WHEN.. TREMBLING] RV 'When Ephraim spake, there was trembling.' Ephraim was a strong and powerful tribe, which could command obedience, as especially in the days of Joshua. HE DIED] Baal-worship was the cause of the national decay and its final doom.... [ Continue Reading ]
ISRAEL'S IDOLATRY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES The main thought of this c., which is a continuation of the last (cp. Hosea 12:9; Hosea 13:4), is the folly of Israel incurring the enmity of God, who had shown Himself such a loving friend, but might become so terrible an enemy. The sudden change of tone in H... [ Continue Reading ]
KISS] as an act of worship. For men that sacrifice RM has 'sacrificers of men.' Murder is combined with sacrifice: cp. Isaiah 1:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
YET.. EGYPT] see on Hosea 12:9. 5, 6. I.. THEE] In the wilderness Jehovah became their friend. He knew them, and bade them know Him. But when they prospered in a land of fertility, they became proud and forgot Him.... [ Continue Reading ]
1.. KING] RV 'Where now is thy king?' What use would the king and princes whom they had so clamoured for be in their trouble?... [ Continue Reading ]
1.. ANGER] This has often been referred to Saul, but the Hebrew tenses suggest repeated action, and the allusion may, therefore, be to the frequent changes of dynasty in the northern kingdom.... [ Continue Reading ]
HID] RV 'laid up in store.' The sin of Israel is kept stored in God's remembrance, and will surely bring about its own punishment.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE _is_ AN UNWISE SON, etc.] Ephraim is like a foolish child that delays his own birth by staying in the passage from the womb. In other words, he has not the wisdom to rouse himself in this great crisis. 14. With a startling transition of thought, Hosea contemplates the power of Jehovah to save, e... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL BECOME DESOLATE] RV 'shall bear her guilt,' i.e. be punished for her sin. THEIR.. UP] Ephraim would have to bear the cruelties inflicted by a merciless foe in a barbarous age.... [ Continue Reading ]