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Verse 20

20. Is Ephraim my dear son? c.—The question implies that a negative answer was to be expected. Who would have thought that one so undutiful to His heavenly Father as Ephraim had been should still be regarded by God as a "pleasant child?" Certainly he was not so in respect to his sin. But by virtue of God's "everlasting love" ( :-) on Ephraim's being "turned" to God, he was immediately welcomed as God's "dear son." This verse sets forth God's readiness to welcome the penitent (Jeremiah 31:18 Jeremiah 31:19), anticipating his return with prevenient grace and love. Compare Jeremiah 31:19- :: "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion," c.

spake against—threatened him for his idolatry.

remember—with favor and concern, as in Genesis 8:1 Genesis 30:22.

bowels . . . troubled for him— (Deuteronomy 32:36; Isaiah 63:15; Hosea 11:8) —namely, with the yearnings of compassionate love. The "bowels" include the region of the heart, the seat of the affections.

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