God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 1:3
3Oxen 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⌟.
Isaiah 1:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
- New International Version (NIV)The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."
- New King James Version (NKJV)The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.”
Context of Isaiah 1:3
1This is the vision which Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem at the time of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. 2Listen, heaven, and pay attention, earth! The Lord has spoken, “I raised ⌞my⌟ children and helped them grow, but they have rebelled against me. 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⌟. 4“How horrible it will be for a nation that sins. ⌞Its⌟ people are loaded down with guilt. They are descendants of evildoers and destructive children. They have abandoned the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They have turned their backs on him. 5“Why do you still want to be beaten? Why do you continue to rebel? Your whole head is infected. Your whole heart is failing.
Read all of Isaiah 1Isaiah 1:3 word by word
יָדַ֥ע שׁוֹר֙ קֹנֵ֔הוּ וַחֲמ֖וֹר אֵב֣וּס בְּעָלָ֑יו יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֹ֣א יָדַ֔ע עַמִּ֖י לֹ֥א הִתְבּוֹנָֽן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- The oxשׁוֹרshôr · cattleH7794
- knowethיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
- his ownerקָנָהqânâh · to buyH7069
- and the assחֲמוֹרchămôr chămôr · donkeyH2543
- his master’sבַּעַלba‛al · masterH1167
- cribאֵבוּס'êbûs · cribH18
- Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- doth not considerבִּיןbîyn · to understandH995
Cross-references for Isaiah 1:3
- Proverbs 6:6Consider the ant, you lazy bum. Watch its ways, and become wise.
- Jeremiah 8:7Even storks know when it’s time to return. Mourning doves, swallows, and cranes know when it’s time to migrate. But my people don’t know that I, the Lord, am urging them to return.
- Isaiah 5:12At their feasts there are lyres and harps, tambourines and flutes, and wine. Yet, they don’t pay attention to what the Lord is doing or see what his hands have done.
- Isaiah 27:11When the branches are dried up, they will be broken off. Women will come and build a fire with them. These people don’t understand ⌞these things⌟. That is why their maker won’t have compassion on them, and their Creator won’t have pity on them.
- Isaiah 44:18They don’t know or understand anything. Their eyes are plastered shut, so they can’t see. And their minds are closed, so they can’t understand.
- Deuteronomy 32:28My people have lost their good sense. They are not able to understand.
- Psalms 94:8Pay attention, you stupid people! When will you become wise, you fools?
- Jeremiah 4:22“My people are fools. They don’t know me. They are stupid people. They don’t understand. They are experts in doing wrong, and they don’t know how to do good.”
- Jeremiah 9:3They use their tongues like bows that shoot arrows. Lies and dishonesty rule the land. They go from one evil thing to another, and they don’t know me,” declares the Lord.
- Jeremiah 10:8They are complete idiots. They learn nonsense from wooden idols.
- Matthew 13:13This is why I speak to them this way. They see, but they’re blind. They hear, but they don’t listen. They don’t even try to understand.
- Romans 1:28And because they thought it was worthless to acknowledge God, God allowed their own immoral minds to control them. So they do these indecent things.
- 2 Peter 3:5They are deliberately ignoring one fact: Because of God’s word, heaven and earth existed a long time ago. The earth ⌞appeared⌟ out of water and was kept alive by water.
Commentaries on Isaiah 1:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3The ox knoweth - An amplification of the gross insensibility of the disobedient Jews, by comparing them with the most heavy and stupid of all animals, yet not so insensible as they. Bochart has well illustrated the comparison, and shown the peculiar force of it. "He sets them lower than the beasts, and even than the most stupid of all beasts, for there is scarcely any more so than the ox and the ass. Yet these acknowledge their master; they know the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3The ox - The design of this comparison is to show the great stupidity and ingratitude of the Jews. Even the least sagacious and most stupid of the animals, destitute as they are of reason and conscience, evince knowledge anal submission far more than the professed people of God. The ox is a well known domestic animal, remarkable for patient willingness to toil, and for submission to his owner. Knoweth his owner - Recognizes, or is submissive to him. The…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3The ox knows its owner: Even an animal recognizes the one who feeds and cares for it. But Judah did not recognize or obey the Lord in this way. Even so, despite their rebellion, God still spoke to them as “my people.” This shows his continued grace (undeserved kindness) toward them.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. (Jr 8:7). crib--the stall where it is fed (Pr 14:4). Spiritually the word and ordinances. Israel--The whole nation, Judah as well as Israel, in the restricted sense. God regards His covenant-people in their designed unity. not know--namely, his Owner, as the parallelism requires; that is, not recognize Him as such (Ex 19:5, equivalent to "my people," Joh 1:10, 11). consider--attend to his Master (Is 41:8), notwithstanding the spiritual food which He…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 1:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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