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1–7. In great emotion (which reflects itself in the short clauses) the prophet announces the imminent invasion of N. Israel, and its true causes—idolatry and schism

1. Set the trumpet to thy mouth] Lit., To thy palate the cornet! An abrupt appeal by a heavenly voice to the prophet, who is bidden to give warning of the approach of the foe (comp. Hosea 5:8 note). ‘Palate’, or ‘mouth’, as the organ of speech, as Proverbs 5:3; Proverbs 8:7, &c.

as an eagle] The Hebr. word (nesher) seems to have been specially applied to the great griffon vulture, the carrion-eating habits of which are referred to in Job 39:30; Proverbs 30:17; Matthew 24:28, and its swift flight in Deuteronomy 28:49; 2 Samuel 1:23; Jeremiah 49:22. References to this bird of prey (Assyr. nasru) are frequent in the cuneiform, inscriptions, and figures of it occur in battle-scenes on the monument. The more appropriate is it as an emblem of the Assyrian invaders. Similarly Nebuchadnezzar (whom St Jerome wrongly supposes to be meant here) is called an eagle (or vulture) in Jeremiah 49:22; Ezekiel 17:3.

the house of the Lord] In chap. 2 we had the people of Israel represented as a bride who is sustained and adorned by her husband; here we have the figure completed by the description of the land of Canaan as the divine Bridegroom’s house (as Hosea 9:15, comp. Hosea 8:3). This beautiful figure is obscured if, with Reynolds and Whitehouse, we compare the weakened sense, ‘country’, of Assyr. bît. In the N.T. the house of God, or of Christ, is the Church, see Hebrews 3:6; 1 Timothy 3:15.

my covenant] Most explain this of the ‘covenant’ or contract between Jehovah and Israel. But the phrase is more probably equivalent to ‘mine ordinance’, for the parallel clause has ‘my law.’ The Heb. word (b’rîth) sometimes appears to mean simply ‘appointment’, ‘ordinance’ (so 2 Kings 11:4; Jeremiah 11:6; Jeremiah 34:13; Jeremiah 34:18; Job 31:1; Psalm 105:10), which may even be the primary meaning (comp. Assyr. barû ‘to decide’). Comp. the phrase ‘the book of the covenant’ (Exodus 24:7).

my law] See note on Hosea 8:12.

2. Israel shall cry …] Rather, Unto me they will (then) cry, My God, we—Israel—know thee. When the punishment comes, they will cry aloud to Jehovah, and lay stress upon their belonging to Him. ‘Israel’ is mentioned, as the title of honour (the kunya, comp. the commentators on Isaiah 44:5), given by Jehovah, which was the outward sign of His mystic connexion with His worshippers. The speech of the Israelites is the counterpart of that of Jehovah in Isaiah 43:1, ‘I have called thee by name; thou art mine.’ (The Septuagint and the Peshito, however, omit ‘Israel.’) ‘My God’ seems used distributively, each Israelite professes to feel his individual relation to the national God.

3. The appeal is dismissed; Israel’s piety is but superficial (comp.Hosea 6:1-4); his ‘knowledge of God’ is not that which Jehovah expects.

hath cast off] Not merely put aside out of caprice, but (as the word implies) cast off with loathing (see Hosea 8:5).

4. Israel’s great offence—making a schism in the ‘theocratic’ community. Setting up idols was virtually rebellion against Jehovah; whatever Ahijah said (1 Kings 11:31, &c.), or a lower class of prophets after him (comp. Amos 7:12-13), the great prophets, such as Hosea, could not sanction any of the N. Israelitish dynasties (see on Hosea 1:11). See next note.

not by me] Rather, not from me. There is a verbal contradiction between these words and those ascribed to Shemaiah in 2 Kings 12:24. A prophet could only declare the will of God with regard to the particular case laid before him. The disunion of north and south was so great, that for the sake of peace it was better to separate. But when the moral and spiritual decay of N. Israel had reached such a point as in the time of Hosea, no prophet with any spiritual insight could fail to perceive that the usurping kings lacked the divine blessing.

that they may be cut off] The verb is in the singular, and the implied subject is the silver and gold which had been made into idols.

5. Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off] This rendering is very harsh in this context; Ewald prefers ‘He hath cast off thy calf’, a contrast to ‘Israel hath cast off that which is good’ in Hosea 8:3. But ‘casting off’ implies a previous connexion (e. g. Psalm 43:2); it is better to revert to the intransitive sense which belongs to the cognate verb in Arabic, and render, Thy calf, O Samaria, is loathsome. ‘Thy calf’ is a contemptuous expression for the small golden bull which was symbolic of Jehovah; such a bull, it appears, existed at Samaria, and doubtless at other places besides Dan and Bethel (e. g. at Gilgal).

ere they can attain innocency] Lit. ‘will they be incapable of innocency.’ Idolatry presented itself to Hosea, not only as a form of worship, but as an immoral way of living.

6. For from Israel was it also] Rather, was this also; i. e. this idol too (as well as the usurping kings) was Israel’s work, unsanctioned by me. But the construction is very dubious, and the integrity of the text may well be questioned.

the workman made it; therefore it is not God] Lit., ‘and it is not God.’ It has a merely fictitious existence (so Hosea 13:2). The sarcastic words of Hosea contain the germ of the vehement polemic of the later prophets against idolatry in general.

but … in pieces] Rather, yea, Samaria’s calf shall be (broken to) shivers (Targum, ‘chips of boards’).

7. The consequences of Israel’s evil conduct and policy are here represented under the figure of sowing and reaping. But the form of the figure is varied. First, Israel sows wind and reaps whirlwind, i.e. his present conduct is unprofitable to himself, and the requital of it shall be actual destruction. Next, though Israel sows a corn-plant, it never grows up to its full size (it, i.e. Israel, hath no standing corn); or if it does, it either yields the farmer no meal, or its meal is seized upon by the enemy, i.e. the worldly results of Israel’s policy are never good, and any wealth that it attains passes into the hands of the enemy.

the bud shall yield no meal] In the Hebrew there is a characteristic play upon sounds,—the çemakh yields no qemakh.

8. is swallowed up] i. e. is as good as swallowed up. Foreigners have already begun to absorb the precious morsel (cf. Hosea 7:8-9); complete destruction is only a question of time.

now shall they be …] Rather, now are they become among the nations, &c. Comp. Jeremiah 22:28; Jeremiah 48:38. ‘The coarse pottery of this country’, says Dr Thomson, ‘is so cheap that even poor people throw it aside in contempt, or dash it to pieces on the slightest occasion’ (The Land and the Book, p. 36). ‘Nations’ (as Hosea 8:10).

8–14. The judgment is already begun; Israel has drawn it upon himself, by dallying with Assyria, by religious abuses, and by a vain confidence in fortified cities.