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Hosea Chapter
Six
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 6
This
chapter gives an account of some who were truly penitent
and stirred up one
another to return to the Lord
encouraged by his power
grace
and goodness
Hosea 6:1; and of
others
who had only a form of religion
were very unstable in it; regarded
more the ceremonial law
and the external sacrifices of it
than the moral law;
either that part of it which respects the love of the neighbour
or that which
concerns the knowledge of God; and dealt treacherously with the Lord
transgressing the covenant
Hosea 6:4;
particularly the city of Gilead is represented as full of the workers of
iniquity
and is charged with bloodshed
Hosea 6:8; yea
even the priests were guilty of murder and lewdness
Hosea 6:9; and
Israel
or the ten tribes in general
are accused of whoredom
both corporeal
and spiritual
with which they were defiled
Hosea 6:10; nor was
Judah clear of these crimes
and therefore a reckoning day is set for them
Hosea 6:11.
Hosea 6:1 Come
and let
us return to the Lord;
For He has torn
but He will heal us; He has stricken
but He will bind us up.
YLT 1`Come
and we turn back
unto Jehovah
For He hath torn
and He doth heal us
He doth smite
and He
bindeth us up.
Come
and let us return unto the Lord
.... The
Septuagint and Arabic versions connect these words with the last clause of the
preceding chapter
adding the word
"saying"; and so the Targum and
Syriac version
"they shall say"; and very rightly as to the sense;
for they are the words of those persons under the afflicting hand of God; and
being brought thereby to a sense of their sins
acknowledge them
and seek to
the Lord for pardon
and encourage one another so to do; as Israel and Judah
will in the latter day
when the veil shall be taken off their minds
the
hardness of their heart removed
and they shall be converted
and turn to the
Lord
and seek him together
weeping as they go; having both faith in Christ
and repentance towards God
by which they will return unto him; see 2 Corinthians 3:16;
so all sinners sensible of their departure from God by sin
and of the evil and
danger of it
repent of it
and loath it
confess and acknowledge it
depart
from it
and forsake it; and return to the Lord
having some view and
apprehension of him as a God
gracious and merciful in Christ; imploring the
forgiveness of their sins
with some degree of faith and confidence in him; and
not having only love to their own souls
and the welfare of them
but also to
the souls of others
exhort and encourage them to join with them in the same
acts of faith
repentance
and obedience. The Targum is
"let
us return to the worship of the Lord;'
from
which they have sadly departed. The arguments or reasons follow
for he hath torn
and he will heal us; he hath smitten
and he
will bind us up; the same hand that has torn will heal and that has smitten will
bind up
and none else can; and therefore there is a necessity of returning to
him for healing and a cure
Deuteronomy 32:39;
and his tearing is in order to heal
and his smiting in order to bind up; and
as sure as he has done the one
he will do the other
and therefore there is
great encouragement to apply to him; all which the Jews will be sensible of in
the last day; and then the Lord
who is now tearing them in his wrath
and
smiting them in his sore displeasure
both in their civil and church state
dispersing them among the nations
and has been so doing for many hundred
years
will "bind up the breach of his people
and heal the stroke of
their wound"
Isaiah 30:26; and
so the Lord deals with all his people
who are truly and really converted by
him; he rends their heart
tears the caul of it; pricks and cuts them to the heart;
smites them with the hammer of his word; wounds their consciences with a sense
of sin; lets in the law into them
which works wrath
whereby they become
broken and contrite; and all this in order to their turning to him that smites
them
and be healed
and in love to their souls
though for the present
grievous to bear: and then the great Physician heals them by his stripes and
wounds; by the application of his blood; by means of his word
the Gospel of
peace and pardon; by a look to him
and a touch of him by faith; by discoveries
of his love
and particularly his pardoning grace and mercy
which as oil and
wine he pours into the wounds made by sin
and binds them up; and which he
heals universally
both with respect to persons and diseases
for which he is
applied unto
and infallibly
thoroughly
and perfectly
and all freely.
Hosea 6:2 2 After
two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up
That we may
live in His sight.
YLT 2He doth revive us after two
days
In the third day He doth raise us up
And we live before Him.
After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise
us up
.... The Jews
in their present state
are as dead men
both in a
civil and spiritual sense
and their conversion and restoration will be as life
from the dead; they are like persons buried
and
when they are restored
they
will be raised out of their graves
both of sin and misery; see Romans 11:15; the
time of which is here fixed
after two days
and on the third; which Jarchi
interprets of the two temples that have been destroyed
and of the third temple
to be built
which the Jews expect
but in vain
and when they hope for good
times: Kimchi explains it of their three captivities
in Egypt
Babylon
and
the present one
and so Ben Melech
from which they hope to be raised
and live
comfortably; which sense is much better than the former: and with it may be
compared Vitringa'sF19Comment. in Isa. viii. 20. notion of the text
that the first day was between Israel's coming out of Egypt and the Babylonish
captivity; the second day between that and the times of Antiochus
which was
the third night; then the third day followed
which is the times of the
Messiah: but the Targum comes nearer the truth
which paraphrases the words
thus
"he
will quicken us in the days of consolation which are to come
and in the day of
the resurrection of the dead he will raise us up;'
where
by days of consolation are meant the days of the Messiah
with which the Jews
generally connect the resurrection of the dead; and if we understand them of
the last days of the Messiah
it is not much amiss; for the words respect the
quickening and raising up of the Jews in the latter day
the times of Christ's
spiritual coming and reign: and these two and three days may be expressive of a
long and short time
as interpreters differently explain them; of a long time
as the third day is a long time for a man to lie dead
when there can be little
or no hope of his reviving
Luke 24:21; or of a
short time
for which two or three days is a common phrase; and both true in
this case: it is a long time Israel and Judah have been in captivity
and there
may seem little hope of their restoration; but it will be a short time with the
Lord
with whom a thousand years are as one day
and one day as a thousand
years: and this I take to be the sense of the words
that after the second
Millennium
or the Lord's two days
and at the beginning of the third
will be
the time of their conversion and restoration
reckoning from the last
destruction of them by the Romans; for not till then were Israel and Judah wholly
in a state of death: many of Israel were mixed among those of Judah before the
Babylonish captivity
and many returned with them from it; but
when destroyed
by the Romans
there was an end of their civil and church state; which will
both be revived on a better foundation at this period of time: but if this
conjecture is not agreeable (for I only propose it as such)
the sense may be
taken thus
that in a short time after the repentance of Israel
and their
conversion to the Lord
they will be brought into a very comfortable and happy
state and condition
both with respect to things temporal and spiritual;
and we shall live in his sight; comfortably
in a civil
sense
in their own land
and in the possession of all their privileges and
liberties; and in a spiritual sense
by faith on Jesus Christ
whom they shall
now embrace
and in the enjoyment of the Gospel and Gospel ordinances; and the
prophet represents the penitents and faithful among them as believing and
hoping for these things. This may be applied to the case of sensible sinners
who
as they are in their natural state dead in sin
and dead in law
so they
see themselves to be such when awakened; and yet entertain a secret hope that
sooner or later they shall be revived and refreshed
and raised up to a more
comfortable state
and live in the presence of God
and the enjoyment of his
favour. The ancient fathers generally understood these words of Christ
who was
buried on the sixth day
lay in the grave the whole seventh day
and after
these two days
on the third
rose again from the dead; and to this passage the
apostle is thought to have respect
1 Corinthians 15:3;
and also of the resurrection of his people in and with him
and by virtue of
his: and true it is that Christ rose from the dead on the third day
and all
his redeemed ones were quickened and raised up together with him as their head
and representative
Ephesians 2:5; and
his in virtue of his being quickened that they are regenerated and quickened
and made alive
in a spiritual sense; he is the author of their spiritual life
and their life itself; see 1 Peter 1:3; and
not only in virtue of his resurrection is their spiritual resurrection from the
death of sin to a life of grace
but even their corporeal resurrection at the
last day; and as
in consequence of their spiritual resurrection
they live in
the sight of God a life of grace and holiness by faith in Christ
and in a
comfortable view and enjoyment of the divine favour; so they shall live eternally
in the presence of God
where are fulness of joy
and pleasures for evermore:
but the first sense is best
and most agreeable to the context and scope of it.
Hosea 6:3 3 Let
us know
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going
forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain
Like the
latter and former rain to the earth.
YLT 3And we know -- we pursue to
know Jehovah
As the dawn prepared is His going forth
And He cometh in as a
shower to us
As gathered rain -- sprinkling earth.'
Then shall we know
if we follow on to know the Lord
.... The word
"if" is not in the original text
and the passage is not conditional
but absolute; for as persons
when converted
know Christ
and not before
when
he is revealed to them
and in them
as the only Saviour and Redeemer
so they
continue and increase in the knowledge of him; they earnestly desire to know
more of him
and eagerly pursue those means and methods by which they attain to
a greater degree of it; for so the words are
"and we shall know
we shall
follow on to know the Lord"F20ונדעה נרדפה לדעת את
יהוה "sciemusque
sequemur ad sciendum
Dominum"
Montanus; "et cognoscemus
et persequemur ad cognoscendum
Jehovam"
Zanchius; "sciemus persequemur"
Liveleus. ; that
grace
which has given the first measure of spiritual and experimental
knowledge of him
will influence and engage them to seek after more. The Jews
when they are quickened
and turn to the Lord
will know him
own and
acknowledge him
as the Messiah
the only Redeemer and Saviour; and will be so
delighted with the knowledge of him
that they will be desirous of
and seek
after
a larger measure of it; and indeed they shall all know him
from the
least to the greatest
when the covenant of grace shall be renewed with them
manifested and applied to them. The words may be considered as a continuation
of their exhortation to one another from Hosea 6:1; thus
"and let us acknowledge
let us follow on to know him"F21"Cognoscamus
sive agnoscamus
et persequautur scientiam Dominis"
Schmidt. ; let
us own him as the true Messiah
whom we and our fathers have rejected; and let
us make use of all means to gain more knowledge of him: or let us follow after
him
to serve and obey him
which is the practical knowledge of him; let us
imitate him
and follow him the Lamb of God
embrace his Gospel
and submit to
his ordinances. So Kimchi interprets it
"to know him"; that is
to
serve him; first know him
then serve him;
his going forth is prepared as the morning; that is
the
Lord's going forth
who is known
and followed after to be more known; and is
to be understood
not of his going forth in the council and covenant of grace
from everlasting; nor of his incarnation in time
or of his resurrection from
the dead; but of his spiritual coming in the latter day
with the brightness of
which he will destroy antichrist; or of his going forth in the ministration of
the Gospel
to the conversion of Jews and Gentiles
the light of which
dispensation will be very great; it will be like a morning after a long night
of darkness with the Jewish and Pagan nations; and be as grateful and
delightful
beautiful and cheerful
as the morning light; and move as swiftly
and irresistibly as that
and be alike growing and increasing: and so the words
are a reason of the increasing knowledge of the Lord's people in those times
because he shall go forth in the ministration of the word like the morning
light
which increases more and more till noon; and of the evidence and
clearness of it
it being like a morning without clouds; with which agrees the
note of Joseph Kimchi
"we
shall know him
and it will be as clear to us as the light of the morning
without clouds:'
and
also of the firmness and certainty of it; for both the increasing knowledge of
the saints
and the going forth of Christ in a spiritual manner
is
"firm" and "sure" (which may be the sense of the wordF23נכון "firmum certum notat"
sic quidam in
Schmidt; "firmatus ac stabilitus"
Tarnovius. ) as the morning; for
as sure as the night cometh
so also the morning;
and he shall come unto us as the rain
as the latter and
former rain unto the earth; in the land of Israel they had usually two
rains in a year; the one in autumn
or quickly after the seed was sown; the
other in the spring
when the corn was ripe
and harvest near
and which was
very reviving and refreshing to the earth
and the fruits of it; and such will
be the coming of Christ unto his people
in the ministration of the Gospel in
the latter day
which will drop as the rain
and distil as the dew
as the
small rain on the tender herb
and as showers upon the grass; and in the
discoveries of his favour and love to them
and in the distribution of the
blessings of his grace among them. Much the like phrases are used of the
spiritual coming of Christ in the latter day
Psalm 72:6. The
Targum is
"and
we shall learn
and we shall follow on
to know the fear of the Lord
as the
morning light
which darts in its going out; and blessings will come to us as a
prevailing rain
and as the latter rain which waters the earth.'
Hosea 6:4 4 “O
Ephraim
what shall I do to you? O Judah
what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness
is like a morning cloud
And like the early dew it goes away.
YLT 4What do I do to thee
O
Ephraim? What do I do to thee
O Judah? Your goodness [is] as a cloud of the
morning
And as dew rising early -- going.
O Ephraim
what shall I do unto thee? O Judah
what shall I do
unto thee?.... Or
"for thee"F24לך
"in tuum commodum"
Schmidt. ? The Lord having observed the effect
and consequence of his going and returning to his place
of his leaving his
people for a long time under afflictions and in distress; namely
their
thorough conversion to him in the latter day
and the blessings attending it;
returns to the then present times again
and to the state and condition in
which Ephraim and Judah
the ten and two tribes
were; and speaks as one at a
loss
and under difficulties
to know what to do with them and for them; how as
it were to give them up to ruin and destruction; and yet
having tried all ways
with them
and in vain
asks what further was to be done
or could be done
to
bring them to a sense of their sins
to reform them
and cause them to return
to him;
for your goodness is as a morning cloud
and as the early
dew it goeth way; meaning not the goodness of God bestowed upon them
and the
mercy he showed to them; but the goodness that appeared in them
and all the
good things done by them
their repentance
reformation
holiness
and
righteousness; these
which were only in show
did not last long
came to
nothing
and disappeared; like a light cloud in the morning
which vanishes
away when the sun rises; or like the dew that falls in the night
which is
quickly dried up and gone
after the sun has been up a small time. Thus it was
with Ephraim
or the ten tribes
in the time of Jehu; there was a show of zeal
for religion
and a reformation from idolatry; but it did not go on
nor last
long; and with the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the times of Hezekiah
and Josiah
who did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord; but then the
Jews
in the times of their successors
returned to their former evil ways. And
so the best works
holiness and righteousness of men
can no more stand before
the justice of God
and the strict examination of it
than a thin light morning
cloud
or the small drops of dew
before the light
force
and heat of the sun;
nor do formal and carnal professors continue in these things; they may run well
for a while
and then drop their profession and religion
and turn from the
holy commandment. And this being the case
what can they expect from the Lord?
Hosea 6:5 5 Therefore
I have hewn them by the prophets
I have slain them by the words of My
mouth; And your judgments are like light that goes forth.
YLT 5Therefore I have hewed by
prophets
I have slain them by sayings of My mouth
And My judgments to the light
goeth forth.
Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain
them by the words of my mouth
.... Sharply reproved them for their sins by
the prophets
who were as lapidaries that cut stone
or us hewers of timber
that cut off the knotty parts; so these by preaching the terrors of the law
which is a killing letter
and by delivering out the threatenings of the Lord
and denouncing his judgments upon them for their sins
cut them to the heart
and killed them; for their foretelling and prophesying of their being slain
ruined
and destroyed
was a slaying of them; see Jeremiah 1:10. The
Targum is
"because
I admonished them by the message of my prophets
and they returned not
I will
bring upon them those that slay
because they have transgressed the word of my
will.'
But
the Septuagint
Syriac
and Arabic versions
and so Aben Ezra and Joseph
Kimchi
understand these words
not of hewing
and cutting
and slaying of the
people by the prophets
but of the cutting and slaying the prophets themselves
and read the words
"therefore have I cut off the prophets
and slain them
&c."
either the false prophets
some of them that caused the people
to err
that they might not repent
as Aben Ezra; as the prophets of Baal in
the times of Elijah
and the Scribes and Pharisees in Christ's time
who were
in the way of the people's repentance
reformation
and reception of Christ;
these he cut off
and their doctrine
and condemned by his own
and the
doctrine of his apostles
the words of the Lord's mouth; see Zechariah 11:8; and
this he did for the good of his people
in answer to the question put by
himself in Hosea 6:4; so
Schmidt interprets it: or else the true prophets of God
who were exposed to
death
to be cut off and slain
for the messages they were sent with: or those
messages were such as were killing to them to carry them
and deliver them; and
they were so constantly employed
early and late
in such service
that for the
work of the Lord they were often nigh unto death: but our version
and the
sense agreeable to it
scent best;
and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth; that is
their judgments
the people's
a sudden change of person: meaning either the
statutes and judgments prescribed them by the Lord
and to be observed by them;
which were clear and plain as the light at noon day
and therefore could not
plead any excuse of ignorance of them
that they did not observe them: or the
judgments of God upon them for their sins; which were open and manifest to all
and increasing like the light
more and more
and no more to be resisted than
that; and the righteousness of God in them was very conspicuous; his judgments
were manifest
and the justice of them. Some understand this of the judgments
or righteousnesses of the saints
both imputed and inherent
Romans 5:16; which
appear light and clear
the darkness of pharisaism being removed by Christ. The
Targum is
"my
judgment goes forth as the light.'
Hosea 6:6 6 For
I desire mercy and not sacrifice
And the knowledge of God more than burnt
offerings.
YLT 6For kindness I desired
and
not sacrifice
And a knowledge of God above burnt-offerings.
For I desired mercy
and not sacrifice
.... That is
the one rather than the other
as the next clause explains it. Sacrifices were
of early use
even before the law of Moses; they were of divine appointment
and were approved and accepted of by the Lord; they were types of Christ
and
led to him
and were continued unto his death; but in comparison of moral
duties
which respect love to God
and to our neighbour
the Lord did not will
them
desire them
and delight in them; or he had more regard for the former
than the latter; see 1 Samuel 15:22; nor
did he will or accept at all of the sacrifices ordered to the calves at Dan and
Bethel; nor others
when they were not such as the law required
or were not
offered up in the faith of Christ
attended with repentance for sin
and in
sincerity
and were brought as real expiatory sacrifices for sin
and
especially as now abrogated by the sacrifice of Christ. And as these words are
twice quoted by our Lord
at one time to justify his mercy
pity
and
compassion
to the souls of poor sinners
by conversing with them
Matthew 9:13; and
at another time to justify the disciples in an act of mercy to their bodies
when hungry
by plucking ears of corn on the sabbath day
Matthew 12:7;
"mercy" may here respect both acts of mercy shown by the Lord
and
acts of mercy done by men; both which the Lord wills
desires
and delights in:
he takes pleasure in showing mercy himself
as appears by his free and open
declarations of it; by the throne of grace and mercy he has set up; by the
encouragement he gives to souls to hope in his mercy; by the objects of it
the
chief of sinners; by the various ways he has taken to display it
in election
in the covenant of grace
in the mission of Christ
in the pardon of sin by him
and in regeneration; and by his opposing it to everything else
in the affair
of salvation. And he likewise has a very great regard to mercy as exercised by
men; as this is one of the weightier matters of the law
and may be put for the
whole of it
or however the second table of it
which is love to our
neighbours
and takes in all kind offices done to them; and especially designs
acts of liberality to necessitous persons; which are sacrifices God is well
pleased with
even more than with the ceremonious ones; these being such in
which men resemble him the merciful God
who is kind to the unthankful
and to
the evil;
and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings; which were
reckoned the greatest and most excellent sacrifices
the whole being the Lord's;
but knowledge of God is preferred to them; by which is meant
not the knowledge
of God
the light of nature
which men might have
and not him; nor by the law
of Moses
as a lawgiver
judge
and consuming fire; but a knowledge of him in
Christ
as the God and Father of Christ
as the God of all grace
gracious and
merciful in him; as a covenant God and Father in him
which is through the
Gospel by the Spirit
and is eternal life
John 17:3; this
includes in it faith and hope in God
love to him
fear of him and his
goodness
and the whole worship of him
both internal and external. These words
seem designed to expose and remove the false ground of trust and confidence in
sacrifices the people of Israel were prone unto; as we find they were in the
times of Isaiah
who was contemporary with Hoses; see Isaiah 1:12. The
Targum interprets them of those that exercise mercy
and do the law of the
Lord.
Hosea 6:7 7 “But
like men[a] they
transgressed the covenant; There they dealt treacherously with Me.
YLT 7And they
as Adam
transgressed a covenant
There they dealt treacherously against me.
But they
like men
have transgressed the covenant
.... The false
prophets
as Aben Ezra
whom he threatened to cut off and slay
Hosea 6:5; or
rather Ephraim and Judah
whose goodness was so fickle and unstable; and who
instead of doing acts of mercy
and seeking after the true knowledge of God and
his worship
which are preferable to all sacrifices
they transgressed the law
of God
which they promised at Mount Sinai to obey; the precepts of the moral
law
even of both tables
which concern both God and man; and also the ceremonial
law
by appointing priests to sacrifice who were not of the tribe of Levi
as
did Ephraim or the ten tribes under Jeroboam; and by offering sacrifices to
their calves
and by not observing the solemn feasts; and the precepts relating
to both these laws constitute the covenant made with the children of Israel at
Sinai
Exodus 24:3; which
they transgressed
either "like Adam"F25כאדם "sicut Adam"
V. L. Pagninus
Montanus
Tigurine version
Castilio
Grotius
Cocceius. the first man
as Jarchi; who
transgressed the covenant of works in paradise God made with him
and all
mankind in him: or like the men of old
the former generations
as the Targum;
meaning either the old inhabitants of the land
the Canaanites; or the men of
the old world at the time of the flood
who were a very wicked and abandoned
generation of men; or like men in common
depraved and degenerated
fickle and
inconstant
vain and deceitful
and not at all to be depended upon; especially
like the lower sort of men
the common people
who have no regard to their
word
covenant
and agreement; or particularly like such men that are given to
penury
and make no conscience of oaths and covenants ever so solemnly made:
or
as others read the words
"but they have transgressed the covenant
like man's"F26"Tanquam hominis
sub. pectum"
Vatablus
Junius & Tremellius
Zanchius. ; making no more account of it
than if it was a man's covenant;
there have they dealt treacherously against me; in the
covenant they entered into
by breaking it
not performing their promises; and
eve in the very sacrifices they offered
and were so fond of
and put their
confidence in; either by offering such sacrifices as were not legal
or by
offering them to idols
under a pretence of offering them to God
which was
dealing treacherously against him; and in all other acts of religion
in which
they would be thought to have regard to the covenant of God
his laws and
precepts
and to be very serious and devout
yet acted the hypocritical part
were false and deceitful
and devoid of all sincerity: or there
in the
promised land
where the Lord had so largely bestowed his favours on them; so
Jarchi
Kimchi
and Abarbinel
agreeably to the Targum
which paraphrases it
thus
"and
in the good land
which I gave unto them to do my will
they have dealt falsely
with my word.'
Hosea 6:8 8 Gilead
is a city of evildoers And defiled with blood.
YLT 8Gilead [is] a city of
workers of iniquity
Slippery from blood.
Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity
.... The chief
city in the land of Gilead
which lay beyond Jordan
inhabited by Gad and
Reuben
and the half tribe of Manasseh; and so belonged to the ten tribes
whose sins are here particularly observed. It had its name from the country
or
the country from that
or both from the mountain of the same name. It is
thought to be Ramothgilead
a city of refuge
and put for all the cities of
refuge in those parts
which were inhabited by priests and Levites; and who
ought to have had knowledge of the laws
and instructed the people in them
and
observed them themselves
and set a good example to others; but
instead of
this
the whole course of their lives
was vicious; they made a trade of
sinning
did nothing else but work iniquity; and this was general among them
the city or cities of them consisted of none else; and all manner of iniquity
was committed by them
particularly idolatry; for so the words may be rendered
"a city of them that serve an idol"F1קרית
פעלי און "civitas
operantium idolum"
V. L. ; not only at Dan and Bethel
but in the cities
of the priests
idols were set up and worshipped; this shows the state to be
very corrupt:
and is polluted with
blood; with the blood of murderers harboured there
who ought not to
have been admitted; or with the blood of such who were delivered up to the
avenger of blood
that ought to have been sheltered
and both for the sake of
money; or with the blood of children
sacrificed to Mo: the word used has the signification
of supplanting
lying in wait
and so is understood of a private
secret
shedding of blood
in a deceitful and insidious way: hence some render it
"cunning for blood"F2עקבה מדם "callida et astuta sanguine"
so some in
Vatablus; "callida sanguine"
Castslio. ; to which the Targum seems
to agree
calling it a city
"of
them that secretly or deceitfully shed innocent blood.'
It
has also the signification of the heel of a man's foot
and is by some
rendered
"trodden by blood"F3"Calcata a
sanguine"
Piscator. ; that is
by bloody men: or "footed" or
"heeled by blood"F4"Vestigiata a sanguine"
Capellus
Tarnovius; "vestigis sanguinolentis"
Juuius &
Tremellius. ; that is
such an abundance of it was shed
that a man could not
set his foot or his heel any where but in blood.
Hosea 6:9 9 As
bands of robbers lie in wait for a man
So the company of priests murder
on the way to Shechem; Surely they commit lewdness.
YLT 9And as bands do wait for a
man
A company of priests do murder -- the way to Shechem
For wickedness they
have done.
And as troops of robbers wait for a man
.... As a gang
of highwaymen or footpads lie in wait in a ditch
or under a hedge
or in a
cave of a rock or mountain
for a man they know will come by that way
who is
full of money
in order to rob him; or
as Saadiah interprets it
as fishermen
stand upon the banks of a river
and cast in their hooks to draw out the fish;
and to the same purpose is Jarchi's note from R. Meir:
so the company of priests
murder in the way by consent; not only encourage murderers
and commit
murders within the city
but go out in a body together upon the highway
and
there commit murders and robberies
and divide the spoil among them; all which
they did unanimously
and were well agreed
being brethren in iniquity
as well
as in office: or
"in the way of Shechem"F5שכמה "Sichemam versus"
Gussetius
Schmidt;
approved by Reinbeck. De Accent. Heb. p. 442. "qua itur Sichem"
Tigurine version; "qua via ad Shechemum factum occidunt"
Junius & Tremellius; "quae ducit ad Sichermum"
Piscator. So
Abendana. ; as good people passed by Gilead to Shechem
and so to Jerusalem
to
worship there at the solemn feasts
they lay in wait for them
and murdered
them; because they did not give into the idolatrous worship of the calves at
Dan and Bethel: or
"in the manner of Shechem"F6"Sicemice"
so some in Drusius. ; that is
they murdered men in a deceitful treacherous
manner
as the Shechemites were murdered by Simeon and Levi: Joseph Kimchi
interprets this of the princes and great men
so the word "cohanim"
is sometimes used; but the context seems to carry it to the priests:
for they commit lewdness; or "enormity";
the most enormous crimes
and that purposely
with deliberation devising and
contriving them.
Hosea 6:10 10 I
have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: There is the harlotry
of Ephraim; Israel is defiled.
YLT 10In the house of Israel I
have seen a horrible thing
There [is] the whoredom of Ephraim -- defiled is
Israel.
I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel
.... Idolatry
the calves set up at Dan and Bethel
which God saw with abhorrence and
detestation; or the prophet saw it
and it made his hair stand on end as it
were
as the wordF7שערוריה a שער "pilus". signifies
that such wickedness
should be committed by a professing people:
there is the whoredom of Ephraim; in the house
of Israel is the whoredom of Jeroboam
who was of the tribe of Ephraim
and
caused Israel to sin
to go a whoring after idols; or the whoredom of the tribe
of Ephraim
which belonged to the house of Israel
and even of all the ten
tribes; both corporeal and spiritual whoredom
or idolatry
are here meant:
Israel is defiled; with whoredom of both kinds; it had spread
itself all over the ten tribes; they were all infected with it
and polluted by
it; see Hosea 5:3.
Hosea 6:11 11 Also
O Judah
a harvest is appointed for you
When I return the captives of My
people.
YLT 11Also
O Judah
appointed is
a harvest to thee
In My turning back [to] the captivity of My people!
Also
O Judah
he hath set an harvest for thee
.... That is
God hath set and appointed a time of wrath and vengeance for thee
which is
sometimes signified by a harvest
Revelation 14:15;
because thou hast been guilty of idolatry also
as well as Ephraim or the ten
tribes: or rather it may be rendered
"but
O Judah"F8גם "sed"
V. L. Munster
Grotius.
he
that is
God
hath set an harvest for thee; appointed a time of joy and gladness
as a
time of harvest is:
when I returned
or "return"F9בשובי "cum ego reduco"
Calvin.
the captivity of my people; the people of Judah from
the Babylonish captivity; so that here is a prophecy both of their captivity
and of their return from it: and it may be applied unto their return from their
spiritual captivity to sin
Satan
and the law
through the Gospel of Christ
and his apostles
first published in Judea
by means of which there was a large
harvest of souls gathered in
and was an occasion of great joy.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)