16 Become desolate doth Samaria, Because she hath rebelled against her God, By sword they do fall, Their sucklings are dashed in pieces, And its pregnant ones are ripped up!
Then doth Menahem smite Tiphsah, and all who `are' in it, and its borders from Tirzah, for it opened not `to him', and he smiteth `it', all its pregnant women he hath ripped up.
And Hazael saith, `Wherefore is my lord weeping?' and he saith, `Because I have known the evil that thou dost to the sons of Israel -- their fenced places thou dost send into fire, and their young men with sword thou dost slay, and their sucklings thou dost dash to pieces, and their pregnant women thou dost rip up.'
Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of the sons of Ammon, And for four, I do not reverse it, Because of their ripping up the pregnant ones of Gilead, To enlarge their border,
Grievous hath been the sword in his cities, And it hath ended his bars, and consumed -- from their own counsels.
And kept habitually are the statutes of Omri, And all the work of the house of Ahab, And ye do walk in their counsels, For My giving thee for a desolation, And its inhabitants for a hissing, And the reproach of My people ye do bear!
Melted have been the mountains under Him, And the valleys do rend themselves, As wax from the presence of fire, As waters cast down by a slope.
I have seen the Lord standing by the altar, and He saith: `Smite the knob, and the thresholds shake, And cut them off by the head -- all of them, And their posterity with a sword I do slay, Not flee to them doth the fleer, Nor escape to them doth a fugitive.
Wo `to' those secure in Zion, And those confident in the mount of Samaria, The marked of the chief of the nations, And come to them have the house of Israel. Pass ye over `to' Calneh and see, And go thence `to' Hamath the great, And go down `to' Gath of the Philistines, Are `they' better than these kingdoms? Greater `is' their border than your border? Who are putting away the day of evil, And ye bring nigh the seat of violence, Who are lying down on beds of ivory, And are spread out on their couches, And are eating lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the stall, Who are taking part according to the psaltery, Like David they invented for themselves instruments of music; Who are drinking with bowls of wine, And `with' chief perfumes anoint `themselves', And have not been pained for the breach of Joseph. Therefore now they remove at the head of the captives, And turned aside is the mourning-feast of stretched-out ones. Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah by Himself, An affirmation of Jehovah, God of Hosts: I am abominating the excellency of Jacob, And his high places I have hated, And I have delivered up the city and its fulness.
in the ninth year of Hoshea hath the king of Asshur captured Samaria, and removeth Israel to Asshur, and causeth them to dwell in Halah, and in Habor, `by' the river Gozan, and `in' the cities of the Medes.
And rise doth a tumult among thy people, And all thy fortresses are spoiled, As the spoiling of Shalman of Beth-Arbel, In a day of battle, Mother against sons dashed in pieces. Thus hath Beth-El done to you, Because of the evil of your wickedness, In the dawn cut off utterly is a king of Israel!
Their heart hath been divided, now they are guilty, He doth break down their altars, He doth destroy their standing-pillars.
And have not cried unto Me with their heart, but howl on their beds, For corn and new wine they assemble themselves, They turn aside against Me.
for before the youth doth know to cry, My father, and My mother, one taketh away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria, before the king of Asshur.'
For the head of Aram `is' Damascus, And the head of Damascus `is' Rezin, And within sixty and five years Is Ephraim broken from `being' a people. And the head of Ephraim `is' Samaria, And the head of Samaria `is' the son of Remaliah. If ye do not give credence, Surely ye are not stedfast.'
And he heareth concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, `Lo, he hath come out to fight with thee;' and he turneth and sendeth messengers unto Hezekiah, saying, `Thus do ye speak unto Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God lift thee up in whom thou art trusting, saying, Jerusalem is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur. Lo, thou hast heard that which the kings of Asshur have done to all the lands -- to devote them; and thou art 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,