Hosea
Hosea 8
Chapter VIII · Vol. III, pp. 1416–1418
Destruction is threatened both to Israel and Judah for their impiety and idolatry.
1 Set thea trumpet to 1thy mouth.2 Heb shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, cbecause they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
B.C. cir. 750.
a ch.5.8. Is.58.1. Eze.33.2-9.
1 Heb. the roof of thy mouth.
2 The judgment impending over the kingdom of Israel is here pronounced. With trumpet sound the prophet is instructed to announce the coming of the destroyer. While doing so he states afresh the sins which entailed the judgments. Rebellion against God, transgression of his holy law, were the crimes laid to their charge.—P.
b De.28.47. 2 Ki.17.3-6; 18.17. Je.48.40; 4.13. Hab.1.8.
c ch.4.1,2,12-14; 6.7. Ju.2.10-19. 2 Ki.17.7-17. Is.24.5.
2 Israel dshall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
A.M. cir. 3254. B.C. cir. 750.
d ch.7.14. Ps.78.34. Mat.7.21,22. Is.48.1,2. Mi.3.11. 2 Ki.10.16,29. Tit.1.16.
3 Israel hath ecast off the thing that is good: the enemy gshall pursue him.
e Ps.81.10,11; 50.17. 2 Ki.17.7-17. Mat.7.23; 23.37.
4 Theyh have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I knew it not: iof their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
h 1 Ki.12.16-20. 2 Ki.15.13-17,25.
i ch.2.8:ver.5,11,14; ch.10.1,2; 13.2,3. 1 Ki.12.28; 16.31.
5 Thyj calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; minek anger is kindled against them: lhow long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
6 Forn from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: obut the calf of pSamaria shall be broken in pieces.
n Ps.106.19,20,29,39; 115.4-8. Is.44.9-20. Je.10.9.
o ch.10.5,6. Je.43.12,13. ver.5.
p 1 Ki.21.1. 2 Ki.23.19; 5.3.
7 For qthey have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk:3 the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, rthe strangers shall swallow it up.
8 Israel is sswallowed up: now shall they be amongt the Gentiles uas a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
9 For they are vgone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself:4 Ephraim xhath hired lovers.5
v ch.5.13; 7.11. Job 39.5. Je.2.24. See ver.8.
4 Keil seems to bring out the true sense of this difficult clause:—'The thought is this. Whilst even a wild ass, that stupid animal, keeps by itself to maintain its independence, Ephraim tries to form unnatural alliances with the nations of the world, that is to say, alliances that are quite incompatible with its vocation.' The going up to Assyria does not refer to the captivity, but to the seeking alliance with Assyria in order to maintain independence.—P.
x ch.2.10; 5.13; 12.1. 2 Ki.15.19; 17.4. Is.30.6. Eze.23.7; 16.33.
5 Heb. loves.
10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now ywill I gather them,6 and they shall sorrow a little7 for zthe burden of athe king of princes.
y ch.10.10. Eze.16.37; 23.9,10,23-26,45.
6 Now will I gather them—to send them into captivity.—C.
7 Or, begin to sorrow in a little while.
z 2 Ki.15.19,29; 17.3.
13 They8 sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it;9 bute the LORD accepteth them not: now will he gremember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they hshall return to Egypt.
Notes
Ver. 1. Loudly and earnestly warn these Israelites, who profess to be my people, that the Assyrians shall quickly and unavoidably tear, murder, and destroy them, because they have violated their covenant-obligations to me, and rebelled against my commandments. 2. In their distress they will indeed profess to acknowledge me for their God: 3. But, since they have practically rejected me and my worship, and cast off any due regard to my laws, the Assyrians shall pursue, murder, and carry them captive. 4. Without any regard to my commandment, they have set up what kings and governors they pleased; and, to their own ruin, have made themselves idols of silver and gold. 5. But the idol calf which they have placed at Samaria, Dan, Beth-el, or anywhere else, instead of protecting those obstinate sinners, provokes me to abandon them to their enemies. 6. According to their own invention, not any command of mine, the craftsman formed that merely pretended deity; and quickly shall it, unable to protect itself, be broken to pieces. 7. In their idolatrous courses and heathen alliances they but hasten upon themselves fearful miseries; and any appearance of success which they have for a while shall but tempt the Assyrians to invade and ruin their country. 8. They shall certainly be spoiled and devoured; and the poor remains of them, in the most despicable condition, be dispersed among the heathens of Assyria and the places adjacent. 9, 10. Their headstrong application to the Assyrians for help shall but issue in their unhappy captivity. The allies, whom they have procured at great expense, shall turn their enemies, and besiege them in their cities. And the vexatious tribute imposed upon them by Pul, the powerful monarch of Assyria, is but a prelude to far greater calamities. 11. The multitudes of idolatrous altars which they have erected, instead of atoning for their sin, or preventing their punishment, shall increase both. 12. I have, in the most clear and instructive manner, revealed to them my oracles, directing them in everything important in time or eternity; but they have quite disregarded my institutions, and abused my prophets, as setters forth of strange doctrines or insignificant fables. 13. Their sacrifices, which, without inward piety, they pretend to offer to me, but feast on themselves, I regard as no better than dead carrion; yea, they but hasten the punishment of their sins, and their flight into Egypt, for fear of the Assyrians. 14. Forgetful of their Maker and God, and regardless of his laws, the Israelites build temples for their idols, and the Jews fortify their cities, to secure themselves from the enemy. But the Assyrians or Chaldeans shall, ere long, burn and destroy them all.
Ver. 4. I knew it not. It was not communicated to me in prayer. The nation sought no counsel of me. C.
Ver. 5. Thy calf, &c. 'Cast far from thee thy calf, O Samaria!'—Against them. The kings and princes that for their base political purposes set up this idolatry, 1 Ki. 12. 25-33. C.
Ver. 6. For from Israel. But from Israel (the people) was it also, as well as from Jeroboam and the princes. C.
Reflections.—Ministers had need to be extremely bold and earnest in warning sinners. Men's own sins are their destroyers. God never casts off any till they cast off him. They who break his covenant of friendship expose themselves to the devouring rage of all around. Nor will any profession of relation to or knowledge of God avail those who in works deny him. The idolizing of creatures makes way for the destruction of both them and ourselves; and however gradually God's judgments may come, they will fall irresistibly at last. None are more despicable than professed Christians who have degenerated into profaneness. And the helps that men court instead of God will but prove the means of their ruin. If the great doctrines and laws of his Word be disregarded, no sacrifices, however costly, no forms of religion, can avail, but to aggravate our guilt or hasten our ruin. And neither temples nor fortifications can protect in the day of his wrath.