Heifer
“Young cow; from roots meaning calf and cow respectively”
Summary
A heifer is a young cow, used in Scripture for sacrifice, agricultural work, and as a symbol; the red heifer's ashes were used to prepare the water of purification for removing ceremonial defilement.
☩Use in Sacrifice
A heifer used for sacrifice was required to be without blemish and one that had never been under the yoke. In the case of an unsolved murder found in the open country, the elders of the nearest city were to take a heifer that had never worked and break its neck in a valley with running water, thus transferring the bloodguilt from the community. The red heifer was slain and completely burned with cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, and its ashes mixed with running water produced the 'water of separation' used for purifying those defiled by contact with the dead.
☩Agricultural Use
The heifer was not commonly used for plowing but for treading out the grain, when it was allowed to eat freely without a muzzle. Hence the expression 'untrained heifer' or 'backsliding heifer' describes one not yet broken to the yoke. The phrase 'heifer of three years old' indicates one in full vigor but not yet subdued—as Moab was unsubdued until judgment came.
☩Symbolic Usage
Samson's accusation 'If you had not plowed with my heifer' refers to unfair advantage gained through his wife. Egypt is compared to 'a very fair heifer,' possibly alluding to the worship of Apis under calf form, with destruction coming like a gadfly. The 'kine of Bashan'—fat cows—symbolized the effeminate, luxurious nobles of Israel. Israel herself is called a refractory heifer that tosses off the yoke of God's law.
Related Verses20 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Heifer," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.George Morrish, "Heifer," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Heifer," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).