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Hosea Chapter Nine                            

 

Hosea 9 Outlines

Judgment of Israel’s Sin (v.1~17)

New King James Version (NKJV)

 

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 9

This chapter is an address to Israel or the ten tribes and contains either a new sermon or is a very considerable part of the former upon the same subject the sins and punishment of that people. It begins with an instruction to them not to rejoice in their prosperity as others did; since it would soon be at an end because of their idolatry which was everywhere committed and for which they expected a reward of temporal good things Hosea 9:1; but on the contrary they are threatened with famine with want both of corn and wine Hosea 9:2; and with an ejection out of their land into foreign countries; where they should be obliged to eat things unclean by their law Hosea 9:3; and where their sacrifices and solemnities should be no more attended to Hosea 9:4; yea where their carcasses should fall and be buried while their own country and houses lay waste and desolate Hosea 9:6; for whatsoever their foolish and mad prophets said to the contrary who pretended to be with God and know his will and were a snare to them that gave heed unto them and brought hatred on them the time of their punishment would certainly come Hosea 9:7; and their iniquities would be remembered and visited; seeing their corruptions were deep like those that appeared in Gibeah in the days of old Hosea 9:9; they acting the same ungrateful part their fathers had done of whom they were a degenerate offspring Hosea 9:10; wherefore for these and other offences mentioned they are threatened with being bereaved of their children and drove out of their land to wander among the nations Hosea 9:11.

 

Hosea 9:1   Do not rejoice O Israel with joy like other peoples For you have played the harlot against your God. You have made love for hire on every threshing floor.
   YLT  
1`Rejoice not O Israel be not joyful like the peoples For thou hast gone a-whoring from thy God Thou hast loved a gift near all floors of corn.

Rejoice not O Israel for joy as other people .... But rather mourn and lament since such a load of guilt lay upon them and they had so highly provoked the Lord to anger by their sins and punishment would quickly be inflicted on them; and though they might be now in prosperity through Jeroboam's success against their enemies who by his victories had enlarged their border; yet they should not rejoice at it as other people used to do on such occasions by illumination of houses making fires in the streets feasting and the like since this prosperity would be but short lived: or if it was on account of the league made by Menahem with the king of Assyria this would not last long; or on account of a good harvest they need not so much rejoice as they that rejoice in harvest since there would quickly be a famine among them: or rather it may respect rejoicing at their idols and in their idolatrous worship as other people which is forbidden; such as instituting plays to the honour of them making feasts before them and dancing about them; whatever others might do who knew not the true God had not his law before them nor his prophets sent to them to make known his will; who had been brought up in idolatry adhered to their gods and never forsook them; it ill became Israel to do the like. So the words may be rendered "rejoice not O Israel" at an idolF17אל גיל "super similitudine seu idolo" Schmidt. or idols "as other people" idolatrous ones; the word signifies "similitude"F18גיל signifies a likeness of age stature and complexion in Dan. i. 10. an idol is the similitude or likeness of anything in heaven or is earth Exod. xx. 4. or "likeness" which an idol is:

for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God; playing the harlot with many lovers; committing adultery with stocks and stones; worshipping idols and so departing from God the true God they had professed to be their God their God in covenant; who stood in the relation of a husband to them but they proved treacherous to him and were guilty of spiritual adultery which is idolatry; and therefore had no cause to rejoice as other nations that never left their gods but to take shame to themselves and mourn over their sad departure; see Hosea 1:3;

thou hast loved a reward upon every corn floor; alluding to the hire of a harlot prostituting herself for it on a corn floor or any where else and that for a measure of corn or for bread: it may point either at their giving the times of their corn floors to their idols instead of giving them to the Lord; or to their ascribing their plenty of corn and all good things to their worship of them which they called their rewards or hires their lovers gave them Hosea 2:5; or to their erecting of altars on their corn floors; as David erected one to the true God on the threshing floor of Araunah 2 Samuel 24:24; and which they might do either by way of thanksgiving for a good harvest which they imputed to them; or in order to obtain one but in vain as follows. The Targum is

"for you have erred from the worship of your God; you have loved to serve idols on all corn floors.'

 

Hosea 9:2   2 The threshing floor and the winepress Shall not feed them And the new wine shall fail in her.

   YLT  2Floor and wine-press do not delight them And new wine doth fail in her

The floor and the winepress shall not feed them .... Though their expectations from their worship of idols were large they should find themselves mistaken; for there would not be a sufficiency of corn on the floor nor of wine in the press to supply them with what was necessary for their sustenance; either through a blight upon their fields and vineyards or through the invasion of an enemy treading them down and spoiling and foraging them: or else supposing a sufficient quantity of corn and wine got in; yet those blessings should be either turned into curses or carried off by the enemy that they should do then no good; or if they enjoyed them yet they should receive no nourishment from them; but should become lean and look like starved and famishing creatures in the midst of plenty; by all which it would appear that their idols could neither give them a sufficiency of provisions nor make those nourishing to them they had:

and the new wine shall fail in her; in the congregation or land of Israel: or "shall lie to her"F19יכחש בה "mentietur in ea" Pagninus Montanus Zanchius; "mentietur isti" Junius & Tremellius Piscator Liveleus Schmidt. ; shall not answer their expectations but disappoint and deceive them; whereas they expected great plenty from the promising prospect of the vines these by one means or another should be destroyed so that they would yield but little and balk them; see Habakkuk 3:17.

 

Hosea 9:3   3 They shall not dwell in the Lord’s land But Ephraim shall return to Egypt And shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
   YLT  
3They do not abide in the land of Jehovah And turned back hath Ephraim [to] Egypt And in Asshur an unclean thing they eat.

They shall not dwell in the Lord's land .... The land of Israel or Canaan; which though all the earth is the Lord's was peculiarly his; which he had chosen for himself and for this people; where he had his temple and caused his Shechinah or divine Majesty to dwell in a very special manner and where his worship and service were performed. So the Targum calls it the land of the Shechinah or majesty of the Lord. Sometimes it is called Immanuel's land where the Messiah Immanuel God with us was to be born and dwell and where he did. Kimchi wrongly interprets this of Jerusalem only; and others of Judea; but it designs the whole land of promise which God save by promise to the fathers of this people and put them in the possession of the tenure of which they held by their obedience; but they not living according to will and in obedience to his laws who was Lord of the land sole Proprietor and Governor of it he turned them out of it and would not suffer them to continue any longer in it; and which was a great punishment indeed to be driven out of such a land a land flowing with milk and honey and where they had been favoured with privileges and blessings of every kind;

but Ephraim shall return to Egypt; or the ten tribes; that is some of them who should flee thither for refuge and sustenance; when the Assyrian should invade their land and besiege Samaria they should go thither again where their ancestors had formerly been in a state of bondage: this is prophesied of them Deuteronomy 28:68;

and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria; that is Ephraim or the ten tribes the far greater part of there should be taken captive and carried into Assyria and there eat food which by their law was unclean as things sacrificed to idols swine's flesh and many others; or food that was not fit for men to eat which nature abhorred; such bread as Ezekiel was bid to make and eat Ezekiel 4:9. This may be understood even of them that went to Egypt for help against the Assyrians or for shelter from them or for food to eat in the time of famine; who should be brought back again and carried into Assyria and there live a miserable and an uncomfortable life; who had been used to enjoy corn and wine and plenty of all good things to which these unclean things may be opposed.

 

Hosea 9:4   4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord Nor shall their sacrifices be pleasing to Him. It shall be like bread of mourners to them; All who eat it shall be defiled. For their bread shall be for their own life; It shall not come into the house of the Lord.

   YLT  4They pour not out wine to Jehovah Nor are they sweet to Him Their sacrifices [are] as bread of mourners to them All eating it are unclean: For their bread [is] for themselves It doth not come into the house of Jehovah.

They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord .... This is either a threatening of the cessation of sacrifices being carried into Assyria a strange land where it was not lawful to offer sacrifice there being no temple nor altar to offer in or at; and so as they would not offer to the Lord when they should now they shall not if they would: or this respects not the future time of their exile but their present time now as Kimchi observes; and so is a reproof of their present sacrifices which are forbidden to be observed; because they were offered not in faith nor in sincerity but hypocritically and before their calves: besides the future tease is sometimes put for the present; and this way goes Schmidt;

neither shall their sacrifices be pleasing unto him; unto the Lord if they were offered; and is a reason why they should not because unacceptable to him and that for the reasons before mentioned:

their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners: all that eat thereof shall be polluted; as all that ate of the bread of such who were mourning for their dead that partook of their funeral feasts or ate bread with them at any time during their mourning were defiled thereby according to the Levitical law and were unqualified for service Leviticus 21:1; so the sacrifices of these people being offered up with a wicked mind instead of atoning for their sins more and more defiled them; and instead of being acceptable to God were abominable to him:

for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord; in the captivity there was no house of the Lord for them to bring it into; and when in their own land they did not bring their offerings to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem as they should have done but offered them before their calves at Dan and Bethel; and which is the thing complained of that the bread for their souls that is the offerings accompanied with the "minchah" or bread offering for the expiation of the sins of their souls were not brought into the house of the Lord (the future for the present); or else this being the case their sacrifices were reckoned by the Lord as no other than common bread which they ate for the sustenance of their lives.

 

Hosea 9:5   5 What will you do in the appointed day And in the day of the feast of the Lord?
   YLT  
5What do ye at the day appointed? And at the day of Jehovah's festival?

What will ye do in the solemn day and in the day of the feast of the Lord? Since their sacrifices now were so disagreeable and displeasing to the Lord and so unavailable to themselves what would they do when in captivity "in the solemn day" the seventh day of the week appointed by the Lord for rest and religious worship; and in the first day of the month which also was to be solemnly observed by offering sacrifice &c. and on feast days of the Lord's instituting as the feasts of the passover pentecost; and tabernacles? seeing those that carried and held them captive would not allow them time for such solemnities; nor would they be furnished with proper sacrifices; nor could they be accommodated with a proper place to offer them at; nor be able in a strange land and under hardships and miseries to express that joy that is suitable to such occasions: thus should they learn by sad experience the want of those means and opportunities of serving the Lord which in their own land they rejected and despised. Jarchi and Kimchi interpret this of the destruction of Israel and of punishment inflicted on them at the time appointed by the Lord; and which would be a solemn time a feast with the Lord to which he should invite their enemies and they should spill their blood as the blood of sacrifices; and when he would display the glory of his justice truth and faithfulness before all the world. And it is asked what will you do then? whither will you flee for help? or what sacrifice can you offer up to the Lord to atone for sin or appease his wrath? will you be able to rejoice then? no your joy will be turned into mourning; see Isaiah 10:3.

 

Hosea 9:6   6 For indeed they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up; Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver; Thorns shall be in their tents.

   YLT  6For lo they have gone because of destruction Egypt gathereth them Moph burieth them The desirable things of their silver Nettles possess them -- a thorn [is] in their tents.

For lo they are gone because of destruction .... That is many of the people of Israel were gone out of their own land to others particularly to Egypt because of the destruction that was coming upon them and to avoid it; because of the Assyrian army which invaded their land and besieged Samaria and threatened them with entire destruction; and upon which a famine ensued and which is thought by Kimchi to be here particularly meant;

Egypt shall gather them up: being dead; for they shall die there perhaps by the pestilence and never return to their own country as they flattered themselves; and they shall make preparations for their funeral:

Memphis shall bury them; or they shall be buried there; which was a principal city in Egypt here called Moph in Isaiah 19:13 Noph. It was the metropolis of upper Egypt and the seat of the Egyptian kings. In it as Plutarch saysF20De Iside & Osir. p. 359. was the sepulchre of Osiris; and some say its name so signifies. Near to it were the famous pyramids as StraboF21Geograph. l. 17. p. 555. says supposed to be built for the sepulchre of them. HerodotusF23Euterpe sive l. 2. c. 8. 126 127. places these pyramids at Memphis and says there were three of them; the largest had several subterraneous chambers in it; the next in size had none; the smallest was covered with Ethiopic marble. Strabo in the place referred to speaks of many pyramids near it of which three were very remarkable and expressly says they were the burying places of the kings. DiodorusF24Bibliothec. l. 1. p 57. agrees with these as to the number of them but places them fifteen miles from Memphis. PlinyF25Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 12. places them between Memphis and the Delta six miles from Memphis; pretty near to which is Strabo's account who in the above place says they stood forty furlongs or five miles from the city. Near it was the lake of Charon or Acherusia over which he ferried dead bodies from Memphis to the pyramids or to the plains of the mummies the Elysian fields. Now since this was so famous for the burying places of kings there may be an allusion to it in this expression. Here also were buried their deities the Apis or ox when it died;

the pleasant places for their silver nettles shall possess them; such beautiful edifices as were made for the repositories or treasure houses for their silver; or were built or purchased at great expense of silver; or were decorated with it; now should lie in ruins and be like a waste desert and desolate place all overrun with nettles and uninhabited:

briers shall be in their tabernacles; their dwelling houses which being demolished briers shall grow upon the ground where they stood and overspread it; another token of desolation. The Targum interprets it of living creatures beasts of prey that should dwell there; wild cats particularly.

 

Hosea 9:7   7 The days of punishment have come; The days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool The spiritual man is insane Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity.
   YLT  
7Come in have the days of inspection Come in have the days of recompence Israel doth know! a fool [is] the prophet Mad [is] the man of the Spirit Because of the abundance of thine iniquity And great [is] the hatred.

The days of visitation are come the days of recompense are come .... In which the Lord would punish the people of Israel for their sins and reward them in a righteous manner according as their evil works deserved; which time being fixed and appointed by him are called "days"; and these because near at hand are said to be "come"; and this is repeated for the certainty of it:

Israel shall know it; by sad experience that these days are come; and shall acknowledge the truth of the divine predictions and the righteousness of God in his judgments. SchultensF26Animadv. Philol. in Job p. 78. from the use of the phrase in the Arabic language interprets it of Israel's suffering punishment; with which agrees the Septuagint version "Israel shall be afflicted" or it shall go ill with him; and to the same purpose the Arabic version:

the prophet is a fool; so Israel said before those days came of a true prophet of the Lord that he was a fool for prophesying of evil things but now they shall find it otherwise. So the Targum

"they of the house of Israel shall know that they who had prophesied to them were true prophets;'

but rather this is to be understood of false prophets who when the day of God's visitation shall come on Israel in a way of wrath and vengeance will appear both to themselves and others to be fools for prophesying good things to them when evil was at hand:

the spiritual man is mad; he that was truly so and prophesied under the inspiration of the Spirit of God was accounted a madman for speaking against the idolatry of the times and foretelling the judgments of God that would come upon the nation for it; but now it would be manifest that not he but such who pretended to be spiritual men and to be directed and dictated by the Spirit of God when they promised the people peace though they walked after the imagination of their hearts were the real madmen; who pursued the frenzies and fancies of their own minds to the deception of themselves and the people and called these the revelations of God and pretended they came from the Spirit of God:

for the multitude of thine iniquities and the great hatred; that is either those evil days came upon them for their manifold sins and transgressions which were hateful to God and the cause of his hatred of them; or they were suffered to give heed to those foolish and mad prophets because of their many sins especially idolatry; and because of their great hatred of God and of his true prophets and of his laws and ordinances of his word will and worship and of one another God gave them up to a reprobate mind to a judicial blindness and hardness of heart to believe a lie and whatsoever those false prophets declared unto them because they did not like to retain him in their knowledge to walk according to his law and to believe his prophets. The Targum is

"but the false prophets besotted them so as to increase thy transgression and strengthen thine iniquities.'

 

Hosea 9:8   8 The watchman of Ephraim is with my God; But the prophet is a fowler’s[a] snare in all his ways— Enmity in the house of his God.
   YLT  
8Ephraim is looking [away] from My God The prophet! a snare of a fowler [is] over all his ways Hatred [is] in the house of his God.

The watchman of Ephraim was with my God .... Formerly the watchmen of Ephraim or the prophets of Israel were with the true God whom the prophet calls his God; as Elijah and Elisha who had communion and intimacy with him; had revelations and instructions from him; and were under the direction and inspiration of his Spirit and prophesied in his name things according to his will and for the good of his people: or "the watchman of Ephraim should be with my God"; on his side and promote his worship and service his honour and interest; and give the people warning from him having heard the word at his mouth: but now they were not with him nor for him nor did as they should: or one that bore this character of a watchman in the ten tribes pretended to be such a one and would be thought to be with God and to have his mind and will and to be sincere for his glory:

but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways; the false prophet the same with the watchman instead of guiding and directing Ephraim in the right way in which he should go lays snares for him in all the ways he takes to lead him wrong and draw him into sin particularly into idolatry both by his doctrine and example:

and hatred in the house of his God; and so became detestable and execrable it the house of his own god the calf at Bethel in the temple there: prophesying such things as in the event prove false and drawing into such practices as brought on ruin and desolation. The Targum interprets it of laying snares for their prophets their true prophets; and Kimchi and Jarchi of slaying Zechariah the prophet in the temple.

 

Hosea 9:9   9 They are deeply corrupted As in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins.

   YLT  9They have gone deep -- have done corruptly As [in] the days of Gibeah He doth remember their iniquity He doth inspect their sins.

They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah .... Not the false prophets and watchmen only; but rather Ephraim or the ten tribes through their means became extremely corrupt in principle and practice; they had most sadly degenerated and were deeply sunk and immersed in all manner of wickedness and rooted in it and continued obstinate and incorrigible so that there was no hope of reformation among them; they had got to as great a pitch of wickedness and were guilty of the like uncleanness lewdness barbarity and cruelty as were acted by the men of Gibeah with respect to the Levite and his concubine Judges 19:1; for Gibeah of Benjamin is here meant where the people asked a king and rebelled against the words of the prophet as some in Jarchi interpret it:

therefore he will remember their iniquity he will visit their sins: that is God my God as the prophet calls him in Hosea 9:8 will not forgive and forget their sins; pardon being often expressed by a non-remembrance of sins; but will make inquiry after them and visit them in a way of wrath and vengeance and punish for them as they deserve: they being obstinate and impenitent and persisting in their sins like the men of Gibeah and Benjamin.

 

Hosea 9:10   10 “I found Israel Like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers As the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal Peor And separated themselves to that shame; They became an abomination like the thing they loved.
   YLT  
10As grapes in a wilderness I found Israel As the first-fruit in a fig-tree at its beginning I have seen your fathers They -- they have gone in [to] Baal-Peor And are separated to a shameful thing And are become abominable like their love.

I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness .... Not Jacob or Israel personally with the few souls that went down with him into Egypt; for these died in Egypt and never returned from thence or came into the wilderness to be found; nor Israel in a spiritual sense the objects of electing redeeming and calling grace; though it may be accommodated to them who in their nature state are as in a wilderness in a forlorn hopeless helpless and uncomfortable condition; in which the Lord finds them seeking them by his Son in redemption and by his Spirit in the effectual calling; when they are like grapes not in themselves being destitute of all good and having nothing but sin and wickedness in them; for whatever good thing is in them at conversion it is not found but put there; but the simile may serve to express the great and unmerited love of God to his people who are as agreeable to him as grapes in the wilderness to a thirsty traveller; and in whom he takes great delight and complacency notwithstanding all their sinfulness and unworthiness; and bestows abundance of grace upon them and makes them like clusters of grapes indeed; and such were many of the Jewish fathers and who are here intended even the people of Israel brought out of Egypt into the wilderness of Arabia through which they travelled to Canaan: here the Lord found them took notice and care of them provided for them and protected them and gave them many tokens of his love and affection; see Deuteronomy 32:10; and they were as acceptable to him and he took as much delight and pleasure in them as one travelling through the deserts of Arabia or any other desert would rejoice at finding a vine laden with clusters of grapes. The design of this metaphor is not to compare Israel with grapes because of any goodness in them and as a reason of the Lord's delight in them; for neither for quantity nor quality were they like them being few and very obstinate and rebellious; but to set forth the great love of God to them and his delight and complacency in them; which arose and sprung not from any excellency in them but from his own sovereign good will and pleasure; see Deuteronomy 7:6;

I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first time; the Lord looked upon their ancestors when they were settled as a people in their civil and church state upon their being brought out of Egypt with as much pleasure as a man beholds the first ripe fig his fig tree produces after planting it or the first it produces in the season the fig tree bearing twice in a year; but the first is commonly most desired as being most rare and valuable; and such were the Israelites to the Lord at first Micah 7:1. This is observed to aggravate their ingratitude to the Lord which soon discovered itself; and to suggest that their posterity were like them who though they had received many favours from the Lord as tokens of his affection to them and delight in them; yet behaved in a most shocking and shameful manner to him:

but they went to Baalpeor: or "went into Baalpeor"F1המה באו "ingressi sunt" Pagninus Montanus Calvin Drusius. ; committed whoredom with that idol even in the wilderness where the Lord found them and showed so much regard to them; this refers to the history in Numbers 25:1. Baalpeor is by some interpreted "the lord" or "god of opening": and was so called either from his opening his mouth in prophecy as AinsworthF2Annotations on Numb. xxv. 3. thinks as Nebo a god of Babylon had his name from prophesying; or from his open mouth with which this idol was figured as a Jewish writerF3Racenatensis in Capito apud Drusium in loc. observes; whose worshipper took him to be inspired and opened their mouths to receive the divine afflatus from him: others interpret it "the lord" or "god of nakedness"; because his worshippers exposed to him their posteriors in a shameful manner and even those parts which ought to be covered; and this is the sense of most of the Jewish writers. So in the Jerusalem TalmudF4T. Hieros. Sanhedrin fol. 28. 4. the worship of Peor is represented in like manner and as most filthy and obscene as it is by JarchiF5Perush in Numb. xxv. 3. who seems to have taken his account from thence; and even MaimonidesF6Moreh Nevochim par. 3. c. 45. p. 477. says it was a known thing that the worship of Peor was by uncovering of the nakedness; and this he makes to be the reason why God commanded the priests to make themselves breeches to cover their nakedness in the time of service and why they might not go up to the altar by steps that their nakedness might not be discovered; in short they took this Peor to be no other than a Priapus; and in this they are followed by many Christians particularly by Jerom on this place who observes that Baalpeor is the god of the Moabites whom we may call Priapus; and so IsidoreF7Origin. l. 8. c. 11. p. 70. says there was an idol in Moab called Baal on Mount Fegor whom the this call Priapus the god of gardens; but Mr. SeldenF8De Dis Syris Syntagma 1. c. 5. p. 162 163. See Cumberland's Sanchoniatho p. 73 &c. rejects this notion and contends that Peor is either the name of a mountain of which Isidore just now mentioned speaks; see Numbers 23:28; where Baal was worshipped and so was called from thence Baalpeor; as Jupiter Olympius Capitolinus &c. is so called from the mountains of Olympus Capitolinus &c. where divine honours are paid him; or else the name of a man of some great person in high esteem who was deified by the Moabites and worshipped by them after his death; and so Baalpeor may be the same as "Lord Peor"; and it seems most likely that Peor is the name of a man at least of an idol since we read of Bethpeor or the temple of Peor in Deuteronomy 34:6;

and separated themselves unto that shame; they separated themselves from God and his worship and joined themselves to that shameful idol and worshipped it thought by many as before observed to be the Priapus of the Gentiles in whose worship the greatest of obscenities were used not fit to be named: so that this epithet of shame is with great propriety given it and aggravates the sin of Israel that such a people should be guilty of such filthy practices; though Baal without supposing him to he a Priapus may be called "that shame" for Baal and Bosheth which signifies shame are some times put for each other; so Jerubbaal namely Gideon is called Jerubbesheth Judges 8:35; and Eshbaal appears plainly to be the same son of Saul whose name was Ishbosheth 1 Chronicles 8:33; and Meribbaal is clearly the same with Mephibosheth 1 Chronicles 8:34; yea it may be observed that the prophets of Baal are called in the Septuagint version of 1 Kings 18:25; προφητας της αισχυνης "the prophets of that shame"; every idol and all idolatry being shameful and the cause of shame sooner or later to their worshippers; especially when things obscene were done in their religious rites as were in many of the Heathens in which the Jews followed them; see Jeremiah 3:24;

and their abominations were according as they loved: or "as they loved them" the daughters of Moab; for it was through their impure love of them that they were drawn into these abominations or to worship idols which are often called abominations; or as Joseph Kimchi reads the words and gives the sense of them "and they were abominations as I loved them"; that is according to the measure of the love wherewith I loved them so they were abominations in mine eyes; they were as detestable now as they were loved before.

 

Hosea 9:11   11 As for Ephraim their glory shall fly away like a bird— No birth no pregnancy and no conception!
   YLT  
11Ephraim [is] as a fowl Fly away doth their honour without birth And without womb and without conception.

As for Ephraim their glory shall flee away like a bird .... That is suddenly swiftly and irrecoverably and never return more; which some understand of God their glory and of his departure from them as in Hosea 9:12; others of their wealth and riches and whatever was glorious and valuable among them which should fly away from them in a moment when taken and carried captive; rather their numerous posterity in which they were very fruitful according to their name and in which they gloried as children are the glory of their parents Proverbs 17:6; which sense agrees with what follows and which explains the manner of their fleeing away and the periods of it:

from the birth and from the womb and from the conception; that is some of them as soon as they were born; others while in the womb being abortives; or however when they should or as soon as they did come from thence; and others as soon as conceived never come to any thing; or not conceived at all as Kimchi interprets it the women being barren.

 

Hosea 9:12   12 Though they bring up their children Yet I will bereave them to the last man. Yes woe to them when I depart from them!
   YLT  
12For though they nourish their sons I have made them childless -- without man Surely also wo to them when I turn aside from them.

Though they bring up their children .... Though this be the case of some as to be conceived carried in the womb to the full time and be born and brought up to a more adult age and appear very promising to live and perpetuate the names of their fathers and their families:

yet will I bereave them; their parents of them by the sword famine pestilence or by carrying them captive into a foreign country:

that there shall not be a man left; in the whole land of Israel but all shall be destroyed or carried captive; or "from men"F9מאדם "ab homine" Montanus Tigurine version Schmidt; "ut non sint homines" Pagninus. ; that is either from being men as the Targum; though they are brought up to some ripeness and a more adult age than others yet arrive not to such a time and age as to be called men as Kimchi observes; or from being among men being either taken away by death or removed from the society of men to live among beasts and to he slaves like them:

yea woe also to them when I depart from them; withdraw my presence favour and protection from them; or remove my Shechinah from them as the Targum; and leave them to the spoil and cruelty of their enemies which would be a greater calamity and judgment than the former. The Septuagint and so Theodotion render it "woe is to them my flesh is of them"; which some of the ancients interpret of the incarnation of Christ not considering that the words are spoken of Ephraim or the ten tribes; whereas the Messiah was to spring and did from the family of David and tribe of Judah.

 

Hosea 9:13   13 Just as I saw Ephraim like Tyre planted in a pleasant place So Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.”

   YLT  13Ephraim! when I have looked to the rock Is planted in comeliness And Ephraim [is] to bring out unto a slayer his sons.

Ephraim as I saw Tyrus is planted in a pleasant place .... That is either as the city of Tyre a very famous city in Phoenicia was situated in a very pleasant place by the sea and abounded in wealth and riches and was well fortified and seemed secure from all danger and from all enemies; so Ephraim or the ten tribes the kingdom of Israel were in like circumstances equal to Tyre as the Targum paraphrases it in prosperity and plenty; yet as the prophet in the vision of prophecy saw that Tyre notwithstanding all its advantages by power and wealth by art and nature would be destroyed first by Nebuchadnezzar and then by Alexander; so by the same prophetic spirit he saw that Ephraim or the ten tribes notwithstanding their present prosperity and the safety and security they thought themselves in yet should be given up to ruin and destruction by the hand of the Assyrians; or it may be rendered thus "Ephraim as" or "when I saw it unto Tyre"F11כאשר ראיתי לצור "quando vidi usque ad Tyrum" Schmidt. ; reaching unto that place and bordering upon it as part of the ten tribes did; I saw it I observed it took a survey of it and I perceived it was "planted in a pleasant place"; like a tree planted in a fruitful soil well rooted and in a flourishing condition; so were they abounding with all good things and having a numerous offspring; from all which they promised themselves much happiness for ages to come:

but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer; to sacrifice them to Mo as some; so the Targum

"they of the house of Ephraim have sinned in slaying their children to the service of idols;'

with which Jarchi agrees; but rather the sense is with Kimchi and others when their enemies shall come against them as the Assyrian army they shall go out with their sons to fight with them and these shall be destroyed and murdered by them; it will be like leading lambs to the slaughter to be butchered and devoured by them.

 

Hosea 9:14   14 Give them O Lord— What will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb And dry breasts!

   YLT  14Give to them Jehovah -- what dost Thou give? Give to them miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

Give them O Lord: what wilt thou give them?.... The prophet foreseeing the butchery and destruction of their children his heart ached for them; and to show his tender affection for this people was desirous of putting up a supplication for them; but was at a loss what to ask their sins were so many and so aggravated and the decree gone forth for their destruction: or "give them what thou wilt give them"F12תן להם מה תתן "da eis quod daturus es" Junius & Tremellius Vatablus Grotius; "da illis id quod dabis" Schmidt. ; so Jarchi Kimchi and Abarbinel what thou hast threatened before to give them Hosea 9:11; do not give them to be butchered and murdered before the eyes of their parents by their enemies; but rather let them die in the womb or as soon as born; so it follows:

give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts; the latter being a sign of the former as physicians observe; or the words may be rendered disjunctively give them one or the other; that is to the wives of the people of Israel if they conceive let them miscarry prove abortive rather than bring forth children to be destroyed in such a cruel manner by murderers; or if they bear them to the birth and bring them forth let their breasts be dried up and afford no milk for their nourishment; and so die for lack of it rather than fall into the hands of their merciless enemies: thus of two evils the prophet chooses and prays for the least. Some interpret this as a prediction of what would be or an imprecation of it; but it rather seems a pathetic wish flowing from the tender affection of the prophet judging such a case to be preferable to the former; see Luke 23:29; though the other sense seems best to agree with what follows and which is favoured by the Targum

"give thou O Lord the recompence of their works; give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.'

 

Hosea 9:15   15 “All their wickedness is in Gilgal For there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more.
All their princes are rebellious.
   YLT  
15All their evil [is] in Gilgal Surely there I have hated them Because of the evil of their doings Out of My house I do drive them I add not to love them all their heads [are] apostates.

Ah their wickedness is in Gilgal .... A place in the ten tribes where the covenant of circumcision was renewed in Joshua's time; the first passover was kept in the land of Canaan and the people of Israel ate the firstfruits of the land; where the tabernacle was for a while and sacrifices were offered up to the Lord: but now things were otherwise; all manner of iniquity was committed in it especially idolatry; for which it was chosen by idolaters because it had formerly been famous for religious worship: here though not to the exclusion of other places as Dan and Bethel was the above sin committed; here it begun and spread itself and had the measure of it filled up; here began the first departure from the Lord rejecting him and asking a king in the days of Samuel as Kimchi and Abarbinel observe; and here were high places and altars erected for idolatry; and this is now the reason of the above threatenings of God and the predictions of the prophet. Grotius thinks there is a mystical sense in the words and that they have reference to the sin of the Jews in crucifying Christ on Golgotha; which in the Syriac language is the same with Gilgal; but both the people spoken of and the place are different:

for there I hated them; or "therefore"F13כי "ideo" Rivet. because they sinned so greatly against him in a place where they had formerly worshipped him; their sacrifices there instead of being acceptable were the more abominable to him as they were offered there where his tabernacle once was and sacrifices were offered to him according to his will:

for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house; not out of the house of my sanctuary or the temple as the Targum; unless this is to be understood of losing the opportunity of going to the temple at Jerusalem which those of the ten tribes had while they were in their own land which the few godly persons among them then took and made use of; but now their idolatry increasing in Gilgal and other places they should be carried captive; and if they would could not go up to the house of the Lord and worship him there: or rather this may design either the visible church of God out of which they would be now ejected; or their native country where they had been as the family and household of God; but now should be so no more but as afterwards said wanderers among the nations and no more reckoned as belonging to the Lord and under his paternal care and protection:

I will love them no more; which is not to be understood of the special love and favour the Lord bears to his own people in Christ which is everlasting and unchangeable; but of his general and providential favour and regard unto these people which he had manifested in bestowing many great and good things upon them; but now would do so no more; he would do nothing to them or for them that looked like love or be interpreted of it but all the reverse; and by his behaviour to them show that they were the objects of his aversion and hatred; and this was to continue and has continued and will continue unto the time of their conversion in the latter day when "all Israel shall be saved" Romans 11:26;

all their princes are revolters; from God and his worship who should have set a good example to the people; and since these were perverse and rebellious against God it is no wonder that the people in general apostatized. This is to be understood of their king as supreme and all subordinate rulers; of their judges and magistrates of every order; of all their governors both civil and ecclesiastic; and not at Gilgal only but in all the land. There is an elegant play on wordsF14שריהם סררים "Sharehem Sorerim". in the original the beauty of which cannot be expressed in the translation.

 

Hosea 9:16   16 Ephraim is stricken Their root is dried up; They shall bear no fruit. Yes were they to bear children I would kill the darlings of their womb.”

   YLT  16Ephraim hath been smitten Their root hath dried up fruit they yield not Yea though they bring forth I have put to death the desired of their womb.

Ephraim is smitten .... The people of the ten tribes the kingdom of Israel who had been like a tree planted in a pleasant place Hosea 9:13; 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:

their root is dried up; 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:

they shall bear no fruit; 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:

yea though they bring forth; though some of them should be spared women with their husbands and should procreate children:

yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb; 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.

 

Hosea 9:17   17 My God will cast them away Because they did not obey Him; And they shall be wanderers among the nations.

   YLT  17Reject them doth my God Because they have not hearkened to Him And they are wanderers among nations!

My God will cast them away .... With loathsomeness and contempt having sinned against him and done such abominable things; cast them out of their own land as men not fit to live in it; cast them out of his sight as not able to endure them; cast them away as unprofitable and good for nothing; reject them from being his people; no more own them in the relation they had stood in to him; nor show them any more favour at least until the conversion of them in the times of the Messiah. These are the words of the prophet who calls the Lord his God whom he worshipped by whom he was sent and in whose name he prophesied; and this in opposition to and distinction from Israel who worshipped other gods and who had cast off the true God and were now or would be cast away by him and so no longer their God:

because they did not hearken unto him; to his word as the Targum; to him speaking by his prophets; to the instructions admonitions threatenings and predictions delivered to them from him; they did not obey his law regard his will or attend his worship; which was the cause of the rejection of them and a just one:

and they shall be wanderers among the nations; being dispersed by the Assyrians in the several nations of the world where they were fugitives and vagabonds; as their posterity are to this day.

 

──John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible

 

New King James Version (NKJV)

Footnotes:

  1. Hosea 9:8 That is one who catches birds in a trap or snare