Cow

Cows and cattle were central to the agricultural and sacrificial life of ancient Israel. The Mosaic law required that a cow and her calf not be killed on the same day (Leviticus 22:28) — a principle of humane restraint in animal husbandry. The prohibition against seething a kid in its mother's milk (Exodus 23:19; Deuteronomy 14:21) reflects a similar concern, and became foundational in the later development of kosher food laws. Seven fat and seven lean cows in Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41) symbolized the seven years of plenty and seven of famine — one of the most memorable uses of animal symbolism in patriarchal narrative.

Cows were used both as draft animals for plowing and as sacrificial animals. The red heifer of Numbers 19 — a cow without blemish that had never been yoked — was used in the purification ritual for those defiled by contact with a corpse. Isaiah 7:21 pictures the messianic age of simplicity as a time when a man will keep only one cow and two sheep yet have abundant dairy. Amos 4:1 uses the image of cows of Bashan — the fat, well-fed cattle of the Transjordanian plateau — as a metaphor for the self-indulgent wealthy women of Samaria.