Hosea 13:15

Though he be fruitful among [his] brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.

Ver. 15. Though he be fruitful among his brethren] In allusion to his name Ephraim, which signifieth fruitful and flourishing, Genesis 41:52. Confer Genesis 48:16; Genesis 48:19,20; Genesis 49:22. See the like allusions Amo 5:5 Micah 1:10 .

An east wind shall come] Which is violent and hurtful to the fruits of the earth.

The wind of the Lord] A mighty strong wind, meaning that most merciless and impetuous enemy, the Assyrian, sent by the Lord to avenge the quarrel of his covenant.

Shall come up from the wilderness] Where the winds blow most fiercely, because they meet with no resistance.

And his spring shall become dry, &c.] This is a description of extreme desolation, and it is explained and amplified in the next words.

He shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels] He, that is, the Assyrian, not Christ (as Jerome, Mercer, and Ribera will have it), who shall take away from death and hell all matter of glorying. Not the fire of the last day, as Lyra. No, nor Ephraim, as Pareus and Tarnovius carry it: as if it were a promise of their conquest in Christ over all their enemies, corporal and spiritual, dividing the spoil of the converted Gentiles, who shall come in to them with all their desirable things, as some read that text, Haggai 2:7. Confer Amo 9:11-12 Oba 1:18 Zechariah 14:14; Zechariah 14:16; Zechariah 14:20,21. That this whole verse containeth a promise of Ephraim's reduction to the Church of God I could easily yield; reading it especially, as many good interpreters do, "For he shall fructify among his brethren, after that an east wind coming, a wind of Jehovah coming up from the desert, his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall dry up: the same shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels." This is a similitude (say they) from a piece of ground all dried up and parched, that nothing is able to grow: notably expressing the miserable and distressed estate of this people; that, as an easterly wind, and a tempestuous storm, hath dried them quite and spoiled all their delightful treasures, made them the vilest and most contemptible of the earth. Marcellinus tells of an emperor, that, meeting with some of this nation, and annoyed with the sight and stench of them, cried out, O Marcommani, O Quadi, O Sarmatae, &c., O Mareomans, Quades, and Sarmatians, I have found at length a more loathsome and sordid people than you. All which notwithstanding, Ephraim shall flourish again, and hold up their heads among their brethren, sc. by the merit and spirit of him who ransometh them from the power of the grave, from the dint of death. This sense of the words is confirmed by that which follows in the next chapter, Hosea 14:5,7 .