Hosea 11:4

I led them with cords of humanity, 1 with bands of love. 1 I was to them like someone who eased the yoke on their jaws, 1 and I bent down to them and fed them. 1

Unlocked Literal Bible

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

3Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. 1 It was I who lifted them up by their arms, 1 but they did not know that I cared for them. 1

5Will they not return to the land of Egypt? 1 Will Assyria not rule over them 1 because they refuse to return to me? 1

Read all of Hosea 11

Cross References

Exodus 16:32Moses said, “This is what Yahweh has commanded: 'Let an omer of manna be kept throughout your people's generations so that your descendants might see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, after I brought you out from the land of Egypt.'”

Deuteronomy 32:12Yahweh alone led him; 1 no foreign god was with him. 1

2 Samuel 7:14I will be a father to him, and he will be my son. When he sins, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the whipping of the sons of men.

Psalms 105:40The Israelites asked for food, and he brought quail 1 and satisfied them with bread from heaven. 1

Isaiah 63:9Through all their suffering, 1 he suffered too, and the angel from his presence saved them. 1 In his love and mercy he saved them, 1 and he lifted them up and carried them through all the ancient times. 1

Jeremiah 31:3Yahweh appeared to me in the past and said, “I have loved you, Israel, with everlasting love. 1 So I have drawn you toward myself with covenant faithfulness. 1

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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