Hosea 11 · ESV Study Bible

The LORD’s Love for Israel

HOSEA 11 [†] u When Israel was a child, v I loved him,

and out of Egypt I w called x my son.

2[†] y The more they were called,

the more they went away;

z they kept sacrificing to the Baals

and burning offerings to idols.

3 Yet it was a I who taught Ephraim to walk;

I took them up by their arms,

but they did not know that b I healed them.

4 c I led them with cords of kindness, [1]

with the bands of love,

and d I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,

and e I bent down to them and fed them.

5[†] f They shall not [2] return to the land of Egypt,

but g Assyria shall be their king,

h because i they have refused to return to me.

6 j The sword shall rage against their cities,

consume the bars of their gates,

and devour them k because of their own counsels.

7 My people are bent l on turning away from me,

and though m they call out to the Most High,

he shall not raise them up at all.

8[†] How can I give you up, O Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, O Israel?

n How can I make you o like Admah?

How can I treat you o like Zeboiim?

p My heart recoils within me;

my compassion grows warm and tender.

9 I will not execute my burning anger;

I will not again destroy Ephraim;

q for I am God and not a man,

r the Holy One in your midst,

and I will not come in wrath. [3]

10[†] s They shall go after the LORD;

t he will roar like a lion;

when he roars,

his children shall come trembling u from the west;

11[^] they shall come trembling like birds v from Egypt,

and w like doves x from the land of Assyria,

and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD.

12[†] [4] Ephraim y has surrounded me with lies,

and the house of Israel with deceit,

but Judah still walks with God

and is faithful to the Holy One.

HOSEA—NOTE ON 11:12–12:1 Dependence on Alliances. Ephraim has surrounded me with lies … but Judah still walks with God (11:12). Judah and the northern tribes (Ephraim) both suffered lapses in fidelity to the Lord, but Judah, unlike Ephraim, had some good kings (in particular, Hezekiah). One of the highest points in Judah’s history was the victory over the Assyrians when Hezekiah was king (see 2 Kings 18–19, which was 20 years after Samaria fell).

HOSEA—NOTE ON 11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. Here is one of the most endearing passages in Hosea. The prophet uses another family metaphor, portraying the Lord not only as a husband but also as a father (cf. Luke 15:11–32). This metaphor was not original to Hosea (cf. Ex. 4:22–23). Matthew 2:15 uses the line “out of Egypt I called my son” to show that Jesus is the “Son of God,” i.e., the heir of David who embodies Israel’s relationship to God (cf. 2 Sam. 7:14; Ps. 89:26–27).

HOSEA—NOTE ON 11:2–4 The Lord loved Israel from the beginning and never stopped loving them. Throughout their history, he taught Ephraim (that is, Israel) to walk and healed them (v. 3), as a father does with his child. Some commentators think the image of a parent and a child continues in v. 4 in led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love. The meaning would be light bands or cords with which a parent supports and guides a toddler who is learning to walk. But most commentators think that in v. 4 the image changes to that of a kind farmer with his animals, who removes the yoke and leads the animal, not with harsh ropes and a yoke (as in 10:11), but with light “cords” and “bands” to guide the animals to their food. Then the Lord, like a gentle farmer, even bent down and fed them (11:4). In all of this manifestation of grace, the Lord was not initiating a new basis for a relationship between him and his people, for the relationship from the beginning was never based on law but on redemptive grace. Among other places, this is illustrated by the preamble of the Ten Commandments: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex. 20:2). It was God’s love that provided and still provides the underpinning for an ultimate relationship of care, guidance, and obedience. Tragically, however, more than anything else, it was the Lord’s love that was spurned: The more they were called, the more they went away (Hos. 11:2), and “My people are bent on turning away from me” (v. 7).