Dictionary of Bible Themes: 4615 bull

4615 bull

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Dictionary of Bible Themes » 4000 Creation » 4600 Living beings » 4615 bull

Bulls were particularly prized as sacrifices on account of their considerable value. The sacrifice of a bull was especially associated with the sin offering.

Bulls offered as sacrifices

Exodus 29:36; 2 Samuel 6:12-13; Acts 14:13 Also used in pagan sacrifices. See also Numbers 23:1-4; Job 42:7-8; Psalm 66:15; Hebrews 9:13

Instructions for the offering of a bull

Leviticus 4:13-21 See also Leviticus 1:3-9

Bulls sacrificed on significant occasions

Numbers 28:16-20 The Passover. See also Exodus 24:4-5 the covenant confirmed; Exodus 29:10-14; Leviticus 9:2; Leviticus 16:11-14 the Day of Atonement; Numbers 8:5-12; Numbers 29:12-13; 1 Samuel 1:24; 1 Chronicles 15:25-26; 1 C 21-22; 2 Chronicles 29:20-24; Ezra 6:9-10; Ezra 8:35; Ezekiel 43:19-27; Ezekiel 45:18-24

Godly sacrifices in contrast to pagan ones

1 Kings 18:22-24 See also Judges 6:25-28

Even the sacrifice of bulls invalid without the spiritual conditions being fulfilled

Psalm 69:30-31; Isaiah 1:11 See also Psalm 50:9,13; Isaiah 66:3; Hosea 12:11

Provisional nature of the OT sin offering of a bull

Hebrews 10:4

The bull as a symbol of strength

Deuteronomy 33:17 See also Psalm 22:12; Psalm 68:30

Laws concerning bulls

Exodus 21:28-36

Bulls in the design of the temple

1 Kings 7:25-29 pp 2 Chronicles 4:3-4; 2 Kings 16:17; Jeremiah 52:20

Bulls in the setting of judgment

Isaiah 34:6-7; Jeremiah 50:27

Bulls and idolatry

Psalm 106:20