18 And I have made to them a covenant in that day, with the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the creeping thing of the ground, And bow, and sword, and war I break from off the land, And have caused them to lie down confidently.
And I have made for them a covenant of peace, And caused evil beasts to cease out of the land, And they have dwelt in a wilderness confidently, And they have slept in forests.
In his days is Judah saved, and Israel dwelleth confidently, And this his name that Jehovah proclaimeth him, `Our Righteousness.'
And gone out have the inhabitants of cities of Israel, And they have burned and kindled `a fire', With armour, and shield, and buckler, With bow, and with arrows, And with hand-staves, and with javelins, And they have caused a fire to burn with them seven years, And they do not take wood out of the field, Nor do they hew out of the forests, For with armour they cause the fire to burn, And they have spoiled their spoilers, And they have plundered their plunderers, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
(For with sons of the field `is' thy covenant, And the beast of the field Hath been at peace with thee.)
And a wolf hath sojourned with a lamb, And a leopard with a kid doth lie down, And calf, and young lion, and fatling `are' together, And a little youth is leader over them. And cow and bear do feed, Together lie down their young ones, And a lion as an ox eateth straw. And played hath a suckling by the hole of an asp, And on the den of a cockatrice Hath the weaned one put his hand. Evil they do not, nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For full hath been the earth with the knowledge of Jehovah, As the waters are covering the sea.
Causing wars to cease, Unto the end of the earth, the bow he shivereth, And the spear He hath cut asunder, Chariots he doth burn with fire.
In that day -- an affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, Ye do call, each unto his neighbour, Unto the place of the vine, And unto the place of the fig-tree!'
And stood have His feet, in that day, On the mount of Olives, That `is' before Jerusalem eastward, And cleft hath been the mount of Olives at its midst, To the east, and to the west, a very great valley, And removed hath the half of the mount towards the north. And its half towards the south.
And I have cut off the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem, Yea, cut off hath been the bow of battle, And he hath spoken peace to nations, And his rule `is' from sea unto sea, And from the river unto the ends of earth.
and reached to you hath the threshing, the gathering, and the gathering doth reach the sowing-`time'; and ye have eaten your bread to satiety, and have dwelt confidently in your land. `And I have given peace in the land, and ye have lain down, and there is none causing trembling; and I have caused evil beasts to cease out of the land, and the sword doth not pass over into your land.
And joined have been many nations unto Jehovah in that day, And they have been to Me for a people, And I have dwelt in thy midst, And thou hast known that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me unto thee.
And He hath judged between many peoples, And given a decision to mighty nations afar off, They have beaten their swords to ploughshares, And their spears to pruning-hooks, Nation lifteth not up sword unto nation, Nor do they learn war any more. And they have sat each under his vine, And under his fig-tree, And there is none troubling, For the mouth of Jehovah of Hosts hath spoken.
And thou, be not afraid, My servant Jacob, An affirmation of Jehovah, Nor be affrighted, O Israel, For, lo, I am saving thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity, And Jacob hath turned back and rested, And is quiet, and there is none troubling.
Wolf and lamb do feed as one, And a lion as an ox eateth straw, As to the serpent -- dust `is' its food, They do no evil, nor destroy, In all My holy mountain, said Jehovah!
And bowed down hath been the haughtiness of man, And humbled the loftiness of men, And set on high hath Jehovah alone been in that day.
The haughty eyes of man have been humbled, And bowed down hath been the loftiness of men, And set on high hath Jehovah alone been in that day.
He who is dwelling In the secret place of the Most High, In the shade of the Mighty lodgeth habitually, He is saying of Jehovah, `My refuge, and my bulwark, my God, I trust in Him,' For He delivereth thee from the snare of a fowler, From a calamitous pestilence. With His pinion He covereth thee over, And under His wings thou dost trust, A shield and buckler `is' His truth. Thou art not afraid of fear by night, Of arrow that flieth by day, Of pestilence in thick darkness that walketh, Of destruction that destroyeth at noon, There fall at thy side a thousand, And a myriad at thy right hand, Unto thee it cometh not nigh. But with thine eyes thou lookest, And the reward of the wicked thou seest, (For Thou, O Jehovah, `art' my refuge,) The Most High thou madest thy habitation. Evil happeneth not unto thee, And a plague cometh not near thy tent, For His messengers He chargeth for thee, To keep thee in all thy ways, On the hands they bear thee up, Lest thou smite against a stone thy foot. On lion and asp thou treadest, Thou trampest young lion and dragon.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hosea 2
Commentary on Hosea 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
The scope of this chapter seems to be much the same with that of the foregoing chapter, and to point at the same events, and the causes of them. As there, so here,
Hsa 2:1-5
The first words of this chapter some make the close of the foregoing chapter, and add them to the promises which we have here of the great things God would do for them. When they shall have appointed Christ their head, and centered in him, then let them say to one another, with triumph and exultation (let the prophets say it to them, so the Chaldee-Comfort you, comfort you, my people, is now their commission), "say to them, Ammi, and Ruhamah; call them so again, for they shall no longer lie under the reproach and doom of Lo-ammi and Lo-ruhamah; they shall now be my people again, and shall obtain mercy.' God's spiritual Israel, made up of Jews and Gentiles without distinction, shall call one another brethren and sisters, shall own one another for the people of God and beloved of him, and, for that reason, shall embrace one another, and stir up one another both to give thanks for and to walk worthy of this common salvation which they partake of. Or rather, because the following words seem to have a coherence with these, these also are designed for conviction and humiliation. The mother (v. 2) seems to be the same with the brethren and sisters (v. 1), the church of the ten tribes, the body of the people, who were brethren, and in a special manner with the heads and leaders, who were as the mother by whom the rest were brought up and nursed. But who are the children that must plead with their mother thus? Either,
Hsa 2:6-13
God here goes on to threaten what he would do with this treacherous idolatrous people; and he warns that he may not wound, he threatens that he may not strike. If he turn not, he will whet his sword (Ps. 7:12); but, if he turn, he will sheathe it. They did not turn, and therefore all this came upon them: and its being threatened before shows that it was the execution of a divine sentence upon them for their wickedness; and it is written for admonition to us.
Hsa 2:14-23
The state of Israel ruined by their own sin did not look so black and dismal in the former part of the chapter, but that the state of Israel, restrained by the divine grace, looks as bright and pleasant here in the latter part of the chapter, and the more surprisingly so as the promises follow thus close upon the threatenings; nay, which is very strange, they are by a note of connexion joined to, and inferred from, that declaration of their sinfulness upon which the threatenings of their ruin are grounded: She went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith the Lord; therefore I will allure her. Fitly therefore is that therefore which is the note of connexion immediately followed with a note of admiration: Behold I will allure her! When it was said, She forgot me, one would think it should have followed, "Therefore I will abandon her, I will forget her, I will never look after her more.' No, Therefore I will allure her. Note, God's thoughts and ways of mercy are infinitely above ours; his reasons are all fetched from within himself, and not from any thing in us; nay, his goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious, Isa. 57:17, 18. Therefore, because she will not be restrained by the denunciations of wrath, God will try whether she will be wrought upon by the offers of mercy. Some think it may be translated, Afterwards, or nevertheless, I will allure her. It comes all to one; the design is plainly to magnify free grace to those on whom God will have mercy purely for mercy's sake. Now that which is here promised to Israel is,