Greek word · G1016

βοῦς

bous

ox

An animal of the cattle kind, male or female: ox, bull or cow. Unlike modern English 'ox', it does not mean a castrated draught animal.

Appears 8 times in 7 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

βοῦς, βοός, ὁ, ἡ,

[in LXX chiefly for בָּקָר ;]

an ox, a cow: Luke 13:15 14:5, 19 John 2:14, 15 1 Corinthians 9:9" (LXX), 1 Timothy 5:18.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of John 2:14

Range of meaning

An animal of the cattle kind, male or female: ox, bull or cow. Unlike modern English 'ox', it does not mean a castrated draught animal.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, YLT and ESV say 'oxen' and BSB, NIV and NLT say 'cattle'. 'Cattle' fits the general sense better. A modern reader may hear 'oxen' as plough animals.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint it renders Hebrew baqar and shor, 'herd animals'. Deut 16:2 orders the Passover to be sacrificed 'from the flock and the herd'. Later Jewish interpretation took the herd animals as the extra festival offerings eaten during the feast.

Where it appears

Luke · 3

  1. Luke 13:15 βοῦν ox

    “You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water?

    Here: The main working animal of a farming household, and valuable property. The ox is named in the Sabbath commandment itself (Deut 5:14).

  2. Luke 14:5 βοῦς an ox

    And He asked them, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?”

  3. Luke 14:19 βοῶν of oxen

    Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’

John · 2

  1. John 2:14 βόας oxen

    In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables.

    Here: Cattle of either sex, used for the larger sacrifices, such as the festival and peace offerings that went with Passover. Only John mentions them in this scene.

  2. John 2:15 βόας, oxen,

    So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

    Here: Cattle sold for larger sacrifices such as peace offerings and festival offerings. Because this noun is masculine, it helps explain why 'all' is masculine.

1 Corinthians · 2

  1. 1 Corinthians 9:9 βοῦν βοῶν an ox, oxen

    For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned?

    Here: A working bovine, an ox or cow, the main draft animal of ancient farming.

1 Timothy · 1

  1. 1 Timothy 5:18 βοῦν An ox

    For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”

    Here: The working draft animal of Israelite farming, the most valuable piece of 'equipment' a farmer had. It is the object of the verb, placed first for emphasis: "an ox that is threshing..."

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.