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Christian Churches of GodNo. 021A

Commentary on Hosea(Edition 1.0 20150131-20150131)

First in the Canon in the Twelve Prophets Hosea actually follows Amos chronologically and complements the style but God speaks through Hosea in a different mode dealing with Israel. The Commentary is based on the RSV and the MT notes. Bullinger’s notes re the KJV are appended.

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(Copyright © 2015 Wade Cox)

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Commentary on Hosea

Commentary on Hosea

IntroductionHosea is the first book of the Twelve Prophets but is second chronologically after Amos.

Amos was sent north to deal with the idolatrous priests and prophets there. Hosea was after him but was the lone original prophet in the North in Israel to succeed Amos. Hosea’s work is larger and may explain why he precedes Amos in the sequence. Hosea’s message concerns Israel but the text also directs the warning to Judah and the South as well. God is concerned with the idolatry and corruption of both. Then the text promises future blessings for both as Israel.

The prophets Elijah and Micaiah had preceded them but in the eighth century BCE the priests and prophets at Samaria and Bethel had degenerated to such an extent that Amos scorned to be counted among them (Amos 7:14). Hosea was also to accuse priests and prophets alike of complete irresponsibility in their office and complete ignorance of the true Nature of God and that they had guided the people into Pagan practices rather than into a pure faith. So it is to this day and the priests of the modern age are idolatrous priests of the Sun cults. Many of the priests of the Churches of God are Ditheists or Binitarians of the pagan cults. They have no understanding of prophecy and God does not speak through them.

Hosea was confronted with a complete degeneration among the priests and prophets of his time and he was sent by God to fearlessly denounce them. He was in the First Temple period before the captivity yet the priesthood and prophets had collapsed. His words were aimed at rebuking that degenerate religious system. The meanings had not been produced by later post-Temple Talmudic writers and Trinitarian scholars of the later Christian period (cf. 4:4-6).

The meaning is directed at the hierarchy of the priesthood and prophets and which subjected them to direct and scathing

criticism. They had allowed sin to permeate both high and low from the rulers to the people. Priests and rulers and people were all involved and the foundations of society had been undermined by lawlessness, violence and a rejection of God just as it is today at the end of the age.

Israel was given forty years warning from 761-721 BCE as we saw with the earlier prophets Jonah and Amos. Abraham ibn Ezra the medieval scholar places him in the forty years prior to the fall of Samaria but later scholars limit him to the thirty years prior to the fall (750-720) (cf. Soncino intro to p. 1).

There is no doubt that God directed the warnings to Israel for forty years before the fall of Samaria in accordance with normal procedures of prophecy.

Israel was given 40 years and so was Judah and so also was Judah from 30 CE at the Passover of the death of Christ until 70 CE at the end of the Seventy weeks of years and the destruction of the Temple by Rome (see the papers The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013) and War with Rome and the fall of the Temple (No. 298)).

So also did the Sign of Jonah extend for 40 jubilees in the Jubilee for a year basis of the church in the wilderness as was Israel in the wilderness in the Exodus. So also were the Churches of God given 40 years of the Measuring of the Temple from 1987 to the Jubilee of 2027 (see also the paper The Measuring of the Temple (No. 137)).

The entire Twelve Prophets extend from 40 years before the fall of Samaria to the Last Days and the coming of the Messiah and the captivity of Jerusalem. Then Zechariah takes the process on into the millennial system.

The Talmud and Midrash have many references to Hosea and there he is considered the greatest of his prophetical contemporaries (cf. Pes. 87a). The commentators believe his father Beeri to

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Commentary on Hosea

have been a prophet and his prophecy incorporated into Isaiah 8:19ff (cf. Lev. Rabba 6, xv, 2). The commentators are of the opinion that not all Hosea’s prophecies are in chronological order but we will see if that holds water with the hindsight of history. The Talmud admits the Canon is not in order also (B.B 14a).

HOSEA.Bullinger holds the structure to be as follows:

THE STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK AS A WHOLE. 1:1. INTRODUCTION.1:2-3:5. SYMBOLICAL.4:1-14:8. LITERAL.14:9. CONCLUSION.

The structure is in fact as follows:

The first three chapters explain how Hosea was called to be a prophet to Israel to denounce their unfaithfulness to God. His reference to his wife and marriage is a direct allusion to God’s relationship with Israel. Each chapter proclaims judgment but ends on a hopeful note positing a restoration following the judgment of Israel in the Last Days.

The next ten chapters explain the dire punishments awaiting Israel and it is in these punishments that we see the procedural sequence of the way in which God deals with them. These judgments are as Amos in that, for both, the wages of sin is death and these judgments are inevitable.

Amos thunders at Israel and Hosea (as also we see in Jeremiah) pleads with them, as though God is pleading for them to come to their senses and be restored.

Amos is concerned with the basic corruption and exploitation of the populace whereas Hosea is concerned with the complete repudiation of Israel’s relationship and covenant with their God. Israel and Judah are unfit to survive and the exploitation of the people renders them an unstable society incapable of surviving. They must repent or be sent into captivity.

They are all brief oracles which expose the corruption of Israel and its inability to survive as a nation. Hosea condemns the irresponsibility of the priest and prophets, the unfitness of the kings and princes to rule, and the spiritual degeneracy of the populace.

The situation is now more serious and degenerate than at any stage in history and they are about to be dealt with now in these Last Days. The black cassocked Khemarim of the Sun cults and the sodomites are now worse than they have ever been in ancient Israel and are being exposed all over the world. It is these latter day Trinitarians and Antinomians that ignore or misrepresent Hosea and the other prophets to avoid the consequences of their idolatry and sin.

The final chapter deals with the sublime rectification of Israel under God with its call to repentance and its redemption.

Hosea’s style is cryptic and characterised by allusion and innuendo to his audience which is not confined in time to the society in which he lived.

It is in fact the prophecy of Israel and their intertwining with the sons of Gomer after the dispersion and on into the Last Days and the restoration under Messiah, as we will see from the texts.

The book of Hosea points to the events immediately preceding the fall of Samaria (the capital of the Ten Tribes), which took place in the sixth year of Hezekiah and the last statement, in Hosea 13:16, is allegedly a terrible prophecy of Samaria's end but refers on into the future in the Last Days.

Bullinger holds that this event took place in 611 B.C, and Hosea’s latest date would therefore be 613 B.C, if 13:16 were, say, two years before Samaria's fall in 611 B.C. He dates this as being in the sixth year of the rule of Hezekiah but omits the fact that Hezekiah began to rule as Regent in Judah in 727 and his sixth year of rule as Regent was in 721 BCE which is when Israel actually fell and went into captivity.

Commentary on Hosea

Hosea’s prophecy is dated as being in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, King of Israel (Hos. 1:1).

His style is completely different from Amos whom he follows a few years later.

Uzziah reigned in Judah from 775 and Jotham reigned for him in 757 BCE. Thus Hosea must have commenced his ministry before 757 and also in accordance with the 40 years duration of the period of probation beginning from 761 BCE.

The Soncino dates Uzziah’s rule as 789-740 which cannot be correct. The Interpreter’s Dictionary dates it to 783-742 and both are incorrect. The Interpreter’s Dictionary dates the rule of Amaziah as king of Judah from 800-783 BCE which cannot be correct as 2Kings 12:1 shows Jehoash reigned 40 years in Jerusalem from the seventh year of Jehu.

In 753 Jeroboam II king of Israel died and Zechariah became king in Israel. In 752 Shallum became king for one month and then Menahem began to rule and Pekah was also king competing with Menahem at Gilead.

In 741 Menahem of Israel died and Pekahiah became King of Israel.

In 739 Uzziah king of Judah died. The Interpreter’s Dictionary states 742 based on the lack of comment in the Assyrian Chronicles and his son Jotham acted as Regent over the last years of his life due to his leprosy. In 734 Ahaz became king of Judah and reigned until 717 (Interp. Dict. states 735-715). In 727 Hezekiah became Regent of Judah and in 717 he became king of Judah and cleansed the Temple.

In 730 Hoshea became king of Israel and died in 722 two years after Sargon II became king of Assyria and at the captivity of Israel for the deportation.

Thus Hosea was prophet from at least 761 to

727 when Hezekiah became Regent and then on until Israel went into captivity in 722 and perhaps in Judah until 717 when Hezekiah formally became king. He may thus have been a prophet well into Hezekiah’s restoration over 50 or more years.

See also Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272).

For Hosea’s references (cp. Eli, 1Sam. 4:15). Hosea is quoted, in the New Testament, in Mat. 2:16; 9:13; 12:7; Rom. 9:25, 9:26; 1Cor. 15:55; 1Pet. 2:5; 2:10.

Note here that Hosea was tied in to the sequence of the Kings of Judah and went down into the period after the reign of Hezekiah which commenced after his period of regency which went from 727 to 717 on the death of Ahaz.

In the first section we see that God gives a command speaking through Hosea and He commands Hosea to go and take a wife of harlotry. The prophet understands that there is a purpose in this as a punishment for the idolatry of the house of Israel and that they are to be sent into captivity and the kingdom ended.

He chose a woman named Gomer the daughter of Diblaim and she conceived and bore him a son and God said to name him Jezreel as God was about to punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel. These names are chosen and are not accidental.

Gomer (SHD 1586) is the name of the son of Japheth and means completion coming from the unused prime root Gamar (SHD 1584 meaning to end). The name Gomer is only ever applied to this woman in this case. In all other cases it refers to the sons of Gomer and his tribe.

Hosea knew that Israel was to end but more importantly he knew the practice of the Assyrians was to deport the tribes to the opposite ends of the empire. He thus knew that Israel was to be sent into captivity beyond the Araxes into the lands of the sons of Gomer among the Celtic Hittites and



Commentary on Hosea

would merge with the Anglo-Saxons, Salien and Riphathian Francs and other tribes of the Hittite Celts. He knew also that they would be sent far into the NW of Europe some eight centuries afterwards at the fall of the Parthians to merge with the Wilusian branch of the sons of Gomer of the western Hittites at Troy both in Britain and at Rome. Also Judah itself was to merge with another branch some six centuries later again.

Diblaim (SHD 1691) is derived from the masculine of SHD 1690 meaning pressed together. It is a symbolic name referring to a cake of pressed figs. These names are highly symbolic of the nation of Israel being the product of harlotry as a cake of pressed figs prepared and ready to be sent into captivity through its idolatrous harlotry.

Jezreel means literally “God sows” and the symbolism here was that Israel was to be punished for the evil sown under Jehu and onwards among the house of Israel, and they were to be re-sown because of their sin. The term will cause to cease in verse 4 is understood as meaning because of the sins of the House of Jehu the Northern Kingdom would be re-sown by God. The prophets understood this symbolism and the intent of God in sending them into captivity sowing them into Gomer. Among the Anglo Saxons of the Parthian Horde there are eight subclades of the Semitic Haplogroup I(AS) and at least one also among the British Celts of the I (Isles) Hg. These are the Tuatha De Danaan sown in Ireland under Jeremiah and moved into Britain. These are explained in the paper Sons of Japheth Part II: Gomer (No. 046B).

God says that He is about to punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel and He is to put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. There is also a cross reference to the Jehu that slew Joram with a bow in 2Kings 10:11. The might of Israel at Jezreel is a reference to Genesis 49:24.

The daughter was considered by the authorities to be illegitimate and Lo Ruhamah meant the unpitied one and was symbolic of the fate of the Ten Tribes when

carried away by the Assyrians north of the Araxes. This was the nation of Israel in Gomer which was sown according to the plan of God.

God says however He will pity Judah and they were kept later for the Babylonians and then restored for the Messiah and their judgment.

Remember that an Angel of the Lord smote the Assyrians under Sennacherib when they attacked Judah under Hezekiah and the salvation was not by the normal means of War (2Kgs. 19:35).

We now see the sequence of the three children.

Hosea Chapter 1[1] The word of the LORD that came to Hose'a the son of Be-e'ri, in the days of Uzzi'ah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezeki'ah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jerobo'am the son of Jo'ash, king of Israel. [2] When the LORD first spoke through Hose'a, the LORD said to Hose'a, "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry, for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the LORD." [3] So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Dibla'im, and she conceived and bore him a son. [4] And the LORD said to him, "Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. [5] And on that day, I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel." [6] She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, "Call her name Not pitied, for I will no more have pity on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. [7] But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the LORD their God; I will not deliver them by bow, nor by sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen." [8] When she had weaned Not pitied, she conceived and bore a son. [9] And the LORD said, "Call his name Not my people, for you are not my people and I am not your God." [10] Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and

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Commentary on Hosea

in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Sons of the living God." [11] And the people of Judah and the people of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head; and they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

When she had weaned Not Pitied (which was interpreted as being some three years in the Middle East) and Rashi reads into this the reference to the passing of the sinful generation and as moving forward in time (cf. Soncino fn. to verse 8) she had a third child.

This third child was Lo Ammi or Not My People. This was to show that Israel was rejected by God and was to be sent into captivity for its idolatrous ways, greed, violence, immorality and injustice which they had brought into their lands through the idolatrous trade and practices with the Kingdoms from the North and South, and East and West. This prophecy was issued in the days of Jeroboam II when greed, lust, violence and idolatry were the order of the day.

They were given 40 years from 761 to 722 to repent. They did not and would not repent. So we move on now through the history to the Last Days and we see the unrepentant behavior of this stiff necked people.

In all their affliction He (God) was afflicted (Isa. 63:9) and that is evident in the pleadings of Hosea. Even to the extent of him being spoken of as mad (9:7).

Everything Hosea was to do in the first three chapters was symbolic of God’s divine authority in symbolizing through Hosea Israel’s waywardness.

Chapter 2We proceed to Chapter 2 and Jezreel, who is the first son sown by God among the Gomerite, is told to speak to his brother (among the Gomerites as Not My People) and his illegitimate sister and say that they are now God’s People and that she has

obtained pity and they are to plead with their mother Gomer that she puts away her harlotry from her face and her adultery. She is no longer wife to her husband as Israel is no longer a faithful wife to God. So God sets about entreating Israel to return to Him along with the nation with which she has interbred.

Note that the nation of Israel was wedded to Baal and the Sun cults and God had to deal with Israel continually for their idolatrous worship and the use of the black cassocked Khemarim or priests of Baal that worshipped on Sundays and the solstice and the festivals of the Sun and Mystery cults. They did it before they were sent into captivity and they do it to this very day and their priests will be punished now in these Last Days as the nation was punished over its years of idolatry.

Messiah was sent to them for the salvation of the Gentiles.

Hosea Chapter 2[1] Say to your brother, "My people," and to your sister, "She has obtained pity." [2] "Plead with your mother, plead -- for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband -- that she put away her harlotry from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; [3] lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a parched land, and slay her with thirst. [4] Upon her children also I will have no pity, because they are children of harlotry. [5] For their mother has played the harlot; she that conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, `I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.' [6] Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns; and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. [7] She shall pursue her lovers, but not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them. Then she shall say, `I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better with me then than now.' [8] And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished upon her silver and gold which they used for Ba'al. [9] Therefore I

Commentary on Hosea

will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season; and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. [10] Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. [11] And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. [12] And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, `These are my hire, which my lovers have given me.' I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them.

Note that God punished the nation and its idolatrous religions and priests of Baal. These feasts of Baal were the festivals of the solstice at 24/25 December and the Festival of Ashtoreth or Easter the goddess. They worship these harlots to this very day and God will punish them for it. These festivals of Sunday, Christmas and Easter will be stamped from the face of the earth. See the paper Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235). So also did Judah create a false calendar at the time of the dispersion.

[13] And I will punish her for the feast days of the Ba'als when she burned incense to them and decked herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the LORD. [14] "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. [15] And there I will give her her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. [16] "And in that day, says the LORD, you will call me, `My husband,' and no longer will you call me, `My Ba'al.' [17] For I will remove the names of the Ba'als from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. [18] And I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety. [19] And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. [20] I will betroth you to

me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD. [21] "And in that day, says the LORD, I will answer the heavens and they shall answer the earth; [22] and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel; [23] and I will sow him for myself in the land. And I will have pity on Not pitied, and I will say to Not my people, `You are my people'; and he shall say `Thou art my God.'"

Thus over this period God has entreated Israel and Gomer to repent and turn to Him and expunge these parasite priests of Baal, the black cassocked Khemarim, from among them and turn to God in repentance so that they do not die.

Note that in Chapter 3 after they have been given the chance of Chapter 2, where He sent the Messiah to them and then the apostles after they had killed the prophets and rejected God, He again pleads with Israel.

Hosea Chapter 3[1] And the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is beloved of a paramour and is an adulteress; even as the LORD loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins." [2] So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. [3] And I said to her, "You must dwell as mine for many days; you shall not play the harlot, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you." [4] For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim. [5] Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.

So we see that we move forward from the Message of the Messiah many days in the wilderness. They kept the festivals of the Sun cults and they had no Sabbaths and their kings and princes were not in Judah and Ephraim was ruled by the Baal worshippers of the Sunday Sun cults who ruled and influenced all they did from the great whore that is Modern Babylon. They built their temples on the High Places in all the lands



Commentary on Hosea

they occupied whereas God says they were to build low in the low ground (Isa. 32:19). In the latter days they will seek God and turn and be saved and these priests of Baal will be destroyed from among our people and they will be expunged from the earth by Messiah.

God then places the fault with Israel right where it belongs, with the priesthood. It has been their fault all along and in the Last Days God will deal with them all. He began at the House of God which is the Church of God. He removed the Temple and destroyed it and sent Judah into captivity. The church was placed in the wilderness for Forty Jubilees until the elect were taken out as the 144,000 and the Great Multitude of Revelation chapter 7. Judah was dispersed until the times of the prophecies were to be completed. That final sequence began in the early part of the twentieth century as we see from the prophets Ezekiel (see The Fall of Egypt (No. 36) and Part II (No. 36_2)) and the others of the Twelve Prophets following.

Note that antinomianism among the priests and prophets is the core of the problem of these priests and the people who follow them, for that is the core of the destruction of the social fabric. Note God says He will destroy the mother of the priests and the prophets. Their mother is the mother goddess of the Baal system, the harlot of Babylon.

Hosea Chapter 4[1] Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel; for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or kindness, and no knowledge of God in the land; [2] there is swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds and murder follows murder. [3] Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air; and even the fish of the sea are taken away. [4] Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. [5] You shall stumble by day, the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother. [6] My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;

because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. [7] The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame. [8] They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity.

So it is like people like priests. The sin is throughout the people, from the entire religious structure it is spread to the rulers and the judges. However, its core is centred on the priests and prophets. These priests will be punished for what they have done and the Sun and Mystery cults will be removed with them in their entirety.

[9] And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways, and requite them for their deeds. [10] They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the harlot, but not multiply; because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish harlotry. [11] Wine and new wine take away the understanding. [12] My people inquire of a thing of wood, and their staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the harlot. [13] They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and make offerings upon the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery. [14] I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with harlots, and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin. [15] Though you play the harlot, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-a'ven, and swear not, "As the LORD lives." [16] Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the LORD now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture? [17] E'phraim is joined to idols, let him alone. [18] A band of drunkards, they give themselves to harlotry; they love shame more than their glory. [19] A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their altars.

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Commentary on Hosea

It is now that we kill our children and grey hairs are on our heads and aliens devour our strength and we know it not. Our populace ages and our wealth goes to aliens. Hosea warns Judah against becoming like Israel but it is too late and Judah is enmeshed in sin following a false calendar and worshipping the Mystery cults behind the scenes. Our politicians are corrupt.

Hosea Chapter 5[1] Hear this, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Hearken, O house of the king! For the judgment pertains to you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor. [2] And they have made deep the pit of Shittim; but I will chastise all of them. [3] I know E'phraim, and Israel is not hid from me; for now, O E'phraim, you have played the harlot, Israel is defiled. [4] Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of harlotry is within them, and they know not the LORD. [5] The pride of Israel testifies to his face; E'phraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them. [6] With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the LORD, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. [7] They have dealt faithlessly with the LORD; for they have borne alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. [8] Blow the horn in Gib'e-ah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth-a'ven; tremble, O Benjamin! [9] E'phraim shall become a desolation in the day of punishment; among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure. [10] The princes of Judah have become like those who remove the landmark; upon them I will pour out my wrath like water. [11] E'phraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after vanity [12] Therefore I am like a moth to E'phraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah. [13] When E'phraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then E'phraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. [14] For I will be like a lion to E'phraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will rend and go away, I will carry off, and none shall rescue. [15] I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my

face, and in their distress they seek me.

Note that Ephraim is held as the head of Israel and the source of the accountability. It is the very birthright promise that was given to Ephraim in Genesis 48:15-16, that in him would the Gentiles find salvation and he would become a company of nations. That blessing has destroyed his very strength as the power of God in Israel. The false priests of the Sun cults led them astray and Ephraim and all Israel and Judah have to repent as we see below.

Hosea Chapter 6 [1] "Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up. [2] After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. [3] Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his going forth is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." [4] What shall I do with you, O E'phraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. [5] Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. [6] For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings. [7] But at Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. [8] Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. [9] As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests are banded together; they murder on the way to Shechem, yea, they commit villainy. [10] In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; E'phraim's harlotry is there, Israel is defiled. [11] For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed. When I would restore the fortunes of my people,

Note that the covenant has been transgressed from the First with Adam and from all the lands of Israel. The priests combine together to commit villainy and God is dealing with Israel first from Gilead and the East bank that led them into captivity and then through all Ephraim and the tribes. It was the priests that conspired and ally in villainy to commit

Commentary on Hosea

evil and in both Ephraim, as the armies of Israel, and in Judah. The harvest of Judah was from 70 CE when they were dispersed right up until the Holocaust, because they were not Judah but the remnants of Ham and Japheth with those of Edom and Esau and Keturah also. Their DNA denies them (see also the papers Genetic Origin of the Nations (No. 265); Descendents of Abraham Part V: Judah (No. 212E); Descendents of Abraham Part VI: Israel (No. 212F)). In the Last Days before the Messiah there will be yet much more bloodshed and they still do not repent.

Chapter 7 deals with the wickedness of Samaria and the corruption of Ephraim, yet even to this day they pollute the places of worship, built on the high places, with the carcasses of their kings and the symbols of their Sun cults. The Phoenix of the idolaters rises on the altars of Baal in Ephraim even on the altars of the Monarch at Windsor on which they worship on the festivals of the Sun cults of Baal and Ashtoreth or Easter. The festival of the solstice of the Sun Child of 24/25 December is kept throughout this idolatrous people from one end of the world to the other.

They erect obelisks or pillars in all their cities when it is forbidden to do so (Lev. 26:1 esp. RSV, ESV). Asherah is the goddess consort of Baal. She was represented as poles which were danced to and erected all over the lands they inhabited. As the goddess Athirat in Arabia she was consort of the Moon God Sin and exists as consort of Qamar among the Arabs to this day and their mosques testify against them but so also do the temples of the Sun cults claiming the false Christ as Messiah.

The concept is deliberately concealed in their translations to excuse their idolatry. Asherah and Baal are goddess and god worshipped conjointly on the Day of the Sun or Sunday and the festival of the Sun is on 24/25 December following the solstice and their festival. The Memorial pillars erected were called Asherah but in Egypt they were obelisks called Ben or Ben-ben more precisely and represented the phallus of the god. The original Egyptian phallus is now

standing in front of the Vatican Cathedral in Rome which was established by the Trojan Hittites of Gomer. A copy is in the Capitol in Washington DC and the Big Ben and many others are all over the Commonwealth. All of the idolatrous rocks will be destroyed completely, including their cathedrals, at the arrival of the Messiah. The destruction will be commenced with the witnesses of Revelation 11:3-13.

Hosea Chapter 7[1] when I would heal Israel, the corruption of E'phraim is revealed, and the wicked deeds of Sama'ria; for they deal falsely, the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid without. [2] But they do not consider that I remember all their evil works. Now their deeds encompass them, they are before my face. [3] By their wickedness they make the king glad, and the princes by their treachery. [4] They are all adulterers; they are like a heated oven, whose baker ceases to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. [5] On the day of our king the princes became sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with mockers. [6] For like an oven their hearts burn with intrigue; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. [7] All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen; and none of them calls upon me. [8] E'phraim mixes himself with the peoples; E'phraim is a cake not turned. [9] Aliens devour his strength, and he knows it not; gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not. [10] The pride of Israel witnesses against him; yet they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him, for all this. [11] E'phraim is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, going to Assyria. [12] As they go, I will spread over them my net; I will bring them down like birds of the air; I will chastise them for their wicked deeds. [13] Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me. [14] They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves, they rebel against me. [15] Although I trained and strengthened their

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Commentary on Hosea

arms, yet they devise evil against me. [16] They turn to Ba'al; they are like a treacherous bow, their princes shall fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Ephraim and Manasseh are the strength of Israel and yet they are silly and know nothing. They have become the military arms of the Beast power of the Last Days and they will be destroyed for it. They keep neither Sabbaths, New Moons nor Feasts and their priests run like harlots to the temples of Baal and Ashtoreth or Easter and they go unrebuked. Their leaders and priests and prophets are like dumb dogs. Their princes and the wealthy run to evil.

God then prophesies evil over them to reduce them to repentance.

Hosea Chapter 8[1] Set the trumpet to your lips, for a vulture is over the house of the LORD, because they have broken my covenant, and transgressed my law. [2] To me they cry, My God, we Israel know thee. [3] Israel has spurned the good; the enemy shall pursue him. [4] They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but without my knowledge. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction. [5] I have spurned your calf, O Sama'ria. My anger burns against them. How long will it be till they are pure [6] in Israel? A workman made it; it is not God. The calf of Sama'ria shall be broken to pieces. [7] For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads, it shall yield no meal; if it were to yield, aliens would devour it. [8] Israel is swallowed up; already they are among the nations as a useless vessel. [9] For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild ass wandering alone; E'phraim has hired lovers. [10] Though they hire allies among the nations, I will soon gather them up. And they shall cease for a little while from anointing king and princes. [11] Because E'phraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have become to him altars for sinning. [12] Were I to write for him my laws by ten thousands, they would be regarded as a strange thing.

[13] They love sacrifice; they sacrifice flesh and eat it; but the LORD has no delight in them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt. [14] For Israel has forgotten his Maker, and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour his strongholds.

Israel lastly from Judah was sent into the wilderness from 70 CE and then scattered into Europe after the fall of the Parthians. They had God’s law deliberately withheld from them by their own priests for 1400 years. They were given the law in their own tongue and they disregarded the laws of God and created the Baal system and declared themselves antinomian for centuries. Their priests tried to stop their understanding and they corrupted Israel and Gomer continually. War did not depart from them and their people suffered through their princes priests and prophets and the idolatry of their systems.

Hosea Chapter 9[1] Rejoice not, O Israel! Exult not like the peoples; for you have played the harlot, forsaking your God. You have loved a harlot's hire upon all threshing floors. [2] Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail them. [3] They shall not remain in the land of the LORD; but E'phraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria. [4] They shall not pour libations of wine to the LORD; and they shall not please him with their sacrifices. Their bread shall be like mourners' bread; all who eat of it shall be defiled; for their bread shall be for their hunger only; it shall not come to the house of the LORD. [5] What will you do on the day of appointed festival, and on the day of the feast of the LORD? [6] For behold, they are going to Assyria; Egypt shall gather them, Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver; thorns shall be in their tents. [7] The days of punishment have come, the days of recompense have come; Israel shall know it.The prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit is mad, because of your great iniquity and

Commentary on Hosea

great hatred. [8] The prophet is the watchman of E'phraim the people of my God, yet a fowler's snare is on all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God. [9] They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gib'e-ah: he will remember their iniquity, he will punish their sins. [10] Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree, in its first season, I saw your fathers. But they came to Ba'al-pe'or, and consecrated themselves to Ba'al, and became detestable like the thing they loved. [11] E'phraim's glory shall fly away like a bird -- no birth, no pregnancy, no conception! [12] Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them till none is left. Woe to them when I depart from them! [13] E'phraim's sons, as I have seen, are destined for a prey; E'phraim must lead forth his sons to slaughter. [14] Give them, O LORD -- what wilt thou give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. [15] Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal; there I began to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all their princes are rebels. [16] E'phraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit. Even though they bring forth, I will slay their beloved children. [17] My God will cast them off, because they have not hearkened to him; they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Note that they did not keep the appointed Feasts of the Lord. The Last Sabbaths and Feasts of the Lord were kept until 664 CE. At the Synod of Whitby, at Hilda’s Abbey, the Whore took over Britain by the power of the Angles who invited the Roman Catholics into Britain in 597 CE under Augustine of Canterbury.

Ephraim had been given the best of lands and was a productive vine that flowed all over Israel yet it failed and was punished with the death of its children. Its women became perverted as the men and women of Sodom and the people became old and aliens consumed their strength.

Yes the more God blessed them the more they were corrupted by idolatry and the Baal Sun cults and the pillars that were forbidden

to them. Their black cassocked priests dressed as their predecessors did as they worshipped Baal and the Gomerite systems of the Vestals and the Roman Curia and the Pontificus Maximus. The Triune god became superimposed upon them and they died in their sins. Even the Churches of God in the Last Days were reduced to the Binitarianism of the god Attis among the Sun and Mystery cults (see the papers Ditheism (No. 076B) and Binitarian and Trinitarian Misrepresentation of the Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127B)).

They do not sin without penalty and over the years they had to pay but in the twentieth century they paid dearly. They did away with the sovereign from the US and then undermined it in all countries from South Africa and then on to Ireland and Scotland and then to the rest of the Commonwealth. They undermined their own strength and unity. Their oaths are empty and they lie and then God is resolved to break down their pillars in the Last Days.

The religion of Samaria of Sin and Baal worship will finally be eradicated from among them and their priests will be exterminated. The Mother Goddess cult worshipped blindly by their women will be eradicated.

Hosea Chapter 10[1] Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased the more altars he built; as his country improved he improved his pillars. [2] Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars, and destroy their pillars. [3] For now they will say: "We have no king, for we fear not the LORD, and a king, what could he do for us?" [4] They utter mere words; with empty oaths they make covenants; so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field. [5] The inhabitants of Sama'ria tremble for the calf of Beth-a'ven. Its people shall mourn for it, and its idolatrous priests shall wail over it, over its glory which has departed from it. [6] Yea, the thing itself shall be carried to Assyria, as tribute to the great king. E'phraim shall be put to shame, and





Commentary on Hosea

Israel shall be ashamed of his idol. [7] Sama'ria's king shall perish, like a chip on the face of the waters. [8] The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. Thorn and thistle shall grow up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall upon us. [9] From the days of Gib'e-ah, you have sinned, O Israel; there they have continued. Shall not war overtake them in Gib'e-ah? [10] I will come against the wayward people to chastise them; and nations shall be gathered against them when they are chastised for their double iniquity. [11] E'phraim was a trained heifer that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will put E'phraim to the yoke, Judah must plow, Jacob must harrow for himself. [12] Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain salvation upon you. [13] You have plowed iniquity, you have reaped injustice, you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your chariots and in the multitude of your warriors, [14] therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-ar'bel on the day of battle; mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. [15] Thus it shall be done to you, O house of Israel, because of your great wickedness. In the storm the king of Israel shall be utterly cut off.

Israel’s war machine will fail and Judah must plough and Jacob harrow for himself. Ephraim was spared in the Great Wars and over the centuries. Thus in the Last Days they are all put to the work of righteousness and they all must repent. Israel ploughed iniquity and reaped injustice and has eaten the fruit of their lies. Ephraim and Judah will be punished together.

God set Israel up as the beacon of the world and from Israel Messiah was born and out of Egypt God called His son. Christ was sent to Egypt where he had been a light in Goshen at Heliopolis before the death of Herod in 1-13 Abib 4 BCE. The High Priest Onan IV had built the altar there ca 160 BCE in accordance with the prophecy in Isaiah

19:19. The church was established by the Messiah under the direction of God from 27-30 CE and Judah rejected him and the church. Judah sinned and in rejecting him the nations entrenched the worship of the Sun cults among and as Christianity. By the 4th century the priests of Attis in Rome were complaining that the “Christians” there had stolen all their doctrines.

In spite of their sins God helped Ephraim and Israel and taught them to walk and protected all Israel yet they knew Him not. They continually returned to the Assyro- Babylonian cults and to the Egyptian Mysteries.

Hosea Chapter 11[1] When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. [2] The more I called them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Ba'als, and burning incense to idols. [3] Yet it was I who taught E'phraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. [4] I led them with cords of compassion, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one, who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them. [5] They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me. [6] The sword shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates, and devour them in their fortresses. [7] My people are bent on turning away from me; so they are appointed to the yoke, and none shall remove it. [8] How can I give you up, O E'phraim! How can I hand you over, O Israel! How can I make you like Admah! How can I treat you like Zeboi'im! My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender. [9] I will not execute my fierce anger, I will not again destroy E'phraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come to destroy. [10] They shall go after the LORD, he will roar like a lion; yea, he will roar, and his sons shall come trembling from the west; [11] they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria; and I will return them to their homes, says the LORD. [12] E'phraim has encompassed me

Commentary on Hosea

with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah is still known by God, and is faithful to the Holy One.

Note that God has compassion on Ephraim and their sons shall come trembling from the West which is where they were sent. At this time it is only Judah that has not completely been corrupted by the Sun cults even though their Kabbalists have corrupted them in the dark of their Synagogues of Satan.

In these Last Days they multiply sin and violence and Judah is to be punished also in the mass of their falsehood and deceit. Ephraim has sought wealth by falsehood and their wealth can never outweigh their guilt and nor can that of Judah.

Hosea Chapter 12[1] E'phraim herds the wind, and pursues the east wind all day long; they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a bargain with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt. [2] The LORD has an indictment against Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways, and requite him according to his deeds. [3] In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. [4] He strove with the angel and prevailed, he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with him -- [5] the LORD the God of hosts, the LORD is his name: [6] "So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God." [7] A trader, in whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress. [8] E'phraim has said, "Ah, but I am rich, I have gained wealth for myself": but all his riches can never offset the guilt he has incurred. [9] I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast. [10] I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets gave parables. [11] If there is iniquity in Gilead they shall surely come to nought; if in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls, their altars also shall be like stone heaps on the furrows of the field. [12] (Jacob fled to the land of Aram, there Israel did service for a wife, and for a wife he herded sheep.) [13] By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up

from Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved. [14] E'phraim has given bitter provocation so his LORD will leave his bloodguilt upon him, and will turn back upon him his reproaches.

In the Last Days Israel will be made to dwell in tents as in the appointed feasts and the rebukes of Ephraim will be turned back upon him as they deserve to be (cf. Zech. 14:16-19).

Note that it is through the Sun and Mystery cults that Ephraim has incurred sin and guilt and was killed because of that. The golden idols are everywhere and their grown men kiss idols and worship Baal and Ashtoreth in the system of Sin the Moon God. The temples are laid out as sun crosses and all their symbols are based on the worship of the Baal system.

If you say you worship the Christ but worship on a Sunday, keep the Sun festival of so-called “Christmas” and keep Easter on a Friday to Sunday at the Full Moon of the Equinox and reject the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts of God you are not a Christian. You are a priest or devotee of Baal and Ashtoreth or Easter. Your places of worship are littered with icons of the Goddess and the so-called saints of the pagan systems posing as Christians. Because of that your nation is weakened through sin and you will be punished by the living God.

Hosea Chapter 13[1] When E'phraim spoke, men trembled; he was exalted in Israel; but he incurred guilt through Ba'al and died. [2] And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves molten images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. Sacrifice to these, they say. Men kiss calves! [3] Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window. [4] I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. [5] It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought; [6] but when they had fed to the full, they were

Commentary on Hosea

filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me. [7] So I will be to them like a lion, like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. [8] I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rend them. [9] I will destroy you, O Israel; who can help you? [10] Where now is your king, to save you; where are all your princes, to defend you -- those of whom you said, "Give me a king and princes"? [11] I have given you kings in my anger, and I have taken them away in my wrath. [12] The iniquity of E'phraim is bound up, his sin is kept in store. [13] The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son; for now he does not present himself at the mouth of the womb. [14] Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruction? Compassion is hid from my eyes. [15] Though he may flourish as the reed plant, the east wind, the wind of the LORD, shall come, rising from the wilderness; and his fountain shall dry up, his spring shall be parched; it shall strip his treasury of every precious thing. [16] Sama'ria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword, their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

It is in the chastisement of God that finally Ephraim will be reduced to repentance. They were removed from Samaria and sent abroad and for 2745 years God dealt and will deal with them. The story of their rebuke and the restoration of Israel continues through the Twelve Prophets in each phase.

God makes His entreaty to Israel through Hosea in this last chapter. Alliances with Assyria will not save them. They will be called by God and turn to Him. The extent of the establishment will be shown in the prophets that follow Amos and Hosea. The sequence of the restoration of the Last Days and the millennial system is unfolded with each prophet and there is no negotiation or compromise.

Hosea Chapter 14

[1] Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. [2] Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, "Take away all iniquity; accept that which is good and we will render the fruit of our lips. [3] Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses; and we will say no more, `Our God,'to the work of our hands. In thee the orphan finds mercy." [4] I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. [5] I will be as the dew to Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, he shall strike root as the poplar; [6] his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. [7] They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom as the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon. [8] O E'phraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress, from me comes your fruit. [9] Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

And so it is that God calls Israel and shows them that their idols are an affront to Him and all He desires is sincere worship from a humble and honest, upright people.

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Appendix to the Commentary on Hosea

HoseaBullinger’s Companion Bible Notes re KJV

1:2-3:5. SYMBOLICAL.1:2-. Symbol. The First Wife. "Go, Take."1:-2. Signification. The Land departs from Jehovah.1:3. The Prophet takes Gomer.1:4-9. The Former State.1:10, 11. The Latter State.2:1-4. Samaria. Remonstrance.2:5-23. Samaria. Reasons.3:1-. Symbol. The Second Wife. "Go yet, love", &c.3:-1. Signification. Israel looks to other gods.

Commentary on Hosea

3:2, 3. The Prophets takes a Woman.3:4. The Present State.3:5. The Future State.1:4-9. THE FORMER STATE.4-. Symbol. Son's name ("Jezreel").-4, 5. Signification, and Reason.6-. Symbol. Daughter's mane (Lo-Ruhamah).-6, 7. Signification, and Reason.8, 9-. Symbol. Son's name (Lo-Ammi).-9. Signification, and Reason.1:10, 11. THE LATTER STATE.10. Israel.11. Judah.2:5-23. REASONS.5. Her False Benefactors.6, 7-. Her Punishment.-7. Her Return.8. Her True Benefactor.9-13. Her Punishments.14-23. Her Reception.3:4,5. THE PRESENT AND FUTURE STATES. (According to the Hebrew text.)4-. Time. "Many days."-4-. "Shall abide."-4-. "The sons of Israel."-4. "Without a king, &c. (Neg.)5-. Time. "Afterward."-5-. "Shall return."-5-. "The sons of Israel."-5-. "Jehovah, and David their king."(Positive.)-5. Time. "In the latter days."4:1-14:8. LITERAL.4:1-5:15. Incriminations and Threatenings.6:1-3. Resolve to return.6:4-13:8. Incriminations and Threatenings.13:9-14:8. Invitation to return.4:1-5:13. INCRIMINATIONS, ETC.4:1-5. Call to Israel. General.4:6-14. Incriminations, &c.4:15-19. Warning as to places in Judah.5:1, 2. Call to Israel. Particular.5:3-7. Incriminations.5:8-15. Warning as to places in Judah.4:1-5. CALL TO ISRAEL.1-. Call.-1, 2. Reason.3. Threatening.4-. Call.-4. Reason.5. Threatening.4:6-14. INCRIMINATIONS AND THREATENINGS.

6-11. The Priests.12-14. The People.6:4-13:8. INCRIMINATION AND THREATENING.6:4. Divine Forbearance.6:5-10:15. Incorrigibility.11:1-7. Contrasted Conduct.11:8-11. Divine Forbearance.11:12-12:14. Incorrigibility.13:1-8. Contrasted conduct.6:5-10:15. INCORRIGIBILITY.(Bad beyond correction)6:5. Divine Judgments.6:6-11-. Incorrigibility.6:-11-7:1-. Divine Mercy.7:-1-10:15. Incorrigibility.7:1-10:15. INCORRIGIBILITY. (bad beyond reform)7:-1-7. Internal wickedness. Idolatry.7:8-8:3. External trouble. Foreigners.8:4-6. Internal wickedness. Idolatry.8:7-10. External trouble. Foreigners.8:11-9:8. Internal wickedness. Idolatry.9:9. External trouble. The days of Gibeah.9:10-10:8. Internal wickedness. Idolatry.10:9-15. External chastisement. The days of Gibeah.11:1-7. CONTRASTED CONDUCT.1. Love.2. Ingratitude.3-. Love.-3. Insensibility.4. Love.5-7. Threatening.11:12-12:14. INCORRIGIBILITY.11:12-12:2. Incrimination. Lies, &c.12:3, 4-. Jacob. Personal history.12:-4-6. Divine Favour and Communication.12:7, 8. Provocation.12:9, 10. Cause.12:11. Incrimination. Idolatry.12:12. Jacob. Personal history.12:13. Divine Favour and Communication.12:14-. Provocation.12:-14. Consequence.13:1-8. CONTRASTED CONDUCT.1. Ephraim's eminence.-1, 2. Ephraim's fall. Idolatry.3. Threatening, and Comparisons.4, 5. Jehovah the source of Ephraim's eminence.6. Ephraim's fall. Forgetting Jehovah.7, 8. Threatening, and Comparisons.

Commentary on Hosea

13:9-14:8. INVITATION TO RETURN.13:9-16. Revolt.14:1-8. Return.13:9-16. REVOLT.9-. Incrimination.-9-11. Promise.12, 13. Incrimination.14. Promise.15, 16. Incrimination.14:1-8. THE RETURN.

Companion Bible Notes, 1909 - Hosea Chps 1-7Hosea 1:1the LORD. Heb. Jehovah. Ap. 4. Hosea. Heb. Hoshe'a' = Salvation. Beeri. Jewish tradition identifies Be'eri with Be'erah, of Reuben (1Ch 5:6). Christian tradition makes Hosea of Issachar. Both names are symbolical, like the other names in this hook. This clause not "evidently inserted by a later hand", as alleged. Uzziah. See note on p. 1208. Jeroboam: i.e. Jeroboam II, the last king hut one of the house of Jehu. See note on 2Ki 10:30; 14:23-29. This carries us hack to the first fourteen years of Uzziah's long reign. See notes on p. 1208, for the significance of Jeroboam's name here.

Hosea 1:2The beginning, &c. This may be understood not merely of Hosea's prophecies, but as referring to the fact that Hosea was the first (canonically) of fifteen prophets included in the Hebrew canon. See Ap. 77. by = in, as in Num 12:6, 8. Hab 2:1. Zec 1:9, i.e. through. a wife of whoredoms: i.e. a woman of the northern kingdom, and therefore regarded as an idolatress. whoredoms = idolatries. The one term is used for the other by Fig. Metonymy (of the Subject), Ap. 6, because both were characterized by unfaithfulness; the former to a husband, and the latter to Jehovah, Who sustained that relation to Israel (Jer 31:32). Cp. 2Ki 9:22. 2Ch 21:13. Jer 3:2. Eze 16:17-35; Eze 20:30; 23:3, 7, 43. Nah 3:4. See 4:2, 12; 5:3, 4; 6:10; 7:4, &c. and = and [beget]. children = offspring. Heb. yalad. The mother is symbolical of the kingdom, and the offspring of the people. for the land, &c. Note this reason (1:4-9) above): which explains what is meant by, and gives the interpretation of, "whoredoms". Ref. to Pent. (Exo 34:16. Lev 17:7; 20:5. Num 15:39. Deu 31:16). Ap. 92.

land. Heb. 'eretz = earth. Put by Fig. Synecdoche (of the Whole), Ap. 6, for the land of Israel. Rendered "land" in 4:1. Cp. Joe 1:2, &c.

Hosea 1:3Gomer = completion (i.e. the filling up the measure of idolatry). Diblaim = a double cake of figs, symbolical of sensual pleasure.

Hosea 1:4Jezreel. Note the Fig. Paronomasia (Ap. 6) between Israel (v. 1) and Jezreel (Heb. Yisra'el and Yizr! eel). The name is prophetic of coming judgment (see 1:5) and future mercy. Jezreel is a Homonym, having two meanings: (1) may GOD scatter (Jer 31:10); and (2) may GOD sow (Zec 10:9). These bind up the two prophetic announcements. Jezreel, the fruitful field, had been defiled with blood (2Ki 9:16, 25, 33; 10:11, 14), and Israel shall be scattered, and sown among the nations; but, when God's counsels are ripe, Israel shall be resown in their own land (See 2:22, 23). a little while. See the fulfillment in 10:14. will avenge = shall have visited. blood = blood-guiltiness. Jezreel. Here, it is used of the valley where the blood was shed. the house of Jehu. Jehu had carried out the judgment of God on the house of Ahab, because it accorded with his own will; but he was guilty of murder, because it was not executed purely according to the will of God. He would have disobeyed if it had not served his own interest. This is seen from the fact that he practiced Jeroboam's idolatries, for which Ahab had been judged. cause to cease, &c. This was fulfilled in 611 B.C. (Ap. 50.) See 2Ki 18:11.

Hosea 1:5at that day: i. e. the day of 2Ki 18:11. bow. Put by Fig. Metonymy (of the Adjunct), Ap. 6, for the armies of Israel.

Hosea 1:6God. Supply "Jehovah" from the preceding verses. Lo-ruhamah = not compassionated. Rendered "not beloved" in Rom 9:25, and "not having obtained mercy" in 1Pe 2:10. These latter are the Holy Spirit's Divine interpretation of His own prophecy. take them away. Supply the Ellipsis, "take away [the kingdom which belongs] to them". them. Heb. lahem = to them.

Commentary on Hosea

Hosea 1:7Judah. Verse 7 is not an "interpolation", but is a definite and distinctive contrast with the prophecy concerning Israel. by the LORD their God = by (Jehovah their Elohim: i.e. the Messiah, or the angel of Jehovah. See 2Ki 19:35. But it looks forward to the future fulfillment, which will exhaust the prophecy in the destruction of Antichrist (Isa 11:4. 2Th 2:8, &c).

Hosea 1:9Lo-ammi = Not My people. I will not be your God = I am not "I am" to you. your = to you. Heb. lakem.

Hosea 1:10In the Hebrew text, ch. 2 commences here. the number, &c. Ref. to Pent. (Gen 22:17; 32:12). children = sons. Not fulfilled in any other People, now, but will yet be, in the future, of Israel. as the sand, &c. Fig. Paroemia. Ap. 6. See note on Gun. 13:16. cannot be measured, &c. Ref. to Pent. (Num 23:10). it shall come to pass, &c. Verse 10 is not "in glaring contradiction" to 1:9, but it marks the contrast between the latter (and yet future state), and the past. See the Structure, p. 1209. ye are not My People = No People of Mine are ye. Heb. Lo-'ammi 'attem. Quoted in Rom 9:25, not of the Gentiles, but as an illustration of what may be true in their case as it will be in Israel's. In 1Pe 2:10 the address is to the Diaspora: i. e. the "scattered strangers" of Israel, who are now afar off". Cp. Dan 9:7. Act 2:32. the living GOD. Always used in contrast with false gods, which have no life. Cp. 1Th 1:9, &c.

Hosea 1:11be gathered together = be gathered out. See Isa 11:12, 13. Jer 3:18. Eze 37:16-24. one head. Zerubbabel was only a typical anticipation, for under him only Judah returned. This refers to a future reunion (Jer 23:5, 6. Eze 34:23). one. Heb. 'echad. See note on Deu 6:4. the land. Supply the Ellipsis: "the land [of their dispersion ]. "Jezreel. Here used in the sense: "GOD will sow". See note on 1:4; and Cp. 2:23. Referring to the day of Israel's restoration as being "life from the dead" (Rom 11:15). Cp. Jer 24:6; 31:28; 32:41. Amo 9:15.

Hosea 2:2

your mother. Gomer (1:3). The ten tribes personified by their royal capital. her husband. Cp. Jer 31:32. whoredoms . . . adulteries = idolatries. See note on 1:2. between her breasts = her embraces.

Hosea 2:3Lest, &c. Verse 3 refers to Israel's earliest history. her: i.e. her land, as shown by the words following. Cp. Eze 16:23-43. in the day. See Ap. 18.

Hosea 2:4children = sons: i.e. the individual members of the nation collectively.

Hosea 2:5played the harlot: i.e. practiced idolatries. The silence as to details here is eloquent. my lovers = my Baals, or lords. Cp. Jer 44:17, 18. my, &c. Note the three pairs, including food, clothing, and luxuries. All are claimed as hers.

Hosea 2:6behold. Fig. Asterismos (Ap. 6) for emphasis. hedge up, &c. Cp. Job 8:23; 19:8. Lam 3:7, 9. thy way. Jehovah had spoken of Israel. Now He speaks to her. make a wall = Heb. wall a (stone) wall. Fig. Polyptoton (Ap. 6) for emphasis = rear a stone wall.

Hosea 2:7follow after = eagerly follow after. I will go, &c. Cp. 6:15. Luk 15:18. first husband. Cp. Eze 16:8. than. Supply the Ellipsis: "than [it is] now".

Hosea 2:9will I return. In judgment. take away = take back. Cp. 2:3. My wine, &c. They were all His, and from Him. recover = rescue (Gen 31:16).

Hosea 2:15from thence: i.e. [when she cometh] from thence. Ref. to Pent. (Num 16:13, 14). Ap. 92. the valley of Achor. Ref to Jos 7:26. Ap. 92. The events must have been written down at the time and preserved. See Ap. 47. Achor = trouble. Cp. Jos 7:24-26. door = entrance. hope = expectation; no longer of trouble. shall sing there. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 15:1). Ap. 92.

Commentary on Hosea

there. Where Jehovah allureth, and bringeth, and speaketh. as in the days, &c. Cp. Jer 2:2. Eze 16:8, 22, 60. when she came up. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 1:10; 12:38; 13:18, &c); and when Jehovah said "My son" (Exo 4:22). Ap. 92.

Hosea 2:18in that day. That yet future day of Israel's restoration. make a covenant, &c. Cp. Job 5:23. Isa 11:6-9. Eze 34:25. and. Note the Fig. Polysyndeton (Ap. 6) to emphasize each item. and I will break. Cp. Psa 46:9. Isa 2:4. Zec 9:10. make them to lie down safely. Ref. to Pent. (Lev 25:18, 19; 26:5, 6. Deu 12:10; 33:12, 28). Ap. 92.

Hosea 2:21I will hear. The restoration comes from, and begins with, Jehovah. hear = answer, or respond to (Zec 8:12).

Hosea 2:22the earth. Note the Fig. Anadiplosis (Ap. 6), by which the word at the end of 2:21 is repeated at the beginning of 2:22. Jezreel = the seed of GOD [which He will sow], as stated in 2:23.

Hosea 2:23I will sow her: i.e. the new Israel. will have mercy, &c. = have pity; i.e. will [call her] Ruhamah. her that had not obtained mercy = Lo-Ruhamah (Not pitied). not My People = Lo-ammi. Thou art My People = Ammi [art] thou. they shall say = and he, he shall say, &c: i.e. the whole nation as one man. Cp. 1:11. Zec 13:9. Rom 9:26. 1Pe 2:10. God. Heb. Elohim. Ap. 4.

Hosea 3:1the Lord. Heb. Jehovah. Ap. 4. Go yet = Go again. See notes on 1:2. love. Not "take", as in 1:2, or love again. a woman. Not "Gomer" (1:3) again, but another; hence we must believe that Gomer had died; and that this was a second marriage with its own special signification. her friend : i.e. Hosea himself. yet, &c. = though [she has become] an adulteress. Referring to Israel's present condition in this Dispensation (Ap. 12). adulteress: i.e. an idolatress; and denotes only a woman of the northern tribes.

according, &c. This is the manifestation of Divine love. children = sons. look to other gods. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 31:18, 20). flagons of wine = cakes of grapes.

Hosea 3:2fifteen pieces of silver = fifteen shekels (Ap. 51.) The price of the redemption of a slave. homer. See Ap. 61.

Hosea 3:3abide . . . many days. See the signification in vv. 4:5. Cp. Jer 3:1, 2. abide. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 21:13). Ap. 92. See the signification of the sign in vv. 4:5, and cp. Jer 31:1, 2. Heb. yashab = to dwell (sequestered). Same word as in Deu 21:13. Not the same word as in 11:6. many days. In the case of the sign = a full month. The signification is seen now, in the present Dispensation. man. Heb. 'ish. Ap. 14. be. Supply ["do"]. The above Structure is according to the order of the words in the Hebrew text, not the A. V.

Hosea 3:4Israel. Not merely Judah, but the twelve tribes. Not "British" or any other "Israel". many days. All the days of the present Dispensation; "many" implying length of time; "days" implying their limitation. without. Note the Fig. Anaphora (Ap. 6), emphasizing each point, now fulfilled before our eyes. without a king. Having rejected Messiah (Joh 19:15). This cannot therefore be interpreted now of any People which has a king. and. Note the Fig. Polysyndeton strengthening the emphasis on each point. prince = ruler. Heb. sar, as in 8:4. sacrifice. Heb. zabach. Ap. 43. Includes all sacrifices where there is shedding of blood. an image. Heb. mazzebah = any upright standing image. Cp. Exo 23:24; 34:13. Isa 19:19. ephod. Put by Fig. Metonymy (of Adjunct), Ap. 6, for the priest or person who wears it. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 28:4-8). Ap. 92. This was the girdle of the breastplate which contained the "Urim and Thummim", the wearing of which pertained solely to the high priest. Cp. 1Sa 22:18; 23:9. Ezr 2:63; and Neh 7:65. teraphim = idols of any kind. In 3:3, Jehovah says they shall not "play the harlot": and, now, for (since 426 B.C.) 2,300 years the truth of this has been seen. Ref. to Pent. (Gen 31:19, 34, 35).

Commentary on Hosea

Hosea 3:5Afterward, &c. This mark of time has not yet been reached. It corresponds with the "many days" of 3:4. See the Structure above ("4-. "). return, &c.: i.e. return [to Jehovah]. See 5:15, and 6:1. seek. Cp 5:6. Jer 60:4, 5. God. Heb. Elohim. Ap. 4. David. Cp. Jer 30:9. Eze 34:23, 24; 37:22, 24. Therefore David must rise again, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must; and note the fact of Israel seeking David. shall fear = shall rejoice in, as in Isa 60:6. Jer 33:9. Heb. pahad, a Homonym with another meaning (to fear, as in Deu 28:66. Job 23:15. See notes there). goodness. Heb. tub, as in 14:2 ("graciously") = Gracious One: i. e. the Messiah. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 33:19). Ap. 92. See the notes on 8:3; 14:2. in the latter days. Rabbi Kimchi (A.D. 1160-1235) and other celebrated Jewish commentators writing on Isa 2:2, hold that this expression always means "in the days of the Messiah". Cp. Jer 30:24. Eze 38:8, 16. Dan 2:28. Mic 4:1. Ref. to Pent. (Gen 49:1. Num 24:14. Deu 4:30; 31:29). Ap. 92.

Hosea 4:2By swearing, &c. These are the evils which flow from a want of the knowledge of God. Cp. 4:6; 2:20. Rom 1:21. 1Jo 2:3, 4; 4:7, 8. blood toucheth blood: or, murder follows murder; "blood" being put by Fig. Synecdoche (of Species), Ap. 6, for bloodshed.

Hosea 4:5fall = stumble. in the day. Cp. Jer 6:4, 5 and 15:8. destroy = lay prostrate. thy mother: i.e. the whole nation is referred to, as is clear from vv. 4, 3, &o.; 2:3, 9, 12.

Hosea 4:7sinned. Heb. chata'. Ap. 44. therefore will I change their glory into shame. The Sopherim confess (Ap. 33) that they altered thus the primitive Heb. text: which read "My glory have they changed into shame": i. e. they altered the verb hemiru (they have changed) to 'amir (I shall change); and, kebodi (My glory) to kebodam (their glory). This alteration was made from a mistaken reverence. It will be seen that the word "therefore" is not required.

Hosea 4:8eat up the sin = the sin-offering. Ref. to Pent. (Lev 6:30): i.e. those sin-offerings which should

have been wholly burnt, and not eaten. See notes on Lev 6:26, 30. Ap. 92. Set their heart = lift up their soul: i.e. desire. Heb. nephesh. Ap. 13. iniquity = wrong-doing.

Hosea 4:12ask counsel = inquire of (habitually). Cp. Jer 2:27. Hab 2:19. stocks = idols made of wood. staff, &c. Referring to divination by rods. spirit. Heb. ruach. Ap. 9. Cp. 5:4. Isa 44:20. gone a whoring: i.e. gone away into idolatry. Cp. Eze 23:5. from under = from under [the authority] of, &c, as Gomer had left Hosea. Cp. Num 5:19, 29. Eze 23:5.

Hosea 4:14daughters: who became Temple-women. See next verse. themselves = [the men] themselves. separated = secluded. harlots. Heb. kedeshah = the Temple-women, consecrated to the unclean "worship" of the Canaanites, by which the foulest corruption became a holy duty. Ref. to Pent. Found only here and Gen 38:21, 22, and Deu 23:17. Ap. 92.

Hosea 4:15

harlot = wanton. Not the same word as in 4:14, though the symbol is similar. Judah. Cp. 1:7. Gilgal. Jeroboam had erected an idolatrous temple there. See 9:15; 12:11. Amo 4:4; 5:5. Cp. Jdg 3:19. There, too, they had rejected Jehovah as king (1Sa 7:16; 10:8; 11:14, 15). See note on 9:15. Beth-aven = house of naught. Put for Beth-el (= the house of GOD), now profaned by Jeroboam (1Ki 12:28-33; 1Ki 13:1. Amo 3:14). The prophecy fulfilled in Jer 48:13. See also 2Ki 10:29; 17:6-23. Amo 7:13. nor swear, &c. Cp. Amo 8:14. Zep 1:5.

Hosea 4:16slideth back = hath been stubborn, restive, or intractable, refractory. a lamb = a young ram of more than a year old. in a large place = an uninclosed space: i.e. the lands of the heathen.

Hosea 4:18sour. Heb. turned, turned back, thrust aside as having turned bad. Give ye. By the Fig. Metallage (Ap. 6) the fact of continual whoredom (or idolatrous worship) is

Commentary on Hosea

changed to the new thought of the rulers loving to continually command, "Give ye [sacrifices]", with contempt for the sacrifices Jehovah commanded. See 8:13. Thus, the verse is not "untranslatable", as alleged.

Hosea 4:19wind, &c. = the spirit of whoredoms (v. 12) has bound itself up. Heb. ruach. Ap. 9. in her wings = in her skirts (so as to impede her gait). they shall be ashamed. Cp. Isa 1:29. Jer 2:26. This verse is not "in confusion", as alleged. These verses (16-19) are not "scraps", as alleged, but are closely connected with the context. They are required by the Structure "4:15-19" and "5:8-15" on p. 1213.

Hosea 5:1Hear . . . O priests. This is a call to the priests and others, as 4:1-5 was also a call to Israel. judgment is toward you = judgment is denounced upon you. Mizpah. There were five places with this name: (1) Now Suf (Gen 31:49. Jdg 10:17; 11:11, 29, 34; 20:1, 3; 21:1, 6, 8). (2) In Moab (1Sa 22:3), not identified. (3) The land (or valley) of Moab, now el Bukei'a (Jos 11:3). (4) In Judah, not identified (Jos 15:38). (5) In Benjamin, not identified (Jos 18:26. Jdg 22:1-3; Jdg 21:1, 5, 8; 1Sa 7:5-16; 1Sa 10:17. 1Ki 15:22; 2Ki 25:23, 25; 2Ch 16:6. Neh 3:7, 15, 19. Jer 40:6-15; Jer 41:1-16, and in this passage, 5:1). Mizpah was a symbol of keeping apart, not of meeting again, as erroneously used to-day. Tabor is on the west of Jordan and not connected with Ephraim; but Tabor means a mound; so that the idolatrous altar may have been called Mizpah, while Tabor was the "mound" of Gen 31, both belonging to the same district. Hosea is said to have been buried at Mizpah.

Hosea 5:5the pride of Israel. An appellation of Jehovah = the excellency, or the glory of Israel. He in Whom Israel should have gloried; so again in 7:10. Cp. Amo 8:7, where it is "the Excellency of Jacob". his: i.e. Ephraim's, or Israel's. iniquity. Heb. 'avah. Ap. 44.

Hosea 5:7strange = apostates (who had become as foreigners). Heb. sur. See note on Pro 5:3. children = sons. a month. A short time will complete their dispossession. Shallum reigned just a month (2Ki 15:13).

Hosea 5:8cornet = horn. Beth-aven. See note on 4:15. after thee, &c. Apparently a war-cry = "[Look] behind thee, O Benjamin! "Cp. Jdg 5:14; 20:40.

Hosea 5:11oppressed and broken. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 28:33). willingly = willfully. walked after = followed (perseveringly). the commandment. Note the Ellipsis: "the [idolatrous] commandment [of Jeroboam]" (1Ki 12:28. 2Ki 10:29-31). Cp. Mic 6:16. Aram., Sept., and Syr. read "falsehood". Vulg. reads "filthiness", reading zo in pl, for zav.

Hosea 5:13king Jareb. Professor Sayce (Higher Criticism and the Monuments, pp 416, 417) thinks "Jareb" may he the birth-name of the usurper Sargon II, the successor of Shalmaneser. Shalmaneser did not take Samaria, but his successor did, as stated in an inscription found in the palace which he built near Nineveh. This gets rid of several fanciful hypotheses as to the meaning of "Jareb" besides explaining an historical difficulty Cp. 10:6.

Hosea 5:15till they acknowledge their offence. Ref. to Pent. (Lev 26:40-42). National repentance is the condition of Israel's restoration. Seek My face. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 4:29). Ap. 92. seek Me early. This expression, though not found in the Pentateuch, occurs in Job 7:21; 8:5; 24:5. Psa 63:1; 78:34. Pro 1:28; 7:15; 8:17; 11:27; 13:24. Heb. rising up before dawn to seek. Not the same word as in the preceding clause. Supply the ellipsis after "early": "[they shall say] 'Come'", &c.

Hosea 6:1let us return. These are the words of Israel in a yet future day, as already symbolized by the return of Gomer (3:2, 3), and foretold in 3:5. See the Structure, p. 1213). This is the acknowledgment referred to in 5:15. Deu 82:39. the LORD. Heb. Jehovah. Ap. 4. He will heal us. Cp. Jer 30:17.

Hosea 6:2After two days: i.e. two days after this national repentance. See 5:15, "till". revive us = bring us back to life. in = on. live = live again in resurrection. Referring to the yet future resurrection of the new Israel (Eze 37),

Commentary on Hosea

which will thus resemble the resurrection of Messiah (1Co 15:20). in His sight. Heb. = before His face, as their sin had been (7:2).

Hosea 6:5Therefore have I hewed them, &c. = This is why I hewed them. Heb. idiom, by which the declaration that a thing should be done is spoken of the personal act of doing it. See note on Jer 1:18; and cp. Jer 1:10; 5:14. by the prophets: i.e. declared by the prophets. thy judgments are. A regrouping of the letters of the Hebrew word agrees with the Aram., Sept., and Syr., and reads "My judgment is". Verse 5 speaks of Jehovah's acts (see Structure, above). Ref. to Pent. (Deut.33:2). Ap. 92. the light = light.

Hosea 6:9troops = gangs. by consent = towards Sichem, as in Gen 37:14. Sichem (like "Gilead", 6:8) was a city of priests (Jos 21:21). commit lewdness: i.e. practice idolatry. Jeroboam built Shechem (now Nablous), and doubtless set up his calf-worship there (1Ki 12:25). lewdness. Ref. to Pent. (Heb. zimmah, is a Levitical word, found in Lev 18:17; 19:29; 20:14, 14). Ap. 92.

Hosea 7:4all = all of them (kings, princes, and People are idolaters). "All" is put by Fig. Synecdoche (of Genus), for the greater part. adulterers: i.e. idolaters. See note on 1:2. as = [hot] like. ceaseth = leaves off. raising = stoking it. after he hath kneaded, &c. = from [the time of] kneading the dough until it is ready for the fire. Then he heats the oven to stop the fermentation. Even so these idolaters. See note on "baker", 7:6.

Hosea 7:5In the day of our king. See 2Ki 15:10. day. Perhaps = [feast] day. him. Supply "themselves" instead of "him". sick, &c. Sick with the heat of wine. wine. Heb. yayin. Ap. 27.

Hosea 7:6they, &c. Like the baker in 7:4. their baker sleepeth = their anger smoketh: reading ye'shan 'apphem instead of yashen 'ophehem. Owing to the similarity in pronunciation and in the ancient form of Ayin (')

and Aleph ('). these letters were interchanged. The Massorah contains lists of words where Aleph (= ') stands for Ayin (= ') and vice versa (see Ginsburg's Massorah, letter, vol. i, p. 57, 514; and letter, vol. ii, p. 390, 352, 360, &c). See notes on Isa 49:7. Amo 6:8. Zep 3:1, &c. The Aram, and Syr. preserve the reading of the primitive text: "their anger smoketh all night" (like the "oven" in 7:4). it: i.e. the oven.

Hosea 7:7all their kings, &c. Cp. 8:4. Of the two houses of Omri and Jehu: Nadab, Zimri, Tibni, Jehoram, Zachariah, Shallum, Pekahiah, and Pekah were all slain by their successors, or others. there is. Some codices, with two early printed editions (one Rabbinic in margin), read "and there".

Hosea 7:14they have not cried. Cp. Job 35:9, 10. Psa 78:36. Jer 3:10. Zec 7:5. with their heart. They cried with their voice. assemble themselves. In their idol temples. wine = new wine. Heb. tirosh. Ap. 27. Not the same word as in 7:5. rebel against = apostatized from.

Hosea 8- 148:1Israel Reaps the Whirlwind

Set the trumpet, &c. See 5:8. Cp. Isa 58:1. He shall come. Supply the Ellipsis (Ap. 6) thus: "[It (i.e. the threatened judgment)] is coming", &c. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 28:49). Ap. 92. as. This is not merely comparison but assertion: i.e. swiftly. It is not the eagle that comes against the Temple. Cp. Jer 4:13. Hab 1:8. the Lord. Heb. Jehovah. Ap. 4. transgressed. Heb. 'abar. Ap. 44. Same word as in 6:7; not the same as in 7:13; 14:9. My covenant . . . My law. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 4:13), where a like Alternation is found. Ap. 92. trespassed. Heb. pasha'. Ap. 44 Israel shall cry, &c. Render: "to Me will they cry: 'My God, ' we know Thee: Israel [knoweth Thee]". God. Heb. Elohim. Ap. 4. we know Thee. Cp. Mat 7:22. Joh 8:54, 55. Isa 29:13 (Mat 15:8).

8:3the thing that is good = the Gracious One. Cp. 3:5; 14:2.

8:4

Commentary on Hosea

they have set up kings. Cp. 7:7. See 2Ki 15:13, 17, 27 (Shallum, Menahem, Pekah). made princes = caused [men]to bear rule. Heb. sarar = to bear rule. See note on 12:3. knew = acknowledged. idols = elaborate idols. of their silver, &c. Cp. 2:8; 13:2. they = he. The nation spoken of as one man. But the Aram., Sept., and Syr. read "they", with the A. V.

8:5Thy calf, &c. Render: "He [Jehovah] hath rejected thy calf, O Samaria". Samaria. The capital is put by Fig. Synecdoche (of the Part), Ap. 6, for the whole nation. attain. Note the Ellipsis of the infinitive. Supply: "[be able to] attain", &c.

8:6For from Israel, &c. Render: "For from Israel! (i.e. from Israel, of all people) [doth this conduct proceed! and he! (i. e., and that calf, what is it)]? A craftsman made him, so no God is he". be = become. pieces = fragments, or splinters. Heb. shebabim. Occurs only here.

8:7wind. Heb. ruach. Ap. 9. the bud . . . meal. Note the Fig. Paronomasia (Ap. 6), for emphasis. Heb. zemach . . . kemach. It may be Englished: "the flower will yield no flour". strangers = outsiders. Cp. 7:9.

8:8Israel is swallowed up. See 2Ki 17:6. gentiles = nations. as a vessel. Cp. Jer 22:28; 48:38.

8:9gone up. Cp. 5:13; 7:11. a = [as] a. wild ass. Cp. Isa 1:3. hired lovers = paid the love-fee. Comparing idolatry to whoredom. Cp. Eze 16:33, 34; and see 2Ch 28:20, 21.

8:10hired = hired [lovers]. gather = gather [against]. them: i. e. the nations (Israel's lovers). sorrow = be in woe. a little = in a little time, speedily; as in Hag 2:6. The Hebrew accents indicate that we should render "and, ere long, they will be writhing under the burden": king [will be writhing], princes [will be writhing].

the burden of the: i.e. the tribute [laid on them]. king of princes = king and princes. Cp. Isa 10:8. 11made many = multiplied. Cp. 12:10. be unto him = have become to him. sin. The same word, but here put by Fig. Metonymy (of Effect), Ap. 6, for the judgments caused by the sin.

8:12I have written. Not Moses: he was only the pen. It was God who "spoke by the prophets" (Heb 1:1); by His Son (Joh 7:16; 8:28, 46, 47; 12:49; 14:10, 24; 17:8); by His Spirit (Joh 16:13. Cp. Heb 2:4); and by Paul, "the prisoner of Jesus Christ" (cp. 2Ti 1:8). Note the ref. to Pent. (Exo 17:14; 24:4, 7; 34:27. Num 33:1, 2. Deu 4:6-8, &c.) See Ap. 47 and Ap. 92. great = weighty. Cp. Mat 23:23. Heb. text reads ribbo = myriad; but rnarg. reads rubbey = multitudes, or manifold, with Sept., Syr., and Vulg. My law. Not Moses's law. counted = accounted. as a strange thing = as something alien or foreign, as modern critics do to-day. This verse necessitates the accessibility of the law in a written form, and gives more than a clue to the date of the Pentateuch. See Ap. 47.

8:13They sacrifice flesh, &c. See note on Jer 7:21-23. Zec 7:6. offerings = sacrificial gifts. Heb. habhabim. Occurs only here. eat it = that they may eat it [as common food]. but. One school of Massorites read this "but" in the text. Cp. 5:6, and 9:4. Jer 14:10, 12. now, &c. Cp. 9:9. Amo 8:7. they shall return to Egypt. Ref to Pent. (Deu 28:68). Ap. 92. Cp. 2:15; 9:3, 6; 11:5. Sept. reads "they have returned", &c.

8:14forgotten His Maker. Ref to Pent. (Deu 32:18). buildeth temples. Cp. 1Ki 12:31, and 2Ch 24:7 with 2Ch 23:17. fenced cities = fortified cities. See 2Ch 26:9, 10. his cities. See 2Ki 18:13, i.e. Judah's. the palaces thereof = her citadels, the fem. suffix agreeing with "cities", which is fem. in Heb Modern critics regard this verse as "a later addition, perhaps borrowed from Amos", because "palaces or idol temples are not referred to by Hosea"!

Hosea 9:Ephraim Punished

Commentary on Hosea

9:1people = peoples. gone a whoring: i.e. gone into idolatry. See note on 1:2. a reward = a love-fee. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 23:18, "hire"). Ap. 92.

9:2floor = threshing-floor. winepress = wine fat. Heb. yekeb, the wine receptacle; not gath, the winepress. See note on Isa 5:2. new wine. Heb. tirosh. Ap. 27. Not same as 9:4. her. A special various reading called Sevir (Ap. 34), with some codices, one early printed edition, Aram., Sept., Syr., and Vulg., give "them"; some give "with her" in marg.

9:4wine. Heb. yayin. Ap. 27. Not same as in 9:2. bread. Put by Fig. Synecdoche (of Species), Ap. 6, for all kinds of food. of mourners. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 26:14. Num 19:14). Ap. 92. Heb. 'aven. A Homonym. See note on "Benjamin", Gen 35:18.

9:6because of = from. Egypt = [yet] Egypt. Cp. 7:16. shall gather them up = shall rake them out [for manure, or for burning]; not for burial in their own land; this would be 'asaph. But here it is kabaz. (Jer 8:2. Eze 29:5.)Memphis. The capital of Lower Egypt (near Cairo). Now Mitrahumy; also called Noph. tabernacles = tents. Heb. 'ohel (Ap. 40.); "tents" being put by Fig. Metonymy (of Adjunct), Ap. 6, for the place where their tents were pitched.

9:7The days of visitation are come. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 32:34). Ap. 92. Cp. Luk 19:44; 21:22. recompence = retribution. know [it] = discover [her wickedness, when she said]. spiritual man = man of the Spirit: i.e. God's prophet, who is defined as a man in whom the Spirit of God was. for the multitude, &c. = for great is thine iniquity, great is thine enmity. iniquity = distortion. Heb. 'avah. Ap. 44. hatred = provocation.

9:8The watchman. Note the series of contrasts, what Ephraim had been, and what Ephraim had now become, which commences here; with remarks

following each. See v. 10 and v. 13; 10:1, 9; 11:1; 13:1. watchman. Used of a true prophet in Isa 21:6-11. Jer 6:17; 31:6. Eze 3:17; 33:7. was. Render: "Ephraim [was so], e. g. in Joshua's days. my God: i.e. Hosea's God. but = [but now]. the prophet: i.e. Ephraim. is = is become. his God. In contrast with Hosea's God.9:9the days of Gibeah. See 10:9. This implies a common knowledge of the history of Jdg 19:15, &c. therefore. Some codices, with three early printed editions (one Rabbinic, marg), read "now will He", &c. He: i.e. Jehovah. Ap. 4. He will visit. Some codices read "that He may visit". Cp. 8:13.

9:10I found, &c. Another contrast. See 9:8. they went, &c. Ref. to Pent. (Num 25:3). The history was well known, or this reference to it would be useless. Ap. 92. Baal-peor. Ref. to Pent. (Num 25:3. Deu 4:3). Elsewhere only in Psa 106:28. Cp. Jos 22:17. that shame = that shameful thing: the 'Asherah and its worship. See Ap. 42. their, &c. Supply the Ellipsis, and render: "became an abomination like their paramour".

9:11from the birth, &c. = no birth, none with child, no conception. conception. This particular word herayon occurs only here, and Rth 4:13. A similar word (Heb. haron) in Gen 3:16.

9:12Though they bring up, &c Not "inappropriate after 9:11", but is part of the contrast commenced there. children = sons. will I bereave them. Ref to Pent. (Lev 26:22. Deu 28:41, 62). when I depart from them = when I take command from them. Heb. sur, as in 8:4, and 12:3 (see notes there). Not the same word as "withdraw" in 5:6, which is halaz.

9:13as I saw Tyrus. Another contrast. See note on 9:8. The verse does not "defy explanation". as = according as. Tyrus. See Isa 23. Eze 26-28.

Commentary on Hosea

9:15wickedness. Heb. ra'a'. Ap. 44. Gilgal. Cp. 4:15; 12:11. The place where Jehovah was rejected, and man's king set up; and where, on account of his impatience and disobedience Saul got his first message of his rejection (1Sa 13:4-15), and his second (1Sa 15:12-33). See note on 4:15. I hated them = have I come to hate them. for the wickedness, &c. Cp. 1:6. their princes are revolters. Note the Fig. Paronomasia (Ap. 6), for emphasis. Heb. sareyhem. sorerim. It may be Englished by "their rulers are unruly". Cp. Isa 1:23, where the same words are used.

9:17they shall be wanderers, &c. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 28:64, 65).

Hosea 10:Retribution for Israel's Sin

10:1

an empty vine = a productive or luxurious vine. Heb. a vine emptying or yielding its fruit. See notes on Jdg 9:8-13. Heb. gephen. Always fem. except here and 2Ki 4:39. Here because it refers to Israel: i.e. to the people. fruit. Note the Fig Polyptoton (Ap. 6) in the varying inflections of the words, "fruit", "multiply", and "good"; and the Fig. Synonymia in "altars" and "images"; all to increase the emphasis of the contrast. See note on 9:8 ("watchman"). unto himself = like himself: i.e. not for Me. according to. Note the Fig. Anaphora (Ap. 6). multitude . . . increased. The same word. images = pillars: i.e. 'Asherahs (Ap. 42). Heb. mazzebah = upright (erect) pillars.

10:2Their heart is divided. Cp. 1Ki 18:21. 2Ki 17:32, 33, 41. found faulty = held guilty. Referring back to 9:17. he shall, &c. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 23:24; 34:13. Deu 7:5; 12:3).

10:3 do to us: do for us, or, profit us.

10:4hemlock = poppy. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 29:18; 32:32, 33). Ap. 92. Elsewhere only in Job, Psalms, Jeremiah, and Amo 5:7; 6:12.

in the furrows. Some codices, with four early printed editions (one Rabbinic, marg.), read "all the furrows"

10:5Samaria. See 10:7; 7:1; 8:5, 6; 13:16. Beth-aven. See note on 4:15. priests. Heb. kemarim = priests of Baal, or black ones, from kamar = to be black, from the black dress (or cassocks) worn by them. Occurs only here and 2Ki 23:5. Zep 1:4. rejoiced = leap, or exult. Cp. 1Ki 18:26. glory . . . departed. Ref. to the history (1Sa 4:21, 22).

10:6king Jareb. See note on 5:13. counsel: i.e. the policy of Jeroboam.

10:7 as the foam, &c. = on the face of the waters. Ref to Pent. (Gen 1:2; 7:18). Ap. 92.

10:8sin. Heb. chata. Ap. 44. Put by Fig. Metonymy (of Adjunct), Ap. 6, for the idols associated with it. Cp. Deu 9:21. 1Ki 12:30. the thorn and the thistle. Ref to Pent. (Gen 3:18). This combination of words occurs only in these two places. "Thorns" is found in Exo 22:6, &c.; "thistles", Heb. darda, only here, and Gen 3:18. Cp. 9:6. mountains. Such was Beth-el in the hill country of Ephraim (Jdg 4:5). Contrast Gen 49:2, 6.

10:9from: or, beyond. the days of Gibeah. See 9:9 and Jdg 19 and 20. Note the Article. there they stood. In battle array. children = sons. iniquity. Heb. 'alvah. Occurs only here, from Heb. 'avah. Ap. 44. did not overtake them. Supply the Ellipsis: [and shall ye escape? ].

10:10It is in My desire, &c. = I am resolved to. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 28:63). people = peopleswhen they shall bind = they being joined (or yoked) [in cohabitation. Put for idolatries] together in committing idolatry. two furrows. Put by Fig. Metonymy (of Adjunct), for being yoked together as oxen in committing the same sins of idolatry. See the interpretation in vv. 11-13.

10:11

Commentary on Hosea

And Ephraim = i.e. the land of Ephraim. Here is the contrast. See note on "watchman", 9:8. an heifer. Cp. Jer 50:11. Mic 4:13. passed over upon = put a yoke upon. Jacob. Put here by Fig Metonymy (of Adjunct), Ap. 6, for Ephraim.

10:12to seek the LORD. Ref to Pent. (Deu 4:29). Ap. 92. rain righteousness, &c. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 32:2).

10:13Ye have plowed = Ye have sown. Heb, harashtem. Occurs, with this spelling, only here and Jdg 14:18. The Massorah (Ap. 30 and Ap. 93) places it in an alphabetical list of words, occurring twice, with two different meanings (see Ginsburg's Massorah, vol. i, p. 498). It is therefore a Homonym with one meaning: ye have plowed (Jdg 14:18); and another, ye have sown (10:13). wickedness = lawlessness. Heb. rasha'. Ap. 44. trust = confide. Heb. batah. Ap. 69. way. Sept. reads "chariots". This corresponds with the next clause.

10:14Shalman. Sayce thinks he is Salamanu, king of Moab, a tributary of Tiglath-Pileser III (Cp. 1:1); therefore a contemporary of Hosea. Beth-arbel. Heb. Beth-'arbeel = house of the ambush of GOD (Heb. El. Ap. 4. IV). Heb. marg. reads Beth-'arbel, so as to disguise the name El and avoid the supposed offensive expression. the mother, &c. Cp. 13:16.

10:15your great wickedness. Heb. "evil of your evil". Note the Fig. Polyptoton (Ap. 6), Heb. ra'a'. in a morning. Some codices, with two early printed editions (one Rabbinic, marg.), read "like the dawn". shall the king of Israel. Cp. 10:7, The king referred to may be Hoshea.

Hosea 11:God Yearns over His People

11:1I loved him. Cp. Jer 2:2. Mal 1:2. called My son, &c. = called to My son. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 4:22, 23). Ap. 92. Quoted in Mat 2:15.

11:2

they. The callers: i.e. the prophets, &c. who called to them. them. The Sept. and Syr. read "Me". they. Israel. sacrificed = kept sacrificing. Cp. 2:13; 13:2. 2Ki 17:16.

11:3I taught, &c. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 1:31; 32:10, 11, 12). Cp. Isa 46:3. go = walk. See Act 13:18 marg. taking = I used to take. I healed them. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 15:26).

11:4I drew = I would draw. man. Heb. 'adam. Ap. 14. take off = lift up, or loosen: viz. the straps which hind the yoke to the neck. I laid meat = holding out [food] to him I let him eat.

11:5not. Connect this with 11:4, for he is to return to Assyria (8:13; 9:3). shall be = he [became].

11:6 branches. Put by Fig. Metonymy (of Subject), Ap. 6, for "sons", as being the progeny and defenders.

11:7bent to backsliding. Cp. 4:16. though they called them, &c. = though they call upon the Most High. Most High. Heb. 'al. none at all would exalt Him = He shall not altogether lift them up.

11:8How . . . ? Figs. Erotesis and Pathopoeia. Ap. 6. Admah . . . Zeboim. Ref. to Pent. (Gen 10:19; 14:2, 8. Deu 29:23). Ap. 92. These places are not mentioned elsewhere. repentings = compassions.

11:9I am GOD, and not man. Fig. Pleonasm (Ap. 6): put both ways for emphasis. Ref. to Pent. (Num 23:19). Cp. Isa 55:8, 9. Mal 3:6. GOD. Heb. 'El. Ap. 4. man. Heb. 'ish. Ap. 14. in the midst = [will not come] into the midst. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 33:5). Ap. 92. enter into = come against: i.e. as an enemy. The verse is not "nonsense", as alleged. The reference is to 11:8.

Commentary on Hosea

the city: i.e. as I came against Sodom and Gomorrah.

11:9I am GOD, and not man. Fig. Pleonasm (Ap. 6): put both ways for emphasis. Ref. to Pent. (Num 23:19). Cp. Isa 55:8, 9. Mal 3:6. GOD. Heb. 'El. Ap. 4. man. Heb. 'ish. Ap. 14. in the midst = [will not come] into the midst. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 33:5). Ap. 92. enter into = come against: i.e. as an enemy. The verse is not "nonsense", as alleged. The reference is to 11:8. the city: i.e. as I came against Sodom and Gomorrah.

11:11 in their houses. Cp. Eze 28:25, 26; 37:21, 25.

11:12Ephraim compasseth Me, &c. The Structure (p. 1221) shows the change of subject in 11:12 12:8, which is "incorrigibility". The chapters are badly divided here. with deceit. See Isa 29:13. Eze 33:31. Mat 15:8, 9. Mar 7:6, 7. Judah yet ruleth, &c. Cp. 2Ch 13:10-12. with the saints = with the Holy One. Heb. pl.; so used elsewhere. Cp. Jos 24:19. Pro 30:3.

Hosea 12:Ephraim Reminded

12:1feedeth on wind. Cp. 8:7. wind. Heb. ruach. Ap. 9. followeth after = pursueth. daily = all the day longdesolation = violence. make a covenant, &c. Cp. 5:13; 7:11. oil is carried, &c. As a present, to obtain favour and help. Cp. 5:13. Isa 30:2-7; Isa 57:9. See 2Ki 17:4.

12:2The LORD. Heb. Jehovah. Ap. 4. punish = visit upon. Jacob. Put by Fig. Metonymy (of Adjunct), Ap. 6, for Israel, especially the natural seed. according. Some codices, with two early printed editions (one Rabbinic, marg.), Aram., Sept., Syr., and Vulg., read "and according". recompense = requite, or repay.

12:3He took his brother. Ref. to Pent. (Gen 25:26).

took . . . by the heel. Heb. 'akab. Hence his name Jacob. his brother = his very own brother (with 'eth). by his strength = in his manhood: i.e. another example, later in life, but of a similar nature. had power with = contended with (Oxford Gesenius, p. 40). Heb. Sarah. (Hence his name Israel). The event is referred to only here, and Gen 32:28. See note there. God. Heb. Elohim.(with 'eth) = God Himself. Ap. 4.

12:4the Angel. Defined in 12:5. prevailed = He (the Angel) overcame him (Jacob). See notes on Gen 32:28. Hence the change of Jacob's name to "Israel" = God commands. he wept: i.e. Jacob. This is the Fig. Hysteresis (Ap. 6), by which former histories are supplemented by later Divine inspiration. He found him: i.e. God found Jacob in Beth-el. Ref. to Pent. (Gen 28:17, 19). Note the implied contrast, Beth-el being now the seat of idolatry. He spake = Jehovah spake. See next verse. with us. Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and Syr. read "with him".

12:5Even, &c. Render: "and Jehovah [is] God (Elohim) of the Hosts; Jehovah [is] His memorial [Name]. "This is for strong confirmation. memorial. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 3:15). Ap. 92.

12:6Therefore, &c. Cp. 14:1. mercy = lovingkindness, or grace. wait on thy God = wait for thy God. Ref to Pent. (Gen 49:18). Cp. Psa 37:7. Isa 25:9; 26:8; 33:2. Mar 15:43. Luk 2:25; 23:51.

12:7He is a merchant. Supply the Ellipsis (Ap. 6): [He, Ephraim, is] a merchant. This is the first of two provocations. See the Structure above; and Cp. 12:14. the balances of deceit = unjust balances. Ref. to Pent. (Lev 19:36). he loveth to oppress. Money was obtained by oppression. Ref. to Pent. (Lev 6:2; 19:13). Ap. 92. oppress = defraud.

12:8labours = toils. iniquity = perversity. Heb. 'avah. Ap. 44. Not the same word as in 12:11. that were = which [is].

Commentary on Hosea

12:9And I, &c. These verses (9, 10) correspond with 12:14, and give the cause of the provocation. There is an evident Ellipsis, which may be thus supplied: "And [thou forgettest that] I, Jehovah thy Elohim from the land of Egypt, [that I have promised that] I will yet make thee to dwell in tents as in the Feast of Tabernacles". dwell in tabernacles. This is again promised in Zec 14:16. tabernacles. Since the days of Neh 8:17, the feast is called 'ohalim (Ap. 40.), as here, instead of sukkoth, booths. Nehemiah's remark is superfluous unless the laws were ancient. as in the days, &c. Ref to Pent. (Lev 23:42, 43). Ap. 92.

12:10 spoken by the prophets. Cp. 2Ki 17:13. Heb 1:1. 2Pe 1:21.

12:11Is there iniquity = [Surely Gilead is] iniquity: supplying the Ellipsis (Ap. 6) from the next clause. iniquity. Heb. 'avert. Ap. 44. Not the same word as 12:8. Gilead . . . Gilgal . . . heaps. Heap of testimony . . . heap of heaps . . . heaps. Note the Fig. Paronomasia (Ap. 6). Heb. Gil'ad . . . Gilgal . . gallim.12:12fled . . . Syria. Ref to Pent. (Gen 28:5. Deu 26:5). Ap. 92. Syria. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 26:5). Israel served, &c. Ref. to Pent. (Gen 29:18). kept sheep. Ref. to Pent. (Gen 30:31, the same Heb. word, shamar). We may supply the connecting thought: "[yet in after days] Israel was brought out of Egypt . . . and preserved [in the wilderness]".

12:13by a prophet: i.e. Moses. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 12:50, 51; 13:3. Num 12:6-8. Ap. 92. Cp. Deu 18:15). preserved = kept, as in 12:12.

12:14Ephraim. As represented by Jeroboam (1Ki 12:25, 13:5), and Hoshea (2Ki 17:11-23). He = God. blood. Put by Fig. Metonymy (of Effect), Ap. 6, for blood-guiltiness. his reproach. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 28:37). LORD. Heb. 'Adonim. Ap. 4.

Hosea 13:Ephraim's Idolatry

13:1spake trembling = spake (authoritatively) [there was] attention; as in Joshua's clays (Jos 4:14). Cp. Job 29:21-25. trembling = panic. Heb. retheth. Occurs only here. Similar to retet, which occurs only in Jer 49:24 ("fear"). exalted himself: carried weight, or was exalted. offended = trespassed. Heb. 'asham. Ap. 44. in Baal = with Baal: i.e. with the idolatrous worship of Baal, in Ahab's days.

13:2understanding = notion. of them = to them: i.e. to the People. kiss the calves. Kissing was fundamental in all heathen idolatry. It is the root of the Latin ad-orare = to [bring something to] the mouth. "A pure lip" (Zep 3:9) implies more than language.

13:3dew. Heb. tal = the night mist. See note on "Zion", Psa 133:3. the = a. floor = threshing floor. chimney = window, or opening. No word for chimney in Heb.

13:4Yet I, &c. Supply the connecting thought: "[Ye worship these calves], yet I, even I". &c. Cp. 12:9. Isa 43:11. the LORD. Heb. Jehovah. Ap. 4. God. Heb. Elohim. Ap. 4. from the land of Egypt. Supply the Ellipsis (Ap. 6); "[Who brought thee out] from", &c. Ref. to Pent. (Exo 20:2, 3). shalt know no: i.e. didst not, or oughtest not to know. there is no saviour, &c. Cp. Isa 43:11; 45:21. Supply: "no saviour [was there] beside Me". Cp. Act 4:12.13:5I did know thee, &c. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 2:7; 8:15; 32:10). Cp. Amo 3:2. The Sept. reads "I shepherded, or was shepherd to thee", reading re ithika instead of yeda tika: i.e. (Resh = R) for (Daleth = D). the land of great drought. Cp. Deu 8:15.

13:6According to their pasture, &c.: i.e. the more I fed them, the more they kicked against Me. they were filled. Note the Fig. Anadiplosis (Ap. 6), repeated for emphasis. have they forgotten Me. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 8:12-14; Deu 32:15).

Commentary on Hosea

13:7as a lion. Ap. 92. Cp. 5:14. as a leopard. Cp. Jer 5:6by the way. Some codices, with three early printed editions, Sept., Syr., and Vulg., read "on the way of Assyria". will I observe = shall I watch, or lurk.

13:8caul = enclosure (i.e. the pericardium). the wild beast shall tear them. Ref. to Pent. (Lev 26:22).

13:9thou hast destroyed thyself = the destruction [which thou art suffering] is all thine own. Ref to Pent. (Deu 32:5. Heb. shahath, same word as "corrupted"). Ap. 92. but in Me, &c. = for I am thy [true] help.

13:10I will be thy king = Where is thy king? Heb. 'ehi = where, as in 13:14 twice; 'ehi is separated from the following word "king" by the accent zakeph, and connected with 'epho' = now. It therefore means "Where now is thy king? (Hoshea)": the answer being "in prison" (see 2Ki 17:4). where is any other that may save thee . . . ? = to save thee, or that he may save thee.

13:11I gave thee, &c. Ref. to 1Sa 8:7; 10:19; 15:22, 23; 16:1. Cp. 10:3. Gr.lit. "I give . . . and take him away", referring to a continued act, the violent deaths of Israel's then recent kings: Zachariah murdered by Shallum; Shallum by Menahem; Pekahiah by Pekah; and Pekah by Hoshea, who was now a prisoner in Assyria.

13:12iniquity = perversity. Heb. avah. Ap. 44. bound up = tied up, as in a bag. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 32:32, 35). Ap. 92. hid = reserved.

13:13shall come, &c. Isa 13:8. Jer 30:6. Mat 24:8. an unwise son. Note the Fig. Meiosis (Ap. 6), for emphasis, meaning a most foolish son. stay long = linger. in the place, &c.: i.e. in the act of being born. Cp, 2Ki 19:3. children = sons.

13:14ransom = redeem (with power). Heb. padah, to redeem by power in virtue of the legal right. See note on Exo 13:13.

from = out of. the power = the hand: i.e. Sheol's power (to keep in its grasp). the grave = Sheol. See Ap. 35. redeem. Heb. ga'al, to redeem by purchase by assertion of the kinship right. Hence the other meaning of avenging. See note on Exo 6:6. O death. Fig. Apostrophe, for emphasis. Quoted in 1Co 15:54, 55. I will be = where [are], &c. See note on 13:10. thy plagues. Heb. deber = pestilence. Interpreted in 1Co 15:55 as "sting". First Occ. Exo 5:3. repentance = compassion [on them], eyes. Fig. Anthropopatheia. Ap. 6.

13:15he. i.e. Ephraim. fruitful. Used by Fig. Irony, his name being Ephraim = fruitful. Ref. to Pent. (Gen 41:52; 48:19). an east wind. Heb. kadim; not a scorching wind. shirocco (Gen 41:6. Jer 18:17. Eze 17:10; 19:12). wind. Heb. ruach. Ap. 9. his spring, &c. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 33:28). he shall spoil = he shall plunder. Fulfilled in Shalmaneser shortly after, and since that day this prophecy stands fulfilled. The book ends with hope, in the final section below. 1

13:16Samaria. See 2Ki 17:6. their. Some codices, with one early printed edition, Aram., Sept., and Syr., read "and their".

Hosea 14:Israel's Future Blessing

14:1return. Cp. 12:6. Joe 2:13. unto = quite up to. Heb. 'ad; not merely "toward", which would be 'el. for. Cp. 13:9. iniquity. Heb. 'avah. Ap. 44. Some codices, with three early printed editions and Sept., read "transgressions" (pl.)

14:2words. Note the correspondence in the Structure: confession commanded, and the command obeyed. turn = return, or turn back, as in 14:1. say. Cp. Luk 15:18, 19. graciously = O Gracious One. See notes on 3:5, and 8:3. Eminent Jewish commentators take this as a title of the Messiah. There is no "us" in the Heb. so will we render. Quoted in Heb 13:15.

Commentary on Hosea

render = pay (as vows) by offering what is due (Psa 66:13, 14; 116:14, 18. Jon 2:9). calves = oxen. Put by Fig. Metonymy (of Subject), Ap. 6, for the sacrifices offered (Psa 51:17). lips. Put by Fig. Metonymy (of Cause), for the confession, &c, made by them. Cp. Psa 69:30, 31; 116:17; 141:2. Heb 13:15.

14:3Asshur, &c. See 5:13, 12:1; and cp. Jer 31:18. we will not ride. Some codices, with four early printed editions and Syr., read "nor upon horses will we ride". Ref. to Pent. (Deu 17:16). Cp. Psa 33:17. Isa 30:2, 16; 31:1. the work of our hands. Put by Fig. Metonymy (of Subject), Ap. 6, for idols of all kinds. for in Thee = O Thou in Whom. the fatherless: i.e. Israel's orphaned folk. Here we have the key to the symbolic names of ch. 1: Gomer shows that the measure of iniquity was full. Jezreel denotes the consequent scattering. Lo-Ruhamah (the second child, the girl) foreshadows Israel as the unpitied one. Lo-Ammi (the last child) denotes Israel's present condition. Ammi represents Israel's yet future position (2:1). Ruhamah = pitied, Lo-Ruharnah's new name (2:23). findeth mercy = Ruhamah = pitied. Referring to Israel's final restoration. See note on 2:23.

14:5the dew. See notes on 6:4; 13:3. grow = blossom. cast forth = strike out. his roots. The spurs of Lebanon have the appearance of outspreading roots. as = like [those of].

14:6 his smell = his fragrance, or be fragrant, like.

14:7the scent thereof = his memory or remembrance [pleasant] as, &c. So the Sept. wine. Heb. yayin. Ap. 27.

14:8shall say. In obedience to the command in 14:1. I have heard = I have heard and obeyed. and observed = and regarded. Contrast 13:7. I am like: or, I like a green cypress [will overshadow him]. A verb must he supplied. Referring to "shadow" in 14:7. From Me, &c. This member is Jehovah's reply. Note the emphatic "I" repeated. Cp. Jer 31:18. thy fruit found. Fruitfulness provided, as well as protection and grace.

14:9Who is wise . . . ? Fig. Erotesis. Ap. 6. Concluding the whole book, like Psa 107:43. wise. Heb. chakam (adj.) See note on Pro 1:2. Cp. Psa 107:43. Jer 9:12. Dan 12:10. prudent = [who is] understanding? Heb. binah. See ' note on Pro 1:2. Here it is the passive = gifted with understanding. right = upright. Ref. to Pent. (Deu 32:4). Cp. Job 26:14; 36:23. Psa 18:30; 77, 19; 145:17. Pro 10:29. Dan 4:37. just = righteous. transgressors. Heb. pasha'. Ap. 41 ix. fall therein = stumble in them. Cp. Psa 119:165. Pro 4:19; 10:29; 11:5; 15:9. Mic 2:7. Nah 3:3. 1Co 1:23, 24; 1Pe 2:7, 8.

commentary on hosea (no. 021a) - ccg · web viewchristian churches of god. no. 021a. commentary...

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