Hosea
From the Original 1599 Geneva Bible Notes

Ho 1:1

1:1 The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days {a} of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, {b} kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

The Argument - After the ten tribes had fallen away from God by the wicked and subtle counsel of Jeroboam, the son of Neba, and instead of his true service commanded by his word, worshipped him according to their own imaginings and traditions of men, giving themselves to most vile idolatry and superstition, the Lord from time to time sent them Prophets to call them to repentance. But they grew even worse and worse, and still abused God's benefits. Therefore now when their prosperity was at the highest under Jeroboam, the son of Joash, God sent Hosea and Amos to the Israelites (as he did at the same time send Isaiah and Micah to those of Judah) to condemn them for their ingratitude. And whereas they thought themselves to be greatly in the favour of God, and to be his people, the Prophet calls them bastards and children born in adultery: and therefore shows them that God would take away their kingdom, and give them to the Assyrians to be led away captives. Thus Hosea faithfully executed his office for the space of seventy years, though they remained still in their vices and wickedness and derided the Prophets, and condemned God's judgments. And because they would neither be discouraged with threatening only, nor should they flatter themselves by the sweetness of God's promises, he sets before them the two principal parts of the Law, which are the promise of salvation, and the doctrine of life. For the first part he directs the faithful to the Messiah, by whom alone they would have true deliverance: and for the second, he uses threatenings and menaces to bring them from their wicked manners and vices: and this is the chief scope of all the Prophets, either by God's promises to allure them to be godly, or else by threatenings of his judgments to scare them from vice. And even though the whole Law contains these two points, yet the Prophets moreover note distinctly both the time of God's judgments and the manner.

(a) Also called Azariah, who being a leper was disposed from his kingdom.
(b) So that it may be gathered by the reign of these four kings that he preached about eighty years.

Ho 1:2

1:2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife {c} of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, [departing] from the LORD.

(c) That is, one that has been a harlot for a long time: not that the Prophet did this thing in effect, but he saw this in a vision, or else was commanded by God to set forth under this parable or figure the idolatry of the Synagogue, and of the people her children.

Ho 1:3

1:3 So he went and took {d} Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.

(d) Gomer signifies a consumption or corruption, and rotten clusters of figs, declaring that they were all corrupt like rotten figs.

Ho 1:4

1:4 And the LORD said unto him, Call his name {e} Jezreel; for yet a little [while], and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of {f} Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

(e) Meaning that they would no longer be called Israelites, which name they boasted because Israel did prevail with God: but that they were as bastards, and therefore should be called Jezreelites, that is, scattered people, alluding to Jezreel, which was the chief city of the ten tribes under Ahab, where Jehu shed so much blood; 1Ki 18:45
(f) I will be avenged upon Jehu for the blood that he shed in Jezreel: for even though God stirred him up to execute his judgments, yet he did them for his own ambition, and not for the glory of God as the intended goal: for he built up that idolatry which he had destroyed.

Ho 1:5

1:5 And it shall come to pass at that {g} day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

(g) When the measure of their iniquity is full, and I will take vengeance and destroy all their administration and strength.

Ho 1:6

1:6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And [God] said unto him, Call her name {h} Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly {i} take them away.

(h) That is, not obtaining mercy: by which he signifies that God's favour had departed from them.
(i) For the Israelites never returned after they were taken captives by the Assyrians.

Ho 1:7

1:7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will {k} save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

(k) For after their captivity he restored them miraculously by the means of Cyrus; Ezr 1:1 .

Ho 1:9

1:9 Then said [God], Call his name {l} Loammi: for ye [are] not my people, and I will not be your [God].

(l) That is, not my people.

Ho 1:10

1:10 Yet the number of the {m} children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye [are] not my people, [there] it shall be said unto them, [Ye are] the sons of the living God.

(m) Because they thought that God could not have been true in his promise unless he had preserved them, he declares that though they were destroyed, yet the true Israelites who are the sons of the promise, would be without number, who consist both of the Jews and the Gentiles; Ro 9:26 .

Ho 1:11

1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be {n} gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great [shall be] the day of Jezreel.

(n) That is, after the captivity of Babylon, when the Jews were restored: but chiefly this refers to the time of Christ, who would be the head both of the Jews and Gentiles.
(o) The calamity and destruction of Israel will be so great, that to restore them will be a miracle.

Ho 2:1

2:1 Say ye unto your {a} brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

(a) Seeing that I have promised you deliverance, it remains that you encourage one another to embrace this promise, considering that you are my people on whom I will have mercy.

Ho 2:2

2:2 Plead with your {b} mother, plead: for she [is] not my wife, neither [am] I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries {c} from between her breasts;

(b) God shows that the fault was not in him, that he forsook them, but in their Synagogue, and their idolatries; Isa 50:1 .
(c) Meaning that their idolatry was so great, that they were not ashamed, but boasted of it; Eze 16:25 .

Ho 2:3

2:3 Lest I strip her naked, and {d} set her as in the day that she was {e} born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

(d) For even though his people were as a harlot for their idolatries, yet he had left them with their dress and dowry and certain signs of his favour, but if they continued still, he would utterly destroy them.
(e) When I brought her out of Egypt. See Geneva "Eze 16:4"

Ho 2:4

2:4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they [be] the {f} children of whoredoms.

(f) That is bastards, and begotten in adultery.

Ho 2:5

2:5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my {g} lovers, that give [me] my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

(g) Meaning the idol which they served, and by whom they thought they had wealth and abundance.

Ho 2:6

2:6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up {h} thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

(h) I will punish you so that you may then test whether your idols can help you, and bring you into such straightness that you will have no lust to play the harlot.

Ho 2:7

2:7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find [them]: then shall she say, {i} I will go and return to my first husband; for then [was it] better with me than now.

(i) This he speaks of the faithful, who are truly converted, and also shows the use and profit of God's punishments.

Ho 2:8

2:8 For she did not know that I {k} gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, [which] they prepared for Baal.

(k) This declares that idolaters defraud God of his honour, when they attribute his benefits to their idols.

Ho 2:9

2:9 Therefore will I return, and take away {l} my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax [given] to cover her nakedness.

(l) Signifying that God will take away his benefits, when man by his ingratitude abuses them.

Ho 2:10

2:10 And now will I discover her {m} lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.

(m) That is, all her service, ceremonies, and inventions by which she worshipped her idols.

Ho 2:13

2:13 And I will visit upon her the days of {n} Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her {o} earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.

(n) I will punish her for her idolatry.
(o) By showing how harlots trim themselves to please others, he declares how superstitious idolaters set a great part of their religion in adorning themselves on their holy days.

Ho 2:14

2:14 Therefore, behold, I will {p} allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

(p) By my benefits in offering her grace and mercy, even in that place where she will think herself destitute of all help and comfort.

Ho 2:15

2:15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley {q} of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall {r} sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

(q) Which was a plentiful valley, and in which they had great comfort when they came out of the wilderness, as in Jos 7:26 , and is called the door of hope, because it was a departing from death and an entry into life.
(r) She will then praise God as she did when she was delivered out of Egypt.

Ho 2:16

2:16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, [that] thou shalt call me {s} Ishi; and shalt call me no more {t} Baali.

(s) That is, my husband, knowing that I am united to you by a covenant which could not be violated.
(t) That is, my master: which name was applied to their idols.

Ho 2:17

2:17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their {u} name.

(u) No idolatry will come into their mouth at all, but they will fear me purely according to my word.

Ho 2:18

2:18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the {x} beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and [with] the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

(x) Meaning that he will so bless them that all creatures will favour them.

Ho 2:20

2:20 I will even betroth thee unto me in {y} faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.

(y) With a covenant that will never be broken.

Ho 2:21

2:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear {z} the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

(z) Then will the heaven desire rain for the earth, which will bring forth things for the use of man.

Ho 3:1

3:1 Then said the LORD unto me, {a} Go yet, love a woman beloved of [her] friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and {b} love flagons of wine.

(a) In this the Prophet represents the person of God, who loved his Church before he called her, and did not withdraw his love when she gave herself to idols.
(b) That is, gave themselves wholly to pleasure, and could not stop, as those that are given to drunkenness.

Ho 3:2

3:2 So {c} I bought her to me for fifteen [pieces] of silver, and [for] an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:

(c) Yet I loved her and paid a small portion for her, lest she would have perceived the greatness of my love, and abused me, and not been under duty: for fifteen pieces of silver was but half the price of a slave; Ex 21:32 .

Ho 3:3

3:3 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for {d} me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for [another] man: so [will] I also [be] for thee.

(d) I will try you a long time as in your widowhood, whether you will be mine or not.

Ho 3:4

3:4 For the children of Israel shall {e} abide many days without a king, and without a {f} prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and [without] teraphim:

(e) Meaning not only all the time of their captivity, but also until Christ.
(f) That is, they would neither have administration nor religion, and their idols also in which they put their confidence, would be destroyed.

Ho 3:5

3:5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and {g} David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

(g) This is meant of Christ's kingdom, which was promised to David to be eternal; Ps 72:17 .

Ho 4:1

4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD {a} hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because [there is] no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

(a) Because the people would not obey the admonitions of the Prophets, he accuses them before the judgment seat of God, against whom they chiefly offended; Isa 7:13 Zec 12:10 Mic 6:1,2 .

Ho 4:2

4:2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and {b} blood toucheth blood.

(b) In every place appears a liberality to most wicked vices, so that one follows right after another.

Ho 4:4

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

(c) As though he would say that it was in vain to rebuke them, for no man can endure it: indeed, they will speak against the prophets and priests whose office it is chiefly to rebuke them.

Ho 4:5

4:5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the {d} day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy {e} mother.

(d) You will both perish together as one, because the former would not obey, and the other, because he would not admonish.
(e) That is, the synagogue in which you boast.

Ho 4:6

4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because {f} thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing {g} thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

(f) That is, the priests will be cast off, because for lack of knowledge they are not able to execute their charge, and instruct others; De 33:3, Mal 2:7 .
(g) Meaning the whole body of the people, who were weary with hearing the word of God.

Ho 4:7

4:7 As they were {h} increased, so they sinned against me: [therefore] will I change their glory into shame.

(h) The more I was beneficial to them.

Ho 4:8

4:8 {i} They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.

(i) That is, the priests seek to eat the people's offerings, and flatter them in their sins.

Ho 4:9

4:9 And there shall be, like people, like {k} priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.

(k) Signifying that as they have sinned together, so will they be punished together.

Ho 4:10

4:10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall {l} commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.

(l) Showing that their wickedness will be punished in all ways: for even though they think by the multitude of wives to have many children, yet they will be deceived of their hope.

Ho 4:11

4:11 {m} Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

(m) In giving themselves to pleasures, they become like brute beasts.

Ho 4:12

4:12 My {n} people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the {o} spirit of whoredoms hath caused [them] to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

(n) Thus he speaks by derision in calling them his people, who now because of their sins they were not his people: for they sought help from stocks or wooden images and sticks or idols.
(o) They are carried away with madness.

Ho 4:13

4:13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof [is] good: therefore your daughters shall {p} commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

(p) Because they take away God's honour, and give it to idols: therefore he will give them up to their lusts, so that they will dishonour their own bodies; Ro 1:28 .

Ho 4:14

4:14 I will not {q} punish your daughters when they 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 not understand shall fall.

(q) I will not correct your shame to bring you to proper living, but will let you run headlong to your own damnation.

Ho 4:15

4:15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, [yet] {r} let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto {s} Gilgal, neither go ye up to {t} Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.

(r) God complains that Judah is infected, and wants them to learn to return in time.
(s) For even though the Lord had honoured this place by his presence, yet because it was abused by their idolatry, he did not want his people to resort there.
(t) He calls Bethel, that is, the house of God, Bethaven, that is, the house of iniquity, because of their abominations set up there, signifying that no place is holy, where God is not purely worshipped.

Ho 4:16

4:16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a {u} lamb in a large place.

(u) God will so disperse them, that they will not remain in any certain place.

Ho 4:18

4:18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers [with] shame do love, {x} Give ye.

(x) They are so shameless in receiving bribes, that they command men to bring them to them.

Ho 4:19

4:19 The wind hath {y} bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

(y) To carry them suddenly away.

Ho 5:1

5:1 Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment [is] toward you, because ye have been a {a} snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

(a) The priests and princes caught the poor people in their snares, as the fowlers did the birds, in these two high mountains.

Ho 5:2

5:2 And the revolters are profound to make {b} slaughter, though I [have been] a {c} rebuker of them all.

(b) Even though they seemed to be given altogether to holiness, and to sacrifices which here he calls slaughter in contempt.
(c) Though I had admonished them continually by my Prophets.

Ho 5:3

5:3 I know {d} Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, [and] Israel is defiled.

(d) They boasted themselves not only to be Israelites, but also Ephraimites, because their King Jeroboam came from that tribe.

Ho 5:5

5:5 And the {e} pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

(e) Meaning their condemning of all admonitions.

Ho 5:7

5:7 They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten {f} strange children: now shall {g} a month devour them with their portions.

(f) That is, their children are degenerate, so that there is no hope in them.
(g) Their destruction is not far off.

Ho 5:8

5:8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, [and] the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud [at] Bethaven, after thee, O {h} Benjamin.

(h) That is, all of Israel that was included under this tribe, signifying that the Lord's plagues would pursue them from place to place until they were destroyed.

Ho 5:9

5:9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made {i} known that which shall surely be.

(i) By the success they will know that I have surely determined this.

Ho 5:10

5:10 The princes of Judah were like them that {k} remove the bound: [therefore] I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

(k) They have turned upside down all political order and all manner of religion.

Ho 5:11

5:11 Ephraim [is] oppressed [and] broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the {l} commandment.

(l) That is, after King Jeroboam's commandment, and did not rather follow God.

Ho 5:13

5:13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah [saw] his wound, then went Ephraim to {m} the Assyrian, and sent to king {n} Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

(m) Instead of seeking for remedy from God's hand.
(n) Who was king of the Assyrians.

Ho 6:1

6:1 Come, and let {a} us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

(a) He shows the people that they ought to turn to the Lord, so that he might stop his plagues.

Ho 6:2

6:2 After two days will {b} he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

(b) Though he correct us from time to time, yet his help will not be far off, if we return to him.

Ho 6:4

6:4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for {c} your goodness [is] as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.

(c) You seem to have a certain holiness and repentance, but it is very sudden, and as a morning cloud.

Ho 6:5

6:5 Therefore have I {d} hewed [them] by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy {e} judgments [are as] the light [that] goeth forth.

(d) I have still laboured by my prophets, and as it were prepared you to bring you to correction, but all was in vain: for my word was not food to feed them, but a sword to slay them.
(e) My doctrine which I taught you, was most evident.

Ho 6:6

6:6 For I desired {f} mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

(f) He shows to what his doctrine was aimed at, that they should unite the obedience of God, and the love of their neighbour, with outward sacrifices.

Ho 6:7

6:7 But they {g} like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.

(g) That is, like small and weak persons.

Ho 6:8

6:8 {h} Gilead [is] a city of them that work iniquity, [and is] polluted with blood.

(h) Which was the place where the priests dwelt, and which should have been best instructed in my word.

Ho 6:11

6:11 Also, O Judah, he hath set an {i} harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.

(i) That is, imitates your idolatry, and has taken grafts of your trees.

Ho 7:1

7:1 When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and {a} the thief cometh in, [and] the troop of robbers spoileth without.

(a) Meaning that there was no one type of vice among them, but that they were subject to all wickedness, both secret and open.

Ho 7:3

7:3 They make the {b} king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.

(b) They esteem their wicked king Jeroboam above God, and seek how to flatter and please him.

Ho 7:4

7:4 They [are] all adulterers, as an {c} oven heated by the baker, [who] ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.

(c) He compares the rage of the people to a burning oven which the baker heats, until his dough is leavened and raised.

Ho 7:5

7:5 In the {d} day of our king the princes have made [him] sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.

(d) They used all indulgence and excess in their feasts and solemnities, by which their king was overcome with being fed too much, and brought into diseases, and who delighted in flatteries.

Ho 7:7

7:7 They are all hot as an oven, and have {e} devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: [there is] none among them that calleth unto me.

(e) By their doing God has deprived them of all good rulers.

Ho 7:8

7:8 Ephraim, he hath {f} mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

(f) That is, he counterfeited the religion of the Gentiles, yet is but as a cake baked on the one side, and raw on the other, that is, neither thoroughly hot, nor thoroughly cold, but partly a Jew, and partly a Gentile.

Ho 7:9

7:9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth [it] not: yea, {g} gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

(g) Which are a token of his manifold afflictions.

Ho 7:11

7:11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without {h} heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

(h) That is, without all judgment, as those that cannot tell whether it is better to cleave only to God, or to seek the help of man.

Ho 7:12

7:12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their {i} congregation hath heard.

(i) According to my curses made to the whole congregation of Israel.

Ho 7:13

7:13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have {k} redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

(k) That is, at different times redeemed them, and delivered them from death.

Ho 7:14

7:14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, {l} when they howled upon their beds: {m} they assemble themselves for corn and wine, [and] they rebel against me.

(l) When they were in affliction, and cried out in pain, they did not seek me for help.
(m) They only seek their own benefit and wealth, and care not for me their God.

Ho 7:16

7:16 They return, [but] not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage {n} of their tongue: this [shall be] their derision in the land of Egypt.

(n) Because they boast of their own strength, and do not care what they speak against me and my servants; Ps 73:9 .

Ho 8:1

8:1 [Set] the trumpet to thy {a} mouth. [He shall come] as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.

(a) God encourages the Prophet to signify the speedy coming of the enemy against Israel, which was once the people of God.

Ho 8:2

8:2 Israel shall {b} cry unto me, My God, we know thee.

(b) They will cry like hypocrites, but not from the heart, as their deeds declare.

Ho 8:4

8:4 They have set up {c} kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew [it] not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.

(c) That is, Jeroboam, by whom they sought their own liberty, and to obey my will.

Ho 8:5

8:5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast [thee] off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long [will it be] ere they attain to {d} innocency?

(d) That is, upright judgment and a godly life.

Ho 8:6

8:6 {e} For from Israel [was] it also: the workman made it; therefore it [is] not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.

(e) Meaning the calf was invented by themselves, and by their fathers in the wilderness.

Ho 8:7

8:7 For they have {f} sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

(f) Showing that their religion has but a show, and in itself is but vanity.

Ho 8:9

8:9 For they are gone up to Assyria, a {g} wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

(g) They never cease, but run to and fro to seek help.

Ho 8:10

8:10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the {h} burden of the king of princes.

(h) That is, for the king and the princes will lay upon them: and by this means the Lord brings them to repentance.

Ho 8:12

8:12 I have written to him the great things of my law, [but] they were counted as a {i} strange thing.

(i) In this way the idolaters consider the word of God as strange with regard to their own invention.

Ho 8:13

8:13 They sacrifice flesh [for] the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat [it; but] the {k} LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.

(k) Saying that they offer it to the Lord, but he accepts no service which he himself has not appointed.

Ho 9:1

9:1 Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, {a} as [other] people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved {b} a reward upon every cornfloor.

(a) For even though all other people should escape, yet you will be punished.
(b) You have committed idolatry in hope of reward, and to have your barns filled ( Jer 44:17 ), as a harlot that had rather live by playing the whore, than to be provided for by her own husband.

Ho 9:2

9:2 {c} The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.

(c) These outward things that you seek will be taken from you.

Ho 9:4

9:4 They shall not offer {d} wine [offerings] to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices [shall be] unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread {e} for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.

(d) All their doings both with regard to administration and religion, will be rejected as polluted things.
(e) The meat offering which they offered for themselves.

Ho 9:5

9:5 What will ye do {f} in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD?

(f) When the Lord will take away all the occasions of serving him, which will be the most grievous part of your captivity, when you will see yourselves cut off from God.

Ho 9:6

9:6 For, lo, they are gone because of {g} destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant [places] for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns [shall be] in their tabernacles.

(g) Even though they think to escape by fleeing the destruction that is at hand, yet they will be destroyed in the place where they flee for help.

Ho 9:7

9:7 The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know [it]: {h} the prophet [is] a fool, the spiritual man [is] mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.

(h) Then they will know that they were deluded by those who claimed themselves to be their prophets and spiritual men.

Ho 9:8

9:8 The watchman of Ephraim {i} [was] with my God: [but] the prophet [is] a snare of a fowler in all his ways, [and] hatred in the house of his God.

(i) The Prophet's duty is to bring men to God, and not to be a snare to pull them from God.

Ho 9:9

9:9 They {k} have deeply corrupted [themselves], as in the days of Gibeah: [therefore] he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.

(k) This people is so rooted in their wickedness, that Gibeah, which was similar to Sodom, was never more corrupt; Jud 19:22 .

Ho 9:10

9:10 I found Israel like {l} grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: [but] they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto [that] shame; and [their] abominations were according {m} as they loved.

(l) Meaning, that he esteemed them and delighted in them in this way.
(m) They were as abominable to me, as their lovers the idols.

Ho 9:11

9:11 [As for] Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, {n} and from the womb, and from the conception.

(n) Signifying that God would destroy their children by these different means, and so consume them by little and little.

Ho 9:13

9:13 Ephraim, as I saw {o} Tyrus, [is] planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.

(o) As they kept tender plants in their houses in Tyrus to preserve them from the cold air of the sea, so was Ephraim at the first to me: but now I will give him to the slaughter.

Ho 9:14

9:14 Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a {p} miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

(p) The Prophet seeing the great plagues of God toward Ephraim, prays to God to make them barren, rather than that this great slaughter should come upon their children.

Ho 9:15

9:15 All their wickedness [is] in {q} Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes [are] revolters.

(q) The chief cause of their destruction is that they commit idolatry, and corrupt my religion in Gilgal.

Ho 10:1

10:1 Israel [is] an {a} empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the {b} goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

(a) Of which though the grapes were gathered, yet always as it gathered new strength it increased in new wickedness, so that the correction which should have brought them to obedience, only proclaimed their stubbornness.
(b) As they were rich and had abundance.

Ho 10:2

10:2 Their heart is {c} divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.

(c) That is, from God, by serving their false gods.

Ho 10:3

10:3 For now they shall say, We have no {d} king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?

(d) The day will come that God will take away their king, and then they will feel the fruit of their sins, and how they trusted in him in vain; 2Ki 17:6-7 .

Ho 10:4

10:4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making {e} a covenant: thus {f} judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

(e) In promising to be faithful toward God.
(f) In this way their integrity and fidelity which they pretended, was nothing but bitterness and grief.

Ho 10:5

10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall {g} fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the {h} priests thereof [that] rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.

(g) When the calf will be carried away.
(h) These were certain idolatrous priests, who wore black apparel during their sacrifices, and cried with a loud voice: which superstition Elijah derided, 1Ki 18:27 . See Geneva "2Ki 23:5"

Ho 10:8

10:8 The high places also of {i} Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

(i) This he speaks in contempt of Bethel. Read Geneva (t) "Ho 4:15"

Ho 10:9

10:9 O Israel, thou hast {k} sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they {l} stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not {m} overtake them.

(k) In those days you were as wicked as the Gibeonites, as God there partly declared: for your zeal could not be good in executing God's judgments, seeing your own deeds were as wicked as theirs.
(l) That is, to fight, or, the Israelites remained in that stubbornness from that time.
(m) The Israelites were not moved by the example of the Gibeonites to cease from their sins.

Ho 10:10

10:10 [It is] in my desire {n} that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two {o} furrows.

(n) Because they are so desperate, I will delight to destroy them.
(o) That is, when they have gathered all their strength together.

Ho 10:11

10:11 And Ephraim [is as] an heifer [that is] taught, [and] loveth to {p} tread out [the corn]; but I passed over upon her {q} fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, [and] Jacob shall break his clods.

(p) In which is pleasure, whereas in plowing there is labour and pain.
(q) I will lay my yoke upon her fat neck.

Ho 10:12

10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; {r} break up your fallow ground: for [it is] time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

(r) Read Geneva "Jer 4:3" See Jer 4:4

Ho 10:14

10:14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as {s} Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon [her] children.

(s) That is, Shalmaneser in the destruction of that city spared neither type nor age.

Ho 11:1

11:1 When Israel {a} [was] a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

(a) While the Israelites were in Egypt, and did not provoke my wrath by their malice and ingratitude.

Ho 11:2

11:2 [As] they called them, so they {b} went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

(b) They rebelled and went a contrary way when the Prophets called them to repentance.

Ho 11:4

11:4 I drew them with cords {c} of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.

(c) That is, friendly, and not as beasts or slaves.

Ho 11:5

11:5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his {d} king, because they refused to return.

(d) Seeing that they condemn all this kindness, they will be led captive into Assyria.

Ho 11:7

11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though {e} they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt [him].

(e) That is, the Prophets.

Ho 11:8

11:8 {f} How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? [how] shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as {g} Admah? [how] shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, {h} my repentings are kindled together.

(f) God considers with himself, and that with a certain grief, how to punish them.
(g) Which were two of the cities that were destroyed with Sodom; De 29:23 .
(h) Meaning that his love with which he first loved them positioned him between doubt and assurance in terms of what to do: and in this appears his Fatherly affection, that his mercy toward his own will overcome his judgments, as he declares in the next verse.

Ho 11:9

11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I [am] God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not {i} enter into the city.

(i) To consume you, but will cause you to yield, and so have mercy on you: and this is meant of the final number who will walk after the Lord.

Ho 11:11

11:11 {k} They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.

(k) The Egyptians and the Assyrians will be afraid when the Lord maintains his people.

Ho 11:12

11:12 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with {l} God, and is faithful with the saints.

(l) Governs their state according to God's word, and does not degenerate.

Ho 12:1

12:1 Ephraim feedeth {a} on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and {b} oil is carried into Egypt.

(a) That is, flatters himself with vain confidence.
(b) Meaning presents to get friendship.

Ho 12:2

12:2 The LORD hath also a controversy with {c} Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.

(c) Which in those points was similar to Ephraim, but not in idolatry.

Ho 12:3

12:3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had {d} power with God:

(d) Seeing that God in this way preferred Jacob their father, Judah's ingratitude was the more to be abhorred.

Ho 12:4

12:4 Yea, he had {e} power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: {f} he found him [in] Bethel, and there he spake with us;

(e) Read Ge 32:24-32 .
(f) God found Jacob as he lay sleeping in Bethel Ge 28:12 , and spoke with him there in such a way that the fruit of that speech appertained to the whole body of the people, of which we are.

Ho 12:7

12:7 [He is] {g} a merchant, the balances of deceit [are] in his hand: he loveth to oppress.

(g) As for Ephraim, he is more like the wicked Canaanites than godly Abraham or Jacob.

Ho 12:8

12:8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: [in] all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me {h} that [were] sin.

(h) Thus way the wicked measure God's favour by outward prosperity, and like hypocrites cannot endure that any should reprove their doings.

Ho 12:9

12:9 And I [that am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in {i} the days of the solemn feast.

(i) Seeing you will not acknowledge my benefits, I will bring you again to dwell in tents, as in the feast of the Tabernacles, which you now condemn.

Ho 12:11

12:11 [Is there] {k} iniquity [in] Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars [are] as heaps in the furrows of the fields.

(k) The people thought that no man dare have spoken against Gilead, that holy place, and yet the Prophet says that all their religion was but vanity.

Ho 12:12

12:12 {l} And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept [sheep].

(l) If you boast of your riches and nobility, you seem to reproach your father, who was a poor fugitive and servant.

Ho 12:13

12:13 And by a {m} prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.

(m) Meaning Moses, by which appears that whatever they have, it comes from God's free goodness.

Ho 13:1

13:1 When Ephraim spake {a} trembling, he {b} exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, {c} he died.

(a) He shows the excellency and authority that this tribe had above all the rest.
(b) He made a king of his tribe.
(c) The Ephraimites are not far from destruction, and have lost their authority.

Ho 13:2

13:2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, [and] idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, {d} Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

(d) "Let the men that sacrifice" or "while they sacrifice men". The false prophets persuaded the idolaters to offer their children after the example of Abraham, and he shows how they would exhort one another to the same, and to kiss and worship these calves which were their idols.

Ho 13:4

13:4 Yet I [am] the LORD thy God {e} from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for [there is] no saviour beside me.

(e) He calls them to repentance, and reproves their ingratitude.

Ho 13:9

13:9 O Israel, thou {f} hast destroyed thyself; but in me [is] thine help.

(f) Your destruction is certain, and my benefits toward you declare that it comes not from me: therefore your own malice, idolatry, and vain confidence in men must necessarily be the cause of it.

Ho 13:10

13:10 {g} I will be thy king: where [is any other] that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?

(g) I am all one; Jas 1:17 .

Ho 13:12

13:12 The iniquity of Ephraim [is] {h} bound up; his sin [is] hid.

(h) It is surely laid up to be punished, as in Jer 17:1 .

Ho 13:13

13:13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he [is] an unwise son; for he should not stay long in [the place of] the {i} breaking forth of children.

(i) But would come out of the womb, that is out of these dangers in which he is, and not wait to be suppressed.

Ho 13:14

13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O {k} death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: {l} repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

(k) Meaning that no power will resist God when he will deliver his own, but even in death he will give them life.
(l) Because they will not turn to me, I will change my purpose.

Ho 14:1

14:1 O Israel, {a} return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

(a) He exhorts them to repentance to avoid all these plagues, exhorting them to declare by words their obedience and repentance.

Ho 14:2

14:2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, {b} Take away all iniquity, and receive [us] graciously: so will we render the calves of our {c} lips.

(b) He shows them that they ought to confess their sins.
(c) Declaring that this is the true sacrifice that the faithful can offer, even thanks and praise; He 13:15 .

Ho 14:3

14:3 Asshur shall {d} not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, [Ye are] our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

(d) We will forsake all vain confidence and pride.

Ho 14:4

14:4 {e} I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

(e) He declares how ready God is to receive those that do repent.

Ho 14:7

14:7 They that dwell under his {f} shadow shall return; they shall revive [as] the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof [shall be] as the wine of Lebanon.

(f) Whoever unites themselves to this people will be blessed.

Ho 14:8

14:8 Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more with idols? I {g} have heard [him], and observed him: I [am] like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.

(g) God shows how prompt he is to hear his own when they repent, and to offer himself as a protection and safeguard for them, as a most sufficient fruit and benefit.

Ho 14:9

14:9 Who [is] {h} wise, and he shall understand these [things]? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD [are] right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

(h) Signifying that the true wisdom and knowledge consists in this, even to rest upon God.

The Reformed Reader Home Page  Copyright 1999, The Reformed Reader, All Rights Reserved