Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 4:16
For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
16. slideth back as a backsliding heifer ] Rather, is stubborn like a stubborn heifer. A favourite figure of the prophets, Hos 11:4; Jer 31:18; comp. Deu 32:15.
now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place ] Israel in the weakness of captivity is compared to a lamb in a large pasture-ground, which is an object of attack to all the wild beasts prowling about so most commentators explain. But ‘a large place’ is everywhere else an image for prosperity (see Psa 18:19; Psa 31:8; Psa 118:5), and Isaiah in describing a happy future says, ‘in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures (Isa 30:23).’ It is much safer, therefore, following Ewald and Hitzig, to take the passage as an incredulous exclamation or question, this being so, should the Lord feed them as a lamb in a large meadow! In fact, a prophet would hardly have said that Jehovah shepherded His people during the Dispersion (see Eze 34:11-14), and in the very next verse Jehovah exclaims, ‘Let him alone.’ On the other hand, the clause, thus translated, fits most naturally into the context, ‘Israel is a stubborn heifer, how then should it expect to be treated as kindly as a lamb?’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For Israel slideth back, as a backsliding heifer – The calves which Israel worshiped were pictures of itself. They represented natural, untamed, strength, which, when put to service, started back and shrank from the yoke. Untractable, petulant, unruly, wanton, it withdrew from the yoke, when it could; if it could not, it drew aside or backward, instead of forward. So is it rare, exceeding rare, for man to walk straight on in Gods ways; he jerks, writhes, twists, darts aside here and there, hating nothing so much as one straight, even, narrow tenor of his ways.
Now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place – The punishment of Israel was close at hand, now. It would not have the straitness of Gods commandments; it should have the wideness of a desert. God would withdraw His protecting providence from them: He would rule them, although unfelt in His mercy. At large, they wished to be; at large they should be; but it should be the largeness of a wilderness where is no way. There, like a lamb, they should go astray, wandering up and down, unprotected, a prey to wild beasts. Woe is it to that man, whom, when he withdraws from Christs easy yoke, God permits to take unhindered the broad road which leadeth to destruction. To Israel, this wide place was the wide realms of the Medes, where they were withdrawn from Gods worship and deprived of His protection.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Hos 4:16
Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer.
The evil and danger of backsliding
I. When we may be said to resemble a backsliding heifer.
1. When we will not draw in Gods yoke at all.
2. When we draw in it only by fits and starts.
3. When we grow weary of the yoke. Weary of performing our duties, exercising our graces, mortifying our lusts.
II. The evil and danger of such a state.
1. The evil of it. It is a contemning of God. It is a justifying of the wicked. It is a discouraging of the weak.
2. The danger of it. This is an iniquity which God marks with peculiar indignation. The first symptoms of declension lead, if not speedily mourned over and resisted, to utter apostasy. The misery that will be incurred by means of it will far exceed all that had been endured if no profession of religion had been ever made. Let these consequences be duly weighed, and nothing need be added to show the importance of holding fast our profession without wavering.
Improve the subject.
1. Assist you in ascertaining your state before God. Examine diligently the cause, the duration, and the effects of your backslidings.
2. Give a word of counsel to those in different states. Are you altogether backslidden from God? He invites you to return. Are you drawing in His yoke? Bless and adore your God, who has inclined and enabled you to do so. (O. Simeon, M. A.)
A backslider
It is a striking fact to which careful observers of the feathered tribe will bear witness, that no birds are able to fly backward. A bird may allow itself to fall backward by slowing its wings, until its weight overcomes their sustaining power, as a swallow will do from the eaves of a house. But the bird can do no other than fly forward, and but few with the rarest skill can stand still in the air. Now if mankind would only consider the birds of the air in the way in which Christ enjoined, there would be considerably less backsliding than there is. Like the wings of the soaring eagle, the wings of faith were never intended for flying backward. A ministers little girl and her playmate were talking about serious things. Do you know what a backslider is? she questioned. Yes; its a person that used to be a Christian and isnt, said the playmate promptly. But what do you spose makes them call them backsliders? Oh, thats easy. You see, when people are good they go to church and sit up in front. When they get a little tired of being good they slide back a seat, and keep on sliding till they get clear back to the door. After awhile they slide clear out and never come to church at all.
The stubborn heifer
What is a backsliding heifer? We do not know; there is no such creature. But read: Israel acts stubbornly, like a heifer, and the meaning is clear. The heifer will not go as its owner wants it to go. The heifer stands back when it ought to go forward; turns aside when it ought to move straight on; wriggles and twists, and, as it were, protests; and only by greater strength, or by the infliction of suffering, can the heifer be made to go to its destined place. The prophet, looking upon that heifer, now on the right, now on the left, now stooping, now throwing up its head in defiance, says, Such is Israel, such is Ephraim. The metaphor is full of suggestion, and full of high philosophy. Israel complained of limitation; Israel was chafed by the yoke; Israel resented the puncture of the goad. Israel said, I want liberty, I do not want this moral bondage any longer; I do not want to be surrounded by commandments, I do not want to live in a cage of ten bars called the ten commandments of God; I want liberty; let me follow my reason, my instincts; let me obey myself. The Lord said, So be it. Thou shalt have liberty enough, but it shall be the liberty of a wilderness. You can have liberty, but you will find no garden in it; if you want the garden, you must have the law. Let us take care how we trifle with law, obligation, responsibility, limitation. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. Israel slideth back] They are untractable, like an unbroken heifer or steer, that pulls back, rather than draw in the yoke.
Will feed them as a lamb in a large place.] A species of irony. Ye shall go to Assyria, and be scattered among the nations; ye may sport yourselves in the extensive empire, wither ye shall be carried captives.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There is just cause why Judah should not imitate Israel, and this cause is here assigned.
Israel; the ten tribes
As a backsliding heifer, grown lusty, fed and wanton, will neither endure the yoke to work, nor be confined in her allowed. pastures, breaks over all bounds, casts off all service, so as Israel, as Hos 4:7, which see.
Now; ere long, or suddenly; so Hos 2:10.
The Lord, offended by their sins, and provoked to displeasure,
will feed them as a lamb in a large place; in their sinning they were like an untamed heifer, boundless, strong, and stood upon their defence, but in their punishments they shall be like a lamb, solitary, full of fears, in a large place or wilderness, where is no rest, safety, or provision: such shall be the condition of the ten captivated tribes. This is a proverbial speech, setting forth the forlorn state which Israel ere long should fall under.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. backslidingTranslate,”Israel is refractory, as a refractory heifer,” namely, onethat throws the yoke off her neck. Israel had represented God underthe form of “calves” (1Ki12:28); but it is she herself who is one.
lamb in a large placenotin a good sense, as in Isa 30:23.Here there is irony: lambs like a large pasture; but it is not sosafe for them as a small one, duly fenced from wild beasts. God will”feed” them, but it shall be with the “rod” (Mic7:14). It shall be no longer in the narrow territory of Israel,but “in a large place,” namely, they shall be scattered inexile over the wide realm of Assyria, a prey to their foes; as lambs,which are timid, gregarious, and not solitary, are a prey whenscattered asunder to wild beasts.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer,…. A heifer or young cow Israel is compared unto; the rather, because of the object of their idolatrous worship, the calves at Dan and Bethel: the Septuagint calls them “heifers”: which they are hereby put in mind of, and upbraided with; as also to express their brutish stupidity in worshipping such idols, in which they obstinately persisted: and so were like a “refractory” and “untamed” heifer, as some w render it, which will not be kept within bounds, either within doors or without, but breaks through, and passes over, all fences and enclosures; as they did, who transgressed the laws of God, and would not be restrained by them: or like a heifer unaccustomed to the yoke, which will not submit to it, but wriggles its neck from under it: so the Israelites would not be subject to the yoke of the law of God, were sons of Belial, children without a yoke; or like one, though yoked, yet would not draw the plough, but slid back in the furrows, even though goaded; so they, though stimulated by the prophets, whose words were as goads and pricks to push them on, yet would not hearken to them, but pulled away the shoulder, and slid back from the ways and worship of God; hence called backsliding Israel, Jer 3:6, and this is either a reason why Judah should not follow their example, because backsliders, or why they should be punished, as follows:
now, or “therefore” x,
the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place: not that they were like lambs for the good properties of them, innocence, harmlessness, meekness, and patience; nor fed as the Lord feeds his lambs, and gathers them in his arms; but either as a heifer in sheep pasture, in short commons, for that creature cannot live where sheep and lambs can; or rather as a lamb that is alone, separate from the flock, not under the care of any shepherd; but exposed to every beast of prey upon a large common, on a wild desert and uncultivated place; afraid of every thing it hears and sees; bleating after its dam, of whose sustenance and nourishment it is destitute; and so is expressive of the state and condition of Israel in captivity, in the large Assyrian empire; and dispersed among the nations, where they were weak and helpless, destitute of all good things, and exposed to all dangers, and to every enemy. Aben Ezra and Kimchi understand the words in a good sense, that the Lord would have fed them as lambs in a large place, in an affluent manner, but that they rebelled and backslided: and to this sense the Targum seems to incline, which paraphrases the whole verse thus,
“for as an ox which is fattened and kicks, so Israel rebels because of the multitude of good things; now the Lord will lead them as a choice lamb in a valley,”
or plain: and so Noldius, “though Israel is refractory”, c.
notwithstanding the Lord will feed them, c. and indeed the phrase is used in a good sense in Isa 30:23, but there herds and flocks are spoken of, and not a single lamb, as here though Kimchi thinks the singular is put for the plural, lamb for lambs.
w “refractaria”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius, Schmidt “indomita”, Calvin, Drusius. x “quare, ideo, nunc itaque”, Schmidt; “igitur nunc”, Coeceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The reason for this warning is given in Hos 4:16., viz., the punishment which will fall upon Israel. Hos 4:16. “For Israel has become refractory like a refractory cow; now will Jehovah feed them like a lamb in a wide field.” , unmanageable, refractory (Deu 21:18, cf. Zec 7:11). As Israel would not submit to the yoke of the divine law, it should have what it desired. God would feed it like a lamb, which being in a wide field becomes the prey of wolves and wild beasts, i.e., He would give it up to the freedom of banishment and dispersion among the nations.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Prophet compares Israel here to an untamable heifer. Some render it, “A straying heifer”, and we may render it, “A wanton heifer.” But to others a defection seems to have been more especially intended, because they had receded or departed from God: but this comparison is not so apposite. They render it, “As a backsliding,” or “receding heifer:” but I prefer to view the word as meaning, one that is petulant or lascivious: and the punishment which is subjoined, The Lord will now feed them as a tender lamb in a spacious place, best agrees with this view, as we shall immediately see.
It must, in the first place, be understood, that Israel is compared to a heifer, and indeed to one that is wanton, which cannot remain quiet in the stall nor be accustomed to the yoke: it is hence subjoined, The Lord will now feed them as a lamb in a spacious place The meaning of this clause may be twofold; the first is, that the Lord would leave them in their luxuries to gorge themselves according to their lust, and to indulge themselves in their gormandizing; and it is a dreadful punishment, when the Lord allays not the intemperateness of men, but suffers them to wanton without any limits or moderation. Hence some give this meaning to the passage, God will now feed them as a lamb, that is, like a sheep void of understanding, and in a large place, even in a most fruitful field, capable of supplying food to satiety. But it seems to me that the Prophet meant another thing, even this, that the Lord would so scatter Israel, that they might be as a lamb in a spacious place. It is what is peculiar to sheep, we know, that they continue under the shepherd’s care: and a sheep, when driven into solitude, shows itself, by its bleating, to be timid, and to be as it were seeking its shepherd and its flock. In short, a sheep is not a solitary animal; and it is almost a part of their food to sheep and lambs to feed together, and also under the eye of him under whose care they are. Now there seems to be here a most striking change of figure: They are, says the Prophet, like unnamable heifers, for they are so wanton that no field can satisfy their wantonness, as when a heifer would occupy the whole land. “Such then,” he says, “and so outrageous is the disobedience of this people, that they can no longer endure, except a spacious place be given to each of them. I will therefore give them a spacious place: but for this end, that each of them may be like a lamb, who looks around and sees no flock to which it may join itself.”
This happened when the land was stripped of its inhabitants; for then a small number only dwelt in it. Four tribes, as stated before, were first drawn away; and then they began to be like lambs in a spacious place; for God terrified them with the dread of enemies. The remaining part of the people was afterwards either dispersed or led into exile. They were, when in exile, like lambs, and those in a wide place. For though they lived in cottages, and their condition was in every way confined, yet they were in a place like the desert; for one hardly dared look on another, and waste and solitude met their eyes wherever they turned them. We see then what the Prophet meant by saying, They are like an untamable or a wanton heifer: “I will tame them, and make them like lambs; and when scattered, they will fear as in a wilderness, for there will be no flock to which they can come.” Let us proceed —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) Slideth back.More correctly, is stubborn as a stubborn cow.
Will feed them as a lamb in a large place.An expression of tender commiseration (so Ewald). But most commentators understand it in an unfavourable sense, i.e., will lead them forth into the desolate wilderness, a prey to wild beasts, or into the loneliness that a lamb would feel in a boundless pasture.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Hos 4:16 continues the description of the corrupt condition. Between 14 and 16 stands a verse containing an appeal to Judah to take warning, and abstain from Israel’s transgressions. The originality of this verse is questioned by many on the same grounds as those mentioned in connection with Hos 1:7. Others question the originality of 15a, referring 15b to Israel (compare Amo 4:4; Amo 5:5); but if any is denied to Hosea it should probably be the whole verse. As the verse stands at present the thought is that, if Israel is determined to continue in its apostasy, Judah ought to refuse to participate in its corrupt practices.
Play the harlot If original, the context favors a literal interpretation; if secondary, it is quite likely that spiritual harlotry is meant.
Offend Better, with R.V. margin, “become guilty,” by participating in the whoredom. Whether spiritual or physical, this was committed at the sanctuaries (13, 14); therefore Judah is admonished to remain away from them.
Gilgal See on Amo 4:4.
Beth-aven The name of a place southeast of Beth-el (Jos 7:2; 1Sa 13:5); but Amo 4:4; Amo 5:5, make it more than probable that the prophet is thinking of Beth-el, the chief sanctuary of the northern kingdom. Its name means house of God; it is such no longer; therefore the prophet substitutes the other name meaning, house of vanity, or wickedness. On Beth-el see Amo 3:14. Nor swear, [“As”]
Jehovah liveth The common formula of an oath (Deu 6:13; Deu 10:20; 1Sa 14:39, etc.). To swear by the name of Jehovah is ordered in Deuteronomy; it is hardly likely, therefore, that the words of Hosea are to be understood as an attempt to abolish the formula entirely. What the prophet does deprecate are the oaths sworn by Jehovah in connection with the corrupt practices at Beth-el and Gilgal (Amo 8:14). What under normal conditions would be perfectly proper, under present conditions has become an abomination. Chiefly in view of Amo 5:5; Amo 8:14, several commentators suggest that Beer-sheba, the third sanctuary mentioned by Amos, was either read here originally or, at least, implied: “Nor swear at Beer-sheba, As Jehovah liveth.”
Hos 4:16 does not connect with 15, but with 14, unless 15a is omitted and 15b is understood as addressed to Israel; at any rate, 16 continues the description of Israel’s depravity.
For Better, verily, surely (G.-K., 148d).
Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer R.V., “Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer”; or simply, Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. Israel absolutely refuses to submit to the divine purpose (Deu 32:15).
Now Jehovah will feed them as a lamb in a large place Understood commonly as a threat. “As Israel would not submit to the yoke of the divine law, it should have what it desired. God would feed it like a lamb which, being in a wide field, becomes a prey of the wolves and wild beasts” (Keil). Similarly Delitzsch, “Jehovah will find means to make the obstinate heifer which will not wear the yoke quiet as a lamb; and the heifer which will not plow the fields of its own country shall roam like a tame lamb the wide plains of strangers.” A serious objection to this rendering is that large place everywhere else is a symbol of prosperity (Isa 30:23; Psa 18:19; Psa 31:8, etc.). The difficulty disappears if the clause is translated as a rhetorical question or exclamation: “(This being so) shall now Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place?” Answer, Certainly not. Or, as Cheyne renders with some freedom, “Israel is a stubborn heifer; how then should it expect to be treated kindly as a lamb?”
What its treatment shall be is stated in Hos 4:17. Marti omits the words entirely; Hos 4:17 he abbreviates; in 18a he alters the text so that 16, 17, 18a read, “For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer; Ephraim is joined to idols, a company of drunkards.” These changes are unwarranted.
Ephraim Israel. Ephraim was the most prominent tribe of the north (Hos 13:1).
Joined to idols Is so bound up with its idols that it cannot give them up (Isa 44:11). Nominally Israel retained Jehovah worship, but it appropriated so many heathen elements that to Hosea it appeared to be idolatry.
Let him alone The speaker is Jehovah (compare Hos 4:12; Hos 4:14); the one addressed can only be the prophet, not Judah; he is to leave Israel to its fate, since nothing can be done with or for it (2Sa 16:11; 2Ki 23:18). LXX. offers a text which may be rendered either “which (the idols) he (Ephraim) made for himself stumbling-blocks,” or simply, “he made for himself stumbling-blocks.” Whether this represents the original it is difficult to say, the present Hebrew text gives good sense.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For Israel has behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Will YHWH then feed them as a lamb in a large place?’
In vivid terms Hosea then points out that Israel was like a stubborn heifer which digs its feet in and refuses to follow its owners, even when dragged with ropes. In the same way Israel has, as it were, dug in its feet firmly against YHWH and the requirements of His covenant. It refuses to respond to His call. And Hosea points out that this being so, they cannot expect YHWH to feed them like a lamb in an expansive pasture. This latter picture may well have been one popularly taught at the sanctuaries mentioned with the idea that YHWH would do precisely that. So Judah is being warned not to be deceived by the claims made by the sanctuaries.
Alternately we may translate as ‘YHWH will feed them as a lamb in a large place’, the idea being that YHWH will break their stubbornness by sending them like unresisting lambs to Sheol (the underworld), for who can resist death? Compare in this regard Psa 49:14, ‘like sheep they are laid in Sheol, death will pasture them –.’
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hos 4:16. For Israel slideth, &c. Houbigant renders it, As an untamed heifer, when the Lord would have fed them, &c. Dr. Chandler observes, that the word sorerah, rendered backsliding, properly signifies an untamed, refractory, mischievous heifer, wantonly running and frisking about, or stung by the gad-bee, and vexed by it almost to madness. The LXX render the words emphatically, As a stung heifer madly leaps about, so hath Israel grown mad, refractory, and obstinate. See Chandler’s Life of David, vol. 2: p. 59.
In a large place That is to say, in an uninclosed place, a wide common. They shall no longer be fed with care in the rich inclosures of God’s cultivated farm; but be turned out to browse the scanty herbage of the waste. That is, they shall be driven into exile among the heathen, freed from what they thought the restraints, and of consequence deprived of all the blessings and benefits, of religion. This dreadful menace is delivered in the form of severe derision: a figure much used by the prophets, especially by Hosea. Sheep love to feed at large. The sheep of Ephraim shall presently have room enough. They shall be scattered over the whole surface of the vast Assyrian empire, where they will be at liberty to turn very heathen.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1147
THE EVIL AND DANGER OF BACKSLIDING
Hos 4:16. Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer.
SUCH is the influence of bad example, that it is extremely difficult to withstand its attractions, even at the time that we behold its fatal effects. Israel, or the ten tribes, from their first apostasy under Jeroboam, were irreclaimably addicted to idolatry. The prophet, finding his efforts vain with respect to them, turns to Judah, and entreats that they would not tread in the steps of Israel [Note: ver. 15. At Gilgal and at Bethel, where God had formerly been worshipped, idols were now set up. The prophet, exhorting Judah not to go to those places, calls Beth-el (the house of God) Beth aven (the house of vanity).], who, like an untamed and refractory bullock, had entirely cast off the yoke, and refused all subjection to Jehovah.
Humiliating as this account of Israel is, it is but too just a representation of the Christian world, whose conduct is utterly unworthy of the name they bear, and from whose ways we cannot stand at too great a distance.
To impress this awful truth upon your minds, we propose to shew,
I.
When we may be said to resemble a backsliding heifer
We owe submission to our heavenly Master; but give too much reason for the comparison in the text. This resemblance may be seen in us,
1.
When we will not draw in Gods yoke at all
[Unconverted men in every age and place are rebels against God [Note: Exo 5:2. Psa 12:4. Jer 2:31; Jer 7:24.]: and, though all are not equally profligate in their manners, all are equally averse to spiritual employments: the law of God is considered as imposing on them an intolerable yoke, to which they will not, they cannot submit [Note: Rom 8:7.]. They are indeed subjected to it against their will; but neither chastisements nor encouragements can prevail upon them to draw in it: on the contrary, like a ferocious bullock, they are insensible of favours, and they fret at rebukes [Note: Jer 31:18.].]
2.
When we draw in it only by fits and starts
[Many appear willing to obey God in a time of sickness [Note: Isa 26:16.], or after some signal deliverance [Note: Psa 106:12-13.], or under an impressive sermon [Note: Exo 24:3; Exo 24:7. Jam. 24.], or during a season of peace and tranquillity [Note: Mat 13:21.]: but, as soon as ever the particular occasion that called forth their pious resolutions has ceased, or they find that they must suffer for Christs sake, they forget the vows that are upon them, and return to their former state of carelessness and indifference [Note: Psa 78:34-37.]. They renew their resolutions perhaps at certain seasons; but their goodness is as the morning dew, or as the early cloud that passeth away. Thus, like a heifer that will draw for one moment and will not the next, they are, in the strongest sense of the words, unprofitable servants.]
3.
When we grow weary of the yoke
[It is not uncommon for persons to go on well for a season, and yet draw back at last. They grow weary of performing their duties, of exercising their graces, of mortifying their lusts. If they maintain an observance of public duties, they become remiss in those of the family and the closet: their delight in the Scriptures languishes; their meditations are cold; their devotions formal. Their faith, their hope, their love operate with less vital energy: and their besetting sins, whatever they were, regain their strength, and resume their ascendancy. These are like a horse or bullock, which, after having yielded to the yoke for a season, becomes restive and ungovernable, and disappoints thereby the expectations of its owner.]
Lest the frequency of these characters should tempt us to think favourably of them, we proceed to shew,
II.
The evil and danger of such a state
We shall notice,
1.
The evil of it
[A backslidden state, in whomsoever it is found, is exceeding sinful: but in those who have made some profession of religion, it is attended with peculiar aggravations.
It is a contemning of God; of his Majesty, which demands our subjection, and of his mercy, which would accept and reward our poor services. And it is in this light that God himself frequently complains of it [Note: Num 11:20. 1Sa 2:30 and 2Sa 12:10. Psa 10:13.].
It is a justifying of the wicked; for it says to them, in fact, I was once as you are, and thought I should become happier by serving God: but I find by experience that there is no profit in serving him; and therefore I am returning to your state, which is, on the whole, the happier and more desirable.
It is a discouraging of the weak. Little do false professors think how much evil they do in this way [Note: Mal 2:8.]. Many are induced to follow their example in some things, under the idea that they are innocent; and are thus drawn from one sin to another, till they make shipwreck of a good conscience, and utterly turn away from the faith.
And need we multiply words any further to shew the evil of backsliding from God? Well does God himself call it a wonderful and horrible thing [Note: Jer 5:30.].]
2.
The danger of it
[This is an iniquity which God marks with peculiar indignation [Note: Jer 2:19; Jer 2:21-22,]; and never fails to visit it, sooner or later, with some awful token of his displeasure.
The first symptoms of declension lead, if not speedily mourned over and resisted, to utter apostasy [Note: Pro 14:14.]. The disposition to backslide will soon increase, till it become inveterate, and, unless by a marvellous interposition of God himself, incurable.
The misery that will be incurred by means of it will far exceed all that would have been endured, if no profession of religion had ever been made. If any man draw back, says God, my soul shall have no pleasure in him: he draws back to certain anil everlasting perdition [Note: Heb 10:38-39.]: and it would have been better for him never to have known the way of righteousness, than, after having known it, to turn back from it [Note: Mat 12:45. 2Pe 2:21.].
Let these consequences be duly weighed, and nothing need be added to shew us the importance of holding fast our profession without wavering.]
To improve this subject, we shall,
1.
Assist you in ascertaining your state before God
[Since all are bent to backslide more or less, it is of great importance to inquire of what kind our backslidings are, and to see whether they are merely the infirmities of an upright soul, or the revolt of an apostate. It is indeed difficult to determine this with precision; yet something may be said to aid you in this inquiry.
Examine diligently the cause, the duration, and the effects of your backslidings. Those of the sincere arise from the weakness of their flesh, while yet their spirit is as willing as ever: but those of the hypocrite proceed from a radical disaffection to the ways of God. Those of the sincere continue but a little time, and are an occasion of greater diligence: those of the hypocrite remain, and become the habit of his soul. Those of the sincere humble him in the dust: those of the hypocrite produce a blindness of mind, a scaredness of conscience, and a hardness of heart.
But though we thus discriminate for the information of your judgment, we recommend all to stand fast in the Lord, and to guard against the first risings of spiritual decay [Note: Gal 6:9.].]
2.
Give a word of counsel to those in different states
[Are you altogether backslidden from God? O return to him, and take upon you his light and easy yoke! He invites you with all the tenderness of a father [Note: Jer 3:12; Jer 3:14; Jer 3:22.]; he declares himself exceedingly averse to punish you according to your desert [Note: Hos 11:7-8.]; and he promises to heal your backslidings, and love you freely [Note: Hos 14:4.].
Are you drawing in his yoke? Bless and adore your God, who has inclined and enabled you to do so. It is his power, and his power alone, that has kept you hitherto [Note: 1Pe 1:5.]; and therefore he must have all the praise. And in order to your continued steadfastness, reflect often on the evil and danger of backsliding; I may add too, on the comfort and benefit of serving God. Surely He is a good Master. Let but your hearts be right with him, and none of his commandments will appear grievous to you [Note: 1Jn 5:3.]: on the contrary, you will find that in keeping his commandments there is great reward [Note: Psa 19:11.], and that your labour shall not be in vain with respect to the eternal world. Be ye faithful unto death, and he will give you a crown of life [Note: Rev 2:10.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Hos 4:16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
Ver. 16. For Israel slideth back, as a back sliding heifer ] Iuvenea petulca, as an unruly heifer, which kicketh against the milk pail, and wriggleth against the yoke. As a mad cow, , so the Septuagint. Mr Dearing told Queen Elizabeth in a sermon, that whereas once she wrote in Woodstock windows, tanquam ovis, as a sheep to the slaughter; now she was tanquam indomita iuvenca, as an untamed heifer; and might well fear lest God would feed her as a lamb in a large place as here, and feed her with his rod, as Mic 7:14 . The Chaldee rendereth, sicut bos qui saginatur et recalcitrat, as an ox that waxeth fat and kicketh. But the Hebrew word is feminine; and in all creatures, the female is observed to be more headlong and headstrong. (Virg. Georg. III):
“ Scilicet ante omnes furor est insignis equarum. ”
Heifers also are more wild, wanton, and untractable: noting the children of disobedience, those refractory rebels: that, as false jades, will not stand and pull (as countrymen call it), set their shoulders to the yoke, and their sides to the work, but give in and kick against the prick.
Now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
slideth back = hath been stubborn, restive, or intractable, refractory.
a lamb = a young ram of more than a year old.
in a large place = an uninclosed space: i. e. the lands of the heathen.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
slideth: Hos 11:7, 1Sa 15:11, Jer 3:6, Jer 3:8, Jer 3:11, Jer 5:6, Jer 7:24, Jer 8:5, Jer 14:7, Zec 7:11, *marg.
as a lamb: Lev 26:33, Isa 7:21-25, Isa 22:18
Reciprocal: 2Sa 22:20 – brought Pro 14:14 – backslider Isa 30:23 – thy cattle Jer 2:19 – and thy Jer 15:6 – thou art Jer 31:22 – backsliding Jer 49:4 – O backsliding Hos 10:11 – an heifer Zep 1:6 – turned
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hos 4:16. The original for backsliding is defined in the lexicon, “To be refractory, and that means to resist. In the case of a heifer it would mean she would throw off the yoke and refuse to pull her share of the load. Feed … (or pasture) them in a large place. A Iamb turned out into a large field would not have much chance In case of attack from wild beasts. God did not intend to let his people become entirely destroyed, but he did decree to “turn them out” into the wide field of exile in the Assyrian Empire.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Hos 4:16. For Israel slideth back, &c. As if the Lord had said, As for Israel, I give him up to a reprobate mind. And now the discourse passes naturally into the detail and amplification of Israels guilt. Bishop Horsley renders this clause, Truly Israel is rebellious like an unruly heifer; observing, I restore the rendering of the Bishops Bible, and the English Geneva. Certainly the word , here used, properly means headstrong, untractable, or refractory, and describes a heifer, indocili jugum collo ferens, untamed to the yoke, which she will neither bear, nor be confined in her allowed pasture. Now the Lord will feed them as a lamb Or sheep, solitary, timid, defenceless, and exposed to various beasts of prey; in a large place That is, In an unenclosed place, a wide common. They shall no longer be fed with care in the rich enclosures of Gods cultivated farm, but be turned to browse the scanty herbage of the waste. That is, they shall be driven into exile among the heathen, freed from what they thought the restraints, and of consequence deprived of all the blessings and benefits of religion. This dreadful menace is delivered in the form of severe derision; a figure much used by the prophets, especially by Hosea. Sheep love to feed at large. The sheep of Ephraim shall presently have room enough. They shall be scattered over the whole surface of the vast Assyrian empire, where they will be at liberty to turn very heathen. It is remarkable, however, that it is said that even in this state, Jehovah will feed them. They are still, in their utmost humiliation, an object of his care. Horsley.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a {u} lamb in a large place.
(u) God will so disperse them, that they will not remain in any certain place.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord asked rhetorically if He could continue to guide Israel as its Shepherd since it was not behaving like a compliant heifer or lamb but had become stubborn and obstinate. No, He could not.