Hosea · Chapter 2

V. 1. Ye-Who of no people are made a people, who were once unpitied, but now have obtained mercy. Your brethren-To those of the ten tribes, who are your brethren. Ammi-Let them know that yet they are the people of God, they are still within the covenant of their father Abraham, if they will as their father, walk with God, all shall be well.

Verse 1. Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi] I prefer the interpretation of these proper names. Say ye unto your brethren, MY PEOPLE; and to your sisters, who have OBTAINED MERCY.

Verses 1, 2. Say to your brethren — Many interpreters consider this verse as being connected with the preceding chapter, thus: When that general restoration of the Jewish nation shall take place, you may change your language in speaking to those of your brethren and sisters whom I had before disowned, and you may call them Ammi, my people, and Ruhamah, she that hath obtained mercy. The prophet alludes to the 6th and 9th verses of the preceding chapter. Other expositors, however, with more apparent reason, consider this verse as connected with the following words, and translate it thus: “Ye that are my people, and have obtained mercy, speak to your brethren and sisters, and plead with your mother,” &c. “Although the Israelites, in the days of Hosea, were in general corrupt, and addicted to idolatry; yet there were among them, in the worst times, some who had not bowed the knee to Baal. These were always Ammi and Ruhamah; God’s own people, and a darling daughter. God commissions these faithful few to admonish the inhabitants of the land in general, of the dreadful judgments that would be brought upon them by the gross idolatry of the Jewish Church and nation;” and to reprove, and use their best endeavours to reform that general corruption which the nation had contracted by its idolatry; whereby the people had broken the covenant God had made with them, and had caused a separation, or divorce, between him and them. Let her therefore put away her whoredoms, &c. — Let her leave off her idolatries. These are often expressed in the Scriptures by the fondness and caresses which pass between unchaste lovers.

Verse 1. Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi, that is, my people; and to your sisters, Ruhamah, that is, mercy, or oh mercy, or having obtained mercy, or mercy shall follow.

1. With this triumph a new era opens, an era of prosperity and felicity. This transformation warrants the change of the names of ill omen into their direct opposites. Say ye — The members of the nation nearest the prophet are to spread the good news to their fellow countrymen. Ammi — My people. Ruhamah — She is loved, or pitied. As the three names in Hosea 1:4, 6, 9, symbolize the utter rejection of Israel, so the names of Hosea 1:11; 2:1, symbolize the complete restoration of the people. APPLICATION OF THE SYMBOLIC ACTS AND NAMES IN Hosea 1 and 3 — 2-23.

Chapters 1-3 are not arranged in what appears to be the logical order: chapter 3 attaches itself to Hosea 1:9; 3:1, continues the story of Hosea’s domestic life. He is told to go and “love a woman beloved of her friend, and an adulteress.” Marti thinks, but without good reason, that this act is entirely independent of chapter 1. The symbolism would be destroyed if the woman of Hosea 3:1, were any other than Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim (Hosea 1:3). Lo-ammi (Hosea 1:9) suggests the step in the domestic drama which is left unrecorded. The woman had fled from her home to give herself more freely to her shameful practices; Hosea 3:2 seems to imply that she had become the slave concubine of another. Hosea, impelled by love and adivine impulse, buys her back, though for a while he does not restore her to the full privileges of wifehood (Hosea 3:3). This entire history is presupposed in Hosea 2:2-23; 3:4, 5, which sections contain the application of the prophet’s own experience to the history of Israel. The historical persons in Hosea 1:2-9, and Hosea 3:1-3. the prophet, his wife, his children, here become allegorical figures. Israel is the adulterous wife, Jehovah the deceived but still loving husband; the individual Israelites are the children. Some of the latter have remained free from the sins of their mother. To these Jehovah addresses himself, that they should attempt the restoration of the faithless wife and mother, Israel, to the wronged but yearning husband, Jehovah. The utterance opens with a description of Israel’s whoredom (Hosea 2:5), which is followed by an announcement of the evil consequences of the faithlessness (6-13); it closes with a delineation of the efforts to be put forth by Jehovah to win back the faithless wife, and of the glories awaiting her when she comes to her senses (14-23).

The faithlessness of Israel, 2-5.

V. 2. Your mother-The whole body of the people Israel, which were typified in Gomer. Plead-Ye that are sons and daughters of God amidst this idolatrous nation. Not my wife-For by her adulteries she hath dissolved the marriage-covenant.

Verse 2. Plead with your mother] People of Judah, accuse your mother, (Jerusalem,) who has abandoned my worship, and is become idolatrous; convince her of her folly and wickedness, and let her return to him from whom she has so deeply revolted.

Verses 1, 2. Say to your brethren — Many interpreters consider this verse as being connected with the preceding chapter, thus: When that general restoration of the Jewish nation shall take place, you may change your language in speaking to those of your brethren and sisters whom I had before disowned, and you may call them Ammi, my people, and Ruhamah, she that hath obtained mercy. The prophet alludes to the 6th and 9th verses of the preceding chapter. Other expositors, however, with more apparent reason, consider this verse as connected with the following words, and translate it thus: “Ye that are my people, and have obtained mercy, speak to your brethren and sisters, and plead with your mother,” &c. “Although the Israelites, in the days of Hosea, were in general corrupt, and addicted to idolatry; yet there were among them, in the worst times, some who had not bowed the knee to Baal. These were always Ammi and Ruhamah; God’s own people, and a darling daughter. God commissions these faithful few to admonish the inhabitants of the land in general, of the dreadful judgments that would be brought upon them by the gross idolatry of the Jewish Church and nation;” and to reprove, and use their best endeavours to reform that general corruption which the nation had contracted by its idolatry; whereby the people had broken the covenant God had made with them, and had caused a separation, or divorce, between him and them. Let her therefore put away her whoredoms, &c. — Let her leave off her idolatries. These are often expressed in the Scriptures by the fondness and caresses which pass between unchaste lovers.

2. Plead [“Contend”] — The urgency of the appeal is indicated by its repetition. The individual Israelites who are still sensitive to the divine influence are addressed; they are urged to “exert a corrective, reforming influence on the corrupt aggregate” in order to avoid more serious consequences. The nation is called their mother — Out of love to her they should work for her best interests. She is not my wife, neither am I her husband — The marriage tie is already dissolved through her whoredom; and unless she repents there is no reason why she should not be utterly cast off. Out of her sight — Literally from her face; as the next clause shows, to be understood literally. The expression of the countenance reveals the character (Jeremiah 3:3). Adulteries from between her breasts — Interpreted by some as referring to the wearing of amulets between the breasts in honor of the deities with whom the Israelites committed adultery; but of such a custom we have no knowledge. It is better understood as another bold expression of her adulterous character, the shameless uncovering of the breast. Another possible interpretation is to regard the abstract adultery used for the concrete adulterer, a usage not uncommon in Hebrew. The adulterer who lies between the breasts (Song of Solomon 1:13) is to be driven away. 3. If this is not done she must suffer the consequences of her wrongdoing. Lest I strip her naked — Seems to have been one way of punishing an adulteress (Ezekiel 16:38, 39). As in the day that she was born — At the time of the Exodus; then Israel had nothing. All she acquired subsequently she owed to Jehovah; but if she continues in her disloyalty to him he will withdraw his support, and she will relapse into a state of complete destitution. Wilderness — In punishment for Israel’s adulteries the land will be robbed of its glory and fertility; the fruitful fields will be turned into a dreary desert. The same thought is expressed in the next clause: as a result of drought the land will become utterly desolate. People and land are not kept apart; both will suffer. The last clause of verse 3 should be combined with the first clause of verse

4. And slay her with thirst — The final punishment of an adulteress was death (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22; Ezekiel 16:40). In this case Israel, or rather the land, will perish of thirst, that is, drought. Her children — The inhabitants of the land must share in the punishment of the mother, because they are children of whoredoms. As said above, the children are the individual Israelites; in their individual capacity they manifest the same tendencies as the nation as a whole. The phrase, therefore, means not simply children born of a mother with unchaste tendencies, but children possessing such tendencies, and indulging in unchaste practices.

The guilt of Israel is described further in verse 5; the verse thus supplies the ground for the earnest appeal in verse 2. Played the harlot — Openly she violated her obligations to Jehovah; such conduct is rightly called shameful. It was also premeditated; deaf to all exhortations, she declared firmly, I will go after my lovers — Or, paramours. By these are meant not the surrounding nations, but the Baalim (verse 13), the gods of the native Canaanites. Among the latter no supreme deity seems to have been worshiped; separate districts each had its own deity. The worship of these probably arose in connection with agriculture. “The local Baals fertilized each his own district by his streams and springs, and hence they were the owners — this is the meaning of the term Baal — of these naturally fertile spots.” In time they were regarded also as the spenders of rain; and the Baals were worshiped as the givers of fertility and prosperity. When the Israelites came into the land they, though nominally continuing to worship Jehovah, were to some extent influenced by the natives, so that they came to see in these Baalim the givers of “every good and perfect gift,” and to pay them the homage belonging exclusively to Jehovah. Herein consisted their whoredom which the prophet condemns. The Baal against whom Elijah fought was an entirely different deity. Several products are enumerated as being ascribed to the power of the Baalim. These, the most important, are only samples; everything else was thought to come from them. Bread — Food. Water — Because of its scarcity prized very highly by an agricultural people. Wool and flax — From which clothing was made. Oil — See on Joel 1:10. Drink — Literally, drinks. Wine and other drinks made of fruit, such as dates, figs, raisins. Food, clothing, and articles of luxury were all traced to the Baalim. For this disloyalty to Jehovah, Israel must be punished. Jehovah must vindicate himself. The evil consequences and punishment of Israel’s faithlessness, 6-13.

V. 3. Strip her-As was usually done by incensed husbands, divorcing impudent adulteresses. As a wilderness-Barren and desolate.

Verse 3. Lest I strip her naked] Lest I expose her to infamy, want, and punishment. The punishment of an adulteress among the ancient Germans was this: “They shaved off her hair, stripped her naked in the presence of her relatives, and in this state drove her from the house of her husband.” See on Isaiah 3:17; and see also Ezekiel 16:39; 23:26. However reproachful this might be to such delinquents, it had no tendency to promote their moral reformation.

And set her like a dry land] The Israelites, if obedient, were promised a land flowing with milk and honey; but, should they be disobedient, the reverse. And this is what God here threatens against disobedient Israel.

Verse 3. Lest I strip her naked, &c. — The punishment frequently inflicted upon harlots was, to strip them naked and expose them to the world. The punishment of adulteresses among the Germans is thus described by Tacitus, “Accisis crinibus nudatam coram propinguis expellit domo maritus.” Or the allusion may be to the ignominy which brutal conquerors sometimes inflicted on the captives they took in war, by stripping them of their clothing and causing them to travel in that condition, exposed to the inclemency of the weather, and, which was yet worse, to the intolerable heat of the sun: see note on Isaiah 3:17. Thus God threatens to deal with the Israelites: to deliver them into the hands of their enemies, and carry them away naked into captivity, (see verse 9,) in as forlorn and desolate a condition as they were in during their bondage in Egypt. And make her as a wilderness — A state of captivity is fitly compared to being placed in a wilderness, in want of common necessaries: compare Ezekiel 19:13. “It may seem harsh,” says Bishop Horsley, “to say of a woman that she shall be laid waste like a wilderness, and reduced to the condition of a parched land. But it is to be observed that the allegorical style makes an intercommunity of attributes between the type and the thing typified. So that when a woman is the image of a country or of a church, that may be said of a woman, which, in unfigured language, might be said of the country, or the church, which she represents. The country might literally be made a waste wilderness, by unfruitful seasons, by the devastations of war, or of noxious vermin: a church is made a wilderness and a parched land, when the living waters of the Spirit are withheld.”

Ver. 3. Lest I strip her naked. The feminine name was given by the Greeks to all countries, and on that idea the text is founded. Nudity was the ancient punishment of an adulteress. Ezekiel 16:37. The scenes of drunkenness and prostitution which attended gentile feasts, were such as cannot be recited.

Verse 4. They be the children of whoredoms.] They are all idolaters; and have been consecrated to idols, whose marks they bear.

Verses 4, 5. And I will not have mercy on her children, &c. — As an injured husband has no regard for the children which his wife has had by another man; so neither will I have pity on thy children which are trained up to practise thy idolatries. For they be the children of whoredoms — Spurious children, not knowing their father: so those might fitly be called who worshipped a plurality of gods; for by worshipping a multiplicity of them, they declared plainly, that they did not know to whom their worship was due, or who was their Creator or original Father. For their mother hath played the harlot — This proves the truth of the above charge, and justifies the severity of the punishment. She that conceived them hath done shamefully — Hath acted like an impudent and shameless harlot, sinning openly and avowedly. She said, I will go after my lovers — By lovers here, are meant, first, The idols, with whom the Israelites committed spiritual adultery: see Jeremiah 3:1; and then the idolatrous nations, whose alliance the Israelites courted, and, in order thereto, practised their idolatries: the word may be understood here in both senses; for they ascribed all the plenty they enjoyed chiefly to the favour of the idol-gods which they worshipped, Jeremiah 44:17; and then they placed their trust and confidence in the confederacies they had made with their neighbouring idolaters; and thought the peace and plenty they possessed were very much owing to their alliance and protection.

V. 5. That give me-Whereas every mercy she enjoyed was God’s gift, a fruit of his covenant, love and faithfulness towards her; yet she denies all his kindness, and ascribes to her idols, the bread she ate, the water she drank, and the clothes she wore.

Verse 5. That give me my bread] See the note on Jeremiah 44:17, 18, where nearly the same words are found and illustrated.

Verses 4, 5. And I will not have mercy on her children, &c. — As an injured husband has no regard for the children which his wife has had by another man; so neither will I have pity on thy children which are trained up to practise thy idolatries. For they be the children of whoredoms — Spurious children, not knowing their father: so those might fitly be called who worshipped a plurality of gods; for by worshipping a multiplicity of them, they declared plainly, that they did not know to whom their worship was due, or who was their Creator or original Father. For their mother hath played the harlot — This proves the truth of the above charge, and justifies the severity of the punishment. She that conceived them hath done shamefully — Hath acted like an impudent and shameless harlot, sinning openly and avowedly. She said, I will go after my lovers — By lovers here, are meant, first, The idols, with whom the Israelites committed spiritual adultery: see Jeremiah 3:1; and then the idolatrous nations, whose alliance the Israelites courted, and, in order thereto, practised their idolatries: the word may be understood here in both senses; for they ascribed all the plenty they enjoyed chiefly to the favour of the idol-gods which they worshipped, Jeremiah 44:17; and then they placed their trust and confidence in the confederacies they had made with their neighbouring idolaters; and thought the peace and plenty they possessed were very much owing to their alliance and protection.

V. 6. Hedge up-I will compass thee in with wars, and calamities, that tho’ thou love thy sinful courses, thou shalt have little pleasure in them. Make a wall-Yea, I will make the calamities of this people as a strong wall, which they cannot break. Her paths-Wherein thou didst go when thou wentest to Egypt, or Syria for help; but by my judgments, and thine enemies power, thou shalt be so guarded, thou shalt not find how to send to them for relief.

Verse 6. I will hedge up thy way with thorns] I will put it out of your power to escape the judgments I have threatened; and, in spite of all your attachment to your idols, you shall find that they can give you neither bread, nor water, nor wool, nor flax, nor oil, nor drink. And ye shall be brought into such circumstances, that the pursuit of your expensive idolatry shall be impossible. And she shall be led so deep into captivity, as never to find the road back to her own land. And this is the fact; for those who were carried away into Assyria have been lost among the nations, few of them having ever returned to Judea. And, if in being, where they are now is utterly unknown.

Verses 6, 7. Therefore I will hedge up thy way with thorns, &c. — That is, with difficulties and distresses; and make a wall — Hebrew, hrdg, a stone fence. I will effectually block up her way, and surround her with great calamities. That she shall not find her paths — That she shall not know which way to turn to extricate herself from them. And she shall follow after her lovers — She shall seek for help of her idols, and her idolatrous allies, but shall receive none. Or, as Archbishop Newcome paraphrases the words, “For some time she shall remain addicted to her Egyptian and Syrian idols, and to all her former idolatrous and immoral practices: but without carrying her evil wishes into execution.” She shall seek them, but not find them — A proverbial expression denoting lost labour. She shall seek for favour and succour at her lovers’ hands, but all in vain, they shall all forsake her, and change their ancient love into mortal hatred. “It is the usual practice of the devil and his instruments,” says an old writer, “to bring men into the briers and thorns, and there to leave them to shift as they can. Thus the Pharisees dealt by Judas; What is that to us, say they, see thou to that: they left him when they had led him to his ruin.” God deals very differently with his people. As in very faithfulness he afflicts them, that he may be true to their best interests: so when they follow hard after him, and seek him as David did, they are sure to find him; if they search for him with all their heart, Jeremiah 29:13. When they meet with disappointments it is in mercy, and they are chastened of the Lord, that they may not be condemned with the world. Then shall she say, I will return to my first husband, &c. — Her afflictions will bring her to a sense of her duty, and of the happiness she enjoyed as long as she cleaved steadfastly unto Jehovah the true God.

6, 7. I will hedge up — Israel will be like a wanderer whose progress is suddenly hindered by a thorn hedge. Thy way — The change to the second person might perhaps be explained as due to the intense emotion of the prophet; LXX. and Peshitto read the third person. A wall — Better, with R.V., “a wall against her”; is to accomplish the same thing as the hedge (Job 3:23; 19:8; Lamentations 3:7-9). Thus obstructed she cannot find her way to her paramours. How Jehovah will wall up the way is stated in 9ff. When Jehovah strikes the blow the Baalim will be helpless. Follow… seek — In both cases the intensive form of the verb: follow earnestly, seek diligently. She will leave no means untried to reach her paramours, that they may help her out of the distress and renew her prosperity. Not overtake… find — Her efforts will not produce the desired results. Then — When she becomes conscious of the hopelessness of the situation. She will be brought to her senses (Luke 15:17), and will decide to return to her first husband — The God worshiped by the fathers. Then — Before Israel began the worship of the Baalim. Now — Not at the time of the prophet’s speaking, but in the future when Israel sees the awfulness of the calamity, when the distress described in 9ff. becomes a reality. With this conception, that calamity and disloyalty to Jehovah are closely connected, compare 2 Kings 17:7ff. The decision to return can hardly be regarded as expressive of repentance (Jeremiah 3:21ff.); all that is implied is anxiety to escape the distress. Verse 5 describes the sin and its cause; 6, 7 announce the judgment in figurative language; 9-13 expound the figurative announcement. The exposition is preceded by a restatement of the facts that make necessary the judgment. This arrangement of the thought is not unnatural; and there seems insufficient reason for rejecting 6, 7 as a later interpolation, or for placing these verses after verse 13, so as to bring together 5 and 8, though the latter would make a good continuation of the former. There is no good reason even for rejecting 7b, to which Marti takes exception as interrupting the connection and emphasizing repentance and conversion concerning which 8ff. are silent. If the arrangement is interpreted as just suggested the connection is not broken, and, properly interpreted, nothing is said about repentance or conversion.

V. 7. Her lovers-Idols and idolaters. Overtake them-But shall never overtake their desired help. To my first husband-God who had married Israel to himself.

Verses 6, 7. Therefore I will hedge up thy way with thorns, &c. — That is, with difficulties and distresses; and make a wall — Hebrew, hrdg, a stone fence. I will effectually block up her way, and surround her with great calamities. That she shall not find her paths — That she shall not know which way to turn to extricate herself from them. And she shall follow after her lovers — She shall seek for help of her idols, and her idolatrous allies, but shall receive none. Or, as Archbishop Newcome paraphrases the words, “For some time she shall remain addicted to her Egyptian and Syrian idols, and to all her former idolatrous and immoral practices: but without carrying her evil wishes into execution.” She shall seek them, but not find them — A proverbial expression denoting lost labour. She shall seek for favour and succour at her lovers’ hands, but all in vain, they shall all forsake her, and change their ancient love into mortal hatred. “It is the usual practice of the devil and his instruments,” says an old writer, “to bring men into the briers and thorns, and there to leave them to shift as they can. Thus the Pharisees dealt by Judas; What is that to us, say they, see thou to that: they left him when they had led him to his ruin.” God deals very differently with his people. As in very faithfulness he afflicts them, that he may be true to their best interests: so when they follow hard after him, and seek him as David did, they are sure to find him; if they search for him with all their heart, Jeremiah 29:13. When they meet with disappointments it is in mercy, and they are chastened of the Lord, that they may not be condemned with the world. Then shall she say, I will return to my first husband, &c. — Her afflictions will bring her to a sense of her duty, and of the happiness she enjoyed as long as she cleaved steadfastly unto Jehovah the true God.

6, 7. I will hedge up — Israel will be like a wanderer whose progress is suddenly hindered by a thorn hedge. Thy way — The change to the second person might perhaps be explained as due to the intense emotion of the prophet; LXX. and Peshitto read the third person. A wall — Better, with R.V., “a wall against her”; is to accomplish the same thing as the hedge (Job 3:23; 19:8; Lamentations 3:7-9). Thus obstructed she cannot find her way to her paramours. How Jehovah will wall up the way is stated in 9ff. When Jehovah strikes the blow the Baalim will be helpless. Follow… seek — In both cases the intensive form of the verb: follow earnestly, seek diligently. She will leave no means untried to reach her paramours, that they may help her out of the distress and renew her prosperity. Not overtake… find — Her efforts will not produce the desired results. Then — When she becomes conscious of the hopelessness of the situation. She will be brought to her senses (Luke 15:17), and will decide to return to her first husband — The God worshiped by the fathers. Then — Before Israel began the worship of the Baalim. Now — Not at the time of the prophet’s speaking, but in the future when Israel sees the awfulness of the calamity, when the distress described in 9ff. becomes a reality. With this conception, that calamity and disloyalty to Jehovah are closely connected, compare 2 Kings 17:7ff. The decision to return can hardly be regarded as expressive of repentance (Jeremiah 3:21ff.); all that is implied is anxiety to escape the distress. Verse 5 describes the sin and its cause; 6, 7 announce the judgment in figurative language; 9-13 expound the figurative announcement. The exposition is preceded by a restatement of the facts that make necessary the judgment. This arrangement of the thought is not unnatural; and there seems insufficient reason for rejecting 6, 7 as a later interpolation, or for placing these verses after verse 13, so as to bring together 5 and 8, though the latter would make a good continuation of the former. There is no good reason even for rejecting 7b, to which Marti takes exception as interrupting the connection and emphasizing repentance and conversion concerning which 8ff. are silent. If the arrangement is interpreted as just suggested the connection is not broken, and, properly interpreted, nothing is said about repentance or conversion.

V. 8. Did not know-Did not consider. They-The body of the Jews. Prepared-Dedicated to the service of the idol.

Verse 8. For she did not know that I gave her corn] How often are the gifts of God’s immediate bounty attributed to fortuitous causes—to any cause but the right one!

Which they prepared for Baal.] And how often are the gifts of God’s bounty perverted into means of dishonouring him! God gives us wisdom, strength, and property; and we use them to sin against him with the greater skill, power, and effect! Were the goods those of the enemy, in whose service they are employed, the crime would be the less. But the crime is deeply engrained, when God’s property is made the instrument to dishonour himself.

Verses 8, 9. For she did not know — Or, as Bishop Horsley renders it, But she would not know, that I gave her corn, &c. — She did not, or would not consider that all the necessaries she enjoyed, as well as her riches and ornaments, were my gifts, which yet she ungratefully employed in the service of her idols, and in making images of false gods to worship instead of me. Therefore — Or, for the punishment of her ingratitude; will I take away my corn in the time thereof — I will change my manner of acting toward her, and deprive her of the good things she hopes infallibly to enjoy. At the time when she expects to reap the fruits of the earth, her enemies shall invade her and destroy them, or unfavourable seasons shall entirely blast them, or other causes prevent her enjoying them; and will recover my wool and my flax — Will take back again the proper materials I gave for clothing her. This verse, according to Bishop Horsley, speaks “of calamities already begun, and the next describes the progress and increase of them. It appears from all the prophets, and particularly from Amos and Joel, that the beginning of judgment upon this refractory, rebellious people, was in unfruitful seasons, and noxious vermin, producing a failure of the crops, dearth, murrain of the cattle, famine, and pestilential diseases.”

8. For — Hebrew, “and.” She — The use of the Hebrew pronoun before the verb places special emphasis upon the same: “she, though my wife and enjoying countless blessings.” Did not know — To know is often used in the sense of acknowledge; it may be so here; in life and worship they failed to acknowledge; but the prophet may think of the absence of intellectual apprehension that Jehovah was the source of all blessing. Corn — (or grain),… [“new”] wine,… oil — The chief products of Canaan (Deuteronomy 7:13; 11:14; see on Joel 1:10). Silver and gold, which they prepared [“used”] for Baal — The possession of silver and gold imported from afar was, in a sense, also due to the divine favor (compare Isaiah 2:7); the Israelites, failing to recognize the true source, used them — that the relative clause belongs to both nouns seems evident — for Baal: that is, in his honor; either they made more beautiful and splendid his worship or, as the margin R.V. reads, “they made the silver and gold into the Baal,” that is, images of Baal. In view of Hosea 8:4, the latter may be preferable (Isaiah 44:17). Several commentators reject the relative clause entirely because (1) the plural they used is peculiar. Who is the subject? Throughout this section Israel is referred to as she; (2) the singular Baal. Hosea seems to condemn throughout the worship of the Canaanitish Baalim (Hosea 2:5) and not that of the one Baal, the god of Tyre; (3) the emphasis is on the giving by Jehovah, not on the use of the blessings for any specific purpose. Marti would go further and omit also “gold,” because of the peculiar order of the words in Hebrew, where silver and gold are not connected. Objection (3) is of no weight. The other peculiarities cannot be overlooked, though opinions may differ as to whether they are sufficiently serious to warrant the rejection of the words. Verses 9ff., parallel with 6, 7, announce the judgment. Therefore will I return, and take away — Equivalent to take away again; R.V., “take back.” Corn… wine… wool… flax — See verses 5, 8. In verse 5 Israel had called these things my bread, etc. Here Jehovah suggests that in reality they are his. Time… season thereof — That is, at harvest time, when under ordinary conditions men may safely expect them. Given to cover [“which should have covered”] her nakedness — A reminder that without God’s mercy, in her natural condition, “Israel was utterly helpless and destitute.”

V. 9. Take away-I will resume all I gave. In the time thereof-When they should gather it in, as being ripe.

Verse 9. Therefore will I return, and take away] In the course of my providence, I will withhold those benefits which she has prostituted to her idolatrous services. And I will neither give the land rain, nor fruitful seasons.

Verses 8, 9. For she did not know — Or, as Bishop Horsley renders it, But she would not know, that I gave her corn, &c. — She did not, or would not consider that all the necessaries she enjoyed, as well as her riches and ornaments, were my gifts, which yet she ungratefully employed in the service of her idols, and in making images of false gods to worship instead of me. Therefore — Or, for the punishment of her ingratitude; will I take away my corn in the time thereof — I will change my manner of acting toward her, and deprive her of the good things she hopes infallibly to enjoy. At the time when she expects to reap the fruits of the earth, her enemies shall invade her and destroy them, or unfavourable seasons shall entirely blast them, or other causes prevent her enjoying them; and will recover my wool and my flax — Will take back again the proper materials I gave for clothing her. This verse, according to Bishop Horsley, speaks “of calamities already begun, and the next describes the progress and increase of them. It appears from all the prophets, and particularly from Amos and Joel, that the beginning of judgment upon this refractory, rebellious people, was in unfruitful seasons, and noxious vermin, producing a failure of the crops, dearth, murrain of the cattle, famine, and pestilential diseases.”

V. 10. Her lewdness-Folly and wickedness.

Verse 10. In the sight of her lovers] Her idols, and her faithful or faithless allies.

Verses 10, 11. And now will I discover her lewdness, &c. — The folly and wickedness of her idolatries shall appear by the punishments which I will inflict upon her, which shall be so remarkable that they shall be taken notice of by the idolatrous nations round about her, which have pretended a friendship for her, and promised her great assistance and prosperity if she would worship the same gods that they worshipped; but neither they nor any of their false gods shall save her from the calamities I will bring upon her. And I will cause all her mirth to cease — The mirth and jollity of Israel were greatly damped when Tiglath-pileser took Ijon and other cities, and subdued Gilead and Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and carried the people away captive to Assyria, which he did but a few years after this prophecy was uttered. And surely all their joy must have ceased about ten or twelve years after, when Samaria was taken, and Hosea and all Israel made captives. Her feast-days, her new-moons, &c. — Though apostate Israel was fallen to idolatry, and had renounced the true worship of God, yet by this verse it appears they retained many of the rites and ceremonies that were used in Judah, or else they set up others like them. But God here threatens, that in their captivity they should have no opportunity to celebrate them.

10. By withholding the crops at the time when the people might expect them Jehovah will show that it is he, and he alone, who controls the forces of nature, and not the Baalim (verse 5); the latter will be absolutely helpless. Lewdness — R.V. margin, “shame”; carries further in figurative language the announcement of verse 9. With the flax and wool, intended for covering, gone, the woman — here Israel — will stand exposed naked. In the sight of her lovers — The thought is not that, seeing her thus, they will begin to abhor and despise her, but rather that, though it is done in their very presence, they will be unable to help her (compare Isaiah 1:7). The Baalim never have done anything, and their helplessness will become self-evident when Jehovah strikes the blow. No one can rescue Israel. If this were the only reference in Hosea to the worship of other gods one might be led to think that Hosea believed in their existence though he considered them less powerful than Jehovah; but compare Hosea 4:5, and 14:3.

V. 11. Her feast days-Though apostate, Israel was fallen to idolatry, yet they retained many of the Mosaic rites and ceremonies. Her solemn feasts-The three annual feasts of tabernacles, weeks, and passover, all which ceased when they were carried captive, by Salmaneser.

Verse 11. Her feast days] Jerusalem shall be pillaged and destroyed; and therefore all her joyous assemblies, and religious feasts, &c., shall cease.

Verses 10, 11. And now will I discover her lewdness, &c. — The folly and wickedness of her idolatries shall appear by the punishments which I will inflict upon her, which shall be so remarkable that they shall be taken notice of by the idolatrous nations round about her, which have pretended a friendship for her, and promised her great assistance and prosperity if she would worship the same gods that they worshipped; but neither they nor any of their false gods shall save her from the calamities I will bring upon her. And I will cause all her mirth to cease — The mirth and jollity of Israel were greatly damped when Tiglath-pileser took Ijon and other cities, and subdued Gilead and Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and carried the people away captive to Assyria, which he did but a few years after this prophecy was uttered. And surely all their joy must have ceased about ten or twelve years after, when Samaria was taken, and Hosea and all Israel made captives. Her feast-days, her new-moons, &c. — Though apostate Israel was fallen to idolatry, and had renounced the true worship of God, yet by this verse it appears they retained many of the rites and ceremonies that were used in Judah, or else they set up others like them. But God here threatens, that in their captivity they should have no opportunity to celebrate them.

11. An inevitable result of the calamity will be the cessation of mirth — As the context shows, the merrymaking in connection with religious celebrations. Feast days [“feasts”] — The same word as the Arabic haj, by which the pilgrimage to Mecca is known. Probably not feasts in general, but the three great feasts — of Unleavened Bread, of Harvest, of Ingathering — which were accompanied by pilgrimages (Exodus 23:14-17); these were occasions of rejoicing (Isaiah 30:29). New moons — The new moon, the first of the month, was from the earliest time a sacred day among the Hebrews and their neighbors (1 Samuel 20:5; 2 Kings 4:23). Its celebration goes back probably to a period when the moon was worshiped as a divine being. (See article “New Moon” in Hastings’s Dictionary of the Bible.) Sabbaths — Another day considered sacred from the earliest period; its observance is enjoined in the Decalogue, but it is not confined to the Hebrews. (See American Journal of Theology, 1898, pp. 312-352.) According to Amos 8:5, on the two sacred days mentioned last the people abstained from common labor. Solemn feasts [“assemblies”] — Better, festal gatherings; a general term for festive seasons, including here all the feasts not mentioned previously (compare Amos 8:10; Jeremiah 7:34; Lamentations 1:4; 5:15).

V. 12. My rewards-They gave the praise of all their abundance to idols. Them-Their vine-yards and olive-yards, and the places where they planted their fig-trees, and other fruit-trees.

Verse 12. These are my rewards] They attributed all the blessings of Providence as rewards received from the idols which they worshipped.

Verses 12, 13. And I will destroy her vines — Those blessings, or fruits of the earth, which she has attributed to her false gods, I will give to the beasts of the field to eat, making the whole land only a wilderness for beasts. Among other objects of their false worship, the Israelites worshipped the celestial luminaries, and, it is likely, attributed the fruits of the earth to them, as self-sufficient, or producing them by their own power, and not as mere instruments in the hands of Jehovah. And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim — I will punish her for all the idolatries she has committed from the days of Jeroboam, who first set up the worship of false gods: see chap. 13:1. The chief god of every country was called by the name of Baal, which means lord: so Baal-peor was the god of the Moabites, Baal-zebub was the god of Ekron, (2 Kings 1:2,) Baal-berith the god of the Phenicians, Judges 8:33. These several deities are in the plural number called Baalim, lords; for they had lords many, 1 Corinthians 8:5. And she decked herself with her ear-rings — She put on the richest ornaments on their idolatrous festivals.

Ver. 12. I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees, by the army of Salmanezer, who devastated Samaria. 2 Kings 17:6. A contemporary prophet speaks in the same manner as Hosea: “Wo to the drunkards of Ephraim.” Isaiah 28:1.

Verse 12 is the natural continuation of 9. Nowack, who considers verse 10 a later addition, thinks the original order to have been 9, 12, 11, 13. Vines… fig trees — Two of the choicest products of Palestine; their destruction would be a serious calamity (see on Joel 1:7). Since they grew extensively and luxuriously, they were regarded as indicating in a special manner the favor of the Baalim. Rewards [“hire”] — The compensation offered to the prostitute. How Jehovah will destroy is not stated, it may be by war or by drought. The gardens and orchards will be neglected and turn into forests — Better, jungles, the abode of wild beasts. Beasts of the field — Wild, undomesticated beasts (compare Isaiah 7:23-25). On the rapidity with which in the neglected fields wild animals multiply, see 2 Kings 17:25.

V. 13. Visit-Punish. The days-The sins of those days. Of Baalim-Baal was the great idol of the ten tribes; here it is plural Baalim, to denote the multitude of idols which they worshipped, all called by this one name. Decked herself-To put the greater honour on the idol.

Verse 13. Days of Baalim] To visit signifies to inflict punishment; the days are taken for the acts of idolatrous worship committed on them; and Baalim means the multitude of false gods worshipped by them. Baal was a general name for a male idol, as Astarte was for a female. Baalim includes all the male idols, as Ashtaroth all those that were female. But the species of idol was often designated by some adjunct; as Baal-Zebub, Baal-Peor, Baal-Zephon, Baal-Berith, &c.

Her earrings] hmzn nizmah, signifies rather a nose jewel. These are worn by females in the East to the present day, in great abundance. And her jewels] htyljw vechelyatah, rings, armlets, bracelets, ankle-rings, and ornaments of this kind.

Verses 12, 13. And I will destroy her vines — Those blessings, or fruits of the earth, which she has attributed to her false gods, I will give to the beasts of the field to eat, making the whole land only a wilderness for beasts. Among other objects of their false worship, the Israelites worshipped the celestial luminaries, and, it is likely, attributed the fruits of the earth to them, as self-sufficient, or producing them by their own power, and not as mere instruments in the hands of Jehovah. And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim — I will punish her for all the idolatries she has committed from the days of Jeroboam, who first set up the worship of false gods: see chap. 13:1. The chief god of every country was called by the name of Baal, which means lord: so Baal-peor was the god of the Moabites, Baal-zebub was the god of Ekron, (2 Kings 1:2,) Baal-berith the god of the Phenicians, Judges 8:33. These several deities are in the plural number called Baalim, lords; for they had lords many, 1 Corinthians 8:5. And she decked herself with her ear-rings — She put on the richest ornaments on their idolatrous festivals.

13. The conclusion of this section of the prophecy. All the judgments threatened are the result of Israel’s faithlessness. I will visit — As frequently in the Old Testament, equivalent to punish. Days of [“the”] Baalim — Not special religious feast days celebrated in honor of the Baalim, but the feast days enumerated in verse 11. Nominally the Israelites continued to worship Jehovah; in reality he had been displaced from his pre-eminence and placed on a level with the Canaanitish deities. A worship permeated with Canaanitish elements could not be acceptable to Jehovah; therefore the feast days were not sacred to Jehovah, but to the Baalim, and might properly be called days of the Baalim. Wherein [“unto which”] she burned incense — A.V. is to be preferred; the days on which she burned incense to them. The verb is used in the later period in the narrower sense of burn incense; here, as in Hosea 4:13; 11:2; Amos 4:5, it means offer sacrifice in general. Earrings — Or, nose ring; since the noun is in the singular, preferably the latter. Jewels — The reference is not to special decorations to attract the paramours, but to the common custom of attiring one’s self in the best garments and decorating one’s self with all kinds of ornaments on holy days. Compare the expression in the Koran, “In the day of ornament,” that is, the festival, and the Arabic saying, “When the feast with its noise is past everyone puts on his own rags again.” She… forgat me — The Baalim alone were in her mind (verse 8). Had the Israelites thought of Jehovah at all they would have seen the absurdity of attempting to harmonize the worship of Jehovah with that of the Baalim. The disciplinary effects of the judgment and the future exaltation of Israel, 14-23.

In this section appears a very marked change in the tone of the prophet. From threats he passes abruptly to promises. To some commentators (Nowack, Marti, Harper) this abruptness seems a sufficient reason for denying these verses to Hosea. But the sufficiency of this reason is not beyond question. Judgment, according to the teaching of the prophets, has always a disciplinary purpose. In verses 6, 9ff., Hosea has announced the judgment necessary to bring the people to their senses; but Jehovah still loves his faithless spouse. When he has succeeded in making her again sensitive to his influences he will once more pour upon her expressions of his love, just as the prophet did upon his wife (Hosea 3:1-3). If we have regard for the line of thought presented in chapters 1-3 (see general remarks on Hosea 2:2-23), and if we take Hosea 2:14-23, as the continuation of Hosea 2:6-13, rather than as parallel to the same, these verses find a natural interpretation. That the emphasis should be first upon the terrors of the judgment is natural in view of the sins of the people; that the prophet should point to future glory is in perfect accord with what seems to be the ordinary line of prophetic reasoning; and, far from breaking the force of the prophetic warnings, the promises would supply a very strong incentive to become worthy of the promised blessings. Moreover, an unbiased interpretation can see no contradiction between Hosea 2:14-23, and chapters 4ff., where the prophet emphasizes repentance as an essential condition of the divine favor. It goes almost without saying that the fulfillment of all Old Testament promises was dependent upon the proper attitude toward Jehovah. The verses before us touch upon one side only, namely, the part played by Jehovah. Surely it is not necessary to emphasize the condition every time a promise is made. Nor is there, as is sometimes asserted, any difference between the thought of these verses and that of chapter 3. Again, similarities with Ezekiel are not striking enough to prove the dependence of these verses upon any utterance of this exilic prophet.

The modern tendency, to regard practically all Messianic prophecies as the products of the exilic or postexilic period, is without adequate foundation. It is almost inconceivable that the pre-exilic prophets, with their lofty conception of the character of Jehovah, should have no message but that of doom. Their very conception of the righteousness of Jehovah made it impossible for them to believe that judgment could be his last word. There must be something beyond for those who remained faithful. The promises of the prophets as found in their books, including the passage before us, are no more than one should expect from men with their lofty religious conceptions. The possibility of interpolations may, indeed, not be denied, but these must be determined on other grounds than their Messianic character. Until more convincing evidence to the contrary is offered we may safely interpret these verses as coming from Hosea, and as the natural continuation of verses 6-13.

V. 14. I will allure-I will incline her mind to consider what I propose. Into the wilderness-Deep distress.

Verse 14. I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.] After inflicting many judgments upon her, I will restore her again. I will deal with her as a very affectionate husband would do to an unfaithful wife. Instead of making her a public example, he takes her in private, talks to and reasons with her; puts her on her good behaviour; promises to pass by all, and forgive all, if she will now amend her ways. In the meantime he provides what is necessary for her wants and comfortable support, and thus opening a door of hope for her, she may be fully reconciled; rejoice as at the beginning, when he first took her by the hand, and she became his bride. This is most probably the simple meaning of the above metaphorical expressions. The valley of Achor was very fruitful; it lay to the north of Jericho, not far from Gilgal. See Isaiah 65:10.

Verses 14, 15. Therefore, behold, I will allure her — As there is a plain alteration of the style here from threatenings to promises, so the first word of this verse should be translated nevertheless, or notwithstanding. And bring her into the wilderness — Or, after I have brought her into the wilderness. The state of the Jews in captivity is elsewhere expressed by a wilderness state: see note on Ezekiel 20:35. It probably means here the dispersion of the ten tribes, after their first captivity by Shalmaneser, 2 Kings 17:6. And speak comfortably to her — In these words, and the preceding, I will allure her, there is an allusion to the practice of fond husbands, who, forgetting past offences, use all the arts of endearment to persuade their wives, who have parted from them, to return to them again. So God will use the most powerful persuasions to bring the Israelites to the acknowledgment of the truth, notwithstanding all their former abuses of the means of grace. The Hebrew here, hbl l[ ytrbd, is literally, I will speak to her heart, that is, speak what shall touch her heart, in her outcast state in the wilderness of the Gentile world, by the proffers of mercy in the gospel. “For the doctrine of the gospels,” says Luther on this place, “is the true soothing speech, with which the minds of men are taken. For it terrifies not the soul, like the law, with severe denunciations of punishment; but although it reproves sin, it declares that God is ready to pardon sinners for the sake of his Son; and holds forth the sacrifice of the Son of God that the souls of sinners may be assured that satisfaction has been made by that to God.” And I will give her her vineyards from thence — Or, from that time, as the word µcm may be rendered: then I will restore her vineyards and fruitful fields which I had taken from her, verse 12: or, from that place; or, in consequence of these things; in which senses also the original word is used. God declares that from and through the wilderness lies the road to a rich, fruitful country; that is, that the calamities of the dispersion, together with the soothing intimations of the gospel, by bringing the Jewish race to a right mind, will be the means of reinstating them in that wealth and prosperity which God hath ordained for them in their own land. And the valley of Achor — Or, of trouble, or tribulation, as the Hebrew word Achor signifies; for a door of hope — The passage alludes to “the vale near Jericho, where the Israelites, first setting foot within the holy land, were thrown into trouble and consternation by the daring theft of Achan. In memory of which, and of the tragical scene exhibited in that spot, in the execution of the sacrilegious peculator and his whole family, the place was called the vale of Achor, Joshua 7. And this vale of Achor, though a scene of trouble and distress, was a door of hope to the Israelites under Joshua; for there, immediately after the execution of Achan, God said to Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed, (Joshua 8:1,) and promised to support him against Ai, her king, and her people. And from this time Joshua drove on his conquests with uninterrupted success. In like manner the tribulations of the Jews, in their present dispersion, shall open to them the door of hope.” And there — That is, in the wilderness, and in the vale of tribulation, under those circumstances of present difficulty, mixed with cheering hope; she shall sing as in the days of her youth — She shall express her joy in God, as her forefathers did after their deliverance at the Red sea; when God espoused them for his peculiar people, and entered into a covenant with them at mount Sinai, where they solemnly promised an entire obedience to him. And, or rather, even, as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt — “This perpetual allusion to the exodus,” or coming out of Egypt, “to the circumstances of the march through the wilderness, and the first entrance into the holy land, plainly points the prophecy to a similar deliverance, by the immediate power of God, under that leader, of whom Moses was a type.” — Horsley.

14-17. Israel will be restored to the intimate fellowship with Jehovah enjoyed in the beginning. Therefore — In view of the general situation, as described in verses 2-13. It requires divine interference. Therefore might, however, be connected only with the last clause of verse 13. Because Israel has forgotten me, therefore I — that the emphasis is on Jehovah’s efforts is indicated by the use of the separate pronoun with the verb form — must reveal myself to her and thus win her back. Behold, I will — According to G.-K., 116p, the construction points to the immediate future as the time of fulfillment; equivalent to I am about to do. Allure — G.A. Smith, “woo her.” The verb is used here in a good sense. Whatever Jehovah does is done for the purpose of winning back the faithless wife. The prophet says nothing about the means of persuasion; evidently he has in mind the judgment which will accomplish that which pleasanter means have failed to do. Bring her into the wilderness — The figure is that of Israel’s early wanderings in the desert (compare also verse 15). But the question arises, whether the prophet has in mind an actual deportation into the wilderness, that is, an exile (Ezekiel 20:35), or whether the removal into the desert is only a picture of the complete desolation of the land, such as is described in verses 6ff.

Verses 21-23 and Hosea 3:4, have sometimes been thought to favor the first interpretation; the former passage is ambiguous, the latter is more readily interpreted as implying an exile, but even its meaning is not beyond question. At any rate, Hosea 3:4, does not necessarily determine the interpretation of this verse; verses 6-13 certainly favor the second view. Speak comfortably unto her — Literally, speak unto her heart. “To every Israelite some of these terms must have brought back the days of his own wooing. I will speak home to her heart is a forcible expression like the German ‘an das Herz,’ or the sweet Scottish ‘it com’ up roond my heart,’ and was used in Israel as from man to woman when he won her” (compare Isaiah 40:1). With Israel reduced to its ancient poverty, and through such reduction persuaded to listen to the divine voice, a new beginning is to be made, while Jehovah’s blessings will fall in abundance.

V. 15. Her vineyards-Many blessings. From thence-From the time of their repentance. Valley of Achor-Which was a large, fruitful and pleasant valley near Jericho, on the very entrance into the land of Canaan. A door of hope-That valley was a door of hope to Israel of old. And such a door will God give to repenting Israel. As in the days of her youth-When I espoused her.

Verse 15. She shall sing there] There she shall sing the responsive song, as on high festival occasions, and in marriage ceremonies. The Book of Canticles is of this sort.

Verses 14, 15. Therefore, behold, I will allure her — As there is a plain alteration of the style here from threatenings to promises, so the first word of this verse should be translated nevertheless, or notwithstanding. And bring her into the wilderness — Or, after I have brought her into the wilderness. The state of the Jews in captivity is elsewhere expressed by a wilderness state: see note on Ezekiel 20:35. It probably means here the dispersion of the ten tribes, after their first captivity by Shalmaneser, 2 Kings 17:6. And speak comfortably to her — In these words, and the preceding, I will allure her, there is an allusion to the practice of fond husbands, who, forgetting past offences, use all the arts of endearment to persuade their wives, who have parted from them, to return to them again. So God will use the most powerful persuasions to bring the Israelites to the acknowledgment of the truth, notwithstanding all their former abuses of the means of grace. The Hebrew here, hbl l[ ytrbd, is literally, I will speak to her heart, that is, speak what shall touch her heart, in her outcast state in the wilderness of the Gentile world, by the proffers of mercy in the gospel. “For the doctrine of the gospels,” says Luther on this place, “is the true soothing speech, with which the minds of men are taken. For it terrifies not the soul, like the law, with severe denunciations of punishment; but although it reproves sin, it declares that God is ready to pardon sinners for the sake of his Son; and holds forth the sacrifice of the Son of God that the souls of sinners may be assured that satisfaction has been made by that to God.” And I will give her her vineyards from thence — Or, from that time, as the word µcm may be rendered: then I will restore her vineyards and fruitful fields which I had taken from her, verse 12: or, from that place; or, in consequence of these things; in which senses also the original word is used. God declares that from and through the wilderness lies the road to a rich, fruitful country; that is, that the calamities of the dispersion, together with the soothing intimations of the gospel, by bringing the Jewish race to a right mind, will be the means of reinstating them in that wealth and prosperity which God hath ordained for them in their own land. And the valley of Achor — Or, of trouble, or tribulation, as the Hebrew word Achor signifies; for a door of hope — The passage alludes to “the vale near Jericho, where the Israelites, first setting foot within the holy land, were thrown into trouble and consternation by the daring theft of Achan. In memory of which, and of the tragical scene exhibited in that spot, in the execution of the sacrilegious peculator and his whole family, the place was called the vale of Achor, Joshua 7. And this vale of Achor, though a scene of trouble and distress, was a door of hope to the Israelites under Joshua; for there, immediately after the execution of Achan, God said to Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed, (Joshua 8:1,) and promised to support him against Ai, her king, and her people. And from this time Joshua drove on his conquests with uninterrupted success. In like manner the tribulations of the Jews, in their present dispersion, shall open to them the door of hope.” And there — That is, in the wilderness, and in the vale of tribulation, under those circumstances of present difficulty, mixed with cheering hope; she shall sing as in the days of her youth — She shall express her joy in God, as her forefathers did after their deliverance at the Red sea; when God espoused them for his peculiar people, and entered into a covenant with them at mount Sinai, where they solemnly promised an entire obedience to him. And, or rather, even, as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt — “This perpetual allusion to the exodus,” or coming out of Egypt, “to the circumstances of the march through the wilderness, and the first entrance into the holy land, plainly points the prophecy to a similar deliverance, by the immediate power of God, under that leader, of whom Moses was a type.” — Horsley.

Ver. 15. I will give her—the valley of Achor for a door of hope. This was the entrance to the promised land, a beautiful vale, and situate near Jericho. As God purged Achan’s sin in this place, so he promises to purge his christian Israel, and to give them every blessing of the new covenant. Any farther import of this impressive promise must refer to the glory of the latter day.

15. From thence — As soon as Jehovah has succeeded in speaking to her heart, as soon as she has come to her senses and is ready to appreciate the intimate relation formerly enjoyed, she will be led forth from the wilderness, and immediately upon leaving — from thence — the vineyards, which had been taken away (verse 12), will be restored. Valley of Achor — The place where Achan was stoned (Joshua 7:26), meaning “valley of troubling.” A very disheartening experience in the early days of the conquest. This is to become a door of hope — The first Israelites entered upon the conquest of the promised land with a disheartening experience. Not so the restored community; the first experiences will be bright, an earnest of the good things to come. Sing — R.V., “make answer.” If the translation of A.V. is correct, the allusion is probably to the song of triumph in Exodus 15. That was sung in her youth — The time of the Exodus (Exodus 11:1). The new Exodus will again fill her heart with singing. The verb is literally “answer,” and might be used of the antiphonal singing (compare Exodus 15:21). In this connection antiphonal singing seems to be out of place; yet R.V. is to be preferred. Israel, seeing the renewed mercies of Jehovah, will respond to the divine love as formerly. This interpretation gives an acceptable sense (compare verses 21, 22), but leaves a grammatical peculiarity. To remove this Buhl suggests changing one letter of the verb, so that it will read, “and she shall go up thither” — to the door of hope — as she did at the time of the Exodus. As a result of this re-established union Israel’s tendency to turn to the Baalim will be eradicated. This is the thought of verses 16, 17. It would remain the thought of 17 even if 16 should be an interpolation. The chief objection to verse 16 Wellhausen expresses as follows: “Was Jehovah addressed at any time by Israel as Baali — my Master? Does Hosea really hope that instead he will now be addressed as Ishi — my husband?” Baali — Originally a common noun, meaning master, lord, and even husband; as such it might legitimately be applied to Jehovah. The present religious condition in Israel showed how difficult it was to maintain the proper distinction between Jehovah and the Baalim of the land. This confusion was increased by the application of the ambiguous Baal to Jehovah. As Von Orelli says, “In every age ambiguous language has helped to distort religion.” In the regenerated future all religious danger must be removed, including the application of the name Baal, obnoxious to Jehovah only because of its association with foreign cults. This feeling is also responsible for the change of proper names such as Ish-baal (1 Chronicles 8:33; 9:39) into Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 2:8; 3:7). Ishi — My husband, with practically the same meaning as Baali; it is to be substituted because it is without unpleasant associations. That the Baalim are to be forgotten is taught in verse 17; verse 16 is an attempt to express the same truth in a vivid and forceful manner, and a literal interpretation need not be pressed. The objection of Wellhausen, indorsed by Marti, is therefore not convincing. The latter weakens the text by emending it so as to read, “And it shall be at that day, saith Jehovah, that she shall call to her husband (that is, Jehovah) and she shall not call to her Baalim.” At that day — When the old-time relation becomes re-established. The change in person, from third to second and back to third, due to emotion and excitement, is not uncommon in prophetic discourse (G.-K., 144p). Names of [“the”] Baalim — The proper names of the various Baalim are not known; they were distinguished from one another by the addition of the name of their special locality (Hosea 9:10). Remembered — Better, with R.V., “mentioned” (Exodus 23:13; Zechariah 13:2).

V. 16. Thou shalt call-Both by words, affections, and obedience, shall own me as thy husband, and delight to call me so. Baali-That is, my Lord.

Verse 16. Thou shalt call me Ishi] That is, my man, or my husband; a title of love and affection; and not BAALI, my master, a title exciting fear and apprehension; which, howsoever good in itself, was now rendered improper to be applied to Jehovah, having been prostituted to false gods. This intimated that they should scrupulously avoid idolatry; and they had such a full proof of the inefficacy of their idolatrous worship that, after their captivity, they never more served idols.

Verses 16, 17. And at that day thou shalt call me Ishi, &c. — Ishi, my husband, is an appellation of love; Baali, my lord, of subjection and fear. God hath not given his people, whom he justifies, accepts, and betroths to himself in righteousness, the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, 2 Timothy 1:7. As the words yvya, ishi, and yl[b, baali, in this verse, (both applicable to a husband, although in different views, the former signifying a husband simply, the latter a husband under the idea of a lord, or master,) are manifestly appellatives, and not proper names, they certainly ought to have been translated as appellatives; that is, the clause should have been rendered, Thou shalt call me my husband, thou shalt no more call me my lord, or master. Thus Houbigant, who adds, by way of explication, “because thou shalt love me, and serve me through affection, and not through fear.” For I will take away the names of Baalim — That is, Baals; out of her mouth — The Jews were forbidden to mention the names of the heathen idols, Exodus 23:13; Joshua 23:7; and therefore the name Baal, though capable of a good sense, as it signifies husband, or lord, must be avoided by them, because it was also the name of false gods, lest by using it they should be led into idolatry. And they shall be no more remembered — Or mentioned, as the Hebrew may be translated; by their name — “It is in vain,” says Bishop Horsley, “to look for a purity of religious worship, answerable to this prophecy, among the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity. This part of the prophecy, with all the rest, will receive its accomplishment in the converted race in the latter days. It is said, indeed, that, after the return from Babylon, the Jews scrupulously avoided idolatry, and have continued untainted with it to this day. But, generally, as this is asserted by all commentators, one after another, it is not true. Among the restored Jews there was, indeed, no public idolatry, patronized by the government, as there had been in times before the captivity, particularly in the reign of Ahaz. But from the time of Antiochus Epiphanes to the last moments of the Jewish polity, there was a numerous and powerful faction, which in every thing affected the Greek manners; and this Hellenizing party were idolaters to a man. The Jews of the present times, as far as we are acquainted with them, seem indeed to be free from the charge of idolatry, properly so called. But of the present state of the ten tribes we have no certain knowledge; without which we cannot take upon us either to accuse or to acquit them.”

Ver. 16. Thou shalt call me Ishi. Man, my man, or my husband. No more Baal, lord or oppressor. This may indicate the bondage of the law; but the bride calling the Messiah her husband implies the highest privilege, liberty and honour which the church can enjoy.

14-17. Israel will be restored to the intimate fellowship with Jehovah enjoyed in the beginning. Therefore — In view of the general situation, as described in verses 2-13. It requires divine interference. Therefore might, however, be connected only with the last clause of verse 13. Because Israel has forgotten me, therefore I — that the emphasis is on Jehovah’s efforts is indicated by the use of the separate pronoun with the verb form — must reveal myself to her and thus win her back. Behold, I will — According to G.-K., 116p, the construction points to the immediate future as the time of fulfillment; equivalent to I am about to do. Allure — G.A. Smith, “woo her.” The verb is used here in a good sense. Whatever Jehovah does is done for the purpose of winning back the faithless wife. The prophet says nothing about the means of persuasion; evidently he has in mind the judgment which will accomplish that which pleasanter means have failed to do. Bring her into the wilderness — The figure is that of Israel’s early wanderings in the desert (compare also verse 15). But the question arises, whether the prophet has in mind an actual deportation into the wilderness, that is, an exile (Ezekiel 20:35), or whether the removal into the desert is only a picture of the complete desolation of the land, such as is described in verses 6ff.

Verses 21-23 and Hosea 3:4, have sometimes been thought to favor the first interpretation; the former passage is ambiguous, the latter is more readily interpreted as implying an exile, but even its meaning is not beyond question. At any rate, Hosea 3:4, does not necessarily determine the interpretation of this verse; verses 6-13 certainly favor the second view. Speak comfortably unto her — Literally, speak unto her heart. “To every Israelite some of these terms must have brought back the days of his own wooing. I will speak home to her heart is a forcible expression like the German ‘an das Herz,’ or the sweet Scottish ‘it com’ up roond my heart,’ and was used in Israel as from man to woman when he won her” (compare Isaiah 40:1). With Israel reduced to its ancient poverty, and through such reduction persuaded to listen to the divine voice, a new beginning is to be made, while Jehovah’s blessings will fall in abundance.

V. 17. For-I will abolish the memory of Baalim. Baalim-This great idol for all others. And they-These false gods. By their name-Their names perishing with them.

Verses 16, 17. And at that day thou shalt call me Ishi, &c. — Ishi, my husband, is an appellation of love; Baali, my lord, of subjection and fear. God hath not given his people, whom he justifies, accepts, and betroths to himself in righteousness, the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, 2 Timothy 1:7. As the words yvya, ishi, and yl[b, baali, in this verse, (both applicable to a husband, although in different views, the former signifying a husband simply, the latter a husband under the idea of a lord, or master,) are manifestly appellatives, and not proper names, they certainly ought to have been translated as appellatives; that is, the clause should have been rendered, Thou shalt call me my husband, thou shalt no more call me my lord, or master. Thus Houbigant, who adds, by way of explication, “because thou shalt love me, and serve me through affection, and not through fear.” For I will take away the names of Baalim — That is, Baals; out of her mouth — The Jews were forbidden to mention the names of the heathen idols, Exodus 23:13; Joshua 23:7; and therefore the name Baal, though capable of a good sense, as it signifies husband, or lord, must be avoided by them, because it was also the name of false gods, lest by using it they should be led into idolatry. And they shall be no more remembered — Or mentioned, as the Hebrew may be translated; by their name — “It is in vain,” says Bishop Horsley, “to look for a purity of religious worship, answerable to this prophecy, among the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity. This part of the prophecy, with all the rest, will receive its accomplishment in the converted race in the latter days. It is said, indeed, that, after the return from Babylon, the Jews scrupulously avoided idolatry, and have continued untainted with it to this day. But, generally, as this is asserted by all commentators, one after another, it is not true. Among the restored Jews there was, indeed, no public idolatry, patronized by the government, as there had been in times before the captivity, particularly in the reign of Ahaz. But from the time of Antiochus Epiphanes to the last moments of the Jewish polity, there was a numerous and powerful faction, which in every thing affected the Greek manners; and this Hellenizing party were idolaters to a man. The Jews of the present times, as far as we are acquainted with them, seem indeed to be free from the charge of idolatry, properly so called. But of the present state of the ten tribes we have no certain knowledge; without which we cannot take upon us either to accuse or to acquit them.”

Ver. 17. I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth. The mention of the name of idols was forbidden by the Mosaic law. Exodus 23:13. The church having her Maker for her husband, must scorn the name of idols. I believe many young men, by reading the Greek and Roman classics, get their attachment diminished, if it ever existed, to the sacred scriptures. Hence abridgments of the classics have been advised for the use of christian schools.

14-17. Israel will be restored to the intimate fellowship with Jehovah enjoyed in the beginning. Therefore — In view of the general situation, as described in verses 2-13. It requires divine interference. Therefore might, however, be connected only with the last clause of verse 13. Because Israel has forgotten me, therefore I — that the emphasis is on Jehovah’s efforts is indicated by the use of the separate pronoun with the verb form — must reveal myself to her and thus win her back. Behold, I will — According to G.-K., 116p, the construction points to the immediate future as the time of fulfillment; equivalent to I am about to do. Allure — G.A. Smith, “woo her.” The verb is used here in a good sense. Whatever Jehovah does is done for the purpose of winning back the faithless wife. The prophet says nothing about the means of persuasion; evidently he has in mind the judgment which will accomplish that which pleasanter means have failed to do. Bring her into the wilderness — The figure is that of Israel’s early wanderings in the desert (compare also verse 15). But the question arises, whether the prophet has in mind an actual deportation into the wilderness, that is, an exile (Ezekiel 20:35), or whether the removal into the desert is only a picture of the complete desolation of the land, such as is described in verses 6ff.

Verses 21-23 and Hosea 3:4, have sometimes been thought to favor the first interpretation; the former passage is ambiguous, the latter is more readily interpreted as implying an exile, but even its meaning is not beyond question. At any rate, Hosea 3:4, does not necessarily determine the interpretation of this verse; verses 6-13 certainly favor the second view. Speak comfortably unto her — Literally, speak unto her heart. “To every Israelite some of these terms must have brought back the days of his own wooing. I will speak home to her heart is a forcible expression like the German ‘an das Herz,’ or the sweet Scottish ‘it com’ up roond my heart,’ and was used in Israel as from man to woman when he won her” (compare Isaiah 40:1). With Israel reduced to its ancient poverty, and through such reduction persuaded to listen to the divine voice, a new beginning is to be made, while Jehovah’s blessings will fall in abundance.

V. 18. For them-The Israel of God. With the beasts-With all the creatures that might either serve or hurt them. It is a full and gracious promise of abundance of peace, safety, and love, through the creation. Safely-This was in some measure made good to the Jews returning out of captivity. But the full accomplishment will be to the church of Christ.

Verse 18. Will I make a covenant for them] I will make an agreement between them and the birds, beasts, and reptiles, so that they shall not be injured by those; their flocks shall not be destroyed, nor their crops spoiled. I will also prevent every species of war, that they may no more have the calamities that arise from that source. They shall also be safe from robbers and nightly alarms; for I will make them to lie down in safety.

Verse 18. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, &c. — That is, a covenant of security from the evils which, in the days of my vengeance, arose from beasts, and birds of prey, and venomous creatures. Or the words may be understood figuratively, of the final conversion of the most ignorant and vicious of the heathen to the true faith; the effect of which will be, that they shall live in peace and friendship with the re-established nation of the Jews. In this sense the passage is understood by Bishop Horsley. And I will break the bow, &c. — I will cause that there shall be no more wars, either foreign or domestic. A universal peace, and freedom from all enemies, is mentioned by the prophets, as a concomitant of that flourishing state of the church which shall commence at the restoration of the Jews, and the coming in of the Gentiles: see Isaiah 11:6, 7. And will make them to lie down safely — Being gathered under the wings of my protection, they shall repose themselves upon my power and providence, committing themselves to my care in well doing. Observe, reader, all true and solid security, all real peace, whether inward or outward, flows from God’s favour.

Ver. 18. I will make a covenant with the [wild] beasts—the fowls—and the creeping things, as serpents, not to hurt them. This is coincident with the promise in Isaiah 11:6-9. The Psyllians of Africa boasted of a power against the bite of serpents.

— Gens unica terras

Incolit a sævo serpentum innoxia morsu Marmaridæ Psilli.

Pax illis cum morte data est.

PHAR. 9:894.

Of all who Afric’s scorching sun endure, None like the swarthy Psyllians are secure; With healing gifts and privileges graced, Well in the land of serpents were they placed; Truce with the dreadful tyrant death they have, And border safely on his realm the grave. ROWE.

18-23. Picture of the ideal future to be realized by the restored wife. Verse 18 speaks of permanent peace, undisturbed by man and beast. Covenant — Requires two parties, who take upon themselves mutual obligations; here the emphasis is upon the obligation laid by Jehovah upon the beasts to abstain from injuring men. Beasts of the field — These do damage to field and crop, and even to men (Hosea 2:12). For them — For their good. Fowls [“birds”] — Must refer chiefly to birds of prey. Creeping things — Again especially those hostile to man and his possessions. The conditions enjoyed in the Garden of Eden will be restored. A similar hope is expressed in Isaiah 11:6-9. Both passages are to be interpreted as poetic presentations of the truth that the regeneration of human society is to be accompanied by a restoration of the harmony of creation (Romans 8:19-22). That this will be fulfilled in a broad sense is certainly to be expected. To what extent a literal fulfillment will take place, or whether the prophet expected a literal fulfillment in every detail, is uncertain. A somewhat different expectation is expressed in Ezekiel 34:25. Why the reference to birds and creeping things should be considered a later insertion is not clear. Bow… sword — The war implements of Israel’s enemies will be broken; the result will be a cessation of troublesome wars. Out of the earth — Better, R.V., “land,” that is, of Israel. Safely — Nothing will mar the God-given peace.

Verse 19. I will betroth thee unto me] The people are always considered under the emblem of a wife unfaithful to her husband. In righteousness] According to law, reason, and equity. In judgment] According to what is fit and becoming. In lovingkindness] Having the utmost affection and love for thee. In mercies.] Forgiving and blotting out all past miscarriages. Or there may be an allusion here to the dowry given by the husband to his wife: “I will give righteousness,” &c., as a dowry.

Verses 19, 20. I will betroth thee unto me for ever — I will treat thee, who hast been a harlot, like a wife, if hereafter thou become faithful to me. Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, &c. — Bishop Horsley translates these verses thus: To myself I say, I will betroth thee with justice, and with righteousness, and with exuberant kindness and with tender love. With faithfulness to myself, I say, I will betroth thee, and thou shalt know the Jehovah. The passage, it seems, maybe paraphrased as follows: I will betroth, or take, thee unto me in a way that shall display, or make manifest, my righteousness, or the regard I have to justice and holiness, my beneficence, or inclination to make my creatures happy, my mercy in forgiving offences committed against me, and my faithfulness in fulfilling my promises, and verifying my declarations. And thou shalt know the Lord — Experience the exuberant goodness of Jehovah; shalt find that he is and wilt be a gracious Lord to thee. One especial part of the new covenant consists in imparting to the faithful a more perfect knowledge of God as a sin-pardoning God, and of his will and their own duty: see Jeremiah 31:31-34.

Verses 19, 20 describe the complete restoration of Israel to its former relationship with Jehovah; the new union will be more permanent and spiritual. The picture is that of a pure, inviolable betrothal covenant of love. The initiative throughout is taken by Jehovah. Betroth thee — Repeated three times for emphasis. The former union was completely dissolved by the wife’s adulteries. A second marriage had to be preceded by a new betrothal. For ever — Implies a transformation in the bride, who had broken the former covenant; she will do so no more (Isaiah 54:8-10; Ezekiel 16:60). The attributes enumerated form a bond of union between Israel and Jehovah. That these attach only to Jehovah’s part in the transaction is not true; they are rather the “future adornment of the bride through which such a complete and lasting union is brought about.” Certainly the manifestation of the same virtues on the part of Jehovah is implied, since in man they are only a reflection of the character of God. It was the lack of these very virtues that brought about the break (Hosea 4:1ff.; 5:11; 6:4, 5, etc.). Righteousness — Subjective righteousness; the right state of mind and heart. Judgment [“justice”] — Frequently connected with the preceding; it marks the objective side of the same; conduct in accord with a right attitude of mind and heart. Loving-kindness — A favorite word with Hosea; is used to express (1) the loving attitude of Jehovah to his people; (2) the loving attitude of the people toward Jehovah; and (3) man’s loving attitude toward his fellows as a reflection of the divine love. The third idea seems most prominent here (Hosea 4:1; 6:4, 6; 10:12; 12:6; compare Micah 6:8). G.A. Smith renders “leal love,” because the Hebrew words “means always not merely an affection, but a relation loyally observed.” Mercies — Compassion for the helpless and undeserving. Faithfulness — The same word is translated in Habakkuk 2:4,”faith” (see comment there). Thou shalt know Jehovah — In general it may be said that Hosea and the other prophets taught that the real secret of the nation’s sin was an absence of the true knowledge of Jehovah. On the other hand, a moral transformation presupposes a knowledge of Jehovah, not purely intellectual, but based on a living experience. This latter will be the possession of Israel. (Compare Methodist Review, July-August, 1904, pp. 579ff.)

Verse 20. In faithfulness] Thou shalt no more prostitute thyself to idols, but be faithful to him who calls himself thy husband.

Thou shalt know the Lord.] There shall be no more infidelity on thy part nor divorce on mine; and thou shalt experience me to be the sole, present, and eternal good of thy immortal spirit: and when this conviction is fully rooted, then there can be no more idolatry, for it shall be seen that an idol is nothing in the world.

Verses 19, 20. I will betroth thee unto me for ever — I will treat thee, who hast been a harlot, like a wife, if hereafter thou become faithful to me. Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, &c. — Bishop Horsley translates these verses thus: To myself I say, I will betroth thee with justice, and with righteousness, and with exuberant kindness and with tender love. With faithfulness to myself, I say, I will betroth thee, and thou shalt know the Jehovah. The passage, it seems, maybe paraphrased as follows: I will betroth, or take, thee unto me in a way that shall display, or make manifest, my righteousness, or the regard I have to justice and holiness, my beneficence, or inclination to make my creatures happy, my mercy in forgiving offences committed against me, and my faithfulness in fulfilling my promises, and verifying my declarations. And thou shalt know the Lord — Experience the exuberant goodness of Jehovah; shalt find that he is and wilt be a gracious Lord to thee. One especial part of the new covenant consists in imparting to the faithful a more perfect knowledge of God as a sin-pardoning God, and of his will and their own duty: see Jeremiah 31:31-34.

Verses 19, 20 describe the complete restoration of Israel to its former relationship with Jehovah; the new union will be more permanent and spiritual. The picture is that of a pure, inviolable betrothal covenant of love. The initiative throughout is taken by Jehovah. Betroth thee — Repeated three times for emphasis. The former union was completely dissolved by the wife’s adulteries. A second marriage had to be preceded by a new betrothal. For ever — Implies a transformation in the bride, who had broken the former covenant; she will do so no more (Isaiah 54:8-10; Ezekiel 16:60). The attributes enumerated form a bond of union between Israel and Jehovah. That these attach only to Jehovah’s part in the transaction is not true; they are rather the “future adornment of the bride through which such a complete and lasting union is brought about.” Certainly the manifestation of the same virtues on the part of Jehovah is implied, since in man they are only a reflection of the character of God. It was the lack of these very virtues that brought about the break (Hosea 4:1ff.; 5:11; 6:4, 5, etc.). Righteousness — Subjective righteousness; the right state of mind and heart. Judgment [“justice”] — Frequently connected with the preceding; it marks the objective side of the same; conduct in accord with a right attitude of mind and heart. Loving-kindness — A favorite word with Hosea; is used to express (1) the loving attitude of Jehovah to his people; (2) the loving attitude of the people toward Jehovah; and (3) man’s loving attitude toward his fellows as a reflection of the divine love. The third idea seems most prominent here (Hosea 4:1; 6:4, 6; 10:12; 12:6; compare Micah 6:8). G.A. Smith renders “leal love,” because the Hebrew words “means always not merely an affection, but a relation loyally observed.” Mercies — Compassion for the helpless and undeserving. Faithfulness — The same word is translated in Habakkuk 2:4,”faith” (see comment there). Thou shalt know Jehovah — In general it may be said that Hosea and the other prophets taught that the real secret of the nation’s sin was an absence of the true knowledge of Jehovah. On the other hand, a moral transformation presupposes a knowledge of Jehovah, not purely intellectual, but based on a living experience. This latter will be the possession of Israel. (Compare Methodist Review, July-August, 1904, pp. 579ff.)

V. 21. In that day-In the day of gospel-grace. I will hear-God the first and universal cause will influence the heavens, he will command their dew, and showers. When the earth is dry, it does as it were, cry to the heavens for refreshing showers, when the seed sown, the vines and olives planted, are at a stand, they cry to the earth for its kindly influences, that they may spring up, and yield fruit for Jezreel, which may call, and cry, but never will be satisfied if God does not hear them, and command his blessing which he promises to his people on renewing covenant with them. Now their repentance shall be blest with plenty, and God will set the frame of heaven and earth in due order to effect this; there shall be an harmony, between all subordinate causes moved by God the first great cause, whence expected events and fruits shall be produced for their good and comfort.

Verse 21. I will hear, saith the Lord] The sentence is repeated, to show how fully the thing was determined by the Almighty, and how implicitly they might depend on the Divine promise.

I will hear the heavens] The visible heavens, the atmosphere, where vapours are collected. The clouds, when they wish to deposit their fertilizing showers upon the earth.

They shall hear the earth] When it seems to supplicate for rain.

Verses 21, 22. I will hear the heavens — When they ask, as it were, to send their rain on the earth. And they shall hear the earth — When it supplicates, as it were, for rain. The earth shall hear the corn and the wine, &c. — When they wish, as it were, to supply the wants of man. And they shall hear Jezreel — All nature shall hear, and minister to, the people whom God shall restore to their own land. The Hebrew word, however, here rendered to hear, Dr. Waterland more properly renders to answer, thus: I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, &c. In other words, all creatures shall answer the desires and wants of my people: the heavens shall answer the wants of the earth, in sending down seasonable showers: and the earth shall answer the wants of mankind, in bringing forth corn, and wine, and other necessaries of life: and the fruits of the earth shall answer the wishes of my restored people, by giving them due nourishment: see the same sense more plainly expressed, Zechariah 8:12. Bishop Horsley reads, I will perform my part, saith Jehovah, upon the heavens; and they shall perform their part upon the earth; and the earth shall perform her part upon the corn, &c.; and they shall perform their parts for the Jezreel [the seed of God.] “The primary and most proper meaning,” says he, “of the verb hn[, [rendered to hear,] I take to be to react. But more largely it predicates reciprocal, correspondent, or correlate action. Thus it signifies the proper action of one thing upon another, according to established physical sympathies in the material world; or, among intelligent beings, according to the rule of moral order. And in this passage it is applied first to the action of God upon the powers of nature; and then to the subordinate action of the parts of nature upon one another; and, last of all, to the subservience of the elements, and their physical productions, to the benefit of man; and ultimately, by the direction of God’s overruling providence, to the exclusive benefit of the godly.” The gradation of the prophet in the passage is very elegant, and admirably denotes the concert, the harmony, the intelligence, which shall be between all parts of the universe, co-operating for the good of God’s people, who shall then no more see the heaven of iron and of brass withholding its dew and its rain; nor the earth burned up by the sun, unable to nourish the plants, nor the fruits denied the succour of the earth, nor men deprived of their necessary ailments. The words probably allude also to the spiritual blessings of the Christian Church.

21, 22. Another feature of the future blessedness will be the extreme fertility of the soil (Amos 9:13; Joel 3:18). The promise in these verses presents a contrast to verses 9, 12, and a continuation of 18a. When the judgment has done its work, Jehovah will restore prosperity in a more abundant measure. The thought is expressed very beautifully under the picture of perfect harmony between the physical and spiritual spheres. Jehovah will no longer restrain the powers of nature from doing their work for the blessing of Israel. “Israel asks its plants to germinate; they call upon the earth for its juices; the earth beseeches heaven for rain; heaven supplicates for the divine word which opens its stores, and Jehovah responds in faithful love.” Hear — Better, R.V., “answer,” or “respond,” as the call comes. The curse threatened in 9ff. is removed. Jezreel — Used in 1:4, for its historical associations; here on account of its meaning, God sows. Why the name is applied to Israel is shown in verse 23: I will sow — Establish permanently. In the earth — As in verse 18, better, “land.” Unto me — Not unto the Baalim. Thus the first name symbolic of doom (Hosea 1:4) is transformed into one of promise. The same will take place with the others. Lo-ruhamah (Hosea 1:6) will again experience the divine favor and mercy; and Lo-ammi (Hosea 1:9) will again become the people of God. This transformation in fortune is not wrought arbitrarily; it is based upon the inner transformation described in verses 19,

20. Thou art my God — Forever they are cured from running after the Baalim; Jehovah alone they will recognize as their God.

Verse 22. Shall hear the corn, and the wine] When they seem to express a desire to supply the wants of man.

And they shall hear Jezreel.] The destitute people who are in want of the necessaries of life.

This most elegant gradation in the exertion of the influences of nature, for the supply of the wants of man, may be considered thus:—

1. There is a concord, harmony, and mutual influence, which God has established in the parts of created nature, in reference to the support and preservation of the human race.

2. God alone is the author of all this; and unless he give his command, communicate his energetic influence to the different parts of nature, these effects will not, cannot be produced.

3. Jezreel, the people who have been dispersed for their iniquities, and now about to be sown or planted in their own land, will require the most fostering care. See on Hosea 2:23.

4. They are heard in desiring oil, wine, and corn. These are necessary to the support and comfort of life; and to those the desire of animal life naturally aspires.

5. These products are looked for from the EARTH. On it, and by it, grass grows for the cattle, and corn for the service of man.

6, The seeds or germs, whence proceed corn, wine, and oil, live and grow in the earth; but cannot come to perfection, unless the earth be impregnated with the dews and rains from the clouds. They are therefore represented as imploring the heavens to collect their clouds, to pour down their fructifying moisture upon it.

7. The clouds, or materials of which they are composed, not being able to arrange themselves, nor aggregate themselves so as to meet those demands, prevent drought, and maintain an effective vegetation, are represented as calling upon the heavens to form, arrange, and supply them with the requisite quantity of moisture.

8. God, who is the author of all being and all bounty, dependent on nothing, comes forward and says, I will hear the heavens, the clouds which are gathered in the atmosphere; he will arrange the particles, saturate those that are light, till they become sufficiently impregnated with the necessary fluid; and then direct them In his providence where to deposit their contents. And,

9. When brought to the proper place, he will shake them with his winds, or strike them with his thunder, so as to cause them to fall down in drops to fertilize the earth with their showers.

Thus then—

1. God works upon the heavens.

2. In them the clouds are collected.

3. The clouds drop their moisture upon the earth.

4. The earth exerts its vegetative influence upon the germs which it contains.

5. They expand, increase, and become matured, under the genial influences of the heavens, sun, air, water, from the clouds, &c.

6. Man receives and applies those bounties of Providence, and variously prepares them for the support and comfort of life.

Take all this in still fewer words:—

As Jezreel or the Israelites are here considered as perishing for want of food, all inanimate nature is represented as invoking God in their behalf.

1. The heavens have prayed that they be stored with clouds, that they may drop down fatness upon the earth.

2. The Lord answers the heavens, and clouds are formed.

3. The earth invokes the clouds, that they may drop down their fatness into its bosom.

4. The bottles of heaven are, consequently, unstopped for this purpose.

5. Then the corn, wine, and olive, implore the earth to put forth its vegetative energy.

6. The earth answers; and corn, wine, and oil are produced.

7. Jezreel cries for the necessaries of life, and the abundance of the above supplies all his wants.

All these are dependent on each other, as the links are which constitute a chain; and God has the government of the whole; and he manages all for the benefit of man. How wondrous is this providence! How gracious is this GOD!

Here is a series of prosopopœias together. Corn, wine, oil, the earth, the clouds and their contents, the heavens, sun, moon, &c., are all represented as intelligent beings, speaking to and influencing each other. GOD is at one end of the chain, and MAN at the other; and by means of the intermediate links the latter is kept in a state of continued dependence upon the former for life, breath, and all things.

Verses 21, 22. I will hear the heavens — When they ask, as it were, to send their rain on the earth. And they shall hear the earth — When it supplicates, as it were, for rain. The earth shall hear the corn and the wine, &c. — When they wish, as it were, to supply the wants of man. And they shall hear Jezreel — All nature shall hear, and minister to, the people whom God shall restore to their own land. The Hebrew word, however, here rendered to hear, Dr. Waterland more properly renders to answer, thus: I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, &c. In other words, all creatures shall answer the desires and wants of my people: the heavens shall answer the wants of the earth, in sending down seasonable showers: and the earth shall answer the wants of mankind, in bringing forth corn, and wine, and other necessaries of life: and the fruits of the earth shall answer the wishes of my restored people, by giving them due nourishment: see the same sense more plainly expressed, Zechariah 8:12. Bishop Horsley reads, I will perform my part, saith Jehovah, upon the heavens; and they shall perform their part upon the earth; and the earth shall perform her part upon the corn, &c.; and they shall perform their parts for the Jezreel [the seed of God.] “The primary and most proper meaning,” says he, “of the verb hn[, [rendered to hear,] I take to be to react. But more largely it predicates reciprocal, correspondent, or correlate action. Thus it signifies the proper action of one thing upon another, according to established physical sympathies in the material world; or, among intelligent beings, according to the rule of moral order. And in this passage it is applied first to the action of God upon the powers of nature; and then to the subordinate action of the parts of nature upon one another; and, last of all, to the subservience of the elements, and their physical productions, to the benefit of man; and ultimately, by the direction of God’s overruling providence, to the exclusive benefit of the godly.” The gradation of the prophet in the passage is very elegant, and admirably denotes the concert, the harmony, the intelligence, which shall be between all parts of the universe, co-operating for the good of God’s people, who shall then no more see the heaven of iron and of brass withholding its dew and its rain; nor the earth burned up by the sun, unable to nourish the plants, nor the fruits denied the succour of the earth, nor men deprived of their necessary ailments. The words probably allude also to the spiritual blessings of the Christian Church.

Ver. 22. And they shall hear Jezreel. The heaven and the earth shall hear Jezreel, or the sons of the prophets, or the people of Israel who formerly inhabited the valley of Jezreel, or God’s dispersed people. It implies that heaven and earth should hear the Lord’s converted people, praising him for the temporal and spiritual blessings of his covenant.

21, 22. Another feature of the future blessedness will be the extreme fertility of the soil (Amos 9:13; Joel 3:18). The promise in these verses presents a contrast to verses 9, 12, and a continuation of 18a. When the judgment has done its work, Jehovah will restore prosperity in a more abundant measure. The thought is expressed very beautifully under the picture of perfect harmony between the physical and spiritual spheres. Jehovah will no longer restrain the powers of nature from doing their work for the blessing of Israel. “Israel asks its plants to germinate; they call upon the earth for its juices; the earth beseeches heaven for rain; heaven supplicates for the divine word which opens its stores, and Jehovah responds in faithful love.” Hear — Better, R.V., “answer,” or “respond,” as the call comes. The curse threatened in 9ff. is removed. Jezreel — Used in 1:4, for its historical associations; here on account of its meaning, God sows. Why the name is applied to Israel is shown in verse 23: I will sow — Establish permanently. In the earth — As in verse 18, better, “land.” Unto me — Not unto the Baalim. Thus the first name symbolic of doom (Hosea 1:4) is transformed into one of promise. The same will take place with the others. Lo-ruhamah (Hosea 1:6) will again experience the divine favor and mercy; and Lo-ammi (Hosea 1:9) will again become the people of God. This transformation in fortune is not wrought arbitrarily; it is based upon the inner transformation described in verses 19,

20. Thou art my God — Forever they are cured from running after the Baalim; Jehovah alone they will recognize as their God.

V. 23. I will sow-I will bless them with a wonderful increase of people, exprest with allusion to seed sown in the earth. So the Jews multiplied after the Babylonish captivity, but much more are the numbers increased since the preaching of the gospel.

Verse 23. I will sow her] Alluding to the import of the name Jezreel, the seed of God. Then shall it appear that God has shown mercy to them that had not obtained mercy. Then the covenant of God will be renewed; for he will call them his people who were not his people; and they shall call Jehovah their God, who before had him not for the object of their worship. It does not appear that these promises have had their fulfilment among the Jews. They must either be understood of the blessings experienced by the Gentiles on their conversion to God by the preaching of the Gospel, or are yet to be fulfilled to the Jews on their embracing the Gospel, and being brought back to their own land.

The sentences in the latter part of this verse are very abrupt, but exceedingly expressive; leaving out those words supplied by the translators, and which unnerve the passage, it stands thus: I will say to NOT MY PEOPLE, THOU MY PEOPLE; and they shall say, MY GOD.

HOSEA

Verse 23. And I will sow — Or plant, her unto me in the earth, &c. — The original word, rendered sow, or plant, alludes to and explains the word Jezreel, or seed of God, as used Hosea 1:4, 11, and here in the foregoing verse. The prophet foretels a plentiful increase of true believers, like to that of corn sown in the earth; and represents the converted Jews as being the seed from which an abundant harvest of Gentile converts should arise. “The myriads of the natural Israel,” says Bishop Horsley, “converted by the preaching of the apostles, were the first seed of the universal church. And there is reason to believe, that the restoration of the converted Jews will be the occasion and means of a prodigious influx of new converts from the Gentiles in the latter ages, Romans 11:12, 15. Thus the Jezreel of the natural Israel, from the first have been, and to the last will prove, a seed sown of God for himself in the earth.” I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy — I will have mercy both on the Jews and Gentiles, who shall obey the gospel call, and become true converts to the Christian faith. This was in part fulfilled at the first preaching of the gospel, whether in Judea or in other countries: see Romans 9:24-26. But it shall receive a more perfect completion at the restoration of the Jews, and the coming in of the fulness of the Gentiles: compare Hosea 1:10, 11.

18-23. Picture of the ideal future to be realized by the restored wife. Verse 18 speaks of permanent peace, undisturbed by man and beast. Covenant — Requires two parties, who take upon themselves mutual obligations; here the emphasis is upon the obligation laid by Jehovah upon the beasts to abstain from injuring men. Beasts of the field — These do damage to field and crop, and even to men (Hosea 2:12). For them — For their good. Fowls [“birds”] — Must refer chiefly to birds of prey. Creeping things — Again especially those hostile to man and his possessions. The conditions enjoyed in the Garden of Eden will be restored. A similar hope is expressed in Isaiah 11:6-9. Both passages are to be interpreted as poetic presentations of the truth that the regeneration of human society is to be accompanied by a restoration of the harmony of creation (Romans 8:19-22). That this will be fulfilled in a broad sense is certainly to be expected. To what extent a literal fulfillment will take place, or whether the prophet expected a literal fulfillment in every detail, is uncertain. A somewhat different expectation is expressed in Ezekiel 34:25. Why the reference to birds and creeping things should be considered a later insertion is not clear. Bow… sword — The war implements of Israel’s enemies will be broken; the result will be a cessation of troublesome wars. Out of the earth — Better, R.V., “land,” that is, of Israel. Safely — Nothing will mar the God-given peace.