The Lord's Fatherly Love, Israel's Ingratitude, and Compassionate Restraint

Hos 11:5-7 By despising this love, Israel brings severe punishment upon itself. Hos 11:5. “It will not return into the land of Egypt; but Asshur, he is its king, because they refused to return. Hos 11:6. And the sword will sweep round in its cities, and destroy its bolts, and devour, because of their counsels. Hos 11:7. My people is bent upon apostasy from me: and if men call it upwards, it does not raise itself at all.

” The apparent contradiction between the words, “It will not return into the land of Egypt,” and the threat contained in Hos 8:13; Hos 9:3, that Israel should return to Egypt, ought not to lead us to resort to alterations of the text, or to take לא in the sense of לו, and connect it with the previous verse, as is done by the lxx, Mang. , and others, or to make an arbitrary paraphrase of the words, either by taking לא in the sense of הלא, and rendering it as a question, “Should it not return?

” equivalent to “it will certainly return” (Maurer, Ewald, etc.) ; or by understanding the return to Egypt as signifying the longing of the people for help from Egypt (Rosenmüller). The emphatic הוּא of the second clause is at variance with all these explanations, since they not only fail to explain it, but it points unmistakeably to an antithesis: “Israel will not return to Egypt; but Asshur, it shall be its king,” i.

e. , it shall come under the dominion of Assyria. The supposed contradiction is removed as soon as we observe that in Hos 8:13; Hos 9:3, Hos 9:6, Egypt is a type of the land of bondage; whereas here the typical interpretation is precluded partly by the contrast to Asshur, and still more by the correspondence in which the words stand to Hos 11:1 . Into the land from which Jehovah called His people, Israel shall not return, lest it should appear as though the object, for which it had been brought out of Egypt and conducted miraculously through the desert, had been frustrated by the impenitence of the people.

But it is to be brought into another bondage. ואשּׁוּר is appended adversatively. Asshur shall rule over it as king, because they refuse to return, sc. to Jehovah. The Assyrians will wage war against the land, and conquer it. The sword (used as a principal weapon, to denote the destructive power of war) will circulate in the cities of Israel, make the round of the cities as it were, and destroy its bolts, i.

e. , the bolts of the gates of the fortifications of Ephraim. Baddı̄m , poles (Exo 25:13.) , cross-poles or cross-beams, with which the gates were fastened, hence bolts in the literal sense, as in Job 17:16, and not tropically for “princes” (Ges.) , electi (Jer. , Chald. , etc.) “On account of their counsels:” this is more fully defined in Hos 11:7. נעמּי, and my people (= since my people) are harnessed to apostasy from me ( meshūbhâthı̄ , with an objective suffix).

תּלוּאים, lit. , suspended on apostasy, i. e. , not “swaying about in consequence of apostasy or in constant danger of falling away” (Chald. , Syr. , Hengst.) , since this would express too little in the present context and would not suit the second half of the verse, but impaled or fastened upon apostasy as upon a stake, so that it cannot get loose. Hence the constructing of תּלה with ל instead of על or ב (2Sa 18:10), may be accounted for from the use of the verb in a figurative sense.

על־על, upwards (על as in Hos 7:16), do they (the prophets: see Hos 11:2) call them; but it does not rise, sc. to return to God, or seek help from on high. רומם pilel , with the meaning of the kal intensified, to make a rising, i. e. , to rise up. This explanation appears simpler than supplying an object, say “the soul” (Psa 25:1), or “the eyes” (Eze 33:25).

Hos 11:5-7 By despising this love, Israel brings severe punishment upon itself. Hos 11:5. “It will not return into the land of Egypt; but Asshur, he is its king, because they refused to return. Hos 11:6. And the sword will sweep round in its cities, and destroy its bolts, and devour, because of their counsels. Hos 11:7. My people is bent upon apostasy from me: and if men call it upwards, it does not raise itself at all.

” The apparent contradiction between the words, “It will not return into the land of Egypt,” and the threat contained in Hos 8:13; Hos 9:3, that Israel should return to Egypt, ought not to lead us to resort to alterations of the text, or to take לא in the sense of לו, and connect it with the previous verse, as is done by the lxx, Mang. , and others, or to make an arbitrary paraphrase of the words, either by taking לא in the sense of הלא, and rendering it as a question, “Should it not return?

” equivalent to “it will certainly return” (Maurer, Ewald, etc.) ; or by understanding the return to Egypt as signifying the longing of the people for help from Egypt (Rosenmüller). The emphatic הוּא of the second clause is at variance with all these explanations, since they not only fail to explain it, but it points unmistakeably to an antithesis: “Israel will not return to Egypt; but Asshur, it shall be its king,” i.

e. , it shall come under the dominion of Assyria. The supposed contradiction is removed as soon as we observe that in Hos 8:13; Hos 9:3, Hos 9:6, Egypt is a type of the land of bondage; whereas here the typical interpretation is precluded partly by the contrast to Asshur, and still more by the correspondence in which the words stand to Hos 11:1 . Into the land from which Jehovah called His people, Israel shall not return, lest it should appear as though the object, for which it had been brought out of Egypt and conducted miraculously through the desert, had been frustrated by the impenitence of the people.

But it is to be brought into another bondage. ואשּׁוּר is appended adversatively. Asshur shall rule over it as king, because they refuse to return, sc. to Jehovah. The Assyrians will wage war against the land, and conquer it. The sword (used as a principal weapon, to denote the destructive power of war) will circulate in the cities of Israel, make the round of the cities as it were, and destroy its bolts, i.

e. , the bolts of the gates of the fortifications of Ephraim. Baddı̄m , poles (Exo 25:13.) , cross-poles or cross-beams, with which the gates were fastened, hence bolts in the literal sense, as in Job 17:16, and not tropically for “princes” (Ges.) , electi (Jer. , Chald. , etc.) “On account of their counsels:” this is more fully defined in Hos 11:7. נעמּי, and my people (= since my people) are harnessed to apostasy from me ( meshūbhâthı̄ , with an objective suffix).

תּלוּאים, lit. , suspended on apostasy, i. e. , not “swaying about in consequence of apostasy or in constant danger of falling away” (Chald. , Syr. , Hengst.) , since this would express too little in the present context and would not suit the second half of the verse, but impaled or fastened upon apostasy as upon a stake, so that it cannot get loose. Hence the constructing of תּלה with ל instead of על or ב (2Sa 18:10), may be accounted for from the use of the verb in a figurative sense.

על־על, upwards (על as in Hos 7:16), do they (the prophets: see Hos 11:2) call them; but it does not rise, sc. to return to God, or seek help from on high. רומם pilel , with the meaning of the kal intensified, to make a rising, i. e. , to rise up. This explanation appears simpler than supplying an object, say “the soul” (Psa 25:1), or “the eyes” (Eze 33:25).

Hos 11:8-9 They deserved to be utterly destroyed for this, and would have been if the compassion of God had not prevented it. With this turn a transition is made in Hos 11:8 from threatening to promise. Hos 11:8. “How could I give thee up, O Ephraim! surrender thee, O Israel! how could I give thee up like Admah, make thee like Zeboim! My heart has changed within me, my compassion is excited all at once.

Hos 11:9. I will not execute the burning heat of my wrath, I will not destroy Ephraim again: for I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee: and come not into burning wrath. ” “How thoroughly could I give thee up! ” sc. if I were to punish thy rebellion as it deserved. Nâthan , to surrender to the power of the enemy, like miggēn in Gen 14:20. And not that alone, but I could utterly destroy thee, like Admah and Zeboim, the two cities of the valley of Siddim, which were destroyed by fire from heaven along with Sodom and Gomorrha.

Compare Deu 29:22, where Admah and Zeboim are expressly mentioned along with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, which stand alone in Gen 19:24. With evident reference to this passage, in which Moses threatens idolatrous Israel with the same punishment, Hosea simply mentions the last two as quite sufficient for his purpose, whereas Sodom and Gomorrha are generally mentioned in other passages (Jer 49:18; cf.

Mat 10:15; Luk 10:12). The promise that God will show compassion is appended here, without any adversative particle. My heart has turned, changed in me (על, lit. , upon or with me, as in the similar phrases in 1Sa 25:36; Jer 8:18). יחד נכמרוּ, in a body have my feelings of compassion gathered themselves together, i. e. , my whole compassion is excited. Compare Gen 43:30 and 1Ki 3:26, where, instead of the abstract nichūmı̄m , we find the more definite rachămı̄m , the bowels as the seat of the emotions.

עשׂה חרון אף, to carry out wrath, to execute it as judgment (as in 1Sa 28:18). In the expression לא אשׁוּב לשׁחת, I will not return to destroy, שׁוּב may be explained from the previous נהפּך לבּי. After the heart of God has changed, it will not return to wrath, to destroy Ephraim; for Jehovah is God, who does not alter His purposes like a man (cf. 1Sa 15:29; Num 23:19; Mal 3:6), and He shows Himself in Israel as the Holy One, i.

e. , the absolutely pure and perfect one, in whom there is no alternation of light and darkness, and therefore no variableness in His decrees (see at Exo 19:6; Isa 6:3). The difficult expression בּעיר cannot mean “into a city,” although it is so rendered by the ancient versions, the Rabbins, and many Christian expositors; for we cannot attach any meaning to the words “I do not come into a city” at all in harmony with the context.

עיר signifies here aestus irae , the heat of wrath, from עוּר, effervescere , just as in Jer 15:8 it signifies the heat of alarm and anxiety, aestus animi .

Hos 11:8-9 They deserved to be utterly destroyed for this, and would have been if the compassion of God had not prevented it. With this turn a transition is made in Hos 11:8 from threatening to promise. Hos 11:8. “How could I give thee up, O Ephraim! surrender thee, O Israel! how could I give thee up like Admah, make thee like Zeboim! My heart has changed within me, my compassion is excited all at once.

Hos 11:9. I will not execute the burning heat of my wrath, I will not destroy Ephraim again: for I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee: and come not into burning wrath. ” “How thoroughly could I give thee up! ” sc. if I were to punish thy rebellion as it deserved. Nâthan , to surrender to the power of the enemy, like miggēn in Gen 14:20. And not that alone, but I could utterly destroy thee, like Admah and Zeboim, the two cities of the valley of Siddim, which were destroyed by fire from heaven along with Sodom and Gomorrha.

Compare Deu 29:22, where Admah and Zeboim are expressly mentioned along with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, which stand alone in Gen 19:24. With evident reference to this passage, in which Moses threatens idolatrous Israel with the same punishment, Hosea simply mentions the last two as quite sufficient for his purpose, whereas Sodom and Gomorrha are generally mentioned in other passages (Jer 49:18; cf.

Mat 10:15; Luk 10:12). The promise that God will show compassion is appended here, without any adversative particle. My heart has turned, changed in me (על, lit. , upon or with me, as in the similar phrases in 1Sa 25:36; Jer 8:18). יחד נכמרוּ, in a body have my feelings of compassion gathered themselves together, i. e. , my whole compassion is excited. Compare Gen 43:30 and 1Ki 3:26, where, instead of the abstract nichūmı̄m , we find the more definite rachămı̄m , the bowels as the seat of the emotions.

עשׂה חרון אף, to carry out wrath, to execute it as judgment (as in 1Sa 28:18). In the expression לא אשׁוּב לשׁחת, I will not return to destroy, שׁוּב may be explained from the previous נהפּך לבּי. After the heart of God has changed, it will not return to wrath, to destroy Ephraim; for Jehovah is God, who does not alter His purposes like a man (cf. 1Sa 15:29; Num 23:19; Mal 3:6), and He shows Himself in Israel as the Holy One, i.

e. , the absolutely pure and perfect one, in whom there is no alternation of light and darkness, and therefore no variableness in His decrees (see at Exo 19:6; Isa 6:3). The difficult expression בּעיר cannot mean “into a city,” although it is so rendered by the ancient versions, the Rabbins, and many Christian expositors; for we cannot attach any meaning to the words “I do not come into a city” at all in harmony with the context.

עיר signifies here aestus irae , the heat of wrath, from עוּר, effervescere , just as in Jer 15:8 it signifies the heat of alarm and anxiety, aestus animi .

Hos 11:10-11 “They will go after Jehovah; like a lion will He roar; for He will roar: and sons will tremble from the sea. Hos 11:11. Tremble like birds out of Egypt, and like doves out of the land of Asshur: and I cause them to dwell in their houses, is the saying of Jehovah. ” When the Lord turns His pity towards the people once more, they will follow Him, and hasten, with trembling at His voice, from the lands of their banishment, and be reinstated by Him in their inheritance.

The way for this promise was opened indeed by Hos 11:9, but here it is introduced quite abruptly, and without any logical particle of connection, like the same promise in Hos 3:5. הלך אחרי יי, to walk after the Lord, denotes not only “obedience to the gathering voice of the Lord, as manifested by their drawing near” (Simson), but that walking in true obedience to the Lord which follows from conversion (Deu 13:5; 1Ki 14:8), so that the Chaldee has very properly rendered it, “They will follow the worship of Jehovah.

” This faithfulness they will exhibit first of all in practical obedience to the call of the Lord. This call is described as the roaring of a lion, the point of comparison lying simply in the fact that a lion announces its coming by roaring, so that the roaring merely indicates a loud, far-reaching call, like the blowing of the trumpet in Isa 27:13. The reason for what is affirmed is then given: “for He (Jehovah) will really utter His call,” in consequence of which the Israelites, as His children, will come trembling ( chârēd synonymous with pâchad , Hos 3:5).

מיּם, from the sea, i. e. , from the distant islands and lands of the west (Isa 11:11), as well as from Egypt and Assyria, the lands of the south and east. These three regions are simply a special form of the idea, “out of all quarters of the globe;” compare the more complete enumeration of the several remote countries in Isa 11:11. The comparison to birds and doves expresses the swiftness with which they draw near, as doves fly to their dovecots (Isa 60:8).

Then will the Lord cause them to dwell in their houses, i. e. , settle them once more in their inheritance, in His own land (cf. Jer 32:37, where לבטח is added). On the construing of הושׁיב with על, cf. 1Ki 20:43, and the German auf der Stube sein . The expression נאם יי affixes the seal of confirmation to this promise. The fulfilment takes place in the last says, when Israel as a nation shall enter the kingdom of God.

Compare the remarks on this point at Hos 2:1-3.

Hos 11:10-11 “They will go after Jehovah; like a lion will He roar; for He will roar: and sons will tremble from the sea. Hos 11:11. Tremble like birds out of Egypt, and like doves out of the land of Asshur: and I cause them to dwell in their houses, is the saying of Jehovah. ” When the Lord turns His pity towards the people once more, they will follow Him, and hasten, with trembling at His voice, from the lands of their banishment, and be reinstated by Him in their inheritance.

The way for this promise was opened indeed by Hos 11:9, but here it is introduced quite abruptly, and without any logical particle of connection, like the same promise in Hos 3:5. הלך אחרי יי, to walk after the Lord, denotes not only “obedience to the gathering voice of the Lord, as manifested by their drawing near” (Simson), but that walking in true obedience to the Lord which follows from conversion (Deu 13:5; 1Ki 14:8), so that the Chaldee has very properly rendered it, “They will follow the worship of Jehovah.

” This faithfulness they will exhibit first of all in practical obedience to the call of the Lord. This call is described as the roaring of a lion, the point of comparison lying simply in the fact that a lion announces its coming by roaring, so that the roaring merely indicates a loud, far-reaching call, like the blowing of the trumpet in Isa 27:13. The reason for what is affirmed is then given: “for He (Jehovah) will really utter His call,” in consequence of which the Israelites, as His children, will come trembling ( chârēd synonymous with pâchad , Hos 3:5).

מיּם, from the sea, i. e. , from the distant islands and lands of the west (Isa 11:11), as well as from Egypt and Assyria, the lands of the south and east. These three regions are simply a special form of the idea, “out of all quarters of the globe;” compare the more complete enumeration of the several remote countries in Isa 11:11. The comparison to birds and doves expresses the swiftness with which they draw near, as doves fly to their dovecots (Isa 60:8).

Then will the Lord cause them to dwell in their houses, i. e. , settle them once more in their inheritance, in His own land (cf. Jer 32:37, where לבטח is added). On the construing of הושׁיב with על, cf. 1Ki 20:43, and the German auf der Stube sein . The expression נאם יי affixes the seal of confirmation to this promise. The fulfilment takes place in the last says, when Israel as a nation shall enter the kingdom of God.

Compare the remarks on this point at Hos 2:1-3.

For the purpose of proving that the predicted destruction of the kingdom is just and inevitable, the prophet now shows, in this last division, first that Israel has not kept the ways of its father Jacob, but has fallen into the ungodly practice of Canaan (Hos 12:1-14); and secondly, that in spite of all the manifestations of love, and all the chastisements received from its God, it has continued its apostasy and idolatry, and therefore perfectly deserves the threatened judgment. Nevertheless the compassion of God will not permit it to be utterly destroyed, but will redeem it even from death and hell (ch.

13-14:1). To this there is appended, lastly, in Hos 14:2-9, a call to conversion, and a promise from God of the forgiveness and abundant blessing of those who turn to the Lord. With this the book closes (Hos 14:1-9 :10). Thus we find again, that the contents of this last division fall very evidently into three parts (Hos 12:13, Hos 12:14, and Hos 14:2 -10), each of which is still further divisible into two strophes.

The faithlessness of Israel and Judah’s resistance to God bring righteous punishment upon the entire posterity of Jacob (11:12-12:2); whereas the example of their forefather ought to have led them to faithful attachment to their God (Hos 12:3-6). But Israel has become Canaan, and seeks its advantage in deception and injustice, without hearkening to its God or to the voice of its prophets, and will be punished for its idolatry (Hos 12:7-11).

Whereas Jacob was obliged to flee, and to serve for a wife in Aram, Jehovah led Israel out of Egypt, and guarded it by prophets. Nevertheless this nation has excited His wrath, and will have to bear its guilt (vv. 12-14). The two strophes of this chapter are 11:12-12:6 and 7-14. (Hebrew_Bible_12:1). “Ephraim has surrounded me with lying, and the house of Israel with deceit: and Judah is moreover unbridled against God, and against the faithful Holy One.

Hos 12:1 (Hebrew_Bible_v_2). Ephraim grazeth wind, and hunteth after the east: all the day it multiplies lying and desolation, and they make a covenant with Asshur, and oil is carried to Egypt. Hos 12:2. And Jehovah has a controversy with Judah, and to perform a visitation upon Jacob, according to his ways: according to his works will He repay him. ” In the name of Jehovah, the prophet raises a charge against Israel once more.

Lying and deceit are the terms which he applies, not so much to the idolatry which they preferred to the worship of Jehovah (ψευδῆ καὶ λατρείαν, Theod.) , as to the hypocrisy with which Israel, in spite of its idolatry, claimed to be still the people of Jehovah, pretended to worship Jehovah under the image of a calf, and turned right into wrong. Bēth Yisrâ'ēl (the house of Israel) is the nation of the ten tribes, and is synonymous with Ephraim.

The statement concerning Judah has been interpreted in different ways, because the meaning of רד is open to dispute. Luther’s rendering, “but Judah still holds fast to its God,” is based upon the rabbinical interpretation of רוּד, in the sense of רדה, to rule, which is decidedly false. According to the Arabic râd , the meaning of rūd is to ramble about (used of cattle that have broken loose, or have not yet been fastened up, as in Jer 2:31); hiphil , to cause to ramble about (Gen 27:40; Psa 55:3).

Construed as it is here with עם, it means to ramble about in relation to God, i. e. , to be unbridled or unruly towards God. עם, as in many other cases where reciprocal actions are referred to, standing towards or with a person: see Ewald, §217, h . קדושׁים נאמן, the faithful, holy God. Qedōshı̄m is used of God, as in Pro 9:10 (cf. Jos 24:19), as an intensive pluralis majestatis , construed with a singular adjective (cf.

Isa 19:4; 2Ki 19:4). נאמן, firm, faithful, trustworthy; the opposite of râd . Judah is unbridled towards the powerful God ( 'El ), towards the Holy One, who, as the Faithful One, also proves Himself to be holy in relation to His people, both by the sanctification of those who embrace His salvation, and also by the judgment and destruction of those who obstinately resist the leadings of His grace.

In Pro 9:1 the lying and deceit of Israel are more fully described. רעה רוּח is not to entertain one’s self on wind, i. e. , to take delight in vain things; but רעה means to eat or graze spiritually; and rūăch , the wind, is equivalent to emptiness. The meaning therefore is, to strive eagerly after what is empty or vain; synonymous with râdaph , to pursue. קדים, the east wind, in Palestine a fierce tempestuous wind, which comes with burning heat from the desert of Arabia, and is very destructive to seeds and plants (compare Job 27:21, and Wetzstein’s Appendix to Delitzsch’s Commentary on Job ).

It is used, therefore, as a figurative representation, not of vain hopes and ideals, that cannot possibly be reached, but of that destruction which Israel is bringing upon itself. “All the day,” i. e. , continually, it multiplies lying and violence, through the sins enumerated in Hos 4:2, by which the kingdom is being internally broken up. Added to this, there is the seeking for alliances with the powers of the world, viz.

, Assyria and Egypt, by which it hopes to secure their help (Hos 5:13), but only brings about its own destruction. Oil is taken to Egypt from the land abounding in olives (Deu 8:8), not as tribute, but as a present, for the purpose of securing an ally in Egypt. This actually took place during the reign of Hoshea, who endeavoured to liberate himself from the oppression of Assyria by means of a treaty with Egypt (2Ki 17:4).

The Lord will repay both kingdoms for such conduct as this. But just as the attitude of Judah towards God is described more mildly than the guilt of Israel in Hos 11:12, so the punishment of the two is differently described in Hos 12:2. Jehovah has a trial with Judah, i. e. , He has to reprove and punish its sins and transgressions (Hos 4:1). Upon Jacob, or Israel of the ten tribes (as in Hos 10:11), He has to perform a visitation, i.

e. , to punish it according to its ways and its deeds (cf. Hos 4:9). לפקד, it is to be visited, i. e. , He must visit.

For the purpose of proving that the predicted destruction of the kingdom is just and inevitable, the prophet now shows, in this last division, first that Israel has not kept the ways of its father Jacob, but has fallen into the ungodly practice of Canaan (Hos 12:1-14); and secondly, that in spite of all the manifestations of love, and all the chastisements received from its God, it has continued its apostasy and idolatry, and therefore perfectly deserves the threatened judgment. Nevertheless the compassion of God will not permit it to be utterly destroyed, but will redeem it even from death and hell (ch.

13-14:1). To this there is appended, lastly, in Hos 14:2-9, a call to conversion, and a promise from God of the forgiveness and abundant blessing of those who turn to the Lord. With this the book closes (Hos 14:1-9 :10). Thus we find again, that the contents of this last division fall very evidently into three parts (Hos 12:13, Hos 12:14, and Hos 14:2 -10), each of which is still further divisible into two strophes.

The faithlessness of Israel and Judah’s resistance to God bring righteous punishment upon the entire posterity of Jacob (11:12-12:2); whereas the example of their forefather ought to have led them to faithful attachment to their God (Hos 12:3-6). But Israel has become Canaan, and seeks its advantage in deception and injustice, without hearkening to its God or to the voice of its prophets, and will be punished for its idolatry (Hos 12:7-11).

Whereas Jacob was obliged to flee, and to serve for a wife in Aram, Jehovah led Israel out of Egypt, and guarded it by prophets. Nevertheless this nation has excited His wrath, and will have to bear its guilt (vv. 12-14). The two strophes of this chapter are 11:12-12:6 and 7-14. (Hebrew_Bible_12:1). “Ephraim has surrounded me with lying, and the house of Israel with deceit: and Judah is moreover unbridled against God, and against the faithful Holy One.

Hos 12:1 (Hebrew_Bible_v_2). Ephraim grazeth wind, and hunteth after the east: all the day it multiplies lying and desolation, and they make a covenant with Asshur, and oil is carried to Egypt. Hos 12:2. And Jehovah has a controversy with Judah, and to perform a visitation upon Jacob, according to his ways: according to his works will He repay him. ” In the name of Jehovah, the prophet raises a charge against Israel once more.

Lying and deceit are the terms which he applies, not so much to the idolatry which they preferred to the worship of Jehovah (ψευδῆ καὶ λατρείαν, Theod.) , as to the hypocrisy with which Israel, in spite of its idolatry, claimed to be still the people of Jehovah, pretended to worship Jehovah under the image of a calf, and turned right into wrong. Bēth Yisrâ'ēl (the house of Israel) is the nation of the ten tribes, and is synonymous with Ephraim.

The statement concerning Judah has been interpreted in different ways, because the meaning of רד is open to dispute. Luther’s rendering, “but Judah still holds fast to its God,” is based upon the rabbinical interpretation of רוּד, in the sense of רדה, to rule, which is decidedly false. According to the Arabic râd , the meaning of rūd is to ramble about (used of cattle that have broken loose, or have not yet been fastened up, as in Jer 2:31); hiphil , to cause to ramble about (Gen 27:40; Psa 55:3).

Construed as it is here with עם, it means to ramble about in relation to God, i. e. , to be unbridled or unruly towards God. עם, as in many other cases where reciprocal actions are referred to, standing towards or with a person: see Ewald, §217, h . קדושׁים נאמן, the faithful, holy God. Qedōshı̄m is used of God, as in Pro 9:10 (cf. Jos 24:19), as an intensive pluralis majestatis , construed with a singular adjective (cf.

Isa 19:4; 2Ki 19:4). נאמן, firm, faithful, trustworthy; the opposite of râd . Judah is unbridled towards the powerful God ( 'El ), towards the Holy One, who, as the Faithful One, also proves Himself to be holy in relation to His people, both by the sanctification of those who embrace His salvation, and also by the judgment and destruction of those who obstinately resist the leadings of His grace.

In Pro 9:1 the lying and deceit of Israel are more fully described. רעה רוּח is not to entertain one’s self on wind, i. e. , to take delight in vain things; but רעה means to eat or graze spiritually; and rūăch , the wind, is equivalent to emptiness. The meaning therefore is, to strive eagerly after what is empty or vain; synonymous with râdaph , to pursue. קדים, the east wind, in Palestine a fierce tempestuous wind, which comes with burning heat from the desert of Arabia, and is very destructive to seeds and plants (compare Job 27:21, and Wetzstein’s Appendix to Delitzsch’s Commentary on Job ).

It is used, therefore, as a figurative representation, not of vain hopes and ideals, that cannot possibly be reached, but of that destruction which Israel is bringing upon itself. “All the day,” i. e. , continually, it multiplies lying and violence, through the sins enumerated in Hos 4:2, by which the kingdom is being internally broken up. Added to this, there is the seeking for alliances with the powers of the world, viz.

, Assyria and Egypt, by which it hopes to secure their help (Hos 5:13), but only brings about its own destruction. Oil is taken to Egypt from the land abounding in olives (Deu 8:8), not as tribute, but as a present, for the purpose of securing an ally in Egypt. This actually took place during the reign of Hoshea, who endeavoured to liberate himself from the oppression of Assyria by means of a treaty with Egypt (2Ki 17:4).

The Lord will repay both kingdoms for such conduct as this. But just as the attitude of Judah towards God is described more mildly than the guilt of Israel in Hos 11:12, so the punishment of the two is differently described in Hos 12:2. Jehovah has a trial with Judah, i. e. , He has to reprove and punish its sins and transgressions (Hos 4:1). Upon Jacob, or Israel of the ten tribes (as in Hos 10:11), He has to perform a visitation, i.

e. , to punish it according to its ways and its deeds (cf. Hos 4:9). לפקד, it is to be visited, i. e. , He must visit.

Hos 12:3-5 “He held his brother’s heel in the womb, and in his man’s strength he fought with God. Hos 12:4. He fought against the angel, and overcame; wept, and prayed to Him: at Bethel he found Him, and there He talked with us. Hos 12:5. And Jehovah, God of hosts, Jehovah is His remembrance. ” The name Jacob, which refers to the patriarch himself in Hos 12:3, forms the link between Hos 12:2 and Hos 12:3.

The Israelites, as descendants of Jacob, were to strive to imitate the example of their forefather. His striving hard for the birthright, and his wrestling with God, in which he conquered by prayer and supplication, are types and pledges of salvation to the tribes of Israel which bear his name. עקב, a denom. from עקב, “to hold the heel” = אחז בּעקב in Gen 25:26, which the prophet has in his mind, not “to overreach,” as in Gen 27:36 and Jer 9:3.

For the wrestling with God, mentioned in the second clause of the verse, proves most indisputably that Jacob’s conduct is not held up before the people for a warning, as marked by cunning or deceit, as Umbreit and Hitzig suppose, but is set before them for their imitation, as an eager attempt to secure the birthright and the blessing connected with it. This shows at the same time, that the holding of the heel in the mother’s womb is not quoted as a proof of the divine election of grace, and, in fact, that there is no reference at all to the circumstance, that “even when Jacob was still in his mother’s womb, he did this not by his own strength, but by the mercy of God, who knows and loves those whom He has predestinated” (Jerome).

בּאונו, is his manly strength (cf. Gen 49:3) he wrestled with God (Gen 32:25-29). This conflict (for the significance of which in relation to Jacob’s spiritual life, see the discussion at Genesis l. c. ) is more fully described in Hos 12:4, for the Israelites to imitate. מלאך is the angel of Jehovah, the revealer of the invisible God (see the Commentary on the Pentateuch , pp.

118ff. transl.) ויּכל is from Gen 32:29. The explanatory clause, “he wept, and made supplication to Him” (after Gen 32:27), gives the nature of the conflict. It was a contest with the weapons of prayer; and with these he conquered. These weapons are also at the command of the Israelites, if they will only use them. The fruit of the victory was, that he (Jacob) found Him (God) at Bethel.

This does not refer to the appearance of God to Jacob on his flight to Mesopotamia (Gen 28:11), but to that recorded in Gen 35:9. , when God confirmed his name of Israel, and renewed the promises of His blessing. And there, continues the prophet, He (God) spake with us; i. e. , not there He speaks with us still, condemning by His prophets the idolatry at Bethel (Amo 5:4-5), as Kimchi supposes; but, as the imperfect ידבּר corresponds to ימצאנּוּ, “there did He speak to us through Jacob,” i.

e. , what He there said to Jacob applies to us. The explanation of this is given in Hos 12:5, where the name is recalled in which God revealed Himself to Moses, when He first called him (Exo 3:15), i. e. , in which He made known to him His true nature. Yehōvâh zikhrō is taken literally from זה זכרי לדר דּר; but there the name Jehovah is still further defined by “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” here by “the God of hosts.

” This difference needs consideration. The Israelites in the time of Moses could only put full confidence in the divine call of Moses to be their deliverer out of the bondage of Egypt, on the ground that He who called him was the God who had manifested Himself to the patriarchs as the God of salvation; but for the Israelites of Hosea’s time, the strength of their confidence in Jehovah arose from the fact that Jehovah was the God of hosts, i.

e. , the God who, because He commands the forces of heaven, both visible and invisible, rules with unrestricted omnipotence on earth as well as in heaven (see at 1Sa 1:3).