Commentary on Hosea John Calvin (continued)
Hosea 8
Chapter 8
Hosea 8:1
1. Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
1. Super palatum tuum tuba, tanquam aquila super domum Jehovae, 50 quia transgressi sunt foedus meum, et contra legem meam impie egerunt (vel, perfide segesserunt.)
Interpreters nearly all agree in this, that the Prophet threatens not the kingdom of Israel, but the kingdom of Judah, at the beginning of this chapter, because he names the house of God, which they take to be the temple. I indeed allow, that the Prophet has spoken already, in two places, of the kingdom of Judah, but as it were in passing. He has, it is true, introduced some reproofs and threatening, but so that the distinction was quite clear; and we see that he now goes to the kingdom of Judah, but in the second verse, he names Israel, and yet continues his discourse. To thy mouth, he says, the trumpet, etc.; and afterwards he adds, To me shall they cry, My God; we know thee, Israel. Here, certainly, the discourse is addressed to the ten tribes. I am therefore by no means induced to explain the beginning of the chapter by applying it to the kingdom of Judah: and I certainly do 50"The cornet at thy mouth, be it like the eagle over the house of Jehovah." — Horsley. It is in a note added, — "Let the sound of the cornet in thy mouth be shrill and terrible, as the ominous scream of the eagle hovering over the roof of the temple." But the literal rendering of the words with admit more naturally another sense. I translate it thus: — "To thy mouth the trumpet, Like the eagle over the house of Jehovah." That is, seize the trumpet as quickly as the eagle flies. He thereby denotes that judgment was to come without delay; or the distich may be thus rendered, — "To thy mouth the trumpet, like an eagle, Against the house of Jehovah." That is, "Apply the trumpet quickly, imitate the quickness of the eagle, and use it to proclaim war against the house of Jehovah." — Ed.