@Ho 5:1-5. GOD'S JUDGMENTS ON THE PRIESTS, PEOPLE, AND PRINCES OF ISRAEL FOR THEIR SINS.
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.
1. the king--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.
judgment is towards you--that is, threatens you from God.
ye have been a snare on Mizpah . . . net . . . upon Tabor--As hunters
spread their net and snares on the hills, Mizpah and Tabor, 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 watchers of the people, guarding them from evil, ye
have been as hunters entrapping them into it
[JEROME]. These two
places are specified, Mizpah in the east and Tabor in the west, to
include the high places throughout the whole kingdom, in which
Israel's rulers set up idolatrous altars.
2. revolters--apostates.
profound--deeply rooted
[CALVIN] and sunk to the lowest depths,
excessive in their idolatry (@Ho 9:9 Isa 31:6)
[HENDERSON]. From
the antithesis (@Ho 5:3), "not hid from me," I prefer explaining,
profoundly cunning in their idolatry. Jeroboam thought it a
profound 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 @Isa 29:15).
to . . . slaughter--He does not say "to sacrifice," for their
so-called sacrifices were butcheries rather than sacrifices; there
was nothing sacred about them, being to idols instead of to the holy
God.
though--MAURER translates, "and (in spite of their hope of safety
through their slaughter of victims to idols) I will be a chastisement
to them all." English Version is good sense: They have deeply revolted,
notwithstanding all my prophetical warnings.
3. Ephraim--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.
I how . . . not hid from me--notwithstanding their supposed
profound cunning (@Ho 5:2 Re 2:2,9,13,19).
now--"though I have been a rebuker of all them" (@Ho 5:2) who
commit such spiritual whoredoms, thou art now continuing in
them.
4. They--Turning from a direct address to Ephraim, he uses the third person plural to characterize the people in general. The Hebrew is against the Margin, their doings will not suffer them" the omission of "them" in the Hebrew after the verb being unusual. The sense is, they are incurable, for they will not permit (as the Hebrew literally means) their doings to be framed so as to turn unto God. Implying that they resist the Spirit of God, not suffering 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") (@Ho 4:12 Isa 63:10 Eze 16:43 Ac 7:51).
5. the pride of Israel--wherewith they reject the warnings of God's
prophets (@Ho 5:2), and prefer their idols to God
(@Ho 7:10 Jer 13:17).
testify to his face--openly to his face he shall be convicted of
the pride which is so palpable in him. Or, "in his face," as in
@Isa 3:9.
Judah . . . shall fall with them--This prophecy is later than
@Ho 4:15, 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.
6. with . . . flocks--to propitiate Jehovah (@Isa 1:11-15).
seek . . . not find--because it is slavish fear that leads them to seek
Him; and because it then shall be too late (@Pr 1:28 Joh 7:34).
7. treacherously--as to the marriage covenant (@Jer 3:20).
strange children--alluding to "children of whoredoms"
(@Ho 1:2 2:4). "Strange" or foreign 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.
a month--a very brief space of time shall elapse, and then
punishment shall overtake them (@Zec 11:8). The allusion seems to
be to money loans, which were by the month, 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.
portions--that is, possessions. Their resources and garrisons will
not avail to save them. HENDERSON explains from @Isa 57:6, "portions"
as their idols; the context favors this, "the Lord" the true
"portion of His people" (@De 32:9), being in antithesis to "their
portions," the idols.
8. The arrival of the enemy is announced in the form of an injunction
to blow an alarm.
cornet . . . trumpet--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 Hebrew is
hatzotzerah, the sound imitating the trumpet note
(@Ho 8:1 Nu 10:2 Jer 4:5 Joe 2:1).
Gibeah . . . Ramah--both in Benjamin (@Isa 10:29).
Beth-aven--in Benjamin; not as in @Ho 4:15; Beth-el, but a town
east of it (@Jos 7:2). "Cry aloud," namely, to raise the alarm.
"Benjamin" is put for the whole southern kingdom of Judah (compare
@Ho 5:5), 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, behind Benjamin, at the borders of Ephraim. When the foe
is at Beth-aven, he is at Benjamin's rear, close upon thee, O Benjamin
(@Jud 5:14).
9, 10. Israel is referred to in @Ho 5:9, Judah in @Ho 5:10.
the day of rebuke--the day when I shall chastise him.
among the tribes of Israel have I made known--proving that the scene
of Hosea's labor was among the ten tribes.
that which shall surely be--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.
10. remove the bound--(@De 19:14 27:17 Job 24:2 Pr 22:28 23:10). 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 (@2Ki 16:10-18); also he burnt his children in the valley of Hinnom, after the abominations of the heathen (@2Ch 28:3).
11. broken in judgment--namely, the "judgment" of God on him
(@Ho 5:1).
walked after the commandment--Jeroboam's, to worship the calves
(@2Ki 10:28-33). Compare @Mic 6:16, "the statutes of Omri,"
namely, idolatrous statutes. We ought to obey God rather than men
(@Ac 5:29). JEROME reads "filthiness." The Septuagint gives the
sense, not the literal translation: "after vanities."
12. as a moth--consuming a garment (@Job 13:28 Ps 39:11 Isa 50:9).
Judah . . . rottenness--Ephraim, or the ten tribes, are as a
garment eaten by the moth; Judah as the body itself consumed by
rottenness (@Pr 12:4). 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 @Ho 5:13,14, 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 moth and rottenness.
13. wound--literally, "bandage"; hence a bandaged wound (@Isa 1:6 Jer 30:12). "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.
went . . . to the Assyrian--First, Menahem (@2Ki 15:19) applied
to Pul; again, Hoshea to Shalmaneser (@2Ki 17:3).
sent to King Jareb--Understand Judah 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 (Judah) "sent
to King Jareb" (the fourth clause). Jareb ought rather to be
translated, "their defender," literally, "avenger"
[JEROME]. The
Assyrian "king," ever ready, for his own aggrandizement, to mix himself
up with the affairs of neighboring states, professed to undertake Israel's and Judah's cause; in @Jud 6:32, Jerub, in Jerub-baal
is so used, namely, "plead one's cause." Judah, under Ahaz, applied
to Tiglath-pileser for aid against Syria and Israel
(@2Ki 16:7,8 2Ch 28:16-21); the Assyrian "distressed him, but
strengthened him not," fulfiling the prophecy here, "he could not heal
your, nor cure. you of your wound.
14. lion--The black lion and the young lion are emblems of
strength and ferocity (@Ps 91:13).
I, even I--emphatic; when I, even I, the irresistible God, tear in
pieces (@Ps 50:22), no Assyrian power can rescue.
go away--as a lion stalks leisurely back with his prey to his lair.
15. return to my place--that is, withdraw My favor.
till they acknowledge their offence--The Hebrew is, "till they
suffer the penalty of their guilt." Probably "accepting the punishment
of their guilt" (compare @Zec 11:5) is included in the idea, as
English Version translates. Compare
@Le 26:40,41 Jer 29:12,13 Eze 6:9 20:43 36:31.
seek my face--that is, seek My favor (@Pr 29:26, Margin).
in . . . affliction . . . seek me early--that is, diligently; rising up
before dawn to seek Me (@Ps 119:147; compare @Ps 78:34).