What Does Isaiah 30:24 Mean in the King James?
The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Abundance reaches even the animals who work the soil, in food prepared by separating the nourishing grain from its husk.
THE MEANING
The oxen and young asses that till the ground eat food carefully prepared for them. Provision reaches even the creatures whose strength serves the soil, holding their labor and nourishment together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that those whose strength is spent serving the harvest are forgotten in its provision.
THE ROOT
זָרָה
zārâ
GROWS FROM
ז־ר־ה
To scatter or disperse; with grain, to winnow by tossing it so the chaff separates from the food.
“winnowed” in this verse is zārâ. The fan and shovel do more than move grain: they separate what nourishes from what is carried away. The food reaches the animals after this act of sorting.
ALSO GROWS
zārâ: To scatter, disperse, or winnow grain.
זָרָה
The verse uses this action to describe how the animals’ feed is prepared.
mizreh: A fan or winnowing tool.
מִזְרֶה
The fan named alongside the shovel is the instrument that carries out the separating work.
עֹבְדֵי הָאֲדָמָה
ʿovdei haʾadamah
GROWS FROM
ע־ב־ד
To work or serve.
“that ear the ground” in this verse is ʿovdei haʾadamah. The phrase describes the animals as workers of the ground. The language of service sits beside the image of their feeding: those who work the soil are themselves included in its provision.
ALSO GROWS
ʿeved: A servant or worker.
עֶבֶד
This branch makes the animals’ role as workers explicit.
ʿavodah: Labor, work, or service.
עֲבֹדָה
It echoes the labor of tilling that the verse pairs with prepared food.
THE PATTERN
The increase of the land includes provision for the creatures whose labor moves it toward harvest.
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?THE THREAD
And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.Both verses use the Hebrew root זרה (zārâ, to scatter or winnow) and the related word מִזְרֶה (mizreh, fan). Here, the fan prepares food for the ground-workers; in Jeremiah, the same image describes people being scattered, showing how one action can separate toward nourishment or loss.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us