What does βοῦς (boûs) mean in the Bible?
Bous means an ox or head of cattle. In the New Testament, the word appears in ordinary agricultural and temple-market settings, and in Pauls use of the law about not muzzling an ox.
Greek · G1016
βοῦς
Ox
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βοῦς G1016
Pronunciation boûs
What does βοῦς (boûs) mean in the Bible?
Bous means an ox or head of cattle. In the New Testament, the word appears in ordinary agricultural and temple-market settings, and in Pauls use of the law about not muzzling an ox.
Reader summary
Full entry for βοῦς (G1016) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1016?
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include an ox (2), cattle (2), ox (2), of oxen (1), oxen (1).
Where does βοῦς (boûs) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 13:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), 1 Corinthians (2), John (2), 1 Timothy (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Bous means an ox or head of cattle. In the New Testament, the word appears in ordinary agricultural and temple-market settings, and in Pauls use of the law about not muzzling an ox. Jesus uses ox examples in Sabbath controversies to expose hypocrisy: people will care for an animal on the Sabbath, so mercy toward suffering people should not be condemned. Another ox reference appears in a parable where purchased oxen become an excuse for rejecting the banquet invitation.
John places cattle in the temple courts when Jesus cleanses the temple. Paul and 1 Timothy cite the ox-treading-grain law to defend material care for gospel laborers and elders. Bous therefore teaches from common embodied life: animals, work, property, worship, mercy, and just support all stand under God rule.
How the Bible Uses It
Bous appears in Sabbath mercy arguments, excuses against banquet invitation, temple cleansing, and apostolic teaching about worker support. It is concrete animal language, but it carries ethical force where Scripture uses ordinary creaturely care to expose hypocrisy or teach justice.
- Luke.13.15
“You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water?
Jesus argues from common Sabbath care for an ox or donkey to defend healing a bound woman. Ordinary animal mercy exposes human hardness.
- Luke.14.5
And He asked them, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?”
Jesus asks whether a son or ox in a pit would be pulled out on the Sabbath. The example presses mercy and urgency.
- Luke.14.19
Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’
Purchased oxen become an excuse for refusing the banquet. Legitimate property concerns can become spiritually dangerous delays.
- John.2.14
In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables.
Cattle are present in the temple courts when Jesus confronts corrupt worship commerce. The animal reference belongs to a worship-cleansing scene.
- 1Cor.9.9
For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned?
Paul cites the ox-treading-grain law to argue that God cares about more than animals; the law also teaches just support for gospel laborers.
- 1Tim.5.18
For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”
The same ox text supports honoring elders who labor well. Creaturely work imagery becomes a principle for fair provision.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It an ox 2× 1 Corinthians 9:9, 1 Timothy 5:18
cattle 2× John 2:14, John 2:15
ox 2× Luke 13:15, Luke 14:5
of oxen 1× Luke 14:19
oxen 1× 1 Corinthians 9:9
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 13:15 βοῦν to ox Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Luke 14:5 βοῦς to ox Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Luke 14:19 βοῶν to of oxen Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural John 2:14 βόας to cattle Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural John 2:15 βόας to cattle Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural 1 Corinthians 9:9 βοῦν to an ox Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 1 Corinthians 9:9 βοῶν to oxen Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural 1 Timothy 5:18 Βοῦν to an ox Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 13:15
Aligned rows 8
Books represented 4
Luke 3 John 2 1 Corinthians 2 1 Timothy 1
Source forms
βόας 2x boas John 2:14, John 2:15
βοῦν 2x boun Luke 13:15, 1 Corinthians 9:9
βοῶν 2x boōn Luke 14:19, 1 Corinthians 9:9
Βοῦν 1x Boun 1 Timothy 5:18
βοῦς 1x bous Luke 14:5
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 3x Luke 13:15, 1 Corinthians 9:9, 1 Timothy 5:18
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural 2x John 2:14, John 2:15
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural 2x Luke 14:19, 1 Corinthians 9:9
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x Luke 14:5
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Use this word to teach mercy and justice from ordinary embodied life under God rule.
- Let Pauls ox quotation support fair provision without turning ministry into greed.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that bous is mainly a symbol for ministers or elders.
- Do not claim that Jesus Sabbath ox arguments cancel the Sabbath command rather than exposing merciless interpretation.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. ox
Strong's G1016
Lexical occurrences 8 verses Greek text appearances 8 times Word forms 4 forms 8 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
ox
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 13:15 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
βοῦν boun
an ox
Read verse Luke 14:5 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
βοῦς bouv
an ox
Read verse Luke 14:19 Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
βοῶν bown
an ox
Read verse John 2:14 Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
βόας boav
an ox
Read verse John 2:15 Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
βόας· boav
an ox
Read verse 1 Corinthians 9:9 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
βοῦν boun
an ox
Read verse 1 Corinthians 9:9 Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
βοῶν bown
an ox
Read verse 1 Timothy 5:18 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
Βοῦν boun
an ox
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 4 Aligned forms 8 Case pattern Accusative (5) Number pattern Plural (4)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Luke 14:5 1×
Genitive · Plural · Masculine Luke 14:19 · 1 Cor 9:9 2×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Luke 13:15 · 1 Cor 9:9 · 1 Tim 5:18 3×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine John 2:14 · John 2:15 2×
Word Origins
βοῦς is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Bous shows that biblical reasoning can move from ordinary creaturely life to serious moral instruction without becoming fanciful. Jesus appeals to ox care on the Sabbath because His opponents already know that mercy toward animals is reasonable. Their own practice exposes their refusal to rejoice in mercy toward suffering people. Paul appeals to the ox-treading-grain law because the law teaches that labor should not be exploited.
The word also appears in warnings: valuable oxen can become an excuse to refuse the banquet, and cattle in the temple courts belong to a scene of corrupted worship. Bous therefore helps teachers connect embodied work, mercy, property, worship, and just provision under Gods command.
Anchor passage
1Tim.5.18
Doctrinal connections
- Luke 13:15: Sabbath care for an ox exposes hypocrisy against healing mercy.
- Luke 14:5: urgent rescue of a son or ox supports mercy on the Sabbath.
- Luke 14:19: purchased oxen can become an excuse for refusing the banquet invitation.
- John 2:14: cattle in the temple courts belong to Jesus cleansing of corrupted worship.
- 1 Corinthians 9:9: the law about an ox supports just provision for gospel laborers.
- 1 Timothy 5:18: the same ox text supports honoring elders who labor well.
Bous names an ox or cattle, often a working animal. The word itself is concrete; the theological teaching comes from how Jesus and Paul use the animal example in argument.
From Old to New Testament
The law protects working animals and uses creaturely life to teach justice. Jesus and Paul do not discard that moral world. They show that mercy, worship, work, and provision remain accountable to God.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain