Hosea 9:11

As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.

As for Ephraim, thee glory shall fly away. Fit retribubution to these who "separated themselves unto that shame" (). Children were accounted the glory of parents; sterility a reproach. "Ephraim" means fruitfulness (, margin); this its name shall cease to be its characteristic.

From the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. Ephraim's children shall perish in a threefold gradation-

(1) From the birth;

(2) From the time of pregnancy;

(3) From the time of their first conception.

Compare the threefold stages of failure in their produce of the earth --

(1) "It hath no stalk;

(2) The bud shall yield no meal;

(3) If so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up" ().