Hosea 9:1

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 the forms of worship; to the prophets and their disciples, the outward gifts of the Deity stood in a close relation to states of the character, as being the rewards of moral obedience (comp. Deuteronomy 28:1-4).

for thou hast gone The blessings of the ingathering were falsely ascribed by Israel to the Baalim (see on Hosea 2:13). As long as they were enjoyed, Israel felt as much pledged by them to her false gods as the harlot is bound by her -hire" to her paramour. At every recurring season of harvest Israel gratefully connected these blessings with her supposed protectors, and offered first-fruits to them, or, as Hosea puts it, she loved a harlot's hire (comp. on Hosea 2:12) upon all corn-floors, alluding to the various local festivals (comp. on Hosea 12:9). Observe, Hosea finds fault with the Israelites, not for neglect of a centralizing ordinance, such as Deuteronomy 16:15, but for honouring the Baalim in preference to the true spiritual God. Contrast the reference to the autumn festival in a post-exile prophecy (Zechariah 14:16-19).