(3) "The ox that has acquired the manger is known, and the ass sits down of his master's manger; But Israel is not known to Me, and My people are not confused."

He who rejects God is compared to an ox and an ass, because "in honor he has no understanding, be joined to senseless beasts, and be likened unto them" (Psalm 48:13). And such are those who live not according to reason, but through passion and foolishness who are drawn into a life like beasts. The prophet took for the likeness of domestic and well-known animals, in order to shame us, which are more senseless than them, and do not show even such benevolence to their Creator as we ourselves see from the dumb. For the ox given to us as a co-worker in agriculture discerns the voice of the feeder and knows the one who usually brings him food. The donkey finds its way to its usual resting places by itself. Therefore, if the dumb have such a habit for those who take care of them, then to what extent does the rational nature require love for God? Note also that the ox is ascribed greater intelligence than the donkey. For the one is "known" to the "acquired" himself, and the other is only a "manger." And by this the word shows that the donkey is a voracious animal, knowing only the place of pleasure, while the ox has some knowledge even of good and useful things. Therefore, since these animals are not similar to each other, in Deuteronomy it is forbidden to "cry the young man and the donkey together" (cf. Deuteronomy 22:10), that is, you should not combine the zealous and industrious in your soul with the voluptuous and passionate. For God does not "care for wills, but for our sake He will be written" (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:9-10). But in another place, the ox and the donkey are again connected. For "blessed is he who sows by all water, where the ox and the ass trample down" (cf. Isaiah 32:20), that is, blessed is he who by an instructive word arouses in the soul diligence and heals its voluptuousness. For just as an ass is an animal of burden, so the lustful power of the soul is burdened with the weight of sin.

"The ox that has acquired is known; But Israel is not known to me," their Creator. And the "ass" recognized "his master's manger," but Israel did not understand Me. There are many mangers, yet the donkey does not err in his master's manger. But God is one, and the ungrateful people wander after gods who do not exist. "I am not in my mind" — Me, proclaimed by the heavens, indicated by the earth and the sea, revealed by the sun, moon, stars, and all creation. In fact, Israel is represented by the image of the ox, and the common people are represented by the image of the donkey. For what a difference there is between an ox and an ass, the same difference between Israel, which means "seeing God," and the so-called common people.

(4) "Alas, sinful tongue, men full of sins, evil seed, sons of iniquity."

The words "tongue" and "people" are used together in many places of Scripture. For example: "In many tongues is glory to the king, but in the poverty of men is the crush of the mighty" (Proverbs 14:28). And again: "Are the tongues wavering, and people learning in vain?" (Psalm 2:1). But now those who began by becoming a sinful tongue, after the increase of wickedness, have become men full of iniquity. And those who began by becoming the seed of evil came to become lawless sons. For just as progress in virtue increases from the lesser to the greater, so the spread of vice, beginning with the insignificant, reaches the incurable. Between the seed and the sons there is a close connection in the very nature of things. For, having arisen from seed, they become sons not only in bodily birth, but also in spiritual growth, when those who have received instruction from the seeds of teaching reach the point of becoming like teachers, and therefore are called sons, or sons of the kingdom, if, having received the salvific seeds, they are perfected in accordance with them, or sons of hell, if, as a result of evil instruction, they prepare themselves for destruction. But great is the accusation of calling a whole tongue sinful, so that there is no man in it who would do good, to call people full of sins, so that they commit all kinds of iniquity, even the opposite vices are revealed in them, as it is said: "full of all unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:29), and again: "the sins of the Amorites" (Gen. 15:16) are filled, and as the Saviour said: "And ye shall fulfill the measure of your fathers" (Matt. 23:32).

"Evil seed." The tares sown by the enemy man among the pure wheat, having come to full age, have become the son of lawlessness, who is the son of perdition and the son of hell. For this reason, those are recognized as worthy of tears who, instead of being sons of the Highest, have become lawless sons and, instead of remaining in the divine birth, have become "evil seed." And in addition to this, deceit turned into a habit is destructive for those who have it in themselves initially. For deceit is extremely inconsistent with itself.

"Forsake the Lord and provoke yourselves" (Slav. — anger) "of the Holy One of Israel."

What proof of wickedness is stronger than this, to forsake the Good One! And what an abundance of deceit it is to provoke the Good and the Meek! But the Jews are accused of the same thing in Jeremiah: "Thou hast forsaken me, the fountain of living water" (Jeremiah 2:13). As he forsakes, each one gathers for himself the measure of wrath on the day of retribution.

"Turn away" (Slav. — "turn away") "backwards."

This is added by Theodotion as an interpretation of the word "to leave," that is, to turn away from God through falling away into the worse. For as he who is perfected stretches out "to the first," so he who sins retreats, departing from the Lord and thereby destroying himself. For it is said: "Behold, they that keep themselves away from Thee shall perish" (Psalm 72:27). Therefore, let us live in such a way that the past will never be better than the future or the present. This is also forbidden by Ecclesiastes: "Thou shalt not say, 'What hath become, that the days of the former shall be greater than these? For it was not in wisdom that thou didst inquire about these things" (Ecclesiastes 7:11). For if the previous ones are better than the following, then we will be told: "In vain have you suffered so much, turning good deeds to naught by subsequent negligence." For Ezekiel says: "If the righteous turn away from his righteousness, and do unrighteousness in all the iniquity which the wicked man has done, all his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; in his transgression, by which he transgressed, and in his sins, by which he sinned, he would die in them" (Ezekiel 18:24).

(5) "Why else are you wounded, adding iniquity?"

The meaning of these words is as follows: "For your sins I admonished you, I punished you with a whip. And because you have not repented, but have sinned more, I have continually laid new scourges upon you, so that every part of the body has been covered with the blows of correction." Those who sin are not incurably threatened by the word that will visit them "with the rod of their iniquity, and with the stripes of their iniquity" (Psalm 88:33); and to the incurable he says: "Why else are you wounded?" — "Having experienced the blows upon yourselves, you have despised all the scourges that impel you to conversion. Crushing awaits you." This is the voice of one who is driven to the extreme and despairs of correction, as in Ezekiel: "My zeal will depart from you, and I will not be angry with you" (cf. Ezekiel 16:42). Of the calamities that befall us, some befall as punishment for sins, others for the correction of morality in those who are tempted, and others for the destruction of the hopeless, as was the case with Pharaoh. For this reason, the Prophet threatens the Jews, as hopeless, not with blows, not with scourges, but with destruction.

"Every head is into sickness, and every heart into sorrow. What else are you hurting?"

ye whose bodies and souls are covered with wounds, and there is no correction in anything, but the whole head is sick and the whole heart is grieved? Without a doubt, it is not the bodily member that the Prophet calls the head, that is, pain is not established in one head, but it is said "every head" instead of "every man," according to the usage of the Scriptures. For example: "Take up the firstfruits of all the assembly of the children of Israel according to their kinship, according to their assembly, according to the house of their fatherland, according to the number of their names, according to their heads" (cf. Num. 1:2, 20). Since all the tongue is sinful and all people are full of iniquity, therefore the punishment is extended to all, and "every heart" is grieved, because the people are taken captive for their sins.