1:3 An ox recognizes its owner,
a donkey recognizes where its owner puts its food; 1
but Israel does not recognize me, 2
my people do not understand.”
11:7 A cow and a bear will graze together,
their young will lie down together. 3
A lion, like an ox, will eat straw.
22:13 But look, there is outright celebration! 4
You say, “Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep,
eat meat and drink wine.
Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” 5
32:20 you will be blessed,
you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, 6
you who let your ox and donkey graze. 7
1 tn Heb “and the donkey the feeding trough of its owner.” The verb in the first line does double duty in the parallelism.
2 tn Although both verbs have no object, the parallelism suggests that Israel fails to recognize the Lord as the one who provides for their needs. In both clauses, the placement of “Israel” and “my people” at the head of the clause focuses the reader’s attention on the rebellious nation (C. van der Merwe, J. Naudé, J. Kroeze, A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar, 346-47).
3 tn Heb “and a cow and a bear will graze – together – they will lie down, their young.” This is a case of pivot pattern; יַחְדָּו (yakhddav, “together”) goes with both the preceding and following statements.
4 tn Heb “happiness and joy.”
5 tn The prophet here quotes what the fatalistic people are saying. The introductory “you say” is supplied in the translation for clarification; the concluding verb “we die” makes it clear the people are speaking. The six verbs translated as imperatives are actually infinitives absolute, functioning here as finite verbs.
6 tn Heb “by all the waters.”
7 tn Heb “who set free the foot of the ox and donkey”; NIV “letting your cattle and donkeys range free.”
sn This verse seems to anticipate a time when fertile land is available to cultivate and crops are so abundant that the farm animals can be allowed to graze freely.