Commentary on Isaiah, Commentary on Isaiah · Chapter 1 · Verse 3
Verſ. 3. The Oxe knoweth his owner, and the Aſſe his maſters Crib, but Iſrael hath not knowne: my people hath not vnderſtood.
THis compariſon doth further exemplifie the crime of their reuolt. For the Lord might well hauehave compared his people to the Heathen, and Infidels: but he toucheth them neerer, in comparing them to brute beaſts, and in ſhewing that they are yet more fooliſh then they. For albeit theſe beaſts be voyd of reaſon & vnderſtanding, yet are they teachable, at the leaſt wiſe in this reſpect, that they acknowledge thoſe who feedes them. Seeing then that the Lord had not only fed this people as in a ſtaule or Crib, but had fed them largely and abundantly, no otherwiſe then the father doth his children whom he tendreth; and had not onelyonly pampered their bellies, but did alwaies repleniſh them with ſpirituall foode: had he not good cauſe, think you, to eſteeme them worthie rather to bee ſent to ſchoole to learne of Oxen and Aſſes then of men; eſpecially when hee ſaw they were become ſo beaſtly? he ſends his people then to theſe brute beaſts to learne their duties of them. And no meruaile; for it often fals out that the vnreaſonable creatures do better follow the order of nature, and doe in their kind ſhew more humanitie then men themſ…lues. And not to alleadge many examples, this …ne which Iſaiah here propounds ſhall ſ…ffice: namely, that theſe beaſts being altogether ſenſeleſſe and blockiſh, doe yet notwithſt…nding obey their maſters and thoſe who hauehave the gouernment of them. And if in other things we ſhall conſider wherein the beaſts doe ſurpaſſe men, how many particulars ſhall wee find out? What is the cauſe that ſcarſely any beaſt will offer violence to one of his owne kind? and that he ſhould therein, as you would ſay, acknowledge his owne likenes. What is the cauſe alſo that all ſorts of beaſts doe take ſuch paines to nouriſh their little ones, ſeeing it often falleth out that women forgetting nature, and all womanhood, doe reiect and forſake their children? And do we not obſerue how beaſts wil keepe ſuch a mediocritie that they will eate and drinke no more then that which ſufficeth them for life, and to vphold their ſtrength; whilſt men in the meane ſpace doe ſtuffe and gorge themſelues, or which is worſe, do ouerthrow themſelues with ſurfetting? Laſtly, the be…ſts do in nothing paſſe beyond ye bounds of nature, which are ordained for them.
But the Papiſts (whoſe cuſtome it is to ouerthrow the natiue ſenſe of the Scriptures and by their dreames do corrupt all the myſteries of God) hauehave here found out a notable fable: for they make men beleeue that the Oxen and the Aſſes did worſhip our Lord Ieſus Chriſt lying in the cratch after he was borne: wherein they ſhew themſelues to bee excellent aſſes. And yet would to God they themſelues would but follow the poore Aſſe which they hauehave forged! namely, that they were Aſſes worſhipping the Lord Ieſus Chriſt, and not rather wincing and kicking againſt his Maieſtie with their heeles. For the Prophet ſpeakes not here of a miracle, but of the order of nature: dec…aring that whoſoeuer they be that doe ouerthrow the order thereof by a bad conuerſation, are become monſters. We neede not forge new miracles then to giuegive authoritie to Ieſus Chriſt: for ſo, by mingling the falſe with the true, this inconuenience would follow vponupon it, yt none would beleeue either the one or the other. Neither neede we doubt, if there had been any ſuch miracle, but the Euangeliſts would hauehave put it in writing.
The name Iſrael which here he oppoſeth againſt theſe beaſts, hath a very great emphaſis in it. We know what honour it was to the poſteritie of J…ob to beare this name, which God himſelfe had impoſed vponupon this holy Pat…iark,Gen 32.28. becauſe he ouercame the Angel in wraſtling. Which name was ſo much the more diſhonoured, by how much the more theſe baſtard and degenerate children durſt notwithſtanding make their bragges of that title. And firſt there is a cloſe reproch in it; not onelyonly becauſe they vſurped the name of this holy perſonage (whoſe vertues they imitated nothing at all) but alſo becauſe they were vnthankfull vntounto God from whom they had receiued all manner of benefits. L…ſtly, we muſt ſupplie an ouerthwart compariſon: for the greater their dignitie was, in that they had been exalted farre aboue all oth…r people, ſo much the more (to reproch them vnderunder this honorable title) are they ſeparate from other nations. The Greeke Interpreters hauehave added this word me; but I had rather repeate that which the Prophet hath ſaid, to wit, that Iſrael hath not knowne his poſſeſſer or owner; that is to ſay, God: nor his …r…h; that is, his Church, wherein hee was nouriſhed, and to which hee ought to bee gathered. Eſpecially ſeeing theſe poore beaſts doe acknowledge their maſter that feedes them; and doe voluntarily returne to the place where they were wont to find paſture.