Yesaya 28:24-26

28:24 Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time? ¹ 

Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground?

28:25 Once he has leveled its surface,

does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant,

sow the seed of the cumin plant,

and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places? ² 

28:26 His God instructs him;

he teaches him the principles of agriculture. ³ 

Yesaya 32:20

32:20 you will be blessed,

you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, ⁴ 

you who let your ox and donkey graze. ⁵ 

[28:24]  ¹ tn Heb “All the day does the plowman plow in order to plant?” The phrase “all the day” here has the sense of “continually, always.” See BDB 400 s.v. יוֹם.

[28:25]  ² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “place wheat [?], and barley [?], and grain in its territory.” The term שׂוֹרָה (shorah) is sometimes translated “[in] its place,” but the word is unattested elsewhere. It is probably due to dittography of the immediately following שְׂעֹרָה (sÿo’rah, “barley”). The meaning of נִסְמָן (nisman) is also uncertain. It may be due to dittography of the immediately following כֻסֶּמֶת (kussemet, “grain”).

[28:26]  ³ tn Heb “he teaches him the proper way, his God instructs him.”

[32:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “by all the waters.”

[32:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “who set free the foot of the ox and donkey”; NIV “letting your cattle and donkeys range free.”

[32:20]  sn This verse seems to anticipate a time when fertile land is available to cultivate and crops are so abundant that the farm animals can be allowed to graze freely.