Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 8:3
Israel hath cast off [the thing that is] good: the enemy shall pursue him.
3. The appeal is dismissed; Israel’s piety is but superficial (comp. Hos 6:1-4); his ‘knowledge of God’ is not that which Jehovah expects.
hath cast off ] Not merely put aside out of caprice, but (as the word implies) cast off with loathing (see Hos 8:5).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Israel has cast off the thing that is good – Or (since the word means to cast off with abhorrence Israel hath east off and abhorred Good, both Him who is Good and that which is good. The word tob includes both. They rejected good in rejecting God , Who is simply, supremely, wholly, universally good, and good to all, the Author and Fountain of all good, so that there is nothing simply good but God; nothing worthy of that title, except in respect of its relation to Him who is good and doining good Psa 119:68. So then whatsoever any man hath or enjoys of good, is from his relation to Him, his nearness to Him, his congruity with Him. The drawing near to God is good to me Psa 73:28. All that any man hath of good, is from his being near to God, and his being, as far as human condition is capable of, like unto Him. So that they who are far from Him, and put Him far from them, necessarily cast off all that is good.
The enemy shall pursue him – Forsaking God, and forsaken by Him, they must needs be laid open to all evils. The enemy, i. e., the Assyrian, shall pursue him. This is according to the curse, denounced against them in the law, if they should forsake the Lord, and break His covenant, and not hearken to His voice to observe to do His commandments Deu 28:15-25.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Hos 8:3
Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.
The chastening of them that forsake God
In this short sentence we have at once the sin of Israel and his punishment. Consider the various ways in which Israel may be said to have cast off the thing that is good.
I. By their murmurings. So long as they trusted Gods Word, they continued to walk safely. When they began to murmur, Amalek came upon them.
II. By their idolatries. When God was arranging for their worship, they made and worshipped the golden calves.
III. By their rebellion. As in their response to the message of the returned spies. Referring to Israel in their later history, we may say–
IV. By their rejection of Christ. Because, when Messiah did come, He did not suit their expectations, they despised and rejected Him. And the enemy was not slow in pursuing them. Their city was destroyed, and they were scattered over the earth. This threat is not confined to Israel. It is equally applicable to nations and to individuals now. (N. Ashby.)
Good rejected
Him who is good, That which is good. The word tob includes both. They rejected good in rejecting God, who is simply, supremely, wholly, universally good, and good to all, the Author and Fountain of all good, so that there is nothing simply good but God, nothing worthy of that title, except in respect of its relation to him who is good and doing good. (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)
The abandonment of good, and consequent pursuit of evil
I. The abandonment of good. Israel hath rejected what is good. The good here is the true worship of the true God.
1. True, Worship is the good thing for man. It is good not only because God requires it, but because it is the necessary condition of spiritual life, growth, harmony, and blessedness.
2. This good thing man sometimes abandons. Moral mind has the power of abandoning the highest good.
3. The abandonment of this good thing imperils the soul. Moral good is the only effective safeguard of the spirit; when this is given up, or cast off, all the gates of the soul are thrown open to tormenting fiends.
II. The consequent pursuit of evil. Set up kings, but not by Me. Reference is to Jeroboam and his successors. From kings of their own making came the setting up of the idolatrous calf-worship. So they went wrong in their politics and in their religion. Let a man go wrong in his relations to God, and he will go wrong in all his relations, secular and spiritual, There is nothing in connection with the human race of such transcendent importance as worship. The religious element is the strongest of all elements, and men must have a god of some sort, and their god will fashion their character and determine their destiny. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
This seems to be the answer God by his prophet gives to Israel; in the first part of the verse he doth refute their pretence of a peculiar relation and interest in God, in the latter he tells them what they must expect.
Israel, the whole house of Israel, hath. east off, with an abhorrence, as an adulterous wife puts away her husband.
Good; moral good to be done, all virtue and goodness; and the supreme good to be enjoyed, God, true religion and virtue; all cast off for idols, false religion, and debaucheries. Such a nation cannot be my people, nor do they know me.
The enemy shall pursue him; that enemy he would be delivered from, the Assyrian army, shall overthrow, and then pursue, till he have cooped him up in Samaria, and till he have brought them captives out of their own land into Chalah, Chabor, and Gozan, &c. By this they shall know that I know them, their transgressions and hypocrisy.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. IsraelGod repeats the namein opposition to their use of it (Ho8:2).
the thing that is goodJEROMEtranslates, “God” who is good and doing good (Ps119:68). He is the chief object rejected, but with Him also allthat is good.
the enemy shall pursue himinjust retribution from God.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Israel hath cast off [the thing that is] good,…. Or “rejected [him that is] good” y; that is, God, as Kimchi observes; for there is none good but him, Mt 19:17; he is the “summum bonum”, “the chiefest good” to men, and is essentially, originally, and infinitely good in himself, and the fountain of all goodness to his creatures; and yet Israel has rejected him with detestation and contempt, as the word z signifies, though they pretended to know him, which shows their hypocrisy; and therefore it is no wonder that their prayers were rejected by him: or they rejected the good word of God, the law, or doctrine contained in it, and the good worship, service, and fear of God, and indeed everything that was good, just, and right. Cocceius renders it, “the good One”, or he that is God, the good God, “hath cast off Israel”. This reading of the words Drusius also mentions, and seems to like best, and as agreeing with what follows; so Rivet; but the position of the words in the Hebrew text, and the accents, do not favour it;
the enemy shall pursue him; who is before compared to an eagle, which flies swiftly, and pursues its prey with eagerness and fierceness: Shalmaneser is meant, who should invade the land, come up to Samaria, besiege and take it; nothing should stop him, nor should Israel escape from him, since they had cast off the Lord, and everything that was good. The Targum is,
“the house of Israel have erred from my worship, for the sake of which I brought good things upon them; henceforward the enemy shall pursue them.”
y “deseruit Israel bonum, i. e. Deum”, Vatablus, Munster, Tarnovius, Zanchius. z “Abominatus est”, Calvin, Zanchius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But this knowledge of God, regarded simply as a historical acquaintance with Him, cannot possibly bring salvation. Hos 8:3. “Israel dislikes good; let the enemy pursue it.” This is the answer that God will give to those who cry to Him. denotes neither “Jehovah as the highest good” (Jerome) or as “the good One” (Sims.), nor “the good law of God” (Schmieder), but the good or salvation which Jehovah has guaranteed to the nation through His covenant of grace, and which He bestowed upon those who kept His covenant. Because Israel has despised this good, let the enemy pursue it.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The verb זנח, zanech, means “to remove far off,” and “to throw to a distance;” and sometimes, as some think, “to detest.” There is here, I doubt not, an implied contrast between the rejection of good and the pursuing of which the Prophet speaks afterwards, Israel has driven good far from himself; some expound טוב, thub, of God himself, as if it was of the masculine gender: but the Prophet, I have no doubt, simply accuses the Israelites of having receded from all justice and uprightness; yea, of having driven far off every thing right and just. Israel, then, has repelled good; the enemy, he says, will pursue him There is a contrast between repelling and pursuing, as though the prophet said, that the Israelites had by their defection obtained this, that the enemy would now seize them. There is then no better defense for us against all harms than attention to piety and justice; but when integrity is banished from us, then we are exposed to all evils, for we are deprived of the aid of God. We then see how beautifully the Prophet compares these two things — the rejection of good by Israel — and their pursuit by their enemies. He then adds —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) Cast off.Jehovahs reply to Israels hollow repentance. The word cast off means a scornful loathing of what is putrescent or obscene. The thing that is good is the name of God, which is the salvation of Israel (Aben Ezra).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Israel hath cast off the thing that [“that which”] is good Everything for which Jehovah stands; yea, Jehovah himself (compare Amo 5:4; Amo 5:6; Amo 5:14).
Cast off A strong word, to cast off with loathing. Now they must suffer the consequences; the enemy will execute judgment.
The enemy shall pursue him May also be rendered, let the enemy pursue him, expressing the decision of Jehovah that the enemy is to be allowed to proceed unhindered.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Hos 8:3. Israel hath cast off Israel, Israel, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Hos 8:3 Israel hath cast off [the thing that is] good: the enemy shall pursue him.
Ver. 3. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good ] Heb. the good: as, first, the good God, who is good, original, universal, all-sufficient, and satisfactory, proportionable and fitting to our soul. He both is good and doeth good, Psa 119:68 , and that both naturally, abundantly, freely, and constantly. “Good thou art, O Lord, and ready to forgive,” saith David, Psa 86:5 . And, the good Lord be merciful, saith Hezekiah in his prayer for the people, 2Ch 30:9 ; 2Ch 30:18 . To speak properly, there is none good but God, saith our Saviour, Mat 19:17 , but Israel cast him, or rather kicked him, off ( procul a se reiecit ), as the word signifieth. So do all gross hypocrites; they are rank atheists, practical atheists, though professional Christians. Secondly, they reject Christ as a sovereign, thongh they could be content to have him as a Saviour; they send messages after him, saying, We will not have this man to rule ever us; they will not submit to the laws of his kingdom, nor receive him in all his offices and efficacies; they are Christless creatures, as without God, so without Christ in the world. Thirdly, hypocrites reject the good Spirit of God (as David calleth him, Psa 143:10 ), the fruit whereof is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth, Eph 5:9 . When God striveth with them by his good Spirit, as Neh 9:20 they, by yielding to Satan’s suggestions, grieve that Holy Spirit, and by grieving resist him, and by resisting quench him, and by quenching maliciously oppose him, and offer despite unto him; and so cast themselves into the punishing hands of the living God, Heb 10:29 ; Heb 10:31 . Lastly, they cast off the good word and true worship of God; those “right judgments, true laws, good statutes and commandments,”Neh 9:13Neh 9:13 ; they put the promises from them, and judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life, Act 13:46 ; they hate instruction, and cast God’s words behind them, Psa 50:17 . In a word, “he hath left off to be wise, and to do good: he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil,” Psa 36:3-4 . The words may be read thus, The good (God) hath rejected Israel; the enemy, shall pursue him according to that in the Psalm, “God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him,” Psa 71:11 . Sure it is that the Lord is with us while we are with him; and if we seek him he will be found of us. But if we forsake him he will forsake us. And if he forsake us woe be to us, Hos 9:12 , we are in danger to be caught up by every paltry enemy, as young lapwings are to be snatched up by every buzzard. If Israel cast away the thing that is good, 2Ch 15:2 , what marvel if evil hunt him to overthrow him, Psa 140:11 , and if he find himself in all evil in the midst of the congregation and the assembly, Pro 5:14 . Hence Cain’s fear, when cast out by God; and Saul’s complaint, that the Philistines were upon him, and God had forsaken him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the thing that is good = the Gracious One. Compare Hos 3:5; Hos 14:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
cast: Psa 36:3, Psa 81:10, Psa 81:11, Amo 1:11, 1Ti 5:12
the enemy: Lev 26:36, Deu 28:25, Lam 3:66, Lam 4:19
Reciprocal: Job 35:13 – God Mat 7:21 – saith Mar 7:6 – honoureth Tit 1:16 – profess 1Jo 2:4 – I know
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hos 8:3. The thing that Israel had cast off was the covenant of the Lord. The enemy will be the Assyrian, and the prediction was fulfilled in 2 Kings 17.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Because Israel had rejected the good (i.e., the Lord’s moral and ethical requirements), an enemy would pursue him (cf. Deu 28:45).