The ox knoweth his owner... — As in Exodus 20:17; 1 Samuel 12:3, the ox and the ass rather than, as with us, the horse and the dog, are the representative instances of the relation of domesticated animals to man. These know that relation, and act according to it; but Israel did not, or rather would not, know. So Jeremiah dwells, turning to a different region of animal life, on the instinct which leads the stork, the swallow, and the crane to fulfil the law of their being (Jeremiah 8:7), while Israel “knew not” — i.e., did not acknowledge — the law of Jehovah.
Related Commentaries of Isaiah 1:3
Isaiah 1:3
3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.