10 They shall walk H3212 after H310 the LORD: H3068 he shall roar H7580 like a lion: H738 when he shall roar, H7580 then the children H1121 shall tremble H2729 from the west. H3220
For thus hath the LORD H3068 spoken H559 unto me, Like as the lion H738 and the young lion H3715 roaring H1897 on his prey, H2964 when a multitude H4393 of shepherds H7462 is called forth H7121 against him, he will not be afraid H2865 of their voice, H6963 nor abase H6031 himself for the noise H1995 of them: so shall the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 come down H3381 to fight H6633 for mount H2022 Zion, H6726 and for the hill H1389 thereof.
And he said, H559 The LORD H3068 will roar H7580 from Zion, H6726 and utter H5414 his voice H6963 from Jerusalem; H3389 and the habitations H4999 of the shepherds H7462 shall mourn, H56 and the top H7218 of Carmel H3760 shall wither. H3001
The LORD H3068 also shall roar H7580 out of Zion, H6726 and utter H5414 his voice H6963 from Jerusalem; H3389 and the heavens H8064 and the earth H776 shall shake: H7493 but the LORD H3068 will be the hope H4268 of his people, H5971 and the strength H4581 of the children H1121 of Israel. H3478
Therefore prophesy H5012 thou against them all these words, H1697 and say H559 unto them, The LORD H3068 shall roar H7580 from on high, H4791 and utter H5414 his voice H6963 from his holy H6944 habitation; H4583 he shall mightily H7580 roar H7580 upon his habitation; H5116 he shall give H6030 a shout, H1959 as they that tread H1869 the grapes, against all the inhabitants H3427 of the earth. H776
Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts; H6635 Behold, I will save H3467 my people H5971 from the east H4217 country, H776 and from the west H3996 H8121 country; H776
Come, H3212 and let us return H7725 unto the LORD: H3068 for he hath torn, H2963 and he will heal H7495 us; he hath smitten, H5221 and he will bind us up. H2280 After two days H3117 will he revive H2421 us: in the third H7992 day H3117 he will raise us up, H6965 and we shall live H2421 in his sight. H6440 Then shall we know, H3045 if we follow H7291 on to know H3045 the LORD: H3068 his going forth H4161 is prepared H3559 as the morning; H7837 and he shall come H935 unto us as the rain, H1653 as the latter H4456 and former rain H3384 unto the earth. H776
But G1161 chiefly G3122 them that walk G4198 after G3694 the flesh G4561 in G1722 the lust G1939 of uncleanness, G3394 and G2532 despise G2706 government. G2963 Presumptuous G5113 are they, selfwilled, G829 they are not G3756 afraid G5141 to speak evil G987 of dignities. G1391
There is therefore G686 now G3568 no G3762 condemnation G2631 to them which are in G1722 Christ G5547 Jesus, G2424 who walk G4043 not G3361 after G2596 the flesh, G4561 but G235 after G2596 the Spirit. G4151
And G1161 as he G846 reasoned G1256 of G4012 righteousness, G1343 temperance, G2532 G1466 and G2532 judgment G2917 to come, G3195 G1510 Felix G5344 trembled, G1096 G1719 and answered, G611 Go thy way G4198 for this time; G3568 when G1161 I have G2192 G3335 a convenient season, G2540 I will call for G3333 thee. G4571
Then G3767 spake G2980 Jesus G2424 again G3825 unto them, G846 saying, G3004 I G1473 am G1510 the light G5457 of the world: G2889 he that followeth G190 me G1698 shall G4043 not G3364 walk G4043 in G1722 darkness, G4653 but G235 shall have G2192 the light G5457 of life. G2222
And I will strengthen H1396 them in the LORD; H3068 and they shall walk up and down H1980 in his name, H8034 saith H5002 the LORD. H3068
When I heard, H8085 my belly H990 trembled; H7264 my lips H8193 quivered H6750 at the voice: H6963 rottenness H7538 entered H935 into my bones, H6106 and I trembled H7264 in myself, that I might rest H5117 in the day H3117 of trouble: H6869 when he cometh up H5927 unto the people, H5971 he will invade them with his troops. H1464
For all people H5971 will walk H3212 every one H376 in the name H8034 of his god, H430 and we will walk H3212 in the name H8034 of the LORD H3068 our God H430 for ever H5769 and ever. H5703
Afterward H310 shall the children H1121 of Israel H3478 return, H7725 and seek H1245 the LORD H3068 their God, H430 and David H1732 their king; H4428 and shall fear H6342 the LORD H3068 and his goodness H2898 in the latter H319 days. H3117
And it shall be to me a name H8034 of joy, H8342 a praise H8416 and an honour H8597 before all the nations H1471 of the earth, H776 which shall hear H8085 all the good H2896 that I do H6213 unto them: and they shall fear H6342 and tremble H7264 for all the goodness H2896 and for all the prosperity H7965 that I procure H6213 unto it.
They shall come H935 with weeping, H1065 and with supplications H8469 will I lead H2986 them: I will cause them to walk H3212 by the rivers H5158 of waters H4325 in a straight H3477 way, H1870 wherein they shall not stumble: H3782 for I am a father H1 to Israel, H3478 and Ephraim H669 is my firstborn. H1060
Will ye steal, H1589 murder, H7523 and commit adultery, H5003 and swear H7650 falsely, H8267 and burn incense H6999 unto Baal, H1168 and walk H1980 after H310 other H312 gods H430 whom ye know H3045 not;
If ye oppress H6231 not the stranger, H1616 the fatherless, H3490 and the widow, H490 and shed H8210 not innocent H5355 blood H1818 in this place, H4725 neither walk H3212 after H310 other H312 gods H430 to your hurt: H7451
Fear H3372 ye not me? saith H5002 the LORD: H3068 will ye not tremble H2342 at my presence, H6440 which have placed H7760 the sand H2344 for the bound H1366 of the sea H3220 by a perpetual H5769 decree, H2706 that it cannot pass H5674 it: and though the waves H1530 thereof toss H1607 themselves, yet can they not prevail; H3201 though they roar, H1993 yet can they not pass over H5674 it?
Go H1980 and cry H7121 in the ears H241 of Jerusalem, H3389 saying, H559 Thus saith H559 the LORD; H3068 I remember H2142 thee, the kindness H2617 of thy youth, H5271 the love H160 of thine espousals, H3623 when thou wentest H3212 after H310 me in the wilderness, H4057 in a land H776 that was not sown. H2232
They shall not hunger H7456 nor thirst; H6770 neither shall the heat H8273 nor sun H8121 smite H5221 them: for he that hath mercy H7355 on them shall lead H5090 them, even by the springs H4002 of water H4325 shall he guide H5095 them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Hosea 11
Commentary on Hosea 11 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The prophet goes back a third time (cf. Hosea 10:1; Hosea 9:10) to the early times of Israel, and shows how the people had repaid the Lord, for all the proofs of His love, with nothing but ingratitude and unfaithfulness; so that it would have merited utter destruction from off the earth, if God should not restrain His wrath for the sake of His unchangeable faithfulness, in order that, after severely chastening, He might gather together once more those that were rescued from among the heathen. Hosea 11:1. “When Israel was young, then I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. Hosea 11:2. Men called to them; so they went away from their countenance: they offer sacrifice to the Baals, and burn incense to the idols.” Hosea 11:1 rests upon Exodus 4:22-23, where the Lord directs Moses to say to Pharaoh, “Israel is my first-born son; let my son go, that he may serve me.” Israel was the son of Jehovah, by virtue of its election to be Jehovah's peculiar people (see at Exodus 4:22). In this election lay the ground for the love which God showed to Israel, by bringing it out of Egypt, to give it the land of Canaan, promised to the fathers for its inheritance. The adoption of Israel as the son of Jehovah, which began with its deliverance out of the bondage of Egypt, and was completed in the conclusion of the covenant at Sinai, forms the first stage in the carrying out of the divine work of salvation, which was completed in the incarnation of the Son of God for the redemption of mankind from death and ruin. The development and guidance of Israel as the people of God all pointed to Christ; not, however, in any such sense as that the nation of Israel was to bring forth the son of God from within itself, but in this sense, that the relation which the Lord of heaven and earth established and sustained with that nation, was a preparation for the union of God with humanity, and paved the way for the incarnation of His Son, by the fact that Israel was trained to be a vessel of divine grace. All essential factors in the history of Israel point to this as their end, and thereby become types and material prophecies of the life of Him in whom the reconciliation of man to God was to be realized, and the union of God with the human race to be developed into a personal unity. It is in this sense that the second half of our verse is quoted in Matthew 2:15 as a prophecy of Christ, not because the words of the prophet refer directly and immediately to Christ, but because the sojourn in Egypt, and return out of that land, had the same significance in relation to the development of the life of Jesus Christ, as it had to the nation of Israel. Just as Israel grew into a nation in Egypt, where it was out of the reach of Canaanitish ways, so was the child Jesus hidden in Egypt from the hostility of Herod. But Hosea 11:2 is attached thus as an antithesis: this love of its God was repaid by Israel with base apostasy. קראוּ , they, viz., the prophets (cf. Hosea 11:7; 2 Kings 17:13; Jeremiah 7:25; Jeremiah 25:4; Zechariah 1:4), called to them, called the Israelites to the Lord and to obedience to Him; but they (the Israelites) went away from their countenance, would not hearken to the prophets, or come to the Lord (Jeremiah 2:31). The thought is strengthened by כּן , with the כּאשׁר of the protasis omitted (Ewald, §360, a ): as the prophets called, so the Israelites drew back from them, and served idols. בּעלים as in Hosea 2:15, and פּסלים as in 2 Kings 17:41 and Deuteronomy 7:5, Deuteronomy 7:25 (see at Exodus 20:4).
Nevertheless the Lord continued to show love to them. Hosea 11:3, Hosea 11:4. “And I, I have taught Ephraim to walk: He took them in His arms, and they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with bands of a man, with cords of love, and became to them like a lifter up of the yoke upon their jaws, and gently towards him did I give (him) food.” תּרגּלתּי , a hiphil , formed after the Aramaean fashion (cf. Ges. §55, 5), by hardening the ה into ת , and construed with ל , as the hiphil frequently is (e.g., Hosea 10:1; Amos 8:9), a denom . of רגל , to teach to walk, to guide in leading-strings, like a child that is being trained to walk. It is a figurative representation of paternal care foz a child's prosperity. קחם , per aphaeresin , for לקחם , like קח for לקח in Ezekiel 17:5. The sudden change from the first person to the third seems very strange to our ears; but it is not uncommon in Hebrew, and is to be accounted for here from the fact, that the prophet could very easily pass from speaking in the name of God to speaking of God Himself. קח cannot be either an infinitive or a participle, on account of the following word זרועתיו , his arms. The two clauses refer chiefly to the care and help afforded by the Lord to His people in the Arabian desert; and the prophet had Deuteronomy 1:31 floating before his mind: “in the wilderness the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son.” The last clause also refers to this, רפאתים pointing back to Exodus 15:26, where the Lord showed Himself as the physician of Israel, by making the bitter water at Marah drinkable, and at the same time as their helper out of every trouble. In Hosea 11:4, again, there is a still further reference to the manifestation of the love of God to Israel on the journey through the wilderness. חבלי אדם , cords with which men are led, more especially children that are weak upon their feet, in contrast with ropes, with which men control wild, unmanageable beasts (Psalms 32:9), are a figurative representation of the paternal, human guidance of Israel, as explained in the next figure, “cords of love.” This figure leads on to the kindred figure of the yoke laid upon beasts, to harness them for work. As merciful masters lift up the yoke upon the cheeks of their oxen, i.e., push it so far back that the animals can eat their food in comfort, so has the Lord made the yoke of the law, which has been laid upon His people, both soft and light. As הרים על על does not mean to take the yoke away from ( מעל ) the cheeks, but to lift it above the cheeks, i.e., to make it easier, by pushing it back, we cannot refer the words to the liberation of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, but can only think of what the Lord did, to make it easy for the people to observe the commandments imposed upon them, when they were received into His covenant (Exodus 24:3, Exodus 24:7), including not only the many manifestations of mercy which might and ought to have allured them to reciprocate His love, and yield a willing obedience to His commandments, but also the means of grace provided in their worship, partly in the institution of sacrifice, by which a way of approach was opened to divine grace to obtain forgiveness of sin, and partly in the institution of feasts, at which they could rejoice in the gracious gifts of their God. ואט is not the first pers. imperf. hiphil of נטה (“I inclined myself to him;” Symm., Syr., and others), in which case we should expect ואט , but an adverb, softly, comfortably; and אליו belongs to it, after the analogy of 2 Samuel 18:5. אוכיל is an anomalous formation for אאכיל , like אוביד for אאביד in Jeremiah 46:8 (cf. Ewald, §192, d ; Ges. §68, 2, Anm. 1). Jerome has given the meaning quite correctly: “and I gave them manna for food in the desert, which they enjoyed.”
By despising this love, Israel brings severe punishment upon itself. Hosea 11:5. “It will not return into the land of Egypt; but Asshur, he is its king, because they refused to return. Hosea 11:6. And the sword will sweep round in its cities, and destroy its bolts, and devour, because of their counsels. Hosea 11:7. My people is bent upon apostasy from me: and if men call it upwards, it does not raise itself at all.” The apparent contradiction between the words, “It will not return into the land of Egypt,” and the threat contained in Hosea 8:13; Hosea 9:3, that Israel should return to Egypt, ought not to lead us to resort to alterations of the text, or to take לא in the sense of לו , and connect it with the previous verse, as is done by the lxx, Mang., and others, or to make an arbitrary paraphrase of the words, either by taking לא in the sense of הלא , and rendering it as a question, “Should it not return?” equivalent to “it will certainly return” (Maurer, Ewald, etc.); or by understanding the return to Egypt as signifying the longing of the people for help from Egypt (Rosenmüller). The emphatic הוּא of the second clause is at variance with all these explanations, since they not only fail to explain it, but it points unmistakeably to an antithesis: “Israel will not return to Egypt; but Asshur, it shall be its king,” i.e., it shall come under the dominion of Assyria. The supposed contradiction is removed as soon as we observe that in Hosea 8:13; Hosea 9:3, Hosea 9:6, Egypt is a type of the land of bondage; whereas here the typical interpretation is precluded partly by the contrast to Asshur, and still more by the correspondence in which the words stand to Hosea 11:1 . Into the land from which Jehovah called His people, Israel shall not return, lest it should appear as though the object, for which it had been brought out of Egypt and conducted miraculously through the desert, had been frustrated by the impenitence of the people. But it is to be brought into another bondage. ואשּׁוּר is appended adversatively. Asshur shall rule over it as king, because they refuse to return, sc. to Jehovah. The Assyrians will wage war against the land, and conquer it. The sword (used as a principal weapon, to denote the destructive power of war) will circulate in the cities of Israel, make the round of the cities as it were, and destroy its bolts, i.e., the bolts of the gates of the fortifications of Ephraim. Baddı̄m , poles (Exodus 25:13.), cross-poles or cross-beams, with which the gates were fastened, hence bolts in the literal sense, as in Job 17:16, and not tropically for “princes” (Ges.), electi (Jer., Chald., etc.). “On account of their counsels:” this is more fully defined in Hosea 11:7. נעמּי , and my people (= since my people) are harnessed to apostasy from me ( m e shūbhâthı̄ , with an objective suffix). תּלוּאים , lit., suspended on apostasy, i.e., not “swaying about in consequence of apostasy or in constant danger of falling away” (Chald., Syr., Hengst.), since this would express too little in the present context and would not suit the second half of the verse, but impaled or fastened upon apostasy as upon a stake, so that it cannot get loose. Hence the constructing of תּלה with ל instead of על or ב (2 Samuel 18:10), may be accounted for from the use of the verb in a figurative sense. על־על , upwards ( על as in Hosea 7:16), do they (the prophets: see Hosea 11:2) call them; but it does not rise, sc. to return to God, or seek help from on high. רומם pilel , with the meaning of the kal intensified, to make a rising, i.e., to rise up. This explanation appears simpler than supplying an object, say “the soul” (Psalms 25:1), or “the eyes” (Ezekiel 33:25).
They deserved to be utterly destroyed for this, and would have been if the compassion of God had not prevented it. With this turn a transition is made in Hosea 11:8 from threatening to promise. Hosea 11:8. “How could I give thee up, O Ephraim! surrender thee, O Israel! how could I give thee up like Admah, make thee like Zeboim! My heart has changed within me, my compassion is excited all at once. Hosea 11:9. I will not execute the burning heat of my wrath, I will not destroy Ephraim again: for I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee: and come not into burning wrath.” “How thoroughly could I give thee up!” sc. if I were to punish thy rebellion as it deserved. Nâthan , to surrender to the power of the enemy, like miggēn in Genesis 14:20. And not that alone, but I could utterly destroy thee, like Admah and Zeboim, the two cities of the valley of Siddim, which were destroyed by fire from heaven along with Sodom and Gomorrha. Compare Deuteronomy 29:22, where Admah and Zeboim are expressly mentioned along with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, which stand alone in Genesis 19:24. With evident reference to this passage, in which Moses threatens idolatrous Israel with the same punishment, Hosea simply mentions the last two as quite sufficient for his purpose, whereas Sodom and Gomorrha are generally mentioned in other passages (Jeremiah 49:18; cf. Matthew 10:15; Luke 10:12). The promise that God will show compassion is appended here, without any adversative particle. My heart has turned, changed in me ( על , lit., upon or with me, as in the similar phrases in 1 Samuel 25:36; Jeremiah 8:18). יחד נכמרוּ , in a body have my feelings of compassion gathered themselves together, i.e., my whole compassion is excited. Compare Genesis 43:30 and 1 Kings 3:26, where, instead of the abstract nichūmı̄m , we find the more definite rachămı̄m , the bowels as the seat of the emotions. עשׂה חרון אף , to carry out wrath, to execute it as judgment (as in 1 Samuel 28:18). In the expression לא אשׁוּב לשׁחת , I will not return to destroy, שׁוּב may be explained from the previous נהפּך לבּי . After the heart of God has changed, it will not return to wrath, to destroy Ephraim; for Jehovah is God, who does not alter His purposes like a man (cf. 1 Samuel 15:29; Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6), and He shows Himself in Israel as the Holy One, i.e., the absolutely pure and perfect one, in whom there is no alternation of light and darkness, and therefore no variableness in His decrees (see at Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 6:3). The difficult expression בּעיר cannot mean “into a city,” although it is so rendered by the ancient versions, the Rabbins, and many Christian expositors; for we cannot attach any meaning to the words “I do not come into a city” at all in harmony with the context. עיר signifies here aestus irae , the heat of wrath, from עוּר , effervescere , just as in Jeremiah 15:8 it signifies the heat of alarm and anxiety, aestus animi .
“They will go after Jehovah; like a lion will He roar; for He will roar: and sons will tremble from the sea. Hosea 11:11. Tremble like birds out of Egypt, and like doves out of the land of Asshur: and I cause them to dwell in their houses, is the saying of Jehovah.” When the Lord turns His pity towards the people once more, they will follow Him, and hasten, with trembling at His voice, from the lands of their banishment, and be reinstated by Him in their inheritance. The way for this promise was opened indeed by Hosea 11:9, but here it is introduced quite abruptly, and without any logical particle of connection, like the same promise in Hosea 3:5. הלך אחרי יי , to walk after the Lord, denotes not only “obedience to the gathering voice of the Lord, as manifested by their drawing near” (Simson), but that walking in true obedience to the Lord which follows from conversion (Deuteronomy 13:5; 1 Kings 14:8), so that the Chaldee has very properly rendered it, “They will follow the worship of Jehovah.” This faithfulness they will exhibit first of all in practical obedience to the call of the Lord. This call is described as the roaring of a lion, the point of comparison lying simply in the fact that a lion announces its coming by roaring, so that the roaring merely indicates a loud, far-reaching call, like the blowing of the trumpet in Isaiah 27:13. The reason for what is affirmed is then given: “for He (Jehovah) will really utter His call,” in consequence of which the Israelites, as His children, will come trembling ( chârēd synonymous with pâchad , Hosea 3:5). מיּם , from the sea, i.e., from the distant islands and lands of the west (Isaiah 11:11), as well as from Egypt and Assyria, the lands of the south and east. These three regions are simply a special form of the idea, “out of all quarters of the globe;” compare the more complete enumeration of the several remote countries in Isaiah 11:11. The comparison to birds and doves expresses the swiftness with which they draw near, as doves fly to their dovecots (Isaiah 60:8). Then will the Lord cause them to dwell in their houses, i.e., settle them once more in their inheritance, in His own land (cf. Jeremiah 32:37, where לבטח is added). On the construing of הושׁיב with על , cf. 1 Kings 20:43, and the German auf der Stube sein . The expression נאם יי affixes the seal of confirmation to this promise. The fulfilment takes place in the last says, when Israel as a nation shall enter the kingdom of God. Compare the remarks on this point at Hosea 2:1-3.