Bible Commentary

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for [it is] time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 12. If only a moral miracle could take place, Israel’s calamities might yet be averted. Nor is it entirely inconceivable, for miracles, so Hosea thinks, can … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:12”

And Ephraim [is as] a heifer [that is] taught, [and] loveth to tread out [the corn]; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, [and] Jacob shall break his clods. 11. And Ephraim, &c.] Rather, Ephraim indeed is a heifer broken in and loving to thresh, … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:11”

[It is] in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. 10. Jehovah’s rejoinder to this tacit challenge. It is in my desire ] Rather, When I desire, I will chastise them, and peoples (i. e. hostile armies), &c. … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:10”

O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. 9. thou hast sinned ] The prophet’s language is correct from his own point of view. True, Israel as a people took summary vengeance on the Benjamites for the … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:9”

The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us. 8. The high places also of Aven ] Perhaps the same as Beth-aven, i.e. Bethel … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:8”

[As for] Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water. 7. her king ] i. e. not merely the king who happened to be on the throne, but the monarchy itself (as Hos 10:15). Others, less probably, her idol-god (comp. Amo 5:26). as the foam, &c.] A striking figure, and singled … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:7”

It shall be also carried unto Assyria [for] a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel. 6. It shall be also ] Rather, This also (viz. the steer) shall be. for a present to king Jareb ] Just as the kings of Judah repeatedly gave … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:6”

The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof [that] rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. 5. shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven ] The statement is keenly ironical. So far … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:5”

They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field. 4. They have spoken words ] i.e. mere ‘words of the lips’ (Isa 36:5, comp. Isa 58:13), and, as the context shows, deliberate falsehoods (comp. Isa 29:21). swearing falsely in making a covenant … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:4”

For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us? 3. For now they shall say ] Rather, Yea then, &c. They shall come to perceive that the kings set up on their own authority (Hos 8:4) cannot help nor deliver them. … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:3”