Hosea 11:4

It was as though I fastened ropes around them to lead them, while I loved them and was kind to them. It was as though they were young oxen [MET], and I lifted the yoke from their necks and bent down to feed them.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.

In Context

3The people of Israel were like a little boy [MET], and it was as though it was I who taught them to walk, holding them by their hands. But they did not realize that it was I who was taking care of them.

5But the people of Israel will become slaves again, like they were in Egypt, and the people of Assyria will [RHQ] rule over them, because the people of Israel refused to repent.

Read all of Hosea 11

Cross References

Exodus 16:32Moses/I said, “This is what Yahweh has commanded: ‘You must keep two quarts/liters of it for all future generations, so that they can see the food that took the place of bread that I gave to your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt.’”

Deuteronomy 32:12Yahweh was the only one who led them; no other foreign god helped him.

2 Samuel 7:14I will be like a father to him, and it will be as though he is a son to me [MET]. When he does something that is wrong, I will punish him as fathers punish their sons.

Psalms 105:40Later the Israelis asked for meat to eat, and Yahweh sent flocks of quail to them, and he gave them plenty of manna food from the sky each morning.

Isaiah 63:9When we had many troubles, he was sad also. He sent his angel to rescue us. Because he loved us and was merciful to us, he saved us; it was as though he picked our ancestors up and carried them all those years during which they were oppressed in Egypt.

Jeremiah 31:3Long ago I, Yahweh, said to your ancestors, the Israeli people, ‘I have loved you and I will continue to love you forever. By faithfully loving you, I have brought you close to myself.’

Matthew Henry on Hosea 11:2-8

God's Goodness to Israel; The Ingratitude of Israel; God's Displeasure with Israel. ( b. c. 730.) 1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. 2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. 3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. 4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat… Read the whole commentary →

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