Bible Strands
Hosea 11:4
I led them with cords of kindness, with ropes of love; I lifted the yoke from their necks and bent down to feed them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks through Hosea to the northern kingdom of Israel, identified as Ephraim, during a prophetic warning about impending exile. The declaration follows a statement of God’s past healing and precedes a threat of political return to Egypt and Assyria.
The words — The text employs חַבְלֵי (chavlei) for "cords" and עֹל ('ol) for "yoke," contrasting binding restraint with the deliberate removal of a heavy burden. These terms frame divine guidance as a conscious choice to replace oppression with sustained provision.
The thread — The motif of breaking a yoke appears in Leviticus 26:13 where God frees Israel from Egyptian slavery, while the language of drawing people to Himself recurs in John 12:32. The concept of being led by cords of love aligns with the redemptive compulsion described in 2 Corinthians 5:14.
Why it lands — The verse requires acknowledgment that Israel’s historical deliverance originated in God’s unilateral affection rather than national merit. It demands the reader to accept that divine care and impending judgment flow from the same sovereign will.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
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.
Cross-references
- John 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself.”
- Leviticus 26:13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk in uprightness.
- 2 Corinthians 5:14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.
- Isaiah 63:9 In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
- Jeremiah 31:2 This is what the LORD says: “The people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness when Israel went to find rest.”
- 2 Samuel 7:14 I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
- Psalms 78:23 Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.
- Hosea 2:8 For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold—which they crafted for Baal.
- Psalms 105:40 They asked, and He brought quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
- Song of Solomon 1:4 Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.