Bible Commentaries

PART II., Hosea 4-14. A series of addresses which give a summary of Hosea's prophetic teaching. The period presupposed seems to be the time of anarchy which followed the death of Jeroboam II (c. 743 B.C.). But there is no reason to suppose that the sections are arranged in chronological order. In Hosea 4-8 Israel's guilt is emphasized, in Hosea 9:1 to Hosea 11:11 the punishment, and in Hosea 11:12-12 both lines of thought are continued, the whole being rounded off with a brighter picture (Hosea 14). As, however, the oracles are essentially independent it is best to treat them separately. The text is in places very corrupt.

Hosea 13:1-16 (= Heb. Hosea 13:1 to Hosea 14:1). Facilis descensus Averno.—Israel has persistently lapsed into the Baal-worship and idolatry, and therefore shall be swept away as the chaff" (Hosea 13:1-3). Yahweh has brought him up from Egypt, protected him in the wilderness, and given him plenty, yet he has forgotten Him (Hosea 13:4-6), therefore He is against them "as a bear bereaved of her whelps." Israel's ruin is self-imposed (Hosea 13:7-9) and his kings are powerless (Hosea 13:10 f.) Ephraim has cherished his sin as a priceless treasure; the crisis of his fate has come—a last opportunity of regeneration—but he is impotent to seize it (Hosea 13:12 f.). Shall Yahweh, even now, ransom him from death? He cannot; the punishment must go its inevitable course (Hosea 13:14). The hurricane of the Divine wrath shall blast and spoil Samaria's land and "pleasant vessels"; because "she hath rebelled against her God," she must suffer all the horrors of war (Hosea 13:15 f.).

Hosea 13:1. When Ephraim spake, there was trembling cannot be right, but no satisfactory emendation has been proposed.—exalted himself: read, "was prince."

Hosea 13:1 b expresses Hosea's conviction that Israel's strength had been sapped and destroyed by Baal-worship.

Hosea 13:2. understanding: read, "model" (cf. LXX). Perhaps "gods" (Heb. 'elôhîm) should be inserted in last clause (cf. Hosea 14:3). Then render, "They say of them ‘gods' (i.e. they call them gods), sacrificing men kiss calves" (cf. 1 Kings 19:18). But text is uncertain.

Hosea 13:3. they shall . . . away: perhaps inserted from Hosea 6:4. For the figure of the chaff, cf. Isaiah 17:13, Daniel 2:35.—out of the chimney: render, "from the window."

Hosea 13:4. from: render "since." The allusion is to the Exodus.—Shalt know: read mg.—The LXX inserts here a passage like the creation passages in Amos (Amos 4:13; Amos 5:8 f., Amos 9:5 f.).

Hosea 13:5. I did know thee: read, "I shepherded thee" (LXX) (cf. beginning of Hosea 13:6).

Hosea 13:6. i.e. "The more they were fed the more they gorged themselves; and the more they gorged themselves the more their heart was uplifted." The last clause may be an addition; cf. Deuteronomy 8:14; Deuteronomy 32:18.

Hosea 13:7. watch: render, "leap" (G. A. Smith); or read, "I am sleepless (Heb. 'eshqd, cf. Jeremiah 5:6).

Hosea 13:8. as a bear, etc. (cf. 2 Samuel 17:8, Lamentations 3:10).—the caul is lit. the enclosure (of their heart), i.e. the heart. Read, "and lions of the forest shall devour them there" (LXX).

Hosea 13:9. Read (cf. LXX), "I will destroy thee, O Israel—who can help thee?"

Hosea 13:10. in all . . . judges: read, "and all thy princes that they rule thee?"—of whom . . . princes: may be an addition (cf. for the words 1 Samuel 8:6).

Hosea 13:11. Hosea thinks primarily of the puppet-kings, usurpers of the moment; not of the older line of princes. Render as presents, "I give," etc.

Hosea 13:12. bound up: in a bag as a precious treasure (cf. Job 14:17).

Hosea 13:13. The crisis of Ephraim's fate has arrived—shall a new and better time be born out of the accumulating troubles of the present? The child's weak will imperils the birth (notice change of figure from mother to child). The sense intended is given by mg., "At the right time (read ka'çth) he standeth not in the mouth of the womb" (cf. Isaiah 37:3).

Hosea 13:14. Render as questions, "Shall I ransom . . . redeem?" In the clause "O death," etc., the question is rhetorical. "Where are thy plagues? Here with them!"—repentance: render "compassion." Note the application in 1 Corinthians 15:35.

Hosea 13:15 f. reads like an appendix to preceding.

Hosea 13:15. As Ephraim is here not a single tribe but the whole northern kingdom, "among his brethren" cannot be right. Read, perhaps, "Though he (i.e. Ephraim) flourish among the reed-grass (reading ‘ahû) the east wind (i.e. Assyria) shall come up." The word rendered "flourish" (maphrî) is a play upon "Ephraim."—the breath . . . wilderness: ? a gloss on east wind."—the . . . vessels: probably a gloss. The subject is no longer the wind, but the Assyrian.

Hosea 13:16. Read mg.