Hosea 14:1
XIV. (1) THY. — Tenderness and inextinguishable love are suggested by the use of the pronoun. “Repentance (say the Rabbis) presses right up to the Eternal Throne.”... [ Continue Reading ]
XIV. (1) THY. — Tenderness and inextinguishable love are suggested by the use of the pronoun. “Repentance (say the Rabbis) presses right up to the Eternal Throne.”... [ Continue Reading ]
SAY UNTO HIM. — This putting of words into the lips of penitents and others is found in Psalms 66:3; Isaiah 48:20; Jeremiah 31:7. In the latter part of the verse render, _Accept of good, and we will render as calves_ (or sacrificial offering) _our lips_ — _i.e.,_ the words of true repentance which w... [ Continue Reading ]
The three crying sins of Israel are here recounted: (1) Expected salvation from Assyria; (2) dependence on the world-power of Egypt, famed for war-horses and chariots; (3) ascription of Divine names and homage to wrought images of the Divine glory. God’s paternal love to the orphan, peculiarly appli... [ Continue Reading ]
HEAL... LOVE. — If the foregoing be the offering of penitent lips, then the majestic reply of Jehovah is full of superlative grace.... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE DEW. — For this imagery see Psalms 130:3. Properly it is “a copious mist, shedding small invisible rain, that comes in rich abundance every night in the hot weather, when west or north-west winds blow, and which brings intense refreshment to all organised life” (Neil’s _Palestine Explored,_ p... [ Continue Reading ]
It would be more in accordance with the Hebrew idiom to render, _The dwellers under its shadow shall once more cause the corn to grow._ The word translated “scent” (margin, “memorial”) should be _renown._ The form of these promises is derived from the external signs of national prosperity. (Comp. Ho... [ Continue Reading ]
It would be better to adopt the slightly different reading indicated by the rendering of the LXX., and translate, _As for Ephraim, what has he to do with, &c._ Here again, as in Hosea 13:15, the Hebrew for “thy fruit” contains a play on the name Ephraim. _I_ (says Jehovah) _am to thee an evergreen t... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO IS WISE. — Hosea hands his words over to all students of the ways of God. The exhortation to wisdom is expressed in the form of a question. “Wisdom” and “wise men” take in the later Hebrew literature the place of “prophecy” and “prophets.” Wisdom interprets both the word and its fulfilment. Chri... [ Continue Reading ]