The moral degradation of Israel, especially of its ruling class, which, so far from stemming the tide of corruption, applauds and encourages its progress 1. How foolish is the conduct of Israel! When the great turning-point in her fortunes arrives, the day of mingled punishment and mercy, all his w... [ Continue Reading ]
_they consider not in their hearts_ Rather, as margin, THEY SAY NOT TO THEIR HEART. -Heart" here = self; the meaning is therefore they have no pricks of conscience. _now their own doings have beset them about_ They are so entangled in sin (to use a more familiar figure) that they cannot even try to... [ Continue Reading ]
The highest personages are not too refined for the most sensual pleasures. A consuming passion inflames them as if with the heat of a furnace. Their way of celebrating a royal commemoration is to indulge in monstrous excess.... [ Continue Reading ]
_as an oven_ The fire corresponds to sensual lust, the oven is the heart. The baker CEASETH FROM KINDLING (so we should render), when the oven has reached a certain heat, and then he leaves the fire to smoulder, till the fermentation of the dough is complete, and a fresh heating is necessary. So aft... [ Continue Reading ]
Here the figurative description is interrupted by one from real life. _In the day of our king_ Either the coronation-day (so the Targum), or (comp. Matthew 14:6) the royal birthday is meant. The prophet quotes the words of the princes. He was himself too loyal to the house of David to adopt the phr... [ Continue Reading ]
_For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait_ Better, with Ewald, -Yea, almost like the oven have they made their heart in their intrigue", if there were only sufficient justification for the rendering. This view of the verse makes it a climax to Hosea 7:5. Better stil... [ Continue Reading ]
The consequence of all this licence. King after king falls a victim to the violent passions he has fostered in his subjects. Four regicides are recorded within forty years (2 Kings 15). And yet no one calls to Jehovah for help! Sacrifices indeed were not wanting (Hosea 6:6), but those who offered th... [ Continue Reading ]
The outward evidences of Israel's decay 8. _he hath mixed himself among the people_ Rather, HE MIXETH HIMSELF AMONG THE PEOPLES. How? By courting the favour now of Egypt, now of Assyria (Hosea 7:11). _a cake not turned_ Burnt to a coal at the bottom, raw dough at the top: an apt emblem of a charact... [ Continue Reading ]
_Strangers have devoured his strength_ By heavy tribute and desolating invasions. The -strangers" would be Hazael and Benhadad (2 Kings 8:12; 2 Kings 10:32-33; 2 Kings 13:3; 2 Kings 13:7), Pul (2 Kings 15:19-20), and Tiglath-Pileser (2 Kings 15:29), though the two last are really the same person, Pu... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the pride of Israel_ Repeated from Hosea 5:5, just as Hosea 12:9 _a_is repeated in Hosea 13:4 _a_. It is not the prophet who speaks condemning a bad quality in his people, but Jehovah, Israel's true Pride, and the source of Israel's prosperity, who utters a solemn word of warning translated int... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ephraim also is like_ Rather, BUT EPHRAIM IS BECOME LIKE A SILLY DOVE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING. This verse does not begin a fresh section, but is closely connected with the preceding. As a dove, fleeing from a hawk, is snared in the fowler's net, so Ephraim, when afraid of Assyria, calls in the assist... [ Continue Reading ]
_When they shall go_ Rather, AS SOON AS THEY GO. _I will spread my net_ The image of Jehovah's net is not a frequent one; see however Job 19:6; Ezekiel 12:13; Ezekiel 17:20; Ezekiel 19:8; Ezekiel 32:3. Here the net means captivity. _I will bring them down_ Apparently by placing a bait to draw them... [ Continue Reading ]
_they have fled from me_ like birds scared out of their nest (Isaiah 16:2); but the Israelites have only themselves to blame for the fatal consequence. They have left their true home, and shall find no second (see on Hosea 9:17). _transgressed_ Or, -rebelled; strictly, -broken away." _though I hav... [ Continue Reading ]
_with their heart, when they howled_ Rather, IN THEIR HEART, BUT THEY HOWL. The prophet contrasts the quiet communion of the heart with Jehovah and the wild-beastlike -howling" of the impenitent Israelites, who murmur at the withdrawal of material blessings. Comp. Isaiah 24:11. _they assemble themse... [ Continue Reading ]
_Though I have bound and strengthened their arms_ Rather, I INDEED HAVE TRAINED AND STRENGTHENED THEIR ARMS. The Israelites had had a proof of this not long since when -Jehovah saw the affliction of Israel that it was very bitter", and -saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash" (2 Kings 1... [ Continue Reading ]
_They return, but not to the most High_ Rather, THEY TURN (i.e. shift or change), BUT NOT UPWARDS (as Hosea 11:7). They are not content with passive complaints; they have reached a turning-point in their history, but their way only leads them further and further from the -knowledge of God." _like a... [ Continue Reading ]