Isaiah 1:3

The Leader and Shepherd of shepherds is announced to shepherds, and the food of the faithful lies in the manger of dumb beasts.… For that reason he sat upon the colt of a donkey when he entered Jerusalem amid the praises of the multitude surging around him. Let us understand; let us draw near to the manger; let us eat of this food; let us bear the Lord, our Guide and Leader, so that under his direction we may come to the heavenly Jerusalem.

In the persons of the shepherds and the magi, the ox began to recognize his owner and the donkey his Master's crib. From the Jews came the horned ox, since among them the horns of the cross were prepared for Christ; from the Gentiles came the long-eared donkey, since it was concerning them that the prophecy had been made: "A people, which I knew not, has served me: at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me." For the Owner of the ox and the Master of the donkey lay in a manger, yet he was furnishing common sustenance to both creatures.

The ox from the Jews, the donkey from the Gentiles; both came to the one manger and found the fodder of the Word.

Therefore those oxen magnified the Lord, not themselves. See the ox magnifying his Lord because the ox has acknowledged his owner; observe the ox fearing that the ox's owner may be deserted and confidence be placed in the ox. How he is terrified of those who want to put hope in him!

But, in fact, there were even in that people those that understood, having the faith which was afterwards revealed, not pertaining to the letter of the law but the grace of the Spirit. For they cannot have been without the same faith, who were able to foresee and foretell the revelation that would be in Christ, inasmuch as even those old sacraments were signs of those that should be.

That manger was the one the prophet meant when he said, "The ox knows his owner and the donkey his master's manger." The ox is a clean animal, and the donkey an unclean one.… The people of Israel did not know the manger of their Lord, but the unclean Gentiles did.… We should strive to recognize the Lord and to be worthy of knowing him. We should strive to appropriate not only his birth and fleshly resurrection but also his anticipated second coming in majesty.

They who have long since put aside the worship of God cannot be called the people of God. Neither can that people be said to see God who have denied the Son of God.

Isaiah calls to you to know your owner, like the ox, and to know the manger of your Lord, like the donkey.

His mother laid him in a manger. Joseph did not dare to touch him, for he knew he had not been begotten of him. In awe, he rejoiced at a son, but he did not dare to touch the Son.… Why in a manger? That the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled.

(Verse 3.) The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib. But Israel does not know; my people do not understand. Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. […]

If the love of children for their parents is a natural endowment and if this love is noticeable in the behavior even of brute beasts, as well as in the affection of human beings in early infancy for their mothers, let us not appear to be less rational than infants or more savage than wild beasts by alienating ourselves from him who made us by being unloving toward him.… This gratitude is characteristic not only of humans, but it is also felt by almost all animals, so that they attach themselves to those who have conferred some good upon them.

If even among the barbarians harmony is maintained through subjection to a single leader, what should we think of the disharmony among us and our failure to be subject to the Lord's commands? We should realize that our good God gives us examples to teach us and lead us to conversion. On the great and awesome day of judgment he will use them as a demonstration of the shame and condemnation of those who have not heeded his instruction. He has already said, and he continues to say, "The ox knows his owner and the donkey his master's manger; but Israel has not known me, and my people have not understood."

He calleth the action "glory," not only for Himself the Crucified, but also for the Father; since this was the case, for not the Son only, but the Father also was glorified. For before the Crucifixion, not even the Jews knew Him; "Israel," it saith, "hath not known Me" (Isa. i. 3); but after the Crucifixion, all the world ran to Him.

I am often astonished at human conduct. Humans are endowed with wisdom and prudence, yet at whim they lightly reject the precepts of discipline. How different is the conduct which we see in the beasts! They avoid vices, carry out commands, submit to control and …

[The righteous person] does not say, "My portion consists of herds of oxen, donkeys or sheep," except, perhaps, he counts himself among those herds which know their owner and wishes to consort with that donkey which does not shun the crib of Christ … [For this person] that sheep is his portion which was led to the slaughter and the "Lamb which was dumb before his shearer and did not open his mouth." In [Christ's] humiliation, judgment has been exalted.

If the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, we are his servants and farmers, and I do not know how we can fail to recognize him as the owner.

For how shall we not regard it fearful, if one who knows God shall not recognize the Lord? While the ox and the donkey, stupid and foolish animals, will know one who feeds them, Israel is found to be more irrational than these? And having, by Jeremiah, complained against the people on many grounds, God adds, "They have forsaken me, says the Lord."

Hence again in Isaiah: "An ox knows its owner, and an ass, its master's manger; but Israel does not know, My people has not understood." The ox represents the order of the apostles, wherefore Paul calls himself "a Hebrew of Hebrews": for they were oxen …

32. He adds to the weight of their ignorance, however, through the example of beasts; hence, concerning this, he does two things: first, he introduces the knowledge of beasts, second, the ignorance of sinners, where it says, but Israel has not known me. The ox …

By the ox he designates the people of the Jews, who were accustomed to carry the yoke of the law and to ruminate upon its words; by the donkey he represents the people of the nations, who remained always unclean with the stains of idolatry. …

The sottishness and stupidity of Israel. God is their owner and proprietor. He made us, and his we are more than our cattle are ours; he has provided well for us; providence is our Master's crib; yet many that are called the people of God do not know and will not consider this, but ask, " What is the Almighty that we should serve him?

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

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 (Isa 41:8), notwithstanding the spiritual food which He provides (answering to "crib" in the parallel clause).

IT IS clear from this chapter that the Lord views the sin of mankind with intense regret. We are obliged to speak of Him after the manner of men and in doing so we are clearly authorized to say that He does not look upon human sin merely with the eye of a judge who condemns it, but with the eye of a friend who, while He censures the offender, deeply laments that there should be such faults to condemn.

IT IS clear from this chapter that the Lord views the sin of mankind with intense regret. We are obliged to speak of Him after the manner of men and in doing so we are clearly authorized to say that He does not look upon human sin merely with the eye of a judge who condemns it, but with the eye of a friend who, while He censures the offender, deeply laments that there should be such faults to condemn. "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against Me," is not merely an exclamation of surprise or an accusation of injured justice, but it contains a note of grief, as though the Most High represented Himself to us as mourning like an ill-treated parent and deploring that after having dealt so well with His offspring they had made Him so base a return. God is grieved that man should sin. That thought should encourage everyone who is conscious of having offended God to come back to Him. If you lament your transgression, the Lord laments it, too. Here is a point of sympathy. He will not meet you upon rigid terms and say to you, "By your own choice you have sinned, and now what remains to you but to bear the penalty?" No, He will rejoice when you return, even as He has sorrowed that you departed from Him! Let that thought of love be the keynote of our discourse this morning. The point immediately in hand is the inconsiderateness of mankind towards God. Israel in this case is not so much a type of Believers as a representative of sinners in general. The accusation will lie against all ungodly men—they do not know, they will not consider. The greatest difficulty in the world is to make men think! I mean think about spiritual things, think about their souls, think about their God. You can bring them to any other point but this. They will listen to holy words, but they will not lay them to heart.

The 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 manger of their lord; by whom they are fed, not for their own, but for his good; neither are they looked upon as children, but as beasts of burden; neither are they advanced to honors, but oppressed with great and daily labors. While the Israelites, chosen by the mere favor of God, adopted as sons, promoted to the highest dignity, yet acknowledged not their Lord and their God; but despised his commandments, though in the highest degree equitable and just.” Hieroz. […]

The 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 ass - A well known animal, proverbial for dulness and stupidity.