Hosea 9 - Introduction
_THE DISTRESS AND CAPTIVITY OF ISRAEL FOR THEIR SINS AND IDOLATRY._ _Before Christ 760._... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE DISTRESS AND CAPTIVITY OF ISRAEL FOR THEIR SINS AND IDOLATRY._ _Before Christ 760._... [ Continue Reading ]
REJOICE NOT, &C.— _Rejoice not, O Israel, with joyous expectation, as the nations do_ [or _among the nations_]; _for,_ &c. It should seem that this prophesy was delivered at a time when the situation of public affairs was promising; perhaps after some signal success, which had given occasion to publ... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT EPHRAIM SHALL RETURN TO EGYPT— When Salmaneser made the ten tribes captive, such as were able to escape the conqueror fled into Egypt, having implored the aid of that country against the Assyrians. It appears from the last clause, that the ten tribes, however inclined to idolatry, had before the... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER SHALL THEY BE PLEASING UNTO HIM— Houbigant reads, _Neither shall their sacrifices be pleasing unto him, which are to them as the bread of iniquity;_ or, such as is gained by injustice and fraud, whereby the offerer is polluted and not cleansed. _Bread for their soul,_ means "Bread offered fo... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT WILL YE DO IN THE SOLEMN DAY— "When the days of your feast shall come, and you shall find yourselves far from your own country, without temple, without prophets, without priests, without sacrifices, without solemn assemblies;—what will be your sentiments?" Though the Israelites of the ten tribe... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PLEASANT PLACES, &C.— _The precious things which they had purchased for silver._ The words are obscure; but the meaning seems to be, that the Israelites, upon the approach of the enemy, should bury in the earth the more valuable parts of their furniture.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PROPHET IS A FOOL, &C.— _Stupid is the prophet,_ &c.; that is to say, the false prophets, who foretel nothing but peace, shall be convinced of their folly and madness, when they see the events happen contrary to what they had foretold. See Calmet and Lowth. The title of _prophet_ seems to have b... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WATCHMAN OF EPHRAIM WAS WITH MY GOD— It should be, _is with his God._ The watchman is here evidently a title, by which some faithful prophet is distinguished from the temporizers and seducers. But who in particular is this watchman, thus honourably distinguished, and how is he "with his God?" I... [ Continue Reading ]
I FOUND ISRAEL, &C.— "After I had miraculously redeemed Israel out of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness, their obedience was as grateful to me as early grapes, or the first ripe figs to a thirsty traveller." See Micah 7:1.Isaiah 28:4. Houbigant renders the last clause of this verse, _Which... [ Continue Reading ]
EPHRAIM, &C.— Some render these words, _Ephraim was as if I should look upon Tyre, planted in a fair place: but,_ &c. Houbigant reads, _That Ephraim, which, when I looked upon him, was as a rock planted in a pleasant place, shall bring forth,_ &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
GIVE THEM A MISCARRYING WOMB— As a punishment for having inhumanly exposed their infants to death, by sacrificing them to their false gods; or, for having exposed them to the cruelty of the Assyrians, who destroyed them in war. The present passage is strikingly emphatical. But it is to be considered... [ Continue Reading ]
GILGAL; FOR THERE I HATED THEM— _For there they became hateful to me, for their flagitious practices;—I will drive them,_ &c. That is, "I will no longer consider them as my family, my children, and servants." See chap. Hosea 8:1. The first great offence of the Israelites, after their entrance into t... [ Continue Reading ]
EPHRAIM IS SMITTEN— _Ephraim shall be smitten. Their root shall triumph:_ Houbigant. This may be understood as spoken in the prophetic style, wherein a future event is frequently set forth as present. REFLECTIONS.—1st, Israel's guilt and ruin are still the burden of the prophetic word. 1. They are... [ Continue Reading ]