopted by the Philistines, was also commonly portrayed as a bull. Thus the additional level of meaning when Elijah produced heavenly fire to consume the water-drench bull offering, while the priests of Baal failed in their attempts (I Kings 18:303-40). The Mithraic cult spread from Persia to become the most popular ancient religion 2,000 years ago and the predominant one of imperial Rome. Its induction rites involved killing bulls, after which male initiates were sprinkled with and drank its blood and consumed its flesh in order to absorb its power and be reborn in the afterlife with Mithras, who created the world by killing a bull. Obviously, the association of creation and divine forces with the formidable bull, more than any other creature, pervaded the ancient world.
Whereas Egyptians and Canaanites worshipped the bull, among the Israelites it was merely admired for and sometimes employed in poetry and ritual as a symbol of power and productiveness. Moses described the tribes of Joseph, reflecting their fertility and strength, as, "His firstling bull, majesty is his; and his horns are the horns of the wild bull (Deuteronomy 33:17)." Similarly, the force of the act of bringing the Israelites out of Egypt is compared "for them like the lofty horns of the wild bull (Numbers 23:22)." The most noticeable feature of the bronze altar (Exodus 27:2), the outer platform of the sanctuary's courtyard, was that keranot ("horns") shaped like those of a bull projected from its four corners. These protrusions were hardly mere ornamentation, as a little of the offering's blood, which represents life, was placed on them (Leviticus 4:25,30).In addition, the large bronze wash basin of Solomon's Temple was placed on a pedestal consisting of 12 bronze bulls (I Kings 7:25). As elsewhere in Jewish tradition, horns, more specifically bull horns, represented power and salvation, "You are they glory of their strength; and in Your favor our horn is exalted (Psalms 89:18)." Which is why Samuel used a horn of oil to anoint David as king (I Samuel 16:13) and the same symbol was employed for the messiah, "There I will make the horn of David to flower (Psalms 132:17)." The connection of cattle to the Messianic Age was amplified in the Midrash with the Shor ha-bor, the great ox that would be part of the meal for the righteous in the Time to Come.
Which brings us to the parsha of Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23), most noted for the giving of the Ten Commandments. The subject immediately after the revelation on Sinai involved several seemingly unrelated verses, including, "You shall make an alter of earth for Me, and sacrifice on it your burnt-offerings and your peace-offerings, your sheep and your cattle (Exodus 20:21)." From the onset, the Israelites were warned about the dangers of deifying important and powerful elements in their life, of transforming means into ends. This is precisely why the injunction to the Israelites of the use of sheep and cows in sacrifices is adjoined to the verse, "You shall not make with Me -- gods of silver, or gods of gold, you shall not make for you (Exodus 20:20)." Notice the wording "with Me," warning against the representation of the Divinity with symbols. The various horn and bovine references in Jewish lore are intended as only metaphors, not as a surrogate for God, and the people have to be careful to keep it that way.
Of course, sometimes the line between symbol and substitute was crossed, most notably by the Golden Calf. Perhaps the calf represented the oracle of the Apis bull, desired to predict the future and lead the way with Moses seemingly missing. This episode is echoed in the 10th century B.C.E., when Jeroboam, first king of Israel (I Kings 12:28), "made two calves of gold; and he said to them: 'You have gone up long enough to Jerusalem, behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.'" Interestingly, the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 26a) forbade using a cow's horn to fulfill the commandment of shofar, partially because it is called a "keren" (horn) instead of a shofar as well as its association with the Golden Calf, "the accuser cannot become the defender."
In pagan religions, animals were sacrificed, the entire animal destroyed, to provide sustenance for the god's. Such was not the case with animal offerings in Judaism. Jewish offerings were primarily for thanksgiving, repentance, or reconciliation with God. Therefore, except for a few symbolic parts of the animal, most of the meat went to the giver or the priests. The animal was merely a physical manifestation of intent. With an offering in the Temple, it was truly the thought that counted. Thus, "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. And it shall please the Lord better than a bull that has horns and hoofs (Psalms 69:31-32)."
In the Temple, sheep, goats, and doves were the usual animals sacrificed in the Temple, with cattle called for only on certain occasions. A bull was sacrificed to atone for national sins (Leviticus 4:13-14) and priestly sins (Leviticus 4:3), the Cohanim serving as the means of tendering the various offerings. When Solomon dedicated the Temple, he offered, "a thousand young bulls, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel (I Chronicles 29:21)." Two young bulls were brought on each day of Passover (Number 28:19-24) and on Shavuot (Numbers 28:26-29) and Rosh Chodesh (the New Moon) (Numbers 28:11-14). Seventy bulls were offered during the course of the holiday of Sukkot (Numbers 29:12-38), corresponding to the nations of the world and the 70 names descended from Noah (Genesis 10). Each of these circumstances of offering a bull involved national or universal repentance or redemption, calling on the power of God. Thus when symbols and sacrifices are used properly, "in every place where I cause My name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you (Exodus 20:21)." The perversion of symbols, however, which most often came in the form of a bull in the ancient world, leads to disaster, including the destruction of the northern tribes of Israel and the First Temple. That is why the Torah, understanding human nature and history, issued a note of warning immediately after the giving of the Ten Commandments.
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