Isaiah 30:24

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.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ear--that is, till. Asses were employed in tillage, as well as oxen (Deu 22:10).

clean--rather, salted provender [GESENIUS]. The Arab proverb is, "Sweet provender is as bread to camels--salted provender as confectionery." The very cattle shall share the coming felicity. Or else, well-fermented maslin, that is, provender formed of a mixture of various substances: grain, beans, vetches, hay, and salt.

winnowed--not as it is usually given to cattle before it is separated from the chaff; the grain shall be so abundant that it shall be given winnowed.

shovel--by which the grain was thrown up in the wind to separate it from the chaff.

fan--an instrument for winnowing.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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” (bìlîl) 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.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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, Deu 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 Co1 9:9, Ti1 5:17.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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’ (בליל belı̂yl) is a verbal from בלל bâlal, “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,’ (חמיץ châmiyts) is not quite so plain in its signification. Kimchi explains it by נקי nâqiy, “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 חמיץ châmēts, “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 Harmer’s “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).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

CHAPTER XXX.

Floor. They shall not have straw only, but wheat, &c., to denote abundance.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground; rather, theft till or cultivate the ground. The Hebrew word is generic, and does not apply to "eating" (i.e. ploughing) only. Shall eat clean provender. Delitzsch says that blil khamitz is "a mash, composed of oats, barley, and vetches, made more savory with salt and sour vegetables." Mr. Cheyne translates, "Shall eat mixed provender with salt." The general idea is clearly that they shall have for their ordinary food that superior kind of provender which, according to existing practices, was reserved for rare occasions. Winnowed with the shovel. Anciently, winnowing was chiefly effected by tossing the grain into the air with shovels in a draughty place (see Wilkinson," Ancient Egyptians," vol. 4. pp. 86, 89, 90). The fan was scarcely in use so early as Isaiah"s time. He means by mizreh probably a second instrument for tossing the grain Delitzsch translates, "winnowing fork."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Clean provender - There should be such plenty of corn, that the very beasts, instead of straw, should eat corn; and that not in the ear, or with the straw, but the pure grain.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“And the oxen and the asses working the ground shall eat salted provender which has been winnowed (literally, which one winnows) with the sieve and fan.” The meaning is that the domesticated animals shall fare as well as men in other times. The word ‘ear’, used in the English Version, is an obsolete derivative of the Latin aro ‘to plough’. The word translated ‘provender’ is commonly supposed to denote here a mixture of different kinds of grain, and the one joined with it a seasoning of salt or acid herbs, peculiarly grateful to the stomachs of cattle.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the oxen. (אֲלָפִים) oxen.

enriched provender (בְּלִיל חָמִיץ) comp. (Job 6:5) “On his provender (בְּלִילוֹ).” Stubble and straw, strengthened and enriched with the grain within them, they shall eat.

which was winnowed The grain is winnowed twice, once with a shovel and once with a fan, in order to clean the grain. Therefore, the straw will be mixed with grain that was winnowed with a fan near the stubble.

shovel (רַחַת) paile (pelle) in O.F.

(fan, [מִזְרֶה] van in O.F.) And the Midrash Aggadah states that בְּלִיל is an expression of mixing, that the food will be mixed into the straw. (I.e., the grain will be so plentiful that it will be mixed into the straw eaten by the cattle and donkeys.)

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

The oxen and young asses that ear the ground, that are employed in ploughing the fields. אלפים Oxen. Comp. אלפיך thine oxen (Deut. 7:13).

בליל Provender. Comp. Job 6:5.

חמיץ═חמץ Leaven.

אשד זרה Which he winnows. Supply אתי it.

ברחת With the shovel. Derived from רוח wind. It is an instrument used for the same purpose as מזרה the fan.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.