70 lines
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70 lines
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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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PriorBook = 'Daniel';
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Title = 'The Book of Hosea';
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SubTitle1 = 'Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET';
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SubTitle3 = 'CHAPTER 13';
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<p id="Chapter13" align="center">Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET<br>CHAPTER 13
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<p id="Ho13_1"><a onclick="return mV('Hsa',13,'1-16');">Hsa 13:1-16</a>. EPHRAIM'S SINFUL INGRATITUDE TO GOD, AND ITS FATAL CONSEQUENCE; GOD'S PROMISE AT LAST.
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<p>This chapter and the fourteenth chapter probably belong to the troubled times that followed Pekah's murder by Hoshea (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',13,11);">Hsa 13:11</a> <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',15,30);">2Ki 15:30</a>). The subject is the idolatry of Ephraim, notwithstanding God's past benefits, destined to be his ruin. <p><b>1. When Ephraim spake trembling</b>—rather, "When Ephraim (the tribe most powerful among the twelve in Israel's early history) spake (authoritatively) there was trembling"; all reverentially feared him [JEROME], (compare <a onclick="return mV('Job',29,8,9,21);">Job 29:8-9, 21</a>).
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<br><br><b>offended in Baal</b>—that is, <i>in respect to</i> Baal, by worshipping him (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',16,31);">1Ki 16:31</a>), under Ahab; a more heinous offense than even the calves. Therefore it is at this climax of guilt that Ephraim "died." Sin has, in the sight of God, within itself the germ of death, though that death may not visibly take effect till long after. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Rom',7,9);">Rom 7:9</a>, "Sin revived, and I <i>died.</i>" So Adam in the day of his sin was to die, though the sentence was not visibly executed till long after (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',2,17);">Gen 2:17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gen',5,5);">5:5</a>). Israel is similarly represented as politically dead in <a onclick="return mV('Eze',37,'1-28');">Eze 37:1-28</a>.
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<p id="Ho13_2"><b>2. according to their own understanding</b>—that is, their arbitrary devising. Compare "will-worship," <a onclick="return mV('Col',2,23);">Col 2:23</a>. Men are not to be "wise above that which is written," or to follow their own understanding, but God's command in worship.
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<br><br><b>kiss the calves</b>—an act of adoration to the golden calves (compare <a onclick="return mV('1Ki',19,18);">1Ki 19:18</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Job',31,27);">Job 31:27</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Psa',2,12);">Psa 2:12</a>).
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<p id="Ho13_3"><b>3. they shall be as the morning cloud...dew</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',6,4);">Hsa 6:4</a>). As their "goodness" soon vanished like the morning cloud and dew, so they shall perish like them.
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<br><br><b>the floor</b>—the threshing-floor, generally an open area, on a height, exposed to the winds.
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<br><br><b>chimney</b>—generally in the East an orifice in the wall, at once admitting the light, and giving egress to the smoke.
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<p id="Ho13_4"><b>4.</b> (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',12,9);">Hsa 12:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',43,11);">Isa 43:11</a>).
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<br><br><b>no saviour</b>—temporal as well as spiritual.
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<br><br><b>besides me</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',45,21);">Isa 45:21</a>).
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<p id="Ho13_5"><b>5. I did know thee</b>—did acknowledge thee as Mine, and so took care of thee (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',144,3);">Psa 144:3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Amo',3,2);">Amo 3:2</a>). As <i>I knew</i> thee as Mine, so <i>thou</i> shouldest <i>know</i> no God but Me (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',13,4);">Hsa 13:4</a>).
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<br><br><b>in...land of...drought</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',8,15);">Deu 8:15</a>).
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<p id="Ho13_6"><b>6.</b> Image from cattle, waxing wanton in abundant pasture (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',2,5,8);">Hsa 2:5, 8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Deu',32,'13-15');">Deu 32:13-15</a>). In proportion as I fed them to the full, they were so satiated that "their heart was exalted"; a sad contrast to the time when, by God's blessing, Ephraim truly "exalted himself in Israel" (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',13,1);">Hsa 13:1</a>).
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<br><br><b>therefore have they forgotten me</b>—the very reason why men should remember God (namely, prosperity, which comes from Him) is the cause often of their forgetting Him. God had warned them of this danger (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',6,11,12);">Deu 6:11-12</a>).
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<p id="Ho13_7"><b>7.</b> (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',5,14);">Hsa 5:14</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Lam',3,10);">Lam 3:10</a>).
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<br><br><b>leopard</b>—The <i>Hebrew</i> comes from a root meaning "spotted" (compare <a onclick="return mV('Jer',13,23);">Jer 13:23</a>). Leopards lurk in thickets and thence spring on their victims.
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<br><br><b>observe</b>—that is, <i>lie in wait</i> for them. Several manuscripts, the <i>Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac,</i> and <i>Arabic</i> read, by a slight change of the <i>Hebrew</i> vowel pointing, "by the way <i>of Assyria,</i>" a region abounding in leopards and lions. <i>English Version</i> is better.
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<p id="Ho13_8"><b>8.</b> "Writers on the natures of beasts say that none is more savage than a <i>she bear,</i> when <i>bereaved of her whelps</i>" [JEROME].
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<br><br><b>caul of...heart</b>—the membrane enclosing it: the pericardium.
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<br><br><b>there</b>—"by the way" (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',13,7);">Hsa 13:7</a>).
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<p id="Ho13_9"><b>9. thou...in me</b>—in contrast.
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<br><br><b>hast destroyed thyself</b>—that is, thy destruction is of thyself (<a onclick="return mV('Pro',6,32);">Pro 6:32</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Pro',8,36);">8:36</a>).
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<br><br><b>in me is thine help</b>—literally, "in thine help" (compare <a onclick="return mV('Deu',33,26);">Deu 33:26</a>). Hadst thou rested thy hope <i>in Me,</i> I would have been always ready at hand <i>for thy help</i> [GROTIUS].
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<p id="Ho13_10"><b>10. I will be thy king; where</b>—rather, as the <i>Margin</i> and the <i>Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate,</i> "Where now is thy king?" [MAURER]. <i>English Version</i> is, however, favored both by the <i>Hebrew,</i> by the antithesis between Israel's self-chosen and <i>perishing kings,</i> and God, Israel's <i>abiding</i> King (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',3,4,5);">Hsa 3:4-5</a>).
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<br><br><b>where...Give me a king</b>—Where now is the king whom ye substituted in My stead? Neither Saul, whom the whole nation begged for, not contented with Me their true king (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',8,5,719,20);">1Sa 8:5, 7, 19-20</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Sa',10,19);">10:19</a>), nor Jeroboam, whom subsequently the ten tribes chose instead of the line of David My anointed, can save thee now. They had expected from their kings what is the prerogative of God alone, namely, the power of saving them.
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<br><br><b>judges</b>—including all civil authorities under the king (compare <a onclick="return mV('Amo',2,3);">Amo 2:3</a>).
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<p id="Ho13_11"><b>11. I gave...king in...anger ...took...away in...wrath</b>—true both of Saul (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',15,22,23);">1Sa 15:22-23</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Sa',16,1);">16:1</a>) and of Jeroboam's line (<a onclick="return mV('2Ki',15,30);">2Ki 15:30</a>). Pekah was taken away through Hoshea, as he himself took away Pekahiah; and as Hoshea was soon to be taken away by the Assyrian king.
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<p id="Ho13_12"><b>12. bound up...hid</b>—Treasures, meant to be kept, are bound up and hidden; that is, do not flatter yourselves, because of the delay, that I have forgotten your sin. Nay (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',9,9);">Hsa 9:9</a>), Ephraim's iniquity is kept as it were safely sealed up, until the due time comes for bringing it forth for punishment (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',32,34);">Deu 32:34</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Job',14,17);">Job 14:17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Job',21,19);">21:19</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Rom',2,5);">Rom 2:5</a>). Opposed to "blotting out the handwriting against" the sinner (<a onclick="return mV('Col',2,14);">Col 2:14</a>).
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<p id="Ho13_13"><b>13. sorrows of a travailing woman</b>—calamities sudden and agonizing (<a onclick="return mV('Jer',30,6);">Jer 30:6</a>).
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<br><br><b>unwise</b>—in not foreseeing the impending judgment, and averting it by penitence (<a onclick="return mV('Pro',22,3);">Pro 22:3</a>).
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<br><br><b>he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children</b>—When Israel might deliver himself from calamity by the pangs of penitence, he brings ruin on himself by so long deferring a new birth unto repentance, like a child whose mother has not strength to bring it forth, and which therefore remains so long in the passage from the womb as to run the risk of death (<a onclick="return mV('2Ki',19,3);">2Ki 19:3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',37,3);">Isa 37:3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',66,9);">66:9</a>).
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<p id="Ho13_14"><b>14.</b> Applying primarily to God's restoration of Israel from Assyria partially, and, in times yet future, fully from all the lands of their present long-continued dispersion, and political <i>death</i> (compare <a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Hsa',6,2);">Hsa 6:2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',25,8);">Isa 25:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',26,19);">26:19</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eze',37,12);">Eze 37:12</a>). God's power and grace are magnified in quickening what to the eye of flesh seems dead and hopeless (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',4,17,19);">Rom 4:17, 19</a>). As Israel's history, past and future, has a representative character in relation to the Church, this verse is expressed in language alluding to Messiah's (who is the ideal Israel) grand victory over the grave and death, the first-fruits of His own resurrection, the full harvest to come at the general resurrection; hence the similarity between this verse and Paul's language as to the latter (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,55);">1Cr 15:55</a>). That similarity becomes more obvious by <i>translating</i> as the <i>Septuagint,</i> from which Paul plainly quotes; and as the same <i>Hebrew</i> word is translated in <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',13,10);">Hsa 13:10</a>, "O death, <i>where</i> are thy plagues (paraphrased by the <i>Septuagint,</i> 'thy victory')? O grave, where is thy destruction (rendered by the <i>Septuagint,</i> 'thy sting')?" The question is that of one triumphing over a foe, once a cruel tyrant, but now robbed of all power to hurt.
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<br><br><b>repentance shall be hid from mine eyes</b>—that is, I will not change My purpose of fulfilling My promise by delivering Israel, on the condition of their return to Me (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',14,'2-8');">Hsa 14:2-8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Num',23,19);">Num 23:19</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rom',11,29);">Rom 11:29</a>).
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<p id="Ho13_15"><b>15. fruitful</b>—referring to the meaning of "Ephraim," from a <i>Hebrew</i> root, "to be fruitful" (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',41,52);">Gen 41:52</a>). It was long the most numerous and flourishing of the tribes (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',48,19);">Gen 48:19</a>).
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<br><br><b>wind of the Lord</b>—that is, sent by the Lord (compare <a onclick="return mV('Isa',40,7);">Isa 40:7</a>), who has His instruments of punishment always ready. The Assyrian, Shalmaneser, etc., is meant (<a onclick="return mV('Jer',4,11);">Jer 4:11</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',18,17);">18:17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eze',19,12);">Eze 19:12</a>).
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<br><br><b>from the wilderness</b>—that is, the desert part of Syria (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',19,15);">1Ki 19:15</a>), the route from Assyria into Israel.
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<br><br><b>he</b>—the Assyrian invader. Shalmaneser began the siege of Samaria in 723 B.C. Its close was in 721 B.C., the first year of Sargon, who seems to have usurped the throne of Assyria while Shalmaneser was at the siege of Samaria. Hence, while <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',17,6);">2Ki 17:6</a> states, "the <i>king of Assyria</i> took Samaria," <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',18,10);">2Ki 18:10</a> says, "at the end of three years <i>they</i> took it." In Sargon's magnificent palace at Khorsabad, inscriptions mention the number—27,280—of Israelites carried captive from Samaria and other places of Israel by the founder of the palace [G. V. SMITH].
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<p id="Ho13_16"><b>16.</b> This verse and <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',13,15);">Hsa 13:15</a> foretell the calamities about to befall Israel before her restoration (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',13,14);">Hsa 13:14</a>), owing to her impenitence.
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<br><br><b>her God</b>—the greatest aggravation of her rebellion, that it was against <i>her</i> God (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',13,4);">Hsa 13:4</a>).
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<br><br><b>infants...dashed in pieces,</b> etc.— (<a onclick="return mV('2Ki',8,12);">2Ki 8:12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',8,12);">15:16</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Amo',1,13);">Amo 1:13</a>).
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