Isaiah 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.”

De 32:28,29; Ps 94:8; Pr 6:6; Isa 5:12; Isa 27:11; Isa 44:18; Jer 4:22; Jer 8:7; Jer 9:3-6; Jer 10:8,14; Mt 13:13-15,19; Ro 1:28; 2Pe 3:5

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).