“For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf; Now the Lord will let them forage Like a lamb in open country.
Parallel translations
- WEB For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow.
- KJV For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
- BSB For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now shepherd them like lambs in an open meadow?
- NASB Since Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn cow, Will the Lord now pasture them Like a lamb in a large field?
- NLT Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the Lord feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel is as stubborn as an unruly heifer, so she cannot be gently shepherded. Her obstinacy hinders the blessing God would give.
Overview
The image of a stubborn heifer refusing the yoke captures Israel's persistent rebellion against God's guidance. Because she will not submit, she cannot be led like a lamb to safe pasture. The verse exposes the willfulness at the heart of Israel's sin and implies that her own hardness, not any failure in God, stands in the way of the care He longs to provide.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Sam 15:11“It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments.” Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night.
- Jer 7:24But they didn’t listen nor turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
- Zech 7:11But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
- Jer 3:6Moreover, Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there.
- Jer 3:8I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.
- Lev 26:33I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you. Your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.
- Isa 22:18He will surely wind you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a large country. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will be, you shame of your lord’s house.
- Isa 5:17Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.
- Jer 3:11Yahweh said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
- Jer 14:7Though our iniquities testify against us, work for your name’s sake, Yahweh; for our rebellions are many. We have sinned against you.
- Jer 8:5Why then have the people of Jerusalem fallen back by a perpetual backsliding? They cling to deceit, they refuse to return.
- Isa 7:21–25It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;
- Hos 11:7My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won’t exalt them.
- Jer 5:6Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backsliding is increased.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.
How Hosea 4:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.