Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 30:24
The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
24. Comp. Paul’s “Doth God take care for oxen?” (1Co 9:9).
that ear ] (the obsolete English word for “plough”), strictly till, R.V.
clean provender ] salted fodder, i.e. the best fodder (Job 6:5) mixed with grains of salt. The devotion of cattle to salt in any form is well known. Gesenius quotes an Arabic proverb which says that “sweet fodder is the camel’s bread, salted fodder is his comfit.” The word for “fodder” ( bll) is usually explained as “mixture” ( farrago) of corn with beans, vetches, &c. According to Wetzstein (in Delitzsch’s Comm. on this verse) it means “ripe barley.” In Syriac it denotes “fresh corn.”
winnowed with the shovel and with the fan ] i.e. prepared with the utmost care. The modern Arabic equivalent of the word rendered “fan” denotes a six-pronged fork (Wetzstein, in Delitzsch’s Isaiah , 2 nd ed.). As to the process see on ch. Isa 17:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The young donkeys that ear the ground – Hebrew, Labouring, or cultivating the ground, that is, plowing it. The Old English word ear (from the Latin aro) meant to till, to cultivate. The word is now obselete, but this is the sense which it has in the Bible Gen 45:6; Exo 34:21; Deu 21:4; 1Sa 8:12.
Shall eat clean provender – Margin, Leavened, or savory. The word rendered provender ( belyl) is a verbal from balal, to mix, mingle, confuse; and denotes provender that is made by mixing various substances, maslin or farago, a mixture of barley, oats, vetches, and beans, which seem to have been sown together, and reaped at the same time Job 6:5; Job 24:6. The word rendered clean, ( chamiyts) is not quite so plain in its signification. Kimchi explains it by naqiy, pure, clean. Gesenius renders it salted, and supposes that it refers to fodder that was mixed with salted hay. The Septuagint renders it, Provender mixed with winnowed barley. But the real notion of the word is that which is fermented, from chamets, to be sour; to be leavened. Lowth renders it, well fermented. Noyes, well seasoned. The idea seems to be that of a provender made of a mixture of various substances – as of grain, beans, vetches, herbs, hay, and probably salt, which, when mixed, would ferment, and which was regarded as nutritious and wholesome for cattle. A similar compound is used by the Arabs still (see Bochart, i. 2, 7; and Faber, and Harmers Observations, i. 409).
Which hath been winnowed – That is, which is the pure grain, which is not fed to them as it is sometimes, before it is separated from the chaff. Grain shall be so abundant in that time of prosperity that even the cattle may be fed with grain prepared as it is usually for man.
With the shovel – The large shovel by which the grain in the chaff was thrown up in the wind that the grain might be separated from the chaff.
The fan – This word properly means that by which anything is scattered – a shovel by which the grain is thrown or tossed into the wind. Those who form their opinion of the latter article by an English fan, will entertain a very erroneous notion. That of the East is made of the fibrous part of the palmirah or cocoa-tree leaves, and measures about a yard each way. (Roberts).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Clean provender; or, as learned Mr. Gataker renders it, threshed, which agrees well with the following clause, corn being first threshed, and then winnowed. The sense is, there should be such plenty of corn, that their very beasts, instead of straw, should eat corn; and that not in the ear, or with the straw, but the pure grain.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24. earthat is, till. Asseswere employed in tillage, as well as oxen (De22:10).
cleanrather, saltedprovender [GESENIUS]. TheArab proverb is, “Sweet provender is as bread to camelssaltedprovender as confectionery.” The very cattle shall share thecoming felicity. Or else, well-fermented maslin, that is,provender formed of a mixture of various substances: grain, beans,vetches, hay, and salt.
winnowednot as it isusually given to cattle before it is separated from the chaff; thegrain shall be so abundant that it shall be given winnowed.
shovelby which thegrain was thrown up in the wind to separate it from the chaff.
fanan instrument forwinnowing.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground,…. Or till it; for though these might not be joined together in a yoke, yet they were made use of separately in ploughing land,
De 22:10:
shall eat clean provender; the word for “provender” signifies a mixture, such as cattle eat, especially horses, as beans, oats, barley, and fitches, and of which there should be such plenty, that the cattle should eat of it; not of the chaff and husks of these, nor these in their husk and straw, but as cleansed from them, as follows:
which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan: with the former of which the corn was raised up and shook, and with the latter fanned. Now this is expressive of great plenty, that cattle should feed on winnowed corn. The Septuagint indeed render it,
“they shall eat chaff mixed with winnowed barley;”
but if they were to eat chaff with it, there would be no need to winnow it. This may be mystically understood of apostles, and of apostolical men, as Jerom; and of all Gospel preachers, especially in the latter day, who labour in the word and doctrine, and feed upon the pure food of the Gospel themselves, and bring it to others; see 1Co 9:9 1Ti 5:17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
24. Thine oxen also. When he promises that the oxen and the asses shall eat abundant and clean provender, this is a repetition and confirmation of what was stated in the preceding verse. This passage is taken from the Law, (Deu 28:11,) and is gladly and frequently quoted by the prophets, in order that we may learn to discern in the sickness and death of cattle the indignation of God, and to desire more earnestly to be reconciled to him, that our houses may be filled with his goodness.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(24) The oxen likewise and the young asses . . .It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to remind the reader that the verb ear means plough.
Clean provender.Literally, salted. The epithet describes what in modern phrase would be the favourite mash of the highest class of cattle-feeding, corn mixed with salt or alkaline herbs; and this was to be made, not, as commonly, of inferior barley and chopped straw, but of the finest winnowed grain. That this should be given not to oxen and horses only, but to the lowlier asses, made up the ne plus ultra of plenty.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 30:24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
Ver. 24. Shall eat clean provender. ] Such plenty there shall be of corn that the cattle shall have of the best threshed out and winnowed. The Vulgate hath it, commistum migma, whereby is understood diversity of grains mingled together, as in horse bread.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
ear. Old English = to plough: from Anglo-Saxon erian: and this from the Latin arare : the Aryan root AR entering into many words with a cognate reference. ARt (ploughing being the oldest art); oAR (with which the water is ploughed); ARtos(Greek for bread); eARth; ARatrum (Latin, a plough); ARare (to plough). The verb “ear” is found only here, Deu 21:4, and 1Sa 8:12. The noun “earing” occurs in Gen 45:6, and Exo 34:21.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
oxen: Deu 25:4, 1Co 9:9, 1Co 9:10
ear the ground: Gen 45:6, Exo 34:21, Deu 21:4, 1Sa 8:12
clean: or, savory, Heb. leavened
Reciprocal: Psa 67:6 – Then Psa 85:12 – our land Isa 14:30 – the poor Isa 32:20 – the ox Eze 34:14 – feed them Joe 2:22 – afraid Mat 3:12 – fan