Hosea 1:5

the bow of Israel The bow, the symbol of power (Genesis 49:24; Jeremiah 49:35).

in the valley of Jezreel It seemed fitting that this -battlefield of Palestine" (as the valley of Jezreel had already become, see on Judges 6:33) should be the scene of so momentous an event, fitting also that where Jehu had sinned, Jehu's house should be punished. There would have been a -poetical justice" in such an arrangement, had such been the will of Providence. But there can be no doubt that Hosea had an accurate knowledge of the Assyrians as the destined instruments of Israel's overthrow (see on Hosea 8:10).