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73 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 5';
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<p id="Chapter5" align="center">Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET<br>CHAPTER 5
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<p id="Ho5_1"><a onclick="return mV('Hsa',5,'1-5');">Hsa 5:1-5</a>. GOD'S JUDGMENTS ON THE PRIESTS, PEOPLE, AND PRINCES OF ISRAEL FOR THEIR SINS.
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<p>Judah, too, being guilty shall be punished; nor shall Assyria, whose aid they both sought, save them; judgments shall at last lead them to repentance. <p><b>1. the king</b>—probably Pekah; the contemporary of Ahaz, king of Judah, under whom idolatry was first carried so far in Judah as to call for the judgment of the joint Syrian and Israelite invasion, as also that of Assyria.
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<br><br><b>judgment is towards you</b>—that is, threatens you from God.
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<br><br><b>ye have been a snare on Mizpah...net...upon Tabor</b>—As hunters spread their net and snares on the hills, <i>Mizpah</i> and <i>Tabor,</i> so ye have snared the people into idolatry and made them your prey by injustice. As Mizpah and Tabor mean a "watch tower," and a "lofty place," a fit scene for hunters, playing on the words, the prophet implies, in the lofty place in which I have set you, whereas ye ought to have been the <i>watchers</i> of the people, guarding them from evil, ye have been as <i>hunters entrapping</i> them into it [JEROME]. These two places are specified, Mizpah in the east and Tabor in the west, to include the <i>high places</i> throughout the <i>whole</i> kingdom, in which Israel's rulers set up idolatrous altars.
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<p id="Ho5_2"><b>2. revolters</b>—apostates.
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<br><br><b>profound</b>—<i>deeply</i> rooted [CALVIN] and sunk to the lowest depths, <i>excessive</i> in their idolatry (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',9,9);">Hsa 9:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',31,6);">Isa 31:6</a>) [HENDERSON]. From the antithesis (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',5,3);">Hsa 5:3</a>), "not hid from me," I prefer explaining, <i>profoundly cunning</i> in their idolatry. Jeroboam thought it a <i>profound</i> piece of policy to set up golden calves to represent God in Dan and Beth-el, in order to prevent Israel's heart from turning again to David's line by going up to Jerusalem to worship. So Israel's subsequent idolatry was grounded by their leaders on various pleas of state expediency (compare <a onclick="return mV('Isa',29,15);">Isa 29:15</a>).
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<br><br><b>to...slaughter</b>—He does not say "to <i>sacrifice,</i>" for their so-called sacrifices were <i>butcheries</i> rather than sacrifices; there was nothing sacred about them, being to idols instead of to the holy God.
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<br><br><b>though</b>—MAURER translates, "<i>and</i> (in spite of their hope of safety through their slaughter of victims to idols) <i>I will be</i> a chastisement to them all." <i>English Version</i> is good sense: They have deeply revolted, <i>notwithstanding</i> all my prophetical warnings.
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<p id="Ho5_3"><b>3. Ephraim</b>—the tribe so called, as distinguished from "Israel" here, the other nine tribes. It was always foremost of the tribes of the northern kingdom. For four hundred years in early history, it, with Manasseh and Benjamin, its two dependent tribes, held the pre-eminence in the whole nation. Ephraim is here addressed as foremost in idolatry.
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<br><br><b>I how...not hid from me</b>—notwithstanding their supposed <i>profound</i> cunning (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',5,2);">Hsa 5:2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',2,2,9,13,19);">Rev 2:2, 9, 13, 19</a>).
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<br><br><b>now</b>—"though I have been a rebuker of all them" (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',5,2);">Hsa 5:2</a>) who <i>commit</i> such spiritual <i>whoredoms,</i> thou art <i>now</i> continuing in them.
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<p id="Ho5_4"><b>4. They</b>—Turning from a direct address to Ephraim, he uses the third person <i>plural</i> to characterize the people in general. The <i>Hebrew</i> is against the <i>Margin,</i> their doings will not suffer <i>them</i>" the omission of "them" in the <i>Hebrew</i> after the verb being unusual. The sense is, they are incurable, for they will not <i>permit</i> (as the <i>Hebrew</i> literally means) their doings to be framed so as to turn unto God. Implying that they <i>resist</i> the Spirit of God, not <i>suffering</i> Him to renew them; and give themselves up to "the spirit of whoredoms" (in antithesis to "the Spirit of God" implied in "suffer" or "permit") (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',4,12);">Hsa 4:12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',63,10);">Isa 63:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eze',16,43);">Eze 16:43</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Act',7,51);">Act 7:51</a>).
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<p id="Ho5_5"><b>5. the pride of Israel</b>—wherewith they reject the warnings of God's prophets (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',5,2);">Hsa 5:2</a>), and prefer their idols to God (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',7,10);">Hsa 7:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',13,17);">Jer 13:17</a>).
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<br><br><b>testify to his face</b>—openly <i>to his face</i> he shall be convicted of the pride which is so palpable in him. Or, "<i>in</i> his face," as in <a onclick="return mV('Isa',3,9);">Isa 3:9</a>.
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<br><br><b>Judah...shall fall with them</b>—This prophecy is later than <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',4,15);">Hsa 4:15</a>, when Judah had not gone so far in idolatry; now her imitation of Israel's bad example provokes the threat of her being doomed to share in Israel's punishment.
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<p id="Ho5_6"><b>6. with...flocks</b>—to propitiate Jehovah (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',1,'11-15');">Isa 1:11-15</a> ).
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<br><br><b>seek...not find</b>—because it is slavish fear that leads them to seek Him; and because it then shall be too late (<a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Pro',1,28);">Pro 1:28</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',7,34);">Jhn 7:34</a>).
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<p id="Ho5_7"><b>7. treacherously</b>—as to the marriage covenant (<a onclick="return mV('Jer',3,20);">Jer 3:20</a>).
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<br><br><b>strange children</b>—alluding to "children of whoredoms" (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',1,2);">Hsa 1:2</a> 2:4). "Strange" or <i>foreign</i> implies that their idolatry was imported from abroad [HENDERSON]. Or rather, "regarded by God as strangers, not His," as being reared in idolatry. The case is desperate, when not only the existing, but also the rising, generation is reared in apostasy.
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<br><br><b>a month</b>—<i>a very brief space of time</i> shall elapse, and then punishment shall overtake them (<a onclick="return mV('Zec',11,8);">Zec 11:8</a>). The allusion seems to be to money loans, which were <i>by the month,</i> not as with us by the year. You cannot put it off; the time of your destruction is immediately and suddenly coming on you; just as the debtor must meet the creditor's demand at the expiration of the month. The prediction is of the invasion of Tiglath-pileser, who carried away Reuben, Gad, Naphtali, and the half tribe of Manasseh.
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<br><br><b>portions</b>—that is, possessions. Their resources and garrisons will not avail to save them. HENDERSON explains from <a onclick="return mV('Isa',57,6);">Isa 57:6</a>, "portions" as <i>their idols;</i> the context favors this, "the Lord" the true "<i>portion</i> of His people" (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',32,9);">Deu 32:9</a>), being in antithesis to "their portions," the idols.
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<p id="Ho5_8"><b>8.</b> The arrival of the enemy is announced in the form of an injunction to <i>blow an alarm.</i>
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<br><br><b>cornet...trumpet</b>—The "cornet" was made of the curved horn of animals and was used by shepherds. The "trumpet" was of brass or silver, straight, and used in wars and on solemn occasions. The <i>Hebrew</i> is <i>hatzotzerah,</i> the sound imitating the trumpet note (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',8,1);">Hsa 8:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Num',10,2);">Num 10:2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',4,5);">Jer 4:5</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Joe',2,1);">Joe 2:1</a>).
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<br><br><b>Gibeah...Ramah</b>—both in Benjamin (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',10,29);">Isa 10:29</a>).
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<br><br><b>Beth-aven</b>—in Benjamin; not as in <a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Hsa',4,15);">Hsa 4:15</a>; <i>Beth-el,</i> but a town east of it (<a onclick="return mV('Jos',7,2);">Jos 7:2</a> ). "Cry aloud," namely, to raise the alarm. "Benjamin" is put for the whole southern kingdom of Judah (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',5,5);">Hsa 5:5</a>), being the first part of it which would meet the foe advancing from the north. "After thee, O Benjamin," implies the position of Beth-aven, <i>behind</i> Benjamin, at the borders of Ephraim. When the foe is at Beth-aven, he is at Benjamin's rear, close upon thee, O Benjamin (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',5,14);">Jdg 5:14</a>).
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<p id="Ho5_9"><b>9, 10.</b> Israel is referred to in <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',5,9);">Hsa 5:9</a>, Judah in <a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Hsa',5,10);">Hsa 5:10</a>.
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<br><br><b>the day of rebuke</b>—the day when I shall chastise him.
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<br><br><b>among the tribes of Israel have I made known</b>—proving that the scene of Hosea's labor was among the ten tribes.
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<br><br><b>that which shall surely be</b>—namely, the coming judgment here foretold. It is no longer a conditional decree, leaving a hope of pardon on repentance; it is absolute, for Ephraim is hopelessly impenitent.
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<p id="Ho5_10"><b>10. remove the bound</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',19,14);">Deu 19:14</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Deu',27,17);">27:17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Job',24,2);">Job 24:2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Pro',22,28);">Pro 22:28</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Pro',23,10);">23:10</a>). Proverbial for the rash setting aside of the ancestral laws by which men are kept to their duty. Ahaz and his courtiers ("the princes of Judah"), setting aside the ancient ordinances of God, removed the borders of the bases and the layer and the sea and introduced an idolatrous altar from Damascus (<a onclick="return mV('2Ki',16,'10-18');">2Ki 16:10-18</a>); also he burnt his children in the valley of Hinnom, after the abominations of the heathen (<a onclick="return mV('2Ch',28,3);">2Ch 28:3</a>).
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<p id="Ho5_11"><b>11. broken in judgment</b>—namely, the "judgment" of God on him (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',5,1);">Hsa 5:1</a>).
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<br><br><b>walked after the commandment</b>—Jeroboam's, to worship the calves (<a onclick="return mV('2Ki',10,'28-33');">2Ki 10:28-33</a>). Compare <a onclick="return mV('Mic',6,16);">Mic 6:16</a>, "the <i>statutes</i> of Omri," namely, idolatrous statutes. We ought to obey God rather than men (<a onclick="return mV('Act',5,29);">Act 5:29</a>). JEROME reads "filthiness." The <i>Septuagint</i> gives the sense, not the literal translation: "after <i>vanities.</i>"
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<p id="Ho5_12"><b>12. as a moth</b>—consuming a garment (<a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Job',13,28);">Job 13:28</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Psa',39,11);">Psa 39:11</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',50,9);">Isa 50:9</a>).
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<br><br><b>Judah...rottenness</b>—Ephraim, or the ten tribes, are as a <i>garment</i> eaten by the moth; Judah as the <i>body</i> itself consumed by rottenness (<a onclick="return mV('Pro',12,4);">Pro 12:4</a>). Perhaps alluding to the superiority of the latter in having the house of David, and the temple, the religious center of the nation [GROTIUS]. As in <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',5,13,14);">Hsa 5:13-14</a>, the violence of the calamity is prefigured by the "wound" which "a lion" inflicts, so here its long protracted duration, and the certainty and completeness of the destruction from small unforeseen beginnings, by the images of a slowly but surely consuming <i>moth</i> and <i>rottenness.</i>
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<p id="Ho5_13"><b>13. wound</b>—literally, "bandage"; hence a <i>bandaged wound</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',1,6);">Isa 1:6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',30,12);">Jer 30:12</a>). "Saw," that is, felt its weakened state politically, and the dangers that threatened it. It aggravates their perversity, that, though aware of their unsound and calamitous state, they did not inquire into the cause or seek a right remedy.
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<br><br><b>went...to the Assyrian</b>—First, Menahem (<a onclick="return mV('2Ki',15,19);">2Ki 15:19</a>) applied to Pul; again, Hoshea to Shalmaneser (<a onclick="return mV('2Ki',17,3);">2Ki 17:3</a>).
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<br><br><b>sent to King Jareb</b>—Understand <i>Judah</i> as the nominative to "sent." Thus, as "Ephraim saw his sickness" (the first clause) answers in the parallelism to "Ephraim went to the Assyrian" (the third clause), so "Judah saw his wound" (the second clause) answers to (<i>Judah</i>) "sent to King Jareb" (the fourth clause). <i>Jareb</i> ought rather to be translated, "their <i>defender,</i>" literally, "avenger" [JEROME]. The Assyrian "king," ever ready, for his own aggrandizement, to mix himself up with the affairs of neighboring states, professed to <i>undertake</i> Israel's and Judah's <i>cause;</i> in <a onclick="return mV('Jdg',6,32);">Jdg 6:32</a>, <i>Jerub,</i> in Jerub-baal is so used, namely, "<i>plead</i> one's cause." Judah, under Ahaz, applied to Tiglath-pileser for aid against Syria and Israel (<a onclick="return mV('2Ki',16,7,8);">2Ki 16:7-8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Ch',28,'16-21');">2Ch 28:16-21</a>); the Assyrian "distressed him, but strengthened him not," fulfiling the prophecy here, "he could not heal your, nor cure you of your wound.
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<p id="Ho5_14"><b>14. lion</b>—The <i>black lion</i> and the <i>young lion</i> are emblems of strength and ferocity (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',91,13);">Psa 91:13</a>).
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<br><br><b>I, even I</b>—emphatic; when I, even I, the irresistible God, tear in pieces (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',50,22);">Psa 50:22</a>), no Assyrian power can rescue.
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<br><br><b>go away</b>—as a lion stalks leisurely back with his prey to his lair.
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<p id="Ho5_15"><b>15. return to my place</b>—that is, withdraw My favor.
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<br><br><b>till they acknowledge their offence</b>—The <i>Hebrew</i> is, "till they suffer the penalty of their guilt." Probably "<i>accepting</i> the punishment of their guilt" (compare <a onclick="return mV('Zec',11,5);">Zec 11:5</a>) is included in the idea, as <i>English Version</i> translates. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Lev',26,40,41);">Lev 26:40-41</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',29,12,13);">Jer 29:12-13</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eze',6,9);">Eze 6:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eze',20,43);">20:43</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eze',36,31);">36:31</a>.
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<br><br><b>seek my face</b>—that is, seek My favor (<a onclick="return mV('Pro',29,26);">Pro 29:26</a>, <i>Margin</i>).
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<br><br><b>in...affliction...seek me early</b>—that is, diligently; rising up before dawn to seek Me (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',119,147);">Psa 119:147</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Psa',78,34);">Psa 78:34</a>).
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