Verse 11
Hosea compared Ephraim to a heifer that enjoyed threshing.
"Threshing was a comparatively light task, made pleasant by the fact that the creature was unmuzzled and free to eat . . . as it pulled the threshing sledge over the gathered corn." [Note: Kidner, pp. 97-98.]
Ephraim had abandoned this comparatively light service in preference for becoming yoked to sin (Hosea 10:10). As punishment Yahweh would yoke the people of both Northern and Southern Kingdoms to an enemy who would greatly restrict their movements and force them to do hard work. "Judah" refers to the Southern Kingdom and "Jacob" to the Northern, using the name of the patriarch that stresses this ancestor’s rebelliousness. Or possibly "Jacob" refers to all 12 tribes. [Note: Wood, "Hosea," p. 211.]
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