Hosea 11:4

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 unto them.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
drew	אֶמְשְׁכֵם֙ 'em.she.Khem	H4900	to draw · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
cords	בְּחַבְלֵ֨י be.chav.Lei	H2256	a rope (as twisted) · preposition + noun, common both genders plural construct
man	אָדָ֤ם 'a.Dam	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
bands	בַּעֲבֹת֣וֹת ba.'a.vo.Tot	H5688	something intwined · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
love	אַהֲבָ֔ה 'a.ha.Vah	H160	affection (in a good or a bad sense) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
off	כִּמְרִ֥ימֵי kim.Ri.mei	H7311	to be high actively · preposition + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural construct
yoke	עֹ֖ל 'ol	H5923	a yoke (as imposed on the neck) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
jaws	לְחֵיהֶ֑ם le.chei.Hem	H3895	the cheek (from its fleshiness) · noun, common masculine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
laid	וְאַ֥ט ve.'At	H5186	to stretch or spread out · conjunction + verb, hiphil jussive, 1st person common singular
meat	אוֹכִֽיל 'o.Khil	H398	to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Leviticus 26:13 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands o…
2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bar…
Jeremiah 31:2-3 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
2 Samuel 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the chi…
Psalms 78:23-25 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
Hosea 2:8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Hosea 11:1-7

Here we find, I. God very gracious to Israel. They were a people for whom he had done more than for any people under heaven, and to whom he had given more, which they are here, I will not say upbraided with (for God gives, and upbraids not), but put in mind of, as an aggravation of their sin and an encouragement to repentance. 1. He had a kindness for them when they were young (Hos 11:1): When Israel was a child then I loved him; when they first began to multiply into a nation in Egypt God then set his love upon them, and chose them because he loved them, because he would love them, Deu 7:7, Deu 7:8. When they were weak and helpless as children, foolish and froward as children, when they wer…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Hosea 11:4

cords of a man--parallel to "bands of love"; not such cords as oxen are led by, but humane methods, such as men employ when inducing others, as for instance, a father drawing his child, by leading-strings, teaching him to go (Hos 11:1). I was . . . as they that take off the yoke on their jaws . . . I laid meat--as the humane husbandman occasionally loosens the straps under the jaws by which the yoke is bound on the neck of oxen and lays food before them to eat. An appropriate image of God's deliverance of Israel from the Egyptian yoke, and of His feeding them in the wilderness.

Adam Clarke on Hosea 11:4

I drew them with cords of a man - This is a reference to leading strings, one end of which is held by the child, the other by the nurse, by which the little one, feeling some support, and gaining confidence, endeavors to walk. God, their heavenly Father, made use of every means and method to teach them to walk in the right and only safe path; for, as the Targum says, "As beloved children are drawn I drew them by the strength of love." That take of the yoke on their jaws - I did every thing that mercy could suggest, and justice permit, to make their duty their delight and profit. There appears to be here an illusion to the moving and pulling forward the collar or yoke of beasts which have bee…

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The Church Fathers

And as the lover of humankind I will draw them to believing in cords of love, just as that which is written in the Gospel: "No one comes to me unless the Father who sent me will have drawn him." But they thought that my light yoke was very heavy; and I bent toward them, leaving the kingdom of heaven so that I may eat with them, having assumed the human form. Or rather, I gave them my body as food; I was both food and table companion.
— Jerome, COMMENTARY ON HOSEA 3:11

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Bands — (1) of love (Hos. 11:4); (2) of Christ (Ps. 2:3); (3) uniting together Christ’s body the church (Col. 2:19; 3:14; Eph. 4:3); (4) the emblem of the captivity of Israel (Ezek. 34:27; Isa. 28:22; 52:2);…
Cord — Frequently used in its proper sense, for fastening a tent (Ex. 35:18; 39:40), yoking animals to a cart (Isa. 5:18), binding prisoners (Judg. 15:13; Ps. 2:3; 129:4), and measuring ground (2 Sam. 8;2;…
Cord · .Leading or binding animals — .Leading or binding animals
Love Of God, The · Described as: Constraining — Described as: Constraining
Rope · .Of love — .Of love

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Hosea 11:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Hosea 11:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Hosea 11:4

Adam Clarke on Hosea 11:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Hosea 11:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Hosea 11:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Hosea 11:4

Adam Clarke on Hosea 11:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Hosea 11:4

John Calvin on Hosea 11:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Hosea 11:3-4

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Hosea 11:3-4

Rashi on Hosea 11:4