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The prophet charges the

A. M. cir. 3219. Ante U. C. 32.

B. C. cir. 785.

Amulii Sylvii, R. Alban., cir annum 12.

days

HOSEA.

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people with their sins.

B. C. cir. 785.

Ante U. C. 32, Amulii Sylvii, R. Alban., cir. annum 12

f without a king, and 5 Afterward shall the children of A. M. cir. 3219. without a prince, and without Israel return, and seek the LORD sacrifice, and without an image, their God, and 'David their king; and, without an ephod, and and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the m latter days.

without i teraphim:

h

f Chap. x. 3; Song of the three children, ver. 15.

Heb.

a standing, or statue, or pillar; Isa. xix. 19.- Exod. xxviii. 6. Judg. xvii. 5.

matstsebah, an image, they have evidently read na mizbeach, an altar; the letters of these words being very similar, and easily mistaken for each other. But instead of either, one, if not two, of Kennicott's MSS. has minchah, an oblation.

What is called image may signify any kind of pillar, such as God forbade them to erect, Lev. xxvi. 1, lest it should be an incitement to idolatry.

The ephod was the high priest's garment of ceremony; the teraphim were some kind of amulets, telesms, or idolatrous images; the urim and thummim belonged to the breast-plate, which was attached to the ephod.

Instead of teraphim some would read seraphim, changing the ♬ tau into sin; these are an order of the celestial hierarchy. In short, all the time that the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon, they seem to have been as wholly without forms of idolatrous worship as they were without the worship of God; and this may be what the prophet designs: they were totally without any kind of public worship, whether true or false. As well without images and teraphim, as they were without sacrifice and ephod, though still idolaters in their hearts. They were in a state of the most miserable darkness, which was to continue many days; and it has continued now nearly eighteen hundred years, and must continue yet longer, till they acknowledge him as their Saviour whom they crucified as a blasphemer.

Verse 5. Afterward shall the children of Israel re

* Jer. 1. 4, 5; Chap. v. 6. Jer. xxx. 9; Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24; xxxvii. 22, 24.- m Isa. ii, 2; Jer. xxx. 24; Ezek. xxxvii. 8, 16; Dan. ii. 28; Mic. iv. 1.

turn] Shall repent of their iniquities, and seek the Lord; lay aside their mock worship, and serve the true God in spirit and in truth.

And David their king] Or as the Targum, "They shall obey the Messiah, the Son of David, their King;" and thus look believingly upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn. And then shall their long spirilual darkness and dismal captivity have an end; but not before. The Messiah, as David, is promised in Jer. xxx. 9; Ezek. xxxiv. 23; xxxvii. 22, 24, 25, (where see the notes,) and in this place of Hosea. Some think that the family of David is intended; but if we go to the rigour of the letter, the house of Israel was scarcely ever perfectly submissive to David. And we know that after the death of Solomon they never acknowledged the house of David till they were all carried away captive; and certainly never since. And to say that Zerubbabel is here meant, is not supportable, as the very short and imperfect obedience of the Jews to Zerubbabel can never comport with the high terms of this and similar prochecies. We are obliged, therefore, from the evidence of these prophecies, from the evidence of the above facts, from the evidence of the rabbins themselves, and from the evidence of the New Testament, to consider these texts as applying solely to JESUS CHRIST, the promised MESSIAH, who has been a light to lighten the Gentiles, and will yet be the glory of his people Israel. There is a strange propensity in some men to deny these evidences of Christianity, while they profess to believe its doctrines.

CHAPTER IV.

The prophet charges his people with their enormous sins, 1, 2; in consequence of which they are threatened with heavy judgments, 3-5. God himself is then introduced complaining of the ignorance and obstinacy of Israel; and as their priests had a large share in the common guilt, it is declared that they shall be visited with a proportionable share of the common ruin, 6–11. The sins of idolatry and divination are then particularly reproved, 12-14; and Judah admonished to beware of these sins, which would leave her rebellious sister Israel helpless and desolate as a lamb in a desert, 15, 16. In the remaining verses the style is varied, but the subject is the same. Ephraim is given up to idolatry, and the necessary consequence declared to be a bitter draught! Immediately we see him bound in the wings of a mighty tempest, and driven as chaff before the wind, either to destruction or captivity, 17-19.

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tiff, and the Israelites defendants. It is Jehovah versus Israel and Judah.

But when has God a controversy with any land!

They are threatened

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CHAP. IV.

killing, and stealing, and com-
mitting adultery, they break out,
and blood toucheth blood.

Amulii Sylvii,
R. Alban.
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3 Therefore shall the land
mourn, and e
every one that dwelleth therein
shall languish, with the beasts of the field,
and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes
of the sea also shall be taken away.

4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.

Heb. bloods.- d Jer. iv. 28; xii. 4; Amos v, 16; viii. 8.
Zeph. i. 3.

Answer.

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When there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. These refer to the minds of the people. But wherever these righteous principles are wanting, there will soon be a vicious practice; hence it is added,

with heavy judgments.

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f Deut. xvii. 12. See Jer. vi. 4, 5; xx. 8.-
Isa. v. 13. Heb. cut off.
epidemic disorders shall prevail, and multitudes shall
die; so that mourning shall be found in all quarters.

The beasts of the field, and with the fowls] There is a death of cattle and domestic animals, in consequence of the badness of the season.

The fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.] Those immense shoals which at certain seasons fre

come a very useful home supply, and a branch of most profitable traffic, they shall be directed by the unseen influence of God to avoid our coasts, as has frequently been the case with herrings, mackerel, pilchards, &c.; and so this source of supply and wealth has been shut up, because of the iniquities of the land.

Verse 2. By swearing, and lying] Where there is no truth there will be lies and perjury; for false swearing is brought in to confirm lying statements.quent the coasts, which are caught in millions, and beAnd when there is no mercy, killing, slaying, and murders, will be frequent. And where there is no knowledge of God, no conviction of his omnipresence and omniscience, private offences, such as stealing, adulteries, &c., will prevail. These, sooner or later, break out, become a flood, and carry all before them. Private stealing will assume the form of a public robbery, and adulteries become fashionable, especially among the higher orders; and suits of crim. con. render them more public, scandalous, and corrupting. By the examination of witnesses, and reading of infamous letters in a court of justice, people are taught the wiles and stratagems to be used to accomplish these ends, and prevent detection; and also how to avoid those circumstances which have led to the detection of others. Every report of such matters is an experimental lecture on successful debauchery.

Blood toucheth blood.] Murders are not only frequent, but assassinations are mutual. Men go out to kill each other; as in our duels, the frenzy of cowards; and as there is no law regarded, and no justice in the land, the nearest akin slays the murderer. Even in our land, where duels are so frequent, if a man kill his antagonist, it is murder; and so generally brought in by an honest coroner and his jury. It is then brought into court; but who is hanged for it? The very murder is considered as an affair of honour, though it began in a dispute about a prostitute; and it is directed to be brought in manslaughter; and the murderer is slightly fined for having hurried his neighbour, perhaps once his friend, into the eternal world, with all his imperfections on his head! No wonder that a land mourns where these prevail; and that God should have a controversy with it. Such crimes as these are sufficient to bring God's curse upon any land. And how does God show his displeasure? See the following verse.

Verse 3. Therefore shall the land mourn] Fruitful seasons shall be denied.

That dwelleth therein shall languish] Endemic and

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Verse 4. Yet let no man strive] Or, no man contendeth. All these evils stalk abroad unreproved, for all are guilty. None can say, Let me pluck the mote out of thy eye," because he knows that there is a beam in his own."

For thy people are] The people, and the priest are alike rebels against the Lord; the priests having be come idolaters, as well as the people. Bp. Newcome renders this clause, " And as is the provocation of the priest, so is that of my people." The whole clause in the original is veammecha kimeribey cohen,

"and thy people as the rebellions of the priest." But one of my oldest MSS. omits ¡n cohen, “priest;" and then the text may be read, And thy people are as rebels. In this MS. ¡n cohen is added in the margin by a much later hand.

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Verse 5. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day] In the most open and public manner, without snare or ambush.

And the prophet also shall fall—in the night] The false prophet, when employed in taking prognostications from stars, meteors, &c.

And I will destroy thy mother.] The metropolis or mother city. Jerusalem or Samaria is meant.

Verse 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge] They have not the knowledge of God, nor of sacred things, nor of their own interest, nor of the danger to which they are exposed. They walk on blindly, and perish.

Because thou hast rejected knowledge] So they might have become wise, had they not rejected the means of improvement.

Thou shalt be no priest to me] If this be the true reading, there must be reference to some particular

Depravity in all ranks

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cir. annum 17.

I

HOSEA.

V

7 As they were increased, so 13 They sacrifice upon the
they sinned against me: m there-
fore will I change their glory
into shame.

tops of the mountains, and
burn incense upon the hills, under

of the people.

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B. C. cir. 780. Ante U. C. 27. Amulii Sylvii, R. Alban.,

oaks and poplars and elms, be- cir. annum 17. 8 They eat up the sin of my people, and cause the shadow thereof is good: there

they set their heart on their iniquity.

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fore your daughters shall commit whoredom, your spouses shall commit adul

14 they

9 And there shall be, like people, like and priest and I will punish them for their tery. ways, and reward them their doings. 10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.

I will not punish your daughters when commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots therefore the people that doth

11 Whoredom and wine and new wines take not understand shall fall. away the heart.

12. My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

1 Chap. xiii. 6.- -1 Sam. ii. 30; Mal. ii. 9; Phil. iii. 19. Heb. lift up their soul to their iniquity. Lo Isa. xxiv. 2; Jer. v. 31. Heb. visit upon.——9 Heb. cause to return. Lev. xxvi. 26; Mic. vi. 14; Hag. i. 6.- - Isa. xxviii. 7; See Eccles. vii. 7. Jer. ii. 27; Hab. ii. 19.

priest, well known, to whom these words are personally addressed; unless by priest the whole priesthood is meant, and then it may apply to the priests of Jeroboam's calves.

Verse 7. Will I change their glory into shame.] As the idolaters at Dan and Bethel have changed my glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass, (Rom. i. 23,) so will I change their glory into shame or ignominy. In the day of my wrath, their calf-gods shall not deliver them..

Verse 8. They eat up the sin of my people] non chattath, the sin-offering, though it be offered contrary to the law; for their hearts are set on iniquity, they wish to do whatever is contrary to God.

Verse 9. Like people, like priest] "The priest a wanderer from the narrow way; The silly sheep, no wonder that they stray." I will punish them] Both priest and people; both equally bad.

Verse 10. They shall eat, and not have enough] Whatever means they may use to satisfy or gratify themselves shall be ineffectual.

Verse 11. Whoredom and wine] These debaucheries go generally together.

Take away the heart.] Darken the understanding, deprave the judgment, pervert the will, debase all the passions, &c.

a

15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, © nor swear, The LORD liveth.

b

16 For Israel & slideth back as a backsliding

"Isa. xliv. 20; Chap. v. 4. Isa. i. 29; lvii. 5, 7; Ezek. vi. 13; xx. 28. Amos vii. 17; Rom. i. 28. Or, Shall I not, &c.-y Ver. 1, 6.- Or, be punished. Ch. ix. 15; xii. | 11; Amos iv. 4; v. 5.-1 Kings xii. 29; Ch. x. 5.- Amos viii. 14; Zeph. i. 5.—d Jer. iii. 6; vii. 24; viii. 5; Zech. vii. II.

The shadow thereof is good] Their "daughters committed. whoredom, and their spouses committed adultery." 1. Their deities were worshipped by prostitution. 2. They drank much in their idol worship, ver. 11, and thus their passions became inflamed. 3. The thick groves were favourable to the whoredoms and adulteries mentioned here. In imitation of these, some nations have their public gardens.

Verse 14. I will not punish] Why should you be stricken any more; ye will revolt more and more. When God, in judgment, removes his judgments, the case of that people is desperate. While there is hope, there is correction.

Themselves are separated] There is a reference here to certain debaucheries which should not be described. The state of the people at this time must have been abominable beyond all precedent; animal, sensual, bestial, diabolical: women consecrating themselves to serve their idols by public prostitution; boys dismembered like the Galli or priests of Cybele; men and women acting unnaturally; and all conjoining to act diabolically.

Verse 15. Let not Judah offend] Israel was totally dissolute; Judah was not so. Here she is exhorted to maintain her integrity. If the former will go to what was once Beth-el, the house of God, now Bethaven, the house of iniquity, because Jeroboam has set

Verse 12. At their stocks] They consult their up his calves there, let not Judah imitate them.~ Gilwooden gods.

And their staff declareth] They use divination by rods; see the note on Ezek. xxi., where this sort of divination (rabdomancy) is explained..

Verse 13. Under oaks] allon, from ↳× alal, he was strong. Hence, the oak, in Latin, is called robur; which word means also, strength, the oak being the strongest of all the trees of the forest.

gal was the place where the covenant of circumcision was renewed when the people passed over Jordan; but was rendered infamous by the worship of idols, after Jeroboam had set up his idolatry.

Verse 16. Israel slideth back] They are untractable, like an unbroken heifer or steer, that pulls back, rather than draw in the yoke.

Will feed them as a lamb in a large place.] A species

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18 Their drink is sour: they have shall be ashamed because of their sacricommitted whoredom continually : continually: her fices.

Matt. xv. 14. Heb. is gone.

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Mic. iii. 11; vii. 3.- Heb. Psa. i. 4; lxxxiii. 13; Isa. xi: 15; xli. 16; lvii. 13; Jer. iv. 11, shields; Psa. lxxiv. 9. 12; li. I. Isa. i. 29; Jer. ii. 26.

of irony. Ye shall go to Assyria, and be scattered among the nations; ye may sport yourselves in the

extensive empire, whither ye ́shall be carried captives. Verse 17. Ephraim] The ten tribes..

Is joined to idols] Is become incorporated with false gods.

Let him alone.] They are irreclaimable, leave them to the consequences of their vicious conduct.

Verse 18. Their drink is sour] Or rather, he is gone after their wine. The enticements of idolatry have carried them away.

Her rulers with shame do love] Rather, have loved shame; they glory in their abominations.

Give ye.] Perhaps it would be better to read, Her rulers have committed, &c. They have loved gifts. What a shame! These were their rulers, literally, their shields. Justice and judgment were perverted.

Verse 19. The wind hath bound her]. A parching wind has blasted them in their wings-coasts, borders; or they are carried away into captivity, as with the most rapid blight. These two last verses are very obscure.

CHAPTER V.

This chapter begins with threatening the Israelites for ensnaring the people to idolatry by their sacrifices and other rites on Mizpah and Tabor, 1-5. Their sacrifices, however costly, are declared to be unacceptable, 6 ; and their substance is devoted to the locust, 7. Nor is judgment to stop here. The cities of Judah are called upon, in a very animated manner, to prepare for the approach of enemies. Benjamin is to be pursued; Ephraim is to be desolate; and all this is intimated to Israel, that they may by repentance avert the judgment, 8, 9. The following verses contain farther denunciations, 10-13, expressed in terms equally terrible and sublime, 14. The Lord afflicts not willingly the children of men; he visits them with temporal calamities that he may heal their spiritual malady, 15.

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B. C. cir. 780. HEAR ye this, O priests; and I know Ephraim, and

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- R. Alban.,

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hearken, ye house of Israel; Israel is not hid from me: and give ye ear, O house of the now, O Ephraim, thou comcir. annum 17. king; for judgment is toward mittest whoredom, and Israel is you, because ye have been a snare on Miz-defiled.

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4 They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD..

a Heb. a Ezek. xxiii. 5, &c.; chap. iv. 17.8 Heb. They will not give. hOr, Their doings will not suffer them. Chap. iv. 12.

Verse 1. Hear ye this, O priests] A process is instituted against the priests, the Israelites, and the house of the king; and they are called on to appear and defend themselves. The accusation is, that they have ensnared the people, caused them to practise idolatry, both at Mizpah and Tabor. Mizpah was situated beyond Jordan, in the mountains of Gilead; see Judg. xi. 29. And Tabor was a beautiful mountain in the tribe of Zebulun. Both these places are said to be eminent for hunting, &c.; and hence the natural occurrence of the words snare and net, in speaking of them.

Verse 2. The revolters are profound to make slaugh- |

ter] Here may be a reference to the practice of hunters, making deep pits in the ground, and lightly covering them over, that the beasts, not discovering them, might fall in, and become a prey.

Though I have been a Rebuker] "I will bring chastisement on them all." As they have made victims of others to their idolatry, I will make victims of them to my justice. Some have thought that as many as wished to depart from the idolatrous worship set up by Jeroboam, were slaughtered; and thus Jeroboam the son of Nebat MADE Israel to sin.

Verse 3. I know Ephraim] I know the whole to be idolaters.

Verse 4. They will not frame their doings] They

An exhortation

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B. C. cir. 780. Ante U. C. 27. Amulii Sylvii, R. Alban.,

5 And the pride of Israel | out my wrath upon them like A. M. cir. 3224. doth testify to his face there- water. fore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity: Judah also

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Chap. vii. 10. Prov. i. 28; Isa. i. 15; Jer. xi. 11; Ezek. viii. 18; Mic. iii. 4; John vii. 34. m Isa. xlviii. 8; Jer. iii. 20; v. 11; Chap. vi. 7; Mal. ii. 11. Zech. xi.-8. Chap. viii. 1; Joel ii. f.- -P Isa. x. 30.- - Josh. vii. 2; chap, iv. 15. Judg. v. 14, Deut. xix. 14; xxvii. 17. Deut. xxviii. 33. u1 Kings xii. 28; Mic. vi. 16.

never purpose to turn to God, they have fully imbibed the spirit of idolatry..

Verse 5. The pride of Israel doth testify to his face] The effrontery with which they practise idolatry manifests, not only their insolence, but the deep depravity of their heart; but their pride and arrogance shall be humbled.

Verse 6. They shall go with their flocks] They shall offer many sacrifices, professing to seek and be reconciled to the Lord; but they shall not find him. As they still retain the spirit of their idolatry, he has withdrawn himself from them.

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11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he cir. annum 17. willingly walked after "the commandment. 12 Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah ▾ as w rottenness.

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13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to King Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

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14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah : I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.

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15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

Prov. xii. 4. w Or, a worm.- Jer. xxx. 12.- 2 Kings xv. 19; chap. vii. 11; xii. 1.- Chap. x. 6.- - Or, to the king of Jareb; or, to the king that should plead. Lam. iii. 10; chap. xiii. 7, 8.- o Isa. xxx. 6. Psa. 1. 22. Heb. till they be guilty.- Lev. xxvi. 40, 41; Jer. xxix. 12, 13; Ezek. vi. 9; xx. 43; xxxvi. 31.- - Psa. lxxviii. 34.

have leaped over law's inclosure, and scaled all the walls of right; they have despised and broken all laws, human and Divine."

Verse 11. Walked after the commandment.] Jeroboam's commandment to worship his calves at Dan and Beth-el. Many of them were not forced to do this; they did it willingly.

Verse 12. Unto Ephraim as a moth] - I will consume them by little and little, as a moth frets a garment.

Verse 13.. When Ephraim saw his sickness] When both Israel and Judah felt their own weakness to resist their enemies, instead of calling upon and trusting in me, they sought sinful alliances, and trusted in their idols.

King Jareb] This name occurs nowhere in Scripture but here and in chap. x. 6. The Vulgate and Targum render 27 yareb, an avenger, a person whom they thought able to save them from their enemies. It is well known that Menahem, king of Israel, sought alliance with Pul and Tiglath-pileser, kings of Assyria, and Ahaz, king of Judah. These were the

Verse 8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah] Gibeah and Ramah were cities of Judah, in the tribe of Ben-protectors that Ephraim sought after. See 2 Kings xv. jamin.

After thee, O Benjamin] An abrupt call of warning. "Benjamin, fly for thy life! The enemy is just behind thee!" This is a prediction of the invasion of the Assyrians, and the captivity of the ten tribes.

Verse 9. Among the tribes of Israel have I made known] They have got sufficient warning; it is their own fault that they have not taken it.

Verse 10. Like them that remove the bound] As execrable as they who remove the land-mark. They

and xvi. But far from healing them by making them tributary, the Assyrians made their wound more dangerous.

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Verse 14. I will be—as a lion] cashshachel, as a panther or lioness.

Verse 15. I will go and return to my place] I will abandon them till they acknowledge their offences. This had the wished-for effect, as we shall see in the following chapter; for they repented and turned to God, and he had mercy upon them. These two verses are considered as instances of the true sublime.

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