16<\/strong>. Ephraim is smitten<\/em> ] Ephraim’s population is compared to the branches of a tree, and the national vitality to the root. The tree is ‘smitten’ by the withering heat, or by lightning, or, like Jonah’s ‘ricinus’, by ‘worms’ (Jon 4:7<\/span>), so that root and branches dry up; the idea of Hos 9:11<\/em><\/span> b<\/em> in figurative form. Comp. Amo 2:9<\/span>; Mal 4:1<\/span>.<\/p>\n yea<\/em> (even) though they bring forth<\/em> ] The prophet steps out of the language of metaphor, and repeats in effect Hos 9:12<\/span> a<\/em>. This defines the meaning of ‘bear no fruit’,<\/p>\n Ephraim is smitten – <\/B>The prophet, under the image of a tree, repeats the same sentence of God upon Israel. The word smitten is used of the smiting of the tree from above, especially by the visitation of God, as by blasting and mildew Amo 4:9<\/span>. Yet such smiting, although it falls heavily for the time, leaves hope for the future. He adds then, their root is also withered, so that they should bear no fruit; or if, perchance, while the root was still drying up and not quite dead, any fruit he yet found, yet will I slay, God says, the beloved, fruit of their womb, the desired fruit of their bodies, that which their souls longed for. : So long as they have children, and multiply the fruit of the womb, they think that they bear fruit, they deem not that their root is dried, or that they have been severed by the axe of excision, and rooted out of the land of the living; but, in the anguish at the slaying of those they most loved, they shall say, better had it been to have had no children.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 16<\/span>. Ephraim is smitten<\/B><\/I>] The thing being determined, it is considered as already done.<\/P> <\/P> Their root is dried up<\/B><\/I>] They shall never more be a kingdom. And they never had any political form from their captivity by the Assyrians to the present day.<\/P> <\/P> Yea, though they bring forth<\/B><\/I>] See Clarke on Ho 9:11<\/span>; “<\/I>Ho 9:12<\/I><\/span>“<\/I>.<\/P> <\/p>\n Ephraim is smitten:<\/B> this gives us some guess at the time of this prophecy, which was after Jeroboams death, in whose life and reign Ephraim was as a very flourishing tree, whose roots were full of sap and life; but after the death of this king they were, as here it is expressed, a tree smitten, as if scorched with lightning, or burnt up with a vehement and continued heat and drought by day; blasted they were, whatever was the means: or possibly it may refer to those seditions, civil wars, and rebellious conspiracies which (say some) did for some years afflict the kingdom of the ten tribes, which unnatural wars were as an axe to the root of this tree, and gave Pul king of Assyria opportunity and courage to set upon them, of whom they were forced to buy their peace at a dear rate, viz. a thousand talents of silver; or to the captivating of Naphtali, and taking many fortified towns out of Pekahs hand by Tiglath-pileser, who came up to the rescue of Ahaz, 2Ki 15<\/span>. <\/P> Their root is dried up; <\/B>this hath dried up the very roots of this tree; this blast from heaven hath not only scorched the top boughs, but rent the very body of this Israelitish tree, and hath spoiled its roots; or civil wars first, and foreign wars next, have cut up the roots of this tree, the strong and valiant young men, who were to perpetuate the life and beauty of this people. <\/P> They shall bear no fruit:<\/B> as such a dead root cannot spring out; so these Ephraimites never shall spring forth, they shall ever be barren. Though they bring forth<\/I>; suppose they should yet bring forth, (such a supposition you meet with Hos 9:12<\/span>, which see,) they shall not grow to maturity and greatness. <\/P> Yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb; <\/B>either by diseases, which are legibly from Gods hand, or by the sword of one another, or of a foreign invader: if you do not enumerate all the ways God will take, we are sure he will take ways enough to make good his own word, and slay their beloved children, those children that were the more beloved for that their parents had either few, or else had lost some they had before. <\/P> <\/p>\n 16.<\/B> The figures “root,””fruit,” are suggested by the word “Ephraim,”that is, fruitful<\/I> (see on Ho9:11, 12<\/span>). “Smitten,” namely, with a blight (Ps102:4<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n Ephraim is smitten<\/strong>,…. The people of the ten tribes, the kingdom of Israel, who had been like a tree planted in a pleasant place, Ho 9:13<\/span>; and were in very flourishing circumstances in the times of Jeroboam the second; but now were like a tree smitten with thunder and lightning, or hail stones, and beat to pieces; or with the heat of the sun, or with blasting winds, or by worms; as in the succeeding reigns, by the judgments of God upon them; by civil wars, conspiracies, and murders among themselves; and by the exactions of Pul and depredations of Tiglathpileser kings of Assyria; and quickly would be smitten again; the present being put for the future, because of the certainty of it, as usual in prophetic writings; or be utterly destroyed by Shalmaneser, and be no more a kingdom:<\/p>\n their root is dried up<\/strong>; like the root of a tree that has no sap and moisture in it, and can communicate none to the body and branches of the tree, which in course must die. This may be understood of their king, princes, nobles, and chief men, the support and strength of the nations; and of parents and heads of families, cut off by one judgment or another:<\/p>\n they shall bear no fruit<\/strong>; as a tree thus smitten, and its root dried up, cannot; so neither, this being their case, there would be none to beget, nor any to bear children, and bring them forth; called the fruit of the womb, in allusion to the fruit of trees:<\/p>\n yea, though they bring forth<\/strong>; though some of them should be spared, women with their husbands, and should procreate children:<\/p>\n yet will I slay [even] the beloved [fruit] of their womb<\/strong>; their children they should bring forth, on whom their affections were strongly set; and the rather, as they were but few, and from whom they had raised expectations of building up their families; even these the Lord would stay, or suffer to be slain, either by the sword of the enemy, or by famine, or by pestilence, or by some disease or another; so that there should be no hope of a future posterity, at least of no great number of them.<\/p>\n “Ephraim is smitten: their root is dried up; they will bear no fruit: even if they beget, I slay the treasures of their womb.<\/em> Hos 9:17<\/span>. My God rejects them: for they have not hearkened to Him, and they shall be fugitives among the nations.” <\/em> In Hos 9:16<\/span> Israel is compared to a plant, that is so injured by the heat of the sun (Psa 121:6<\/span>; Psa 102:5<\/span>), or by a worm (Jon 4:7<\/span>), that it dries up and bears no more fruit. The perfects are a prophetic expression, indicating the certain execution of the threat. This is repeated in Hos 9:16<\/span> in figurative language; and the threatening in Hos 9:11<\/span>, Hos 9:12<\/span>, is thereby strengthened. Lastly, in Hos 9:17<\/span> the words of threatening are rounded off by a statement of the reason for the rejection of Israel; and this rejection is described as banishment among the nations, according to Deu 28:65<\/span>.<\/p>\n The Prophet again threatens extreme vengeance to the Israelites. It is no wonder that the same sentence is so often repeated; for hypocrites, we know, too much flatter themselves, and are not frightened even by the most grievous threatening. As then hypocrites are so stupid, they must be often, nay, frequently pricked, and most sharply, that they may at length be awakened out of their torpor. Hence the Prophet repeats the threatening which he had often before announced, and says, that Israel had been so smitten, that their root had dried up The comparison is taken from a tree, which not only has had its branches cut off, but has also been torn from the roots. The meaning is, that God would take such vengeance on this miserable people, as wholly to destroy them, without any hope of recovery. The root then is dried up, they will produce fruit no more. <\/p>\n He then leaves this similitude or metaphor, and says, If they generate, I will slay the desirable fruit of their womb; that is, though some seed be begotten, I will yet destroy it. <\/p>\n We now then apprehend the design of the Prophet, which was to show, that the Lord would no more be content with some moderate punishment, for he had often found that this abandoned people were in vain chastised by paternal love; but that extreme vengeance awaited them, which would consume not only the men, but also their children so that no residue should remain. The reason is afterwards added — <\/p>\n (16) They shall bear no fruit<\/strong>.Ephraim, whose very name signifies fruitfulness.<\/p>\n ‘Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up,<\/p>\n They will bear no fruit.<\/p>\n Yes, though they bring forth,<\/p>\n Yet will I slay the beloved fruit of their womb.’<\/p>\n Hosea closes the passage as he opened it. Ephraim will be smitten, their root will be dried up, and they will bear no fruit (no birth, none with child, no conception – Hos 9:11<\/span>). And even those that they do bring forth, the beloved children of their womb, will be slain by YHWH (compare Hos 9:12<\/span>), probably by the sword of the Assyrians.<\/p>\n Hos 9:16<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Ephraim is smitten<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> Ephraim shall be smitten. Their root shall triumph: <\/em>Houbigant. This may be understood as spoken in the prophetic style, wherein a future event is frequently set forth as present. <\/p>\n REFLECTIONS.<\/strong>1st, Israel’s guilt and ruin are still the burden of the prophetic word. <\/p>\n 1. They are forbidden to rejoice as other people. <\/em>Though now, perhaps, their affairs might be flourishing, as under Jeroboam; or their harvest plenteous; yet, while their sins were so many, they ought to weep and lament, for judgment hung over their heads. Note; <\/em>The joys of the impenitent sinner are as unseemly as songs of mirth in the mouth of a dying malefactor. <\/p>\n 2. Their iniquities, which witnessed against them, should damp their mirth, and bring them to mourning. For thou hast gone a-whoring from thy God; <\/em>committing spiritual adultery, with stocks and stones: thou hast loved a reward upon every corn-floor; <\/em>prostituting themselves to their idols, regarding their corn and wine as their gifts, see chap. Hos 2:5<\/span>; Hos 2:12<\/span> and offering their tithes of first-fruits at the shrines of their idols, instead of the sanctuary at Jerusalem. Note; <\/em>(1.) They who place their affections on earthly goods, commit the same spiritual adultery, as if they worshipped an idol. (2.) Many spend freely on their lusts, what they would greatly grudge to employ in the service of God. <\/p>\n 3. Wrath is gone forth against them for their wickedness. [2.] They shall not dwell in the Lord’s land: <\/em>since they have broken the covenant on which they held possession, he, as proprietor, will resume the grant, and send them into a miserable captivity. They shall return to Egypt, <\/em>as fugitives and vagabonds flying from the sword of the Assyrians: and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria; <\/em>led captives thither, and driven through hunger to eat food forbidden by the law, and such as was unfit for men’s use. Note; <\/em>They who will not be governed by God’s laws, shall not dwell in his land. The wicked shall be cast into hell, with all the nations that forget God.<\/em> <\/p>\n [3.] In their dispersion they should be deprived of the possibility of keeping up any professions of religion, and have neither altar nor sacrifice. They shall not offer wine-offerings to the Lord; <\/em>much less any other oblations: neither shall <\/em>their sacrifices be pleasing unto him; <\/em>if they had power to offer them, their impenitence and hypocrisy would render them an abomination. Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; <\/em>instead of purging them from their sins, all that eat thereof shall be polluted, <\/em>see Lev 21:1<\/span>. Deu 26:14<\/span> for their bread for their soul, <\/em>either the common bread, that which fed them, or the Minchah, <\/em>the portion of bread or flour which accompanied the sin-offerings, shall not come into<\/em> the house of the Lord, <\/em>that glorious temple being destroyed; nor, if it stood, would their oblations be accepted. What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the Lord? <\/em>the sabbaths, new moons, &c. when, groaning under their burdens, they should neither have sacrifices to slay, nor an altar to offer them upon, nor permission to observe these solemn seasons? Note; <\/em>They who slight and abuse the means of grace that they enjoy, shall know, by dire experience in their loss, the value of the mercies that they disregarded. <\/p>\n [4.] They and their land shall be utterly destroyed. For lo, they are gone, because of destruction, <\/em>thinking to find refuge in Egypt from the sword of the Assyrians; but they are mistaken: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them; <\/em>one of the chief cities whither they fled, and where probably a great part of them died with the pestilence, or through want. The pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall posses them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles: <\/em>so utterly shall all their cities be demolished, and their land be desolate without inhabitant. Note; <\/em>There is no escaping from God: the sinner may fly to him, and find mercy: to attempt to fly from him is madness and must end in misery. <\/p>\n 2nd, To awaken their consciences God threatens them, 2. They would then change their sentiments, both concerning the false prophets and the true. They said in the days of their prosperity, concerning the true prophets who warned them of these judgments, The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad; <\/em>treating their persons with contempt, and their preaching as madness: but now it will appear that the false prophets in whom they trusted, who prophesied to them of peace, were the fools; their pretences to spirituality and inspiration, mere phrensies of the brain; and their promises of prosperity to a wicked people, direct madness; and to these delusions they were given up, for the multitude of <\/em>their iniquity, and <\/em>for their great hatred; <\/em>they hated God, his word, his ministers; and therefore he justly left them to themselves, to fill up the measure of their iniquities, and hasten their own destruction. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God; <\/em>was formerly on the Lord’s side, and received directions from him, and should be so now; but the prophet, <\/em>the false prophet, is a snare of a fowler in all his ways;<\/em> leading the people wrong by his example and his preaching; and hatred in the house of his God: <\/em>his lies being detected, he becomes execrable even at Beth-el: or, his hatred is bitter against those who cleave to the true worship of God, whom nevertheless the deceiver calls his God, <\/em>and from whom he pretends inspiration. Note; <\/em>(1.) It is no new thing for the true prophets to be branded as fools or madmen. (2.) They who hate the truth are justly given up to strong delusions to believe a lie. (3.) Hatred and contempt of God’s faithful ministers will shortly be severely punished. <\/p>\n 3. Their iniquities shall be discovered and recompensed. They have deeply corrupted themselves; <\/em>not only the false prophets, but the people in general, as in<\/em> the days of Gibeah, <\/em>advanced to the highest pitch of lasciviousness, cruelty, and contempt of God; therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins; <\/em>taking exemplary vengeance on them, as of old on that devoted city. I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; <\/em>took delight in them there, as a traveller who had found such refreshment in a barren place. I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig-tree at her first time; <\/em>pleased with their flourishing estate, delighting in them as his people, showering down upon them his blessings, and watching over them with constant care; which aggravated the baseness of their ingratitude, when they went to Baal-peor, <\/em>see Numbers 25<\/span> and separated themselves unto that shame; <\/em>joining in the obscene rites with which this idol was worshipped: and their abominations were according as they loved; <\/em>the daughters of Moab drew them into this abominable idolatry. Note; <\/em>(1.) The sinner’s iniquity will certainly sooner or later prove his shame. (2.) When the love of bad women rages in the heart, to please them the infatuated slave stops at no abominations. <\/p>\n 3rdly, The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men; and we see it, in the present instance, fearfully lighting upon the transgressors. 2. In hatred God will cast them off, and cast them out. They had given him indeed abundant provocation to do so. All their wickedness is in Gilgal, <\/em>which was become the chief place of their idolatrous worship; and thence it spread through the land. There I hated them <\/em>for their abominations, profaning that place where once God’s tabernacle had been pitched. For the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house; <\/em>from the place where he had settled them in Canaan, the type and figure of his church. I will love them no more; <\/em>at least, for a long while they shall not enjoy any public tokens of his favour and regard. All their princes are revolters; <\/em>they, who should have restrained the people’s wickedness were chief in the transgression, and emboldened them in sin by their evil examples. No wonder, therefore, that my God will cast them away <\/em>as reprobate, and thrust them from his presence as abominable, because they did not hearken unto him, <\/em>rejecting the commands of his law, and the warnings of his prophets: and they shall be<\/em> wanderers among the nations; <\/em>dispersed into all lands, and, like Cain, vagabonds in the earth; as was the case at their first captivity, and is awfully verified in their posterity to this day. Note; <\/em>(1.) Of all miseries none can be greater than to be hated of God; and they who persist in malicious wickedness may assuredly expect it. (2.) It is a distinguishing mercy to the faithful, that, when others are abandoned and forsaken, they can still say, My God.<\/em> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Hos 9:16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay [even] the beloved [fruit] of their womb.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Ver. 16. Ephraim is smitten<\/strong> ] As a tree that hath received a deadly wound, or that hath the bark pulled off it, so that the sap cannot find the way to the branches; or that is blasted, as the fig tree in the Gospel was by Christ’s curse; and as a vine smitten by great hailstones, and beaten down to the ground. “The Lord shall smite Israel,” saith another prophet, “as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel,” &c., 1Ki 14:15<\/span> , root and branch in one day. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit<\/strong> ] “The root of the righteous shall not be moved,” Pro 12:3<\/span> . “The root of the matter is found in me,” saith Job, Job 19:28<\/span> . “The holy seed shall be the substance thereof,” Isa 6:13<\/span> ; “as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them.” The Duke of Florence gave for his ensign a great tree with many spreading boughs, one of them being cut off with this posy, Uno avulso non deficit alter Aureus<\/em> (Virg.). But it is otherwise with the ungodly; as it was with Nebuchadnezzar, Dan 4:14<\/span> , nay, worse; for not so much as a stump of their roots is left in the earth, but they are written in the earth, Jer 17:13<\/span> , written childless, Jer 22:30<\/span> , their root is dried up, the parents shall perish; they shall bear no fruit, beget no children, which are the fruit of the womb, Deu 28:11<\/span> ; Deu 28:18 Luk 1:42<\/span> . Doeg’s doom shall befall them, Psa 52:5<\/span> , “God shall destroy thee for ever; he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.” <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yea, though they bring forth<\/strong> ] As Ahab did seventy sons, after that God had threatened his utter extirpation, following the work of generation so much the rather; See Trapp on “<\/em> Hos 9:13 “<\/em> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yet I will slay<\/strong> ] For it is God that lets in and sets on the enemy; it is he that killeth and maketh alive, 1Sa 2:6<\/span> . <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even the beloved fruit of their womb<\/strong> ] Heb. their desires, or their desirable ones, their dearest children, called by Cicero also his desideria, Valete, mea desideria, valete<\/em> (Cic.). The Latins seem to have their filius,<\/em> a son, from , beloved: there is an ocean of love in a father’s heart; though the more he loveth the less he is loved sometimes (as David by Absalom), and is sure, if he belong to God, to be crossed in his earthly idol. Children are certain cares, but uncertain comforts; they may prove as Augustus’ three children did, whom he called his three ulcers or cancers, Tres vomicas tria carcinomata<\/em> (Sueton.).<\/p>\n their root: Hos 9:11-13, Job 18:16, Isa 5:24, Isa 40:24, Mal 4:1 <\/p>\n the beloved fruit: Heb. the desires, Eze 24:21 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Gen 41:23 – thin 1Ki 14:16 – he shall give Israel Job 15:32 – and his branch Isa 17:3 – fortress Isa 17:11 – the harvest Isa 28:4 – shall be Jer 7:15 – I will Hos 9:12 – yet Hos 9:13 – shall Hos 9:14 – what<\/p>\n Hos 9:16, This verse is virtually the same as verse 13.<\/p>\n The Lord had stricken the very roots of the nation so it would dry up and bear no fruit (cf. Mal 4:1). This probably refers to human barrenness, agricultural unfruitfulness, and animal infertility. Even though the people bore children that were precious to them, the Lord would slay them.<\/p>\n Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay [even] the beloved [fruit] of their womb. 16. Ephraim is smitten ] Ephraim’s population is compared to the branches of a tree, and the national vitality to the root. The tree is ‘smitten’ … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 9:16”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22235\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
[1.] Their earthly goods shall perish. Their land shall be cursed with barrenness; the floor and the wine-press shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her; <\/em>blasting, mildew, or the ravages of an enemy, shall rob them of their abused blessings, and leave them pining for want: so poor and perishing a possession is every earthly good. <\/p>\n
1. With the speedy execution of his judgments. The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come; <\/em>they are surely coming and near, even at the door: Israel shall know it <\/em>by dire experience, and feel the wrath that they would not believe or fear. Note; <\/em>A day of recompense for sinners is at hand, when God will visit upon them all their iniquities. <\/p>\n
God threatens them with a variety of miseries:
1. Death shall spread its ravages among them, and their children shall perish before their eyes; some dying in the cradle; others carried from the womb <\/em>to the grave; others perishing even from the conception. <\/em>And though some should be spared to grow up, yet, by the sword, the famine, or pestilence, they would be consumed, or carried captives, till there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them, when I depart from them; <\/em>for this is the heaviest of judgments: the sinner is wretched indeed whom God abandons. At present, indeed, these judgments seemed to be far away; Ephraim, as Tyre, was in prosperity, well fortified, and replenished with inhabitants; but the murderer, <\/em>the Assyrian army, shall devour his children. Already Ephraim is smitten <\/em>with tokens of God’s displeasure, and soon shall be utterly destroyed. Their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit, <\/em>like a tree withered and blasted: yea, though they bring forth, <\/em>a few of them at least, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb; <\/em>so that when the prophet would intercede for them, he could not but think the barren womb a blessing. Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give? Give them a miscarrying womb, and dry breasts: <\/em>better far have no children, than only to bring them up for the slaughter. Note; <\/em>(1.) Death makes no distinction, nor pays regard to infants’ cries or parents’ tears. (2.) The children that parents most doat upon are often snatched from their arms, to teach them the folly and sin of creature-idolatry. (3.) Those who are written childless need not murmur; the crosses that children occasion to us, often more than counterbalance all the comfort of them. <\/p>\nFuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"