Bullock

Bullock translates Hebrew terms for young bulls used extensively in the sacrificial system of ancient Israel. Bulls and bullocks were the most expensive sacrificial animals, required for the most solemn rites: the sin offering for the high priest or the whole congregation (Lev. 4:3–21), the consecration of priests (Ex. 29:1), and the elaborate sacrifices of the major festivals (Num. 28–29). A young bull without blemish was the paradigmatic animal of the burnt offering, its full consumption by fire signifying total consecration to God.

The prophets used bullock imagery to critique the reduction of worship to mere ritual formalism. Isaiah 1:11 voices God's disgust at the “abundance of burnt offerings, rams and fat of fed beasts,” when justice and compassion were absent, and Hosea 14:2 calls Israel to offer “the bulls of our lips”—that is, verbal praise rather than animal sacrifice—as the appropriate offering of a repentant people. Psalm 69:31 similarly declares that a humble, thankful heart pleases the LORD more than an ox or bullock with horns and hoofs, anticipating the New Testament's spiritual reinterpretation of sacrifice.