Isaiah 1:3
New International Version
The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

New Living Translation
Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care— but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize my care for them.”

English Standard Version
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

Berean Standard Bible
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”

King James Bible
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

New King James Version
The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.”

New American Standard Bible
“An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”

NASB 1995
“An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”

NASB 1977
“An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”

Legacy Standard Bible
An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know; My people do not perceive.”

Amplified Bible
“The ox [instinctively] knows its owner, And the donkey its master’s feeding trough, But Israel does not know [Me as LORD], My people do not understand.”

Christian Standard Bible
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feeding trough, but Israel does not know; my people do not understand.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feeding trough, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”

American Standard Version
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
The bull knows his owner and the male donkey the stall of his Master, and Israel does not know, nor have my people understood

Brenton Septuagint Translation
The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel does not know me, and the people has not regarded me.

Contemporary English Version
Oxen and donkeys know who owns and feeds them, but my people won't ever learn."

Douay-Rheims Bible
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.

English Revised Version
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Oxen know their owners, and donkeys know where their masters feed them. But Israel doesn't know [its owner]. My people don't understand [who feeds them].

Good News Translation
Cattle know who owns them, and donkeys know where their master feeds them. But that is more than my people Israel know. They don't understand at all."

International Standard Version
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's feeding trough, but Israel doesn't know, and my people don't understand.

JPS Tanakh 1917
The ox knoweth his owner, And the ass his master's crib; But Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.

Literal Standard Version
An ox has known its owner, | And a donkey the crib of its master, | Israel has not known, | My people have not understood.”

Majority Standard Bible
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”

New American Bible
An ox knows its owner, and an ass, its master’s manger; But Israel does not know, my people has not understood.

NET Bible
An ox recognizes its owner, a donkey recognizes where its owner puts its food; but Israel does not recognize me, my people do not understand."

New Revised Standard Version
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.

New Heart English Bible
The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib; but Israel doesn't know, my people do not understand.

Webster's Bible Translation
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

World English Bible
The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know. My people don’t consider.”

Young's Literal Translation
An ox hath known its owner, And an ass the crib of its master, Israel hath not known, My people hath not understood.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judah's Rebellion
2Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me. 3The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.” 4Alas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children of depravity! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him.…

Cross References
Isaiah 5:13
Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.

Isaiah 27:11
When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.

Isaiah 44:18
They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.

Isaiah 56:11
Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:

Jeremiah 8:7
Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.

Jeremiah 9:3
"They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account," declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 9:6
You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me," declares the LORD.


Treasury of Scripture

The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel does not know, my people does not consider.

ox

Proverbs 6:6
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

Jeremiah 8:7
Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.

but Israel

Isaiah 5:12
And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

Isaiah 27:11
When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.

Isaiah 44:18
They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

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Isaiah 1
1. Isaiah complains of Judah for her rebellion
5. He laments her judgments
10. He upbraids their whole service
16. He exhorts to repentance, with promises and threats
21. Bewailing their wickedness, he denounces God's judgments
25. He promises grace
28. And threatens destruction to the wicked














(3) The ox knoweth his owner . . .--As in Exodus 20:17; 1Samuel 12:3, the ox and the ass rather than, as with us, the horse and the dog, are the representative instances of the relation of domesticated animals to man. These know that relation, and act according to it; but Israel did not, or rather would not, know. So Jeremiah dwells, turning to a different region of animal life, on the instinct which leads the stork, the swallow, and the crane to fulfil the law of their being (Jeremiah 8:7), while Israel "knew not"--i.e., did not acknowledge--the law of Jehovah.

Verse 3. - The ox... the ass. The ox and the ass are probably selected as the least intelligent of domesticated animals (so Jerome, Rosenmüller, and Gesenius). Yet even they recognize their owner or master. Jeremiah contrasts the brutish stupidity of Israel with the wise instinct of animals that have not been domesticated, as the stork, the turtle-dove, the crane, and the swallow (Jeremiah 8:7). Israel doth not know; i.e. does not acknowledge its Master and Owner, pays him no respect, does not recognize him as either Owner or Master. My people. Compare the formula, so frequent in Exodus, "Let my people go" (Exodus 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1, etc.). Israel was God's people by election (Genesis 15:13), by covenant (Exodus 19:5-8; Exodus 24:3-8), by pardoning grace (Exodus 33:12-17). Despite all their backslidings, he had not yet cast them off. They are still "his people" in Isaiah from first to last, standing in contrast with "the nations, "or "the Gentiles, "among whom they are to be "set as a sign" (Isaiah 66:19). Doth net consider. Gesenius translates, "doth not consider thereof;" Cheyne, "is without understanding." Bishop Lowth retains the words of the Authorized Version. The meaning would seem to be, "My people doth not consider me, cloth not reflect on my relation to them as Lord and Master."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The ox
שׁוֹר֙ (šō·wr)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7794: A head of cattle (bullock, ox, etcetera)

knows
יָדַ֥ע (yā·ḏa‘)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3045: To know

its owner,
קֹנֵ֔הוּ (qō·nê·hū)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7069: To erect, create, to procure, by purchase, to own

and the donkey
וַחֲמ֖וֹר (wa·ḥă·mō·wr)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2543: A male ass

its master’s
בְּעָלָ֑יו (bə·‘ā·lāw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1167: A master, a husband, owner

manger,
אֵב֣וּס (’ê·ḇūs)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 18: A crib, feeding trough

but Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

does not
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

know;
יָדַ֔ע (yā·ḏa‘)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3045: To know

My people
עַמִּ֖י (‘am·mî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

do not
לֹ֥א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

understand.”
הִתְבּוֹנָֽן׃ (hiṯ·bō·w·nān)
Verb - Hitpael - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 995: To separate mentally, understand


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 1:3 The ox knows his owner and (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 1:2
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