Movatterモバイル変換

Exodus 19:4
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, andhow I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.

Numbers 11:11,12
And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? …

Deuteronomy 1:31
And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.

I healed.

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.

Hosea 7:1
When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in,and the troop of robbers spoileth without.

Hosea 14:4
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

taking them by the arms
This phrase emphasizes the personal and direct involvement of God in Israel's growth and development. The act of taking by the arms suggests support and protection, indicating that God was actively sustaining Israel. Culturally, this reflects the ancient Near Eastern understanding of deities as protectors of their people, but with a unique personal touch in the biblical narrative. This can be connected to other scriptures where God is depicted as a shepherd or a father, such asPsalm 23 andIsaiah 63:9, illustrating His care and guidance.

but they never realized that it was I who healed them
Here, the focus shifts to Israel's lack of recognition and gratitude for God's care and healing. The healing can be understood both physically, in terms of deliverance from enemies and diseases, and spiritually, in terms of forgiveness and restoration. This reflects a recurring theme in the prophetic books where Israel fails to acknowledge God's hand in their well-being, leading to idolatry and rebellion. Theologically, this points to the human tendency to forget God's blessings and take His grace for granted. It also foreshadows the ultimate healing brought by Jesus Christ, who is often unrecognized and unappreciated, as seen in passages likeJohn 1:10-11.

“It was I who taught Ephraim to walk” (Hosea 11:3) pictures the Lord as a loving parent stooping to guide a toddler’s first steps.

• Just as a father carries his child “as a man carries his son” (Deuteronomy 1:31), God personally coached Israel from infancy—through the Passover night, the Red Sea, and the Sinai covenant.

•Psalm 32:8 echoes the same intimate guidance: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.”

•Isaiah 63:9 shows His heart: “In all their distress, He too was distressed, and the Angel of His Presence saved them.”

Every milestone of Israel’s formation was the Lord’s direct intervention, not random history.

The phrase highlights hands-on care, much like a parent steadying wobbly legs.

• InExodus 19:4 God says, “I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself,” a poetic snapshot of arms-around rescue.

•Psalm 77:20 recalls how He “led His people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”

•Deuteronomy 33:27 assures, “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”

The same arms that parted seas and fed manna still reach for His children today, inviting trust rather than fear.

Tragically, Israel missed the Author of their blessings.

•Hosea 7:9 laments, “Foreigners devour his strength, yet he does not know it.”

•Jeremiah 2:6 records their amnesia: “They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up out of Egypt?’”

• Jesus later wept over Jerusalem for the same blindness (Luke 19:41-44).

Ingratitude is not mere forgetfulness; it is a relational breach that dulls the soul to God’s ongoing activity.

The Lord was not only Guide but Physician.

• From the outset He declared, “I am the LORD who heals you” (Exodus 15:26).

• Throughout the wilderness He cured bitterness at Marah, protected from plagues, and finally gave the land “a land of wheat and barley” (Deuteronomy 8:8).

• Hosea later promises, “I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them” (Hosea 14:4), pointing to a deeper spiritual restoration fulfilled in Christ, “by whose wounds you are healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Israel mistook natural recovery for chance, never seeing the divine hand stitching them back together.

Hosea 11:3 reveals a God who parents, carries, steadies, and heals. He does the teaching, the supporting, and the mending, yet His children often overlook Him. The verse invites us to recognize every step, every rescue, every recovery as evidence of a Father’s personal love—and to respond with humble gratitude rather than blind independence.

Knew not . . .--This obtuseness to the source of all mercies--the refusal to recognise the true origin in Divine revelation of those ideas which, though they bless and beautify life, are not recognised as such revelation, but are treated as "the voice of nature," or "development of humanity," or "dictum of human reason "--is one of the commonest and most deadly sins of modern Christendom. The unwillingness to recognise the Divine Hand in "creation," "literature," "history" takes the opposed forms of Pantheism and Pyrrhonism. To each of these the prophet's words apply.

(1) forהרגלחי; the former says; "Thetar stands in place ofhe: this is the opinion of the grammarians;" the latter regards it as a solitary example of Tiphel; others again consider it a corrupt reading instead of the ordinary form of Hiph.

(2) Some take it for a noun, as J. Kimchi, who says it is "a noun after the form ofחפארחי, and although the word is Milel (while inתפארחי it is Milra), yet it is the same form;" thus the translation is, "As for me, my guidance was to Ephraim;" so Jerome, "I have been as a nurse to Ephraim;" likewise also Cyril. The former explanation is simpler and also otherwise preferable.

(3) The Septuagint has the incorrect renderingσυνεπόδισα, "I bound the feet of Ephraim," which Jerome explains, "I bound the feet of Ephraim that they might not fly further from me," though his own rendering is that given above. The wordקהם has also occasioned some difficulty and consequent diversity of explanation. . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...