Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 13:13
The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he [is] an unwise son; for he should not stay long in [the place of] the breaking forth of children.
13, 14. These verses, at least down to the last clause of Hos 13:14, seem a slight digression. The prophet declares that the troubles which are already closing around Israel, are in reality a last opportunity graciously vouchsafed of repentance. But he in his unwisdom neglects to embrace it, though every moment of delay increases his danger. Notice the two-fold application of the figure of childbirth. Israel is first of all the travailing woman, and then the child whose birth is imperilled by its weak will. Mr Huxtable well compares the abruptness with which St Paul shifts the application of an image; see e.g. 2Co 3:2-3; 2Co 3:13-15.
The sorrows shall come ] Rather, The pangs come (are in the process of coming). The divine judgment is compared to the pangs of trouble, as in Mic 4:9; Mat 24:8; 1Th 5:3.
he is an unwise son ] Comp. Deu 32:6, ‘Do ye thus requite Jehovah, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father’, &c.
for he should not, &c.] Or better, ‘for at the (right) time he standeth not’, &c. But as the rendering ‘at the (right) time’ is doubtful, it is better still to alter the points (as in Eze 27:34) and render, for now he standeth not in the place where children break forth. The passage is akin to Isa 37:2, where Judah’s utter incapacity to emerge out of its troubles is compared to the inability of a woman to perform the act of bringing forth. Here, however, to suggest a moral lesson to Israel, the weak will of the child is represented as the cause of the failure. It is a new birth which Israel needs; and if calamity only had its right effect on the conscience, the language ascribed to Israel in Hos 6:2 would be verified, ‘on the third day we shall live in his sight.’ For the two-fold aspect in which Hosea here views the judgment, comp. Hos 6:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The sorrows of a travailing woman are come upon him – The travail-pangs are violent, sudden, irresistible. A moment before they come, all is seemingly perfect health; they come, increase in vehemence, and, if they accomplish not that for which they are sent, end in death, both to the mother and the child. Such are Gods chastisements. If they end not in the repentance of the sinner, they continue on in his destruction. But never is man more secure, than just before the last and final throe comes upon him. The false security of Israel, when Samaria was on the point of falling into the hands of its enemies, was a picture of that of the synagogue, when greater evils were coming upon it. Never did the Jews less think that the axe was laid to the root of the trees. This blind presumption is ever found in a people whom God casts off. At the end of the world, amid the awful signs, the fore-runners of the Day of Judgment, people will be able to reassure themselves, and say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape 1Th 5:3.
The prophet first compares Israel to the mother, in regard to the sufferings which are a picture of the sudden overwhelming visitations of God; then to the child, on whose staying or not staying in the womb, the welfare of both depends.
He is an unwise son, for he should not stay long – Senseless would be the child, which, if it had the power, lingered, hesitated, whether to come forth or no. While it lingers, at one time all but coming forth, then returning, the mothers strength is wasted, and both perish. Wonderful picture of the vacillating sinner, acted upon by the grace of God, but resisting it; at one time all but ready to pour out before his God the hidden burden which oppresses him, at the next, withholding it; impelled by his sufferings, yet presenting a passive resistance; almost constrained at times by some mightier pang, yet still with-held; until, at the last, the impulses become weaker, the pangs less felt, and he perishes with his unrepented sin.
: He had said, that the unwise cannot bring forth, that the wise can. He had mentioned children, i. e., such as are not still-born; who come forth perfect into the world. These, God saith, shall by His help be redeemed from everlasting destruction, and, at the same time, having predicted the destruction of that nation, He gives the deepest comfort to those who will to retain firm faith in Him, not allowing them to be utterly cast down.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. The sorrows of a travailing woman] These judgments shall come suddenly and unavoidably.
The place of the breaking forth of children.] As there is a critical time in parturition in which the mother in hard labour may by skilful assistants be eased of her burden, which, if neglected, may endanger the life both of parent and child, so there was a time in which Ephraim might have returned to God, but they would not; therefore they are now in danger of being finally destroyed. And, speaking after the manner of men, he must be deemed an unwise son, who if he had power and consideration, would prolong his stay in the porch of life, where he must necessarily be suffocated; so is Ephraim, who, though warned of his danger, having yet power to escape, continued in his sin, and is now come to destruction. I could illustrate the allusion in the text farther, and show the accurate propriety of the original; but the subject forbids it.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The sorrows of a travailing woman: by this simile, well known in Scripture, the prophet assures Ephraim that the punishment of his sins will overtake him suddenly, with very great anguish, and with as great certainty, Mic 5:3.
Shall come upon him; as suddenly, inevitably, and with as much danger too, if he be not the wiser, and return to his God.
He, i.e. Ephraim,
is an unwise son; a very foolish son, an inconsiderate child, who endangers himself and his mother.
For he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children: as a child that sticks in the birth, so Ephraim, just at the birth, hesitateth, one while will, another while will not, return to God; thus dieth under the delay.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. sorrows of a travailingwomancalamities sudden and agonizing (Jer30:6).
unwisein notforeseeing the impending judgment, and averting it by penitence (Pr22:3).
he should not stay long inthe place of the breaking forth of childrenWhen Israel mightdeliver himself from calamity by the pangs of penitence, he bringsruin on himself by so long deferring a new birth unto repentance,like a child whose mother has not strength to bring it forth, andwhich therefore remains so long in the passage from the womb as torun the risk of death (2Ki 19:3;Isa 37:3; Isa 66:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him,…. Upon Ephraim, or the ten tribes; that is, afflictions, distresses, and calamities, which are often in Scripture compared to the pains and sorrows of a woman in childbirth; and may denote the suddenness and inevitableness of them; see Isa 13:8. So the Targum,
“distress and trouble shall come upon them, as pains on a woman with child;”
which may respect the invasion of their land, the siege of Samaria, and their captivity;
he [is] an unwise son; taking no warning by his ancestors, by their sins, and what befell them on account of them, but persisting in his sins, and in impenitence and hardness of heart: so the Targum,
“he is not wise to know my fear:”
for he should not stay long in [the place of] the breaking forth of children: that is, in the womb, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; though the Targum and Jarchi understand it of the stool or seat of women in travail. The sense is, either that he is foolish and unwise, that he does not endeavour to extricate himself from these troubles; or rather to prevent them by repentance, by leaving his idols, and returning to the Lord; or that, should he do so, be would soon be delivered from all his sorrows, and not stay a moment longer in them. Though the words may be better rendered, “for he stays not”, or “would not stay, the time for the breaking forth of children” p; now this time is the time of the Gospel dispensation, the time of the Messiah’s birth, the fulness of time appointed for his coming, and the time of the church’s ringing forth many children in a spiritual sense; see
Isa 54:1; for which Ephraim or the ten tribes should have waited, but did not, which was their folly and their ruin; they did not “stand”, or continue, in the belief and expectation of the Messiah, and in the true worship of God, but left that, and served idols; and so continued not to the times of the Messiah, when the blessings mentioned in the following verse would be obtained and enjoyed; so Schmidt.
p “nam tempus non subsistet in partitudine filiorum”, Cocceius; “quia tempus non stat in utero puerorum”, Schmidt; “quia tempore non stetissent in raptura alvi filiorum”, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He afterwards says, that the sorrows of one in travail would come on this proud and rebellious people. He pursues the same subject, but under another figure; for by the sorrows of one in travail he points out the sudden destruction which befalls careless men. And this mode of speaking is common in Scripture. There will come then the sorrows of one in travail on these men; that is, “As they promise to themselves continual peace, and are now awakened by any threatenings, and as they proudly despise both my hand and my word, a sudden destruction shall crush them.” Thus much as to the beginning of the verse, There shall come on them the sorrows of one in travail
He then adds, He is an unwise son, that is, he is altogether foolish. Here God reprobates the extreme madness of the people of Israel, as though he had said, “If any particle of sound understanding remained in this people, they would at least perceive the judgement which is impending; and there would then be some hope of a remedy: but this people are now wholly infatuated.” And this proves their folly, for they ought not, he says, to stay in the breaking forth of children This clause, however, some interpreters explain thus, “The time will come, they will not stay in the breaking forth of children.” But rather the contrary is meant by the words; for the Prophet means, that when the time of birth came, the people would stop in the breaking forth; which they would not do, were they endued with a right and sound mind.
It must be noticed, that the Prophet alludes to the time of birth; for he had said before, that the sorrows of one in travail would come on the people of Israel; he now declares that these sorrows would be filial. Though a woman be in labour and in great danger in giving birth, she is yet freed in a moment, and as Christ says, joy and gladness arise from that sorrow, (Joh 16:21.) But the Prophet says that this bringing forth would be very different; for it would be an abortion, and the child would be retained to putrefy in the womb. If a woman in the very birth restrains effort and shrinks in her strength, she destroys the child and herself at the same time; for she cannot bring forth without exertion. Since then the safety of the woman depends on the exertion made, the Prophet now says, that the contrary would be the case with the people of Israel. They are, he says, like a woman in travail; but they are at the same time blinded with folly, for they retain the child in the womb and make no effort: so this parturition must at last be fatal to them. Why? Because they make no effort to bring forth the child.
The Prophet by these figurative representations no doubt glances at the obstinate hardness of the people; for when they ought to bewail and humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, we know how perversely they hardened themselves against all punishment. Since, then, this people did thus as it were champ the bridle, and at the same time make hard their heart, partly by their fierce temper, partly by stupidity, partly by desperation, it was no wonder that the Prophet said that they were an unwise and insane people, for they stayed at the breaking forth of children; that is they made no effort to obtain the wished-for end to their evils. For when the Lord afflicts us, and we bring forth, this bringing forth is our deliverance. Now, how can there be deliverance except we hate ourselves for our sins, except we raise up our minds to God, and thus open a passage for God’s grace? But when we oppose God pertinaciously through our fierceness and stupidity, it is the same as if one closed up every avenue. We now then see how appropriate is this metaphor used by the Prophet, when he says that the people were mad; for when the time of bringing, forth came, they stayed in the breaking forth; that is, at the opening of the womb, for this is what the Prophet means by the word. Since then they stayed in the very opening, and restrained, as it were, every effort, and ceased from all strivings, they must have perished. We now see what the obstinacy of men produces when they harden themselves, when they thus contracts as it were, within narrow limits their heart and mind and all their faculties. For when a woman who is in travail restrains all efforts, she wilfully seeks death for herself: so they do the same who harden themselves against all punishments, and especially when the time of birth is come; and to this the word, breaking forth, refers: for when the Lord strikes us not only once, but continues to lay on us many stripes, so that we must either repent or perish for ever, it is the ripened time for bringing forth; for God then leads us to an extremity, and nothing remains for us but to humble ourselves under his mighty hand or to perish. The Prophet then calls that condition, the breaking forth, in which obstinate men continue, who will not obey God. It is necessary to join with these verses the two which follow: this I shall do to-morrow.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) Travailing woman.Ephraim is first addressed as a travailing woman; but the imagery passes to the condition of the unborn child, which tarries just where it should issue into the light of the world. Lack of seasonable repentance increases the danger at this critical stage of Israels destiny. The latter part of the verse is missed in the rendering of the English version. Read, For at the right time he standeth not in the place where children break forth. But the use of the Hebrew word for at the right time (th) is doubtful. Perhaps the word should be read attah (now), as Buhl, in Zeitschrift fr Kirchliche Wissenschaft, suggests. (Comp. Eze. 27:34.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him,
He is an unwise son,
For it is time he should not tarry,
In the place of the breaking forth of children.’
But there could be only one consequence of this. Instead of being a living son, led by leading reins, and protected in the wilderness (Hos 13:5-6; Hos 11:1; Hos 11:3-4), they would be like the son resulting from an untimely birth, trapped in the womb and without the strength to come forth. While his mother travails in sorrow and pain, he tarries in the womb and fails to proceed to the place of breaking forth of children. And finally he dies. And his mother dies with him. (It is not, of course, the still-born babe which is ‘unwise’ but those whom the still-born babe represents).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hos 13:13. The sorrow, &c. The sorrrows of a travailing woman shall come on his account: But he is a foolish infant; nor will he place himself where is the breaking forth of children. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Hos 13:13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he [is] an unwise son; for he should not stay long in [the place of] the breaking forth of children.
Ver. 13. The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him ] This commonwealth was before compared to a mother, Hos 1:1-11 Hos 3:1-5 . And as a woman that hath conceived is not for a while discerned to be with child till she biggen, and burnish, and grow near her time; so it is with sinners. See it elegantly set forth by St James, Jas 1:14-15 . The sorrows of a travailing woman are known to be unexpected, exquisite, and inevitable; so shall God’s judgments be upon the workers of iniquity, such as they shall never be able to avert, to avoid, or to abide. This is set forth by an apt similitude, ordinary in Holy Scripture, Mic 4:9-10 Psa 48:7 Jer 49:24 ; Jer 50:43 . And whereas some might say, A travailing woman is soon delivered; her pain is sharp, but short; she hath hope, not only of an end but of a birth; the joy whereof maketh her remember her anguish no more, Joh 16:21 ; the prophet replieth, that it is otherwise with Ephraim.
He is an unwise son
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
shall come, &c. Isa 13:8. Jer 30:6. Mat 24:8.
an unwise son. Note the Figure of speech Meiosis (App-6), for emphasis, meaning a most foolish son.
stay long = linger.
in the place, &c.: i.e. in the act of being born. Compare 2Ki 19:3.
children = sons.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
sorrows: Psa 48:6, Isa 13:8, Isa 21:3, Jer 4:31, Jer 13:21, Jer 22:23, Jer 30:6, Jer 49:24, Mic 4:9, Mic 4:10, 1Th 5:3
an: Pro 22:3, Act 24:25
for he: 2Ki 19:3, Isa 26:17, Isa 37:3, Act 16:29-34, 2Co 6:2, Heb 3:7, Heb 3:8
long: Heb. a time
Reciprocal: Isa 26:18 – we have been in Oba 1:7 – there is Joh 5:4 – first Joh 16:21 – woman
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hos 13:13. The thought of the pre-ceding verse is continued in this, but it is represented in a figure. The pains of approaching childbirth are used to compare those soon to come upon Is-rael when the time arrives for him to go through the ordeal of invasion and overthrow. The figure is continued and is worded to fit the facts as they were to occur. The pains of the birth were not to be continuous or lasting as is sometimes the case, which is indicated by the words not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children. The fulfillment of this was to be when the captivity (the event illustrated by the pains of childbirth) would be ended. This passage lays the foundation for a wonderful twofold prediction of the rescue of Israel from the national grave, and that of mankind from the literal grave at the resurrection.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
13:13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he [is] an unwise son; for he should not stay long in [the place of] the {i} breaking forth of children.
(i) But would come out of the womb, that is out of these dangers in which he is, and not wait to be suppressed.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Israel was like a baby that refused to come out of its mother’s womb in the sense that it refused to leave its comfortable sin. Despite the mother’s (God’s) strenuous efforts to bring the child into freedom, Israel refused to repent. This was evidence that Israel was a foolish child. She would die rather than leave her sins, apparently feeling that the proper time for repenting was not yet.