Isaiah 30:24

24 and the oxen and the asses that till the ground will eat salted provender, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.

Isaiah 30:24 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 30:24

The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground,
&c.] Or till it; for though these might not be joined together in a yoke, yet they were made use of separately in ploughing land, ( Deuteronomy 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 ( 1 Corinthians 9:9 1 Corinthians 9:10 ) ( 1 Timothy 5:17 1 Timothy 5:18 ) .

Isaiah 30:24 In-Context

22 Then you will defile your silver-covered graven images and your gold-plated molten images. You will scatter them as unclean things; you will say to them, "Begone!"
23 And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and grain, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your cattle will graze in large pastures;
24 and the oxen and the asses that till the ground will eat salted provender, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.
25 And upon every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the hurt of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.