HOSEA

1 Or, plea, process, not only by words, but also by deeds, that is, punishments; as appears verses 2 and 3. See 1 Sam. 25:38, 39; Hosea 2:2; Amos 7:4.

a Micah 6:2.

2 Or, faithfulness. God implies that they are completely incapable for anything good, neither in words or works, making it plain enough thereby, that they know Him not aright.

3 Understand, the right, true and saving knowledge of God, directed according to His Word, accompanied with faith and the love of God and of their neighbor. Compare Jer. 9:24; 22:16; 31:34; 1 John 2:4, etc.

4 Or, Cursing and lying, etc., breaking through, that is, they do prevail as a waterflood breaks through with the violence of much water; likewise as tyrants and enemies break through the breaches, as such do they boldly break through with all manner of abominations, without any fear for God’s laws and ordinances. Another use of the Hebrew word, see verse 10.

5 Hebr. blood-guiltiness touch blood-guiltiness, that is, one murder or bloodshed follows another. See Hosea 1 on verse 4.

6 To place before the eyes of the inhabitants the atrocity of their sins and the merits of the same, the land and all what is in it must suffer; as often with the prophets.

7 Or, faint, droop or pine away.

8 Hebr. properly, gathered, that is, they shall die, perish, be consumed and raked together to be cast away like carrion. See of the Hebrew word Psalm 26 on verse 9.

9 As if they said: Let no one be so bold that he bestirs himself against us and reproves us. God brings in the very words here which would be familiar among the people, foretelling the prophet, what he and other faithful men of God were to receive ill-treatment from the rulers, false prophets and idolatrous priests, with their adherents; namely, that their preaching of repentance would be forbidden, and those, who would offer to find fault with their actions, would be engaged in a lawsuit and be punished, as troublesome companions and raisers of seditions.

10 O Hosea, with whom thou hast to do.

11 Who, without any respect and with a great deal of insolence, make it difficult and hard for those, who are duty bound on God’s behalf and by virtue of their office to reprove their sin, and whose admonitions and instructions the people ought to accept reverently. Compare Deut. 17:12.

12 Every unfaithful and obstinate Israelite shall be offensive, shall perish and die. Compare Hosea 5:5; 14:2.

13 By the words the day, the night, one may understand the continual and still successive evils to come, which would follow and take hold one of another, as day and night without any ceasing or intermission. Other, today, this day, that is, within a short time, very soon. Compare Prov. 12:16. Or, thou shalt fall, while it is still day, that is, when thou shalt conceive thyself in a flourishing state, void of fear, and free of danger. Compare Jer. 15:9; Amos 8:9, with the annotations. And the false prophets who deceive thee shall fall by night, or in the night, that is, being in darkness, ignorance, without vision and knowledge of the evil that shall touch both you and them, when they least think of it, promising themselves and you nothing but peace. Compare Micah 3:5, 6, 7. Some are of the opinion that this has regard to the visions which the prophets were wont to receive from God in the night time, Gen. 46:2; Zech. 1:8, and that the false prophets, falsely boasting of the like, are said to fall in the night.

14 Understand the false deceiving prophets, who, by promises of peace, hardened the people in their wicked courses.

15 The kingdom of the ten tribes, the people of Israel, or church, synagogue, as Hosea 2:1.

16 That is, shall surely be destroyed. Hebr. my people are or shall be destroyed.

17 As verse 1. Compare Isa. 5:13.

18 The speech is addressed here to the idolatrous priests and other ecclesiastical persons, who ought to have instructed the people in the true and pure doctrine of God’s Word. See Deut. 33:10; Mal. 2:7.

19 As God’s remembering for good signifies His favor and blessing, accordingly His forgetting implies His displeasure and desertion whereby He lets men go without His blessing and gives them up to all manner of misery.

20 Hebr. According or after their increase or greatness, that is, the more they advanced and increased in number, multitude, honor and greatness (especially being become a peculiar kingdom, and having set up a new self-devised priesthood, to which the following words seem to point, principally the priesthood, whereof in the next verse), the more unthankful they grew to Me and the more abominations they committed. Compare the phrase with Hosea 11:2.

21 Kingly and priestly.

22 The priests.

23 That is, sin offerings. See Lev. 4 on verse 3. The sense is: Their aim is not that the people might be instructed concerning the offerings and consequently of the sins and of the wages of their sins, likewise the Messiah and the true righteousness and how their offers may be pleasing to God, but only how they may get enough to live and spend, glut and feast.

24 Hebr. they lift up his soul, that is, every one of them lifts up his soul, that is, longs accordingly with a great desire that the people would sin much, and consequently bring in abundance of sin offerings, in order that he may the better fatten himself with it; the more the people sin, the sweeter it is to them, as the prophet implies. See of the Hebrew word phrase Psalm 24 on verse 4.

25 That is, since the one is not better than the other, therefore the one shall fare no better than the other; they shall share alike and be involved in one and the same punishment. See Isa. 24:2; Mat. 15:14.

b Isa. 24:2.

26 Or, governor, or both together, those who are the most prominent in church and state. See of the Hebrew word Gen. 41 on verse 45.

27 Punish the priests’ essence and practice. See Gen. 6 on verse 12; Gen. 21 on verse 1. Or, his, that is, of every one of them.

c Micah 6:14.

28 That is, they shall not be multiplied. See of the Hebrew word Gen. 28 on verse 14; Gen. 30:30. Likewise Job 1:10, with the annotation.

29 Neglecting and not observing the ways of the Lord, and having Him no more before their eyes.

30 Hebr. shall take, that is, each or either of these (namely, whoredom or drunkenness) does bereave a man of understanding and judgment, and make him consequently so mad and foolish, that he does as follows. See Prov. 9 on verse 4; Isa. 28:7; Rev. 17:2.

31 That is, wooden idol, for counsel, and how it shall go with them in the future, thinking, the same shall be able to foretell it to them.

32 Or, stick, that is, his idol, whereon they rely and repose themselves as on a staff. Some understand here that stocks, or wood whereof the idol Baal was made (see Deut. 28:36). Others are of the opinion it has respect to the manner of soothsaying, by a stick or rod, likewise of those who pay attention to enchantments, carrying a staff in the hand.

d Hosea 5:4.

33 That is, the devil, called the unclean spirit, Zech. 13:2; Mat. 12:43. Or, their perverse mind, their corrupt inclination to both spiritual and bodily fornication, whereunto the evil spirit or devil instigates them. Likewise Hosea 5:4. Compare Rom. 1:24, 28, etc.

34 Or, from instead of their God, that is, refusing to submit themselves unto God, as to their Lord and lawful Husband, or, to be subject to Him, they run after the idols in all licentiousness, or, that instead of the true God, they choose and cleave unto strange gods. Compare Hosea 1:2. Likewise Ezek. 23:5, with the annotation. These phrases are very remarkable, as expressing the nature and characteristic of idolatry.

35 According to the manner of the heathens. See there Deut. 12 on verse 2.

e Isa. 57:7.

f Ezek. 20:28.

g Isa. 1:29.

36 Or, elm tree. Other, lime-tree.

37 That is, very pleasing, delightful; or also: causing some obscurity by their thickness, which served their idolatries and uncleanness; compare Isa. 57:5, 7; Jer. 3:6; Ezek. 6:13; it being usual, that the spiritual whoredom draws the bodily after it, by the just judgment of God. See Num. 25:1, 2, etc.; Rom. 1:24. This is related to the following word therefore.

38 Or, daughters-in-law.

39 That is, I shall not restrain them now by punishments, but permit them to go on in these abominations to their and your shame and destruction, as some do take this; a sign of God’s highest displeasure. See Psalm 89:31, 32, 33; 94:12, 13. Or, I shall not punish to such an extent and as heavy the young daughters and brides, or the young married wives of the son, (compare 1 Sam. 15:22; Jer. 7:22, likewise Hosea 6:6), by reason that the parents and husbands teach and lead their young daughters and wives no better by their own wicked example. Other, Should I not punish your young daughters, etc., and that they separate themselves, etc. As if God said: I cannot let such people go unpunished, this you must acknowledge yourselves, which likewise does well agree with the conclusion of this verse. Compare Jer. 5:9, 29; 9:9, etc.

40 The parents and husbands separate themselves by troops, and go under pretense of their idol worship, to join themselves with the vilest whores, as if they went offering sacrifices with them, when as they go but to practice abominable vileness, which was all their intent.

41 Or, be confounded, ensnared, perplexed, scourged, punished, overthrown. The Hebrew word, here used, occurs only in this place and Prov. 10:8, 10, signifying (as by the circumstance of these three places appears) a special sort of punishment, or destructions and confusion in general.

42 As if God, being sorrowful and loathing about Israel, (compare verse 17), said: Does Israel then want to go lost and does she not permit herself to be advised; be careful and see to it, O Judah, and follow not her ill example. It is a complaint about Israel’s stubbornness, with a very emotional exhortation to Judah.

43 See Joshua 5:9. It would seem that in this place there was very abominable idolatry practiced, and this having been the famous place, where the first circumcision and the first Passover were celebrated in Canaan, therefore God was so much the more offended with the profanation and pollution of such a place. See Hosea 9:15; 12:12; Amos 4:4; 5:5.

44 That is, house of nullity, vanity, evil, iniquity, or of the idol. There was indeed a place near Bethel, called Beth-aven, Joshua 18:12, 13, but here (after the common opinion) is understood the place properly called Bethel, that is, house of God. But called by God Beth-aven by reason of the golden calf, which Jeroboam had set up and practiced there the idolatry. See 1 Kings 12:29; Hosea 5:8; 10:5. This place was also formerly very famous because of God’s special revelation there to the patriarch Jacob, Gen. 28:19; 35:6, 7, etc. Both these places were situated near Judah, so that it was not without danger for the people of Judah to be seduced thither into the communion of idolatry, there being no small appearance of their own inclination that way, wherefore God does here so earnestly warn them.

45 Namely, in a hypocritical idolatrous manner, in such a manner as the idolatrous Israelites do, who intermix My Name with their idols to cover therewith their idolatry and to give an appearance of the true religiousness; which was an abomination before God, Who will be honored and served singly and rightly as God, according to His own precept. Compare Hosea 2 on verse 15, and concerning the particle nor, compare the annotations at Hosea 4 on verse 14 and Zeph. 1:5.

46 Or, is obstinate, running wild, refusing to be led into the right ways and remaining in good pasture, but altogether without restraint, without any yoke, bounds, guidance, running headlong through thick and thin (as they say), wherefore the Lord shall deal with her as follows.

47 That is, shortly, ere long. See Hosea 10 on verse 3.

48 The Israelites.

49 As a young and silly lamb, which, when going at large, does easily stray and run great hazard of falling into ditches, pits or pools, or becoming prey to the wild beasts; as such shall I give liberty to this people, who love to roam licentiously at large, that is, I will carry them away out of their own land and pasture, and scatter them toward all the four winds among the heathen. Some take it thus, that God would first feed and fatten Israel as a lamb, that is, make them sumptuous and rich, and take them, as it were, out of the pasture, to be led unto the slaughter.

50 That is, the ten tribes, whereof Ephraim was the principal, and had the kingdom. See Psalm 78 on verse 9. Also Hosea 5:3, 5, 9, 11, 13, 14, etc., and these are likewise understood by Israel.

51 That is, so firmly joined and allied with the idols, as one companion is with another.

52 See of the Hebrew word 2 Sam. 5 on verse 21.

53 Compare verse 15 with the annotation, and Mat. 15:14.

54 The drunkenness which they commit at their idolatry and uncleanness.

55 That is, they become the more rebellious and the more uncontrolled by their boozing and swigging in spiritual and physical whoredom. The one entices and the other reinforces. Other, their wine or drunkenness is washing, or stinking, that is, their idol feasts and drink meetings are full of loathsome filth and uncleanness, wherein they lie weltering like beasts. Compare the manner of speaking with Prov. 20:1.

56 Hebr. whoring they whore.

57 This her is in the feminine case, pointing (so it seems) to the backsliding heifer, verse 16, or to the adulterous woman or harlot from Hosea 1:2, etc.; 3:1. Also in the following verse. It may also be suitably applied to Ephraim or Israel itself, according to the custom of the Hebrew tongue; and thus also verse 19.

58 That is, their defenders and protectors, their governors, as Psalm 47:9. See the annotation there.

59 It is a shameful matter for the governors of God’s people; it is spoken with detestation.

60 God implies, that the governors make such a common and daily use of the word give to remind the people unashamedly (when it is already base enough to accept what is offered) to bring or give gifts. It is only, Give, Give, or bring, bring, namely, presents, or, as some, to swill the wine. Compare Micah 7:3. See similar words in the matter of insatiability Prov. 30:15. Or thus: Their wine wanders; they commit whoredom; give, they love, their protectors are a shame.

61 Understand by this wind the Assyrians, who would most suddenly and irresistibly, like a violent wind, carry away captive the ten tribes out of their land, which happened first by Tiglath-pileser, and afterwards completely by Shalmaneser. See 2 Kings 15:29; 18:9, 10, 11, etc., and compare Psalm 55:8; Jer. 4:11, 12; 51:1, etc.; Hosea 13:15. God is also said to ride upon the wings of the wind, 2 Sam. 22:11; Psalm 104:3.

62 That is, shall surely find and easily carry and hurry her away, spoken in a prophetical manner.

63 Namely, this heifer, or harlot, or adulterous woman, or Israel or Ephraim.

64 Understand the idolatrous and whorish sacrifices, mentioned above.