Verse 13. :{ ~HEBREW LETTER KAF~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~} { ~HEBREW LETTER DALET~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER RESH~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER KAF~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER TAV~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~} { ~HEBREW LETTER LAMED~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~} { ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER HE~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER VAV~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER DALET~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER HE~} { ~HEBREW LETTER QOF~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER SHIN~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER TAV~} { ~HEBREW LETTER MEM~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER LAMED~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER ALEF~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER TAV~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~} { ~HEBREW LETTER ALEF~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER PE~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER RESH~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER FINAL MEM~} { ~HEBREW LETTER VAV~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER AYIN~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER RESH~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER RESH~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER TAV~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~} { ~HEBREW LETTER BET~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER NUN~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER FINAL KAF~} { ~HEBREW LETTER TSADI~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER VAV~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER FINAL NUN~} { ~HEBREW LETTER AYIN~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER LAMED~} { ~HEBREW LETTER BET~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER NUN~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER FINAL KAF~} { ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER VAV~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER FINAL NUN~} { ~HEBREW LETTER VAV~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER SHIN~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER MEM~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER TAV~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER FINAL KAF~} { ~HEBREW LETTER KAF~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER HET~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER RESH~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER BET~} { ~HEBREW LETTER GIMEL~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER BET~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER VAV~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER RESH~}
_When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, Oh Zion! against thy sons, Oh Greece! and made thee as the sword of a mighty man._
Here { ~HEBREW LETTER KAF~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~} (or { ~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{ ~HEBREW LETTER KAF~}), which signifies _for_, is rendered _when_, thus imposing a future signification on the verbs that follow. This has, no doubt, arisen from a supposed allusion to the subsequent wars of Judas Maccabeus. But Ephraim, or the ten tribes, having no share in those wars, militates against that supposition; and it seems more probable that this verse, instead of designating the _time when_ the promised blessing would be conferred upon the Gentiles, here declares the _reason why_ the Messiah could not be sent to them directly and unconditionally; namely, because he was previously promised to Israel. _For I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow Ephraim_; that is, I have chosen Israel as my people, and appointed them my instruments for the overthrow of paganism. And, accordingly, to the house of Israel he came, and was by some of them received; nor until the great body of that people declined the office, were the Gentiles called in to fill up the ranks, and carry on the spiritual warfare; a warfare which was thenceforward carried on by both in conjunction, for the first Christians still were Jews, though blindness came in part over Israel.