“How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.”
The rhetorical question 'How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?' indicates God's anguish over the necessity of judgment, suggesting that divine justice must be satisfied yet at great cost to God's own heart. The comparison to Admah and Zeboim (cities destroyed alongside Sodom and Gomorrah) suggests the severity of possible judgment, yet the question form indicates that God recoils from this possibility. This verse reveals divine pathos, the pain in God's heart at the necessity of judging Israel.
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