Here the discourse takes a new start. The prophet is a witness of the wild rejoicings of harvest, and warns his people not to be so exuberant, for they must go forth into captivity. Three times in this and the two next Chapter s he recurs to the early history of the Israelites, and shows how they ha... [ Continue Reading ]
_for joy_ Rather, TOO LOUDLY (lit. -unto exultation"). _as other people_ Rather, AS THE PEOPLES. The exuberant joy of the wild nature-worships of Palestine was abhorrent to the calm and deep moral religion of the prophets. To the heathen nations certain material blessings were the final object of t... [ Continue Reading ]
A vivid picture of the bitterness of the calamity in prospect. It does but equal the Gibeah-like wickedness of Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the winepress_ Rather, THE VAT (within the press) into which the grape-juice or the oil flowed; comp. Joel 2:24. _shall fail in her_ Rather, SHALL FALL HER (lit. -shall lie unto her", as Habakkuk 3:17). There is a good various reading (supported by the versions and by the Babylonian codex) -in them... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the Lord's land_ -For I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel", Numbers 35:34. The expression originated in the popular belief that as, for example, Chemosh was the God of the Amorites, so Jehovah was the God of the Israelites (Judges 11:24), a belief which could lead even Jonah to imagine... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord_ Libations of wine were accompaniments of the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings, and so are naturally mentioned in connexion with the -sacrifices." It is implied that wine in general would become -unclean", if a certain measure of it were not de... [ Continue Reading ]
_What will ye do_, &c. The festivals, which were kept up in N. Israel, even after the schism, were seasons of popular merry-making (see Hosea 2:11). But now as each -feast of Jehovah" comes round in the calendar, ye will neither have the mechanical performance of ritual forms, nor the accompanying h... [ Continue Reading ]
Hosea -in the Spirit" sees the Israelites already being carried into captivity. _because of destruction_ Rather, FROM THE DEVASTATION. They have left their desolated country. _shall gather them up_ viz. in burial; comp. Ezekiel 29:5; Jeremiah 8:2; Jeremiah 25:33. _Memphis_ The most ancient of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_are come_ Rather, COME. The sense is that the days of punishment shall surely come (the tense is the prophetic perfect). _shall know it_ i.e. by experience; as Isaiah 9:9. Another view of these words (in connexion with the following clause) is, -Israel shall perceive (but too late) how it has been... [ Continue Reading ]
_The watchman of Ephraim was with my God_ Rather, IS WITH MY GOD. There is a various reading -his God" (so also Rashi), but -my God" can be well defended; for the watchman spoken of is Hosea himself. We have -my God" again in Hosea 9:17. The figure implied is developed more fully in Jeremiah 6:17, -... [ Continue Reading ]
_as in the days of Gibeah_ The atrocity described in Judges 19:22-30, and referred to by Hosea again in Hosea 10:9. All the Benjamites were destroyed except 600 men (Judges 20:46-48) a warning for Ephraim!... [ Continue Reading ]
_like grapes in the wilderness_ With such delight as a traveller would unexpectedly find grapes in the desert, did Jehovah regard the children of Israel at the beginning of their national existence. Comp. Jeremiah 2:2, -I remember for thy good the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals,... [ Continue Reading ]