Hosea 1:7

But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah Grave as are the charges brought against Judah by the prophets, it appears to have been some degrees better off religiously than Israel; probably, as it was a poorer country, its nature-worship was less extravagantly sensuous than that of the north. Hosea elsewhere counsels Judah not to offend to the same extent as Israel (Hosea 4:15), and later on accuses Judah rather of inconstancy than of absolute rebellion (Hosea 11:12).

by the Lord their God Tautologically, as Genesis 19:24. Or, -as Jehovah their God" (i.e -in the character of" &c., comp. Exodus 6:3 -as El Shaddai", Psalms 68:4 -his name is, essentially, in Jah"). Observe Hosea recognizes Judah's higher religious ideal.

not… by bow Judah, then, was in danger of trusting in warlike equipments, as Isaiah afterwards describes it as doing (Isaiah 2:7). And yet, if Israel, with all its natural strength, could not resist the Assyrian attack, it was clear that the weaker kingdom could only do so by supernatural aid. Comp. Isaiah 31:8; Isaiah 37:33. -Battle" should be equipment of war.