CHAPTER IV 

 EARLY USE OF CATTLE 



Cows, goats and sheep have been used by man, not only as 

 flesh-producing, but also as milk-yielding animals, since a very 

 early period ; just when, will probably never be known. 



If we go to one of our best records of ancient doings, the 

 Bible, we find in Genesis 18:8: "And they took butter and milk 

 . . . and they did eat." Again, in Judges 5 : 25 we find: 

 " He asked water and she gave him milk ; she brought forth 

 butter in a lordly dish." Those two passages would indicate 

 the early use of butter as a food. That it was at least commonly 

 known would be shown by the words of King David, Psalms 

 55 : 21 : " The words of his mouth were smooth as butter, bu^ 

 war was in his heart." If the word here translated as butter 

 did not stand for a substance well known, it is not at all likely 

 that it would have been used to drive home such a thought. 



Although the word itself must have been in common use, it 

 is also quite certain that the substance, whatever article of our 

 diet it may have resembled, was not so common as to cease to be 

 considered a luxury. This is indicated in even a later period, 

 for we find in Isaiah 7:22, after mention has been made of cows 

 and goats : "And it shall come to pass for the abundance of milk 

 that they shall give, he shall eat butter; for butter and honey 

 shall every one eat that is left in the land." These four distinct 

 references to butter have led some to believe that butter, more 

 or less like the modern food of that name, was known and used 

 at least 4000 years ago. They certainly do shed a ray of light 

 on the beginning of dairying. 



A closer study of the matter, however, reveals a rather uncer- 

 tain condition. It is agreed by all scholars that the word 

 " butter," as a translation of the Hebrew word in the Old Testa- 

 ment, is misleading. Gusenius in his Hebrew lexicon says of 

 the word : " In no passage of the Old Testament does ' butter ' 



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