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In this chapter, I. God threatens to deprive this degenerate seed of Israel of all their worldly enjoyments, because by sin they had forfeited their title to them; so that they should have no comfort either in receiving them themselves or in offering them to God, Ho 9:1-5. II. He dooms them to utter ruin, for their own sins and the sins of their prophets, Ho 9:6-8. III. He upbraids them with the wickedness of their fathers before them, whose steps they trod in, Ho 9:9,10. IV. He threatens them with the destruction of their children and the rooting out of their posterity, Ho 9:11-17.
1-6
Threatenings of Judgment (740 BC)
繁體中文
審判的威脅（主前740年）
¹ 以色列啊，不要像別國歡喜快樂；因為你行淫離棄了你的神，在各穀場上喜愛淫蕩的賞賜。
² 穀場和酒醡必不夠他們食用，新酒也必使他們失望。
³ 他們必不得住在耶和華的地上；以法蓮卻要歸回埃及，在亞述吃不潔淨的食物。
⁴ 他們必不得向耶和華奠酒，他們的祭物也不蒙悅納；他們的祭物必如居喪者的餅；凡吃的人都必被玷污；因為他們為維持生命所用的餅只可為自己，必不得奉入耶和華的殿。
⁵ 在大會的日子和耶和華節期的日子，你們要作什麼呢？
⁶ 看哪，他們因毀滅而去了；埃及必聚集他們，孟斐斯必埋葬他們；他們銀子的美物必被蕁麻佔據；他們的帳棚中必生荊棘。
在此：
一、以色列百姓被控屬靈的淫亂：以色列啊，你行淫離棄了你的神（何9:1）。他們與神所立的約是婚約，藉此他們歸屬於祂為他們的神，棄絕了一切別的。但當他們設立偶像並敬拜它們，當他們逃到受造之物那裏求救並信靠它們時，他們就從神那裏行了淫，將那唯獨當歸給神的愛、敬拜和信靠歸給了那些篡奪者和競爭者。別人也拜偶像，但那罪在他們身上不是從神那裏行淫，而在那已與神訂婚的以色列身上卻是。注意：那些已認信宗教、與神建立了關係的人所犯的罪，比別人的罪更惹動神。作為他們從神行淫的證據，控告他們在各穀場上喜愛淫蕩的賞賜。 1. 他們喜愛賞賜他們的偶像——以各穀場所獻的祭物和初熟果子。他們以一種奇異的樂趣用那些他們本不情願分別為聖歸給神、用在神事奉中的東西來事奉偶像。注意：那些在宗教花費上吝嗇的人，在放縱情慾上揮霍無度，這是常見的。或者， 2. 他們喜愛從他們的偶像那裏得賞賜；他們把地的出產視為如此：這是我的情人所給我的賞賜（何2:12）。注意：那些在穀場上喜愛賞賜過於在神的恩寵和永生上喜愛賞賜的人，直接傾向於屬靈的拜偶像。
二、他們被禁止像別國那樣歡喜：以色列啊，不要歡喜快樂。 不要指望歡喜。你的淫行和邪術如此多， 還有什麼平安，什麼喜樂，這與你有何相干？（王下9:19-22）。不要有心歡喜，因為那不適合你，倒要悲傷、哀哭、哭泣（雅4:9）。猶大緊守真神，不，甚至那些從未認識祂、也從不能被指控背叛祂的別國之民，或許可以容許歡喜，因為他們不像以色列那樣從祂那裏行了淫，所以沒有那樣多可羞愧的理由。有人認為他們此時有特別的喜樂時機——也許是因收復了一些損失、取得了一些優勢、或與一個強大的盟友結盟而有的——他們為此舉行公眾慶祝，如同別國在這種場合常行的；但神差遣人告訴他們不要歡喜。注意：對惡人而言，喜樂是禁果。他們不可歡喜，因為他們從神那裏行了淫；所以： 1. 無論他們以何為樂，只要他們遠離神、與神為敵，那東西就不能給他們保障或益處。注意：我們若不以神為至大的喜樂，受造之物所帶來的安慰對我們就微乎其微。 2. 對罪的知覺和對忿怒的畏懼，應當抑制他們的喜樂，成為他們一切安慰的強烈攙雜物。注意：那些因偏離神而為自己製造了悔改工夫的人，也因而敗壞了自己的歡娛，直到他們歸回、與神和好。
三、他們因屬靈的淫亂而被威脅毀滅性的審判，正如很久以前所說的（詩72:27）：那些離棄你行淫的，你都滅絕了。 此處所威脅的是：
1. 他們的地不再出產慣常的收成。迦南——那流奶與蜜之地——必因其中居民的惡變為荒涼。他們喜愛穀場上的賞賜，又滿了收割的歡樂，以致毫無為罪哀慟的心志；所以神為了有效地使他們謙卑，不僅要奪去他們的享樂和美味，甚至奪去他們必需的糧食（何9:2）：穀場和酒醡必不夠他們食用——更不用說使他們宴樂了；那些要麼被神的手所擊打，要麼被人的手所搶掠。他們從前用以歡樂的新酒必使他們失望。 注意：當我們將世界和其中之物當作我們的偶像和產業，超過了它們被設計的用途時，神公正地從其中收回甚至維持和滋養的供應，以顯明我們的愚妄、糾正我們。讓那些在穀場上尋求賞賜的人在穀場上錯失食物吧。我們若將世上美物當作至好之物來愛，就必喪失它們。
2. 他們的地不僅不再供養他們，更要不再容留他們、不再作他們的居所；它要將他們吐出去，如同從前將迦南人吐出去一樣（何9:3）：他們必不得再住在耶和華的地上。 迦南地是特有的耶和華之地——舍吉拿之地（迦勒底譯本如此），世界之主的地（阿拉伯譯本如此）；那擁有全地的（詩24:1）將那地作為自己的產業。地是我的，神說（利25:23）。他們曾將之當作自己的來使用——或更準確地說是濫用——不向作為地主的神繳租、也不盡當盡的本分，所以神公正地進入並接管它，因為他們已喪失了租約。這是我的地*（神說），我必使之顯明*——因為他們必如惡租戶被趕走，並知道他們雖自以為是自由業主，其實不過是隨時可以被逐的租戶。注意：那些從神行淫的人不容住在祂的地 上，這是神公義和聖潔的榮耀；所以遲早惡人必被趕出世界。 或者它被稱為耶和華之地，因為那是聖地——以馬內利之地——那有神恩寵和同在之特殊記號的地，在那裏神被認識、祂的名為大，在那裏有神的先知和言語；它如同地上樂園的副本，又是天上樂園的預表。在這樣一塊地上有產業是極大的特權。在這樣一塊地上背叛神、從祂那裏行淫，是極大的罪惡和愚昧——在正直的地 上行事不義（賽26:10）。而從這樣一塊地上被趕出去，是悲慘而痛苦的審判——如同將人類始祖趕出伊甸園，幾乎等於被排除在天上的迦南之外。注意：那些不肯順服主的律法、不受祂的愛所感動的人，不能指望住在主的地上。那些不順服教會規則的人，就喪失了教會的特權。
3. 當他們被趕出耶和華之地後，他們在任何別的地上都得不到安息和滿足。當該隱被趕出耶和華的面之後，他永遠是逃亡者和流浪者，住在戰抖之地。以色列在此也是如此。有些人要歸回埃及——那舊日的奴役之家；他們要逃到那裏躲避亞述人（何8:13），並在他們以為可以藏身、得幫助的地方失喪、毀滅自己。另一些人要被擄到亞述，在那裏被迫吃不潔淨之物：（1）那些不適合人吃的東西——腐爛變質的食物，暗示他們要被降到極度的貧窮，如同浪子恨不得拿豬吃的豆莢充飢。或者，（2）那些不適合猶太人吃的東西——被律法所禁止的。很可能他們在自己的地上時，雖然在別的事上不順從，卻保持了食物的區別，並以此自誇；但既然他們在別的事上不肯守神的律法，在這件事上也不容他們守了——這是他們吃祭偶像之物之罪的公正刑罰。注意：當我們任何時候在食物上受苦——無論因缺乏或因健康的緣故被迫吃喝不悅口之物——我們當承認神是公義的，因為我們在食物上犯了罪，在可口之物上放縱自己太多了。
4. 在他們被趕到之仇敵之地，他們既沒有機會藉獻上可蒙悅納的祭牲來尊榮神，也沒有機會藉此得神的恩寵；他們不能在他們中間維持任何宗教的面子或形式；如此（如波考克博士所表述的）他們如同完全被切斷了與祂的關係的任何表達，被切斷了一切恩典的記號和與祂和好的途徑，這對他們將是被神棄絕、與祂疏遠、不再被祂承認為祂子民的記號。（1）他們沒有祭牲可獻，也沒有祭壇可獻，也沒有祭司可獻；他們甚至不能向耶和華奠酒，更不用說別的祭牲了。（2）他們即使獻上，他們和他們的祭牲也不蒙悅納，因為他們沒有合法的祭物，他們的心也不自卑。（3）他們沒有歡樂讚美的祭，只有居喪者的餅；他們要過孤寂、淒涼的生活，為親人的死亡和自己的災禍哀悼，所以即使有機會獻祭，他們自己也從不在適合獻祭的心境之中；因為律法禁止他們在居喪時吃聖物（申26:14）；凡吃居喪者之餅的都被玷污了，不能赴祭壇。（4）他們為維持生命的餅——那些他們不得不吃否則就要餓死的餅——必不得奉入耶和華的殿；他們沒有耶和華的殿可帶去，即使有，這餅也不適合帶去，他們自己也沒有正確的心境帶去。（5）他們神聖而莊嚴節期的循環再來時，對他們將非常陰沉而難受（何9:5）：在大會的日子——安息日、每週的莊嚴日子、每月的月朔、每年守逾越節、五旬節和住棚節的日子——耶和華節期的日子，你們要作什麼呢？注意：耶和華的節期是莊嚴的日子；當我們被邀請赴這些筵席時，當慎重思考我們當怎樣行。但這問題在此是向那些將被剝奪這些莊嚴節期之益處和安慰的人提出的：那時你們要作什麼呢？ 那時你們要在悲哀和哭泣中度過那些日子——若不是你們自己的過犯，那些日子本可在喜樂和讚美中度過。那時你們必因缺少恩典而認識恩典的價值，因感受屬靈糧食的饑荒而珍視它。注意：當我們享受恩典的途徑時，當思想若有一天知道缺乏它們時要怎樣行——若它們被從我們奪去、或我們不能參與。
5. 他們要在被分散之地滅亡（何9:6）：看哪，他們——出了耶和華之地，在那裏他們本可舒適地度過安息日和其他日子——因毀滅而去了，因自己的國家被亞述人所毀而去了埃及，自欺地以為風暴過後可以歸回；但那盼望也要使他們失望；他們必發現埃及有墳墓——如同他們那發怨言的祖宗所說的（出14:11）——為他們預備的墳墓；因為埃及必聚集他們——如同死人被收聚抬到墳墓去；孟斐斯（埃及首要城市之一）必埋葬他們。 聚集和埋葬常連在一起（耶8:2，伯27:19）。注意：那些存僥倖心想逃離神審判的人，很可能在自己指望救命之處遇見死亡。
6. 他們所留下、又盼望歸回的地要成為荒場：至於他們的帳棚——他們從前居住、存放財物之處——他們銀子的美物——必被拆毀傾覆，荒蕪到被蕁麻掩沒的地步；所以他們即使熬過了患難、歸回故土，也必發現它既不肥沃又不適合居住；它既不能供給他們糧食，也不能提供住宿。注意：那些以錢財為神的人，看銀子的所在為美物；而那些以耶和華為神的人，看祂的帳幕為可愛、祂的律例為可悅之事（賽64:11）。然而與神相交的喜樂超越了機遇和變遷的範圍，人銀子的美物——那些以銀子買來、在其中存放銀子、或以銀子美化的所在——卻隨時可能傾覆為廢墟、長滿蕁麻；人在其中所得的一切快樂也一同歸於無有。
英文原文
Threatenings of Judgment (740 BC)
¹ Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every corn-floor.
² The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.
³ They shall not dwell in the LORD's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
⁴ They shall not offer 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 for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.
⁵ What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD?
⁶ For, lo, they are gone because of 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.
Here, I. The people of Israel are charged with spiritual adultery: O Israel! thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, Ho 9:1. Their covenant with God was a marriage-covenant, by which they were joined to him as their God, renouncing all others. But when they set up idols and worshipped them, when they fled to creatures for succour and put a confidence in them, they went a whoring from God as their God, and honoured the pretenders and rivals with the affection, adoration, and confidence, which were due to God only. Other people were idolaters, but that sin was not, in them, going a whoring from God, as it was in Israel that had been married to him. Note, The sins of those who have made a profession of religion and relation to God are more provoking to him than the sins of others. As a proof of their going a whoring from God, it is charged upon them that they loved a reward upon every corn-floor. 1. They loved to give rewards to their idols, in the offerings and first-fruits they presented to them out of every corn-floor. They took a strange pleasure in serving their idols with that which they would have grudged to consecrate to God and employ in his service. Note, It is common for those that are niggardly in the expenses of their religion to be very prodigal in spending upon their lusts. Or, 2. They loved to receive rewards from their idols; and such they reckoned the fruits of the earth to be: These are my rewards, which my lovers have given me, Ho 2:12. Note, Those are directly disposed to spiritual idolatry that love a reward in the corn-floor better than a reward in the favour of God and eternal life.
II. They are forbidden to rejoice as other people do: "Rejoice not, O Israel! for joy. Do not expect to rejoice. What peace, what joy, what hast thou to do with either, while thy whoredoms and witchcrafts are so many?" 2Ki 9:19-22. Be not disposed to rejoice, for it does not become thee, but rather to be afflicted, and mourn, and weep, Jam 4:9. Judah, that keeps close to the true God, nay, and other people that never knew him nor could ever be charged with revolting from him, may be allowed to rejoice, as not having so much cause to be ashamed as Israel has, that has gone a whoring from him. Some think that they had at this time particular occasions for joy, probably upon the account of some losses recovered, or some advantages gained, or some league made with a potent ally, for which they had public rejoicings, as other people used to have upon such occasions; but God sends to them not to rejoice. Note, Joy is forbidden fruit to wicked people. They must not rejoice, because they have gone a whoring from their God; and therefore, 1. Whatever it was that they rejoiced in, it would be no security nor advantage to them, so long as they were at a distance from God and at war with him. Note, We are likely to have small joy of any of our creature-comforts if we make not God our chief joy. 2. The sense of sin and dread of wrath ought to be a damp upon their joy and a strong alloy to all their comforts. Note, Those who by departing from God have made work for repentance have thereby marred their own mirth, till they return and make their peace with God.
III. They are threatened with destroying judgments for their spiritual whoredoms, according to what was said long before. Ps 72:27, Thou hast destroyed all those that go a whoring from thee. It is here threatened,
1. That their land shall not yield its wonted increase. Canaan, that fruitful land, shall be turned into barrenness for the wickedness of those that dwell therein. They love the reward in the corn-floor, and are so full of the joy of harvest that they have no disposition at all to mourn for their sins; and therefore God will, for their effectual humiliation, take away from them, not only their delights and dainties, but even their necessary food (Ho 9:2): The floor and the wine-press shall not feed them, much less feast them; they shall either be blasted by the hand of God or plundered by the hand of man. The new wine with which they used to make merry shall fail in her. Note, When we make the world, and the things of it, our idol and portion, above what they were designed for, it is just with God to deny us even support and nourishment from them, according to that which they were designed for, to show us our folly and correct us for it. Let those miss of their food in the corn-floor that look for their reward in the corn-floor. We forfeit the good things of this world if we love them as the best things.
2. That their land shall not only cease to feed them, but cease to lodge them and to be a habitation for them; it shall spue them out, as it had done the Canaanites before them (Ho 9:3): They shall not dwell any longer in the Lord's land. The land of Canaan was in a peculiar manner the Lord's land, the land of the Shechinah (so the Chaldee), the land of the Lord of the world (so the Arabic); he whose all the earth is (Ps 24:1) took that for his demesne. The land is mine, says God, Le 25:23. They had used it, or abused it rather, as if it had been their own, had not paid the rent, nor done the services, due to God as their landlord, and therefore God justly enters, and takes possession of it, they having forfeited their lease. "It is my land" (says God) "and I will make it appear, for they shall be turned off, as bad tenants, and be made to know that, though they thought themselves freeholders, they were but tenants at will." Note, It is for the honour of God's justice and holiness that those who go a whoring from God should not be suffered to dwell upon his land; and therefore, sooner or later, the wicked shall be chased out of the world. Or it is called the Lord's land because it was the holy land, Immanuel's land, the land that had peculiar tokens of God's favour to it, and presence in it, where God was known and his name was great, where God's prophets and oracles were; it was a kind of copy of the earthly paradise, and a type of the heavenly one. It was a great privilege to have a lot in such a land as this. It was a great sin and folly to rebel against God, and go a whoring from him, in such a land as this, to deal unjustly in a land of uprightness, Isa 26:10. And it was a sad and sore judgment to be driven out from such a land as this; it was like driving our first parents out of the garden of Eden, and almost amounted to an exclusion out of the heavenly Canaan. Note, Those cannot expect to dwell in the Lord's land that will not be subject to the Lord's laws, nor be influenced by his love. Those have forfeited the privileges of the church that conform not to the rules of it.
3. That, when they are turned out from the Lord's land, they shall have no rest nor satisfaction in any other land. When Cain was driven out from the presence of the Lord he was a fugitive and a vagabond ever after, and dwelt in the land of trembling. So Israel here. Some shall return into Egypt, the old house of bondage; thither they shall flee from the Assyrian (Ho 8:13) and they shall lose and ruin themselves where they thought to hide and help themselves. Others shall be carried captives to Assyria and there shall be forced to eat unclean things, either (1.) Such things as were not fit for men to eat, that which is rotten and putrefied, intimating that they shall be reduced to the utmost poverty, as the prodigal that would fain have filled his belly with the husks. Or, (2.) Such things as were not fit for Jews to eat, being prohibited by their law. It is probable that while they were in their own land, however disobedient in other things, they kept up the distinction of meats, and prided themselves in that; but, since they would not keep the law of God in other things, they should not be suffered to keep it in that, and it was a just punishment of their sin in eating things offered to idols. Note, When at any time we suffer in our food, and either through want or for our health are forced to eat or drink that which is unpleasing, we must acknowledge that God is righteous, because we have sinned about our food, and have indulged ourselves too much in that which is pleasing.
4. That in the land of their enemies, to which they shall be driven, they shall have no opportunity either of giving honour to God or obtaining favour with God, by offering any acceptable sacrifice to him; they should not be in a capacity of keeping up any face or show of religion among them; "and so" (as Dr. Pocock expresses it) "should be as it were quite cut off from any expression of relation to him, from all signs of grace, and means of reconciliation with him, which would be to them a token of their being rejected of God, estranged from him, and no more owned by him as his people." (1.) They shall have no sacrifices to offer, nor any altar to offer them on, nor priests to offer them; they shall not so much as offer drink-offerings to the Lord, much less any other sacrifices. (2.) If they should offer them, neither they nor their sacrifices shall be pleasing to him, for they cannot have any legal offerings, nor are their hearts humbled. (3.) Instead of their sacrifices of joy and praise, they shall eat the bread of mourners; they shall live desolate, and disconsolate, mourning for the death of their relations and their own miseries, so that if they had opportunity of sacrificing they should never be themselves in a frame fit for it; for they were forbidden to eat of the holy things in their mourning, De 26:14 All that eat of the bread of mourners are polluted, and incapacitated to partake of the altar. (4.) Their bread for their soul, the bread which they must either eat or starve, the bread which they shall have for the support of their lives, shall not come into the house of the Lord; they shall have no house of the Lord to bring it to, or, if they had, it is such as is not fit to be brought, nor are they rightly disposed to bring it. (5.) The return of the days of their sacred and solemn feasts would therefore be very melancholy and uncomfortable to them (Ho 9:5): What will you do in the solemn day, in the sabbath, the solemn day of every week, in the new moons, the solemn days of every month, at the return of the times for keeping the passover, pentecost, and feast of the tabernacles, the solemn days of every year, the days of the feasts of the Lord? Note, The feasts of the Lord are solemn days; and, when we are invited to those feasts, we ought to consider seriously what we shall do. But the question is here put to those who were to be deprived of the benefit and comfort of those solemn feasts, "What will you do then? You will then spend those days in sorrow and lamentation which, if it had not been your own fault, you might have been spending in joy and praise. You will then be made to know the worth of mercies by the want of them and to prize spiritual bread by being made to feel a famine of it." Note, When we enjoy the means of grace we ought to consider what we shall do if ever we should know the want of them, if either they should be taken from us or we be disabled to attend upon them.
5. That they should perish in the land of their dispersion (Ho 9:6): For, lo, they have gone out of the Lord's land, where they might have spent both their sabbath days and other days with comfort, gone because of destruction, gone to Egypt because of the destruction of their own country by the Assyrians, flattering themselves with hopes that they shall return when the storm is over; but those hopes also shall fail them; they shall find there are graves in Egypt, as their murmuring ancestors said (Ex 14:11), graves for them; for Egypt shall gather them up, as dead men are gathered up and carried forth to the grave, and Memphis (one of the chief cities of Egypt) shall bury them. Gathering and burying are put together, Jer 8:2, Job 27:19. Note, Those that think presumptuously to flee from the judgments of God are likely enough to meet their death where they hoped to save their lives.
6. That their land, which they left behind and to which they hoped to return, should become a desolation: As for their tabernacles, where they formerly dwelt and where they kept their stores, the pleasant places for their silver, they shall be demolished and laid in ruins, to such a degree that they shall be overgrown with nettles; so that if they should survive the trouble, and return to their own land again, they would find it neither fruitful nor habitable; it would afford them neither food nor lodging. Note, Those that make their money their god reckon the places of their silver their pleasant places, as those that make the Lord their God reckon his tabernacles amiable and his ordinances their pleasant things, Isa 64:11. But, while the pleasures of communion with God are out of the reach of chance and change, the pleasant places of men's silver, which were purchased with silver, or in which they deposited their silver, or which were beautified and adorned with silver, are liable to be laid in ruins, in nettles, and therewith all the pleasure men took in them.
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Threatenings of Judgment (740 BC)
繁體中文
審判的威脅（主前740年）
⁷ 懲罰的日子到了，報應的日子到了；以色列必知道：先知是愚昧人，受感動的人是狂妄人，都因你罪孽眾多、大肆恨惡。
⁸ 以法蓮的守望者曾與我的神同在；但先知在他一切的路上作捕鳥人的網羅，在他神的家中有怨恨。
⁹ 他們使自己深深地敗壞了，如在基比亞的日子一樣；所以祂必記念他們的罪孽，追討他們的罪惡。
¹⁰ 我遇見以色列如曠野的葡萄；我看見你們的列祖如無花果樹春季初熟的果子；但他們到了巴力毗珥，自己分別為聖歸於那可恥的偶像；他們可憎之物正如他們所愛的。
為了進一步喚醒他們，此處威脅說：
一、所說的毀滅必速速來到。他們沒有理由指望長久的寬延，因為審判並不沉睡，已經到了門前（何9:7）：懲罰的日子到了——不再延遲；報應的日子到了——他們曾多次被警告要預期的；他們的先知曾告訴他們毀滅將要到來，如今已經到了，神忍耐的時期已經滿了。注意： 1. 神審判的日子既是懲罰的日子——在其中人的罪被查究、被揭露——又是報應的日子——在其中人的判命要被宣判，各人要照自己所行的受報；嚴格的查訪是為了公義的報應。 2. 這懲罰和報應的日子正迅速逼近。它是確定的，是臨近的，如同已經來到一樣。
二、他們因此要為自己從前對先知的看法而羞愧。當懲罰的日子來到時，以色列必知道——必藉著悲哀的經歷知道他們不肯藉教訓知道的事。以色列那時必知道從神偏離是何等惡事、何等苦事，落在祂手中是何等可怕的事。祂的手一舉起，他們雖不看見，卻要看見。 以色列必知道真先知和假先知之分。 1. 他們那時必知道：那些假冒先知、在他們罪中奉承他們、使他們在安逸中沉睡、告訴他們繼續行下去仍必平安的人——無論他們怎樣自稱是受感動的人（如亞哈的先知所做的，王上22:24），其實是愚昧人和狂妄人，不是真先知；他們欺騙了自己和他們所預言的對象。但神為何容讓自己的百姓以色列被那些假先知欺哄呢？祂回答說：這是因你罪孽眾多——你存心藐視神的律法而堅持在其中——又因你對那奉神的名責備你的真先知大肆恨惡。 注意：因為人不領受真理的愛，反而對它心生恨惡，又因罪孽眾多而向它挑釁，所以神必給他們發生強烈的錯覺，使他們信從虛謊——強烈到他們直到懲罰和報應的日子來到才會被解除，那日子要使他們認識到引誘他們之人的愚妄和狂妄，以及自己容許被引誘的愚妄和狂妄。 2. 他們那時必知道：那些真先知——那些真正受感動的人，受神的靈引導的——是否如他們所稱所認定的那樣是愚昧人和狂妄人；他們必確信那些先知不但不是如此，反而是他們那時代的智慧人，是神差到他們那裏的信實使者。當以色列看見撒母耳的話沒有一句落空時，就知道他被建立為先知了（撒上3:20）；此處也是如此，當神藉著成就祂使者所預告的報應的日子來成就祂使者的話語時，那些從前輕視、嘲笑他們、以為瘋人院最適合他們的人，必為他們那類的眾多罪孽和大肆恨惡而羞愧——神正因這緣故將這迅速的毀滅降在他們身上。嘲笑主的使者正是他們受罰的罪，也因此而羞愧。
三、那些假先知自己的邪惡因此也要顯露出來，成為他們的羞辱（何9:8）：以法蓮的守望者曾與我的神同在——從前是如此。他們曾有一批良善敬虔的僕人，緊守與神的相交，與祂保持交通；但如今他們有了一批腐敗、惡毒、逼迫人的先知，他們是一切惡事的頭目。或者，以法蓮的守望者如今假裝曾與我的神同在，以耶和華如此說作為他謊言的開場白；但他在他一切的路上作捕鳥人的網羅，精於引誘單純的人陷入罪中、使正直的人陷入麻煩；他對良善和善人心懷如此深的仇恨和敵意，以至於他已成了他神的家中或反對他神的家中的怨恨本身。注意：邪惡的先知是最壞的人；他們得罪神的罪最為可憎，他們陷害信仰的圖謀最為危險。他們或許自誇是守望者、思想家，就思想而言他們也許是對的，與我的神同在，頭腦中充滿好觀念；但看看他們的生活，他們在一切的路上是捕鳥人的網羅——為自己設網羅、獵取別人；看看他們的心，他們是我神的家中的怨恨，對良善的僕人和百姓心懷極深的惡意和毒恨。一個有這樣守望者、這樣先知的國家有禍了！他們是看見者卻不是行者！Corruptio optimi est pessima——最好的東西一旦敗壞，就成了最壞的。
四、神如今要為他們列祖的罪——他們正亦步亦趨地跟從的罪——與他們算賬（何9:9,10）。 1. 他們如同他們的列祖一樣壞：他們深深地敗壞了自己；他們在罪中扎根、被釘牢；他們在撒但的深處（賽31:6）走得太遠，要恢復他們幾乎不可能；他們敗壞的污點極深，無法洗除；它如朱紅、如深紅，又如豹的斑點：而且這是他們自己的過犯；他們敗壞了自己——污染並剛硬了自己的心，如在基比亞的日子——那時利未人的妾被基比亞人凌辱至死，而便雅憫全支派包庇了那惡行；那確實是深度敗壞的時期，如今的日子也是如此。如今淫亂和邪惡如同基比亞的日子一樣厚顏而大膽；所以除了當時臨到基比亞的那樣報復之外，還能期望什麼呢？如今每個支派都如當時的便雅憫支派一樣敗壞，所以可以期望被降到如那支派當時被降的那樣低。 2. 所以他們要為列祖的罪被算賬：祂必記念他們的罪孽，追討他們的罪惡——那按種類和繼承而來的罪孽，那在血脈中流淌的罪；父親的罪如今要追討到兒女身上。 因此神藉著責備他們祖先的墮落和背道、他們的背信和卑鄙的忘恩，來責備他們（何9:10）。請注意：（1）神起初將以色列組成百姓時所賜給他們的極大尊榮：我遇見以色列如曠野的葡萄。 祂在他們身上所得的喜樂和愉快，如同一個窮苦的旅人在曠野中找到葡萄時所感受的——在那裏他最需要、最不期望得到它。或者當他們在曠野中時，祂看他們如葡萄——本身並不寶貴，但對祂來說卻是寶貴的，如同初熟的葡萄對葡萄園主人一樣令祂喜悅。他們在祂眼中看為寶貴，又為尊貴（賽43:4）；祂栽種他們為上好的葡萄樹、全然真實的種（耶2:21），發現他們不過如祂自己所造成的那樣——起初是好葡萄。我以喜悅看他們，如無花果樹春季初熟的果子。 良善的人被比作初熟的美物（耶24:2）。那時一個比後來許多個更有價值。這暗示了神在他們身上、又在他們身上行善所存的喜悅——不是為他們的緣故，而是因為祂愛他們的列祖。祂小心地保守他們，如同人保守自己葡萄園中初熟和上好的果子。當神將這一切尊榮賜給他們、他們又如此美好的時候，人會以為他們當保持自己的卓越；但（2）看他們使自己蒙受的極大羞辱。神將他們分別出來歸自己為特有的子民，他們卻到了巴力毗珥，與摩押人聯合向那污穢的糞堆神明獻祭（民25:2,3），又自己分別為聖歸於那可恥的偶像——巴力毗珥尤其如此是一個可恥的偶像，如果（如所顯示的）百姓與摩押的女兒行淫是敬拜巴力毗珥的一部分的話。注意：離棄神的人無論把自己分別為聖歸於什麼，遲早必成為他們的羞辱。他們的可憎之物在這裏被說成是正如他們所愛的——他們那些在神眼中為可憎的行為，正如同他們靈魂所最親愛的。或者他們一旦離棄了神，就隨意增多了他們的可憎之物——他們的偶像和可憎的偶像崇拜。這就是他們列祖的行徑；神善待了他們，他們卻對神忘恩負義——如今這世代也照樣深深地敗壞了自己。
英文原文
Threatenings of Judgment (740 BC)
⁷ The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.
⁸ The watchman of Ephraim 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.
⁹ They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.
¹⁰ I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baal-peor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.
For their further awakening, it is here threatened,
I. That the destruction spoken of shall come speedily. They shall have no reason to hope for a long reprieve, for the judgment slumbers not; it is at the door (Ho 9:7): The days of visitation have come, and there shall be no more delay; the days of recompence have come, which they have been so often warned to expect; their prophets have told them that destruction would come, and now it has come, and the time of the divine patience has expired. Note, 1. The day of God's judgments is both a day of visitation, in which men's sins are enquired into and brought to light, and a day of recompence, in which men's doom will be passed, and a reward given to every man according to his work; the strict visitation is in order to a just retribution. 2. This day of visitation and recompence is hastening on apace. It is sure; it is near; as if it had already come.
II. That hereby they shall be made ashamed of their sentiments concerning their prophets. When the day of visitation comes Israel shall know it, shall be made to know that by sad experience which they would not know by instruction. Israel shall know then what an evil and bitter thing it is to depart from God, and what a fearful thing it is to fall into his hands. When thy hand is lifted up they will not see, but they shall see. Israel shall know the difference between true prophets and false. 1. They shall know then that the pretenders to prophecy, who flattered them in their sins, and rocked them asleep in their security, and told them that they should have peace though they went on, however they pretended to be spiritual men (as Ahab's prophets did, 1Ki 22:24) were fools and madmen, and not true prophets; they deceived themselves and those to whom they prophesied. But why would God suffer his people Israel to be imposed upon by those false prophets? He answers, "It is for the multitude of thy iniquity which, in contempt of the divine law, thou hast persisted in, and, for the great hatred of the true prophets, that reproved thee, in God's name, for it." Note, Because men receive not the love of the truth, but conceive a hatred of it, and by the multitude of their iniquities bid defiance to it, therefore God shall send them strong delusions, to believe a lie, so strong that they shall not be undeceived till the day of visitation and recompence comes, which will convince them of the folly and madness of those that seduced them and of their own folly and madness in suffering themselves to be seduced by them. 2. They shall know then whether the true prophets, that were really spiritual men, guided by the Spirit of God, were such as they called and counted them, fools and madmen; and they shall be convinced that they were so far from being so that they were the wise men of their times, and God's faithful ambassadors to them. When Israel saw that none of Samuel's words fell to the ground they knew he was established to be a prophet (1Sa 3:20); and so here, when God fulfils the word of his messengers, by bringing the days of recompence they foretold, then those that despised and ridiculed them, and thought Bedlam the fittest place for them, will be ashamed of the multitude of their iniquities of that kind, and of their great hatred, for which God brings upon them this swift destruction. Mocking the messengers of the Lord was the sin they were punished for, and so made ashamed of.
III. That hereby the wickedness of the false prophets themselves shall be manifested to their shame (Ho 9:8): "The watchman of Ephraim was with my God; he had been formerly. They had a set of worthy good ministers, that kept close to God and maintained communion with him; but now they have a race of corrupt, malignant, persecuting prophets, that are the ring-leaders of all mischief." Or, "The watchman of Ephraim now pretends to have been with my God, and prefaces his lies with, Thus saith the Lord; but he is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and is cunning to draw the simple into sin and the upright into trouble; and he is so full of hatred and enmity to goodness and good men that he has become hatred itself in the house of his God, or against the house of his God." Note, Wicked prophets are the worst of men; their sins against God are most heinous, and their plots against religion most dangerous. They may boast that they are watchmen, speculators, and, as far as speculation goes, they may be right, and with my God, may have their heads full of good notions; but look into their lives, and they are the snare of a fowler in all their ways, catching for themselves and making a prey of others; look into their hearts, and they are hatred in the house of my God, very malicious and spiteful against good ministers and good people. Woe unto thee, O land! unto thee, O church! that hast such watchmen, such prophets, that are seers, but not doers! Corruptio optimi est pessima—The best things, when corrupted, become the worst.
IV. That God will now reckon with them for the sins of their fathers, which they have trod in the steps of, Ho 9:9,10. 1. They were as bad as their fathers: They have deeply corrupted themselves; they are rooted and riveted in sin; they are far gone in the depths of Satan (Isa 31:6), so that it is next to impossible that they should be recovered; the stain of their corruption is deep, not to be got out; it is as scarlet and crimson, or as the spots of the leopard: and it is their own fault; they have corrupted themselves, have polluted and hardened their own hearts, as in the days of Gibeah, when the Levite's concubine was abused to death by the men of Gibeah and the whole tribe of Benjamin patronised the villany; that was a time of deep corruption indeed, and such were the present days. Lewdness and wickedness were as impudent and daring now as in the days of Gibeah; and therefore what can be expected but such a vengeance as was then taken on Gibeah? Every tribe is now as bad as the tribe of Benjamin then was, and therefore may expect to be brought as low as that tribe then was. 2. They shall therefore be reckoned with for their fathers' sins: He will remember their iniquity and visit their sins, the iniquity they have by kind and by entail, the sin that runs in the blood; the sin of the father shall now be visited upon the children. Hence God takes occasion to upbraid them with the degeneracy and apostasy of their ancestors, their perfidiousness and base ingratitude, Ho 9:10. Here observe, (1.) The great honour God put upon Israel when he first formed them into a people: I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. He took as much delight and pleasure in them as a poor traveller would do if he found grapes in a wilderness, where he most needed them and least expected them. Or when they were in the wilderness he found them as grapes, not precious in themselves, but precious to him, and pleasant as the first-ripe grapes to the lord of the vineyard. They were precious in his sight, and honourable (Isa 43:4); he planted them a choice vine, a right seed (Jer 2:21), and found them no better than he himself made them, good grapes at first. I saw them with pleasure, as the first-ripe in the fig-tree at the first time. Good people are compared to the good things that are first ripe, Jer 24:2. One then is worth more than many afterwards. This intimates the delight God took in them and in doing them good, not for their sakes, but because he loved their fathers. He preserved them carefully, as a man does the first and choicest fruits of his vineyard. Now when he put all this honour upon them, and they stood so fair for preferment, one would think they should have maintained their excellency; but, (2.) See the great disgrace they put upon themselves. God set them apart for himself as a peculiar people, but they went to Baal-peor, joined with the Moabites in sacrificing to that dirty dunghill deity (Nu 25:2,3), and they separated themselves unto that shame, that shameful idol, so Baal-peor was in a particular manner, if (as should seem) the whoredom which the people committed with the daughters of Moab was a part of the service done to Baal-peor. Note, Whatever those separate themselves to that forsake God it will certainly be a shame to them, first or last. Their abominations are here said to be as they loved; their practices which were an abomination to God were as the best-beloved of their souls. Or when they had once forsaken God they multiplied their abominations, their idols and abominable idolatries, at their pleasure. This was the way of their fathers; God had done well for them, but they had acted ungratefully towards him, and in the same manner had the present generation deeply corrupted themselves.
11-17
Threatenings of Judgment (740 BC)
繁體中文
審判的威脅（主前740年）
¹¹ 至於以法蓮，他們的榮耀必如鳥飛去，從出生、從懷胎、從受孕。
¹² 縱然他們養大兒女，我卻必使他們喪子，甚至不留一個人；我離開他們時，他們也有禍了！
¹³ 以法蓮，如我看推羅，是栽於美地；但以法蓮必將自己的兒女帶出來交給殺戮者。
¹⁴ 耶和華啊，求你賜給他們——你要賜他們什麼呢？求你賜他們墮胎的胎和乾癟的乳。
¹⁵ 他們的一切邪惡都在吉甲；我在那裏憎惡他們；因他們所行的惡，我必將他們從我家中趕出去，不再愛他們；他們的首領都是悖逆的人。
¹⁶ 以法蓮受擊打，他們的根已乾枯，他們必不結果子；是的，縱然生產，我也要殺死他們所愛的胎果。
¹⁷ 我的神必棄絕他們，因為他們不聽從祂；他們必在列國中漂流。
在前面的經文中我們看見了以色列的罪從他們的列祖而來；此處我們看見以色列的刑罰延及他們的兒女；因為死亡起初既由罪而入，如今仍與罪相連。在這些經文中我們可以觀察到：
一、以法蓮的罪。此處有些表達描述了它。 1. 他們不聽從神（何9:17）；他們既不留心聽祂話語的聲音，也不留心聽祂杖的聲音；他們不信祂所說的，也不願受祂管治。祂告訴他們的本分、他們的利益、他們的危險，他們卻不理會祂；祂藉著祂的話語和先知對他們所說的一切，對他們來說如同故事一般；所以不足為奇我們聽見： 2. 他們所行的惡（何9:15）——他們罪中直截了當的惡意；那不是軟弱，而是大膽的妄為。那些不肯聽從神的話語——那教導和勸勉他們行善的話語——的人，怎能不行惡呢？也不足為奇他們中間有惡行，因為 3. 他們的敬拜是敗壞的（何9:15）：他們的一切邪惡都在吉甲——那是以拜偶像聞名的地方（何4:15，12:11，摩4:4，5:5）。很可能拜偶像者選擇那地方作為他們的總部，是因為它在從前世代因神與以色列之間的莊嚴事件而聞名（書5:2,10，撒上10:8，11:15）。在那裏——拜偶像的源頭所在、從那裏散布全國之處——可以說他們的一切邪惡都集中了，因為一切別的邪惡都源於此。敬拜中的敗壞為道德上的敗壞開了路。淫婦之母也是一切別的可憎之事的母（啟17:5）。博學的格老丟推測這裏有屬靈的含義。哥爾哥他在敘利亞文中與吉甲在希伯來文中相同，所以他認為這可能指基督在哥爾哥他被處死——那是猶太民族最大的罪——而言的；對此可以真實地說：他們的一切邪惡都總結在其中。也不足為奇百姓在敬拜和為人上都行了惡，因為 4. 他們的首領都是悖逆的人；十支派諸王的整個系列都在耶和華眼中行惡，或者當時整批的審判官和官長都是邪惡的；他們偏離走向罪惡的道路，又在其中堅持。
二、神因以法蓮的罪而對他們的不悅。此處以多種方式表達了這一點，為要顯明罪在祂純潔的眼中是何等惹動祂，又使罪人在祂眼中何等可憎。 1. 祂離開他們（何9:12）。當他們背叛祂、從對祂的效忠中退縮時，他們怎能期望祂不離開他們、不收回祂的保護和恩惠呢？祂的威脅因此被加強、被顯得可怕：我離開他們時，他們也有禍了！ 注意：那些被神離棄的人實在處在悲禍之中。我們的禍福取決於神與我們同在的恩典；祂若去，一切福都隨祂而去，一切禍都臨到我們。神已經離棄他，追趕他吧。 掃羅知道這一點，所以他在抱怨中如此著重這一點：非利士人攻擊我，神又離開了我。 不但如此，祂不僅離開他們，而且 2. 祂恨惡他們。在吉甲——他們的一切邪惡所在之處——我在那裏憎惡他們。 在那裏，罪的可憎之事被行之處，神也在那裏憎惡罪人。在吉甲祂曾賜給他們的祖先許多恩寵的記號，但如今那裏成了祂因他們卑鄙的忘恩而恨惡他們的地方。不但如此，祂不僅恨惡他們，而且 3. 祂不再愛他們——永不再將他們納入祂的恩寵；神與以色列之間的裂口寬如大海，無法醫治。這與祂先前所說的一致（何1:6,7）：我必不再憐憫以色列家——十支派。 4. 祂要棄絕他們，不再與他們有任何瓜葛：因他們所行的惡，我必將他們從我家中趕出去。 祂不再承認他們為自己的，不再承認他們屬於祂在世上的家；祂要把他們趕出門外，如同不交租的不忠租戶、如同既不給祂面子也不為祂做工的無用僕人。注意：那些褻瀆神家的人，除了被逐出神家、不再容許在其中寄居或留用之外，別無可期。不但如此，祂不僅要將他們從祂家中趕出，而且 5. 祂要將他們趕得遠遠的（何9:17）：我的神必棄絕他們——不僅從祂家中，更從祂眼前；祂要完全放棄和拒絕他們；他們必成為被棄之物。 神曾說要將他們從祂家中趕出，此處先知附和之，作為深知主人心意的人：我的神必棄絕他們。 看他以何等的安慰和喜樂稱神為他的神。注意：當別人否認神、又被神否認時，良善的人能稱神為他們的神、能喜樂地承認祂又看見自己被祂承認——一切悖逆者都毀滅了，神卻是我的神——這對他們是極大的安慰。
三、這不悅的果子，就是他們後裔被剪除和被棄絕——這是此處一再威脅的審判。請注意：
1. 以法蓮看來可能何等眾多。以法蓮之名源自結果子之意（創41:51）。約瑟是多結果子的枝條（創49:22）。摩西的祝福預言了以法蓮的萬萬（申33:17）。這是他的榮耀（何9:11）。為此，那定人居住疆界的主似乎為他預備了：以法蓮如我看推羅，是栽於美地——為鼓勵他的增長，人可以期望如同河邊栽種的樹一樣。以法蓮如同推羅從前一樣強盛富足，也一樣驕傲自恃。迦勒底意譯如此解：以色列會眾在遵守律法時，在繁榮和安穩上如同推羅。
2. 以法蓮將何等稀少（何9:11）：他們的榮耀必如鳥飛去；他們的兒女要被奪去，他們家族的指望要被剪斷。他們一切榮耀必如鷹向天飛去——迅速而不可挽回。注意：屬世的榮耀是必飛去的榮耀；但那些以神為他們榮耀的，在祂裏面有不衰殘的永遠榮耀。以法蓮曾如多結果子的樹。但如今以法蓮受擊打——被擊傷；他們的根已乾枯；他們必不結果子（何9:16）。根既枯乾，枝子自然枯萎。請注意：
（1）神威脅這毀滅他們兒女的審判。[1] 他們中有的要因神直接的作為而滅亡（何9:11）：他們必從出生、從懷胎、從受孕飛去。 他們有的兒女一出生就死去；搖籃立刻要變為棺材。另有的要死產，或子宮要成為他們的墳墓——他們的死在那裏也成了母親的死。還有的，母親幾乎一受孕就要流產，他們要如未到期的果子。看神何等容易地——又我們何等確定地知道祂何等公義地——可以將人類這墮落、有罪、當滅的族類連根拔起，將其名號從天下塗抹；祂不過如祂在此對以法蓮所行的一樣——把他們都記為無子，使他們一切的榮耀從出生、從懷胎、從受孕飛去，使他們的根乾枯以至不結果子，他們的事業就在幾年之內完結。[2] 他們要死於仇敵的手中；他們要遭受暴死（何9:12）：縱然他們養大兒女——到了某種成熟的地步，縱然他們逃過了嬰兒期易患的疾病和死亡，被認為已經長大脫離了危險——我卻必使他們喪子（何9:12），藉著這樣或那樣的審判，甚至不留一個人來建立他們的家室、延續他們的名。又（何9:13）：以法蓮必將自己的兒女帶出來交給殺戮者。 母親要忍痛生產兒女，在乳養他們上又要花費許多心血、勞力和代價，當殘忍的仇敵來到、毫不留情地將老少一律屠殺時，他們不過如同一直被餵養預備宰殺的羊羔。注意：父母在兒女身上的安慰大有攙雜，因為他們不知道自己所生所養的是為了什麼——也許是為殺戮者，或更糟的是，成為自己那一代的災禍。這審判再次被宣告（何9:16）：縱然生產，我也要殺死他們所愛的胎果——那些他們最溺愛的兒女。注意：父母的愛不能保證兒女的性命；不，有時死亡奉命取去家中的寵兒而留下其中的累贅。當判命在曠野臨到以色列——他們都要在那裏滅亡時，這怒中混合了憐憫：他們的兒女卻仍要進入他們因不信而不能進入的安息。但這是全面而最終的棄絕；連他們的兒女也要被剪除，那地必因無後嗣而歸於王室。迦勒底意譯和許多拉比將兒女被帶到的殺戮者理解為那些將兒女獻給摩洛的人——這罪本身就是刑罰，表明父母毫無慈腸，公正地被留在毫無福氣之中。[3] 那些逃脫存留的少數要被分散（何9:17）：他們必在列國中漂流；如今散居的猶太人也是如此，全世界沒有一個地方他們是一個獨立的國家。
（2）先知為此而作的禱告（何9:14）：耶和華啊，求你賜給他們——你要賜他們什麼呢？ 我當為這樣注定毀滅的百姓求什麼呢？就是這個：既然判命已出——他們要麼死於胎中、要麼被帶出來為殺戮者而生——兩者之中寧可讓他們死於胎中。 寧可讓他們沒有兒女，也不要有兒女卻使他們受苦；為同樣的理由，當全面的毀滅臨到猶太民族時，基督說：不生育的胎和從未乳養的乳是有福的（路23:29）。所以求你賜他們墮胎的胎和乾癟的乳；因為落在耶和華的手中——祂的憐憫極大——勝於落在人的手中。 注意：那些無兒女的人可以藉此與神的旨意和好——時候可能來到，若他們不是如此，他們倒會希望自己如此。
英文原文
Threatenings of Judgment (740 BC)
¹¹ As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
¹² Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
¹³ Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
¹⁴ Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
¹⁵ All their wickedness is in 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.
¹⁶ Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
¹⁷ My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
In the foregoing verses we saw the sin of Israel derived from their fathers; here we see the punishment of Israel derived to their children; for, as death entered by sin at first, so it is still entailed with it. We may observe, in these verses,
I. The sin of Ephraim. Some expressions are here which describe that. 1. They did not hearken to God (Ho 9:17); they did not give attention to the voice either of his word or of his rod; they did not believe what he said, nor would they be ruled by him. He told them their duty, their interest, their danger, but they regarded him not; all he said to them by his words and by his prophets was to them as a tale that is told; and then no wonder that we hear, 2. Of the wickedness of their doings (Ho 9:15), the downright malice that was in their sins; they were not infirmities, but daring presumptions. How can those but do wickedly who will not hearken to the word of God, that would teach and persuade them to do well? And no wonder that there were wicked doings among them when, 3. Their worship was corrupt (Ho 9:15): All their wickedness is in Gilgal, which was a place infamous for idolatry, as appears, Ho 4:15,12:11, Am 4:4,5:5. It is probable that the idolaters chose that place for their head-quarters because it had been famous in other ages for solemn transactions between God and Israel, as Jos 5:2,10, 1Sa 10:8,11:15. There, where the source of idolatry was, whence it spread through the kingdom, there it might be said that all their wickedness was, for all other wickedness owed its origin to that. Corruptions in worship make way for corruptions in morals. The mother of harlots is the mother of all other abominations, Re 17:5. The learned Grotius conjectures that there is a mystical sense here. Golgotha in Syriac is the same with Gilgal in Hebrew, and therefore he thinks this may have reference to the putting of Christ to death at Golgotha, which was the greatest sin of the Jewish nation, and of which it might truly be said, All their wickedness was summed up in that. And no wonder that the people did wickedly, both in worship and conversation, when 4. All their princes were revolters; the whole succession of the kings of the ten tribes did evil in the sight of the Lord, or all the set of judges and magistrates at this time were wicked; they turned aside to sinful ways and persisted in those ways.
II. The displeasure of God against Ephraim for sin. This is variously expressed here, to show what a provocation sin is to the pure eyes of his glory, and how odious it makes the sinner to him. 1. He departs from them, Ho 9:12. When they revolt from him, and withdraw from their allegiance to him, how can they expect but that he should depart from them and withdraw both his protection and his bounty? And well may his threatening be enforced as it is, and made terrible: Woe also unto them when I depart from them! Note, Those are in a woeful condition indeed whom God has forsaken. Our weal or woe depends upon the gracious presence of God with us; and, if he goes, all weal goes with him and all woes come upon us. God has forsaken him; persecute and take him. Saul knew this when he laid such an emphasis upon this part of his complaint, The Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me. Nay, he does not only depart from them, but, 2. He hates them. In Gilgal, where all their wickedness is, there I hated them. There, where the abominations of sin are committed, there God abominates the sinners. In Gilgal he had bestowed many tokens of his favour upon their ancestors, but now that is the place where he hates them for their base ingratitude. Nay, he not only hates them, but, 3. He will love them no more, will never take them into his favour again; the breach between God and Israel is wide as the sea, which cannot be healed. This agrees with what he had said, (Ho 1:6,7), I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, the ten tribes. 4. He will discard them, and have no more to do with them: For the wickedness of their doings, I will drive them out of my house. He will no longer own them as his, or as belonging to his family in the world; he will turn them out of doors as unfaithful tenants that pay him no rent, as unprofitable servants that do him neither credit nor work. Note, Those that profane God's house can expect no other than to be expelled his house, and no longer suffered to be either lodgers in it or retainers to it. Nay, he will not only drive them out of his house, but, 5. He will drive them far enough (Ho 9:17): My God will cast them away, not only out of his house, but out of his sight; he will quite abandon and reject them; they shall be cast-aways. God said that he would drive them out of his house, and here the prophet seconds it, as one that knew his Master's mind very well: My God will cast them away. See with what comfort and pleasure he calls God his God. Note, When others disown God, and are disowned by him, it is a very great satisfaction to good people that they can call God their God, can cheerfully own him and see themselves owned by him—all revolters, all ruined, yet God is my God.
III. The fruit of this displeasure, in the cutting off and abandoning of their posterity, which is the judgment here threatened again and again. Observe here,
1. How numerous Ephraim seemed likely to be. The name Ephraim is derived from fruitfulness, Ge 41:51. Joseph is a fruitful bough, Ge 49:22. And Moses's blessing foretold the ten thousands of Ephraim, De 33:17. This was his glory, Ho 9:11. For this he seemed designed by him that appoints the bounds of men's habitation; for Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place, to encourage his increase, which one may expect as from a tree planted by the river's side. Ephraim is as strong and rich as ever Tyre was, and as proud and secure. The Chaldee paraphrase gives this sense of it, The congregation of Israel, while they observed the law, was like to Tyrus in prosperity and security.
2. How few Ephraim should be (Ho 9:11): Their glory shall fly away like a bird; their children shall be taken away and the hopes of their families cut off. All their glory shall fly as an eagle towards heaven, swiftly and irrecoverably. Note, Worldly glory is glory that will fly away; but those that have their God their glory have in him an unfading everlasting glory. Ephraim has been as a fruitful tree. But now Ephraim is smitten, is blasted; their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit, Ho 9:16. If the root be dried, the branch must wither of course. Observe,
(1.) God's threatening this judgment of the destroying of their children. [1.] They shall perish of themselves by the immediate hand of God (Ho 9:11): They shall fly away from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. Some of their children shall die as soon as they are born; the cradle shall be presently turned into a coffin. Others of them shall be still-born, or the womb shall be their grave, and their death there their mothers' death too. Of others their mothers shall miscarry almost as soon as they have conceived, and they shall be as untimely fruit. See how easily God can, and how justly we are sure he might, root out the whole race of mankind, that degenerate, guilty, obnoxious race, and blot out the name of it from under heaven; it is but doing as he does by Ephraim here, writing them all childless, making all their glory to fly away from the birth, the womb, and the conception, drying up their root, that they bear no fruit, and their business is done in a few years. [2.] They shall perish by the hand of their enemies; they shall die violent deaths (Ho 9:12): "Though they bring up their children to some maturity, though they escape the diseases and deaths which the infant age is liable to, and are thought to be reared past danger, yet will I bereave them (Ho 9:12), by one judgment or other, so that there shall not be a man left to build up their families and bear up their name." Again (Ho 9:13), Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer. The mothers shall travail with pain to bear their children, and a great deal of care, and pains, and cost shall be bestowed upon the nursing of them, and when a cruel enemy comes and puts all to the word, young and old, without mercy, then they seem but as lambs that were all this while fed for the slaughter. Note, It is a great alloy to the comfort parents have in their children that they know not what they have brought them forth and brought them up for, perhaps for the murderer, or, which is worse, to be themselves the plagues of their generation. It is threatened again (Ho 9:16), Though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb, those children that they are most fond of. Note, The parents' love is no security to the children's lives; nay, sometimes death is commissioned to take the darlings of the family and leave the burdens of it. When sentence was passed upon Israel in the wilderness, that they should all perish there, this mercy was mixed with the wrath, that their children should nevertheless enter into that rest which they through unbelief could not enter into. But this is a total and final rejection; even their children shall be cut off, and the land shall escheat to the crown, ob defectum sanguinis—shall be lost for want of heirs. The Chaldee-paraphrase, and many of the rabbin, by the murderers to whom the children were brought forth, understand those that sacrificed their children to Moloch, a sin which was its own punishment, which showed the parents void of bowels and justly left them void of blessings. [3.] Those few that escape and remain shall be dispersed (Ho 9:17): They shall be wanderers among the nations; so the remains of the Jews are at this day, and there is no place in the world where they are a distinct nation.
(2.) The prophet's prayer relating to it (Ho 9:14): Give them, O Lord! what wilt thou give? What shall I ask for a people thus doomed to destruction? It is this; since the decree has gone forth, that they must either die from the womb or be brought forth for the murderer, of the two let them rather die from the womb. Rather let them have no children than have them to be made miserable; for the same reason, when a total ruin was coming on the Jewish nation, Christ said, Blessed is the womb that never bore and the paps that never gave suck, Lu 23:29. "Give therefore a miscarrying womb and dry breasts; for it is better to fall into the hands of the Lord, whose mercies are great, than into the hands of man." Note, Those that are childless may with this reconcile themselves to the will of God herein, that the time may come when, if they were not so, they would wish they had been so.
在本章中：一、神威脅要奪去這悖逆之以色列後裔一切屬世的享受，因為他們因罪已喪失了對這些事物的權利；以致他們無論自己享用，或是獻給神，都不能從中得著安慰（何九1-5）。二、因他們自己的罪和他們先知的罪，神判定他們歸於徹底的毀滅（何九6-8）。三、神以他們列祖的邪惡責備他們，因他們正追隨列祖的腳蹤而行（何九9、10）。四、神威脅要毀滅他們的兒女，將他們的後裔從根拔除（何九11-17）。