Last time we saw that Israel was compared to the Ox, an unfavorable comparison, as the ox is used, by and large in a favorable sense in the Bible. It is strong, loyal and a clean (sacrificially speaking) animal. We noted that the comparison being made that even this animal, not noted as the brightest animal in the barnyard, was loyal and knew its’ masters hand and could be counted on to do as was expected of it. Israel, on the other hand had betrayed his Master again and again, in the face much more “intelligence” and much more information that the lowly ox ever had.
Isaiah now moves on and looks at another animal thought to less than intelligent, the donkey. The donkey, or ass was a four-footed mammal related to the horse, common both in the wild and domesticated state in biblical times. We ought to note that this is not a mule, a product of more modern times. The wild ass is portrayed most vividly in Job 39:5-8:
5 “Who set the wild donkey free?
Who loosed the bonds of the onager,
6 Whose home I have made the wilderness,
And the barren land his dwelling?
7 He scorns the tumult of the city;
He does not heed the shouts of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture,
And he searches after every green thing.
It enjoys the freedom of the desert and finds its own pasture, scornful of the bustle of the city and heedless of the animal driver. It represents the presence of the desert where once there were bustling cities (Isa. 32:14). Ishmael is characterized as a wild ass (Gen. 16:12). The emphasis there is on his “untamability” and the fact that he would always be one who would be on the fringes of society.
The domesticated ass was very common in Israel. It appears as a basic item of a person’s property (likely because it was far easier to manage, being far less aggressive and powerful an animal) (e.g. Exod. 22:8, 9; 23:4, 5; Job 24:3; Luke 13:15), and the number of asses was one of the measures of a patriarch’s wealth or an army’s booty. The domestic ass is most frequently referred to as a means of transport for goods or people (in fact this was its’ primary use in OT times) (e.g., 2 Sam. 16:1-2), but occasionally it appears as a draft animal (e.g., Isa. 30:24).
Issachar is called an ass because his life is hard labor (Gen. 49:14). Though they usually knew where they were kept, asses would not infrequently wander off and get lost (lost as far as their owners were concerned) (Exod. 23:4; Deut. 22:1-3; 1 Sam. 9-10). Under siege conditions starvation might lead people to pay eighty shekels of silver for an ass’s head, according to 2 Kings 6:25. Normally, they were not considered to be good eating, and a dead ass was simply dragged outside the city and thrown away (Jer. 22:19). Samson used an ass’s jawbone, which he found lying on the ground, to slay a thousand Philistines. Balaam’s ass, which shows greater insight and loyalty than her master (Num. 22:21-35), is probably the most famous ass in the Bible (cf. 2 Pet. 2:16).
In the ancient Near East gods and kings rode on asses. So in the prophecy of Zech. 9:9 the new king of Jerusalem comes to the city riding on an ass—as then does Jesus (Matt. 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-38; John 12:12-19).[1]
The point of comparison was the classic idea of stubbornness and intractability. We all can readily picture the donkey, seated on it its hind quarters, its master pulling with growing anger and great futility at the reigns trying to get it to get and move along, hollering all the while. There is a growing crowd gathering and mocking, children laughing all the while, the donkey calmly blinking and chewing away on a stalk of hay and wondering what all the hubbub is about, it’s dullness and stupidity preventing it from perceiving what is going on around it and seeing that it is liable to be receiving a beating very, very soon!
That is precisely the position that Israel finds herself in. She has seated herself in the marketplace of idol-worship and refused all of God’s pleas to remove herself to where she belongs. God has begged and yelled and gone to the whip and the switch. The crowd round about (the pagan nations who hate both Israel and her God) is enjoying the spectacle – it is quite the distraction and party for them.
But what Israel does know is that the donkey will indeed move, oh yes, it will indeed move. For Assyria and Babylon are coming! If the donkey won’t move itself, then God will bring someone who will simply bring someone who will pick the silly animal up and move it where desires in spite of its stubbornness.
More’s the pity.
[1] Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary. Includes index. (1st ed.) (76). San Francisco: Harper & Row.
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