Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
Blessed (are) ye that sow beside all waters. While the enemy shall be brought "low," the Jews shall cultivate their land in undisturbed prosperity.
All waters - all well-watered places (Isaiah 30:25). The Hebrew translated "beside," ought rather to be translated "upon" (Ecclesiastes 11:1), where the meaning is, 'Cast thy seed upon the waters when the river overflows its banks; the seed will sink into the mud, and will spring up when the waters subside, and you will find it after many days in a rich harvest.' Before sowing, they send oxen, etc., into the water to tread the ground for sowing. Castalio thinks there is an allusion to the Mosaic precept, not to plow with an ox and donkey together, mystically implying that the Jew was to have no contact with Gentiles; the Gospel abolishes this distinction (Colossians 3:11): thus the sense here is, Blessed are ye that sow the Gospel seed without distinction of race in the teachers or the taught. But there is no need of supposing that the ox and donkey here are yoked together; they are probably "sent forth" separately, as in Isaiah 30:24.
Remarks: What "rivers of water" are to the thirsty, and "the shadow of a great rock" to the heated traveler, that Christ is to the soul which flees to Him, faint, weary, and thirsting for salvation. He gives spiritual sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, understanding to the thoughtless, and ready speech to the stammerers" (Isaiah 32:3-4). When "the heart" is put right, then all the other members fulfill their spiritual functions aright. Things and persons are often now called by wrong names. The worldly "vile" man passes as 'princely,' "the churl" as "bountiful." But then the King, whose prerogative it is to manifest inward character, shall expose the worthless and the hypocrite in their true colours (Isaiah 32:6). On the other hand, those truly princely shall then be manifested in spiritual noble-mindedness, and as such shall stand accepted before the Great King, through faith working by love.