10 And I have spoken unto the prophets, And I have multiplied vision, And by the hand of the prophets I use similes.
The commencement of Jehovah's speaking by Hosea. And Jehovah saith unto Hosea, `Go, take to thee a woman of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms, for utterly go a-whoring doth the land from after Jehovah.' And he goeth and taketh Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceiveth and beareth to him a son; and Jehovah saith unto him, `Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little, and I have charged the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and have caused to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel; and it hath come to pass in that day that I have broken the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel.'
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: `Son of man, What is the vine-tree more than any tree? The vine-branch that hath been, Among trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to use for work? Do they take of it a pin to hang any vessel on it? Lo, to the fire it hath been given for fuel, Its two ends hath the fire eaten, And its midst hath been scorched! Is it profitable for work? Lo, in its being perfect it is not used for work, How much less, when fire hath eaten of it, And it is scorched, Hath it been used yet for work? Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: As the vine-tree among trees of the forest, That I have given to the fire for fuel, So I have given the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I have set My face against them, From the fire they have gone forth, And the fire doth consume them, And ye have known that I `am' Jehovah, In My setting My face against them. And I have made the land a desolation, Because they have committed a trespass, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'
`And thou, son of man, take to thee a brick, and thou hast put it before thee, and hast graven on it a city -- Jerusalem, and hast placed against it a siege, and builded against it a fortification, and poured out against it a mount, and placed against it camps, yea, set thou against it battering-rams round about. And thou, take to thee an iron pan, and thou hast made it a wall of iron between thee and the city; and thou hast prepared thy face against it, and it hath been in a siege, yea, thou hast laid siege against it. A sign it `is' to the house of Israel. `And thou, lie on thy left side, and thou hast placed the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; the number of the days that thou liest on it, thou bearest their iniquity. And I -- I have laid on thee the years of their iniquity, the number of days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou hast borne the iniquity of the house of Israel.
Thus said Jehovah unto me, `Go, and thou hast got for thee a girdle of linen, and hast placed it on thy loins, and into water thou dost not cause it to enter:' and I get the girdle, according to the word of Jehovah, and I place `it' on my loins. And there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time, saying, `Take the girdle that thou hast got, that `is' on thy loins, and rise, go to Phrat, and hide it there in a hole of the rock; and I go and hide it by Phrat, as Jehovah commanded me. And it cometh to pass, at the end of many days, that Jehovah saith unto me, `Rise, go to Phrat, and take thence the girdle, that I commanded thee to hide there;' and I go to Phrat, and dig, and take the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and lo, the girdle hath been marred, it is not profitable for anything. And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Thus said Jehovah: Thus do I mar the excellency of Judah, And the great excellency of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, Who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, And go after other gods to serve them, And to bow themselves to them, Yea it is -- as this girdle, that is not profitable for anything. For, as the girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man, So I caused to cleave unto Me The whole house of Israel, And the whole house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah, To be to Me for a people, and for a name, And for praise, and for beauty, And they have not hearkened. And thou hast said unto them this word, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, `Every bottle is full of wine,' And they have said unto thee: `Do we not certainly know that every bottle is full of wine?' And thou hast said unto them, `Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am filling all the inhabitants of this land, And the kings who sit for David on his throne, And the priests, and the prophets, And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, `With' drunkenness, And have dashed them one against another, And the fathers and the sons together, An affirmation of Jehovah, I do not pity, nor spare, nor have I mercy, So as not to destroy them.
at that time spake Jehovah by the hand of Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, `Go, and thou hast loosed the sackcloth from off thy loins, and thy sandal thou dost draw from off thy foot,' and he doth so, going naked and barefoot. And Jehovah saith, `As My servant Isaiah hath gone naked and barefoot three years, a sign and a wonder for Egypt and for Cush, so doth the king of Asshur lead the captivity of Egypt, and the removal of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, with seat uncovered -- the nakedness of Egypt; and they have been affrighted and ashamed of Cush their confidence, and of Egypt their beauty,
Let me sing, I pray you, for my beloved, A song of my beloved as to his vineyard: My beloved hath a vineyard in a fruitful hill, And he fenceth it, and casteth out its stones, And planteth it `with' a choice vine, And buildeth a tower in its midst, And also a wine press hath hewn out in it, And he waiteth for the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones! And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. What -- to do still to my vineyard, That I have not done in it! Wherefore, I waited to the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones! And now, pray, let me cause you to know, That which I am doing to my vineyard, To turn aside its hedge, And it hath been for consumption, To break down its wall, And it hath been for a treading-place. And I make it a waste, It is not pruned, nor arranged, And gone up have brier and thorn, And on the thick clouds I lay a charge, From raining upon it rain. Because the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts `Is' the house of Israel, And the man of Judah His pleasant plant, And He waiteth for judgment, and lo, oppression, For righteousness, and lo, a cry.
and Elijah cometh nigh unto all the people, and saith, `Till when are ye leaping on the two branches? -- if Jehovah `is' God, go after Him; and if Baal, go after him;' and the people have not answered him a word. And Elijah saith unto the people, `I -- I have been left a prophet of Jehovah -- by myself; and the prophets of Baal `are' four hundred and fifty men; and let them give to us two bullocks, and they choose for themselves the one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and place `it' on the wood, and place no fire; and I -- I prepare the other bullock, and have put `it' on the wood, and fire I do not place; -- and ye have called in the name of your god, and I -- I call in the name of Jehovah, and it hath been, the god who answereth by fire -- He `is' the God.' And all the people answer and say, `Good `is' the word.' And Elijah saith to the prophets of Baal, `Choose for you the one bullock, and prepare first, for ye `are' the multitude, and call ye in the name of your god, and place no fire.' And they take the bullock that `one' gave to them, and prepare, and call in the name of Baal from the morning even till the noon, saying, `O Baal, answer us!' and there is no voice, and there is none answering; and they leap on the altar that one had made. And it cometh to pass, at noon, that Elijah playeth on them, and saith, `Call with a loud voice, for he `is' a god, for he is meditating, or pursuing, or on a journey; it may be he is asleep, an doth awake.' And they call with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their ordinance, with swords and with spears, till a flowing of blood `is' on them; and it cometh to pass, at the passing by of the noon, that they feign themselves prophets till the going up of the present, and there is no voice, and there is none answering, and there is none attending. And Elijah saith to all the people, `Come nigh unto me;' and all the people come nigh unto him, and he repaireth the altar of Jehovah that is broken down; and Elijah taketh twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of Jehovah was, saying, `Israel is thy name;' and he buildeth with the stones an altar, in the name of Jehovah, and maketh a trench, as about the space of two measures of seed, round about the altar. And he arrangeth the wood, and cutteth in pieces the bullock, and placeth `it' on the wood, and saith, `Fill ye four pitchers of water, and pour on the burnt-offering, and on the wood; and he saith, `Do `it' a second time;' and they do `it' a second time; and he saith, `Do `it' a third time;' and they do `it' a third time; and the water goeth round about the altar, and also, the trench he hath filled with water. And it cometh to pass, at the going up of the `evening-'present, that Elijah the prophet cometh nigh and saith, `Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to-day let it be known that Thou `art' God in Israel, and I Thy servant, that by Thy word I have done the whole of these things; answer me, O Jehovah, answer me, and this people doth know that Thou `art' Jehovah God; and Thou hast turned their heart backward.' And there falleth a fire of Jehovah, and consumeth the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and the water that `is' in the trench it hath licked up. And all the people see, and fall on their faces, and say, `Jehovah, He `is' the God, Jehovah, He `is' the God.' And Elijah saith to them, `Catch ye the prophets of Baal; let not a man escape of them;' and they catch them, and Elijah bringeth them down unto the stream Kishon, and doth slaughter them there.
Go, say to Jeroboam, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Because that I have made thee high out of the midst of the people, and appoint thee leader over my people Israel, and rend the kingdom from the house of David, and give it to thee, -- and thou hast not been as My servant David who kept My commands, and who walked after Me with all his heart, to do only that which `is' right in Mine eyes, and thou dost evil above all who have been before thee, and goest, and makest to thee other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and Me thou hast cast behind thy back: `Therefore, lo, I am bringing in evil unto the house of Jeroboam, and have cut off to Jeroboam those sitting on the wall -- shut up and left -- in Israel, and have put away the posterity of the house of Jeroboam, as one putteth away the dung till its consumption; him who dieth of Jeroboam in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth in a field do fowl of the heavens eat, for Jehovah hath spoken. `And thou, rise, go to thy house; in the going in of thy feet to the city -- hath the lad died; and all Israel have mourned for him, and buried him, for this one -- by himself -- cometh of Jeroboam unto a grave, because there hath been found in him a good thing towards Jehovah, God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. `And Jehovah hath raised up for Him a king over Israel who cutteth off the house of Jeroboam this day -- and what? -- even now! And Jehovah hath smitten Israel as the reed is moved by the waters, and hath plucked Israel from off this good ground that He gave to their fathers, and scattered them beyond the River, because that they made their shrines, provoking Jehovah to anger; and He giveth up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned, and that he caused Israel to sin.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hosea 12
Commentary on Hosea 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
In this chapter we have,
Hsa 12:1-6
In these verses,
Hsa 12:7-14
Here are intermixed, in these verses,