Verse 8
"Ephraim, he mixeth himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned."
The breaking of the ancient covenant is stressed here. God had specifically commanded that Israel was not to intermingle with the pagan nations they were displacing.
"He mixes himself among the peoples ..." The very purpose of the chosen people involved their segregation from the pagan populations of the earth; it was by this device that God sought to preserve the truth of monotheism among the sons of earth. As Given said:
"The best comment on this verse is Psalms 106:35,36,39 ... They were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols which were a snare unto them ... Thus, they were defiled with their own works, and went a-whoring with their own inventions."[9]
"Ephraim is a cake not turned ..." As a metaphor of flawed personality, this homely saying has entered all languages. "Half-baked" is a designation that carries blunt and unflattering accusation against any person who is made the object of it. Hailey stated that Ephraim was:
"Burned on one side, raw on the other, fit for nothing. They were cooked by heathenism, but uncooked, raw, in their relations to God.[10]
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