1 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.
5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:
8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.
10 I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.
13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.
14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
1 When Ephraim H669 spake H1696 trembling, H7578 he exalted H5375 himself in Israel; H3478 but when he offended H816 in Baal, H1168 he died. H4191
2 And now they sin H2398 more and more, H3254 and have made H6213 them molten images H4541 of their silver, H3701 and idols H6091 according to their own understanding, H8394 all of it the work H4639 of the craftsmen: H2796 they say H559 of them, Let the men H120 that sacrifice H2076 kiss H5401 the calves. H5695
3 Therefore they shall be as the morning H1242 cloud, H6051 and as the early H7925 dew H2919 that passeth away, H1980 as the chaff H4671 that is driven with the whirlwind H5590 out of the floor, H1637 and as the smoke H6227 out of the chimney. H699
4 Yet I am the LORD H3068 thy God H430 from the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 and thou shalt know H3045 no god H430 but me: H2108 for there is no saviour H3467 beside me. H1115
5 I did know H3045 thee in the wilderness, H4057 in the land H776 of great drought. H8514
6 According to their pasture, H4830 so were they filled; H7646 they were filled, H7646 and their heart H3820 was exalted; H7311 therefore have they forgotten H7911 me.
7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: H7826 as a leopard H5246 by the way H1870 will I observe H7789 them:
8 I will meet H6298 them as a bear H1677 that is bereaved H7909 of her whelps, and will rend H7167 the caul H5458 of their heart, H3820 and there will I devour H398 them like a lion: H3833 the wild H7704 beast H2416 shall tear H1234 them.
9 O Israel, H3478 thou hast destroyed H7843 thyself; but in me is thine help. H5828
10 I will H165 be thy king: H4428 where H645 is any other that may save H3467 thee in all thy cities? H5892 and thy judges H8199 of whom thou saidst, H559 Give H5414 me a king H4428 and princes? H8269
11 I gave H5414 thee a king H4428 in mine anger, H639 and took H3947 him away in my wrath. H5678
12 The iniquity H5771 of Ephraim H669 is bound up; H6887 his sin H2403 is hid. H6845
13 The sorrows H2256 of a travailing woman H3205 shall come H935 upon him: he is an unwise H2450 son; H1121 for he should not stay H5975 long H6256 in the place of the breaking forth H4866 of children. H1121
14 I will ransom H6299 them from the power H3027 of the grave; H7585 I will redeem H1350 them from death: H4194 O death, H4194 I will H165 be thy plagues; H1698 O grave, H7585 I will H165 be thy destruction: H6987 repentance H5164 shall be hid H5641 from mine eyes. H5869
15 Though he be fruitful H6500 among his brethren, H251 an east wind H6921 shall come, H935 the wind H7307 of the LORD H3068 shall come up H5927 from the wilderness, H4057 and his spring H4726 shall become dry, H954 and his fountain H4599 shall be dried up: H2717 he shall spoil H8154 the treasure H214 of all pleasant H2532 vessels. H3627
16 Samaria H8111 shall become desolate; H816 for she hath rebelled H4784 against her God: H430 they shall fall H5307 by the sword: H2719 their infants H5768 shall be dashed in pieces, H7376 and their women with child H2030 shall be ripped up. H1234
1 When Ephraim spake, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the dew that passeth early away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4 Yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; and thou shalt know no god but me, and besides me there is no saviour.
5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me.
7 Therefore am I unto them as a lion; as a leopard will I watch by the way;
8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart; and there will I devour them like a lioness; the wild beast shall tear them.
9 It is thy destruction, O Israel, that `thou art' against me, against thy help.
10 Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
11 I have given thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid up in store.
13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of children.
14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction? repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the breath of Jehovah coming up from the wilderness; and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall make spoil of the treasure of all goodly vessels.
16 Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
1 When Ephraim speaketh tremblingly, He hath been lifted up in Israel, When he becometh guilty in Baal he dieth.
2 And now do they add to sin, And make to them a molten image of their silver, By their own understanding -- idols, A work of artizans -- all of it, Of them they say, who `are' sacrificers among men, `The calves let them kiss.'
3 Therefore they are as a cloud of the morning, And as dew, rising early, going away, As chaff tossed about out of a floor, And as smoke out of a window.
4 And I `am' Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, And a God besides Me thou dost not know, And a Saviour -- there is none save Me.
5 I -- I have known thee in a wilderness, In a land of droughts.
6 According to their feedings they are satiated, They have been satiated, And their heart is lifted up, Therefore they have forgotten Me,
7 And I am to them as a lion, As a leopard by the way I look out.
8 I do meet them as a bereaved bear, And I rend the enclosure of their heart.
9 And I consume them there as a lioness, A beast of the field doth rend them.
10 Thou hast destroyed thyself, O Israel, But in Me `is' thy help, Where `is' thy king now -- And he doth save thee in all thy cities? And thy judges of whom thou didst say, `Give to me a king and heads?'
11 I give to thee a king in Mine anger, And I take away in My wrath.
12 Bound up `is' the iniquity of Ephraim, Hidden `is' his sin,
13 Pangs of a travailing woman come to him, He `is' a son not wise, For he remaineth not the time for the breaking forth of sons.
14 From the hand of Sheol I do ransom them, From death I redeem them, Where `is' thy plague, O death? Where thy destruction, O Sheol? Repentance is hid from Mine eyes.
15 Though he among brethren produceth fruit, Come in doth an east wind, a wind of Jehovah, From a wilderness it is coming up, And it drieth up his fountain, And become dry doth his spring, It -- it spoileth a treasure -- every desirable vessel.
16 Become desolate doth Samaria, Because she hath rebelled against her God, By sword they do fall, Their sucklings are dashed in pieces, And its pregnant ones are ripped up!
1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel: but he trespassed through Baal, and he died.
2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the lattice.
4 Yet I [am] Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou hast known no God but me; and there is no saviour besides me.
5 I knew thee in the wilderness, in the land of drought.
6 According to their pasture, they became full; they became full, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me.
7 And I will be unto them as a lion; as a leopard I will lurk for them by the way;
8 I will meet them as a bear bereaved of her [whelps], and will rend the covering of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lioness: the beast of the field shall tear them.
9 It is thy destruction, O Israel, that [thou art] against me, against thy help.
10 Where then is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? --
11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid by in store.
13 The pangs of a woman in travail shall come upon him: he is a son not wise; for at the time of the breaking forth of children, he was not there.
14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death: where, O death, are thy plagues? where, O Sheol, is thy destruction? Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
15 Though he be fruitful among [his] brethren, an east wind shall come, a wind of Jehovah [that] cometh up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
16 Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, But when he became guilty in Baal, he died.
2 Now they sin more and more, And have made themselves molten images of their silver, Even idols according to their own understanding, All of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, "They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves."
3 Therefore they will be like the morning cloud, And like the dew that passes away early, Like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, And like the smoke out of the chimney.
4 "Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; And you will know no god but me, And besides me there is no savior.
5 I knew you in the wilderness, In the land of great drought.
6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; They were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.
7 Therefore am I to them like a lion; Like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8 I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, And will tear the covering of their heart. And there I will devour them like a lioness. The wild animal will tear them.
9 You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, Against your help.
10 Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, 'Give me a king and princes?'
11 I have given you a king in my anger, And have taken him away in my wrath.
12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up. His sin is stored up.
13 The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. He is an unwise son; For when it is time, he doesn't come to the opening of the womb.
14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.
15 Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, The breath of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness; And his spring will become dry, And his fountain will be dried up. He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.
16 Samaria will bear her guilt; For she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, And their pregnant women will be ripped open."
1 When the words of my law came from Ephraim, he was lifted up in Israel; but when he did evil through the Baal, death overtook him.
2 And now their sins are increased; they have made themselves a metal image, false gods from their silver, after their designs, all of them the work of the metal-workers; they say of them, Let them give offerings, let men give kisses to the oxen.
3 So they will be like the morning cloud, like the dew which goes early away, like the dust of the grain which the wind is driving out of the crushing-floor, like smoke going up from the fireplace.
4 But I am the Lord your God, from the land of Egypt; you have knowledge of no other God and there is no saviour but me.
5 I had knowledge of you in the waste land where no water was.
6 When I gave them food they were full, and their hearts were full of pride, and they did not keep me in mind.
7 So I will be like a lion to them; as a cruel beast I will keep watch by the road;
8 I will come face to face with them like a bear whose young ones have been taken from her, and their inmost hearts will be broken; there the dogs will make a meal of them; they will be wounded by the beasts of the field.
9 I have sent destruction on you, O Israel; who will be your helper?
10 Where is your king, that he may be your saviour? and all your rulers, that they may take up your cause? of whom you said, Give me a king and rulers.
11 I have given you a king, because I was angry, and have taken him away in my wrath.
12 The wrongdoing of Ephraim is shut up; his sin is put away in secret.
13 The pains of a woman in childbirth will come on him: he is an unwise son, for at this time it is not right for him to keep his place when children come to birth.
14 I will give the price to make them free from the power of the underworld, I will be their saviour from death: O death! where are your pains? O underworld! where is your destruction? my eyes will have no pity.
15 Though he gives fruit among his brothers, an east wind will come, the wind of the Lord coming up from the waste land, and his spring will become dry, his fountain will be without water: it will make waste the store of all the vessels of his desire.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Hosea 13
Commentary on Hosea 13 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 13
Ho 13:1-16. Ephraim's Sinful Ingratitude to God, and Its Fatal Consequence; God's Promise at Last.
This chapter and the fourteenth chapter probably belong to the troubled times that followed Pekah's murder by Hoshea (compare Ho 13:11; 2Ki 15:30). The subject is the idolatry of Ephraim, notwithstanding God's past benefits, destined to be his ruin.
1. When Ephraim spake trembling—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 Job 29:8, 9, 21).
offended in Baal—that is, in respect to Baal, by worshipping him (1Ki 16:31), 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 Ro 7:9, "Sin revived, and I died." So Adam in the day of his sin was to die, though the sentence was not visibly executed till long after (Ge 2:17; 5:5). Israel is similarly represented as politically dead in Eze 37:1-28.
2. according to their own understanding—that is, their arbitrary devising. Compare "will-worship," Col 2:23. Men are not to be "wise above that which is written," or to follow their own understanding, but God's command in worship.
kiss the calves—an act of adoration to the golden calves (compare 1Ki 19:18; Job 31:27; Ps 2:12).
3. they shall be as the morning cloud … dew—(Ho 6:4). As their "goodness" soon vanished like the morning cloud and dew, so they shall perish like them.
the floor—the threshing-floor, generally an open area, on a height, exposed to the winds.
chimney—generally in the East an orifice in the wall, at once admitting the light, and giving egress to the smoke.
4. (Ho 12:9; Isa 43:11).
no saviour—temporal as well as spiritual.
besides me—(Isa 45:21).
5. I did know thee—did acknowledge thee as Mine, and so took care of thee (Ps 144:3; Am 3:2). As I knew thee as Mine, so thou shouldest know no God but Me (Ho 13:4).
in … land of … drought—(De 8:15).
6. Image from cattle, waxing wanton in abundant pasture (compare Ho 2:5, 8; De 32:13-15). 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" (Ho 13:1).
therefore have they forgotten me—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 (De 6:11, 12).
7. (Ho 5:14; La 3:10).
leopard—The Hebrew comes from a root meaning "spotted" (compare Jer 13:23). Leopards lurk in thickets and thence spring on their victims.
observe—that is, lie in wait for them. Several manuscripts, the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic read, by a slight change of the Hebrew vowel pointing, "by the way of Assyria," a region abounding in leopards and lions. English Version is better.
8. "Writers on the natures of beasts say that none is more savage than a she bear, when bereaved of her whelps" [Jerome].
caul of … heart—the membrane enclosing it: the pericardium.
there—"by the way" (Ho 13:7).
9. thou … in me—in contrast.
hast destroyed thyself—that is, thy destruction is of thyself (Pr 6:32; 8:36).
in me is thine help—literally, "in thine help" (compare De 33:26). Hadst thou rested thy hope in Me, I would have been always ready at hand for thy help [Grotius].
10. I will be thy king; where—rather, as the Margin and the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, "Where now is thy king?" [Maurer]. English Version is, however, favored both by the Hebrew, by the antithesis between Israel's self-chosen and perishing kings, and God, Israel's abiding King (compare Ho 3:4, 5).
where … Give me a king—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 (1Sa 8:5, 7, 19, 20; 10:19), 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.
judges—including all civil authorities under the king (compare Am 2:3).
11. I gave … king in … anger … took … away in … wrath—true both of Saul (1Sa 15:22, 23; 16:1) and of Jeroboam's line (2Ki 15:30). 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.
12. bound up … hid—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 (Ho 9:9), Ephraim's iniquity is kept as it were safely sealed up, until the due time comes for bringing it forth for punishment (De 32:34; Job 14:17; 21:19; compare Ro 2:5). Opposed to "blotting out the handwriting against" the sinner (Col 2:14).
13. sorrows of a travailing woman—calamities sudden and agonizing (Jer 30:6).
unwise—in not foreseeing the impending judgment, and averting it by penitence (Pr 22:3).
he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children—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 (2Ki 19:3; Isa 37:3; 66:9).
14. 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 death (compare Ho 6:2; Isa 25:8; 26:19; Eze 37:12). God's power and grace are magnified in quickening what to the eye of flesh seems dead and hopeless (Ro 4:17, 19). 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 (1Co 15:55). That similarity becomes more obvious by translating as the Septuagint, from which Paul plainly quotes; and as the same Hebrew word is translated in Ho 13:10, "O death, where are thy plagues (paraphrased by the Septuagint, 'thy victory')? O grave, where is thy destruction (rendered by the Septuagint, 'thy sting')?" The question is that of one triumphing over a foe, once a cruel tyrant, but now robbed of all power to hurt.
repentance shall be hid from mine eyes—that is, I will not change My purpose of fulfilling My promise by delivering Israel, on the condition of their return to Me (compare Ho 14:2-8; Nu 23:19; Ro 11:29).
15. fruitful—referring to the meaning of "Ephraim," from a Hebrew root, "to be fruitful" (Ge 41:52). It was long the most numerous and flourishing of the tribes (Ge 48:19).
wind of the Lord—that is, sent by the Lord (compare Isa 40:7), who has His instruments of punishment always ready. The Assyrian, Shalmaneser, &c., is meant (Jer 4:11; 18:17; Eze 19:12).
from the wilderness—that is, the desert part of Syria (1Ki 19:15), the route from Assyria into Israel.
he—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 2Ki 17:6 states, "the king of Assyria took Samaria," 2Ki 18:10 says, "at the end of three years they 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].
16. This verse and Ho 13:15 foretell the calamities about to befall Israel before her restoration (Ho 13:14), owing to her impenitence.
her God—the greatest aggravation of her rebellion, that it was against her God (Ho 13:4).
infants … dashed in pieces, &c.—(2Ki 8:12; 15:16; Am 1:13).