Isa 1:3 | NETfull | STEP | An ox recognizes its owner, a donkey recognizes where its owner puts its food; but Israel does not recognize me, my people do not understand.”

Isaiah 1:3

3 An ox recognizes its owner,
a donkey recognizes where its owner puts its food; ^{▼▼ Heb “and the donkey the feeding trough of its owner.” The verb in the first line does double duty in the parallelism.}
but Israel does not recognize me, ^{▼▼ Although both verbs have no object, the parallelism suggests that Israel fails to recognize the Lord as the one who provides for their needs. In both clauses, the placement of “Israel” and “my people” at the head of the clause focuses the reader’s attention on the rebellious nation (C. van der Merwe, J. Naud^e, J. Kroeze, A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar, 346–47).}
my people do not understand.”