Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; So I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah will plow. Jacob will break his clods.
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.] 