Israel signed his own death-warrant when he lapsed into Baal-worship. Foolish as it is to -kiss calves", they persist in the practice. Therefore the nation can but drift away, like cloud, or chaff, or smoke. How little Jehovah deserves such treatment! But Israel's destruction has already begun: they... [ Continue Reading ]
_When Ephraim spake trembling_, &c. The Hebrew is difficult, and the soundness of the text is perhaps questionable. At any rate, the rendering will depend on one's impression of the requirements of the context. To the present writer, no translation appears preferable to that of King James's Bible, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_And now_, &c. The present race is no better; they go on adding to their guilt. _idols according to their own understanding_ Sarcastically. Sept., Targ., Vulg., however, read -according to the pattern of idols" (there could be no art, then, in these repetitions of archaic images). _they say of them... [ Continue Reading ]
_the early dew_, &c. Rather, THE NIGHT-MIST THAT EARLY PASSETH AWAY. See on Hosea 6:4. _as the chaff … the floor_ A familiar figure, but here expressed with more fulness than usual. The point of it is partly in the elevated situation of -the floor" (comp. 1 Samuel 19:22 Sept.; 2 Samuel 24:18; 2 Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet I am the Lord thy God_ Hosea persistently refuses to recognize that the god whom the Israelites worship is really Israel's God, Jehovah. The use of an idolatrous symbol has so unspiritualized the object of their worship that the mere retention of the name Jehovah gives them no claim upon Hosea'... [ Continue Reading ]
_I did know_, &c. Better, IT WAS I THAT KNEW, &c. -To know"=-to take favourable notice of", as Psalms 1:6 and often. _in the land of great drought_ Or, -of burning thirst" (the word occurs nowhere else). Comp. the description in Hosea 2:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
_According to their pasture_, &c. Rather, WHEN THEY FED, THEY WAXED FULL. The idea of the verse is that Israel's apostasy sprang from his enjoying God's gifts without thinking of the Giver, comp. Hosea 2:8; Hosea 4:7; Hosea 10:1. The expressions were probably prophetic commonplaces; comp. Deuteronom... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will be_ Rather, I HAVE BECOME. The evident decay of Israel as a nation shows that the punishment has begun (see Hosea 7:8-10). _the leopard_ Familiar to the Hebrews and Assyrians under the same name (_nâmçr, nimru_). Its habit of springing from an ambush is again referred to in Jeremiah 5:6. _b... [ Continue Reading ]
_as a dear_ A striking but uncommon comparison. Comp. Lamentations 3:10. _the caul of their heart_ Rather, THE ENCLOSURE OF THEIR HEART, i.e., not the _pericardium_, which is what the Authorized Version appears to have supposed, but the breast. _as a lion_ Most render, AS A LIONESS; but this is at... [ Continue Reading ]
Hosea, -in the spirit", sees the future as if it were past. Hence the use of the perfect. _O Israel_, &c. This rendering agrees with that of the Jewish commentator, Rashi (similarly the Targum). It belongs to a numerous series of attempts (see Poole's _Synopsis ad loc._) to explain one of Hosea's mo... [ Continue Reading ]
An alternation of cries expressive of the contending thoughts and emotions of the tender-hearted but truthful prophet. The punishment is inevitable; yea, it is begun. Yet if Israel would only repent! Indeed, his Father must interpose. And yet, on the other hand, rebellion must be punished.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I gave thee_, &c. Rather, I GIVE THEE KINGS [lit., a king] IN MINE ANGER, AND TAKE (THEM) AWAY IN MY WRATH. The reference is to the elevation of Jeroboam I., but also to the various dynasties which from time to time forced their way to the throne (comp. on Hosea 7:7). Indulged self-will brought wit... [ Continue Reading ]
But this instability of government is not Israel's full punishment. _bound up_ Tied up as in a bag (comp. Job 14:17). _hid_ Rather, LAID BY IN STORE (as Job 21:19).... [ Continue Reading ]
These verses, at least down to the last clause of Hosea 13:14, seem a slight digression. The prophet declares that the troubles which are already closing around Israel, are in reality a last opportunity graciously vouchsafed of repentance. But he in his unwisdom neglects to embrace it, though every... [ Continue Reading ]
But a father cannot long endure to contemplate the prospect of his child's ruin. _from the power of the grave … from death_ Rather, FROM THE HAND OF SHEÓL … FROM DEATH. Sheól and Death are used synonymously for the nether world (as in Isaiah 28:15; Psalms 6:5; Psalms 49:14). In Isaiah 5:14 Sheól ha... [ Continue Reading ]
_Though he be fruitful_, &c. Rather, FOR THOUGH HE BEAR FRUIT, &c. Evidently there is an allusion to the meaning of the word Ephraim (-fruitfulness"?); for another see Hosea 14:8. The verse carries on the idea of the last clause of the previous verse. -In fact, though his name and his nature indicat... [ Continue Reading ]
_become desolate_ Rather, BE DEALT WITH AS GUILTY (as Hosea 10:2). _their infants_, &c. Rather, THEIR CHILDREN (those of an age to play, comp. Jeremiah 6:11; Jeremiah 9:20). The same barbarities were predicted in Hosea 10:14. Such a fate would be simply retributive justice (see 2 Kings 15:16).... [ Continue Reading ]