1_Hearken, O Shepherd of Israel! _The prophet, previous to his naming Manasseh and Ephraim, makes mention of Joseph; and why does he speak of Joseph rather than of Judah, but because it was his design to treat separately of the kingdom of Israel, the government of which was in the family and posteri... [ Continue Reading ]
3_Turn us again, O God! _The meaning of this prayer is, Restore us to our former state. They had petitioned, in the preceding verse, that God would stir up his strength in the sight of Ephraim and Manasseh; and now they complain that they are but castaways until God succor them, and remedy their mis... [ Continue Reading ]
4_O Jehovah, God of Hosts! _God having in the Scriptures freely promised, and so often assured us, that the prayers of his people will not be disappointed, it may excite our surprise to find the faithful here alleging before him, that he continues unpacified, although they betake themselves to him.... [ Continue Reading ]
5_Thou hast fed us with bread of tears, etc. _By these forms of expression, they depict the greatness of their grief, and the long continuance of their calamities; as if they had said, We are so filled with sorrow, that we can contain no more. (388) They add, in the following verse that _they were m... [ Continue Reading ]
8_Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt. _Under the figure of a vine, the singular grace which God was graciously pleased to exercise towards his people after he had redeemed them is celebrated; and this powerfully contributed to inspire them with the hope of being heard. For which of us can be so p... [ Continue Reading ]
12_Why then hast thou broken down its hedges? _This is the application of the similitude; for nothing seems more inconsistent than that God should abandon the vine which he had planted with his own hand, to be rooted up by wild beasts. It is true that he often threatened and forewarned the people by... [ Continue Reading ]
14._Return, I beseech thee, O God of Hosts! _In these words it is intended to teach, that we ought not to yield to temptation although God should hide his face from us for a time, yea even although to the eye of sense and reason he should seem to be alienated from us. For, provided he is sought in t... [ Continue Reading ]
As to the word כנה, _cannah, _(398) in the beginning of the 15th verse, I readily acquiesce in the sense given of it by some who translate it, _a place prepared; _but as some think that there is a change in the Hebrew word of the letter ג, _gimel, _into כ, _caph, _so that the reading should be גנה,... [ Continue Reading ]
16_It is burnt with fire. _The calamities of the people are now more clearly expressed. (399) It had been said that the Lord’s vine was abandoned to the wild beasts, that they might lay it waste. But it was a greater calamity for it to be consumed with fire, rooted up and utterly destroyed. The Isra... [ Continue Reading ]
17_Let that hand be upon the Man of thy right hand. _Here the Psalmist repeats in plain words the prayer which he had expressed under the figure of a vineyard, pleading that God would defend, under his hand, _the Man of his right hand, and the Son of man whom he hath strengthened for himself _It is... [ Continue Reading ]
In the 18th verse, the faithful engage, upon God’s hearing them, gratefully to acknowledge his goodness, not only by rendering to him the sacrifice of praise, but also by their whole life. _Calling upon God’s name, _is here to be understood of “the calves of the lips,” (Hosea 45:3;) but when it is s... [ Continue Reading ]