1Ephraim's glory vanisheth by reason of idolatry. 4God's former care of his people: for their abuse of his benefits he will destroy them. 9A promise of mercy and redemption from the grave. 15The judgment of Samaria for rebellion.
1WHEN1 Ephraim spake trembling, he 2exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in 3Baal, he 4died.
1 Other, When Ephraim spake, so they trembled or were trembling, etc., the sense is the same. Hebr. When Ephraim spake, trembling, that is, the tribe of Ephraim was in former times, according to the blessing of the patriarch Jacob (Gen. 48:19, 20), of such a respect and power in Israel, that everyone trembled, as it were, when he appeared resolvedly in a business, whereby also in the time of king Rehoboam it came to pass that he first assumed the kingdom of the ten tribes unto himself by means of the first king Jeroboam, who came from Ephraim. See Judges 8:1, 2, etc.; 12:1, 2. Likewise 1 Kings 11:26, etc.; 12:20.
2 Namely, to the kingdom. Of the Hebrew word that signifies exalting, from it is derived another, signifying a prince, ruler, governor, who is exalted above another, to which is here referred.
3 Baal’s idolatry. See Hosea 2:8, 13.
4 That is, he has now lost all that respect, and is lapsed into a very miserable and contemptible state, both with God and men at home and abroad. (Compare the phrase with Psalm 31:12; 88:3, 4, 5; 143:3; Isa. 59:10; Amos 2:2; Eph. 2:1; Rev. 3:1; 20:5) Even the royal dignity itself is taken away from him. See 1 Kings 14:10, 11; 15:27, 28, 29, 30, and compare verse 3.
2And now they sin more and more, and have made them 5molten images of their silver, and 6idols 7according to their own understanding, all of it the 8work of the craftsmen:a9they say of them, 10Let the men that sacrifice 11kiss the 12calves.
5 Understand the idolatrous image of a calf (whereof see in the sequel) and others such like, even as they pleased and fancied, and not at all as God would have it. Of the word sin in matters of idolatry Hosea 8 on verse 11.
6 See Hosea 8:4.
7 Shaping and dressing them with all the art and skill they could. Compare Jer. 10:3, 14, etc.
8 A mocking at the vanity, folly and frivolousness of this idolatry. Compare Hosea 8:6, etc.
a Hosea 8:6.
9 The idolatrous priests and governors. Other, they say to them, namely, those of Ephraim to the other Israelites.
10 Hebr. The offering of man or men. The sense is: Those, among the people, who want to offer unto God, they must honor these calves as their gods. See 1 Kings 12:28, and compare the phrase with Isa. 29:19, where it is said, the needy or destitute ones of a man or men, that is, among men, such as among men who are needy or necessitous people; likewise the miserable of the sheep, Zech. 11:7, 11, that is, miserable sheep, or the most miserable among them, and many such like.
11 With a religious or devoted kiss. Compare Gen. 41:40; 1 Kings 19:18; Job 31:17, and see the annotations there.
12 First set up at Dan and Bethel, and afterwards, probably, in divers other places besides. See 1 Kings 12:28, according as from time to time they increased in idolatry.
3Therefore they shall be 13as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the 14chimney.
13 That is, they shall soon and easily pass away and be dispersed with their entire flourishing period, as these comparisons import. Compare Hosea 6:4.
14 Or, window. Other smoke-hole or opening, whereby the smoke is let out.
4Yet 15I am the LORD thy God fromb the land of Egypt, 16and thou shalt know no god butc me: for there is no saviour beside me.
15 As Hosea 12:9.
b Isa. 43:11; Hosea 12:9.
16 Other, and thou knowest no god, etc., namely, at that time, when thou wast not fallen away yet into idolatry.
c 2 Sam. 22:32; Psalm 18:31.
5¶I did 17know thee in the wilderness, in the land of 18great drought.
17 That is, I loved and provided for thee there, as Amos 3:2. See Psalm 1 on verse 6.
18 And consequently, a dry and barren one, extremely troublesome. See Deut. 8:15; 32:10. Hebr. land of desiccation or barrenness.
6According to their 19pasture,d so were they filled; they were filled, and their 20heart was exalted; therefore have they forgottene me.
19 After that they came forth out of the wilderness into the fat soil of Gilead, and further into the land of Canaan, meeting with affluence and abundance of all things. See Deut. 8:7, 8, 9, 10; 32:13, 14.
d Deut. 32:15.
20 Wherefore God had timely forewarned and forthwith punished them. See Deut. 8:11; 32:15, 19, 20, etc.
e Hosea 8:14.
7Therefore I will be unto them as a 21lion: as a leopard by the way will I 22observe them:
21 That is, I dealt severely and terribly with them, as happened frequently at first in the time of the Judges, by sundry enemies surrounded about them, and afterwards, when they were separated from Judah by the Assyrian Tiglath-pileser, etc. See 2 Kings 15:29. Howbeit some take both this and the following verse for the time to come, as a prophecy of that desolation, which should be made by Shalmaneser. Compare Hosea 5:14; Lam. 3:10.
22 Compare Jer. 5:6.
8I will 23meet them as a 24bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the 25caul of their heart, and 26there will I devour them like a lion: 27the wild beast shall tear them.
23 Or, shall encounter them, and so in the sequel.
24 Compare 2 Sam. 17:8; Prov. 17:12.
25 That is, their breast, or heart’s cover, to suck or drink their hearts-blood, as savage, ravenous beasts use to do.
26 Upon the place, as they say, or there where they had committed the foresaid abominations, in Canaan or Gilead. Some apply it in particular to Tiglath-pileser’s invasion, 2 Kings 15:29.
27 Other, or as an other wild beast of the field that split or clave them asunder. Understand the cruel, pagan enemies by whom God has dealt thus with them, or still will deal with them.
9¶O Israel, 28thou hast destroyed thyself; but in 29me 30is thine help.
28 Namely, Thy idolatry and willful wickedness, spoken of in verses 2, 6. Other, he hath corrupted thee, namely, Ephraim (spoken of both before and after this passage), he it is that brought Israel (that is, the ten tribes) into this destructive condition, by means of his king (hinted at in the next verse, to which also some apply this. Compare Hosea 14:5, 6, where him is expressed in verse 5, and who that should be, is explained in verse 6, namely, Israel. Compare also Hosea 13:5, 6, and elsewhere). Jeroboam, who together with his princes during the 22 years of his reign (1 Kings 14:20) has contrived and advanced the abominable idolatry with all the subtleties and violence, whereby not only Ephraim died himself, (as verse 1), but also by his Baals and calves-worship, and all manner of thence-ensuing enormities and abominations precipitated all Israel besides, together with himself, into death and perdition. See 1 Kings 14:15, 16; 15:30; 2 Kings 17:21, 22, etc. which could not happen otherwise. For no salvation or help is to be sought or found anywhere but with the only true God, as follows here and is testified in verse 4, Whom they forsaking, and seeking for help and salvation elsewhere, they must needs be wholly corrupted and utterly perish together. Other, It is thy perdition, or, It hath corrupted thee, O Israel, that thou hast rebelled against me, against thy help, which translation (being somewhat discrepant, in a good sense) is likewise plain and blameless.
29 And not in your Baals, golden calves, kings, princes, champions, strongholds, leagues and alliances, wealth and riches, etc. wherein ye, according to Ephraim’s example and advice, did put your hope and confidence.
30 Hebr. properly: in me, in thy help. Of such superfluous use of the Hebrew letter beth see Psalm 54 on verse 4, or thus: but in me is that which may be or tend to your help.
1031I will be thy 32king: 33where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy 34judges of whom thou 35saidst, Give me a king and princes?
31 Or, Where is thy king? See of the Hebrew word where in Hosea 13 on verse 14.
32 On whom thou didst so much rely, thinking that he would have saved and defended thee well enough. Thus the Lord mocks their vain confidence, speaking of the time to come as already present. Compare Hosea 10:3.
33 Thus the Hebrew particle epho is likewise used for now or then, to complete a sense, Job 9:24; 17:15; 19:6; Isa. 19:12; 22:1. Other, I shall or should be thy king, where is there another? that he, etc., or that should save thee, etc. Or, I shall be there, but where is thy king, etc. As if God said: I am and abide the Same forever (see Exod. 3:14), wherefore ye ought to have sought your help and salvation in Me, but ye trusted in your king, who appears nowhere now. Compare Hosea 10:15.
34 That is, governors, who should have assisted the king to protect you.
35 In the time of the prophet Samuel. See 1 Sam. 8:5. Unless it were that those of Ephraim may have used such language, suitable to their haughtiness and insolence in the time of Rehoboam when they separated themselves from Judah, and made them a king of their own over the ten tribes, which God, by His secret counsel, so ordered and declared as done by Himself (1 Kings 11:31, 35), although the people’s guilt was not the less.
11I gave thee a 36kingf in mine 37anger, and took 38him away in my wrath.
36 Saul. Some apply it to the first king of the ten tribes, Jeroboam, being of the tribe of Ephraim and having corrupted Israel, as is noted above.
f 1 Sam. 8:5; 15:23; 16:1.
37 See 1 Sam. 8:7, 8; 1 Kings 11:33; Hosea 8:4.
38 Saul. See 1 Sam. 15:23; 16:1; 31:4, 6. Some render this here: I will take him away, etc., applying it to the last king of the ten tribes, Hosea, who was subdued by Shalmaneser, and in whom the kingdom of Israel ended, 2 Kings 17. Compare Hosea 10:3, 7, 15. Others understand it in general of the kings of the ten tribes, with whom God is dealing here (compare Hosea 7:16; 8:4), and render it thus: I give a king, etc., and take him, etc.
1239The iniquity of Ephraim is 40bound up; his sin is hid.
39 Whereof on verse 9, etc.
40 As it were all of them are wrapped and tied up together in a bundle or bag, closed and sealed, and laid up in God’s chamber of rolls or chancery, to be produced in due time, to be fully discovered, judged and sentenced. Compare Deut. 32:34; Job 14:17; Lam. 1:14, and see the annotations there.
1341The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise 42son; 43for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.
41 That is, very great and grievous troubles and distresses, as elsewhere frequently.
42 That is, as a most senseless or froward, or misshapen child, who labors nothing to facilitate its own birth, and (as we use to say) stands in its own way and light.
43 Or thus: for he stands not timely, or in due time in the bringing forth of children, that is, in the womb or birth labor. Compare 2 Kings 19:3 and see the annotation there. Some understand it of the chair wherein the travailing woman sits. The sense is: that Ephraim, instead of timely preventing his approaching calamity by serious and active repentance, he continues to persist obstinately in his wickedness and impenitence against all exhortations, warnings and threatenings whatsoever, even as a child in the birth, that by destroying itself and mother at once, when as other, even the most senseless, smallest creatures know by a natural instinct how to dispose themselves to avoid the danger in this behalf.
1444I will ransom them from the 45power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: Og death, 46I will be 47thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy 48destruction: 49repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
44 Here the Lord inserts again an excellent evangelical promise for the comfort of His elect and penitent children. Compare Hosea 12:10, 11, with the annotations. As if the Lord said: The people’s unfaithfulness and pro-longed impenitence shall not prevent or break My faithfulness and the truth of My gracious covenant promises ever. See Rom. 3:3; 11:1, etc.
45 Hebr. from the hand of hell, that is, of the grave. See Job 5 on verse 20; Psalm 49 on verse 15. The meaning is: I will deliver My chosen Israel through the Messiah, Jesus Christ from all their spiritual enemies, and cause them to rise from death, which had power over them through sin, unto the glory of eternal life. See 1 Cor. 15:54, 55.
g Isa. 25:8; 1 Cor. 15:55.
46 Or, where are thy pestilences; hell, where is thy destruction? Nowhere (God wants to say), they are not to be found anywhere, as being utterly destroyed. With this allocution God mocks death and grave, as triumphing over their defeat (compare Isa. 25:8). Thus the apostle Paul alleges and expounds this in 1 Cor. 15:55; the Greek translators (and likewise the Chaldee as in verse 10) had also done, and approved of by some of the Hebrews themselves. It may also be read thus: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.
47 That is, where is all thy poison, or thy strong pestilence, wherewith thou didst dominate over My people? The plural number serves here as elsewhere, for the exaggeration or aggravation of the thing spoken of.
48 Or, consumption, rooting out, cutting off. A similar Hebrew word is in Deut. 32:24; Psalm 91:6; Isa. 28:2.
49 That is, it shall never repent Me concerning this decree of grace. I will perform the same without fail. What is hidden before the eyes of God, does not exist, therefore there shall be no repentance with God in this matter.
15¶Though 50he be fruitful among his brethren, 51an 52east wind shall come, the wind 53of the LORD shall come up 54from the wilderness, and 55his 56spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: 57he shall spoil the treasure of all 58pleasant 59vessels.
50 Ephraim, how unperceived and incredible it may now appear to be, shall yet, being planted in My church, bring forth, as a good tree, still good fruits, that is, having gotten faith and repentance, he shall be practicing good works. See Mat. 3:8, etc. This promise refers very ingeniously to the similarity of the Hebrew word jafri, that is, he shall bear fruit or be fruitful, and of the name Ephraim. Compare Hosea 14:7, 8, 9. Other, For he (the Messiah, Ephraim’s Redeemer, of Whom is spoken previously), he shall make him (Ephraim) fruitful. Understanding moreover all the rest of this chapter of the power and might of Christ against His and His churches’ foresaid enemies.
51 Here the prophet returns to his sermon of reproof. Compare Hosea 12:12.
52 Understand the Assyrian, or the desolation which he would cause and make in the land. Compare Ezek. 19:12; Hosea 4 on verse 19; Hosea 12 on verse 2.
53 Such an one as God would raise through His righteous judgment for the punishment of Ephraim to disperse him, until Christ would gather them again.
54 And consequently very powerful, uncontrolled, unavoidable, passing through all.
55 Of Ephraim, and of the other tribes that did follow his evil example.
56 That is, he shall be deprived of all the power and wealth, which he has through God’s blessing, as is made plain by the sequel.
57 Namely, wind, that is, the enemy, the Assyrian, who is compared to this east wind.
58 As Nahum 2:9.
59 See of the Hebrew word Lev. 15 on verse 4; Ezek. 16 on verse 17.
1660Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: 61they shall fall by the sword: their 62infants shall be dashedh in pieces, and 63their women with child shall be 64ripped up.
60 As well the capital as the region round about. See 1 Kings 13 on verse 32; 1 Kings 16 on verse 24. See the fulfillment of this prophecy, 2 Kings 17:5, 6, etc.
61 The inhabitants.
62 See of the Hebrew word Psalm 8 on verse 2.
h Hosea 10:14.
63 Of Samaria.
64 Compare Hosea 13:8.