6 His shoots shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
Thou preparedst space before it, and it took deep root, and filled the land; The mountains were covered with its shadow, and the branches thereof were [like] cedars of ùGod; It sent out its boughs unto the sea, and its shoots unto the river.
Thy lips, [my] spouse, drop [as] the honeycomb; Honey and milk are under thy tongue; And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. A garden enclosed is my sister, [my] spouse; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy shoots are a paradise of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants; Spikenard and saffron; Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain in the gardens, A well of living waters, Which stream from Lebanon.
And he took of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, he set it as a willow tree. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, so that its branches should turn toward him, and the roots thereof be under him; and it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. And there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, from the beds of her plantation, this vine did bend her roots unto him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it. It was planted in a good field by many waters, that it might bring forth branches and bear fruit, that it might be a noble vine.
Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature: and his top was amidst the thick boughs. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high; its streams ran round about his plantation, and it sent out its rivulets unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long, because of great waters, when he shot forth. All the fowl of the heavens made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all the great nations. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: because his root was by great waters. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him; the cypresses were not like his boughs, and the plane-trees were not as his branches: no tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. I had made him fair by the multitude of his branches; and all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast lifted up thyself in stature, ... and he hath set his top amidst the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height,
Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and its height reached unto the heavens, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all: the beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from the heavens; he cried aloud, and said thus: Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the birds from its branches. Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be bathed with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth.
Now if the first-fruit [be] holy, the lump also; and if the root [be] holy, the branches also. Now if some of the branches have been broken out, and *thou*, being a wild olive tree, hast been grafted in amongst them, and hast become a fellow-partaker of the root and of the fatness of the olive tree, boast not against the branches; but if thou boast, [it is] not *thou* bearest the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches have been broken out in order that *I* might be grafted in. Right: they have been broken out through unbelief, and *thou* standest through faith. Be not high-minded, but fear: if God indeed has not spared the natural branches; lest it might be he spare not thee either. Behold then [the] goodness and severity of God: upon them who have fallen, severity; upon thee goodness of God, if thou shalt abide in goodness, since [otherwise] *thou* also wilt be cut away. And *they* too, if they abide not in unbelief, shall be grafted in; for God is able again to graft them in. For if *thou* hast been cut out of the olive tree wild by nature, and, contrary to nature, hast been grafted into the good olive tree, how much rather shall they, who are according to nature be grafted into their own olive tree?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Hosea 14
Commentary on Hosea 14 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 14
Ho 14:1-9. God's Promise of Blessing, on Their Repentance: Their Abandonment of Idolatry Foretold: The Conclusion of the Whole, the Just Shall Walk in God's Ways, but the Transgressor Shall Fall Therein.
1. fallen by thine iniquity—(Ho 5:5; 13:9).
2. Take with you words—instead of sacrifices, namely, the words of penitence here put in your mouths by God. "Words," in Hebrew, mean "realities," there being the same term for "words" and "things"; so God implies, He will not accept empty professions (Ps 78:36; Isa 29:13). He does not ask costly sacrifices, but words of heartfelt penitence.
receive us graciously—literally "(for) good."
calves of our lips—that is, instead of sacrifices of calves, which we cannot offer to Thee in exile, we present the praises of our lips. Thus the exile, wherein the temple service ceased, prepared the way for the gospel time when the types of the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament being realized in Christ's perfect sacrifice once for all, "the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips" (Heb 13:14) takes their place in the New Testament.
3. Three besetting sins of Israel are here renounced, trust in Assyria, application to Egypt for its cavalry (forbidden, De 17:16; compare Ho 7:11; 11:5; 12:1; 2Ki 17:4; Ps 33:17; Isa 30:2, 16; 31:1), and idolatry.
fatherless—descriptive of the destitute state of Israel, when severed from God, their true Father. We shall henceforth trust in none but Thee, the only Father of the fatherless, and Helper of the destitute (Ps 10:14; 68:5); our nation has experienced Thee such in our helpless state in Egypt, and now in a like state again our only hope is Thy goodness.
4. God's gracious reply to their self-condemning prayer.
backsliding—apostasy: not merely occasional backslidings. God can heal the most desperate sinfulness [Calvin].
freely—with a gratuitous, unmerited, and abundant love (Eze 16:60-63). So as to the spiritual Israel (Joh 15:16; Ro 3:24; 5:8; 1Jo 4:10).
5. as the dew—which falls copiously in the East, taking the place of the more frequent rains in other regions. God will not be "as the early dew that goeth away," but constant (Ho 6:3, 4; Job 29:19; Pr 19:12).
the lily—No plant is more productive than the lily, one root often producing fifty bulbs [Pliny, Natural History, 21.5]. The common lily is white, consisting of six leaves opening like bells. The royal lily grows to the height of three or four feet; Mt 6:29 alludes to the beauty of its flowers.
roots as Lebanon—that is, as the trees of Lebanon (especially the cedars), which cast down their roots as deeply as is their height upwards; so that they are immovable [Jerome], (Isa 10:34). Spiritual growth consists most in the growth of the root which is out of sight.
6. branches—shoots, or suckers.
beauty … as the olive—which never loses its verdure. One plant is not enough to express the graces of God's elect people. The lily depicts its lovely growth; but as it wants duration and firmness, the deeply rooted cedars of Lebanon are added; these, however, are fruitless, therefore the fruitful, peace-bearing, fragrant, ever green olive is added.
smell as Lebanon—which exhaled from it the fragrance of odoriferous trees and flowers. So Israel's name shall be in good savor with all (Ge 27:27; So 4:11).
7. They that used to dwell under Israel's shadow (but who shall have been forced to leave it), shall return, that is, be restored (Eze 35:9). Others take "His shadow" to mean Jehovah's (compare Ps 17:8; 91:1; Isa 4:6), which Ho 14:1, 2 ("return unto the Lord," &c.) favor. But the "his" in Ho 14:6 refers to Israel, and therefore must refer to the same here.
revive as … corn—As the corn long buried in the earth springs up, with an abundant produce, so shall they revive from their calamities, with a great increase of offspring (compare Joh 12:24).
scent thereof—that is, Israel's fame. Compare Ho 14:6, "His smell as Lebanon"; So 1:3: "Thy name is as ointment poured forth." The Septuagint favors the Margin, "memorial."
as the wine of Lebanon—which was most celebrated for its aroma, flavor, and medicinal restorative properties.
8. Ephraim shall say—being brought to penitence by God's goodness, and confessing and abhorring his past madness.
I have heard … and observed him—I Jehovah have answered and regarded him with favor; the opposite of God's "hiding His face from" one (De 31:17). It is the experience of God's favor, in contrast to God's wrath heretofore, that leads Ephraim to abhor his past idolatry. Jehovah heard and answered: whereas the idols, as Ephraim now sees, could not hear, much less answer.
I am … a green fir—or cypress; ever green, winter and summer alike; the leaves not falling off in winter.
From me is thy fruit found—"From Me," as the root. Thou needest go no farther than Me for the supply of all thy wants; not merely the protection implied by the shadow of the cypress, but that which the cypress has not, namely, fruit, all spiritual and temporal blessings. It may be also implied, that whatever spiritual graces Ephraim seeks for or may have, are not of themselves, but of God (Ps 1:3; Joh 15:4, 5, 8; Jas 1:17). God's promises to us are more our security for mortifying sin than our promises to God (Isa 27:9).
9. Epilogue, summing up the whole previous teaching. Here alone Hosea uses the term "righteous," so rare were such characters in his day. There is enough of saving truth clear in God's Word to guide those humbly seeking salvation, and enough of difficulties to confound those who curiously seek them out, rather than practically seek salvation.
fall—stumble and are offended at difficulties opposed to their prejudices and lusts, or above their self-wise understanding (compare Pr 10:29; Mic 2:7; Mt 11:19; Lu 2:34; Joh 7:17; 1Pe 2:7, 8). To him who sincerely seeks the agenda, God will make plain the credenda. Christ is the foundation-stone to some: a stone of stumbling and rock of offense to others. The same sun softens wax and hardens clay. But their fall is the most fatal who fall in the ways of God, split on the Rock of ages, and suck poison out of the Balm of Gilead.