בְּחַבְלֵ֨י אָדָ֤ם אֶמְשְׁכֵם֙ בַּעֲבֹת֣וֹת אַהֲבָ֔ה וָאֶהְיֶ֥ה לָהֶ֛ם כִּמְרִ֥ימֵי עֹ֖ל עַ֣ל לְחֵיהֶ֑ם וְאַ֥ט אֵלָ֖יו אוֹכִֽיל׃
Я нарисовал их с помощью человеческих шнуров, С бандой любви; И я был с ними, как те, которые снимают ярмо на челюстях, И я нежно кормил их.
Akeidat Yitzchak
Midrash Shocher Tov on Psalms 105 quotes Rabbi Yehudah as saying that Jacob should have been brought down to Egypt in chains, but that the Almighty resorted to a variety of stratagems to ensure that Jacob would descend to Egypt of his own free will. This is the meaning of the verse (Psalms 105,17), "Joseph was sold as a slave...He called forth famine all over the earth...Jacob came to Egypt." Rabbi Pinchas said, "Compare this to a cow which the owners wanted to drag to the slaughter house, and which refused to be dragged. What did the owners do? They took its calf first; after that, the mother cow followed willingly. This is what G-d did in order to get Jacob down to Egypt, as we read in Hoseah 11,4, "I drag them by the ropes of man, I pull them with strong ropes of love."