What the Ass and the Ox Know—But the Scholars Don’t

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The first chapter of Isaiah contains one of the most powerful prophetic passages in the entire Bible. The Lord, through the prophet, castigates his people Israel for rebelling. As a result, the country lies desolate, devoured by Israel’s enemies. The Lord rejects the sacrifice of his people. What is the sacrifice the Lord desires? Isaiah 1:12ff.

“Pursue justice,

Champion the oppressed,

Give the orphan his rights,

Plead the widow’s cause.”

The Lord pleads with his people:

“Come now, let us reason together

…

Though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow …

If you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land,

But if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be devoured by the sword.”

Isaiah 1:17ff

At the beginning of the prophecy (verse 2), the Lord berates Israel for rebelling.

“Hear, O heavens and give ear, O earth.

For the Lord has spoken.

‘Sons have I reared and brought up,

But they have rebelled against me.’”

Then in verse 3 is a metaphor that I would like examine more closely. The verse is very simple, and there is no question about the text or the meaning the individual words. But what does the passage really mean?

It reads as follows:

“The ox knows its owner,

and the ass its master’s crib;

but Israel does not know,

my people does not understand.”

Let us look at the first half of this verse (3a) in the original Hebrew. It consists of two half lines or cola (singular, colon) that read literally as follows:

Ox knows its owner; and ass its master’s crib [or feeding stall].

There are several problems here. The first is that the second colon (“and ass its master’s crib”) contains no verb. Normally in Hebrew the copula (a linking verb, such as a form of “to be”) is omitted, so we could read the colon: “and an ass is its master’s crib.” That translation, however, produces nonsense. We know very well how to solve this problem. Hebrew poetry is characterized by parallelism. So we know Lord that the two cola should say much the same thing or they should complement each other in some way. “Ox” and “ass” are complementary terms and refer to barnyard domestic animals. Although we have only one verb (in the first colon), the verb “knows” from the first colon is appropriate for the second colon as well, and whether we say it or not, we are and using it in the second part. The second colon means 043“the ass knows its master’s crib.”

The reason no one even mentions this interesting usage in Hebrew is that we do the same thing in English and never think about it. I am sure this is not true of all languages, however, so we should have a name for this phenomenon. Let us call it double-duty usage of the verb when one verb serves not only for the first set of words, but for the second also. This is very common in Hebrew, equally common in English, so no one is concerned about it.

Thus, the first half of verse 3 could be translated by repeating the verb in the second colon:

The ox knows its owner, and the ass knows its master’s crib.

The parallelism between ox and ass is complemented by the parallelism between owner and master. The ox knows its owner and the ass knows the crib of its master, “Owner” and “master” are equivalent, synonymous. No problem here either.

A problem arises, however, because there is an inconsistency between knowing a person and knowing a crib (i.e., a container for grain). Is this a distinction that the prophet wants to make: that the ox being of superior intelligence is on intimate terms with its master, but the ass knows nothing better than to head for the feedbag? If the animals had been distinguished so that the prophet talked first about a dog or a horse (for example) and then a barnyard animal, that contrast would make sense, but this one doesn’t.

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What is the answer?

Just as the verb serves both parts or cola, so does the noun “crib.” Both ox and ass know where the food is, and they know that their master/owner must provide it. Maybe they are dumb animals, but they know what counts, and they understand their relationship to their master/owner. He provides the food, and they know where to get it. So we must understand this poetic pair as follows: The ox knows (the crib of) its owner/and the ass (knows) the crib of its master. “A beautiful piece of symmetrical poetry. This point has been missed, however, by all translations and scholars until the present moment.

The point is that what I have called double-duty words (words that are to be understood, though unexpressed, in a parallel passage) can go backward as well as forward. In the case of “know,” the word goes forward and is to be understood in the second colon. In the case of “crib,” it goes backward and is to be understood in the parallel position in the first colon.

This is one of the fundamental principles of an approach to and an interpretation of Hebrew poetry; there are many, perhaps hundreds, of examples, most of which have been missed, in which the Hebrew poet implies a word from a later parallel passage.

That brings us to the rest of verse 3 in Isaiah. What is the trouble with “Israel” “my people”? The parallelism is retained in the two cola of verse 3b: They “don’t know,” they “don’t understand.” But what don’t they know, what don’t they understand?

They don’t really know God. But the point here is that they don’t even know as much as their own dumb animals, namely who provides them sustenance. In verse 2b the children of Israel are described as sons of the Lord (“Sons have I reared and brought up”). The imagery in verse 3a is that of a parent (owner/master) who takes care of children as well as animals; an essential ingredient in that care is feeding (nurturing). Even animals know who feeds them and where to go for sustenance, and they acknowledge and respect that relationship. But Israel has rebelled, showing that it doesn’t understand the fundamental truth about its life, something both ox and ass understand very well.

In short, the prophet has hurled a glorious insult at his people, and they probably understood it better than most people have ever since.

The first chapter of Isaiah contains one of the most powerful prophetic passages in the entire Bible. The Lord, through the prophet, castigates his people Israel for rebelling. As a result, the country lies desolate, devoured by Israel’s enemies. The Lord rejects the sacrifice of his people. What is the sacrifice the Lord desires? Isaiah 1:12ff. “Pursue justice, Champion the oppressed, Give the orphan his rights, Plead the widow’s cause.” The Lord pleads with his people: “Come now, let us reason together … Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow … If you […]