| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Hosea Chapter
Eight
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 8
This
chapter treats of the sins and punishment of Israel for them, as the preceding;
it is threatened and proclaimed that an enemy should come swiftly against them,
because of their transgression of the covenant and law of God, Hosea 8:1; their
hypocrisy is exposed, Hosea 8:2; they are
charged with the rejection of that which is good, and therefore should be
pursued by the enemy, Hosea 8:3; with
setting up kings and princes without consulting the Lord, Hosea 8:4; and with
making of idols, particularly the golden calves, which would be of no use to
them, disappoint them, and at last be broke to pieces, Hosea 8:4; their
seeking to their neighbours for help, and entering into alliances with them,
are represented as vain and fruitless, and issuing in their ruin and
destruction, Hosea 8:7; their
sins of multiplying altars, contrary to the law of God, and in contempt of it,
and offering sacrifices to the Lord, are observed; and they with a visitation
from him, Hosea 8:11; and the
chapter is concluded with some notice and Judah, the one building temples, and
multiplying fenced cities, which should be by fire, Hosea 8:14.
Hosea 8:1 “Set the
trumpet[a] to your
mouth! He shall come like an eagle against the house of the Lord, Because they
have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My law.
YLT 1`Unto thy mouth -- a
trumpet, As an eagle against the house of Jehovah, Because they transgressed My
covenant, And against My law they have rebelled.
Set the trumpet to thy mouth,.... Or,
"the trumpet to the roof of thy mouth"F20אל חכך שופר
"adhibita palato tuo buccina", Junius & Tremellius; "adhibe
palato buccinam", De Dieu; "ad palatum tuum buccinam", Schmidt.
; a concise expression denoting haste, and the vehemence of the passions
speaking; they are either the words of the Lord to the prophet, as the Targum,
"O
prophet, cry with thy throat as with a trumpet, saying;'
Aben
Ezra take them to be the words of the Lord the prophet, and the sense agrees
with Isaiah 58:1. The
prophet is here considered as a watchman, and is called upon to blow his
trumpet; either to call the people together, "as an eagle to the house of
the Lord"F21כנשר על
בית יהוה "similis
aquilae in domum Jehovae", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. , as the
next clause may be connected with this; that is, to come as swiftly to the
house of the Lord, and hear what he had to say to them, and to supplicate the
Lord for mercy in a time of distress: or to give the people notice of the
approach of the enemy, and tell them that
he shall come as an eagle
against the house of the Lord; "flying as an eagle over"F23"Super
domum Domini", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Schmidt; "contra domum
Jehovae", Liveleus. or "against the house of the Lord": or they
are the words of the Lord, or of the prophet, to the enemy, to blow his
trumpet, and sound the alarm of war, and call his army together, and bid them
fly like an eagle, with that swiftness and fierceness as that creature does to
its prey, against the house of the Lord; meaning not the temple at Jerusalem,
but the nation of Israel, formerly called the house and family of God, and still
pretended to be so. There may be some allusion to Bethel, which signifies the
house of God, where they practised their idolatry. This is to be understood,
not of Nebuchadnezzar, sometimes compared to an eagle, Ezekiel 17:3; for
not the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem is here meant; nor of
the Romans, as Lyra seems to understand it, the eagle being the ensign of the
Romans; but of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, compared to this creature for his
swiftness in coming, his strength, fierceness, and cruelty; this creature being
swift in flight, and a bird of prey. So the Targum interprets it of a king and
his army,
"behold,
as an eagle flieth, so shall a king with his army come up and encamp against
the house of the sanctuary of the Lord.'
Some
reference seems to be had to Deuteronomy 28:49;
because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against
my law; the law that was given to Israel by Moses at the appointment of
God, to which they assented, and promised to observes: and so it had the form
of a covenant to them: the bounds of this law and covenant they transgressed,
and dealt perfidiously with, and prevaricated in, and wilfully broke all its
commands, by their idolatry, murder, adultery, theft, and other sins.
Hosea 8:2 2 Israel
will cry to Me, ‘My God, we know You!’
YLT 2To Me they cry, `My God, we
-- Israel -- have known Thee.'
Israel shall cry unto me, my God, we know thee. In their
distress they shall cry to the Lord to help them, and have mercy on them, as
they used to do when in trouble, Isaiah 26:16; when
the eagle is come upon them, and just ready to devour them; when Samaria is
besieged with file Assyrian army, their king taken prisoner, and they just
ready to fall into the hands of the enemy, then they shall cry to God, though
in a hypocritical manner; own him to be the true God, and claim their interest
in him, and pretend knowledge of him, and acquaintance with him; though they
have not served and worshipped him, but idols, and that for hundreds of years;
like others who profess to know God, but in works deny him, Titus 1:16. Israel
is the last word in the verse, and occasions different versions: "they
shall cry unto me"; these transgressors of the covenant and the law, these
hypocrites, shall pray to God in trouble, saying, "my God, we
Israel", or Israelites, "know thee"; or, "we know thee who
are Israel"F24לי יזעקו
אלהי ידענוך ישראל "ad me clamant, Deus mi, novimus te nos
Israel", De Dieu; "clamabunt ad me, O Deus meus, nos Israelitae
cognoscimus te", Tigurine version, so Tarnovius; "mihi vocant, Deus
mi, cognovimus, vel agnoscimus te Israel", vel "nos lsrael,
seu Israelitae", Schmidt. ; and to this sense is the Targum,
"in
every time that distress comes upon them, they pray before me, and say, now we
know that we have no God besides thee; redeem us, for we are thy people
Israel;'
why
may they not be rendered thus, "they shall cry unto me; my God, we know
thee, Israel" shall say? Castalio renders them to this sense, "my
God", say they; but "we know thee, Israel"; we, the three
Persons in the Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, we know thy hypocrisy and
wickedness, that it is only outwardly and hypocritically, and not sincerely,
that thou criest unto and callest upon God.
Hosea 8:3 3 Israel
has rejected the good; The enemy will pursue him.
YLT 3Cast off good hath Israel,
an enemy pursueth him.
Israel hath cast off the thing that is good,.... Or
"rejected him that is good"F25זנח
ישראל טוב "deseruit
Israel bonum, i. e. Deum", Vatablus, Munster, Tarnovius, Zanchius. ; that
is, God, as Kimchi observes; for there is none good but him, Matthew 19:17; he
is the "summum bonum", "the chiefest good" to men, and is
essentially, originally, and infinitely good in himself, and the fountain of
all goodness to his creatures; and yet Israel has rejected him with detestation
and contempt, as the wordF26"Abominatus est", Calvin,
Zanchius. signifies, though they pretended to know him, which shows their
hypocrisy; and therefore it is no wonder that their prayers were rejected by
him: or they rejected the good word of God, the law, or doctrine contained in
it, and the good worship, service, and fear of God, and indeed everything that
was good, just, and right. Cocceius renders it, "the good One", or he
that is God, the good God, "hath cast off Israel". This reading of
the words Drusius also mentions, and seems to like best, and as agreeing with
what follows; so Rivet; but the position of the words in the Hebrew text, and
the accents, do not favour it;
the enemy shall pursue him; who is before compared
to an eagle, which flies swiftly, and pursues its prey with eagerness and
fierceness: Shalmaneser is meant, who should invade the land, come up to
Samaria, besiege and take it; nothing should stop him, nor should Israel escape
from him, since they had cast off the Lord, and everything that was good. The
Targum is,
"the
house of Israel have erred from my worship, for the sake of which I brought
good things upon them; henceforward the enemy shall pursue them.'
Hosea 8:4 4 “They
set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them.
From their silver and gold They made idols for themselves— That they might
be cut off.
YLT 4They have made kings, and
not by Me, They have made princes, and I have not known, Their silver and their
gold they have made to them idols, So that they are cut off.
They have set up kings, but not by me,.... Not by
his authority, order, and command; not by asking advice of him, or his leave,
but of themselves, and of their own, accord: this refers to the case of
Jeroboam their first king, after their separation from the house of David, and
from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; for though his becoming king of Israel
was according to the secret will of God, and by his overruling providence; yet
it was done without his express orders, and without asking counsel of him, or
his consent, and of their own heads; and many of his successors were
conspirators, and set up themselves with the consent of the people, to the
dethroning of others, and upon the slaughter of them, as Shallum, Menahem,
Pekah, and Hoshea: the people of Israel had no right to choose a king for
themselves; the right was alone in the Lord; it was he that chose, appointed,
and constituted their kings, Deuteronomy 17:15;
thus Saul, David, and Solomon, were chose and appointed by him, 1 Samuel 10:24; it
was not the person of Jeroboam chosen God disliked; but their taking it upon
them to choose and set him up without his leave;
they have made princes, and knew it not; that is, they
set up subordinate governors, judges, civil magistrates, elders of the people,
over them, without his approbation, and such as were very disagreeable to him;
otherwise he knew what was done by them, as being the omniscient God, but he
did not approve of what they did. Some observe, that ש,
in the word used, is put for ס, and should be
rendered, "they have removed", so Jarchi and Japhet; that is, they
have set up kings, and they have removed them; they have took it upon them to
make and pose kings at pleasure, without seeking the Lord about it, when this
is his prerogative, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords, Daniel 2:21; which
sense makes a strong and beautiful antithesis;
of their silver and their gold have they made their idols; some of their
idols were made of silver, others of gold; particularly the calves at Dan and
Bethel, which are called the golden calves, because made of gold; as was the
calf in the wilderness, 1 Kings 12:28; see Isaiah 46:6;
that they may be cut off: which denotes not the
end, intentions, and design of making these idols of silver and gold, but the
event thereof; namely, either the destruction of the idols themselves, which,
for the sake of the silver and gold they were made of; were cut in pieces by a
foreign enemy; or the gold and silver were cut off from the people, their
riches and wealth were wasted by such means; or rather the people were cut off,
everyone of them, because of their worship of them, or this would be the case.
Hosea 8:5 5 Your
calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them— How long until
they attain to innocence?
YLT 5Cast off hath thy calf, O
Samaria, Burned hath Mine anger against them, Till when are they not capable of
purity?
Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off,.... Or, is
the cause of thy being cast off by the Lord, and of being cast out of thine own
land, and carried captive into another; the past tense is used for the future,
as is common in prophetic writings, to denote the certainty of the thing: or
"thy calf hath left thee"F1זנח עגלך "dereliquit vitulus te", Lutherus;
"descruit te vitulus tuus", Schmidt. ; in the lurch; it cannot help
thee; it is gone off, and forsaken thee; it has "removed" itself from
thee, according to the sense of the word in Lamentations 3:17;
as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; or is removed far from thee, being carried
captive itself into Assyria; for, when the king of Assyria took Samaria, he
seized on the golden calf for the sake of the gold, and took it away; see Hosea 10:5; or
"he hath removed thy calf"F2"Elongavit sc. hostis,
vitalum tuum", Schindler. ; that is, the enemy, taking it away when he
took the city; or God has rejected it with the utmost contempt and abhorrence:
the calf is here, and in the following verse, called the calf of Samaria,
because this was the metropolis of the ten tribes, in which the calf was
worshipped, and because it was worshipped by the Samaritans; and it may be,
when Samaria became the chief city, the calf at Bethel might be removed
thither, or another set up in that city:
mine anger is kindled against them: the calves at Dan and
Bethel, the singular before being put for the plural; or against the if of
Samaria, and Samaria itself; or the inhabitants of it, because of the worship
of the calf, which was highly provoking to God, it being a robbing him of his
glory, and giving it to graven images:
how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? or
"purity"F3נקיון
"munditiem", Calvin, Rivet, Schmidt. ; of worship, life, and
conversation: the words may be rendered thus, "how long?"F4עד מתי "quousque?"
Zanchius, Pareus, Cocceius. for there is a large stop there; and this may be a
question of the prophet's, asking how long the wrath of God would burn against
the people, what; would be the duration of it, and when it would end? to which
an answer is returned, as the words may be translated, "they cannot bear
purity"F5לא יוכלו
נקיון "non possunt innocentiam praestare",
Cocceius; "quamdiu non poterunt animum adjungere ad innocentam",
Zanchius; "usquedum non poterunt ferre innocentiam", Pareus. ; of
doctrine, of worship of heart, and life; when they can, mine anger will cease
burning: or, as the Targum,
"as
long as they cannot purify themselves,'
or
be purified; so long as they continue in their sins, in their superstition and
idolatry, and other impieties, and are not purged from them.
Hosea 8:6 6 For
from Israel is even this: A workman made it, and it is not God; But
the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.
YLT 6For even it [is] of Israel;
an artificer made it, And it [is] not God, For the calf of Samaria is
fragments!
For from Israel was it also,.... That is, the calf
was from Israel; it was an invention of theirs, as some say; they did not
borrow it from their neighbours, as they did other idols, but it was their own
contrivance: but this tines not seem to be fact; for the calf, the making of it
indeed, was of themselves, but the worship of it they borrowed from the
Egyptians; with this difference, the Egyptians worshipped a living cow or ox,
these the golden image of a calf: but rather the sense is, that this calf was
made by the advice of Israel, by the advice of Jeroboam their king, and of
their princes, they assenting to it, so Aben Ezra; or the gold and silver of
which it was made was exacted on them, and collected from them, as the Targum
and Jarchi; or workmen were employed by them to make it; and so it was of them
also, as any other work that was done by their advice and direction, and at
their expense; and therefore could never have any divinity in it, any more than
other things they did; though this is commonly interpreted as having respect to
the making of the golden calf by Aaron, that this also was of Israel as well as
that:
the workman made it; therefore it is not God; a strong and
invincible reason this; for, since the call was the work of an artificer, of
the goldsmith or founder, it could not be God; there could not be deity in it;
for a creature cannot make a God, or give that which itself has not; if the
workman was not God, but a creature, if deity was not in him, he could never
give it to a golden image, a lifeless statue fashioned by him: this, one would
think, should have been a clear, plain, striking, and convincing argument to
them, that their calf was, as the Targum has it,
"a
deity in which there was no profit:'
but the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces; or "forF6כי "nam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator,
Cocceius; "quia", Schmidt; "quoniam", Pagninus, Montanus.
the calf of Samaria", &c. being another reason to prove it could not
be God; if the former would not convince them, this surely would, when they
should see it broke to pieces by the enemy, from whom it could not save itself;
and therefore could not be a god that could be of any service to them, or save
them. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "for the calf of Samaria shall
become spiders webs": and Jerom says he learned it of a Jew that the word
so signifies; but his Jew imposed upon him: it, does not appear to be any where
so used, either in the Bible, or in any other writings. Kimchi interprets it
shivers, fragments, broken pieces of anything. Jarchi says it signifies, in the
Syriac language, beams, planks, and boards, pieces of them; so the Targum and
Ben Melech from the Rabbins; or rather the dust which falls from them in
sawing, sawdust; to dust as small as that should this calf be reduced, as the
golden calf was ground to powder by Moses, to which, it is thought, there is an
allusion.
Hosea 8:7 7 “They
sow the wind, And reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud; It shall never
produce meal. If it should produce, Aliens would swallow it up.
YLT 7For wind they sow, and a
hurricane they reap, Stalk it hath none -- a shoot not yielding grain, If so be
it yield -- strangers do swallow it up.
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind,.... The sense
is, the Israelites took a great deal of pains in the idolatrous worship of the
calves, and made a great stir, bustle, and noise in it, like the wind; were
very vainglorious and ostentatious, made a great show of religion and devotion,
and promised themselves great things from it, peace and plenty, wealth and
riches, all prosperity and happiness, enjoyed by Heathen nations; but this was
lost labour, it was labouring for the wind, or sowing that; they got nothing by
it, or what was worse than nothing; it proved not only useless, but hurtful, to
them; for, for their idolatry, and continuance in it, the whirlwind of God's
wrath would be raised up against them, and the Assyrian army, like a vehement
storm of wind, would rush in upon them, and destroy them; so they that sow to
the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption, Galatians 6:8;
it hath no stalk; what they sowed did not rise up above
ground; or, if it did, it did not spring up in a blade or stalk, which was
promising of fruit; no real good, profit, and advantage, sprung from their
idolatrous practices:
the bud shall yield no meal; yea, though it rise up
into a stalk, and this stalk produced ears of corn, yet those so thin, that no
meal or flour could be got out of them, and so of no worth and use:
and if so be it yield: any meal or flour:
the strangers shall swallow it up; the Israelites should
not be the better for it; it should till come into the hands of foreigners, the
Assyrian army. The meaning is, that if they did prosper and increase in riches,
yet they should not long enjoy them themselves, but be pillaged and spoiled of
them; as they were by the exactions of Pul, and by the depredations of
Shalmaneser, kings of Assyria. So the Targum,
"if
they got substance, the nations shall spoil them of it.'
Hosea 8:8 8 Israel
is swallowed up; Now they are among the Gentiles Like a vessel in which is
no pleasure.
YLT 8Israel hath been swallowed
up, Now they have been among nations, As a vessel in which is no delight.
Israel is swallowed up,.... Not only their
substance, but their persons also, the whole nation of them, their whole
estate, civil and ecclesiastic: it notes the utter destruction of them by the
Assyrians, so that nothing of them and theirs remained; just as anyone is
swallowed up and devoured by a breast of prey; the present is put for the
future, because of the certainty of it:
now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is
no pleasure; when Shalmaneser took Samaria, and with it swallowed up the
whole kingdom of Israel, he carried captive the inhabitants of it, and placed
them among the nations, in "Halah, Habor, by the river Gozan", and in
the cities of the Medes, 2 Kings 17:6; where
they lived poor, mean, and abject, and were treated with the utmost neglect and
contempt; no more regarded than a broken useless vessel, or than a vessel of
dishonour, that is made and used for the ease of nature, for which no more
regard is had than for that service: thus idolaters, who dishonour God by their
idolatries, shall, sooner or later, be brought to disgrace and dishonour
themselves.
Hosea 8:9 9 For
they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey alone by itself; Ephraim
has hired lovers.
YLT 9For they -- they have gone
up [to] Asshur, A wild ass alone by himself [is] Ephraim, They have hired
lovers!
For they are gone up to Assyria,.... Or, "though
they should go up to Assyria"F7כי המה עלו "quamvis, etiamsi
ascenderint"; so Schmidt observes it may be rendered, though he chooses to
render it by "quando", "when they should go up", &c. ;
to the king of Assyria, to gain his friendship, and enter into alliance with
him; as, when Pal king of Assyria came against them, Menahem king of Israel
went forth to meet him, and gave him a thousand talents of silver to be his
confederate, and strengthen his kingdom, 2 Kings 15:19; yet
this hindered not but that Israel was at length swallowed up by that people,
and scattered by them among the nations; for this is not to be understood of
their going captive into the land of Assyria, as the Targum interprets it:
a wild ass alone by himself; which may be applied
either to the king of Assyria, and be considered as a description of him, to
whom Israel went for help and friendship; who, though he took their present,
and made them fair promises, yet was perfidious, unsociable, and inhuman,
studied only his own advantage, and not their good: or to the Israelites that
went to him, who were as sottish and stupid as the ass, and as headstrong and
unruly as that, and, like it, lustful, and impetuous in their lusts; running to
and fro for the satisfying of them, and taking no advice, nor suffering
themselves to be controlled, and, being alone, became an easy prey to the
Assyrian lion: or yet they should be as "a wild ass alone by itself"F8פרא בודד לו
"erunt onager, qui solitarius sibi est", Schmidt. ; notwithstanding
all the methods they took to obtain the friendship and alliance of the king of
Assyria, yet they should be carried captive by him, and dwell in the captivity
like a wild ass in the wilderness; and so it is to be understood here,
agreeably to Job 24:5;
otherwise, as BochartF9Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 16. col. 870. has
proved from various writers, these creatures go in flocks:
Ephraim hath hired lovers; by giving presents to
the kings of Assyria and Egypt, to be their allies and confederates, patrons
and defenders, 2 Kings 15:19; who
are represented as their gallants, with whom Ephraim or the ten tribes
committed adultery, departing from God their Husband, and liege Lord and King,
and from his true worship; see Ezekiel 16:26. R.
Elias LevitaF11Tishbi, p. 267. observes, that some interpret the
words, "Ephraim made a covenant with lovers".
Hosea 8:10 10 Yes,
though they have hired among the nations, Now I will gather them; And they
shall sorrow a little,[b] Because of
the burden[c] of the
king of princes.
YLT 10Also though they hire among
nations, Now I gather them, and they are pained a little, From the burden of a
king of princes.
Yea, though they have hired among the nations,.... That is, lovers,
as before; got into confederacies and alliances with the nations about them,
thinking thereby to strengthen their hands, and secure themselves and their
kingdom; particular regard may be had to the Egyptians, as distinct from the
Assyrians, whom they privately engaged on their side to shake off the Assyrian
yoke, or their obligation to send yearly presents to the Assyrian king:
now will I gather them; either the Assyrians
against them, to invade their land, besiege their city, and take and carry them
captive; or the Israelites in a body into the city of Samaria, and there be
cooped up, and taken and destroyed, or carried captive; for this is not to be
interpreted of the collection of them out of their captivity, as the Targum and
Jarchi, but of the gathering of them together for their destruction:
and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of
princes; the tax or tribute imposed upon them by the king of Assyria,
whose princes were altogether kings, Isaiah 10:8; and
who used to be called king of kings, being at the head of a monarchy, which had
many kings subject to it; as the kings of Babylon were afterwards called, Ezekiel 26:7; this
may refer to the yearly present or tribute, which Hoshea king of Israel was
obliged to give to the king of Assyria, which he was very uneasy at, and did
not pay it, which drew upon him the resentment of the Assyrian king; and that
sorrow and uneasiness which that tribute gave the king of Israel and his people
were but little and small in comparison of what they after found; it was the
beginning of sorrows to them: and so some render the words, "they
began"F12ויחלו "incipient",
Calvin; "ceperunt enim paululum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator,
Zanchius, Drusius, Tarnovius, so Ben Melech. ; that is, to sorrow and complain
"a little"; or this may refer to their burdens and oppressions when
in captivity, which were laid upon them by the king of Assyria, and the
princes, the rulers, and governors of the several places where the Israelites
were carried captive: even the "few that shall remain"F13ויחלו מעט "et remanebunt
pauci", Schmidt; a rad. חול "durare,
permanere". , as some render it; and not die by famine, pestilence, and
sword. Kimchi and Ben Melech think there is a deficiency of the copulative and
between king and princes; which is supplied by the Targum, and by the
Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, which read, "the
king and princes".
Hosea 8:11 11 “Because
Ephraim has made many altars for sin, They have become for him altars for
sinning.
YLT 11Because Ephraim did
multiply altars to sin, They have been to him altars to sin.
Because Ephraim hath, made many altars to sin,.... Not with
an intention to commit sin, but to offer sacrifice for sin, and make atonement
for it, as they thought; but these altars being erected for the sake of idols,
and sacrifices offered on them to them, they sinned in so doing, and were the
cause of sin in others, who were drawn into it by their example; as they were
made to sin, or drawn into it, by Jeroboam their king, These altars were those
set up at Dan and Bethel, and in all high places, and tops of mountains, where
they sacrificed to idols; and which was contrary to the express command of God,
who required sacrifice only at one place, and on one altar, Deuteronomy 12:5;
typical of the one altar Christ, and his alone sacrifice, who is the only
Mediator between God and man; and they are guilty of the same crime as Ephraim
here, who make use of more, or neglect him;
altars shall be unto him for sin; either these same
altars, and the sacrifices offered on them, shall be reckoned and imputed to
him as sins, trod shall be the cause of his condemnation and punishment: or,
"let the altars be unto him for sin", so someF14היו לו מזבחות
לחטא "santo ergo illi altaria ad
peccandum", Rivet. ; since he will have them, let him have them, and go on
in sinning, till he has filled up the measure of his sins, and brought on him
just condemnation; or else other altars are meant, even in the land of Assyria,
where, since they were so fond of multiplying altars, they should have altars
enough to sin at, whereby their sins would be increased, and their punishment
for them aggravated. The Targum is,
"seeing
the house of Ephraim hath multiplied altars to sin, the altars of their idols
shall he to them for a stumbling block,'
or
ruin; so sin is taken in a different sense, both for guilt, and the punishment
of it.
Hosea 8:12 12 I
have written for him the great things of My law, But they were
considered a strange thing.
YLT 12I write for him numerous
things of My law, As a strange thing they have been reckoned.
I have written to him the great things of my law,.... Which was
given by Moses to Israel at the appointment of God, in which were many
commands, holy, just, and true; a multiplicity of them, as the Targum, relating
to the honour of God, and the good of men; many excellent and useful ones of a
moral nature, and others of a ceremonial kind; and particularly concerning
sacrifices, showing what they should be, the nature and use of them, and where
and on what altar they should be offered; and which pointed at the great
sacrifice of the Messiah, who is both altar, sacrifice, and priest: and these
things were frequently inculcated by the prophets, who from time to time were
sent unto them; so that the Lord was continually writing these things to them
by them, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech interpret it; hence they could not
plead ignorance, and excuse themselves on that account. The law sometimes not
only designs the law of the decalogue, and the ceremonial law, respecting
sacrifices, &c. but all the books of Moses, in which are written many great
and excellent things concerning Christ, his person, offices, and grace; yea,
all the books of the prophets, the whole of Scripture, which is by inspiration
of God, and is the writing and word of God, and not men; and of which holy men
of God were the "amanuenses"; and in which many valuable and precious
things are recorded, even all the works of God, of creation, providence, and
grace; yea, the various thoughts, counsels, and purposes of his heart, relating
to the salvation of men, are transcribed here; and the manifold grace of God,
or each of the doctrines of grace, are contained herein, especially in the
doctrinal and evangelical part of it, which is sometimes called the law of the
Lord, even of Christ; and the law or doctrine of faith; see Psalm 119:18; here
are delivered and held forth the great doctrines of a trinity of Persons in the
Godhead; of the everlasting love of God to his people, and of their choice in
Christ before the world began; of the covenant of grace; of the incarnation of
Christ; of redemption by him; of peace, pardon, righteousness, and atonement,
through him; of eternal salvation by him; these things are written, and to be
read and referred unto, and observed as the rule of faith and practice, and not
unwritten traditions, pretended revelations, reveries, and dreams of men; and
written they were, not for the use of the Israelites only under the former
dispensation, but for the learning and instruction of us Gentiles also, Romans 3:2;
but they were counted as a
strange thing; the laws respecting sacrifices more especially, and the place
where they were to be offered, which are the things mentioned in the context,
had been so long disregarded and disused by Ephraim or the ten tribes, that
when they were put in mind of them by the prophets, they looked upon them as
things they had no concern with; as laws that belonged to another people, and
not to them: and so the great things of divine revelation, the great doctrines
of the Gospel, are treated by many as things they have nothing to do with, not
at all interesting to them; yea, as nauseous and despicable things, deserving
their scorn and contempt, very ungrateful and disagreeable, and in this sense
strange, as Job's breath was to his wife Job 19:17; and also
as foreign to reason and good sense, and what cannot be reconciled thereunto:
so the Athenians charged the doctrines of the Apostle Paul as strange,
irrational, and unaccountable, Acts 17:20.
Hosea 8:13 13 For the sacrifices of My
offerings they sacrifice flesh and eat it, But the Lord does not
accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins. They
shall return to Egypt.
YLT 13The sacrifices of Mine
offerings! They sacrifice flesh, and they eat, Jehovah hath not accepted them,
Now doth He remember their iniquity, And inspect their sin, They -- [to] Egypt
they turn back.
They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings,
and eat it,.... Or, "as to the sacrifices mine
offerings" or "gifts, they sacrifice flesh, and eat it"F15זבחי הבהבי יזבחו
בשר ויאכלו "quod
attinet ad sacrificia donariorum meorum, sacrificant illi quidem carnem, et
comedunt", Piscator, De Dieu; "quantum ad sacrificia", &c.
Schmidt. So Reinbeck. De Accent. Hebr. p. 445. ; these sacrifices, which,
according to the law, should given to God when they offered them, they did not
give them to him, they took them to themselves, and ate them; they were carnal
offerings, and offered with a carnal mind, without faith and piety, without any
regard to the glory of God, but merely for the sake of caring: the Targum
interprets it of sacrifices got by rapine, which God hates, Isaiah 61:8;
but the Lord accepteth them
not; neither the sacrifices, nor the sacrificers, but despised and
abhorred them; no sacrifice was acceptable to God but what was offered
according to law, and where he directed, and in the faith of Christ, and
through him:
now will he remember their iniquities, and visit their sins; he will not
pardon them, but punish for them; so far were their sacrifices making atonement
for them, as they expected, they added to the measure of their iniquities:
they shall return into Egypt; either flee thither for
refuge, many of them it seems did, when the king of Assyria entered their land,
and besieged Samaria; where they lived miserably, as in exile, and were there
buried, and never returned to their own land any more; see Hosea 9:3; or they
should be carried captive into Assyria, where they should be in a like state of
bondage as their fathers were in Egypt. Some render it, "they return into
Egypt"F16המה מצרים
ישובו "illi in Aegyptum redeunt", Cocceius;
"revertuntur", Schmidt. So Tarnovius. ; and consider it not as their
punishment, but as their sin; that when the Lord was about to visit them for
their transgressions, they being made tributary to the Assyrians, instead of
returning to the Lord, and humbling themselves before him, they sent to the
king of Egypt for help, 2 Kings 17:4.
Hosea 8:14 14 “For
Israel has forgotten his Maker, And has built temples;[d] Judah also
has multiplied fortified cities; But I will send fire upon his cities, And it
shall devour his palaces.”
YLT 14And forget doth Israel his
Maker, and buildeth temples, And Judah hath multiplied cities of defence, And I
have sent a fire into his cities, And it hath consumed their palaces!
For Israel hath forgotten his Maker,.... The Creator and
Preserver of everyone of them, and who had raised them up to a state and
kingdom, and had made them great and rich, and populous, and bestowed many
favours and blessings on them; and yet they forgot him, to give him glory, and
to serve and worship him:
and buildeth temples; to idols, as the Targum
adds; to the calves at Dan and Bethel, at which places, as there were altars
set up, and priests appointed, so temples and houses of high places built to
worship in; see 1 Kings 12:31;
and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities; to protect
them from their enemies, which was not unlawful; but that they should put their
trust and confidence in them, and not in the Lord their God, which was their
sin; when they saw the ten tribes carried captive by the Assyrians, they betook
themselves to such methods for their security, but were not careful to avoid
those sins which brought ruin upon Israel:
but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the
palaces thereof; that is, an enemy, that should set fire to their cities,
particularly Jerusalem their chief city, and burn the temple of the Lord, the
palaces of their king and nobles, and all the fine houses of the great men;
which was done many years after this prophecy, by Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, Jeremiah 52:13.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)