These two verses “contain a kind of prelude to the distressful scene which is opened immediately after: for the prophet, designing to describe the melancholy state of the _adulterous church_, to be chastised by the severe judgments of God, beholds, as it were in an ecstasy, the few pious and good me... [ Continue Reading ]
_But draw near hither_, &c. “The prophet proceeds to exhibit the church, totally corrupt as it was, the good men being extinct or dispersed; so that they who remained of the pure seed of the church lay hid in solitary places, while the body of the church appeared like a dead carcass; not the true, b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Inflaming yourselves with idols_ Hebrew, הנחמים, _being inflamed_, or _growing hot, after idols_, as Dr. Waterland renders it. Lusting after them, and _mad upon them_, as the phrase is, Jeremiah 50:38. Fervent, both in making and in worshipping them, as was observed Isaiah 44:12. _Under every green... [ Continue Reading ]
_Upon a lofty and high mountain_ In high places, which were much used for religious worship, both by the Israelites and heathen: _hast thou set thy bed_ Thine altar, as appears from the sacrifice mentioned in the next clause, where thou didst commit spiritual whoredom with idols. _Behind the doors a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou wentest to the king_, &c. That is, the king of Assyria or Egypt, to whom the Israelites were very prone to seek, and trust, and send presents. Hosea reproaches the Israelites for the same practice: _They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt, Hosea 12:1_. Thus the prophet... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou art wearied with the greatness of thy way_ Thou hast not eased, or relieved, but only tired thyself with all thy tedious journeys and laborious endeavours. _Yet sayest thou not, There is no hope_ And yet thou didst not perceive that thy labour was lost, and that thy case was not mended, but ma... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of whom hast thou been afraid_, &c. And what, or who are they, the fear of whom drives thee to these wicked and desperate practices? Are they not weak and mortal creatures, such as wholly depend upon me, and can do nothing without me? The fear of my displeasure ought, in all reason, to outweigh all... [ Continue Reading ]
_For thus saith the high and lofty One_ The omnipotent and supreme Ruler of the universe; _that inhabiteth eternity_ Who is from everlasting to everlasting, without beginning of days, or end of life, or change of time; _who only hath immortality_, hath it of himself, and that constantly; who _inhabi... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the iniquity of his covetousness_ The covetousness of the Jewish people, (here addressed as one man,) who were eminently guilty of this sin before the Babylonish captivity, as is expressly affirmed, Jeremiah 6:13; and Jeremiah 8:10; and they were still more addicted to it in the time of Christ,... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have seen his ways_ I have taken notice of those evil ways in which he seems resolved to walk, and that he is neither reformed by mercies nor judgments; _and will heal him_ Or rather, _yet I will heal him:_ although I might justly destroy him, and leave him to perish in his own ways, yet, of my m... [ Continue Reading ]
_I create_ I will, by my almighty power, in a wonderful manner produce; _the fruit of the lips_ Praise and thanksgiving, termed the fruit of the lips, Hosea 14:2; Hebrews 13:15. God creates this fruit of the lips, by giving new subjects and causes of thanksgiving, by his mercies conferred on those a... [ Continue Reading ]