Bible Dictionary
Cow
A cow was a domesticated animal used for food and livelihood. Israel’s law forbade killing a cow and its calf on the same day, and Isaiah used one cow and two sheep to picture extreme poverty.
Definition
A cow is a domesticated female bovine used for food and livelihood. Scripture presents it as an animal whose milk and produce could sustain a household, and whose treatment was regulated by Israelite law.
Biblical Usage
The law forbade killing a cow and its calf on the same day. Isaiah uses one cow and two sheep to portray a condition of severe poverty in which a man depends on their produce for himself and his family.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A cow and her calf were not to be killed on the same day (Lev. 22:28; Ex. 23:19; Deut. 22:6, 7). The reason for this enactment is not given. A state of great poverty is described in the words of Isa. 7:21-25, where, instead of possessing great resources, a man shall depend for the subsistence of himself and his family on what a single cow and two sheep could yield.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
[Bull, Bullock]