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Chapter 11

The Disappointment of a Parent

[a]When Israel was a child I loved him,(A)
    out of Egypt[b] I called my son.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 11:1–3 After the image of husband-wife (chaps. 1–3), Hosea uses the image of parent-child (Ex 4:22; Is 1:2; Jer 3:19).
  2. 11:1 Out of Egypt: Hosea dates the real beginning of Israel from the time of the exodus. Mt 2:15 applies this text to the return of Jesus from Egypt.

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    who took them in my arms;(A)
    but they did not know that I cared for them.
I drew them with human cords,
    with bands of love;[a]
I fostered them like those
    who raise an infant to their cheeks;
    I bent down to feed them.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 11:4 I drew them…with bands of love: perhaps a reversal of the yoke imagery of the previous chapter, i.e., not forcing them like draft animals, but drawing them with kindness and affection.

But Love Is Stronger and Restores

How could I give you up, Ephraim,
    or deliver you up, Israel?
How could I treat you as Admah,
    or make you like Zeboiim?[a](A)
My heart is overwhelmed,
    my pity is stirred.
I will not give vent to my blazing anger,
    I will not destroy Ephraim again;
For I am God and not a man,(B)
    the Holy One present among you;
    I will not come in wrath.

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Footnotes

  1. 11:8 Admah…Zeboiim: cities in the vicinity of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gn 14:2, 8) and destroyed with them (Gn 19:24–25; Dt 29:22).