3 Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox,[a] a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it 4 instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord—that person shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; they have shed blood and must be cut off from their people.
I don't know, because I am not one who sacrifices, for I believe in the final sacrifice, but I read this as if a person can sacrifice an ox, sheep or goat, but it must be brought to the tent of meeting to be examined, because it must be without blemish.
I may be wrong, because I am not schooled in this area. The [a] notation indicates male or female ox. Also, I just see Christ as the final sacrifice offered by my Father.
Webster's Third New International Dictionary Unabridged (1981)
Definition of ox:
1: The domestic bovine (Bos taurus); esp an adult castrated male used for a draft animal or for food --
2: a member of Bos or a closely allied genus
3: a person resembling an ox (as in placidity, stolidity, clumsiness, or strength)
However, apparently the translators of the KJV did not have Webster's dictionary (tongue in cheek), and their use of "ox" was rather looser, and included all cows. Their words as used in the Bible were:
From Strong's lexicon:
H7794
שׁור
shôr shore
H7788; a bullock (as a traveller): - bull (-ock), cow, ox.
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From Brown, Driver, & Briggs:
H7794 שׁור shôr BDB Definition: 1) ox, bull, a head of cattle 1a) for plowing, for food, as sacrifice Part of Speech: noun masculine ======
So your use of "ox" for bulls is not wrong, but when sacrifices are mentioned, as in Leviticus:
"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.
If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD . . .
And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." (Lev 1:2,3,5 AV)
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There, the Hebrew word for "bullock" is different than the word fpr "ox."
I was mistaken not to recall all the passages where the Hebrew word referred to any cow, where the KJV translated it uniformly as "ox," as you did.
Please forgive me for being offensive.