Hosea 8:2

Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. ISRAEL SHALL CRY UNTO ME, MY GOD, WE KNOW THEE - the singular, "my," is used distributively, each one so addressing God. They, in them hour of need, plead their knowledge of God as the covenant-people, while in their acts they knew Him not (cf. Matthew 7:21; ; also , "This people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me;" ). The Hebrew joins "Israel," not as the English version, with "shall cry," but 'We, Israel, know thee:' God denies the claim thus urged on the ground of their descent from Israel....

By the Prophet saying, _To me shall they cry, _some understand that the Israelites are blamed for not fleeing to God; and they thus explain the Prophet’s words, “They ought to have cried to me.” It seems to others to be an exhortation, “Let the Israelites now cry to me.” But I take the words simply as they are, that is that God here again touches the dissimulation of the Israelites, _They will cry to me, We know thee; _and to this the ready answer is _Israel has cast away good far from himself; the enemy shall pursue him _I thus join together the two verses; for in the former the Lord relates what they would do, and what the Israelites had already begun to do; and in the latter verse he shows that their labour would be in vain, because they ever cherished wickedness in their hearts, and falsely pretended the name of God, as it has been previously observed, even in their prayers. _Israel,...

1-4 When Israel was hard pressed, they would claim protection from God, but this would be disregarded. What stead will it stand in to say, My God, I know thee, if we cannot say, My God, I love thee, serve thee, and cleave to thee only?...

Verse Hosea 8:2. _ISRAEL SHALT CRY_] The rapidity of the eagle's flight is well imitated in the rapidity of the sentences in this place. _MY GOD, WE KNOW THEE._] The same sentiment, from the same sort of persons, under the same feelings, as that in the Gospel of St. Matthew, Matthew 7:22: "Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? Then will I profess unto them, I never KNEW YOU....

ISRAEL SHALL CRY UNTO ME, MY GOD, WE KNOW THEE - Or, according to the order in the Hebrew, “To Me shall they cry, we know Thee, Israel,” i. e., “we, Israel,” Thy people, “know Thee.” It is the same plea which our Lord says that He shall reject in the Day of Judgment. “Many shall say unto Me, in that Day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name, and in Thy Name cast out devils, and in Thy Name done many wonderful works” Matthew 7:22. In like way, when our Lord came in the flesh, they said of God the Father, He is our God. But our Lord appealed to their own consciences; “It is My Father who honoreth Me, of whom ye say, He is our God, but ye have not known Him” John 8:54. So Isaiah, when speaking of his own times, prophesied of those of our Lord also; “This people draweth nigh unto

EXPOSITION This chapter deals with the punishment of apostasy. Once more the sins of the northern kingdom are enumerated and its approaching fall predicted. There is a close connection between the verses in the first section of the chapter. That connection is as follows: The first verse begins with an exclamation containing Jehovah's command to the prophet to act as his herald, putting the trumpet to his mouth and sounding the alarm about coming calamity. In the second clause of the same verse the nature of the calamity is announced. In the third and last clause of it the cause of the calamity is declared. The second verse represents Israel in their extremity crying to God for deliverance; the cry is very earnest, and proceeds from every member of the community, backed also with the assertion of their acquaintance with Jehovah. In the third verse Jehovah rejects their cry and refuses to...

ISRAEL SHALL CRY UNTO ME, MY GOD, WE KNOW THEE. In their distress they shall cry to the Lord to help them, and have mercy on them, as they used to do when in trouble, Isaiah 26:16; when the eagle is come upon them, and just ready to devour them; when Samaria is besieged with file Assyrian army, their king taken prisoner, and they just ready to fall into the hands of the enemy, then they shall cry to God, though in a hypocritical manner; own him to be the true God, and claim their interest in him, and pretend knowledge of him, and acquaintance with him; though they have not served and worshipped him, but idols, and that for hundreds of years; like others who profess to know God, but in works deny him, Titus 1:16. Israel is the last word in the verse, and occasions different versions: "they shall cry unto me"; the

CHAPTER 8:1-9:9 The Apostasy is Followed by Judgment _ 1. The judgment announced (Hosea 8:1) _ 2. The apostasy which resulted in judgment (Hosea 8:8) 3. Warning against self-security (Hosea 9:1) Hosea 8:1. The prophet is commanded to sound the alarm of the impending judgment. The message is that the enemy will come swift as an eagle upon the house of the Lord, which here does not mean the temple (which was in connection with Judah), but Israel as the chosen people was the house, the dwelling-place of the Lord. All their spurious profession, their false claim, “My God, we know Thee, we, Israel”, will go for nothing, because

HOSEA 7:8 TO HOSEA 8:3. POLITICAL DECAY THE OUTWARD SIGN OF ISRAEL'S MORAL DECAY. The attempts to cure national ills and secure safety by foreign aid, instead of by turning to Yahweh, are foredoomed to failure; Yahweh Himself frustrates them and will bring the misguided people to punishment and ruin (Hosea 7:8). Their doom is sealed, for they have been disloyal to Yahweh; they do not turn to Him with a true heart, but use heathen devices (cut themselves, Hosea 7:14 _mg._, see p. 110) when they appeal to Him. Their shallow hearts are incapable of real and acceptable repentance; therefore their princes shall fall by the sword, and this shall be their derision i

_Israel shall cry_ Rather, UNTO ME THEY WILL (then) CRY, MY GOD, WE ISRAEL KNOW THEE. When the punishment comes, they will cry aloud to Jehovah, and lay stress upon their belonging to Him. -Israel" is mentioned, as the title of honour (the _kunya_, comp. the commentators on Isaiah 44:5), given by Jehovah, which was the outward sign of His mystic connexion with His worshippers. The speech of the Israelites is the counterpart of that of Jehovah in Isaiah 43:1, -I have called thee by name; thou art mine." (The Septuagint and the Peshito, however, omit -Israel.") -My God" seems used distributively, each Israelite professes to feel his individual relation to the national God....