VI. This chapter stands in immediate connection with the close of the preceding. The words of imperfect penitence (Hosea 6:1) are put by the prophet into the lips of those who are in trouble, and are counting too soon on the boundless compassion of Jehovah. They are not an exhortation to repentance... [ Continue Reading ]
The haste of the seeming penitents for the fulfilment of their hope. They expect the rapid restoration of the national prosperity, prompted by the abundance of the Divine love, and His response to the first touch of penitence (signified in Hosea 5:15). AFTER TWO DAYS. — A phrase sometimes used for... [ Continue Reading ]
Render, _So that we shall live in his presence, and shall know and strive after the knowledge of Jehovah, whose coming forth is sure, like the dawn_ (another play on 6:15, “I will return to my place, &c.”), _so that he may come as the plentiful_ (dashing) _rain for us, as the latter rain_ (needed fo... [ Continue Reading ]
Here ends the supposed language of the penitents. If it were genuine, and accompanied by a deep sense of sin, it would not be in vain. But the prophet utters the heartrending response and expostulation of Jehovah, who bewails the transitory nature of their repentance. YOUR GOODNESS... — Better rend... [ Continue Reading ]
The LXX. render, _Therefore I have mowed down their prophets;_ but this would destroy the parallelism, in which “prophets” correspond to “words of my mouth.” The sense is, I have slain them by the announcement of deserved doom. THY JUDGMENTS... — An error has crept here into the Masoretic text from... [ Continue Reading ]
MERCY. — Better rendered, _love._ This passage is richly sustained by our Lord’s adoption of its teaching (Matthew 9:13; Matthew 12:7). Mark 12:33 shows that according to even Old Testament teaching, the moral ranks above the ceremonial, that ritual is valueless apart from spiritual conformity with... [ Continue Reading ]
Critics differ much as to the interpretation of this verse. The marginal rendering supplies the strongest meaning. God made a covenant with Adam, and promised him the blessings of Paradise on condition of obedience. He broke the condition, transgressed the covenant, and was driven from his Divine ho... [ Continue Reading ]
POLLUTED... — More accurately, _betrodden_ (or foot-tracked) _with blood._ We infer from Judges 10:17 that there was a town called Gilead east of the Jordan distinct altogether from Mizpah (identified by many with the city of refuge Ramoth-Gilead), and this is confirmed by notices in Eusebius and Cy... [ Continue Reading ]
Should be rendered, _As a robber lies in wait, so the company of priests murder on the road to Shechem; yea, they execute the plot._ Shechem, charged with historic interest (Genesis to Judges), is also a city of refuge, a Levitical city, on the road to Bethel, where the priests of the calves resided... [ Continue Reading ]
HOUSE OF ISRAEL. — This phrase means Ephraim and Judah subsequently discriminated. The “horrible thing” refers to polluting idolatry. This peculiar word occurs again in Jeremiah. According to the punctuation of the Hebrew the reciter hesitates before pronouncing the “horrible thing” which grated thr... [ Continue Reading ]
AN HARVEST. — The harvest is not of joy, but of sorrow and affliction, befalling Judah, like Israel, for her sins: a contrast to the usual accompaniments of the season when the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated (Deuteronomy 12:13; Leviticus 23:40; Psalms 126:5). In regard of the last clause of the... [ Continue Reading ]