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Hosea Chapter
Seven
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 7
This
chapter either begins a new sermon
discourse
or prophecy
or it is a
continuation of the former; at least it seems to be of the same argument with
the latter part of it
only it is directed to Israel alone; and consists of
complaints against them because of their manifold sins
and of denunciations of
punishment for them. They are charged with ingratitude to God
sinning in a
daring manner against mercy
and with falsehood
thefts
and robberies
Hosea 7:1; with
want of consideration of the omniscience of God
and his notice of their sins
which surrounded them
Hosea 7:2; with
flattery to their king and princes
Hosea 7:3; with
adultery
which lust raged in them like a heated oven
Hosea 7:4; with
drunkenness
aggravated by drawing their king into it
Hosea 7:5; with
raging lusts
which devoured their judges
made their kings to fall
and
brought on such a general corruption
that there were none that called upon the
Lord
Hosea 7:6; with
mixing themselves with the nations of the earth
and so learning their ways
and bringing their superstition and idolatry into the worship of God
so that
they were nothing in religion
like a half baked cake
Hosea 7:8; with
stupidity and insensibility of their declining state
Hosea 7:9; with
pride
impenitence
and stubbornness
Hosea 7:10; with
folly
in seeking to Egypt and Assyria for help
and not to the Lord; for which
they would be taken as birds in a net
and sorely chastised
Hosea 7:11; with
ingratitude
hypocrisy
and deceitfulness; for all which they are threatened
with destruction
Hosea 7:13.
Hosea 7:1 “When I would
have healed Israel
Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered
And the
wickedness of Samaria. For they have committed fraud; A thief comes in; A band
of robbers takes spoil outside.
YLT 1`When I give healing to
Israel
Then revealed is the iniquity of Ephraim
And the wickedness of
Samaria
For they have wrought falsehood
And a thief doth come in
Stript off
hath a troop in the street
When I would have healed Israel
.... Or rather
"when I healed Israel"F11כרפאי
"dum curo"
Junius & Tremellius; "dum medeor"
Piscator
Zanchius
Calvin; "quando sanavi
vel sano"
Schmidt. ; for
this is not to be understood of a velleity
wish
or desire of healing and
saving them
as Jarchi; nor of a bare attempt to do it by the admonitions of
the prophets
and by corrections in Providence; but of actual healing them; and
by which is meant
not healing them in a spiritual and religious sense
as in Hosea 6:1; but in a
political sense
of the restoring of their civil state to a more flourishing
condition; which was done in the times of Jeroboam the son of Joash
as Kimchi
rightly observes; who restored the coast of Israel
from the entering of
Hamath
unto the sea of the plain
2 Kings 14:25;
then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered
and the wickedness of
Samaria; some refer this to the times of Jeroboam the first
and that the
sense is
that the Lord having cured Israel of the idolatry introduced by
Solomon
quickly a new scene of idolatry broke out in Ephraim
or the ten
tribes
of which Samaria was the metropolis; for Jeroboam soon set up the
calves at Dan and Bethel to be worshipped; but it does not appear that Israel
was corrupted with the idolatry of Solomon
and needed a cure then; nor was
Samaria built in Jeroboam's time: others apply it to the times of Jehu
who
though he slew the worshippers of Baal
and broke his images
and destroyed him
out of Israel
yet retained the worship of the calves at Dan and Bethel
2 Kings 10:25; so
though they were healed of one sort of idolatry
another prevailed. It is
right
in both these senses
that the iniquity of Ephraim
and wickedness or
wickednesses of Samaria
are taken for the idolatrous worship of the golden
calves; but then it respects the times of Jeroboam the second
the son of
Joash
in whose days Israel was prosperous; and yet these superstitious and
idolatrous practices of worship were flagrant and notorious
were countenanced
by the king and his courtiers that dwelt at Samaria
as is clear from Amos 7:10; which
was an instance of great ingratitude to the Lord;
for they commit falsehood; among themselves
lying
to one another
and deceiving each other; or to God
deal falsely with him
are
guilty of false worship
worshipping idols
which are vanities and lies:
and the thief cometh in
and the troop of robbers spoileth
without; which may be interpreted either of their sins
their sins in
general
both private and public; and their sins of theft and robbery in
particular; both such as were committed in houses by the thief privately
entering there
and by a gang of robbers in the streets
or on the highway: so
the Targum
"in
the night they thieve in houses
and in the day they rob on the plain
'
or
fields: or else of punishment for their sins; and then the words may be
renderedF12וגנב יבוא
פשט גדוד בחוץ "ideo fur ingreditur"
Munster. So some in
Drusius.
"therefore the thief entereth in
and the troop" or
"army spreads without"; this thief was Shallum
who came in to kill
and to steal; he slew Zachariah the son of Jeroboam
after he had reigned six
months
and usurped the kingdom
and so put an end to the family of Jehu
according as the Lord had threatened
2 Kings 8:12; the
troop or army is the Assyrian army under Pul
who came against Menahem
king of
Israel
of whom he exacted a tribute
and departed
2 Kings 15:19; so
Cocceius.
Hosea 7:2 2 They
do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness; Now
their own deeds have surrounded them; They are before My face.
YLT 2And they do not say to
their heart
[That] all their evil I have remembered
Now compassed them have
their doings
Over-against My face they have been.
And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all
their wickedness
.... That is
the people of the ten tribes
and the inhabitants
of Samaria
whose iniquity and wickedness are said to be discovered
and to be
very notorious: and yet "they said not to their hearts"F13ובל יאמרו ללבבם
"et non dicebant ad cor suum"
Cocceius; "et non dicunt cordi
suo"
Schmidt.
as in the original text; they did not think within
themselves; they did not commune with their own hearts; they did not put
themselves in mind
or put this to their consciences
that the Lord saw all
their wicked actions
their idolatry
falsehood
thefts
and robberies
and
whatsoever they were guilty of; that the Lord took notice of them
and put them
down in the book of his remembrance
in order to call them to an account
and
punish them for them:
now their own doings have beset them about; or
"that now their own doings"
&c.F14עתה
סבבום מעלליהם "quod
circumdent ipsos opera eorum"
Schmidt. ; they do not consider in their
hearts that their sins are all around them
on every side
committed by them
openly
and in abundance
and are notorious to all their neighbours
and much
more to the omniscient God: and that
they are before my face; so the Targum
"which
are revealed before me;'
were
manifest in his sight
before whom all things are; but this they did not
consider
and therefore went on in that bold and daring manner they did. Some
understand these clauses of the punishment of their sins
which should surround
them on every side
that they should not be able to escape
like persons
closely besieged in a city
that they cannot get out; alluding to the future
siege of Samaria
when it would be a plain case
though they did not now think
of it
that all their sins were before the Lord
and were observed by him.
Hosea 7:3 3 They
make a king glad with their wickedness
And princes with their lies.
YLT 3With their wickedness they
make glad a king
And with their lies -- princes.
They make the king glad with their wickedness
.... Not any
particular king; not Jeroboam the first
as Kimchi; nor Jehu
as Grotius; if
any particular king
rather Jeroboam the second; but their kings in general
as
the Septuagint render it
in succession
one after another; who were highly
delighted and pleased with the priests in offering sacrifice to the calves
and
with the people in attending to that idolatrous worship
by which they hoped to
secure the kingdom of Israel to themselves
and prevent the people going to
Jerusalem to worship: it made them glad to the heart to hear them say that God
was as well pleased with sacrifices offered at Dan and Bethel
as at Jerusalem:
and the princes with their lies; with their idols and
idolatrous practices
which are vanity and a lie; though some interpret this of
their flatteries
either of them
or their favourites; and of their calumnies
and detractions of such they had a dislike of.
Hosea 7:4 4 “They
are all adulterers. Like an oven heated by a baker— He ceases stirring the
fire after kneading the dough
Until it is leavened.
YLT 4All of them [are]
adulterers
Like a burning oven of a baker
He ceaseth from stirring up after
kneading the dough
till its leavening.
They are all adulterers
.... King
princes
priests
and people
both in a spiritual and corporeal sense; they were all
idolaters
given to idols try
eager of it
and constant in it
as the
following metaphors show; and they were addicted to corporeal adultery; this
was a prevailing vice among all ranks and degrees of men. So the Targum
"they
all desire to lie with their neighbours' wives;'
see
Jeremiah 5:7;
as an oven heated by the baker; which
if understood of
spiritual adultery or idolatry
denotes their eagerness after it
and fervour
in it
excited by their king
or by the devil and his instruments
the priests
and false prophets; and if of bodily uncleanness
it is expressive of the heat
of that lust
which is sometimes signified by burning; and is stirred up by the
devil and the corrupt hearts of men to such a degree as to be raised to a
flame
and be like a raging fire
or a heated oven; see Romans 1:27;
who ceaseth from raising; that is
the
baker
having heated his oven
ceaseth from raising up the women to bring their
bread to the bake house; or he ceaseth from waking
or from watching his oven;
he lays himself down to sleep
and continues in it:
after he hath kneaded the dough
until it be leavened; having
kneaded the dough
and put in the leaven
he lets it alone to work till the
whole mass is leavened
taking his rest in the mean while: as the former clause
expresses the vehement desire of the people after adultery
spiritual or
corporeal
this may signify their continuance in it; or rather the wilful
negligence of the king
priests
and prophets
who
instead of awaking them out
of their sleep on a bed of adultery
let them alone in it
until they were all
infected with it.
Hosea 7:5 5 In
the day of our king Princes have made him sick
inflamed with wine; He
stretched out his hand with scoffers.
YLT 5A day of our king! Princes
have polluted themselves [with] the poison of wine
He hath drawn out his hand
with scorners.
In the day of our king
.... Either his birthday
or his coronation day
when he was inaugurated into his kingly office
as the
Targum
Jarchi
and Kimchi; or the day on which Jeroboam set up the calves
which might be kept as an anniversary: or
"it is the day of our
king"F15יום מלכנו
"dies regis nostri"
V. L. Calvin
Tigurine version
Tarnovius
Cocceius
Schmidt. ; and may be the words of the priests and false prophets
exciting the people to adultery; and may show by what means they drew them into
it
saying this is the king's birthday
or coronation day
or a holy day of his
appointing
let us meet together
and drink his health; and so by indulging to
intemperance
through the heat of wine
led them on to adultery
corporeal or
spiritual
or both:
the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine: that is
the
courtiers who attended at court on such a day to compliment the king upon the
occasion
and to drink his health
drank to him in large cups
perhaps a bottle
of wine at once; which he pledging them in the same manner
made him sick or
drunk: to make any man drunk is criminal
and especially a king; as it was also
a weakness and sin in him to drink to excess
which is not for kings
of all
men
to do: or it may be rendered
"the princes became sick through the
heat of wine"F16החלו שרים חמת מיין
"argotarunt principes a calore vini"
Liveleus; "morbo afficiunt
se calore ex vino"
Tarnovius.
so Jarchi; they were made sick by others
or they made themselves so by drinking too much wine
which inflamed their
bodies
gorged their stomachs
made their heads dizzy
and them so
"weak"
as the wordF17"Quem infirmant principes aestu
a vino"
Cocceius; "infirmum facerunt"
Munster;
"infirmant"
Schmidt. also signifies
that they could not stand upon
their legs; which are commonly the effects of excessive drinking
especially in
those who are not used to it
as the king and the princes might not be
only on
such occasions:
he stretched out his hand with scorners; meaning the
king
who
in his cups
forgetting his royal dignity
used too much familiarity
with persons of low life
and of an ill behaviour
irreligious ones; who
especially when drunk
made a jest of all religion; scoffed at good men
and
everything that was serious; and even set their mouths against the heavens;
denied there was a God
or spoke very indecently and irreverently of him; these
the king made his drinking companions
took the cup
and drank to them in turn
and shook them by the hand; or admitted them to kiss his hand
and were all
together
hail fellows well met. Joseph Kimchi thinks these are the same with
the princes
called so before they were drunk
but afterwards
"scorners".
Hosea 7:6 6 They
prepare their heart like an oven
While they lie in wait; Their baker[a] sleeps all
night; In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
YLT 6For they have drawn near
As an oven [is] their heart
In their lying in wait all the night sleep doth
their baker
Morning! he is burning as a flaming fire.
For they have made ready their heart like an oven
whiles they lie
in wait
.... The prince
people
and scorners before mentioned
being
heated with wine
and their lust enraged
they were ready for any wickedness;
for the commission of adultery
lying in wait for their neighbours' wives to
debauch them; or for rebellion and treason against their king
and even the
murder of him
made drunk by them
whom they now despised
and waited for an
opportunity to dispatch him:
their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a
flaming fire; as a baker having put wood into his oven
and kindled it
leaves
it
and sleeps all night
and in the morning it is all burning
and in a flame
and his oven is thoroughly heated
and fit for his purpose; so the evil
concupiscence in these men's hearts
made hot like an oven
rests all night
devising mischief on their beds
either against the chastity of their
neighbours' wives
or against the lives of others
they bear an ill will to
particularly against their judges and their kings
as Hosea 7:7; seems to
intimate; and in the morning this lust of uncleanness or revenge is all in a
flame
and ready to execute the wicked designs contrived; see Micah 2:1. Some by
"their baker" understand Satan; others
their king asleep and secure;
others Shallum
the head of the conspiracy against Zachariah.
Hosea 7:7 7 They
are all hot
like an oven
And have devoured their judges; All their kings have
fallen. None among them calls upon Me.
YLT 7All of them are warm as an
oven
And they have devoured their judges
All their kings have fallen
There
is none calling unto Me among them.
They are all hot as an oven
.... Eager upon their
idolatry
or burning in their unclean desires after other men's wives; or
rather raging and furious
hot with anger and wrath against their rulers and
governors
breathing out slaughter and death unto them:
and have devoured their judges; that stood in the way of
their lusts
reproved them for them
and restrained them from them; or were on
the side of the king they conspired against
and were determined to depose and
slay:
all their kings have fallen; either into sin
the sin
of idolatry particularly
as all from Jeroboam the first did
down to Hoshea
the last; or they fell into calamities
or by the sword of one another
as did
most of them; so Zachariah by Shallum
Shallum by Menahem
Pekahiah by Pekah
and Pekah by Hoshea; see 2 Kings 15:1. So
the Targum
"all
their kings are slain:'
there is none among
them that calleth unto me; either among the kings
when their lives
were in danger from conspirators; or none among the people
when their land was
in distress
either by civil wars among themselves
or by a foreign enemy; such
was their stupidity
and to such a height was irreligion come to among them!
Hosea 7:8 8 “Ephraim
has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned.
YLT 8Ephraim! among peoples he
mixeth himself
Ephraim hath been a cake unturned.
Ephraim
he hath mixed himself among the people
.... Either
locally
by dwelling among them
as some of them at least might do among the
Syrians; or carnally
by intermarrying with them
contrary to the command of
God; or civilly
by entering into alliances and confederacies with them
as
Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel did with Rezin king of Syria
Isaiah 7:2; or by
seeking to them for help
calling to Egypt
and going to Assyria
as in Hosea 7:11; so Aben
Ezra; or morally
by learning their manners
and conforming to their customs
especially in religious things: though some understand this as a punishment
threatened them for their above sins
that they should be carried captive into
foreign lands
and so be mixed among the people
and which is Jarchi's sense:
but it is rather to be considered as their evil in joining with other nations
in their superstition
idolatry
and other impieties; and it is highly
offensive to God when his professing people mix themselves with the world
keep
company with the men of it
fashion themselves according to them
do as they do
and wilfully go into their conversation
and repeat it
and continue therein
and resolve to do so: for so it may be rendered
"he will mix
himself"F18הוא יתבולל
"miscebit sese"
Zanchius. ; it denotes a voluntary act
repeated and
persisted in with obstinacy;
Ephraim is a cake not turned; like a cake that is laid
on coats
if it is not turned
the nether part will be burnt
and the upper
part unbaked
and so be good for noticing; not fit to be eaten
being nothing
indeed
neither bread nor dough; and so may signify
that Ephraim having
introduced much of the superstition and idolatry of the Gentiles into religious
worship
was nothing in religion
neither fish nor flesh
as is proverbially
said of persons and things of which nothing can be made; they worshipped the
calves at Dan and Bethel
and Yet swore by the name of the Lord; they halted
between two opinions
and were of neither; they were like the hotch potch
inhabitants of Samaria in later times
that came in their place
that feared
the Lord
and served their own gods: and such professors of religion there are
who are nothing in religion; nothing in principle
they have no scheme of
principles; they are neither one thing nor another; they are nothing in
experience; if they have a form of godliness
they deny the power of it; they
are nothing in practice
all they do is to be seen of men; they are neither hot
nor cold
especially not throughout
or on both sides
like a cake unturned;
but are lukewarm and indifferent
and therefore very disagreeable to the Lord.
Some take this to be expressive of punishment
and not of fault; either of
their partial captivity by Tiglathpileser
when only a part of them was carried
captive; or of the swift and total destruction of them by their enemies
who
would be like hungry and half starved persons
who meeting with a cake on the
coals half baked
snatch it up
and eat it
not staying for the turning and
baking it on the other side; and thus it should be with them. So the Targum
"the
house of Ephraim is like to a cake baked on coals
which before it is turned is
eaten.'
Hosea 7:9 9 Aliens
have devoured his strength
But he does not know it; Yes
gray hairs are
here and there on him
Yet he does not know it.
YLT 9Devoured have strangers his
power
And he hath not known
Also old age hath sprinkled [itself] on him
And
he hath not known.
Strangers have devoured his strength
.... Or his
substance
as the Targum; his wealth and riches
fortresses and strong holds:
these strangers were either the Syrians
who
in the times of Jehoahaz
destroyed Ephraim or the Israelites
and so weakened them
as to make them like
the dust by threshing
2 Kings 12:7; or
the Assyrians
first under Pul king of Assyria
who came out against Menahem
king of Israel
and exacted a tribute of a thousand talents of silver
and so
drained them of their treasure
which was their strength
2 Kings 15:19; and
then under Tiglathpileser
another king of Assyria
who came and took away from
them many of their fortified places
and carried the inhabitants captive
2 Kings 15:29;
and he knoweth it not; is not sensible how much
he is weakened by such exactions and depredations; or does not take notice of
the hand of God in all this; does not consider from whence it comes
what is
the cause of it
and for what ends;
yea
gray hairs are here and there upon him
yet he knoweth not; or
"old
age has sprinkled itself upon him"F19שיבה
זרקה בו "canities
sparsit se in eo"
Pagninus
Montanus
Cocceius
Schmidt; "cani
sparsi sunt"
Tigurine version; "canities aspergit eum"
Junius
& Tremellius
Piscator; so Latin writers: "sparserit et nigras alba
senecta comas". Propert. l. 3. Eleg. 4. "Jam mihi deterior canis
aspergitur aetas". Ovid. de Ponto
l. 1. Eleg. 5. ; or
"gray hairs
are sprinkled on him"; gray hairs
when thick
are a sign that old age is
come; and
when sprinkled here and there
are symptoms of its coming on
and of
a person's being on the decline of life; and here it signifies the weak and
declining state of Israel
through the exactions and depredations of their
neighbours
and that theft utter ruin was near; and yet they did not know nor
consider their latter end
nor repent of their sins and acknowledge them
and
return unto the Lord
and implore his mercy: so carnal professors
who mix with
the men of the world
that are strangers to God and godliness
and everything
that is divine and good
are devoured by them; they lose their time and
substance
and their precious souls
and are not aware of it. The symptoms of
the declining state of the church of God are at this time upon us
and yet not
taken notice of; such as great departures from the faith; a number of false teachers
risen up; great failings off of professors
and of such who have made a great
figure in the church; a small number of faithful men; great coldness and
lukewarmness to spiritual things; little faith on the earth; great neglect of
Gospel worship and ordinances; much sleepiness and drowsiness; great immorality
and profaneness: as also the symptoms of the declining state of the world
and
of its drawing to its period; as wars
and rumours of wars
famine
pestilence
and earthquakes in divers places; volcanos
burning mountains
eruptions of
subterraneous fire
which portend the general conflagration; and yet these
things are little attended to.
Hosea 7:10 10 And
the pride of Israel testifies to his face
But they do not return to the Lord their God
Nor
seek Him for all this.
YLT 10And humbled hath been the
excellency of Israel to his face
And they have not turned back unto Jehovah
their God
Nor have they sought Him for all this.
And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face
.... See Gill
on Hosea 5:5;
notwithstanding their weak and declining state
they were proud and haughty;
entertained a high conceit of themselves
and of their good and safe condition;
and behaved insolently towards God
and were not humbled before him for their
sins. Their pride was notorious
which they themselves could not deny; they
were self-convicted
and self-condemned:
and they do not return to the Lord their God; by
acknowledgment of their sins
repentance for them
and reformation from them;
and by attendance on his worship
from which they had revolted; so the Targum
"they
return not to the worship of the Lord their God:'
nor seek him for all this; though they are in this
wasting
declining
condition
and just upon the brink of ruin
yet they seek
not the face and favour of the Lord; they do not ask help of him
or implore
his mercy; and though they have been so long in these circumstances
and have
been gradually consuming for many years
yet in all this time they have made no
application to the Lord
that he would be favourable
and raise their sinking
state
and restore them to their former glory.
Hosea 7:11 11 “Ephraim
also is like a silly dove
without sense— They call to Egypt
They go to
Assyria.
YLT 11And Ephraim is as a simple
dove without heart
Egypt they called on -- [to] Asshur they have gone.
Ephraim also is like a silly dove
without heart
.... Or
understanding; which comes and picks up the corns of grain
which lie scattered
about
and does not know that the net is spread for it; and when its young are
taken away
it is unconcerned
and continues its nest in the same place still;
and
when frightened
flees not to its dove house
where it would be safe
but
flies about here and there
and so becomes a prey to others. Thus Ephraim
going to Egypt and Assyria for help
were ensnared by them
not having sense
enough to perceive that this would be their ruin; and though they had
heretofore suffered by them
yet still they continued to make their addresses
to them; and instead of keeping close to the Lord
and to his worship and the
place of it
and asking counsel and help of him they ran about and sought for
it here and there:
they call to Egypt; that is
for help; as Hoshea king of
Israel
when he sent messengers to So or Sabacon king of Egypt
for protection
and assistance
2 Kings 17:4. Such
a foolish part
like the silly doves
did they act; since the Egyptians had
been their implacable enemies
and their fathers had been in cruel bondage
under them:
they go to Assyria; send gifts and presents
and pay tribute to
the kings thereof
to make them easy; as Menahem did to Pul
and Hoshea to
Shalmaneser
2 Kings 15:19. Some
understand this last clause
not of their sin in going to the Assyrian for
help; but of their punishment in going or being carried captive thither; and so
the Targum seems to interpret it
"they
go captive
or are carried captive
into Assyria.'
Hosea 7:12 12 Wherever
they go
I will spread My net on them; I will bring them down like birds of the
air; I will chastise them According to what their congregation has heard.
YLT 12When they go I spread over
them My net
As the fowl of the heavens I bring them down
I chastise them as
their company hath heard.
When they shall go
.... That is
to Egypt or Assyria:
I will spread my net upon them; bring them into great
straits and difficulties; perhaps the Assyrian army is meant
which was the
Lord's net
guided
and directed
and spread by his providence
and according
to his will
to take this silly dove in; and which enclosed them on all sides
that they could not escape; see Ezekiel 12:13.
Hoshea the king of Israel was taken by the Assyrian
and bound and shut up in
prison; Samaria the capital city was besieged three years
and then taken
2 Kings 17:4;
I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; though they fly
on high
soar aloft
and behave proudly
and fancy themselves out of all
danger; yet
as the flying fowl
the eagle
and other birds
may be brought
down to the earth by an arrow from the bow
or by some decoy so should they be
brought down from their fancied safe and exalted state
and be taken in the
net
and become a prey to their enemies:
I will chastise them
as their congregation hath heard; what was
written in the law
and in the prophets
were read and explained in the
congregations of Israel on their stated days they met together on for religious
worship; in which it was threatened
that if they did not observe the laws and
statutes of the Lord their God
but neglected and broke them
they should be
severely chastised and corrected with his sore judgments
famine
pestilence
the sword of the enemy
and captivity: and now the Lord would fulfil his word
agreeably to what had often been heard by them
but not regarded; see Leviticus 26:1.
Hosea 7:13 13 “Woe
to them
for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them
Because they have
transgressed against Me! Though I redeemed them
Yet they have spoken lies
against Me.
YLT 13Wo to them
for they wandered
from Me
Destruction to them
for they transgressed against Me
And I -- I
ransom them
and they have spoken lies against Me
Woe unto them
for they have fled from me
.... From the
Lord
from his worship
and the place of it; from obedience to him
and the
service of him; as birds fly from their nests
and leave their young
and
wander about; so they had deserted the temple at Jerusalem
and forsaken the
service of the sanctuary
and set up calves at Dan and Bethel
and worshipped
them; and
instead of fleeing to God for help in time of distress
fled further
off still
even out of their own land to Egypt or Assyria: the consequence of
which was
nothing but ruin; and so lamentation and woes:
destruction unto them
because they have transgressed against me; against the
laws which God gave them; setting up idols
and worshipping them
and so broke
the first table of the law; committing murder
adultery
thefts and robberies
with which they are charged the preceding part of this chapter
and so transgressed
the second table of the law; and by all brought destruction upon themselves
which was near at hand
and would certainly come
as here threatened; though
they promised themselves peace
and expected assistance from neighbouring
nations
but in vain
having made the Lord their enemy
by breaking his laws:
though I have redeemed them; out of Egypt formerly
and out of the hands of the Moabites
Ammonites
Philistines
and others
in
the times of the judges; and more lately in the times of Joash and Jeroboam the
second
who recovered many cities out of the hands of the Syrians. Aben Ezra
Jarchi
and Kimchi
interpret this of the good disposition of God towards them
having it in his heart to redeem them now from their present afflictions and
distresses
but that they were so impious and wicked
and so unfaithful to him:
yet they have spoken lies against me; against his
being and providence
being atheistically inclined; or pretending repentance
for their sins
when they were hypocrites
and returned to their former
courses; or setting up idols in opposition to him
which were vanity to him;
attributing all their good things to them
and charging him with all their
evils. Abendana reads the words interrogatively
"should I redeem them
when they have spoken lies against me?"F20ואנכי
אפדם "et ego redimerem eos?" so some in
Rivet. no
I will not.
Hosea 7:14 14 They
did not cry out to Me with their heart When they wailed upon their beds. “They
assemble together for[b] grain and
new wine
They rebel against Me;[c]
YLT 14And have not cried unto Me
with their heart
but howl on their beds
For corn and new wine they assemble
themselves
They turn aside against Me.
And they have not cried unto me with their heart
.... In their
distress
indeed
they cried unto the Lord
and said they repented of their
sins
and promised reformation
and made a show of worshipping God; as
invocation is sometimes put for the whole worship of God; but then this was not
heartily
but hypocritically; their hearts and their mouths did not go
together
and therefore was not reckoned prayer; nothing but howling
as
follows:
when they howled upon their beds; lying sick or wounded
there; or
as some
in their idol temples
those beds of adultery
where they
pretended to worship God by them
and to pray to him through them; but such
idolatrous prayers were no better than the howlings of clogs to him; even
though they expressed outwardly their cries with great vehemency
as the word
used denotes
having one letter more in it than common:
they assemble themselves for corn and wine: either at
their banquets
to feast upon them
as Aben Ezra; or to the markets
to buy
them
as Kimchi suggests; or rather to their idol temples
to deprecate a
famine
and to pray for rain and fruitful seasons; or if they gather together
to pray to the Lord
it is only for carnal and worldly things; they only seek
themselves
and their own interest
and not the glory of God
and ask for these
things
to consume them on their lust. The Septuagint version is
"for
corn and wine they were cut"
or cut themselves
as Baal's priests did
when they cried to him
1 Kings 18:28; and
Theodoret here observes
that they performed the Heathen rites
and in idol temples
made incisions on their bodies:
and they rebel against me: not only flee
from him transgress his laws but cast off all allegiance to him and take up
arms
and commit hostilities against him. The Targum joins this with the
preceding clause
"because
of the multitude of corn and wine which they have gathered they have rebelled
against my word;'
and
to the same sense Jarchi; thus
Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked.
Hosea 7:15 15 Though
I disciplined and strengthened their arms
Yet they devise evil against
Me;
YLT 15And I instructed -- I
strengthened their arms
And concerning Me they think evil!
Though I have bound and strengthened their arms
.... As a
surgeon sets a broken arm and swathes and binds it
and so restores it to its
former strength
or at least to a good degree of strength again
so the Lord
dealt with Israel; their arms were broken
and their strength weakened
and
they greatly distressed and reduced by the Syrians in the times of Jehoahaz;
but they were brought into a better state and condition in the times of Joash
and Jeroboam the second; the former retook several cities out of the hands of
the Syrians
and the latter restored the border of Israel
and greatly enlarged
it; and as all this was done through the blessing of divine Providence
the
Lord is said to do it himself. Some render it
"though I have chastised
I
have strengthened their arms"F21ואני יסרתי חזקתי זרוע־תאם
"castigavi"
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
Vatablus
Cocceius
Tarnovius. ; though he corrected them for their sins in the times of Jehoahaz
and suffered their arms to be broken by their enemies
for their instruction
and in order to bring them to repentance for their sins; yet he strengthened
them again in the following reigns:
yet do they imagine mischief against me; so ungrateful
were they
they contrived to do hurt to his prophets that were sent to them in
his name
to warn them of their sins and danger
and exhort them to repent
and
forsake their idolatrous worship
and other sins; and they sought by all means
to dishonour the name of the Lord
by imputing their success in the reigns of
Joash and Jeroboam to their idols
and not unto him; and so hardened themselves
against him
and in their evil ways.
Hosea 7:16 16 They
return
but not to the Most High;[d] They are
like a treacherous bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword For the cursings
of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
YLT 16They turn back -- not to
the Most High
They have been as a deceitful bow
Fall by sword do their
princes
From the insolence of their tongue
This [is] their derision in the
land of Egypt!
They return
but not to the most High
.... To Egypt
and not to Jerusalem
and the temple there
and the worship of it; to their
idols
and not to him whose name alone is Jehovah
and is the most High all the
earth
the God of gods
and Lord of lords
and King of kings; though they made
some feint as if they would return
and did begin
and take some steps towards
repentance and reformation; but then they presently fell back again
as in
Jehu's time
and did not go on to make a thorough reformation; nor returned to
God alone
and to his pure worship they pretended to
and ought to have done:
or
"not on high
upwards
above"F23לא
על "non supra"
Montanus; "non
sursum"
De Dieu
Gussetius; "non erecte"
Cocceius. ; their
affections and desires are not after things above; they do not look upwards to
God in heaven for help and assistance
but to men and things on earth
on which
all their affection and dependence are placed:
they are like a deceitful bow; which misses the mark it
is directed to; which being designed to send its arrow one way
causes it to go
the reverse; or its arrow returns upon the archer
or drops at his feet; so
these people deviated from the law of God
acted contrary to their profession
and promises
and relapsed into their former idolatries and impieties
and sunk
into earth and earthly things; see Psalm 78:57;
their princes shall fall by the sword: either of
their conspirators
as Zachariah
Shallum
Pekahiah
and Pekah; or by the sword
of the Assyrians
as Hoshea
and the princes with him
by Shalmaneser;
for the rage of their tongue; their blasphemy against
God
his being and providences; his worship
and the place of it; his priests
and people that served him
and particularly the prophets he sent unto them to
reprove them;
this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt; whither they
sent
and called for help; but now
when their princes are slain
and they
carried captive into a foreign land
even those friends and allies of theirs
shall laugh and mock at them. The Targum is
"these
were their works while they were in the land of Egypt;'
or
rather the words may be rendered
"this is their derision
as of old
in the land of Egypt"F24זו לעגם בארץ מצרים
"haec
seu quae est subsannatio
sicut olim in terra
Aegypti"
Schmidt. ; that is
the calves they now worshipped
and to which
they ascribed all their good things
were made in imitation of the gods of
Egypt
their Apis and Serapis
which were in the form of an ox
and which their
fathers derided there; and these were justly to be derided now
and they to be
derided for their worship of them
and ascribing all their good things to them;
and which would be done when their destruction came upon them.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)