Hosea 9:3

They shall not dwell in the LORD's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.

They shall not dwell in the Lord's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt - (note, ). As in , it is said, "He shall not return into ... Egypt," Fairbairn thinks it is not the exact country that is meant, but the bondage-state with which, from past experience, Egypt was identified in their minds. Assyria was to be a second Egypt to them (), though threatening a return to Egypt (Hos. 9:36 ), declares that the Lord shall bring them and their king to a nation which neither they nor their fathers had known, showing that it is not the literal Egypt, but a second Egypt-like bondage that is threatened.

And they shall eat unclean things in Assyria - reduced by necessity to eat meats pronounced unclean by the Mosaic law (). See , "In the ninth year of Hoshea, the King of Assyria took Samaria."