10:1-2 The Ephraimite leaders were using their positions to deprive the needy of their rights and to obtain what the poor had for themselves. They were evidently favoring legislation that resulted in these ends as well as perverting the justice that was in place in the Mosaic system. The situation was so bad in Israel that the Lord had to abandon His customary defense of the defenseless.
10:3-4 When God brought Ephraim into judgment she would have nowhere to hide and no one to protect her (cf. Matt. 24:45-51). Then she would be the needy without defense or recourse. For the fourth time, God promised that he would judge Ephriam (cf. 9:12, 17, 21).
Ephraim had more reason to fear God than she had to fear Assyria. Yahweh would discipline her because of her pride, corrupt leadership, selfishness, and oppression of her vulnerable citizens. She would not suffer defeat because of military inferiority but for moral inadequacy.
