Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
fsraeCs Distress and Captivity. HOSEA X. Reproofs and Tltrealenings for Idolatry,
3. retiini to Egypt—(iVo<e, ch. 8. 13.) As In ch. 11.5 It Is time of their first conception. 13. Even though they should rear their children, yet will I bereave them (the Ephraimites) of them (Job27. 14). woe . . . to them when said, "He sliall not return into . . . Egypt." Fairbairn
Miiiilcs it is not tlie exact country that is meant, but the bonddffe stole with wliicli, from past experience, Egypt was identitled in their minds. Assyria was to be a second Egypt to them. Deuteronomy 28. 68, though threatening a return to Egypt, spealis (v. 36) of tlieir being brouglit to a nation wliicli neither they nor their fathers had known, sliowing that it is not tlie literal Egypt, but a second Egypt-lilte bondage tliat is threatened, eat unclean tilings In Assyria—reduced by necessity to eat meats pronounced unclean by tlie Mosaic law (Ezekiel 4. 13). See
1 depart—yet the ungodly in their madness desire God to depart from them (Job 21.14; 22.17; Matthew 8. 34j. At last they know to their cost how awful it is when God ha« departed (Deuteronomy 31.17; 1 Samuel 28.15, 16; cf. v. 11, and 1 Samuel 4.21). 13. Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus . . . in a pleasant plae«—i.e., in looking towards Tyrus (on whose borders Ephraim lay) I saw Ephraim beautiful In situation like her (Ezekiel 26. and 27. and 28). is planted —as a fruitful tree; image suggested by the meaning of "Ephraim" (u. 11). bring forth his children to the murderer {v. 16; ch. 13.16.) With all his fruitfuluess. Ills children shall only be brought up to be slain. 14. what wilt thou give 1—as if overwhelmed by feeling, he deliberates with God what is most desirable. Give ... a miscarrying womb—of two evils he cliooses the least. So great will be the calamity, that barrenness will be a blessing, though usually counted a great misfortune (Job 3. 3; Jeremiah 20. 14; Luke 23.29). 15. Gilgal—(see Note, ch. 4.
2 Kings 17. 6. 4. offer wine offerings—Jii., pour as a libation (Exodus 30.9; Leviticus 23.13). neltlier sitall tliey be pleasing nnto him—as being offered on a profane soil, saci'iflces . . . as tlie bread of mourners—wliich was unclean (Deuteronomy 26. U ; .Teremiah 16.7; Ezekiel 21.17). tlieir bread for tlieir soul—their otfering for the expiation of tlieir soul [Calvin] (Leviticus 17. 11). Rather, "their bread for their sustenance ('soul ' being often used for the animal life, Genesis 14. 21, Margin) shall not come into the Lord's house;" it shall only subserve their own uses, not my worship. H. (Ch. 2.11.) 6. because of destruction—to escape from the devastation of their coun-
15.) This was the scene of their first contumacy in rejecting God and choosing a king (1 Samuel 11. 14, 15; cf. 1 Samuel 8. 7), and of their subsequent idolatry. All tlieir wickedness—t. e., their chief guilt, there I hated them —not with the human passion, but holy hatred of their sin, which required punishment to be inflicted on themselves (cf. Malachi 1.3). out of mine house—as in ch. 8, 1: out of the land holy unto me. Or, as "love" is mentioned immediately after, the reference may be to the Hebrew mode of divorce, the husband (God) putting the wife (Israel) out of the house, princes—revolters "Harim . . . Sorerim" (Hebrew), a play on similar sounds. 16. The figures "root," "fruit," are suggested by tlie word " Ephraim," i. e., fruitful (Notes, v. 11, 1'2). " Smitten," viz., with a blight (Psalm 102.4). 17. My God—"My," in contrast to " them," i. e., the people, whose God Jehovah no longer is. Also Hosea appeals to God as supporting his authority against the whole people, wanderers among try. Egypt shall gatlier them up i. e., into its sepulchres (Jeremiah 8.2; Ezekiel 29. 5). Instead of returning
10 Palestine, they should die in Egypt. Alemplxls—famed as a necropolis, the pleasant places for their silver i. e., their desired treasuries for their money. Or, " whatever precious thing they have of silver." [Madrer.J nettles —the sign of desolation (Isaiah 34.13). 7. visitation vengeance : punishment (Isaiah 10. 3). Israel shall know It—to her cost experimentally (Isaiah 9. 9). the propliet is a fool—the false prophet who foretold prosperity to the nation shall be convicted of folly by the event, the spiritual man—the man pretending to inspiration (Lamentalions 2.14; Ezekiel 13.3; Micah 3.11; Zephauiah 3.4). for the multitude of tliine iniquity, &c.—connect these words with, " the days of visitation, &c., are come ;" " the prophet, &c., is mad," being parenthetical, the great hatred—or, "the great provocation" [HendersonJ; or,. . . nations—(2 Kings 15.29; 1 Chronicles 5. 26.)
(tliy) "greatapostasy." [Maurer.] English Version means
CHAPTER X.
Israel's " hatred" of God's prophets and the law. 8. The watchman . . . was witli my God—The spiritual watchmen, the true prophets, formerly consulted my God (Jeremiah 31. 6; Habakkuk 2. 1); but their so-called prop/ie« is a snare, entrapping Israel into idolatry, hatred—rather,
Ver. 1-15. Israel's Idolatry, the Source of Perjuries and Unlawful Leagues, soon destined to be THF, Ruin OF the State, their Kino and their Images being about to be carried off ; A JU.ST Chastisement, THE Reaping corresponding to the Sowing. The prophecy was uttered between Shalmaneser's first and second Invasions of Israel. Cf. v. 14; also d. 6, referring to Hoshea's calling So of Egypt to his aid; also v. 4, 13. 1. empty—stript of its fruits [Calvin] (Nahum 2.2); compelled to pay tribute to Pul (2 Kings 15. 20). Maurer translates, "A widespreading vine;" so LXX. Cf. Genesis
(a cause of) " apostasy'' (see v. 7). [Maureb.] house of his God i. e., the state of Ephraim, as in ch. 8. 1. [Maurer.] Or, " the house of his(false)god," the calves. [Calvin.] Jehovah, "my God," seems contrasted with "/lis God." Calvin'.s view is therefore preferable. 9. as in tlie days of Glbeah—as in the day of the perpetration of the atrocity of Gibeah, narrated In Judges 19. 16-22, &c. 10. As the traveller in a wilderness is delighted at finding grapes to quench his thirst, or the early fig (esteemed a great delicacy in the East, Isaiah 28.4; Jeremiah 24.2; Micah 7. 1); so it was my delight to choose your fathers as my peculiar people in Egypt (ch. 2. 15). at her flrst time —when the first-fruits of tlie tree become ripe, went to Baal-peor—(Numbers 25.3): the Moabite idol, in whose worship young females prostituted themselves; the very
49. 22; Psalm 80. 9-11 ; Ezekiel 17.6. brlngeth forth fruit unto himself—not unto Me. according to . . . multitude of . . . fruit . . . Increased . . . altars—in proportion to the abundance of their prosperity, which called for fruit unto God (cf. Romans 6. 22), was the abundance of their idolatry (ch. 8. 4, 11). a. heart . . . divided—(1 Kings 18. 21 ; Matthew 6. 24 ; James 4. 8.) now—i. e., soon, he—Jehovah, break down—"cut off," viz., the heads of the victims. Those altars, which were the scene of cutting fiin Israel latterly was guilty of. separated themselves —consecrated themselves, unto that shame— to that sh.imeful or foul idol (Jeremiah 11. 13). their abomlna- ;ttous were according as they loved—rather, as Vulgate, off the victims' heads, shall be themselves cut off. 3. now, &c.—soon they, deprived of their king, shall be reduired to say, We have no king (v. 7, 15), for Jehovah deprived us of him, because of our not fearing God. What then (seeing God is against us) should a king be able to do for us, if we had one? As they rejected the heavenly King, they were deprived of their earthly king. 4. word» —mere empty words, swearing falsely In making covenant—breaking their engagement to Shalmaneser
" they became abominable like the object of their love" (Deuteronomy 7.26; Psalm 115.8). English Version gives good sense, "their abominable idols they followed after, a(;c(>rdiiig as their lusts prompted them" (Margin, Amos
4. 5). 11. tlicir glory shall fly away—fit retribution to those who " separated themselves unto that shame" (v. 10). Cliildren were accounted the glory of parents; sterility, a reproach. " Ephraim" means fru Ufulness (Genesis 41. 52); this its name ehall cease to be Its characteristic, from
(2 Kings 17. 4), and making a covenant with So, though covenants with foreigners were forbidden. Judgment ... as hemlock i.e.. Divine Judgment shall spring up as rank, and as deadly, as hemlock In the furrows (Deuteronomy 29. 18; Amos 5.7; 6. 12). GeseniuS translatea, "poppy.'' Grotius, "darnel." 5. fear because of tlM tlie birth . . . womb . . . conception-Ephraim's children shall perish in a threefold gradation; (1.) From the birth. (2.) From the time of pregnancy. (3.) From the 658
RefnDofi and Threatenings for Idolatry. HOSEA XI. TJie Inyralitudt of TsracL cnlves—i. e., shall fear /or them. Beth-aven—substituted
Israel's freedom, prosperity, and self-indulgence heretofore. But now God will put the Assyrian yoke upon l.er, instead of freedom, putting her to servile work. I passed over upon—I put the yoke upon, make ... to ride—as in Job 30. 22; t. e., hurry Kpliraim away to a distant region. [Calvin.] Lyra translates, "I will make (tlie Assyrian) to ride upon Kpliraim." Maurer, "I will make Ephraim to carry," viz., a charioteer, his clotls—" the clods before him." 13. Continuation of the image in v. 11 (Proverbs for Bitli-el In contempt (ch. 4. 15). it singular, the one in Beth-el; after the pattern of whicli the other "calves"
were made. "Calves" in the Hebrew is feminine, to express contempt, priests—the Hebrew Is only used of idolatrous priests (2 Kings 23. 5; Zephaniah 1. 4), from a root meaning either the black garment in which they were attired ; or, to resound, referring to their howling cries in their sacred rites. [Calvin.] t?iat rejoiced on It—because it was a source of gain to them. Maurer translates, "Shall leap in trepidation on account of it;" as Baal's priests did (1 Kings 18. 26). the glory thereof—the magnificence of its ornaments and its worship. 6. It . . . also—The calf, so far from saving its worshippers from deportation, Itself shall be carried off; hence "Israel shall be asliamed" of it. Jareb (Note, ch. 5. 13.) "A present to the king (whom they looked to as) their defender," or else avenger, whose wratli thej' wished to appease, viz., Shalmaneser. The minor states applied this title to the Great King, as tiie avenging Protector, his own counsel —the calves, which Jeroboam set up as a stroke of policy to detach Israel from Judah. Their severance from Judah and Jehovah proved now to be not politic, but fatal to them. 7. (Ver. 3,15.) foam—denoting sliort-lived existence, and speedy dissolution. As the foam though seeming to be eminent, raised on the top of the water, yet has no solidity, such is the throne of Samaria. Maurer translates, " a chip" or broken branch that cannot resist the current. 8. Aven—i. e., Beth-aven. the sin—i. e., the occasion of sin (Deuteronomy 9.21; 1 Kings 12.30). they shaU say to . . . mountains, Cover us—so terril)le shall be tlie calamity, that men sliall prefer death to life {Luke
11. 18). Act righteously and ye shall reap the reward; a reward not of debt, but of grace, in mercy-according to the measure of the Divine " mercy," wliicli over and above repays the goodness or "mercy" which we show to our fellow-man (Luke 6. 38). break . . . falloiv ground—remove your superstitions and vices, and be renewed, seek . . . Lord, till he come—though not answered immediately, persevere unceasingly "till He come." rain send down as a copious shower, righteousness i. e., tlie reward of rigliteousness, i. e., salvation, temporal and spiritual (1 Samuel 20.23; cf. Joel 2.23). 13. reaped iniquity— )'. e., the fruit of iniquity; as "righteousness" {v.
12) is "the fruit of righteousness" (Job 4. 8; Proverlis 22. 8; Galatians 6. 7, 8). lies—false and spurious worship, trust in thy way—thy perverse way (Isaiali 57. 10; Jeremiah
2. '£i), thy woi-sliip of false gods. This was tlieir internal safeguard, as their external was "the multitude of tlieir mighty men." I*, tumult—a tumultuous war. among thy people—<t<., peoples: the war shall extend to the whole people of Israel, through all the tribes, and the peoples allied to her. Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel i. e., .Shalmaneser, a compound name, In which the part conimon to it, with the names of three otlier Assyrian kings, is omitted; Tiglath-pileser, Esar-haddon, Shar-ezer. So Jeconiah is abbreviated to Conlah. Arbel was situated in Naphtali in Galilee, on the border nearest Assyria; against it Shalmaneser, at his first Invasion of Israel (2 Kings 17.3), vented his chief rage. God threatens Israel's fortresses with the same fate as Arbel suffered "in the day (on the occasion) of the battle" then well known, though not mentioned elsewhere (cf. 2 Kings 18. 34). This event, close on the reign of Hezekiah, shows the inscription of Hosea (ch. 1. 1) to be correct. 15. So shall Betli-el do onto you i. e.. Your idolatrous calf at Beth-el shall be the cause of a like calamity befalling you. your great wickedness lit., the wickedness of your wicked7iess. in a morning i. e., speedily, as quickly as the dawn is put to flight by the rising sun (ch. 6. 4; 13. 3 ; Psalm 30. 5). king —Hoshea.
2.3. .30; Revelation 6. 16; 9. 6). Those very hills on which were their Idolatrous altars, one source of their confidence, as tlieir "king" (v. 7) was the other, so far from helping them, shall be called on by them to overwhelm them. 9. Gibeah—(Ch. 9. 9; Judges 19. and 20.) They are singled out as a specimen of the whole nation, there they stood—t. e., tlie Israelites have, as there and then, so evt r since, persisted in their sin. [Calvin.] Or, better, "they stood their ground," t. e., did not perish then. [Maurer.] the battle . . . did not overtake them though God spared you then. He will not do so now; nay, the battle whereby God punished the Gibeonite " cliildren of iniquity," shall the more heavily visit you for your continued Impenitence. Though "they stood" then, it ehall not be so now. The change from "tliou" to "they" marks God's alienation from them ; they are, by the use »f tlie tliird person, put to a greater distance from God. 10. my desire . . . chastise—expressing God's strong intlination to vindicate His justice against sin, as being the Infinitely holy God (Deuteronomy 28. 63). the people foreign invaders " sliall be gathered against them." when they sliall bind themselves In their two furrows Image from two oxen ploughing together side by side, In two contiguous furrows: so the Israelites shall join themlelves, to unite their powers against all dangers, but it
CHAPTER XI.
Ver. 1-12. God's Former Benefits, and Israel's Ingratitude RESULTING IN PUNISHMENT, YET JeHOVAH PROMISES Restoration at last. Ver. 5 shows this prophecy was uttered after the league made with Egypt
(2 Kings 17. 4). 1. Israel . . . called my son out of £gypt —Bengel translates, " I<Yom the time that he (Israel; was in Egypt, I called him my son," whicli the parallelism proves. So ch. 12. 9, and 13. 4, use " from . . . Egypt," for "from the time that thou didst sojourn in Egypt." Exodus 4. 22 also shows that Israel was called by God, " My son," from the time of Ills Egyptian sojourn (Isaiah 43. 1). God is always said to have led or brought forth, not to have "called," Israel from Egypt. Matthew 2. 15, therefore, In quoting this prophecy, typically and primarily referring to Israel, antitypically and fully to Messiah, applies it to Jesus' sojourn in Egypt, not His return from it. Even from His infancy, partly spent in Egypt, God called Him His son. God included Messiah, and Israel for Messiah's sake, in one common love, and therefore in one common prophecy. Messiah's people and Himself are one, as the Head and the body. Isaiah 49. 3 calls Him " Israel." The same general reason, danger of extinction, caused the infant Jesus, and Israel in its national infancy (cf. Genesis 42.; 43.; 45. 18; 46. 3, 4; Ezekiel 16. 4-6; Jeremiah iirill not save them from my destroying them. [Calvin.] Their " two furrows" may refer to their tivo places of setting up the calves, tlieir ground of confidence, Dan and Beth-el. Or, the two divisions of the n.ation, Israel and Judah, "in their two furrows," i.e., in their respective two places of habitation; v. 11, which specifies the two, favours this view. Hexderson prefers the Kerl {Hebrew Margin) reading, "for their two iniquities and translates, "when they are bound" In captivity. English Version is best, as the image Is carried out in v. 11 ; only it is perhaps better to translate, "tlie people (the Invaders) binding them," &c., i. e., making them captives; and so v. 11 alludes to the yoke being put on the neck of Ephraim and Judah. H. tanght—». e., accu.itomed. loveth t« tread o«it . . . corn —a far easier and more self-indulgent work than ploughing; in treading corn, cattle were not bound together under a yoke, but either trod It singly with their feet, or drew a threshing sledge over it (Isaiah 28.27,28): they ware free to eat some of the corn from time to time, as the law required they should be unmuzzled (Deuteronomy
31. 20) to sojourn in Egypt. So He, and His spiritual Israel, are already called "God's sons" whilst yet in the Egypt of the world, a. As they called them—" they," i), NO that they grew fat in this work. An image of viz., monitors sent by me. "Called," in v. 1, suggests ttie