Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.
Speak, ye that ride on white asses - i:e., join in this song of praise. х 'ªtonowt (H860) tsªchorowt (H6715), bright shining she-asses (cf. Judges 10:4: Bovet, 'Voyage en Terre Sainte,' p. 311).] Those which are dappled are most highly prized; but being rare, and therefore costly, are possessed only by the wealthy and great. 'Some are of considerable size, and when fancifully dyed with henna, their tails and ears bright red, and their bodies spotted, like an heraldic talbot, with the same colour, they bear the chief priests and the men of the law, as they appear to have done from the earliest times' (Layard, 'Nineveh and Babylon,' p. 472, note). [The Septuagint has: epibebeekotes epi onou theeleias meseembrias, riding upon a female donkey from the south, namely, Arabia, or some adjoining region.]
Ye that sit in judgement - or on the tribunal of justice [deriving the word from diyn (H1777), justice. But others, more correctly, viewing miyn as an Aramaic form of mirym, plural of mar, a garment, a carpet, render the clause, 'ye that sit on carpets.'] This interpretation accords well with the habit of Oriental grandees, who, whether riding or resting, sit on carpets. 'Ye that walk by the way,' describes the commonalty or the poorer classes, whose circumstances oblige them to use their legs in traveling. All classes, high and low, were thus called upon to join in offering this tribute of thanksgiving.