Hosea 8:3

Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. ISRAEL. God repeats the name in opposition to their use of it (). HATH CAST OFF THE THING THAT IS GOOD. Jerome translate, 'God' who is good, and is always doing good (Ps HATH CAST OFF THE THING THAT IS GOOD. Jerome translate, 'God' who is good, and is always doing good (). He is the chief object rejected, but with Him also all that is good. THE ENEMY SHALL PURSUE HIM - in just retribution from God....

The verb זנח, _zanech, _means “to remove far off,” and “to throw to a distance;” and sometimes, as some think, “to detest.” There is here, I doubt not, an implied contrast between the rejection of good and the pursuing of which the Prophet speaks afterwards, _Israel has driven good far from himself; _some expound טוב, _thub, _of God himself, as if it was of the masculine gender: but the Prophet, I have no doubt, simply accuses the Israelites of having receded from all justice and uprightness; yea, of having driven far off every thing right and just. _Israel_, then, _has repelled good; the enemy, _he says, _will pursue him _There is a contrast between repelling and pursuing, as though the prophet said, that the Israelites had by their defection obtained this, that the enemy would now seize them. There is then no better defense for us against all harms than attention to piety and justic

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?...

ISRAEL HAS CAST OFF THE THING THAT IS GOOD - Or (since the word means “to cast off with abhorrence” “Israel hath east off and abhorred Good,” both “Him who is Good” and “that which is good.” The word “tob” includes both. They rejected good in rejecting God , “Who is simply, supremely, wholly, universally good, and good to all, the Author and Fountain of all good, so that there is nothing simply good but God; nothing worthy of that title, except in respect of its relation to Him who is “good and doining good” Psalms 119:68. So then whatsoever any man hath or enjoys of good, is from his relation to Him, his nearness to Him, his congruity with Him. “The drawing near to God is good to me” Psalms 73:28. All that any man hath of good, is from his being near to God, and his being,

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 HATH CAST OFF [THE THING THAT IS] GOOD,.... Or "rejected [him that is] good" y; that is, God, as Kimchi observes; for there is none good but him, Matthew 19:17; he is the "summum bonum", "the chiefest good" to men, and is essentially, originally, and infinitely good in himself, and the fountain of all goodness to his creatures; and yet Israel has rejected him with detestation and contempt, as the word z signifies, though they pretended to know him, which shows their hypocrisy; and therefore it is no wonder that their prayers were rejected by him: or they rejected the good word of God, the law, or doctrine contained in it, and the good worship, service, and fear of God, and indeed everything that was good, just, and right. Cocceius renders it, "the good One", or he that is God, the good God, "hath cast off Israel". This reading of the words Drusius also mentions, and seems to like...

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

THE THING THAT IS GOOD. the Gracious One. Compare Hosea 3:5; Hosea 14:2....

The appeal is dismissed; Israel's piety is but superficial (comp. Hosea 6:1-4); his -knowledge of God" is not that which Jehovah expects. _hath cast off_ Not merely put aside out of caprice, but (as the word implies) CAST OFF WITH LOATHING (see Hosea 8:5)....