“Ephraim is joined to idols, Let him alone” (Hosea 4:17). And curiously, Ruben, the firstborn, is listed as second, while Judah, the fourth offspring, is listed as the first! So the order of these names makes no sense unless we allow the names to speak for themselves; then, perhaps, we will see God is trying to communicate a special message to us through these names. When Jews named their babies, the names nearly always had some definite meaning that depicted some characteristic of the child or event