Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 12:14
Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.
14. This verse would be less abrupt if it immediately followed Hos 12:11, of which it might be taken to furnish a fuller justification.
provoked ] Rather, hath provoked.
therefore shall he leave his blood ] Rather, and his bloodshed will he cast; i.e. Jehovah will bring sudden retribution upon him for his bloodguiltiness (comp. Hos 1:4, Hos 4:2).
his reproach ] i.e., the insult to Jehovah in Israel’s idolatry (comp. Isa 65:7).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ephraim provoked – the Lord most bitterly Literally, with bitternesses, i. e., with most heinous sins, such as are most grievously displeasing to God, and were a most bitter requital of all His goodness. Wherefore He shall leave (or, cast) his blood (literally, bloods) upon him. The plural bloods expresses the manifoldness of the bloodshed . It is not used in Holy Scripture of mere guilt. Ephraim had shed blood profusely, so that it ran like water in the land (see the notes above at Hos 4:2; Hos 5:2). He had sinned with a high hand against God, in destroying man made in the image of God. Amid that bloodshed, had been the blood not of the innocent only, but of those whom God sent to rebuke them for their idolatry, their rapine, their bloodshed. Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord 1Ki 18:4, as far as in her lay, with a complete excision. Ephraim thought his sins past; they were out of his sight; he thought that they were out of Gods also; but they were laid up with God; and God, the prophet says, would cast them down upon him, so that they would crush him.
And his reproach shall his Lord return unto him – For the blood which he had shed, should his own blood be shed, for the reproaches which he had in divers ways cast against God or brought upon Him, he should inherit reproach. Those who rebel against God, bring reproach on Him by their sins, reproach Him by their excuses for their sins reproach Him in those whom He sends to recall them from their sins, reproach Him for chastening them for their sins. All who sin against the knowledge of God, bring reproach upon Him by acting sinfully against that knowledge. So Nathan says to David, Thou hast given much occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme 2Sa 12:14. The reproachful words of the enemies of God are but the echo of the opprobrious deeds of His unfaithful servants. The reproach is therefore, in an special manner, their reproach who caused it. All Israels idolatries had this aggravation.
Their worship of the calves or of Baal or of any other gods of the nations, was a triumph of the false gods over God. Then, all sin must find some plea for itself, by impugning the wisdom or goodness of God who forbad it. Jeroboam, and Ephraim by adhering to Jeroboams sin reproached God, as though the going up to Jerusalem was a hard service. It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. : It was an open injury and reproach to God, to attribute to dead lifeless things those great and wonderful things done by Him for them. All the reproach, which they, in these ways, brought, or cast upon God, he says, his Lord shall return or restore to them. Theirs it was; He would give it back to them, as He says, Them that honor Me, I will honor; and they that despise Me, shall be lightly esteemed 1Sa 2:30.
Truly shame and reproach have been for centuries the portion of Gods unfaithful people. To those who are lost, He gives back their reproach, in that they rise to reproaches Dan 12:2 and everlasting abhorrence . It is an aggravation of this misery, that He who shall give back to him his reproach, had been his God. Since his God was against him, who could be for him? For whither should we go for refuge, save to Him? If we find wrath with Him, with whom should we find ruth? Ephraim did not, the sinner will not, allow God to be his God in worship and service and love: but whether he willed or no, God would remain his Lord. He was, and might still have been their Lord for good; they would not have Him so, and so they should find Him still their Lord, as an Avenger, returning their own evil to them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Hos 12:14
Therefore shall He leave his blood upon him.
The blood-figure: sin and guilt left upon the sinner
That is, he shall bring his sin upon his own head. Those that be wilful in sin, their blood be upon their own heads that is the meaning. Never stand excusing any more, you have warning enough. If you will go on in your way, the blood be upon your own head, you will undo yourselves, and there is no help. Mark the phrase, Therefore shall He leave his blood upon him. When God brings the guilt and punishment of sin on a mans own head, and there leaves it, that is sad indeed. It is happiness when it may be said of God, He has made the sin and the guilt to pass away from the sinner. But on the other side, when God leaves the sin, with its attendant guilt, upon the sinner, there is woe indeed. The Lord many times brings His saints unto the fire of afflictions, but He will not leave them there; but when He brings the wicked into the fire, there He leaves them. (Jeremiah Burroughs.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him] He will not remove his guilt. These are similar to our Lord’s words, Joh 3:36; Joh 9:41: “He that believeth not on the Son of God, shall not see life, for the wrath of God ABIDETH ON HIM” – shall not be removed by any remission, as he rejects the only way in which he can be saved. Because ye say, We see; therefore, YOUR SIN REMAINETH, i.e., it still stands charged against you. Your miseries and destruction are of your own procuring; your perdition is of yourselves. God is as merciful as he is just.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: after all the means used from time to time to reclaim idolatrous sinning Israel, yet still they provoked God to indignation by their idolatries, perjuries, oppressions, murders, and all manner of sins which use to be rife among idolaters; these things were bitterness unto God.
Therefore, seeing he will incorrigibly persist as he hath begun, and end in sin and misery,
shall he leave his blood upon him; he shall bear the guilt and punishment of all his blood, his murders of the innocent, of those that testified against him, and, as one who hath murdered himself, shall bear his own guilt too.
His reproach, which Ephraim hath east upon the prophets and pious worshippers of God, all the reproach Ephraim hath cast on God, preferring idols before him,
shall his Lord return unto him; either God, who is Lord of all, or the Assyrian king and his princes, lording it over captive Ephraim; God shall by these return the shame on Ephraim which he cast on God, his worship, temple, and prophets.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. provoked himthat is, God.
leave his blood upon himnottake away the guilt and penalty of the innocent blood shed by Ephraimin general, and to Molech in particular.
his reproach shall his Lordreturn unto himEphraim’s dishonor to God in worshipping idols,God will repay to him. That God is “his Lord” byright redemption and special revelation to Ephraim only aggravateshis guilt, instead of giving him hope of escape. God does not give upHis claim to them as His, however they set aside His dominion.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly,…. The Vulgate Latin version supplies it, me; that is, God, as Kimchi; or his Lord, as it may be supplied from the last clause of the verse; the sense is the same either way: it was God that Ephraim or the ten tribes provoked to stir up his wrath and vengeance against them; notwithstanding all the favours that they and their ancestors had received from him, they provoked him in a most bitter manner, to bitter anger, vehement wrath and fury: or, “with bitternesses” n; with their sins, which are in their own nature bitter, displeasing to God; and in their effects bring bitterness and death on those that commit them; meaning particularly their idolatry, and all belonging to it; their idols, high places, altars, c. The word here used is rendered “high heaps” o, Jer 31:21 and is here by Kimchi interpreted of altars, with which, and their sacrifices on them, they provoked the Lord to anger:
therefore shall he leave his blood upon him; the blood of innocent persons, prophets, and other good men shed by him; the sin of it shall be charged upon him, and he shall bear the punishment of it. So the Targum,
“the fault of innocent blood which he shed shall return upon him:”
or “his own blood shall be poured out upon him” p; in just retaliation for the blood of others shed by him, and for all the blood sired by him in idolatrous sacrifices, and other bloody sins; or his own blood being shed by the enemy shall remain upon him unrevenged; God will not punish those that shed it:
and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him: that is, as he has reproached the prophets of the Lord for reproving him for his idolatry, and reproached fire Lord himself, by revolting from him, and neglecting his worship, and preferring the worship of idols to him; so, as a just recompence, he shall be delivered up into the hands of the enemy, and become a reproach, a taunt, and a proverb, in all places into which he shall be brought. God is called “his Lord”, though he had rebelled against him, and shook off his yoke, and would not obey him; yet, whether he will or not, he is his Lord, and will show himself to be so by his sovereignty and authority over him, and by the judgments exercised on him. Some understand this of the Assyrian king, become his lord, by taking and carrying him captive, the instrument in God’s hand of bringing him to reproach; but the former sense seems best.
n “amaritudinibus”, Pagninus, Vatablus, Piscator, Schmidt. o And is so understood by R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 64. 1. p , Sept. so Syr. & Ar. “ideo sanguis ejus super eum diffundetur, [sive] effundetur”, Zanchius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet says first, that Ephraim had provoked God by his high places Some, however, take the word תמרורים, tamerurim, for bitternesses. Then it is, “Israel or Ephraim have provoked God to bitterness.” But since this word in other places as in the thirty-first of Jeremiah, is taken for high places and as it clearly appears that the Prophet here inveighs avowedly against Israel and their vicious worship, I doubt not but that he points out these high places in which the Israelites appointed their false and impious modes of worship. Ephraim then have provoked him with their high places: (88) Ephraim having in so many ways immersed themselves in their superstitions, provoked God in their high places.
Then his blood shall remain on him. As the word נתש, nuthesh, signifies “to pour out,” and signifies also to “remain,” some render it, “His blood shall remain;” others “Shall be poured upon him.” But this makes but a little difference as to what is meant; for the Prophet intends to show, that Ephraim would have to suffer the punishment of their impiety; as though he said, “They shall not at last escape from the hand of God, they shall receive the wages of their iniquities.”
And his reproach shall his Lord return unto him Here he calls God himself the Lord of Israel, though Israel had shaken off the yoke, and alienated themselves from the service of God. They cannot, he says, escape the authority of God, though they have spurned his law; though they have become wanton in their superstitions, they shall yet know that they remain under the hand and power of God, they shall know that they effect nothing by this their petulance; though they thus wander after their abominations, yet the Lord will not lose his right, which he had obtained for himself by redeeming Israel. Their Lord then shall render to them their own reproach, of which they are worthy.
(88) Calvin is not correct as to the meaning of this word. There is no instance in which it means “high places;” in Jer 31:21, to which reference is made, it means obelisks or pillars set up as way-marks. There is no doubt but that the word signifies here what is expressed in our version. Gesenius says, that it is to be taken here adverbially, and with him Newcome and most critics agree. Horsley renders the clause thus, — “Ephraim has given bitterest provocation.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) But the rift in the clouds closes again, and another severe rebuke follows. Jacob and Israel give place to the proud tribal name of Ephraim. This portion of the whole house of Israel incurs the charge. Read, Ephraim hath provoked bitter feeling. The bloodguiltinese of Moloch sacrifices and other iniquity God will not remove. (Comp. Gen. 27:43; Gen. 27:28-29, for the foundation of these references.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Surely Jehovah was justified in expecting gratitude; but he was disappointed.
Ephraim Israel (13).
Provoked to anger By its lack of gratitude and open rebellion. The anger of Jehovah is one phase of his holiness, which manifests itself in intense love for everything that is pure and good and in intense hatred for everything that is impure and bad.
Blood Bloodguiltiness (G.-K., 124n).
Shall he leave R.V., “shall be left.” The Hebrew verb is even stronger, “shall be thrust upon him.”
Under no consideration will it be removed, and being left upon the criminal it will surely bring punishment.
His reproach Or, insult; the dishonor heaped upon Jehovah by the sin and rebellion of Ephraim (Isa 65:7).
Unto him Ephraim “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Ephraim has provoked to anger most bitterly, therefore will his blood be left on him, and his reproach will his Lord return to him.’
Once again Hosea ends a passage with a judgment on Israel. He had commenced it with a description of Ephraim’s view of themselves (Hos 12:8), had centred on YHWH’s view of Ephraim (Hos 12:11), and now he himself presents his own view of them. They have provoked YHWH to anger most bitterly through blood guilt, and it will therefore be left on their shoulders (the singular nouns and pronouns refer to the whole of Ephraim). And in the end their Lord will return it to them, that is, will heap it up on them and will punish them accordingly. Note the reference to ‘his Lord’. That was a notion that Ephraim had forgotten.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hos 12:14. Ephraim provoked him, &c. Ephraim hath provoked the extremest anger. His blood shall be sprinkled upon him; and his reproach, &c. Houbigant.
REFLECTIONS.1st, We have here,
1. The folly of Ephraim; he feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east-wind, entertaining fallacious hopes, and courting his idols, or his heathen neighbours, for assistance; a labour as vain as pursuing the wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation, his strange gods and foreign alliances, which will prove a lie in his right hand, and bring ruin upon him; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, 2Ki 15:19 thinking to secure their safety thereby; and oil is carried into Egypt to purchase their favour and help; but neither shall be of any service to them, but will help to impoverish them, and hasten their destruction. Note; They who trust on creature-confidences will find them not only deceitful but ruinous.
2. The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, who now began to degenerate and fall into idolatry, and therefore he will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him, discovering his sins and taking vengeance for them.
3. Their degeneracy from the piety of their forefathers was a great aggravation of their guilt. He, Jacob, took his brother by the heel, so soon did he begin to struggle for the birthright, while they had bowed down their necks to idols, and subjected themselves to the heathen; and by his strength he had power with God, yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed, when he wrestled with him in the way, Gen 32:24 the Son of God in human form coming to prove his faith and constancy, and strengthening him for the conflict: he wept and made supplication unto him, and thus prevailed; these being the most potent arms that we can use to obtain every blessing from the Angel of the covenant, whose eternal power and godhead here appear, being the object of the patriarch’s adoration and prayers. His faithless seed had given up the struggle, and, having revolted from God’s worship, had forfeited all interest in him, and communion with him; as all must do who live a prayerless life. He found him in Beth-el, both before and after this, Genesis 28; Genesis 35 and there renewed the covenant with him, and in him with his posterity, there he spake with us: but they had apostatized, and turned Beth-el, the house of God, into Beth-aven, the house of iniquity; and therefore had justly forfeited the promised mercies. And this person with whom Jacob wrestled, and who spake to him, was the true Jehovah, even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord Jehovah is his memorial, his name, expressive of his self-existence, eternity, and immutability, who should by right be worshipped, adored, and served by all, and by them especially to whom he had appeared so gracious. Their neglect of him, therefore, and disobedience were the more criminal.
4. They are exhorted yet to return to God. Therefore turn thou to thy God, to this glorious Jehovah, from whom they had so greatly departed; and, whenever they did so, they would prove his covenant mercies still offered to them, and he would own his relation to them as their God. Keep mercy and judgment, the two grand pillars of vital godliness, comprehending every act of kindness to men’s bodies and souls, and that integrity and uprightness which in every word and deed should be observed; and wait on thy God continually, in every appointed means of grace, for those supports of his Spirit which alone can enable us for the exercise of charity and justice to men, and that unreserved obedience and resignation which we owe to his blessed Self.
2nd, We have a change of person from Judah to Ephraim,
1. Ephraim is charged with deceit in trade. He is a merchant, or a Canaanite, more like such a one than a descendant from Israel; the balances of deceit are in his hand, imposing by false weights and measures on those with whom he dealt: he loveth to oppress, takes delight in such wickedness, and pleases himself with the thought of his own ingenuity. Note; Fraudulent tradesmen are the vilest of robbers.
2. Ephraim vindicates himself from the accusation. Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance; as if his success sanctified the means by which he acquired his riches; and that his prosperity, notwithstanding the warnings of the prophets, secured his impunity. In all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin, none such as deserved that name, so fair and upright they pretended their dealings had been; and that, if their trade was submitted to the severest scrutiny, it would stand the test; while to their own labour, not God’s blessing, they impiously ascribe their gain. Note; (1.) A carnal heart regards its riches as its most substantial good. (2.) Many pride themselves on their fair character among men, who in the day of God will be found very different from what they appear. (3.) Self-deceivers will not call their iniquity sin: “it is the way of trade; every body does so; one could not live without it:” these are plausible excuses; but God is not mocked; all unrighteousness is sin, and the wages of it death eternal.
3. Idolatry is charged upon them. Is there iniquity in Gilead? in that pleasant land, in a city of priests, a city of refuge too? Surely they are vanity; the inhabitants, like the other Israelites, are devoted to idolatry; they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal to their idols, yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields, so thick they stood; or, as some suppose, so should they be beaten in pieces, and become a heap of rubbish.
4. Notwithstanding these provocations, God gives some intimations of mercy in store for them, if they will return. And I, that am the Lord thy God, still owning in some sense the relation, from the land of Egypt, from that time having taken them nationally for his people, will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feasts; which might refer to their return from Babylon; or rather respects the times of the Gospel, when the converted Jews should rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have a place in his church; and it also looks forward to their expected restoration to their own land. I have also spoken by the prophets in time past, or I will speak, sending forth pastors and teachers to preach his Gospel; and I have multiplied, or will multiply, visions; I have done so, and will again under the Gospel dispensation; and I have used, or will use, similitudes, as was the case in the Jewish church, where the whole service was figurative, and was especially fulfilled in the parables which Christ so frequently delivered. Note; The Lord hath used every gracious method to communicate to us the messages of his grace. If, after all, we continue wilfully ignorant, sin lieth at our door.
5. What God had done for their forefathers was a strong proof of his kindness to them, and served to shew their ingratitude. And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, to Laban; and Israel served for a wife seven years; and, being then deceived by Laban, who gave him Leah instead of Rachel, on receiving her also the following week, for a wife he kept sheep seven years more; which is instanced both as a proof of the meanness of their original, for a Syrian ready to perish was their father, and as a mark of God’s favour to them, in raising them from so low a beginning to be a mighty nation; and reflected highly on their ingratitude. And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved, by Moses, who was the figure of Christ, the great Redeemer and Saviour, the deliverer of his faithful people from the bondage of sin, Satan, death, and hell. Now God having so wonderfully dealt with them, and saved them from their enemies, they were bound by every tie of love and duty to serve him; but they made the basest returns when they rebelled against him, and rejected his prophets, to one of whom they had such unspeakable obligations. Note; All God’s goodness to the sinner will be remembered at the last, to convince him of his ingratitude, and leave him without excuse.
6. They having made the most base returns to God for his kindness; he is justly provoked to punish them severely. Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly by his sins, and especially idolatry: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him; either the innocent blood shed by him shall be required of him, or his own blood shall be poured upon him, shed by the sword of vengeance for all his crying sins; and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him; the reproaches cast upon God by his idolatry, and on the prophets who terrified against it, shall return into his own bosom, when he shall be a poor, wretched, despicable captive in a strange land. Note; The sinner shall surely bear the shame of his iniquities, either in time covered with penitent confusion, or in eternity with everlasting contempt.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
PAUSE, Reader! and behold how God honored the Patriarch Jacob, a thousand years after his ashes had been mouldering in the dust! Behold what praise the Lord bestowed upon his servant’s gallant faith; and learn from hence, how costly such sacrifices are in his sight, when coming up before him in his dear Son’s name. Oh! that you and I may learn here from to wrestle with God in prayer, that like the Patriarch, we may have strength in the same source, and have power with God to prevail.
But, Reader! while looking at Jacob, let us not overlook Jacob’s Lord. It is Jesus, that as a prince and a Saviour hath power with Jehovah, and hath prevailed. By his own righteousness, and by the incense of his merits and atoning blood, he comes off victorious, and must prevail Father! I will! is the language of our Lord. And while his pleadings are all for his redeemed, what is there then can be withheld, to the all powerful, all prevailing intercessions of his priesthood? Precious Lord Jesus! give me to see thee in thy daily office; now thou art entered into the presence of God for thy people. Thou hast indeed, like the Patriarch Jacob, thy type, served for thy wife, as he did for his; and dearly indeed purchased thy Church with thy blood. Oh! keep, Lord, thy redeemed, with thy power, and preserve them to thine eternal kingdom, and be thou, the Lord God of hosts, our everlasting memorial.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hos 12:14 Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.
Ver. 14. Ephraim hath provoked him to anger, most bitterly ] Heb. with bitterness, or unto bitter displeasure, or with bitter things, that is, sins that embitter God’s Spirit and put thunderbolts into his hands. Excusserunt ex suavissimo pectore meo suavitatem. As a bee stings not till provoked, so neither doth God punish till there be no remedy, 2Ch 36:16 . If Ephraim will provoke him to anger (which he will not dare to do to his landlord), if he will put it to the trial, whether God can be angry, as those did ( ), Heb 3:9 , he shall know the power of his wrath, Psa 90:11 , he shall feel, to his sorrow, that it is an evil thing and bitter, that he hath forsaken the Lord, and that his fear is not in them, Jer 2:19 . There will be bitterness in the end. Principium dulce est, sed finis amoris amarus. Amor amaror. Lust is a lie, as Amnon proved. “Her end is bitter as wormwood, though her lips drop as an honeycomb,” saith Solomon of sinful pleasure, Pro 5:3 . It is like Jonathan’s honey, or Esau’s pottage, or Judas’ thirty pence, which he would gladly have been rid of, but could not. Those that provoke God shall one day hear, “Do ye provoke me to anger? Are ye stronger than I?” they shall be taught to meddle with their match, and not to contend with him that is mightier than they, Ecc 6:10 ; they shall cry out in the bitterness of their souls, as Lam 3:15 , “He hath filled me with bitternesses, he hath made me drunk with wormwood.” And God shall reply, as Jer 4:18 , “Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; and this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter.”
Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him
And his reproach shall his Lord return unto him
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ephrairn. As represented by Jeroboam (1Ki 12:25, 1Ki 13:5), and Hoshea (2Ki 17:11-23).
He = God.
blood. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Effect), App-6, for blood-guiltiness.
his reproach. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 28:37).
LORD. Hebrew. ‘Adonim. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
provoked: 2Ki 17:7-18, Eze 23:2-10
most bitterly: Heb. with bitternesses
therefore: 2Sa 1:16, 1Ki 2:33, 1Ki 2:34, Eze 18:13, Eze 24:7, Eze 24:8, Eze 33:5
blood: Heb. bloods
and his: Hos 7:16, Deu 28:37, 1Sa 2:30, Dan 11:18
Reciprocal: Neh 4:4 – turn
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hos 12:14. Ephraim (Israel) provoked him (the Lord) with his many acts of rebellion. Therefore shall he (the Lord) leave his (Ephraim’s) blood upon him, meaning that the people of Israel were to be chastised for their iniquity.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Hos 12:14. Ephraim provoked him to anger, &c. Notwithstanding all Gods favours showed to these people and their ancestors, they provoked him by their idolatries and other sins in a most outrageous manner. The word , translated, most bitterly, some render, with his bitterness; that is, by his wicked or impious deeds; and Schindler renders it, by his heaps, that is, his altars. Therefore shall he have his blood upon him The Chaldee paraphrase renders it, His blood shall return upon him. Ephraims wickedness, and in particular the innocent blood he has shed, shall bring down punishment or destruction upon him. And his reproach shall his Lord return unto him The reproach which Ephraim hath cast upon the prophets, upon the worshippers of God, and on God himself, in preferring idols before him, shall God, who is Lord of all, recompense upon him, in making him a reproach and by-word among the heathen. Instead of his Lord, Bp. Horsley reads, his Master, that is, says he, his conqueror, who shall hold him in servitude, and be the instrument of Gods just vengeance to him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
In spite of these mercies the Israelites had provoked the Lord to bitter anger with their idolatry (cf. Deu 4:25; Deu 9:18; Deu 31:29; Deu 32:16; Deu 32:21; Jdg 2:12; 1Ki 14:9; 1Ki 14:15). Consequently He would not remove the guilt of their sins by forgiving them but would pay them back with punishment and shame. This was the sentence of their divine judge.