The calf was used as meat on special occasions:
Genesis 18:7-8 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
As the Israelites were waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain with the word from God, turned to their old ways and had Aaron make them a golden calf to worship:
Exodus 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exodus 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exodus 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
Exodus 32:24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
Other references to the calf when it is offered as a sacrifice or meat:
Leviticus 9:2-3, 9:8, 9:16, 9:21, 1 Samuel 28:24, Nehemiah 9:18, Job 21:10, Job 21:10, Psalm 29:6, 106:19, Isaiah 11:6, 27:10, Jeremiah 34:18-19, Hosea 8:5-6
The Lord Jesus speaks of the calf in his story of the prodigal son.
Luke 15:23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
Luke 15:27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
Luke 15:30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
Stephen, while rehearsing Israel’s history, reminds them of the golden calf.
Acts 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
John writes of the four beasts (government) that ruled the earth.
Revelation 4:7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
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⇛ also see Beast, Bull, Bullock, Cattle, Cow, Heifer, Oxen, Kine