16 Samaria will bear her guilt; For she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, And their pregnant women will be ripped open."
Then Menahem struck Tiphsah, and all who were therein, and the borders of it, from Tirzah: because they didn't open to him, therefore he struck it; and all the women therein who were with child he ripped up.
Hazael said, Why weeps my lord? He answered, Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: their strongholds will you set on fire, and their young men will you kill with the sword, and will dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child.
Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because they have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, That they may enlarge their border.
The sword will fall on their cities, And will consume their gate bars, And will put an end to their plans.
For the statutes of Omri are kept, And all the works of the house of Ahab. You walk in their counsels, That I may make you a ruin, And her inhabitants a hissing; And you will bear the reproach of my people."
The mountains melt under him, And the valleys split apart, Like wax before the fire, Like waters that are poured down a steep place.
I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, "Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, And to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, The notable men of the chief of the nations, To whom the house of Israel come! Go to Calneh, and see; And from there go to Hamath the great; Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms? Or is their border greater than your border? Those who put far away the evil day, And cause the seat of violence to come near; Who lie on beds of ivory, And stretch themselves on their couches, And eat the lambs out of the flock, And the calves out of the midst of the stall; Who strum on the strings of a harp; Who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David; Who drink wine in bowls, And anoint themselves with the best oils; But they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore they will now go captive with the first who go captive; And the feasting and lounging will end. "The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself," says Yahweh, the God of hosts: "I abhor the pride of Jacob, And detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.
In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, And all your fortresses will be destroyed, As Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children. So Bethel will do to you because of your great wickedness. At daybreak the king of Israel will be destroyed.
Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones.
They haven't cried to me with their heart, But they howl on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They turn away from me.
For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and, My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people; and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.'"
When he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against you, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shall you be delivered?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hosea 13
Commentary on Hosea 13 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 13
The same strings, though generally unpleasing ones, are harped upon in this chapter that were in those before. People care not to be told either of their sin or of their danger by sin; and yet it is necessary, and for their good, that they should be told of both, nor can they better hear of either than from the word of God and from their faithful ministers, while the sin may be repented of and the danger prevented. Here,
Hsa 13:1-4
Idolatry was the sin that did most easily beset the Jewish nation till after the captivity; the ten tribes from the first were guilty of it, but especially after the days of Ahab; and this is the sin which, in these verses, they are charged with. Observe,
Hsa 13:5-8
We may observe here,
Now all this teaches us,
Hsa 13:9-16
The first of these verses is the summary, or contents, of all the rest (v. 9), where we have,
Now, in the rest of these verses, we may see,