• Biblical Families is not a dating website. It is a forum to discuss issues relating to marriage and the Bible, and to offer guidance and support, not to find a wife. Click here for more information.

Of Donkeys and Oxen:

Slumberfreeze

Slumberfreeze

Seasoned Member
Real Person
Male
I have a fondness for finding the spiritual meanings behind the odd laws that don't seem to have any spiritual or moral application. One of those that I found mysterious was:

Deut 22:10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.

Which gets painted over with a few other laws to mean, basically: "Stuff should be kept separate because Holiness" but I believe God to be a meticulous chooser of words, so I wanted to know just why He chose Oxen and Asses to single out as not to plow together. If not muzzling an Ox could be so laden with meaning, it follows that this law likewise has some instruction for us.

Because of Paul, we've learned that the Ox represents "Those who labor for the gospel", so who is it that should not labor with him?

I believe the answer got dumped into my lap as soon as I opened the Word today.

Isaiah 1:3 "An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master's manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand

The ox and the ass both are owned by the same man; and could both be used to plow, but there is a difference between what they know. The Ox knows his Owner. The Ass knows the manger. The ox has personal knowledge of a Person. The Donkey has knowledge of the place it gets fed.

If I may push farther, one labors for the gospel because he knows His God, another labors for the gospel because he likes his paycheck. And there is place for both:

Philippians 1:18 What, then, is the issue? Only that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice.

But I believe that the meaning behind Deuteronomy 22:10 is that the man who labors for the Lord, and the man who labors for the Money (or status, or status quo) should not labor together.

Why? because stuff should be kept separate because Holiness

Because a building cannot be built if one man is committed to using costly stones while another is using wood, hay, and stubble.
 
Last edited:
That’n needs a heart “like”.
 
Love it!
 
Donkey's have certain bad habits; amoung them their infamous stubbornness. If you bind the two together the donkey will ruin the oxes training and you'll have a heap of trouble fixing it.

Slumberfreeze said:
The Ox knows his Owner.
Click to expand...

This is very true. Cattle are as smart and trainable as dogs and able to feel the same level of affection, care, gentleness and protection for their master as canines do. They just don't have quite the same level of eagerness to please as dogs and so none of this is apparent unless you work closely with them.
 
There's a Midrash that says that the oxen were code for "the priest who leads the Jews out to war" and the donkeys were code for "the Mashiach himself."

It was about Jacob and Esau but I came across one that tied it back to Duet.22:10. It's in a collocation of Midrash that say the 613 laws are all a witnesses to different Messianic prophecies.

Another way to look at it is an oxen though strong has no spirit and simply follows direction, and a donkey is spirited and will follow a will of its own.

Looking at that Midrash ,through the eyes of a believer, I think that says that the Ox were "the priest" who tried to follow the will of G-d and the Donkey was Yeshua haMashiach who knows the will G-d. I like @Slumberfreezes explaination to though, and I wouldn't have come across the Midrash if he didn't post and get me studying it out for myself.
 
Last edited:
rockfox said:
This is very true. Cattle are as smart and trainable as dogs and able to feel the same level of affection, care, gentleness and protection for their master as canines do. They just don't have quite the same level of eagerness to please as dogs and so none of this is apparent unless you work closely with them.
Click to expand...

Recently found this to be true... and scary!

We raised two steers for the freezer and just delivered them to the processor. They were bottle fed as calves and at 18 months and 1000 pounds, were like giant Labradors. All good until they got frisky and wanted to play. Or, lick....

Seriously.
 
Ancient Paths said:
We raised two steers for the freezer and just delivered them to the processor. They were bottle fed as calves and at 18 months and 1000 pounds, were like giant Labradors. All good until they got frisky and wanted to play. Or, lick
Click to expand...
We had a 2400 lbs Beefmaster Bull we used for studding that kept trying to climb into the truck or tractor. He always wanted attention and would get pushy if we were out in the pasture and nobody was petting him.
 
Ancient Paths said:
Recently found this to be true... and scary!

We raised two steers for the freezer and just delivered them to the processor. They were bottle fed as calves and at 18 months and 1000 pounds, were like giant Labradors. All good until they got frisky and wanted to play. Or, lick....

Seriously.
Click to expand...

We raised a red steer from a fairly young calf. He was too gentle in some ways, but really never bothered or hurt anyone. Gentle enough you could use him as a seat out in the field when he was laying down....and he would not bother getting up.
I'd guess that a donkey could ruin an ox, by being a good example of BAD behavior, but even the pace two animals move at can be widely different, and that could cause issues too.
Donkeys are different beasts and like to hurt or even kill smaller animals. We had a mule (only half donkey/ass) reach in through the barn window and pull out a lamb that was a couple months old with his teeth, and he brutally, killed it. I watched a female burro once bite and chase some goats....for trying to leave her. I kid you not, she wanted to be by the goats, and actually succeeded in "training them" to stay close to her. Weird critters indeed.
Interesting lines of thought on this thread.
 
Joleneakamama said:
I watched a female burro once bite and chase some goats....for trying to leave her. I kid you not, she wanted to be by the goats, and actually succeeded in "training them" to stay close to her. Weird critters indeed.
Click to expand...
We had a mule that did the same. She was a better gaurd animal than any of the dogs or goats (Woodchucks the exception that goat earned a name) we had.
 
Expected this thread to go in a different direction. When the initial question was asked, my take on it's application was Paul's command to "be not unequally yoked" regarding marriages. But Slumber has an interesting application as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top