they were VENERATING them
= = =
Hogwash. They didn't do either though it's mere hair splitting to distinguish between veneration and worship anyway.
The oxen were merely God's ordered supports for the Old Testament Baptismal font. He tends to be precise when He wants to. The Jews were smart enough to know better than to think of the oxen as anything special, spiritually.
lighting incense to statues of angels ain't venerating all of the sudden?