CHAPTER II _The prophet exhorts his people to speak and to act as became_ _those who obtained mercy of God; and to remonstrate strongly_ _against the conduct of their mother, (Samaria,) whose captivity_ _is threatened on account of her forsaking God, and ascribing_ _her prosperity to idols_, 1-... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:2. _PLEAD WITH YOUR MOTHER_] People of Judah, accuse your mother, (Jerusalem,) who has abandoned my worship, and is become idolatrous; convince her of her folly and wickedness, and let her return to him from whom she has so deeply revolted.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:3. _LEST I STRIP HER NAKED_] Lest I expose her to infamy, want, and punishment. The punishment of an adulteress among the ancient Germans was this: "They shaved off her hair, stripped her naked in the presence of her relatives, and in this state drove her from the house of her husband.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:4. _THEY_ BE _THE CHILDREN OF WHOREDOMS._] They are all idolaters; and have been consecrated to idols, whose marks they bear.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:5. _THAT GIVE ME MY BREAD_] See the note on Jeremiah 44:17, where nearly the same words are found and illustrated.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:6. _I WILL HEDGE UP THY WAY WITH THORNS_] I will put it out of your power to escape the judgments I have threatened; and, in spite of all your attachment to your idols, you shall find that they can give you neither _bread_, nor _water_, nor _wool_, nor _flax,_ nor _oil_, nor _drink_. A... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:8. _FOR SHE DID NOT KNOW THAT I GAVE HER CORN_] How often are the gifts of God's _immediate bounty_ attributed to fortuitous causes-to any cause but the right one! WHICH _THEY PREPARED FOR BAAL._] And how often are the gifts of God's bounty perverted into means of dishonouring him! Go... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:9. _THEREFORE WILL I RETURN, AND TAKE AWAY_] In the course of my providence, I will withhold those benefits which she has prostituted to her idolatrous services. And I will neither give the land rain, nor fruitful seasons.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:10. _IN THE SIGHT OF HER LOVERS_] Her idols, and her faithful or faithless allies.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:11. _HER FEAST DAYS_] Jerusalem shall be pillaged and destroyed; and therefore all her joyous assemblies, and religious feasts, c., shall cease.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:12. _THESE_ ARE _MY REWARDS_] They attributed all the blessings of Providence as rewards received from the idols which they worshipped.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:13. _DAYS OF BAALIM_] To _visit_ signifies to _inflict_ _punishment; the days_ are taken for the _acts_ of idolatrous worship committed on them; and _Baalim_ means the _multitude_ of false gods worshipped by them. _Baal_ was a general name for a _male_ idol, as _Astarte_ was for a _fem... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:14. _I WILL ALLURE HER, AND BRING HER INTO THE WILDERNESS,_ _AND SPEAK COMFORTABLY UNTO HER._] After inflicting many judgments upon her, I will restore her again. I will deal with her as a very affectionate husband would do to an unfaithful wife. Instead of making her a _public exampl... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _SHE SHALL SING THERE_] There she shall sing the _responsive song_, as on high festival occasions, and in marriage ceremonies. The Book of _Canticles_ is of this sort.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 16. _THOU SHALT CALL ME ISHI_] That is, _my man_, or _my_ _husband_; a title of _love_ and _affection; and not BAALI, my master_, a title exciting _fear_ and _apprehension_; which, howsoever good in itself, was now rendered improper to be applied to Jehovah, having been prostituted to false go... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. _WILL I MAKE A COVENANT FOR THEM_] I will make an _agreement_ between them and the birds, beasts, and reptiles, so that they shall not be injured by those; their _flocks_ shall not be destroyed, nor their _crops_ spoiled. I will also prevent every species of _war_, that they may no more ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 19. _I WILL BETROTH THEE UNTO ME_] The people are always considered under the emblem of a _wife_ unfaithful to her husband. _IN RIGHTEOUSNESS_] According to law, reason, and equity. _IN JUDGMENT_] According to what is fit and becoming. _IN LOVINGKINDNESS_] Having the utmost affection and lo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:20. _IN FAITHFULNESS_] Thou shalt no more prostitute thyself to idols, but be _faithful_ to him who calls himself _thy husband_. _THOU SHALT KNOW THE LORD._] There shall be no more _infidelity_ on _thy part_ nor _divorce_ on _mine_; and thou shalt experience me to be the sole, present... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:21. _I WILL HEAR, SAITH THE LORD_] The sentence is repeated, to show how fully the thing was determined by the Almighty, and how implicitly they might depend on the Divine promise. _I WILL HEAR THE HEAVENS_] The visible heavens, the atmosphere, where vapours are collected. The _clouds... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:22. _SHALL HEAR THE CORN, AND THE WINE_] When they seem to express a desire to supply the wants of man. _AND THEY SHALL HEAR JEZREEL._] The destitute people who are in want of the necessaries of life. This most elegant gradation in the exertion of the influences of nature, for the su... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 2:23. _I WILL SOW HER_] Alluding to the import of the name _Jezreel_, the seed of God. Then shall it appear that God _has_ _shown mercy to them that had not obtained mercy_. Then the _covenant_ of God will be renewed; for he will call them _his people_ who were _not his people_; and they... [ Continue Reading ]