Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 13:10
I will be thy king: where [is any other] that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
I will be thy King – (literally, I would be thy King) Where is any other that, etc. A better translation would be: Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities; and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, give me a king and princes.
As Israel was under Samuel, such it remained. Then it mistrusted God, and looked to man for help, saying, Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles 1Sa 8:19. In choosing man they rejected God. The like they did, when they chose Jeroboam. In order to rid themselves of the temporary pressure of Rehoboams taxes, they demanded anew king and princes. First they rejected God as their king; then they rejected the king whom God appointed, and Him in His appointment. In all thy cities. It was then to be one universal need of help. They had chosen a king to fight their battles, and had rejected God. Now was the test, whether their choice had been good or evil. One cry for help went up from all their cities. God would have heard it; could man?
: This question is like that other, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drink the wine of their drink offerings? Deu 32:37-39. As there, when no answer could be made, He adds, See now that I, I am He, and that there is no god with Me, so here He subjoins;
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. Give me a king and princes?] Referring to the time in which they cast off the Divine theocracy and chose Saul in the place of Jehovah.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will be thy King; I would have been thy King to govern and save thee, but thou refusedst me in both; yet I will he thy King to punish thee. I will not lose my right and honour by thy rebellious carriages against me, I will be a King and subdue such: or else it is a taunting question, Where is thy king, on whose counsel, wisdom, power, and conduct thou hast relied? let him now save thee if he can: so it runs smooth with the next words.
Where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? or, who is there, what wise, valiant, and successful commander, in any of thy cities, that can deliver thee first out of my hand, and next out of the Assyrians hand?
Thy judges, where are they? thy magistrates have sinned with thee, and shall be destroyed with thee. Thy rulers or inferior governors,
of whom thou saidst, Give me a king; whom thou didst importune and solicit, in a manner forcedst to meet, consult, and resolve in seditious times who should be king next, when treasons had taken away him that was? Some refer this to their first asking a king, but it is better referred to the times either after Jeroboam the First, or to the times after Jeroboam the Second, between whose death and Hosheas time, some say, there was an interregnum of twenty or near twenty years, during which a turbulent people, as the Israelites were, would be frequent and earnest in all likelihood in moving for a king.
And princes, necessary to assist the king.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. I will be thy king;whererather, as the Margin and the Septuagint,Syriac, Vulgate, “Where now is thy king?” [MAURER].English Version is, however, favored both by the Hebrew,by the antithesis between Israel’s self-chosen and perishingkings, and God, Israel’s abiding King (compare Hos 3:4;Hos 3:5).
where . . . Give me akingWhere now is the king whom ye substituted in My stead?Neither Saul, whom the whole nation begged for, not contented with Metheir true king (1Sa 8:5; 1Sa 8:7;1Sa 8:19; 1Sa 8:20;1Sa 10:19), nor Jeroboam, whomsubsequently the ten tribes chose instead of the line of David Myanointed, can save thee now. They had expected from their kings whatis the prerogative of God alone, namely, the power of saving them.
judgesincluding allcivil authorities under the king (compare Am2:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I will be thy King, where [is any other] that may save thee in all thy cities?…. Governor, Protector, and Defender; and so confirming what is before said, that their help was in him: or, as the Targum, Abarbinel, and others n, “where is thy king now, that he may serve thee in all thy cities?” whom they had asked, rejecting the Lord, and in whom they had put their trust and confidence for help; and now either having no king, he being taken away from them by death, or by the enemy; or if they had, he being unable to help them in their distress; they are ironically asked where he was, that he might exert himself and save them, if he could, in all the cities of the land, where the enemy were come, a, a had besieged and took them:
and thy judges, of whom thou saidst give me a king and princes? that is; where are thy king and his nobles, his courtiers and his counsellors, and all judges, magistrates, and governors subordinate to him? let them arise for thy help, if they can, by their policy or power, by their counsel, or by their arms; for judges and princes design such as were of the king’s court and council, or acted in government under his direction and influence; for though these are not expressly mentioned, when they asked for a king, yet are implied; since there is no king without a court and nobles to attend him, to advise with, and to act under him. This refers to the story in 1Sa 8:6, &c. and seems to be the leading step to Israel’s ruin and destruction as a state.
n “ubi Rex tuus”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Zanchius, Liveleus, Drusius, Cocceius, Schmidt, Targum. So Noldius, Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 101. No. 496.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He afterwards more fully confirms the same by saying, I will be; and then he says, Thy king, where is he? By saying, ‘I will be,’ God retreats what he had before declared, that he would always be the same; for, as James says
‘
No overshadowing happens to him,’ (Jas 1:17.)
Hence ‘I will be;’ that is, “Though the Israelites rail against me, that I do not pursue my usual course of kindness, it is yet most false; for I remain ever the same, and am always ready to show kindness to men; for I do not, as I have elsewhere declared, forsake the works of my hands, (Psa 138:8.) Seeing then that I thus continue my favour towards men, it must be that the way to my favour is closed up by their wickedness. Let them therefore examine themselves, when they cry and I answer not. When in their evils they in a manner pine away, and find no relief, let them acknowledge it to be their own fault; for I would have made myself the same as ever I have been, and they would have found me a deliverer, had not a change taken place in them.” We now comprehend the meaning of the Prophet in the ninth verse, and as to the expression, אהי, aei, I will be, in the verse which follows.
He then says, Where is thy king? God again reproaches the Israelites for having reposed their confidence in their king and other earthly helps, by which they thought themselves to have been well fortified. Where is thy king? he says. He derides the Israelites; for they saw that their king was now stripped of every power to help, and that all their princes were destitute both of prudence and of all other means. Since then there was no protection from men, the Prophet shows now that Israel had but a vain trust, when they thought themselves safe under the shadow of their king, when they considered themselves secure as long as they were governed by prudent men. All these things, he says, are vain. But we must ever bear in mind what he had said before I will be; for had not this shield been set up, hypocrites would have ever said in return, “Where now is God? What is his purpose? Why does he delay?” Hence God mentioned before that he was ready to help them, but that they by their wickedness had closed up the way.
But he further derides them for having in vain placed their hope and their help in their king and princes. Where is thy king, he says, that he may save thee in all thy cities? It is not without reason that the Prophet mentions cities, because the Israelites despised all threatening, while their cities were on every side unassailable and strong to keep out enemies. Hence when God threatened them by his Prophets, they regarded what was said to them as fables, and thus defended themselves, “How can enemies assail us? Though there were hundred wars nigh at hand, have we not cities which can resist the onsets of enemies? We shall therefore dwell in safety, and enjoy our pleasures, though God should shake heaven and earth.” Since then they were so inebriated with this false confidence, the Prophet now says, “I know that you excel in having great and many cities; but as you deem them as your protection, God will show that this hope is vain and deceptive. Where then is thy king, that he may save thee in thy cities? And though thy king be well furnished with an army and with defences, it will yet avail thee nothing, when God shall once rise up against thee.”
But he subjoins, And thy judges of whom thou hast said, Give me a king and princes? Here the Prophet ascends higher; for he shows that the people of Israel had not only sinned in this respect, that they had placed their hope in their king, and in other helps; but that they had also chosen for themselves a king, whom God had not approved. For David, we know, was anointed for this end, that he might unite together the whole body of the people; and God intended that his Church and chosen people should remain under one head, that they might be safe. It was therefore an impious separations when the ten tribes wished for themselves a new king. How so? Because a defection from the kingdom of David was as it were a denial of God. For if it was said to Samuel,
‘
Thee have they not rejected, but me, that I should not reign over them,’ (1Sa 8:7,)
it was certainly more fully verified as to David. We now then see what the Prophet meant: after having inveighed against the false confidence of the people for thinking that they were safe through the power of their king, he now adds, “I will advance to another source: for thou didst not then begin to sin, when thou didst transfer the glory of God to the king, but when thou didst wish to have a kingdom of thine own, being not content with that kingdom which he had instituted in the person of David.” The Prophet does now then accuse the people of defection, when a new king, that is, Jeroboam, was elected by them. For though it was done according to the certain purpose of God, as we have elsewhere observed, yet this availed nothing to alleviate the fault of the people; for they, as far as they could, renounced God. As the foot, if cut off from the body, is not only a mutilated and useless member, but immediately putrefies; so also was Israel, being like a half part of a torn and mutilated body; and they must have become putrified, had they not been miraculously preserved. But at the same time God here justly condemns that defection, that Israel, by desiring a new king, had broken asunder the sacred unity of the Church and introduced an impious separation.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hos. 13:10. Where] thy king to save when Assyrians attack cities? Where thy judges who surround the king and help to administer right? God gave and God punished them through a king.
Hos. 13:12. Bound up] like money in a bag, and put in secret places (Job. 14:17; 1Sa. 25:29). The punishment preserved, kept in store, is certain to come (Job. 21:19).
Hos. 13:13.] Pains and violent agony, sorrows like a woman in child-birth shall come (Jer. 30:6). Unwise] in not foreseeing and escaping the danger (Pro. 22:3).
Hos. 13:14.] May be applied to Israels deliverance from Assyria, then to future times of restoration, which typify redemption in Christ and resurrection from death at last. Believers should never despair.
Hos. 13:15.] The name Eph. shall become a truth, and the blessings promised shall not be lost (Gen. 48:4; Gen. 48:20; Gen. 49:22), say some. But promises are only fulfilled when persons keep to the conditions. In Ephraim and in the Christian Church those only are saved who walk with God. Whatever be the appearance of the fruitful field, judgments will be like a fearful tempest which will destroy all before them (Jer. 4:11; Jer. 18:17; Eze. 19:12). He] The conqueror will plunder and destroy all costly vessels.
Hos. 13:16. Her God] An aggravation of guilt because against him who made himself her God. The destruction was complete. The living children dashed to pieces, and the unborn to he destroyed in their mothers womb (2Ki. 8:12; 2Ki. 15:16; Amo. 1:13). Not a memorial left of all the outward pomp and prosperity. When God is forsaken for the world, the choice will be regretted.
HOMILETICS
GOD THE ONLY KING.Hos. 13:10-11
God shows again how he will help them. When their kings and princeswhom they sinfully sought, and whom God would take away in displeasurecould not save them even in one city, he would prove their King and Helper.
I. God is our lawful king. I will be thy king, &c. God proclaims himself the source of wisdom and counsel, of power and authority.
1. Man requires a king. Our moral constitution is a witness that we are under authority, made to obey laws, and are only happy in loyal obedience. To satisfy his wants, man has often gone to his fellow-men, trusting to them, because thought to be great, wise, and even divine. Hence nations and ages have had their heroes, poets, orators, and prophets. But man still cries for a king. No human person can satisfy the totality of his nature, remove his guilt and fear, and reconcile the conflict between conscience and heart. God alone is the rest and satisfaction of the soul. No code of laws, no idea of society, though pure and transcendant as that of Plato, can supply the want of a king. God in Christ reveals his claims, and demands our homage and obedience. He is our Divine lawgiver and sovereign Lord. Behold your king!
2. God alone should be our king. We are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. He feeds and guides us by his special providence, like a shepherd leading his flock. He has dominion over heaven and earth, therefore worship is due to him. He demands obedience, and to refuse is most unreasonable and most insulting. For God is the king of all the earth.
II. God is often rejected by the choice of an unlawful king. Thou saidst, Give me a king and princes. Israel rejected God and demanded Saul, and subsequently chose Jeroboam to free them from the taxes imposed by Rehoboam. They despised God, and looked to man for help. Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we may also be like other nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. God is often put in competition with others. Half-prayers and half-allegiance are given to him. Some other god is sought and served with him. God is sometimes rejected, and an idol set up to govern our hearts and lives. In distress and social pressure we flee to man. Pleasure, passions, and the world rule over us. God is dethroned, and our affections are centered on self, or an unlawful sovereign. The heart can only have one power supreme, one king enthroned at once. Whatever monarch that may be, it dictates to every faculty and every effort, saying, Do this, and it does it. Obedience is willingly and continually given. As the beginning, such will be the end; as the rule, such will be the result. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble; for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
III. When God is rejected and another king chosen the end will be misery. Where is any other that will save thee in all thy cities? God was against Israel and their kings. As they began by rejecting God, so they end in rejection by God. Civil commotions, anarchy and murder, were the repeated issue. Not one in all their cities could help them when God had forsaken them. Sinful rulers will be tyrants, and their rule will ever prove impotent and destructive.
1. Sometimes our supports are taken away. I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. What God gives or permits us to take to ourselves he can take away. By rejecting God we cannot defeat his purpose. We may have our wish granted, yet be disappointed in our choice. The gift and its loss will be a grief to us. What we inordinately desire, what we are determined to have in opposition to Gods will, whether granted, withheld, or taken away, will be the occasion of wrath and tribulation to our souls. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, and then the Lords wrath be kindled against you.
2. If our supports are not taken away they are rendered impotent. Where is any that may save thee? Kings and princes may be shorn of power. Danger may threaten every city in the nation, and blessings unlawfully gained or ungratefully abused afford no shelter. All courses and carnal policies of men will not avail against God. If we forsake God disappointment will meet us in every condition, and a way which is cursed at the beginning will be more cursed at the end. In anger a king was given; in wrath was he taken away. There is no help but in God. I will be thy king.
INIQUITY RESERVED FOR FUTURE PUNISHMENT.Hos. 13:12-13
The nation had accumulated wickedness from time to time. This sin, though spared, was not forgotten, but sealed up and reserved for future judgment. The affairs were coming to a crisis, like a woman in travail, and could not be avoided. Unless they rescued themselves from the danger, the result would be that individual citizens and political existence would entirely perish. Hence, they should not neglect the means, but earnestly seek God before it was too late.
I. Iniquity is treasured up by God. The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up. Men treasure or seal up what they want to keep. Sin is hid by a wonderful providence to be accounted for at a future time. My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.
1. God does not forget iniquity. He numbers our steps, keeps a strict account of our actions, and brings sin to our remembrance. We are not to presume on Gods forbearance, and think because sin is not punished it is forgotten (Ecc. 8:11). This is to ignore the future and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath (Rom. 2:5).
2. God does not forgive iniquity without repentance. If sin is not confessed and forsaken, it is stored up. Unrepented sin is an ever-increasing store, hid from the sight of men, but of which God will lose nothing. Sinners may excuse and defend themselves in pride and self-righteousness, but a day of accounts will come. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? To me belongeth vengeance and recompense.
II. Iniquity treasured up by God will be punished. The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him.
1. This punishment is certain, shall come. There is an order of sequence in moral as in physical law, and we inevitably suffer if we break that order. Results are fixed and certain. Punishment may be long delayed, but cannot be avoided. Delay does not diminish its certainty either here or hereafter. Evil pursueth sinners.
2. This punishment is distressing. Agony unexpected and inevitable. Sorrows often in this life, and in the life to come the full cup of bitterness. Avenging deities are shod with wool, but they never pause nor mitigate their judgments. We may doubt or deny the fact, but we see day by day that the mill of God grinds late, but grinds to powder. Never sin went unpunished, says one, and the end of all sin, if it be not repentance, is hell.
III. If men do not escape from iniquity treasured up they are foolish. For he should not stay long in the place. He that lingers between death and life, and vacillates between God and the world, is an unwise son. If we stay long, and delay in anything, we never bring forth results. Decision is necessary. Despatch is better than discourse. Men who halt are at the mercy of every temptation and fall before the foe. I never defer till to-morrow what can be done to-day, declared one. But when immortal interests are at stake, what folly to hesitate or resist. How fatally unwise, to put off repentance and return to God. Judgment is impending, to-morrow may be too late. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
Lose this day, loitering, twill be the same story
To-morrow, and the next more dilatory.
The indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting oer lost days.
Are you in earnest? seize this very minute!
What you can do, or think you can, begin it!
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated;
Begin it, and the work will be completed!
THE GREAT CONQUEST.Hos. 13:14
To preserve his people from despair, God promises to help them. Though like dead men in the grave, he will redeem them, and they shall triumph over death and destruction. He will never repent of this purpose concerning them.
I. The mighty enemies.
1. We have death. I will redeem them from death. (a) Death as a spiritual condition. Sinners are dead in trespasses and sins. Senseless and helpless in their spiritual condition. But the Holy Spirit quickens, and Christ redeems them from their danger. The sentence against them is blotted out, the curse of sin removed, and they are delivered, raised to newness of life in Christ Jesus. (b) Death as a reigning power. Men live in captivity, are held in bondage, all their lifetime through the fear of death. It is a universal and resistless foe. It spares no rank and pauses for no request. It rends our hearts with grief, fills our homes with sorrow, and the grave with its victims. (c) Death as a mortal enemy. An enemy to Christ and his people. Till death is conquered, Christ cannot realize his hopes nor his people gain their inheritance. The mediatorial glory will never be acquired without this conquest. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
2. We have the grave. The power of the grave. Like death, the grave has a mighty power, and is a triumphant foe. The king of terrors makes this his palace. The grave is my house (Job. 17:13); crying, Give, give (Pro. 30:15). It has received its countless millions, and still craves and yawns for more. Hell and destruction are never full. (a) As a mighty terror, and (b) a final-resting place, it must be conquered to gain the crown and the kingdom.
II. The glorious conqueror. I will ransom, I will redeem, says God. None but God could deliver from such a state of misery and death. God in Christ conquers death and hell. He will swallow up death in victory (Isa. 25:8). The Captain of our salvation has entered into the conflict for us, and come out victorious. He hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light. He hath destroyed him that had the power of death (Heb. 2:14), and his victory becomes ours by faith. I am the resurrection and the life: whoso believeth in me shall never die.
III. The wonderful method of conquest. I will ransom. I will redeem.
1. Christ has paid a price for our deliverance. He hath redeemed us by his blood. Who gave himself a ransom for all (1Ti. 2:6; Mat. 20:28). He became near of kin, by taking our nature and suffering in our stead. The first and second death are overcome by him. He is the plague of death and the destruction of the grave. Death the curse is turned into a blessing; death an enemy is changed into a friend, and the grave is made the portal to glory. Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.
2. Christ does now morally deliver us. The blessing is not a prospective one. It is enjoyed in the present time, as an earnest and foretaste. The Spirit enlightens and grace redeems from the power of sin and corruption. The people of God are free and live without fear of death. The weakest believer confronts his deadliest foe, answers every accusation by pointing to the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. We are not merely conquerors, but triumphant, more than conquerors through him that loved us. The benefits of redemption have become powers in the world to come, and powers in the heart and life of a Christian. We have read and often seen the glorious victories over death and hell. Is this dying? How have I dreaded as an enemy this smiling friend? cried Dr Goodwin. The battles fought,the battles fought, and the victory is won,the victory is won for ever! said Dr Payson. Victory! glory! hallelujah! were the words of another. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
3. This proceeding of God will never be reversed. Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. God is unchangeable in his nature and promise. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance (Rom. 11:29). He never revokes what he once gave to his people. Though they sin and fall into danger, he will love and deliver them still if they call upon him. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips (Psa. 89:34). Alterations and after-thoughts belong to us. God dwells upon his covenant, and repeats it continually, that we may love and obey it.
EARTHLY FOUNTAINS OF ENJOYMENTS FAIL.Hos. 13:15-16
The prophet had spoken of the blessings of the righteous, now he pictures the desolations of the wicked. The pomp and luxuries of sin, the glory and vanity of the world, shall perish, and leave not a wreck behind. Its springs of joy shall be dried up, and its fruitful scenes made desolate as a ruined city.
I. Earthly prosperity is a fountain which fails. Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, &c. Men may be planted in favourable circumstances, grow and flourish for awhile, but the wind of the Lord comes, and their leaves wither. Cities may be populous and powerful, but the enemy can destroy them. Samaria shall become desolate. All fair scenes and national fruitfulness can be laid waste as the wilderness. The treasure of all pleasant vessels can be taken away, and the infant of days, with the women of beauty, be dashed to pieces by deeds of barbarity.
II. Earthly pleasure is a fountain which fails. His springs shall become dry. The pleasures of the world are soon exhausted. They are shallow and deceitful; as a stream of brooks they pass away (Job. 6:15). As rivers roll their hasty current to the sea; so the sum of sinful pleasures ends in endless sorrow and desolation.
III. Earthly joy is a fountain which fails. The joys which spring from domestic prosperity and success in business are soon cut up and withered at the root. Joy hath passed me like a ship at sea, said David Scott the painter. Folly is always joy to him that is without wisdom. No joys are sweet and flourish long, but such as have self-approbation for their root, and the Divine favour for their shelter, says an old divine. If our prosperity springs from Christ, and is rooted within us, nothing can destroy it. But if it is centered in the world, and enjoyed without God, then it will be cast up by the roots, and consumed by the blasts from heaven.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
1. Often the most outwardly prosperous, by abuse of prosperity, ripen most for the judgments of God. God may be preparing the wind from the wilderness.
2. When these judgments do fall upon them, they are the most destructive. A very great wind, the wind of the Lord: an east wind shall come, which is most terrible and tempestuous.
3. Nothing will be left to defend them. Adults shall fall by the sword, the beauty of the present, and the seed and hope of the next generation shall be cut off. Without fruitfulness in good works, springing from the Spirit of Christ, all other fruitfulness will be found as empty as the uncertain riches of the world; the wrath of God will wither its branches; the springs that watered it will become dry, and it shall be spoiled, and come to nothing. In short, tribulation and anguish belong to those who have rebelled against God, and are fixed immoveably on all who impenitently persist in rebellion; and their woes will be far more terrible than any that are experienced in that cruelty and carnage which sometimes attend the storming of populous cities. From such miseries and murders, and from sin, the fruitful parent of all sorrow, Good Lord, we beseech thee to deliver us [Scott].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 13
Hos. 13:10-11. King. Edward the Black Prince, having conquered and taken prisoner King John of France, nobly condescended to wait on his royal captive the same night at supper. Christ having first subdued his people by his grace, waits on them afterwards to the end of their lives [Whitecross].
Under which king, Bezonian? speak or die.
King Henry IV.
Hos. 13:12. Bound up, as indictments drawn up and tied together against the day of trial; or as bills and bonds tied up that they may be ready against the day of account, when all must be paid [Poole].
Hos. 13:14. Triumph. In this world, he that is to-day conqueror may to-morrow himself be defeated. Pompey is eclipsed by Csar, and then falls by the hands of conspirators; Napoleon conquered nearly all Europe, and was then himself conquered. But the Christians conquest of death is absolute. The result is final. He has vanquished the last enemy, and has no more battles to fight [Foster]
Hos. 13:15-16. The world has delusive charms to flatter with a face of substantial bliss, when in reality it is a fleeting shadow [Wilson]. I am more and more convinced of this worlds tastelessness and treacherythat it is with God alone that any satisfying converse is to be had [Chalmers].
We should not stoop so greedily to swallow
The bubbles of the world so light and hollow;
To drink its frothy draughts, in lightsome mood,
And live upon such empty, airy food.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(10) The rendering should be, Where, pray, is thy king, that he may save thee? &c. The original demand for a king who should be a visible token to Israel of protection against their surrounding foes was adverse to the true spirit of the kingdom of God upon earth, and, though granted, proved to the united kingdom, and afterwards to the kingdom of Israel, an age-long curse. Probably the special reference here is to the latterthe erection of the Ten Tribes into a separate monarchy.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘Where now is your king,
That he may save you in all your cities?
And your judges, of whom you said,
Give me a king and princes?’
Let them consider that their king and princes have already been snatched away by the wild beasts. Where were they now? If this was just prior to the siege of Samaria, Hoshea, who had gone to the Assyrians to parley, was already in their hands, while many of their princes would have been captured in the fighting, both in defending their borders, and in defending their other cities which had already been destroyed. Thus there was no one left to save them as they waited helplessly in their cities. All the folk around would have crowded into these cities once the invasion came (compare Lev 26:25), looking for their king to come and save them. That was why they were built with stout walls. But they could not resist a determined invader.
However, the question may be asking where their king was simply because he was proving to be impotent in the face of the enemy. The implication is that whoever their king and judges were, they would be unable to save them. They had trusted in them, but they could not help them (while in contrast YHWH could – Hos 13:9).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
All that is here said may be considered as the natural effect of sin, which self-destroyers bring upon themselves. Here is an allusion perhaps to Israel’s history, in the case of Saul, king of Israel, whom the Lord appointed, and also rejected. See 1Sa 15:23 . But the subject is general, and by no means limited to any age or period. The idea of a travailing woman, and the breaking forth of children, may probably have a reference to the soul travail under conviction of sin. The holy scriptures make use of this figure upon several occasions. Isa 26:18 ; Joh 16:21 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hos 13:10 I will be thy king: where [is any other] that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
Ver. 10. I will be thy king ] Thine eternal King, so Pagnine. As I have been thy prophet, Hos 13:4-5 , so I will be thy king; I will also be thy priest and thy Redeemer, Hos 13:14 , that so thou mayest hear my voice, submit to my sceptre, and apply my death for thy deliverance from death’s dominion. Or, I will be thy king, and not be borne down by thy boisterousness, who calleth for another king, and repinest against my righteous regiment. Thou wouldst cast off mine authority, but I will maintain it. The Lord is king, be the people never so unquiet, Psa 99:1 , he will reign over rebels in spite of their hearts; and those that will not be his subjects, his willing people, shall be his slaves, his footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Psa 110:3 . The Geneva Bible reads it thus, “I am: Where is the king that should help thee in all thy cities?” R. Aben Ezra, Calvin, Oecolampadius, and others go the same way; only they render it, Ere, I will be one and the same (according to that name of mine, “I am that I am,” Exo 3:14 , and “Before Abraham was, I am,” Joh 8:58 ); though you be off and on with me, though you change often, yet I am Jehovah, I change not, I will be. What will he be? The same that I said I would be, thy Saviour, thine helper: or, I will be a bystander, to see what will become of thee, and how thy king (in whom thou trustest) will help thee. This last is R. Solomon Jarchi’s interpretation. Pareus will have it run thus: I will be, what? a lion, a leopard, a bear, &c., and nothing shall alter my resolution.
Where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities
And thy judges
Whereof thou saidst
Give me a king and princes
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will be thy king = Where is thy king? Hebrew. ‘ehi = where, as in Hos 13:14 twice; ‘ehi is separated from the following word “king” by the accent zakeph, and connected with ‘epho’ = now. It therefore means “Where now is thy king? (Hoshea)”: the answer being “in prison” (see 2Ki 17:4).
where is any other that may save thee . . . ? = to save thee, or that he may save thee.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will be thy king: or, Where is thy king, “King Hosea being then in prison, 2Ki 17:4.” Psa 10:16, Psa 44:4, Psa 47:6, Psa 47:7, Psa 74:12, Psa 89:18, Psa 149:2, Isa 33:22, Isa 43:15, Jer 8:19, Zec 14:9, Joh 1:49
where: Hos 13:4, Hos 10:3, Deu 32:37-39, Jer 2:28
thy judges: Hos 8:4, Jdg 2:16-18, 1Sa 8:5, 1Sa 8:6, 1Sa 8:19, 1Sa 8:20, 1Sa 12:11, 1Sa 12:12, 1Ki 12:20
Reciprocal: 1Sa 8:7 – Hearken 1Sa 11:15 – rejoiced greatly 1Sa 31:6 – General 1Ch 10:6 – Saul Pro 24:22 – their Mic 4:9 – is there Act 13:22 – when
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hos 13:10. The first sentence of this verse is rendered, Where is thy king’ in the margin of the Bible. Moffatt’s translation renders it likewise and 2Ki 17:4 gives the reason for the humiliating question. That passage states that the king of Israel had been shut up and bound in prison by the king of Assyria. The Lord further asks them the accusing question about their having anyone else to take the place of this king who was then in prison.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Hos 13:10-11. I will be thy king I would have been thy king to save and govern thee, but thou refusedst me in both respects: yet I will be thy king to judge me and punish thee. The LXX. and all the ancient versions interpret the clause differently, and give the interrogative, Where? Where is thy king now, that he may serve thee? They seem to have taken the word , I will be, for , where, by a transposition of letters, as the same word is used again, Hos 13:14. Bishop Horsley understands the words in the same sense, and reads, Where is thy king? Where now is he? To save thee forsooth in all thy cities and thy judges? This vehement, re-doubled interrogation, says he, seems to suppose a denial, on the part of the Israelites, of the helpless, ruined state, asserted in the former verse, as the consequence of Gods withdrawing his protection. Do you deny this? Do you pretend that you have still means of defence, hope of deliverance? You rely upon the policy or prowess of your monarch. Where is he, this wise and mighty king? Tell me in what quarter? Your judges, your provincial rulers, where are they? Let us see what deliverance this king and these rulers can effect. The words seem to be spoken with a reference to the Israelites desiring a king to be set over them, instead of continuing under the theocracy, or the immediate government of God, who raised them up from time to time, as he saw most fit for them, defenders and protectors, and endued them with extraordinary abilities for the purpose. But the Israelites foolishly thought they should thrive better under a kingly government, such as the rest of the nations around them were under, which is expressed in the latter part of this verse, Of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes That is, a king and such principal officers as he shall appoint. This is what is meant by the word judges in this verse. I gave thee a king in mine anger Being angry at your sins and provocations, I gave you a king at first, and have since suffered you, by seditions and conspiracies, to change your kings according as you pleased, whereby your state hath received more and more damage, and now I will take away your present king by the hand of the Assyrians.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
13:10 {g} I will be thy king: where [is any other] that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
(g) I am all one; Jas 1:17 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The people had formerly asked their leaders to give them a king like all the other nations. They hoped that their king and his princes would provide deliverance for them. God had given them kings, first Saul (1Sa 8:4-9; 1Sa 12:12) and more recently the kings of Israel that were not of David’s line but were kings of the people’s own choosing (1Ki 12:16-20). Yet all these kings had proved ineffective in saving the Israelites. Only Yahweh was their savior (Hos 13:4).