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Ho 5:1-5.

GOD'S JUDGMENTS ON THE PRIESTS, PEOPLE, AND PRINCES OF ISRAEL FOR THEIR SINS.

Judah, too, being guilty shall be punished; nor shall Assyria, whose aid they both sought, save them; judgments shall at last lead them to repentance.

1. the king--probably Pekah; the contemporary of Ahaz, king of Judah, under whom idolatry was first carried so far in Judah as to call for the judgment of the joint Syrian and Israelite invasion, as also that of Assyria.

judgment is towards you--that is, threatens you from God.

ye have been a snare on Mizpah . . . net . . . upon Tabor--As hunters spread their net and snares on the hills, Mizpah and Tabor, so ye have snared the people into idolatry and made them your prey by injustice. As Mizpah and Tabor mean a "watch tower," and a "lofty place," a fit scene for hunters, playing on the words, the prophet implies, in the lofty place in which I have set you, whereas ye ought to have been the watchers of the people, guarding them from evil, ye have been as hunters entrapping them into it [JEROME]. These two places are specified, Mizpah in the east and Tabor in the west, to include the high places throughout the whole kingdom, in which Israel's rulers set up idolatrous altars.

2. revolters--apostates.

profound--deeply rooted [CALVIN] and sunk to the lowest depths, excessive in their idolatry

(Ho 9:9; Isa 31:6)

[HENDERSON]. From the antithesis

(Ho 5:3),

"not hid from me," I prefer explaining, profoundly cunning in their idolatry. Jeroboam thought it a profound piece of policy to set up golden calves to represent God in Dan and Beth-el, in order to prevent Israel's heart from turning again to David's line by going up to Jerusalem to worship. So Israel's subsequent idolatry was grounded by their leaders on various pleas of state expediency (compare

Isa 29:15).

to . . . slaughter--He does not say "to sacrifice," for their so-called sacrifices were butcheries rather than sacrifices; there was nothing sacred about them, being to idols instead of to the holy God.

though--MAURER translates, "and (in spite of their hope of safety through their slaughter of victims to idols) I will be a chastisement to them all." English Version is good sense: They have deeply revolted, notwithstanding all my prophetical warnings.

3. Ephraim--the tribe so called, as distinguished from "Israel" here, the other nine tribes. It was always foremost of the tribes of the northern kingdom. For four hundred years in early history, it, with Manasseh and Benjamin, its two dependent tribes, held the pre-eminence in the whole nation. Ephraim is here addressed as foremost in idolatry.

I how . . . not hid from me--notwithstanding their supposed profound cunning

(Ho 5:2; Re 2:2, 9, 13, 19).

now--"though I have been a rebuker of all them"

(Ho 5:2)

who commit such spiritual whoredoms, thou art now continuing in them.

4. They--Turning from a direct address to Ephraim, he uses the third person plural to characterize the people in general. The Hebrew is against the Margin, their doings will not suffer them" the omission of "them" in the Hebrew after the verb being unusual. The sense is, they are incurable, for they will not permit (as the Hebrew literally means) their doings to be framed so as to turn unto God. Implying that they resist the Spirit of God, not suffering Him to renew them; and give themselves up to "the spirit of whoredoms" (in antithesis to "the Spirit of God" implied in "suffer" or "permit")

(Ho 4:12; Isa 63:10; Eze 16:43; Ac 7:51).

5. the pride of Israel--wherewith they reject the warnings of God's prophets

(Ho 5:2),

and prefer their idols to God

(Ho 7:10; Jer 13:17).

testify to his face--openly to his face he shall be convicted of the pride which is so palpable in him. Or, "in his face," as in

Isa 3:9.

Judah . . . shall fall with them--This prophecy is later than

Ho 4:15,

when Judah had not gone so far in idolatry; now her imitation of Israel's bad example provokes the threat of her being doomed to share in Israel's punishment.

6. with . . . flocks--to propitiate Jehovah

(Isa 1:11-15).

seek . . . not find--because it is slavish fear that leads them to seek Him; and because it then shall be too late

(Pr 1:28; Joh 7:34).

7. treacherously--as to the marriage covenant

(Jer 3:20).

strange children--alluding to "children of whoredoms"

(Ho 1:2; 2:4).

"Strange" or foreign implies that their idolatry was imported from abroad [HENDERSON]. Or rather, "regarded by God as strangers, not His," as being reared in idolatry. The case is desperate, when not only the existing, but also the rising, generation is reared in apostasy.

a month--a very brief space of time shall elapse, and then punishment shall overtake them

(Zec 11:8).

The allusion seems to be to money loans, which were by the month, not as with us by the year. You cannot put it off; the time of your destruction is immediately and suddenly coming on you; just as the debtor must meet the creditor's demand at the expiration of the month. The prediction is of the invasion of Tiglath-pileser, who carried away Reuben, Gad, Naphtali, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

portions--that is, possessions. Their resources and garrisons will not avail to save them. HENDERSON explains from

Isa 57:6,

"portions" as their idols; the context favors this, "the Lord" the true "portion of His people"

(De 32:9),

being in antithesis to "their portions," the idols.

8. The arrival of the enemy is announced in the form of an injunction to blow an alarm.

cornet . . . trumpet--The "cornet" was made of the curved horn of animals and was used by shepherds. The "trumpet" was of brass or silver, straight, and used in wars and on solemn occasions. The Hebrew is hatzotzerah, the sound imitating the trumpet note

(Ho 8:1; Nu 10:2; Jer 4:5; Joe 2:1).

Gibeah . . . Ramah--both in Benjamin

(Isa 10:29).

Beth-aven--in Benjamin; not as in

Ho 4:15;

Beth-el, but a town east of it

(Jos 7:2).

"Cry aloud," namely, to raise the alarm. "Benjamin" is put for the whole southern kingdom of Judah (compare

Ho 5:5),

being the first part of it which would meet the foe advancing from the north. "After thee, O Benjamin," implies the position of Beth-aven, behind Benjamin, at the borders of Ephraim. When the foe is at Beth-aven, he is at Benjamin's rear, close upon thee, O Benjamin

(Jud 5:14).