성경 주석서

1. When Ephraim spake trembling, &c.] The Hebrew is difficult, and the soundness of the text is perhaps questionable. At any rate, the rendering will depend on one’s impression of the requirements of the context. To the present writer, no translation appears preferable to that of King James’s Bible, and he has a pleasure in finding himself in accord with this version, which must of necessity rarely be the case in obscure passages. The single objection to the rendering is that expressed by Mr Huxtable in the Speaker’s Commentary, viz. that it ‘would give to the tribe of Ephraim a character out of harmony alike with Hosea’s description of it in Hosea 5:5 and with the history.’ But the passage referred to requires to be explained differently, and as to the history of the tribe, we are not here concerned with the facts as viewed critically, but as they presented themselves to a preacher in search of edification. Hosea has once already pointed the people of Israel to the golden age of the past, when Israel as a whole was comparable to ‘grapes in the wilderness’ and ‘the firstripe in the fig tree’ (Hosea 9:10, see note); he conceives of Jehovah as kindly overlooking the human frailty of his child in consideration of Israel’s latent possibilities. ‘When Ephraim spake trembling’, &c., may therefore be expanded thus, ‘When the Ephraimites in trembling accents responded to the divine call (comp. Hosea 2:15), they rose to the exalted position which its prophetic ancestor foreshadowed (Genesis 49:22-26).’ The reference is partly to the leadership of the Ephraimite Joshua, partly to the prosperity which attended the tribe of Ephraim even when it no longer supplied a general, a judge, or a king to the entire nation. The other chief renderings are, ‘When Ephraim spake, [there was] terror’, &c., i.e., men listened to Ephraim with fear and trembling; and, ‘When Ephraim spake of revolt (?), [and] lifted itself up [as a rebel] in Israel’, continuing in the next clause, ‘it became guilty through Baal, and died.’ In the latter case, the reference is to the revolt of the Ten Tribes, and the public sanction then given to a retrograde religion. The advantage of this view is that it enables us to give precisely the same meaning to Ephraim in both parts of Hosea 13:1; but as the text stands, the writer feels unable to accept it, as the sense of ‘revolt’ cannot be justified. It is very possible that the text is corrupt.

but when he offended in Baal, he died] Rather, if the Authorized Version’s view of the meaning be retained, but he became guilty through the Baal, and died. That is, in course of time, the Ten Tribes severed themselves definitely from the progressive teaching of the higher spiritual prophecy, and by so doing sealed their doom as a nation. The Baal-worship spoken of is not the form of religion against which Elijah thundered; that was introduced from Phœnicia, whereas a simpler but still idolatrous worship was offered by the northern Israelites to Jehovah under the name of ‘Baal’ (see on Hosea 2:13; Hosea 2:16). Finding a multitude of Canaanitish sacred places dedicated each to its own ‘Baal’ or patron-deity, they forthwith identified this Baal with their own Jehovah, and so fell under the same condemnation as their heathen predecessors. They failed to go forward with Amos and Hosea, and so they could not but fall behind to a degenerate and lower type of religion.

died] Ephraim was ‘dead while he lived’ (1 Timothy 5:6, comp. Proverbs 9:18, and Dante, Inferno XXXIII. 139–157). So Genesis 2:17, ‘in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.’ Till Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, there was the hope that, though not created immortal, he might yet be exempted from decay and death. So, till Ephraim deliberately corrupted his religion, there was always the possibility that God might recognize him as a permanent factor in the religious history of the world. Comp. on Hosea 5:12.

1–8. Israel signed his own death-warrant when he lapsed into Baal-worship. Foolish as it is to ‘kiss calves’, they persist in the practice. Therefore the nation can but drift away, like cloud, or chaff, or smoke. How little Jehovah deserves such treatment! But Israel’s destruction has already begun: they shall be torn piecemeal.

2. And now, &c.] The present race is no better; they go on adding to their guilt.

idols according to their own understanding] Sarcastically. Sept., Targ., Vulg., however, read ‘according to the pattern of idols’ (there could be no art, then, in these repetitions of archaic images).

they say of them, &c.] This part of the verse is very difficult; it will be best to clear up first the meaning of the closing words. There are two rival renderings, ‘sacrificers of men, they kiss calves’ (so substantially the Sept., the Vulg., Rashi, Aben Ezra, Calvin, Horsley, Kuenen), and human sacrificers, they kiss calves (so Kimchi and many moderns). Either rendering implies a strong touch of sarcasm. In the first case, it is the strange perversity of slaying men and kissing calves which the prophet lashes; in the second, the affront to human reason in doing homage to dumb animals. The objection to the former explanation is the fact that human sacrifices were not, so far as we know, offered to the calf- or rather steer-gods, and indeed were hardly known in the land of Israel before the time of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:3). Besides, would the prophet have referred to such abominable cruelty in such a casual way, more, as has been well said, in a vein of satire than of indignation? Now let us turn to the opening words of the sentence. The parallelism in this and the following verse is so thoroughly carried out, that for symmetry’s sake we can hardly help rendering, unto such [the idols] do they speak. The sarcasm is as manifest here as in the following words; what can be more absurd than to address vows and prayers to the worshippers’ own handiwork, to things ‘which have mouths, and speak not.’ The objection is, that the meaning ‘speak’ is not a common one for ’âmar (properly ‘to say’), but Psalm 4:5 shows that the verb in question may be used absolutely, even in classical Hebrew. It is possible however that there is a corruption, and that we should read, for instance, for ‘speak’ (or ‘say’), ‘burn incense.’

kiss] ‘Kiss’, viz. as a sign of adoration or homage, by a transition like that in the usage of προσκυνέω. So whenever (a) idols, or (b) supposed divine beings, or (c) kings are referred to; comp. (a) 1 Kings 19:18, (b) Job 31:27, (c) Psalm 2:12 (Genesis 41:40; 1 Samuel 10:1 can hardly be quoted here). The ‘kiss’ of adoration consisted sometimes, as in Job l.c., in kissing the hand towards the idol (comp. προσκυνέω again). For the kiss of homage, comp. the Assyrian phrase ‘they kissed my feet.’

the calves] i.e., the small images of an ox, such as are referred to in 1 Kings 12:28.

3. the early dew, &c.] Rather, the night-mist that early passeth away. See on Hosea 6:4.

as the chaff … the floor] A familiar figure, but here expressed with more fulness than usual. The point of it is partly in the elevated situation of ‘the floor’ (comp. 1 Samuel 19:22 Sept.; 2 Samuel 24:18; 2 Chronicles 3:1), partly in the suddenness of the whirlwinds in Palestine, which start up ‘as if by magic or spirit-influence’ (Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 154).

chimney] Rather, lattice.

4. Yet I am the Lord thy God] Hosea persistently refuses to recognize that the god whom the Israelites worship is really Israel’s God, Jehovah. The use of an idolatrous symbol has so unspiritualized the object of their worship that the mere retention of the name Jehovah gives them no claim upon Hosea’s sympathy. The prophet therefore introduces Jehovah as expostulating with the Israelites for the abandonment of their hereditary religion.

thou shalt know no god but me] Rather, thou knowest, &c.; the experience of history bore witness to Jehovah’s help, and his alone. Comp. Deuteronomy 32:12. Hosea however does not deny the existence of other gods besides Jehovah; only their equality to Him in power. It was only by degrees that the truth involved in the revelation of Jehovah was fully realized. See Introduction.

5. I did know, &c.] Better, It was I that knew, &c. ‘To know’=‘to take favourable notice of’, as Psalm 1:6 and often.

in the land of great drought] Or, ‘of burning thirst’ (the word occurs nowhere else). Comp. the description in Hosea 2:3.

6. According to their pasture, &c.] Rather, When they fed, they waxed full. The idea of the verse is that Israel’s apostasy sprang from his enjoying God’s gifts without thinking of the Giver, comp. Hosea 2:8, Hosea 4:7, Hosea 10:1. The expressions were probably prophetic commonplaces; comp. Deuteronomy 8:11-15; Deuteronomy 31:20; Deuteronomy 32:15; Deuteronomy 32:18.

7. I will be] Rather, I have become. The evident decay of Israel as a nation shows that the punishment has begun (see Hosea 7:8-10).

the leopard] Familiar to the Hebrews and Assyrians under the same name (nâmçr, nimru). Its habit of springing from an ambush is again referred to in Jeremiah 5:6.

by the way will I observe them] According to another pronunciation of the consonants, the Septuagint, Peshito, and Vulgate (supported by some MSS. and many editions of the Hebrew Bible), render ‘in the way to Assyria’, an allusion being supposed to Israel’s dallying with the great northern empire (Hosea 5:13). So also Hitzig and Ewald. But the prophet has to deal now with the disease itself, not with a mere symptom.

8. as a dear] A striking but uncommon comparison. Comp. Lamentations 3:10.

the caul of their heart] Rather, the enclosure of their heart, i.e., not the pericardium, which is what the Authorized Version appears to have supposed, but the breast.

as a lion] Most render, as a lioness; but this is at any rate uncertain. There is nothing as in Job 4:11 specially to suggest the female. The masculine undoubtedly occurs in Psalm 57:5 (Hebr.). The root-idea is probably voracity; but unfortunately there is no cognate in Assyrian. The numerous words for lion in Hebrew are as trouble-some to express in English, as the translators of the Sept. found them in Greek (Sept. here has σκύμνοι δρυμοῦ).