Lexical Summary
eglah: Heifer
Original Word:עֶגְלָה
Part of Speech:Noun Feminine
Transliteration:`eglah
Pronunciation:ehg-LAH
Phonetic Spelling:(eg-law')
KJV: calf, cow, heifer
NASB:heifer, calf, heifer's
Word Origin:[feminine ofH5695 (עֵגֶל - calf)]
1. a (female) calf, especially one nearly grown (i.e. a heifer)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
calf, cow, heifer
Feminine ofegel; a (female) calf, especially one nearly grown (i.e. A heifer) -- calf, cow, heifer.
see HEBREWegel
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfem. of
egelDefinitiona heifer
NASB Translationcalf (1), heifer (10), heifer's (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
I. ; — absolute
Genesis 15:9 +; construct
Isaiah 7:21 +; suffix
Judges 14:18; plural construct
Hosea 10:5 (but see below); —
heifer,
Isaiah 7:21, used in ploughing
Judges 14:18 (figurative), threshing
Jeremiah 50:11 ( , in simile, see , read perhaps ), figurative of stateliness etc.
Jeremiah 46:20;
Hosea 10:11a trained heifer (simile of Ephraim); used for sacrifice
1 Samuel 16:2 (); cut in two for ratifying covenant
Genesis 15:9 (J; ; compare
Jeremiah 34:18,19); in cleansing city from blood-guiltiness
Deuteronomy 21:3 ( ),
Deuteronomy 21:4;
Deuteronomy 21:4;
Deuteronomy 21:6; once of
calves worshipped in Northern Israel
Hosea 10:5 (where read probably , so We Now GASm, compare Che, see also the following suffixes masculine singular).
; — (the)third, EglathIsaiah 15:5 ( )Jeremiah 48:34 ( ), near Zoar and southern border of Moab.
Topical Lexicon
Overviewעֶגְלָה (eglah) designates a young female bovine—a heifer. Scripture places the animal within Israel’s everyday agrarian life, Israel’s sacrificial system, judicial procedure, and prophetic imagery. The heifer is depicted as valuable, innocent, strong, and, when yoked, submissive; these traits shape the varied theological lessons drawn from its fourteen canonical appearances.
Cultic and Covenant Significance
1. Sacrifice of Covenant Confirmation
•Genesis 15:9 records the heifer offered by Abram when the LORD “cut” the covenant that guaranteed the land promise. “And He said to him, ‘Bring Me a heifer three years old…’ ”. The slain heifer, divided in two, set the stage for the LORD’s fiery presence passing between the pieces, dramatizing God’s unilateral commitment and foreshadowing the cost He Himself would bear to uphold His pledge.
2. Atonement for Unsolved Bloodshed
•Deuteronomy 21:1–9 prescribes an unworked heifer whose neck is broken in an unploughed valley when a murder is committed and no killer is found. “All the elders of that city nearest the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley” (Deuteronomy 21:6). The untouched heifer, innocent of labor or yoke, carried symbolic innocence, allowing the community to plead, “Accept atonement, O LORD for Your people Israel” (verse 8). The ceremony upheld the sanctity of life and displayed God’s provision for communal cleansing.
Illustrative Uses in Historical Narratives
1. A Riddle’s Key
• Samson frames Philistine treachery with a proverb: “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle” (Judges 14:18). The heifer image underscores exploited intimacy; Samson’s wife, like a heifer unlawfully yoked, was used to extract his secret.
2. Cover for Prophetic Anointing
• When Samuel feared Saul’s wrath, the LORD instructed, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD’ ” (1 Samuel 16:2). The presence of the heifer facilitated legitimate worship while allowing Samuel to obey God by anointing David. The episode testifies that obedience need not conflict with prudence when God Himself gives the strategy.
Prophetic Metaphors of Nations and Idolatry
1. Egypt—Beauty without Defense
• “Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her” (Jeremiah 46:20). The elegance of a well-fed heifer masks vulnerability; Egypt’s armies will scatter before Babylon’s onslaught.
2. Moab—A Weeping Heifer
• Isaiah’s oracle mourns, “My heart cries out for Moab… even to Eglath-shelishiyah” (Isaiah 15:5). The place-name Eglath, “heifer-calf,” evokes helpless sorrow as Moab’s fugitives flee.
3. Babylon—Self-Indulgent Heifers
• Jeremiah indicts the Babylonians: “You frolic like a heifer treading grain and neigh like stallions” (Jeremiah 50:11). The picture of carefree trampling contrasts with the impending judgment that will yoke them.
4. Israel and Ephraim—Trained yet Rebellious
• Hosea twice employs the heifer. First, Beth-aven’s calf-idol causes panic in the northern kingdom: “The people of Samaria fear for the calf of Beth-aven… it will even be carried to Assyria as tribute for the great king” (Hosea 10:5–6). Second, “Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to tread grain, but I will place a yoke on her fair neck; I will drive Ephraim, Judah will plow, and Jacob will break up the ground” (Hosea 10:11). The metaphor moves from privilege (free treading with ample food) to discipline (the yoke of Assyrian exile), stressing that covenant blessing cannot coexist with idolatry.
Theological Reflections
• Innocence and Substitution: In bothGenesis 15 andDeuteronomy 21 the heifer’s death stands between guilt and judgment, anticipating the ultimate innocent Substitute.
• Yoke Imagery: The heifer can serve willingly (Hosea 10:11a) or be forced under judgment (Hosea 10:11b). Christ’s call, “My yoke is easy” (Matthew 11:30), offers the true rest the rebellious heifer never finds.
• National Accountability: Prophetic comparisons remind every people that prosperity without submission invites downfall. Whether Egypt’s beauty, Moab’s tears, or Israel’s idolatry, the heifer imagery presses the truth that “righteousness exalts a nation” (Proverbs 14:34).
Ministry Application
Pastors and teachers may draw on עֶגְלָה to illustrate:
1. God’s faithfulness to His covenants in Christ, secured by sacrificial blood.
2. The gravity of communal sin and the necessity of corporate repentance.
3. The danger of spiritual complacency pictured in a well-fed but unguarded heifer.
4. The grace of divine discipline that seeks to bring a wayward people back under a life-giving yoke.
By tracing the heifer from patriarchal altars to prophetic oracles, believers gain a unified vision of Scripture’s call: surrender to the covenant-keeping God who, in the final sacrifice of His Son, provides the atonement all earlier heifers only prefigured.
Forms and Transliterations
בְּעֶגְלָתִ֔י בעגלתי הָֽעֶגְלָה֙ הָעֶגְלָ֖ה העגלה כְּעֶגְלָ֣ה כעגלה לְעֶגְלוֹת֙ לעגלות עֶגְלַ֖ת עֶגְלַ֣ת עֶגְלַ֤ת עֶגְלַ֥ת עֶגְלָ֣ה עֶגְלָ֤ה עֶגְלָ֥ה עגלה עגלת ‘eḡ·lāh ‘eḡ·laṯ ‘eḡlāh ‘eḡlaṯ bə‘eḡlāṯî bə·‘eḡ·lā·ṯî beeglaTi egLah egLat hā‘eḡlāh hā·‘eḡ·lāh haegLah kə‘eḡlāh kə·‘eḡ·lāh keegLah lə‘eḡlōwṯ lə·‘eḡ·lō·wṯ leeglOt
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