I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
Read Chapter 11
Cyril of Alexandria
AD 444
“Because I am kind and good, I bound the feet of Ephraim,” that is, the whole Israel … although he was awkward. God himself declares why this is so: “I will take them in my arms.” This image is from child raising. Those who take infants in their arms are those who bind their feet, bringing their feet together. For it is necessary, I think, that the thighs and knees of anyone who sits down should be drawn together. And in fact this is so. “I bound the feet” as, for instance, it was written about Abraham, who bound his son Isaac when he thought to bring him as a sacrifice to God. One must note that the Hebrew version and other versions do not have “I bound the feet” but rather “I became as one who nourishes Ephraim.”
