Isaiah 1:3

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.
• 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.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)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.”

Context of Isaiah 1:3

1The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” 4Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. 5Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.

Isaiah 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 6:6Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
• Jeremiah 8:7Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord.
• Isaiah 5:12They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands.
• Isaiah 27:11When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
• Isaiah 44:18They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
• Deuteronomy 32:28They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them.
• Psalms 94:8Take notice, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?
• Jeremiah 4:22“My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.”
• Jeremiah 9:3“They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me,” declares the Lord.
• Jeremiah 10:8They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
• Matthew 13:13This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
• Romans 1:28Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.
• 2 Peter 3:5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and 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

• Blindness
• Church
• Crib
• Godlessness
• Instinct
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Ass
• Convert
• Crib
• Eat
• Fade
• Harlot
• Isaiah, The Book of

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