Commentary on Hosea John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
degrees accustomed to do so, and the nurse, or the father, or the mother, who lead him, have a regard for his infancy; so also have I led Israel, as much as his feet could bear. But the other version is less obscure, and that is, My walking on foot was for him; that is, I humbled myself as mothers are wont to do; and hence he says, that he had carried the people on his shoulders; and we shall presently see the same comparison used. And Moses says in Deuteronomy, 77 that the people had been carried on God's wings, or that God had expanded his wings like the eagle who flies over her young ones. With regard to the matter itself the meaning of the Prophet is not obscure; for he means, that this people had been treated by God in a paternal and indulgent manner; and also, that the perseverance of the Lord in continuing to bestow his blessings on them had been without any fruit.
He afterwards adds, To carry on his arms Some render the expression, {,}קחם kochem, ``He carried them,'' as if the verb were in the past tense; and they consider the word, Moses, to be understood. But it is God who speaks here. Some think it to be an infinitive --- ``To carry,'' as when one carries another on his shoulders; and this seems to be the most suitable exposition. There is in the sense no ambiguity; for the design of the Prophet is what I have already stated, which is to show that this people were most wicked in not obeying God, since they had been so kindly treated by Him.
For what could they have expected more than what God had done for them? As he also says by Isaiah, 78 `What, my vine, ought I to have done more than what I have done?' So also in this place, My walking has been on foot with Ephraim; and for this end, to carry them, as when one carries another in his arms. `They yet,' he says, `did not know that I healed them;' that is, ``Neither the beginning of my goodness, nor its continued exercise, avails anything with them. When I brought them forth from Egypt, I restored the dead to life; this kindness has been blotted out. Again, in the desert I testified, in various ways, that I was their best and most indulgent Father: I have in this instance also lost all my labour.'' How so? ``Because my favour has been in no way acknowledged by this perverse and foolish people.'' We now then see what the Prophet meant: and he continues the same subject in the next verse.
Hosea 11:4
4. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
4. In funibus hominum traham eos (hoc est, traxi eos) in vinculis amoris: et fui illis sicuti qui attollunt jugum super maxillas: et attuli super eos cibum (vel, feci eos comedere) quiete. (Dicemus postea de utroque sensu.)
The Prophet states, first, that this people had not been severely dealt with, as either slaves, or oxen, or asses, are wont to be treated. He had said before, that the people of Israel were like a heifer, which shakes off the yoke, and in wantonness loves only the treading of corn. But though the perverseness of the people was so great, yet God shows here that he had not used extreme rigour: I have drawn him, he says, with human cords and lovely bands By the cords of man, he means humane government. ``I have not,'' he says, ``treated you as slaves, but dealt with 77Deuteronomy 32:10-12. — fj. 78Isaiah 5:4. — fj.