XI. (1) Comp. Hosea 9:10 and Exodus 4:22. In this context there cannot be a prophecy of the Christ, for obstinate conduct and rebellion would thus be involved in the prediction. It is true that Matthew 2:15 quotes the passage in illustration of the fact that the true Son of God was also submitted i... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THEY (_i.e.,_ the prophets) CALLED THEM, SO THEY (Israel) WENT FROM THEM. — Sought to avoid the voice and presence of the men of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
Read, _Yet it was I who guided Ephraim’s steps, taking him by his arms._ There is a beautiful parallel to this in Deuteronomy 32:10. KNEW NOT... — This obtuseness to the source of all mercies — the refusal to recognise the true origin in Divine revelation of those ideas which, though they bless and... [ Continue Reading ]
CORDS OF A MAN. — In contrast with the cords with which unmanageable beasts are held in check. Israel is led with “bands of love,” not of compulsion. Render the last clause, _And gently towards them gave I food to eat,_ expressing the tenderness, delicacy, and condescension of his personal regard.... [ Continue Reading ]
It is best, with Ewald, to take the two clauses as interrogative, _Shall he not return into the land of Egypt? And shall not the Assyrian, &c.?_ (See Notes on Hosea 8:13; Hosea 10:3. Comp. also Hosea 11:11.) RETURN — _i.e._, to God.... [ Continue Reading ]
The rendering of the English version is here incorrect. Render, _Then shall the sword be brandished amid his cities, and utterly destroy his princes._ The word for “princes” is, literally, _bars,_ the heroes, leaders, or defenders of the state being aptly called barriers, or bulwarks. Analogous meta... [ Continue Reading ]
No imagery is used, as of unfaithful wife, recalcitrant heifer, or furnace-piling baker, but homely literal commonplace. The people were called by sufficient means to the highest worship, but they were bent on the lowest.... [ Continue Reading ]
In the depth of despair the prophet delivers himself of one of the most pathetic passages in Hebrew prophecy. On the darkest cloud gleams the bow of promise. A nation so much beloved as Israel cannot be destroyed by Him who has fostered it so tenderly. As the prophet loved his faithless bride, so Je... [ Continue Reading ]
This sublime passage is remarkable as drawing illustrations from human emotions, and yet repudiating all human weakness. It suggests a hint of Divine mercy in its greatness, and of Divine justice too, which shows how, both being alike infinite, they can adjust themselves beyond the power of human ex... [ Continue Reading ]
Render, _They shall go up after Jehovah, who roars as a lion; yea, he shall roar so that the children, &c._ Lions accompanied Egyptian monarchs to the battle-field. Read the picturesque description of Rameses II. in his battle with the Kheta, by George Ebers in _Uarda. “_West” means the coast and is... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL PLACE THEM. — Better, _will cause them to dwell._ The prophetic word looks beyond the restoration of the sixth century B.C. to the gathering together of some from east and west, from all the places where they are hidden in exile under the lion of the tribe of Judah; the broader and grander acco... [ Continue Reading ]
Should stand as the first verse of Hosea 12, just as in the Hebrew text. The rest of the prophecy appears as a distinct composition, a new commencemen, of judgment and incrimination, followed at last by one more utterance of Divine promise. The rendering of the latter part of the verse in the Englis... [ Continue Reading ]