SEV Biblia, Chapter 10:11
Efraín es becerra domada, amadora del trillar; mas yo pasaré sobre su lozana cerviz; yo haré halar a Efraín; arará Judá, quebrará sus terrones Jacob.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Hosea 10:11
Verse 11. Ephraim is as a heifer that is taught] One thoroughly broken in to the yoke. And loveth to tread out] Goes peaceably in the yoke; and is pleased because, not being nuzzled, she eats of the corn.
I passed over upon her fair neck] I brought the yoke upon it, that she should not tread out the corn merely, but draw the plough and drag the harrow. These operations of husbandry are all referred to here, with some others. Ephraim shall tread out the corn, that there may be seed for the fields.
Judah shall plough] That the furrows may receive it.
Jacob shall break his clods.] Harrow-that the seed may be covered with the mould.
Israel very frequently made great depredations on Judah; and as this heifer loved to tread out the corn, and not plough, it is therefore added that he should be made to plough, be put under the yoke, namely, that of the Assyrians. What is added, "Judah and Jacob shall plough for themselves," means, that Judah should not now plough for Israel, but for himself; as Israel shall no more make depredations upon him. - Dodd.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 11. And Ephraim [is as] an heifer [that is] taught, [and] loveth to tread out [the corn] , etc.] Like a heifer taught to bear the yoke, and to plough; but learned it not, as the Targum; does not like it; chooses to tread out the corn where it can feed upon it, its mouth not being then muzzled, according to the law; oxen or heifers were used both in ploughing and treading out corn, to which the allusion is. The sense is, that Ephraim or the ten tribes were taught to bear the yoke of the law, and yield obedience to it, and perform good works; but did not like such a course of life; had no further regard for religion than as they found their own worldly profit and advantage in it: or they did not care to labour much in it; they liked the fruit and advantage arising from working, rather than the work itself; and thus, like a heifer, doing little, and living well, they grew fat, increased in power, wealth, and riches; and so became proud and haughty, and kicked against the house of David, and rent themselves from it; and set up a kingdom of their own, and lived and reigned according to their own will and pleasure, like a heifer without yoke and muzzle: but I passed over upon her fair neck ; or, “the goodness of her neck” f198 ; which is expressive of the flourishing and opulent state and condition of the ten tribes, especially in the times of Jeroboam the second, which made them proud and haughty: but the Lord was determined to humble them, and first in a more light and gentle manner; or caused the rod of correction to pass over them more lightly; or put upon them a more easy yoke of affliction, by causing Pul king of Assyria to come against them; and to get rid of whom a present was given him, exacted of the people; and afterwards Tiglathpileser, another king of Assyria, who carried captive part of their land; and this not having its proper effect, the Lord was determined to proceed against them in a heavier manner: I will make Ephraim to ride ; some, taking the future for the past, render it, “I have made Ephraim to ride” f199 ; that is, to rule and govern, having royal dignity and power given them, and that greater than that of Judah; and ride over the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were sometimes very much afflicted by them; and this is thought to be the sense of the following phrases, Judah shall plough, [and] Jacob shall break his clods ; or, “break the clods for him” f200 ; for Ephraim while he rides, and uses them very hard; as in the days of Joash and Pekah, kings of Israel, when many of the tribes of Judah were slain by them, ( 2 Kings 14:12,13 2 Chronicles 28:6,8); but rather the meaning is, “I will cause to ride on Ephraim” f201 ; that is, the Assyrians shall ride upon them, get the dominion over them, carry them captive, and use them to hard service and bondage, as a heifer rid upon by a severe rider while ploughing; and the other tribes shall not escape, though they shall not be so hardly dealt with: “Judah shall plough, and Jacob shall break his clods”; these shall be carried captive into Babylon, and employed in hard and servile work, but more tolerable; as ploughing and breaking clods are easier than to ride upon; and as they had hope of deliverance at the end of seventy years; whereas no promise of return was made to the ten tribes, which is the sense some give; but Pocock and others think that these words regard the tender and gentle methods God took with these people to bring them to obedience to his law. Ephraim being teachable like a heifer, he took hold of her fair neck, and stroked it to encourage her, and accustom her to the hand, and to the yoke; and then put the yoke of his law upon them, add trained them up in his institutions, and used also gentle methods to keep them in obedience; and also set Judah to “plough”, and Jacob to “break the clods”, prescribed for them; and employed them in good works, in the duties of religion, from whence answerable fruit might have been expected; saying to them, by his prophets, as follows:
Matthew Henry Commentary
The distress to come upon Israel. (Hos. 9:1-6) The approach of the da of trouble. (Hos. 9:7-10) Judgments on Israel. (Hos. 9:11-17)
Hos. 9:1-6 Israel gave rewards to their idols, in the offering presented to them. It is common for those who are niggardly in religion, to be prodigal upon their lusts. Those are reckoned a idolaters, who love a reward in the corn-floor better than a reward in the favour of God and in eternal life. They are full of the joy of harvest, and have no disposition to mourn for sin. When we make the world, and the things of it, our idol and our portion, it is just with God to show us our folly, and correct us. None may expect to dwell in the Lord's land, who will not be subject to the Lord's laws, or be influenced by his love. When we enjoy the means of grace, we ought to consider what we shall do, if they should be taken from us. While the pleasures of communion with God are out of the reach of change, the pleasant places purchased with silver, or in which men deposit silver are liable to be laid in ruins. No famine is so dreadful as that of the soul.
Hos. 9:7-10 Time had been when the spiritual watchmen of Israel wer with the Lord, but now they were like the snare of a fowler to entangl persons to their ruin. The people were become as corrupt as those of Gibeah, Judg. 19; and their crimes should be visited in like manner. A first God had found Israel pleasing to Him, as grapes to the travelle in the wilderness. He saw them with pleasure as the first ripe figs This shows the delight God took in them; yet they followed afte idolatry.
Hos. 9:11-17. God departs from a people, or from a person, when he withdraws his goodness and mercy from them; and when the Lord is departed, what can the creature do? Even though, for the present, goo things seem to remain, yet the blessing is gone if God is gone. Eve the children should perish with the parents. The Divine wrath dries u the root, and withers the fruit of all comforts; and the scattered Jew daily warn us to beware, lest we neglect or abuse the gospel. Yet ever smiting is not a drying up of the root. It may be that God intends onl to smite so that the sap may be turned to the root, that there may be more of root graces, more humility, patience, faith, and self-denial It is very just that God should bring judgments on those who slight his offered mercy __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
ואפרים 669 עגלה 5697 מלמדה 3925 אהבתי 157 לדושׁ 1758 ואני 589 עברתי 5674 על 5921 טוב 2898 צוארה 6676 ארכיב 7392 אפרים 669 יחרושׁ 2790 יהודה 3063 ישׂדד 7702 לו יעקב׃ 3290
