The document discusses God's love for Israel, highlighting that He loved them from their infancy as a nation and called them out of Egypt, framing this relationship in both historical and prophetic contexts. It draws parallels between Israel's deliverance and the life of Jesus, emphasizing that Israel's identity as God's son was fulfilled in Christ, who also came out of Egypt. The text reflects on Israel's ingratitude and God's enduring love and promises of restoration despite their transgressions.

1. HOSEA 11 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
God’s Love for Israel
1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
BAR ES, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him - God loved Israel, as He
Himself formed it, ere it corrupted itself. He loved it for the sake of the fathers,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as he saith, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated”
Mal_1:2. Then, when it was weak, helpless, oppressed by the Egyptians, afflicted,
destitute, God loved him, cared for him, delivered him from oppression, and called him
out of Egypt. : “When did He love Israel? When, by His guidance, Israel regained
freedom, his enemies were destroyed, he was fed with “food from heaven,” he heard the
voice of God, and received the law from Him. He was unformed in Egypt; then he was
informed by the rules of the law, so as to be matured there. He was a child in that vast
waste. For he was nourished, not by solid food, but by milk, i. e., by the rudiments of
piety and righteousness, that he might gradually attain the strength of a man. So that
law was a schoolmaster, to retain Israel as a child, by the discipline of a child, until the
time should come when all, who despised not the heavenly gifts, should receive the Spirit
of adoption. The prophet then, in order to show the exceeding guilt of Israel, says,
“When Israel was a child,” (in the wilderness, for then he was born when he bound
himself to conform to the divine law, and was not yet matured) “I loved him,” i. e., I gave
him the law, priesthood, judgments, precepts, instructions; I loaded him with most
ample benefits; I preferred him to all nations, expending on him, as on My chief heritage
and special possession, much watchful care and pains.”
I called My son out of Egypt - As He said to Pharaoh, “Israel is My son, even My
firstborn; let My son go, that he may serve Me” Exo_4:22-23. God chose him out of all
nations, to be His special people. Yet also God chose him, not for himself, but because
He willed that Christ, His only Son, should “after the flesh” be born of him, and for, and
in, the Son, God called His people, “My son.” : “The people of Israel was called a son, as
regards the elect, yet only for the sake of Him, the only begotten Son, begotten, not
adopted, who, “after the flesh,” was to be born of that people, that, through His Passion,
He might bring many sons to glory, disdaining not to have them as brethren and co-
heirs. For, had He not come, who was to come, the Well Beloved Son of God, Israel too
could never, anymore than the other nations, have been called the son of so great a
Father, as the Apostle, himself of that people, saith, “For we were, by nature, children of

2. wrath, even as others” Eph_2:3.
Since, however, these words relate to literal Israel, the people whom God brought out
by Moses, how were they fulfilled in the infant Jesus, when He was brought back out of
Egypt, as Matthew teaches us, they were?” Mat_2:15.
Because Israel himself was a type of Christ, and for the sake of Him who was to be
born of the seed of Israel, did God call Israel, “My son;” for His sake only did he deliver
him. The two deliverances, of the whole Jewish people, and of Christ the Head, occupied
the same position in God’s dispensations. He rescued Israel, whom He called His son, in
its childish and infantine condition, at the very commencement of its being, as a people.
His true Son by Nature, Christ our Lord, He brought up in His Infancy, when He began
to show forth His mercies to us in Him. Both had, by His appointment, taken refuge in
Egypt; both were, by His miraculous call to Moses in the bush, to Joseph in the dream,
recalled from it. Matthew apparently quotes these words, not to prove anything, but in
order to point out the relation of God’s former dealings with the latter, the beginning
and the close, what relates to the body, and what relates to the Head. He tells us that the
former deliverance had its completion in Christ, that in His deliverance was the full solid
completion of that of Israel; and that then indeed it might, in its completest fullness, be
said, “Out of Egypt have I called My Son.”
When Israel was brought out of Egypt, the figure took place; when Christ was called,
the reality was fulfilled. The act itself, on the part of God, was prophetic. When He
delivered Israel, and called him His firstborn, He willed, in the course of time, to bring
up from Egypt His Only-Begotten Son. The words are prophetic, because the event
which they speak of, was prophetic. “They speak of Israel as one collective body, and, as
it were, one person, called by God “My son,” namely, by adoption, still in the years of
innocency, and beloved by God, called of God out of Egypt by Moses, as Jesus, His true
Son, was by the Angel.” The following verses are not prophetic, because in them the
prophet no longer speaks of Israel as one, but as composed of the many sinful
individuals in it. Israel was a prophetic people, in regard to this dispensation of God
toward him; not in regard to his rebellions and sins.
CLARKE, "When Israel was a child - In the infancy of his political existence.
I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt - Where he was greatly oppressed;
and in this I gave the proof of my love. I preserved my people in their affliction there,
and brought them safely out of it.
GILL, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him,.... Or, "for Israel was a child"
(u); a rebellious and disobedient one, therefore his king was cut off in a morning, and he
has been, and will be, without a king many days; yet still "I loved him": or, "though Israel
was a child" (w); a weak, helpless, foolish, and imprudent one, "yet I loved him": or,
"when a child"; in the infancy of his civil and church state, when in Egypt, and in the
wilderness; the Lord loved him, not only as his creature, as he does all the works of his
hands, but with a more special love than he loved others; choosing them to be a special
people above all others; giving them his law, his statutes, and his judgments, his word
and his worship, which he did not give to other nations. So he loves spiritual and
mystical Israel, all the elect of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, when children, as soon as
born, and though born in sin, carnal and corrupt; yea, before they are born, and when
having done neither good nor evil; and so may be expressive both of the earliness and

3. antiquity of his love to them, and of the freeness of it, without any merits or motives of
theirs;
and called my son out of Egypt, not literal Israel, as before, whom God called his
son, and his firstborn, and demanded his dismission from Pharaoh, and called him, and
brought him out of Egypt with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; and which was a
type of his calling spiritual Israel, his adopted sons, out of worse than Egyptian bondage
and darkness: but his own natural and only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; for
these words are expressly said to be fulfilled in him, Mat_2:15; not by way of allusion; or
by accommodation of phrases; or as the type is fulfilled in the antitype; or as a proverbial
expression, adapted to any deliverance; but literally: the first and only sense of the words
respects Christ, who in his infancy was had to Egypt for shelter from Herod's rage and
fury, and, when he was dead, and those that sought the life of Jesus, he was by an angel
of the Lord, warning Joseph of it, called out of Egypt, and brought into Judea, Mat_2:19;
and this as a proof of the love of God to Israel; which as it was expressed to him in his
infancy, it continued and appeared in various instances, more or less unto the coming of
Christ; who, though obliged for a while to go into Egypt, must not continue there, but
must be called from thence, to be brought up in the land of Judea; to do his miracles,
preach his doctrines, and do good to the bodies and souls of men there, being sent
particularly to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; and, above all, in order to work out
the salvation and redemption of his special people among them, and of the whole Israel
of God everywhere else; which is the greatest instance of love to them, and to the world
of the Gentiles, that ever was known, Joh_3:16 1Jo_2:2.
HE RY 1-2, "I. God very gracious to Israel. They were a people for whom he had done
more than for any people under heaven, and to whom he had given more, which they are
here, I will not say upbraided with (for God gives, and upbraids not), but put in mind of,
as an aggravation of their sin and an encouragement to repentance. 1. He had a kindness
for them when they were young (Hos_11:1): When Israel was a child then I loved him;
when they first began to multiply into a nation in Egypt God then set his love upon them,
and chose them because he loved them, because he would love them, Deu_7:7, Deu_7:8.
When they were weak and helpless as children, foolish and froward as children, when
they were outcasts, and children exposed, then God loved them; he pitied them, and
testified his goodwill to them; he bore them as the nurse does the sucking child,
nourished them, and suffered their manners. Note, Those that have grown up, nay, those
that have grown old, ought often to reflect upon the goodness of God to them in their
childhood. 2. He delivered them out of the house of bondage: I called my son out of
Egypt, because a son, because a beloved son. When God demanded Israel's discharge
from Pharaoh he called them his son, his first-born. Note, Those whom God loves he
calls out of the bondage of sin and Satan into the glorious liberty of his children. These
words are said to have been fulfilled in Christ, when, upon the death of Herod, he and
his parents were called out of Egypt (Mat_2:15), so that the words have a double aspect,
speaking historically of the calling of Israel out of Egypt and prophetically of the
bringing of Christ thence; and the former was a type of the latter, and a pledge and
earnest of the many and great favours God had in reserve for that people, especially the
sending of his Son into the world, and the bringing him again into the land of Israel
when they had unkindly driven him out, and he might justly never have returned. The
calling of Christ out of Egypt was a figure of the calling of all that are his, through him,
out of spiritual slavery.

4. JAMISO , "Hos_11:1-12. God’s former benefits, and Israel’s ingratitude resulting in
punishment, yet Jehovah promises restoration at last.
Hos_11:5 shows this prophecy was uttered after the league made with Egypt (2Ki_
17:4).
Israel ... called my son out of Egypt — Bengel translates, “From the time that he
(Israel) was in Egypt, I called him My son,” which the parallelism proves. So Hos_12:9
and Hos_13:4 use “from ... Egypt,” for “from the time that thou didst sojourn in Egypt.”
Exo_4:22 also shows that Israel was called by God, “My son,” from the time of his
Egyptian sojourn (Isa_43:1). God is always said to have led or brought forth, not to have
“called,” Israel from Egypt. Mat_2:15, therefore, in quoting this prophecy (typically and
primarily referring to Israel, antitypically and fully to Messiah), applies it to Jesus’
sojourn in Egypt, not His return from it. Even from His infancy, partly spent in Egypt,
God called Him His son. God included Messiah, and Israel for Messiah’s sake, in one
common love, and therefore in one common prophecy. Messiah’s people and Himself
are one, as the Head and the body. Isa_49:3 calls Him “Israel.” The same general reason,
danger of extinction, caused the infant Jesus, and Israel in its national infancy (compare
Genesis 42:1-43:34; Gen_45:18; Gen_46:3, Gen_46:4; Eze_16:4-6; Jer_31:20) to
sojourn in Egypt. So He, and His spiritual Israel, are already called “God’s sons” while
yet in the Egypt of the world.
CALVI , "Verse 1
God here expostulates with the people of Israel for their ingratitude. The obligation
of the people was twofold; for God had embraced them from the very first
beginning, and when there was no merit or worthiness in them. What else, indeed,
was the condition of the people when emancipated from their servile works in
Egypt? They doubtless seemed then like a man half-dead or a putrid carcass; for
they had no vigour remaining in them. The Lord then stretched forth his hand to
the people when in so hopeless a state, drew them out, as it were, from the grave,
and restored them from death into life. But the people did not acknowledge this so
wonderful a favour of God, but soon after petulantly turned their back on him.
What baseness was this, and how shameful the wickedness, to make such a return to
the author of their life and salvation? The Prophet therefore enhances the sin and
baseness of the people by this circumstance, that the Lord had loved them even from
childhood; when yet, he says, Israel was a child, I loved him The nativity of the
people was their coming out of Egypt. The Lord had indeed made his covenant with
Abraham four hundred years before; and, as we know, the patriarchs were also
regarded by him as his children: but God wished his Church to be, as it were,
extinguished, when he redeemed it. Hence the Scripture, when it speaks of the
liberation of the people, often refers to that favour of God in the same way as of one
born into the world. It is not therefore without reason that the Prophet here reminds
the people that they had been loved when in childhood. The proof of this love was,
that they had been brought out of Egypt. Love had preceded, as the cause is always
before the effect.
But the Prophet enlarges on the subject: I loved Israel, even while he was yet a
child; I called him out of Egypt; that is, “I not only loved him when a child, but

5. before he was born I began to love him; for the liberation from Egypt was the
nativity, and my love preceded that. It then appears, that the people had been loved
by me, before they came forth to the light; for Egypt was like a grave without any
spark of life; and the condition this miserable people was in was worse than
thousand deaths. Then by calling my people from Egypt, I sufficiently proved that
my love was gratuitous before they were born.” The people were hence less
excusable when they returned such an unworthy recompense to God, since he had
previously bestowed his free favour upon them. We now understand the meaning of
the Prophet.
But here arises a difficult question; for Matthew, accommodates this passage to the
person of Christ. (73) They who have not been well versed in Scripture have
confidently applied to Christ this place; yet the context is opposed to this. Hence it
has happened, that scoffers have attempted to disturb the whole religion of Christ,
as though the Evangelist had misapplied the declaration of the Prophet. They give a
more suitable answer, who say that there is in this case only a comparison: as when
a passage from Jeremiah is quoted in another place, when the cruelty of Herod is
mentioned, who raged against all the infants of his dominion, who were under two
years of age,
‘Rachel, bewailing her children, would not receive consolation, because they were
not,’ (Jeremiah 31:15.)
The Evangelist says that this prophecy was fulfilled, (Matthew 2:18.) But it is
certain that the object of Jeremiah was another; but nothing prevents that
declaration should not be applied to what Matthew relates. So they understand this
place. But I think that Matthew had more deeply considered the purpose of God in
having Christ led into Egypt, and in his return afterwards into Judea. In the first
place, it must be remembered that Christ cannot be separated from his Church, as
the body will be mutilated and imperfect without a head. Whatever then happened
formerly in the Church, ought at length to be fulfilled by the head. This is one thing.
Then also there is no doubt, but that God in his wonderful providence intended that
his Son should come forth from Egypt, that he might be a redeemer to the faithful;
and thus he shows that a true, real, and perfect deliverance was at length effected,
when the promised Redeemer appeared. It was then the full nativity of the Church,
when Christ came forth from Egypt to redeem his Church. So in my view that
comment is too frigid, which embraces the idea, that Matthew made only a
comparison. For it behaves us to consider this, that God, when he formerly
redeemed his people from Egypt, only showed by a certain prelude the redemption
which he deferred till the coming of Christ. Hence, as the body was then brought
forth from Egypt into Judea, so at length the head also came forth from Egypt: and
then God fully showed him to be the true deliverer of his people. This then is the
meaning. Matthew therefore most fitly accommodates this passage to Christ, that
God loved his Son from his first childhood and called him from Egypt. We know at
the same time that Christ is called the Son of God in a respect different from the
people of Israel; for adoption made the children of Abraham the children of God,
but Christ is by nature the only-begotten Son of God. But his own dignity must

6. remain to the head, that the body may continue in its inferior state. There is then in
this nothing inconsistent. But as to the charge of ingratitude, that so great a favour
of God was not acknowledged, this cannot apply to the person of Christ, as we well
know; nor is it necessary in this respect to refer to him; for we see from other places
that every thing does not apply to Christ, which is said of David, or of the high
priest, or of the posterity of David; though they were types of Christ. But there is
ever a great difference between the reality and its symbols. Let us now proceed —
COFFMA , "Verse 1
This chapter stands sharply detached from the last. The first 7 verses are in the
form of a nostalgic remembrance of God's tender care of Israel, especially in their
being brought up out of Egypt and disciplined in the wilderness, but in Hosea 11:8,
it is clear that Hosea "thinks of the punishment as having fallen."[1]; Hosea 11:8-11
are Messianic and have reference to the times of the kingdom of God in Christ, and
the ingathering of the "true Israel" from all over the world. This prophetic
announcement should have been expected from the inspired designation by the
apostle Matthew of Hosea 11:1 as a prophecy pertaining to Jesus Christ himself.
As Meyers pointed out, "Hosea 11 is very closely related to Hosea 2, and cannot be
understood without constant reference thereto."[2] It will be recalled that our
interpretation of the return of Gomer to Hosea, not as his wife, but as having the
status of a slave, is exactly the thing in view for Israel (all of it) in this chapter.
The highly emotional figure of Hosea 11:8-9, depicting the torturing agony of a
father (God) who cannot bear to give up a dissolute son (Israel) is one of the
highlights of Hosea. There is in it something of the agony that Almighty God
Himself underwent (in a figure) when he gave his only begotten Son for the sins of
the world. However, it is a gross mistake to make this passage teach that, "God
simply doesn't have the heart to destroy us wicked sinners, no matter what we do,
and despite any of his threats of punishment." Ah no, the blow will fall upon
Ephraim; indeed Hosea views it as already accomplished in all of its terrible and
bloody details. The mercy which, even in their destruction, Ephraim was to receive
pertains to two things: (1) the reduction of their penalty from extermination like
that of Sodom and Gomorrah to a fate that would yet leave some of their
descendents alive on the earth to partake of the blessings of the ew Covenant, and
(2) the laying of the full penalty of the sins upon the heart of God Himself, in the
person of his Son, upon the Cross of Calvary. It was there in the event of God's
setting forth his Son to be the propitiation for our sins that God showed himself to
be "just, and the justifier of them that believe in Christ" (Romans 3:25). It is the
unconquerable love of God in Christ Jesus that dramatically comes into focus in this
chapter.
Hosea 11:1
"When Israel was a child then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt."

7. It is a misuse of this passage to make it the basis of making the call of Israel an event
that took place in Egypt, as Mauchline and others have attempted. The original call
of Israel was delivered not in Egypt, but to Abraham, to whom God promised that,
"In Isaac shall they seed be called." The particular call here, is not the election as
God's chosen people, but their being called up out of slavery in Egypt; and when
Jesus appeared upon earth with the mission to call all mankind out of the wretched
slavery of sin, it was appropriate indeed to associate the antitype (Christ) with the
type (Israel). "The development and guidance of Israel as the people of God all
pointed to Christ."[3] Joseph took Jesus and his mother Mary into Egypt to protect
them from the wrath of Herod, which, of course, necessitated also their "coming up
out of Egypt"; and therefore, Matthew associated the two events thus:
"And he arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into
Egypt ... that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord, through the
prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt did I call my son" (Matthew 2:14,15).
A tremendous weight of importance rides upon the necessary identification of the
old Israel as a type of the new, Christ himself also being in reality positively
identified with both, and making the old Israel, therefore, a type of the church.
Harper, as might have been expected, rejected this interpretation of Hosea on the
basis of his prior assumptions, admitting at the same time that this place has been
understood: "As predictive of the Messiah, to interpret Israel as a type of
Christ."[4] This very ancient understanding of the Scriptures should not be
abandoned.
We believe that Butler was correct in seeing here another "coming up out of Egypt"
in the event of the people of God under the ew Covenant "coming up out of the
captivity of heathendom, which Hosea had already typified by the use of the name
Egypt in Hosea 8:13."[5]
COKE, "Verse 1
Hosea 11:1. When Israel was a child, &c.— Israel is my son: I have loved him as a
son, and delivered him from Egypt. "I have regarded him as my child; I have taken
the same care of him as a father does of a son." The prophet seems to allude to the
words of Moses, Exodus 4:22-23. St. Matthew has quoted this passage of Hosea, and
applied it to the return of our Saviour from Egypt. He says, that then these words of
the prophet were fulfilled; I have called my son out of Egypt. The departure of the
Jews from that country was only a figure of that of the Saviour; and the name of the
first-born, which the Scripture on that occasion gives to Israel, was literally and
exactly verified only in the person of Jesus Christ. Eusebius, however, and several
other ancient writers, are of opinion, that St. Matthew did not take this passage
from Hosea, but from the words of Balaam, umbers 24:8. But we shall say more
concerning this matter on Matthew 2:15.
ELLICOTT, "(1) Comp. Hosea 9:10 and Exodus 4:22-23. In this context there
cannot be a prophecy of the Christ, for obstinate conduct and rebellion would thus
be involved in the prediction. It is true that Matthew 2:15 quotes the passage in

8. illustration of the fact that the true Son of God was also submitted in His youth to
the hard schooling of a cruel exile. The calling out of Egypt of the Messiah gave a
new indication of the cyclical character of Hebrew history. The passage helps us to
understand what is meant by the formula, “that it might be fulfilled,” &c.
SIMEO , "CHRIST CALLED OUT OF EGYPT
Hosea 11:1. When Israel was a child, then I loved him; and called my Son out of
Egypt.
WITHOUT supposing a primary and secondary sense of Scripture, it is impossible
to interpret the prophetic writings, so as to make them accord with the construction
put upon them in the ew Testament. Indeed, on many occasions, we are
necessitated to apply them also in a spiritual or mystical sense, so as to bring out
from them that full instruction which they are intended to convey. ot that we are
at liberty to indulge our own conceits in explaining God’s blessed word, or to put
upon it any sense which a fanciful imagination may suggest; but if we follow the
inspired writers of the ew Testament, we are safe. The passage before us has
doubtless an historical import, in relation to the ten tribes of Israel: nor can we
doubt but that it has a prophetical meaning in reference to our blessed Lord. And I
think the whole analogy of Scripture justifies us in affixing to it also a mystical
meaning, in reference to the Church of God in all ages.
In accordance with this view, let us consider,
I. Its historical import, as relating to the Jewish people—
The prophet is reproving the ten tribes for their ingratitude to God; and in the
words before us he shews them what signal mercies God had vouchsafed to them,
from the earliest period of their existence.
“He had loved Israel when a child”—
[When Israel were yet but few in number, God had loved them; yea, when their
great ancestor was yet in the womb, God had shewn to him his distinguishing grace
and mercy: choosing him, whilst Esau, the elder brother, was rejected [ ote:
Malachi 1:2-3.]. If they looked for the true cause of this, they would find it in God,
and in God alone: who had chosen them of his own sovereign will and pleasure, and
“had loved them purely and solely because he would love them [ ote: Deuteronomy
7:7-8.].” othing could exceed their weakness or unworthiness, at the instant when
God brought them into covenant with himself [ ote: Ezekiel 16:6.]: and therefore
they were bound to bear this in remembrance, and to requite this love with a total
surrender of themselves to God.]
He had brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand—
[God had set them apart as a peculiar people for himself. And, in demanding their

9. liberation from Pharaoh, he honoured them with the name of “his son, his first-born
[ ote: Exodus 4:22-23.].” And vain was Pharaoh’s opposition to his will. By ten
successive plagues, God subdued that proud monarch; and on the very day that had
been foretold four hundred and thirty years before, brought them forth with a
mighty hand and a stretched-out arm: not so much as one was left behind: and this
has been referred to, by all the inspired writers, as the most wonderful display of
power and grace that ever was vouchsafed to any creatures since the foundation of
the world.]
But let us view,
II. Its prophetical import, as relating to our blessed Lord—
It had been ordained of God, that every possible evidence should concur to establish
beyond a doubt the Messiahship of Jesus—
[ othing could be conceived more unlikely than that Jesus the Messiah should be
brought forth out of Egypt. He was to be born at Bethlehem [ ote: Matthew 2:5-6.],
and to be educated at azareth [ ote: Matthew 2:22-23.]. How, then, should it be
possible for him to be brought out of Egypt? Behold, the rage and envy of Herod
shall stimulate him to seek his utter destruction; and to secure it, by the destruction
of all the infants from two years old and under, in all the vicinity of the place where
Jesus was born. But, to defeat this murderous plot, an angel shall instruct Joseph to
take the infant and its mother by night into Egypt; and there shall they be preserved
in safety, till Herod himself is dead: and thus, without any design on the part of
man, yea, through the murderous rage alone of this jealous prince, is the prophecy
fulfilled; and the most convincing evidence is given, that Jesus is the Messiah, the
Saviour of the world.
In this view, as confirming the faith of all Believers to the very end of the world, is
this prophecy pre-eminently important; since it was beyond the power of man ever
to imagine such an incident; and since it took place only through the cruelty of him
who sought to destroy Christ as soon as he was come into the world.]
Let us further consider,
III. Its mystical import, as applicable to the Israel of God in all ages—
It is well known that the whole deliverance of Israel from Egypt was a type of the
deliverance of God’s Israel from sin and Satan, death and hell. Taking, then, the
passage in that view, we see in it,
1. The sovereignty of his grace—
[There is not a child of God, at whatever period he was converted to the faith of
Christ, but was loved of God before the foundation of the world. Of every one of
them it may be said, “God hath loved us with an everlasting love, therefore with

10. loving-kindness hath he drawn us [ ote: Jeremiah 31:3.]” To this all the Scriptures
bear witness [ ote: Ephesians 1:4-5. 2 Timothy 1:9.] — — — And therefore, if we
be God’s children, we must bear in mind to whose sovereign grace alone we owe it:
“We have not chosen him; but he has chosen us [ ote: John 15:16.].”]
2. The work which he has ordained to accomplish in all his people—
[Every one of them does he bring out of Egypt. However long we may have been in
bondage there, he looses our bonds, and “brings us into the glorious liberty of his
children.” See what he did for his people of old, and then you will see what he will
do for us: did he cause them to go from their bondage, and to commit themselves
altogether to the guidance and protection of their God? That is what he will do for
us: neither sin nor Satan shall detain us any longer under their dominion: but we
shall devote ourselves altogether to the Lord, to be to him a holy and a peculiar
people — — —]
3. The efficacy of his grace in their behalf—
[ ot one was left behind: “not one feeble person was found,” at that juncture,
amidst all the tribes of Israel. And shall there be one amongst all his people, whom
he has redeemed, unable to withstand his spiritual enemies? o, not one: “It is not
the will of our Father that one of his little ones should perish.” There may be a
diversity in the mode of their preservation, as at the shipwreck of St. Paul: but not
one shall be lost; nor shall a hair fall from the head of any one amongst them [ ote:
Acts 27:34; Acts 27:44.].]
Address—
1. Have any of you been called to God as from early childhood?
[O, “bless God for this unspeakable gift.” How much have you avoided, which might
have ensnared and destroyed your souls! Verily, to be called to the knowledge of the
truth in early life, is a far richer blessing than to have been called to the possession
of crowns and kingdoms.]
2. Are any of you brought into a state of deep affliction?
[This is no proof that God does not “love you,” or deal with you as “his children.”
Israel of old were scarcely escaped from Egypt, before they were menaced with
destruction at the Red Sea. And our blessed Lord was scarcely born into the world,
before it was necessary that he should be carried to Egypt, to avoid the sword of the
destroyer. Indeed, you will find that God in general calls his people to trials. “John
the Baptist must be in the deserts, till the time of his shewing unto Israel [ ote:
Luke 1:80.]:” our blessed Lord must be “forty days tempted of the devil in the
wilderness,” before he shall enter on the office to which he had been baptized [ ote:
Matthew 4:1. Mark 1:9-13.]: St. Paul shall be three days and three nights without
sight; and even then shall go into Arabia before he enters fully on his apostolic office

11. [ ote: Acts 9:9 and Galatians 1:17.]. Thus does God generally cause his people’s
faith to be tried [ ote: Hebrews 12:8.]; and “allures them into the wilderness, before
he speaks comfortably to them [ ote: Hosea 2:14-15.].” if, then, your faith be tried,
know that it is needful for your best interests [ ote: 1 Peter 1:6-7.], and that it is by
your tribulations that he will further in you the work of “patience and experience
and hope [ ote: Romans 5:3-5.].”]
3. Are there amongst you those who have never yet come out of Egypt?
[Be sure, that if you fancy yourselves children of God, whilst yet you have no desire
to relinquish this vain world, you do but deceive your own souls. Your “faith,” if it
be genuine, “will overcome the world [ ote: 1 John 5:4.];” and “the cross of
Christ,” if ever its saving power be felt, will cause you “to be crucified to the world,
and the world to be as a crucified object unto you [ ote: Galatians 6:14.].” They
who are the Lord’s people indeed, “are not of the world, even as he was not of the
world [ ote: John 17:14; John 17:16.].” I call you, therefore, to shew “whose you
are, and whom you serve:” as for “serving God and Mammon too, it is impossible
[ ote: Matthew 6:24.];” and to attempt it, is an act of treason against God [ ote:
James 4:4. the Greek.]. Come out, then, from Egypt and its pollutions, as God has
commanded you: and then “he will be a Father unto you; and ye shall be his sons
and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty [ ote: 2 Corinthians 6:17-18.].”]
TRAPP, "Verse 1
Hosea 11:1 When Israel [was] a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of
Egypt.
Ver. 1. When Israel was a child, then I loved him] On, because Israel was a child I
loved him. Young things are lovely; young children especially, for their innocence
and ignoscence. Some sense it thus, Israel was a child, and had nothing of worth or
lovely in him; yet I loved him freely, Deuteronomy 7:7, Hosea 10:9, called him out of
Egypt, out of the iron furnace, led him through the deep, as a horse in the
wilderness, Isaiah 63:13, possessed him of the promised land. Out of which though I
shall shortly cast him for his ingratitudes, yet there is hope of his restoration, by the
Messiah my Son, whom when I have called out of Egypt, he shall gather together
again the dispersed of Israel, and bring life and immortality to light by the gospel.
The foundation of which restoration he here maketh to be his own free grace. He
hath holpen his servant (or his child, του παιδας, Luke 1:53) Israel, in remembrance
of his mercy. "God so loved the world, that be gave his only begotten Son," &c.,
John 3:16. Here then beginneth our prophet’s first evangelical sermon, as Tarnovius
observeth, who also readeth the text thus: Albeit Israel was a child, such a forlorn
outcast child, as is described Ezekiel 17:1-24, Ezekiel 23:1-49, yet I loved him, and
adopted him for my son; not for any defect on my part (for I had an only begotten
Son, in whom I am well pleased), or for any desert on his part, for I found him in his
blood, in his blood, in his blood, when I cast my skirt of love over him, and said unto
him, Live, Ezekiel 16:6. Yea, and for his salvation’s sake, I have called, that is, I
have decreed to call, out of Egypt (whither he fled from Herod, and where he abode
two or three years at least) my child Jesus, whose office it is to "save his people from

12. their sins," Matthew 1:21. And although I might justly have deprived them of such
a Saviour for ever, because when he came to his own, his own received him not (yea,
rejected him to whom their own signs given to Herod did so aptly and evidently
agree), yet out of Eygpt, to show the constancy of my love to Israel, have I called (by
mine angel, as Jacob by a messenger called his wives to him into the field, Genesis
31:4) my Son Christ, Matthew 2:23, who is God’s Son, first, by eternal generation,
Proverbs 8:22-23; secondly, by personal union, Psalms 2:7. And thus God called out
of Egypt, first Israel his people, and then Christ, the head of his people; in whom at
length this prophecy was fulfilled.
PETT, "Verse 1
‘When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
And called my son out of Egypt.’
With these beautiful words God describes His relationship with His chosen people
as one of sovereign love. Out of His love for them He had called Israel as His son out
of Egypt where they were in slavery. Compare Exodus 4:22-23 where He described
Israel as ‘His firstborn’ and demanded that they be freed on that basis, and
Deuteronomy 14:1, where He declares them to be His children. His redemption of
Israel from bondage in Egypt (Exodus 20:2) is being portrayed as the act of a loving
Father delivering by the payment of a ransom His child who had been enslaved. He
had paid a ransom in order that Israel might be set free.
And we do well to note at this stage who ‘Israel’ were. They were not all direct
descendants of Abraham. They included descendants of Abraham’s 318 fighting
men and their families (Genesis 14:14), and a ‘mixed multitude’ of peoples from
many nations who, having taken part in the Exodus (Exodus 12:38), were received
into the covenant at Sinai, and were circumcised at Gilgal (Joshua 5:2-9). They also
included any who had later chosen to throw in their lot with Israel and enter by
circumcision into the covenant (Exodus 12:48). Thus they were already a
multinational people. For ‘Israel’ was never made up simply of people descended
from Abraham himself (that was a legal fiction). They rather saw themselves as
adopted by Him, on the basis that ‘those who are of faith, those are the children of
Abraham’ (Galatians 3:7). But all of them were loved equally by God and were seen
as His children, having been accepted into the covenant as ‘Israel’.
Verses 1-12
YHWH Describes How He Had Called His Son (Israel) Out Of Egypt And Watched
Over Him As A Faithful Father, Training Him In The Right Way, Only For His
Son’s Heart To Remain In Egypt So That He Would Inevitably Return There
Again. evertheless God Promises That He Will ot Give Them Up, And That One
Day He Will Call Them Out Of Egypt Again And He Will Cause Them To Dwell
With Him (Hosea 11:1-12).
In this tender passage YHWH describes how He ‘called His son (Israel) out of
Egypt’ (compare Exodus 4:22-23; Deuteronomy 14:1). And how, in spite of the fact
that He had led them, and watched over them and fed them (both in the wilderness
and then in Canaan), they had spurned His love and turned to the Baalim and to

13. graven images (both in the wilderness (Exodus 32) and now in Canaan), because
their hearts were still ‘in Egypt’. And the consequence is to be that they will ‘return
to Egypt’ (i.e. by being exiled among foreign nations or refugees in Egypt) because
they have refused to turn to Him. evertheless He is determined not to finally give
them up, and promises that although they at present only seek Him in a formal way,
without there being any real heart in it, He will in His sovereignty one day bring
them again out of their Egypt and ‘cause them to dwell in their houses’. It was in
order to demonstrate that this promise was about to be fulfilled that Jesus (as the
Supreme Representation of Israel) went as a young child into Egypt, and then
returned to Palestine (Canaan) at the call of God, symbolising that the promised
return of Israel to God through Him was about to happen, something which
Matthew especially brings out by citing this passage (Matthew 2:15).
In spite of Ephraim’s failure Judah is at this stage seen as the exception because
they still ‘ruled with God’ (had a Davidic king) and were ‘faithful with the Holy
One’ (continued the observance of the covenant in accordance with the Law). This
might suggest that these words were written in the days of Hezekiah when this was
again true.
It should be noted that whilst the alterations in method of address (changing from
third person to first person and back again, and from singular to plural and back
again) may be a little confusing to us they were not confusing to Hosea’s listeners. In
such niceties Hebrew grammar was not as precise as we are.
Analysis of Hosea 11:1-12.
a When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt (Hosea
11:1).
b The more they (the prophets) called them, the more they went from them, they
sacrificed to the Baalim, and burned incense to graven images (Hosea 11:2).
c Yet I taught Ephraim to walk, I took them on my arms, but they knew not that I
healed them. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love, and I was to them
as those who lift up the yoke on their jaws, and I laid food before them (Hosea 11:3-
4).
d Will they not return into the land of Egypt, and Assyria be their king, because
they refused to return to Me? And the sword will fall on their cities, and will
consume their bars, and devour, because of their own counsels (Hosea 11:5-6).
e And my people are bent on backsliding from me, though they call them to (Me) on
high, none at all will exalt (Me)’ (Hosea 11:7).
f How shall I give you up, Ephraim? How shall I cast you off, Israel? How shall I
make you as Admah? How shall I set you as Zeboiim? My heart is turned within
me, My compassions are kindled together (Hosea 11:8)
e I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy
Ephraim, for I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of you, and I will
not come in wrath (Hosea 11:9).
d They will walk after YHWH, Who will roar like a lion, for He will roar, and the
children will come trembling from the west. They will come trembling as a bird out

14. of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria (Hosea 11:10-11 a).
c And I will make them to dwell in their houses, says YHWH (Hosea 11:11 b).
b Ephraim compasses me about with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit
(Hosea 11:12 a).
a But Judah yet rules with God, and is faithful with the Holy One (Hosea 11:12 b).
ote that in ‘a’ Israel’s relationship with God was good, and they were blessed by
God and in the parallel Judah’s relationship with God is good. In ‘b’ Israel had
turned to the Baalim and to graven images, and in the parallel they compassed God
with falsehood and deceit. In ‘c’ God watched over His people as though they were
His household, and in the parallel He will make them to dwell in (His) houses. In ‘d’
they will return to Egypt and Assyria, and in the parallel they will return from
Egypt and Assyria. In ‘e’ Israel call to God on high, but do not exalt Him, and in the
parallel God is exalted as the Holy One among them. Central in ‘f’ is the heart cry
of God for His people in His compassion for them.
K&D 1-2, "The prophet goes back a third time (cf. Hos_10:1; Hos_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. Hos_11:1. “When
Israel was young, then I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. Hos_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.” Hos_11:1 rests upon Exo_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 Exo_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 Mat_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 Hos_11:2 is attached thus as an antithesis: this love of its God was repaid by Israel
with base apostasy. ‫אוּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ָ‫,ק‬ they, viz., the prophets (cf. Hos_11:7; 2Ki_17:13; Jer_7:25;

15. Jer_25:4; Zec_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 (Jer_2:31). The thought is strengthened by ‫ן‬ ֵⅴ, with the
‫ר‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫א‬ ַⅴ of the protasis omitted (Ewald, §360, a): as the prophets called, so the Israelites
drew back from them, and served idols. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ל‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ as in Hos_2:15, and ‫ים‬ ִ‫ל‬ ִ‫ס‬ ְ as in 2Ki_17:41
and Deu_7:5, Deu_7:25 (see at Exo_20:4).
BI, "When Israel was a child.
The national unit
The meaning is not, necessarily, when Israel was an infant, a child in mere years, but
when Israel was a child in spirit, docile, simple of mind, sincere of purpose, true in
worship. When Israel lifted his eyes heavenward, and sought for Me, then I stooped over
him as a man might stoop over his child to lift him into his arms, and press him closely
to his heart. There is a unit of the individual; let us take care lest we rest there, and so
miss the ever-enlarging revelation of the Divine purpose in human history. There is not
only a unit of the individual, there is a unit of the nation. Israel is here spoken of as if he
were one man, a little child; though a million strong in population, yet there was in the
million a unit. This is one aspect of Divine providence. We must not regard nations as if
they ceased to have status and responsibility, name and destiny before God. A nation is
one, a world is one, the universe is one. What does God know of our little divisions and
distributions into pluralities and relationships? The nation may have a character. The
Church is one, and has a reputation and influence. So we come upon the Divine handling
of great occasions. The Lord is not fretted by details. All the details of His providence
come out of and return to one great principle of redeeming Fatherhood. The locks are
innumerable; the key is one, and it is in the Father’s hand. Let Him hold it. (Joseph
Parker, D. D.)
God’s love to us the pattern of our love to others
The leading topic of this chapter appears to be the calling of the people of Israel out of
the prison-house of Egypt. It gives a gracious account of our heavenly Father’s love, and
a fearful picture of man’s ingratitude. Under figures and emblems there is a lively
representation of God’s dealings with His redeemed ones—with the Israel that now is,
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. The call of Israel from Egypt, as typical of Christ
and of His people, is our subject. It is typical of us, as we are called from sin to the
holiness of the heavenly Canaan.
I. God’s love to Christ, as a child, manifested to us by His calling Him from egypt. In the
fulness of time the beloved of the Father became flesh, and dwelt among us. But no
sooner did He appear than His life was threatened. The child was borne for safety into
Egypt. In due time Christ was called out of Egypt, brought again to the Holy Land, there
to exercise His ministry and perform the will of God.
II. God’s love to us, whilst we were yet at a distance from Him. We who are redeemed
are loved with the self-same love with which God loved His only begotten Son.
II. The effect which the possession of this love will naturally produce in our hearts. It
will produce love to others. What should be the effect of God’s love in our minds? A
disinterested love to our fellow-creatures. Thus shall we have a scriptural evidence that

16. we are of the spiritual Israel, whom God hath loved and called out of Egypt. (G. C.
Tomlinson.)
A typical portrait of a people
I. A highly favoured people.
1. God loved them.
2. God emancipated them.
3. God educated them.
4. God healed them.
5. God guided them.
6. God relieved them.
7. God fed them.
II. A signally ungrateful people.
1. They disobeyed, God’s teaching.
2. They gave themselves to idolatry.
3. They ignored God s kindness.
4. They persistently backslided.
III. A righteously punished people. The judgment would be—
1. Extensive; and
2. It should continue; and
3. It should be destructive.
Is not this history of this people typical? Do not they represent especi ally the peoples of
modern Christendom, highly favoured of God, signally ungrateful to God, and exposed
to punishment from God? (Homilist.)
Backsliding
1. This is the great sin of the visible Church, to which she hath a strong inclination
naturally, even in her best frame.
2. Men’s hanging sometimes in suspense, and having some inclinations to return,
will neither double out their point against the power of corruption within them, nor
will it extenuate their backsliding.
3. The great backsliding of God’s people is their backsliding from God and
communion with Him; which draweth on all other apostasies and defections.
4. It is of the Lord’s great mercy that He ceaseth not to follow backsliders with
messages from His Word. (George Hutcheson.)

17. A fivefold view of God’s love
1. It is adopting love. God loved Israel in Egypt, Israel in captivity, Israel among the
brick-kilns, and called him “His son.” It is by no merit or righteousness of our own
that we are made sons of God. We become children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
God’s love is adopting love. God delights in adopting children, and giving them the
spirit of adoption, and taking them to the home of the ransomed family.
2. It is a tender love. The Lord describes the manner of a mother teaching her babe
to walk. “I taught Ephraim to go.” The Omnipotent became as a nurse to Israel.
When difficulties arose He bore him in His arms as a man doth bear his little child.
And the heavenly Father is ever the same.
3. His inviting love. “Called My son out of Egypt.” We know how cruel Pharaoh was,
and how hard were his taskmasters. But there was One who loved them, who said, “I
have heard their cry, and have come down to help them.” His fiery cloudy pillar was
the symbol of his inviting love.
4. It is weeping love. God mourns over their iniquities. God’s love as weeping love
was displayed by “The Man of Sorrows,” whose grief was for the hardness of men’s
hearts, and whose hot tears over Jerusalem were because she knew not the things
which belonged to her peace.
5. His incarnate love. “The cords of a man.” Incarnate love is the magnet by which
souls are drawn to God. “The Word was made flesh” begins the story of redemption.
Christ became man, to stand in man’s place and deal with God in man’s behalf, and
to be able to enter into our feelings and fears as a merciful and compassionate High
Priest. (A. Clayton Thiselton.)
Mingled severity and mercy
The scope of this chapter is to clear God from severity, and to upbraid Israel for
ungrateful and stubborn carriage, against mercies and means, and yet to promise mercy
to the remnant, to His elect ones. At the close of the preceding chapter there were
dreadful threatenings against Israel, that the mothers should be dashed in pieces upon
their children, and the king utterly cut off. But does not this argue God to be a God of
rigid severity? Where is the mercy, goodness, and clemency of God towards His people?
God says, “For all this I am a God of mercy and goodness, for I have manifested
abundance of mercy already, and am ready still to manifest more; but you have been a
stubborn and a stout-hearted people against Me.” From this general scope observe—
1. God stands much upon the clearing of Himself to be a God of love and mercy.
Whatsoever becomes of the wicked, yet God will make it clear before all the world
that He is a God of much mercy. God takes it very ill that we should have any hard
thoughts of Him; let us not be ready to entertain such thoughts of God, as if He were
a hard master. “When Israel was a child.” That is, at his first beginning to be a
people, in his young time, My heart was towards him. When he knew little of Me.
When he could do little for Me. When there was much vanity and folly in him, as
there are generally in children. When he was helpless and succourless, and knew not
how to provide for himself. The love of God to Israel is expressed in these three
particulars.
(1) God “entered into a covenant” with him.

18. (2) “Thou becamest Mine,” that is, I had separated thee for Myself, and took thee
for a peculiar one to Me, and intended special mercy and goodness to thee.
(3) I confirmed all this by an oath, “I sware unto thee.” Observe—
2. It is the privilege of the Church and of the saints to be beloved of God. God loves
His people; this is their privilege, He loves them with a special love.
3. It is a great aggravation to sin, to sin against love.
4. It is very useful to call to mind God’s old love.
5. All God’s old mercies remain engagements to duty and aggravations to sin.
6. Let not our hearts sink in despairing thoughts, though we see that we are able to
do but little for God, and though we are unworthy of His love.
7. God’s love begins betimes to His people; let not His people’s love be deferred too
long. (Jeremiah Burroughs.)
God’s love for the Church
1. God’s love to the Church is her first and great privilege, which prevents her in her
lowest condition, when she is unworthy and base. When Israel was a child, witless
and worthless, then I loved him. And this is the fountain of all God’s bounty to him.
2. The Lord will make His love to His people conspicuous in their preservation in a
low condition, and under much trouble, when He seeth it not fit to deliver them from
it.
3. The Lord also will magnify His deliverance from trouble and bondage, not only
spiritual, but outward also, in so far as is for their good.
3. As the Lord doth ofttimes manifest His love, and put special honour on His
people, by putting them to sufferings and trouble, so He will specially make His
delivering of them proclaim His love and estimation of them, and His peculiar
interest in them. (George Hutcheson.)
And called My son out of Egypt.
“And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even My first-
born; and I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me.” On these words Hosea’s
reference rests. The people of Israel are to God as a son to a father; even as a first-born
son. That is why He has come down to deliver them. We speak of the “purposes” of God,
as though God had formed some complex schemes at an early period in the world’s
history, and now He must work these schemes out. But the God of the Bible is no
scheme-maker. He is a Father—we are His sons. It is Israel’s cry that has brought
Jehovah down to deliver them. He is the Father of the fatherless. He hears the cry of the
afflicted. But though God is moved by love, He does all things in order. He pities His
people before their cry has ascended to Him; but He waits for that cry before He comes
down to deliver them. For He will not deliver the unwilling or the proud. So He waits.
And He came to the right person. He will do His work by means of a man, and He knows
the man to do it. Moses brought Israel out of Egypt. Jehovah, that is the name of Israel’s
Father and Deliverer. “I am that I am” is practically the translation of Jehovah. It is a

19. somewhat cold name to us, because we know the tenderer name of Father. Hosea’s
reference looks forward as well as backward; it looks before and after. Hosea saw that his
words had a fuller meaning than could be filled by the people of Israel. He saw that they
carried a promise which had not been performed even in his day. Like Abraham, he saw
Christ’s day afar off, and was glad. (James Hastings, M. A.)
The flight into Egypt
How can Matthew speak of these words as a prophecy, and of the sojourn of the Divine
babe in Egypt as a fulfilment of their prophecy? It has been said that Matthew uses
Hosea’s words, so to speak, rhetorically or classically, declaring that the story of the
infant Jesus in Egypt was a fine instance of Hosea’s saying. Or it may be answered that
the literal Israel was the type of the spiritual Israel. At all events, the Divine Man was
Himself the true, ideal Israel, and as such Jehovah did call Him when a child out of
Egypt. Once more, it may be answered, in a more general way, that the present is ever
the fruit of the past and the seed of the future. Events are born of events, as successive
parts of plants are born of preceding parts; the parts are different, but they are radically
only repetitions of the original seed. History repeats itself. The historic is ever the
prophetic. Particularly is it true in a case of special Divine election, like that of the
Jewish nation, that history will be prophecy. The fulfilments of the prophetic Scriptures,
like waves of the sea, are ever-multiplying and enlarging concentric circles. And Jesus
Christ is evermore the final and crowning fulfilment. The Divine Man is the universal
pleroma—alike the radiant point and the circumference of all things. As God called out
of Egypt His son, so out of Egypt does He call His Church. It was literally true of some of
the most eminent of the fathers,—Tertullian, Origen, Athanasius, Cyprian. It is
spiritually true of all God’s people. (G. D. Boardman.)
2 But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.[a]
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.
BAR ES, "As they called them, so they went from them - The prophet
changes his tone, no longer speaking of that one first call of God to Israel as a whole,

20. whereby He brought out Israel as one man, His one son; which one call he obeyed. Here
he speaks of God’s manifold calls to the people, throughout their whole history, which
they as often disobeyed, and not disobeyed only, but went contrariwise. “They called
them.” Whether God employed Moses, or the judges, or priests, or kings, or prophets, to
call them, it was all one. Whenever or by whomsoever they were called, they turned away
in the opposite direction, to serve their idols. They proportioned and fitted, as it were,
their disobedience to God’s long-suffering. : “Then chiefly they threw off obedience,
despised their admonitions, and worked themselves up the more franticly to a zeal for
the sin which they had begun.” “They,” God’s messengers, “called; so,” in like manner,
“they went away from them. They sacrificed unto Baalim,” i. e., their many Baals, in
which they cherished idolatry, cruelty, and fleshly sin. : So “when Christ came and called
them manifoldly, as in the great day of the feast, “If any man thirst, let him come unto
Me and drink,” the more diligently He called them, the more diligently they went away
from Him, and returned to their idols, to the love and possession of riches and houses
and pleasures, for whose sake they despised the truth.”
GILL, "As they called them, so they went from them,.... That is, the prophets of
the Lord, the true prophets, called Israel to the worship and service of God; but they
turned a deaf ear to them, and their backs upon them; and the more they called to them,
the further they went from them, and from the way of their duty; see Hos_11:7. So the
Targum,
"I sent the prophets to teach them, but they wandered from them;''
Moses and Aaron were sent unto them, and called them out of Egypt, but they hearkened
not unto them; see Exo_6:9; in later times the prophets were sent unto them, to exhort
them to their duty, and to reclaim them from their evil ways, but they despised and
refused to attend to their advice and instructions; and this was continued to the times of
Israel, or the ten tribes, departing from the house of David, and setting up idolatrous
worship; and during their revolt and apostasy: but all in vain. So after Christ was called
out of Egypt, he and his apostles, and John the Baptist before them, called them to
hearken to him, but they turned away from them. Aben Ezra interprets it of the false
prophets, who called them to idolatry, and they went after them. Schmidt understands it
of the Israelites calling one another to it, and going after it, for their own sakes, and
because it pleased them, and was agreeable to them;
they sacrificed to Baalim, and burnt incense to graven images: they joined
themselves to Baalpeor, and worshipped the golden calf, fashioned with a graving tool,
in the wilderness; they sacrificed to Baalim, one or another of them, in the times of the
judges, and of Ahab, and committed idolatry with other graven images, of which burning
incense is a part. And the Jews in Christ's time, instead of hearkening to him and his
apostles, followed the traditions of the elders, and the dictates of the Scribes and
Pharisees, who were their Baals, their lords and masters and they sought for life and
righteousness by their own works, which was sacrificing to their net, and burning
incense to their drag; all this was great ingratitude. Next follows a narrative of other
benefits done to this people.
JAMISO , "As they called them — “they,” namely, monitors sent by Me. “Called,”
in Hos_11:1, suggests the idea of the many subsequent calls by the prophets.

21. went from them — turned away in contempt (Jer_2:27).
Baalim — images of Baal, set up in various places.
BI, "They sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
Graven images
We read frequently of graven images and of molten images, and the words are become so
familiar as names of idolatrous images that, although they axe not well chosen to express
the Hebrew names, it seems not advisable to change them for others that might more
exactly correspond with the original. The graven imago was not a thing wrought in metal
by the tool of the workman we should now call an engraver; nor was the molten image an
image made of metals or any ether substance, melted and shaped in a mould. In fact, the
graven image and the molten image are the same thing under different names. The
images of the ancient idolaters were first cut out of wood by the carpenter, as is very
evident from the prophet Isaiah. This figure of wood was overlaid with plates either of
gold or silver, or sometimes perhaps of an inferior metal, and in this finished state it was
called a graven image (i.e., a carved image)
, in reference to the inner solid figure of wood, and a molten (i.e., an overlaid or covered)
image, in reference to the outer metalline case or cover. Sometimes both epithets are
applied to it at once (Nah_1:14; Hab_2:18). The English word molten conveys a notion
of melting or fusion. But this is not the case with the Hebrew word for which it is given.
The Hebrew signifies to spread, or cover all over, either by pouring forth a substance in
fusion, or in spreading a cloth over or before, or by hammering on metalline plates.
(Bishop Horsley.)
CALVI , "Verse 2
The Prophet now repeats the ingratitude of the people in neglecting to keep in mind
their redemption. The word, “called,” is here to be taken in a different sense. For
God effectually called, as they say, the people, or his Son, from Egypt: he has again
called by the outward voice or teaching through his Prophets. Hence, when he said
before that he called his Son from Egypt, it ought to be understood, as they say, of
actual liberation: but now when he says, They have called them, it is to be
understood of teaching. The name of the Prophets is not expressed; but that they are
intended is plain. And the Prophet seems designedly to have said in an indefinite
manner, that the people had been called, that the indignity might appear more
evident, as they had been called so often and by so many, and yet had refused.
Hence they have called them When he thus speaks, he is not to be understood as
referring to one or two men, or to a few, but as including a great number of men,
doing this everywhere. Even thus now have they called them; that is, this people
have been called, not once or twice, but constantly; and God has not only sent one
messenger or preacher to call them, but there have been many Prophets, one after
the other, often thus employed, and yet without any benefit. We now perceive what
the Prophet meant.
They have called them, he says, so they went away from their presence (74) The
particle so, ‫,כן‬ can, is introduced here to enliven the description; for the Prophet

22. points out, as by the fingers how wickedly they conspired to execute their own
counsels, as if they wished purposely to show in an open manner their contempt. So
they went away; when the Prophets called them to one course, they proceeded in an
opposite one. We then see, that to point out thus their conduct was not superfluous,
when he says, that they in this manner went away: and then he says, from their face
Here he shows that the people sought hiding-places and shunned the light. We may
indeed conclude from these words, that so great was the perverseness of the people,
that they not only wished to be alienated from God, but also that they would have
nothing to do with the Prophets. It is indeed a proof of extreme wickedness, when
instruction itself is a weariness, and ministers cannot be endured; and no doubt the
Prophet meant to set forth this sin of the people.
He afterwards says, that they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burnt incense to graven
images In the former clause, he shows the contumacy of the Israelites, that they
deigned not to give ear to God’s servants. He now adds, that they made incense to
graven images, and also offered worship to their idols. By Baalim, as it has been
already stated, the Prophet means the inferior gods. For no such stupidity prevailed
among the people as not to think that there is some chief deity; nay, even profane
Gentiles confessed that there is some supreme God. But they called their advocates
(patronos ) Baalim, as we see to be the case at this day under the Papacy, this same
office is transferred to the dead; they are to procure for men the favour of God. The
Papists then have no grounds for seeking an evasion by words; for the very same
superstition prevails at this time among them, as prevailed formerly among Gentiles
and the people of Israel. Here the Prophet enhances the wickedness of the people;
for they not only contemptuously neglected every instruction in religion, but also
openly perverted the whole worship of God, and abandoned themselves to all
abominations, so as to burn incense to their own idols. Let us go on —
COFFMA , "Verse 2
"The more the prophets called them, the more they went from them: they sacrificed
unto the Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
A glance at the various translations of this portion of Hosea reveals a wide conflict
with quite a number of contradictory renditions. This is due to the fact that many
present-day scholars spend a great deal of their time emending (correcting!) the
text, an exercise which is precipitated by a number of uncertainties encountered in
this text which is now about 2,700 years of age! We are sure that the meaning is
clear enough in the broad outlines of it as rendered in the version before us. Quite a
few of the emendations are slanted in the direction of establishing some theory or
interpretation.
This verse is a thumb-nail history of God's dealings with Israel throughout their
existence and the totally rebellious response he received from the people.
COKE, "Verse 2
Hosea 11:2. As they called them— As I called them, so they went from me.
Houbigant.

23. Graven images— We read frequently, in our English bibles, of graven images, and
of molten images: and the words are become so familiar, as names of idolatrous
images, that although they are not well chosen to express the Hebrew names, it
seems not advisable to change them for others which might more exactly correspond
with the original.
The graven image was not a thing wrought in metal by the tool of the workman
whom we should now call an engraver; nor was the molten image an image made of
metal, or any other substance melted, and shaped in a mould. In fact, the graven
image and the molten image are the same thing, under different names. The images
of the ancient idolaters were first cut out of wood, by the carpenter, as is very
evident from the prophet Isaiah. This figure of wood was overlaid with plates either
of gold or silver, or, sometimes perhaps, of an inferior metal. And in this finished
state it was called a graven image (that is to say, a carved image), in reference to the
inner solid figure of wood, and a molten (that is to say, an overlaid, or covered)
image, in reference to the outer metalline case or covering. And sometimes both
epithets are applied to it at once. I will cut off the graven and molten image; ahum
1:14. Again, What profiteth the graven and molten image? Habakkuk 2:18. The
English word molten conveys a notion of melting, or fusion. But this is not the case
with the Hebrew word ‫פסל‬ pesel, for which it is given. The Hebrew word signifies
generally to overspread, or cover all over, in whatever manner, according to the
different subject, the overspreading or covering be effected; whether by pouring
forth a substance in fusion, or by spreading a cloth over or before, or by hammering
on metalline plates. It is on account of this metalline case, that we find a founder
employed to make a graven image, Judges 17:3 and that we read in Isaiah of a
workman that melteth a graven image; Isaiah 40:19.: and in another place we find
the question, who hath molten a graven image? Isaiah 44:10. In these two passages
the words should be overlayeth, and overlaid.
TRAPP, "Verse 2
Hosea 11:2 [As] they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto
Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
Ver. 2. As they called them] i.e. As the prophets and ministers (whose names are
here concealed, that the Word only may be glorified, as Acts 13:48) called to them,
to come out of spiritual Egypt, out of darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
to God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among the
saints, by faith that is in Christ, Acts 26:18.
So they went from them] They went a contrary way, as the child Samuel, when God
called him, ran to Eli; or rather as the wilful Jews, when God would have gathered
them, as the hen doth her chickens, they would not. When God called his natural
Son out of Egypt, he came presently, Hebrews 10:7, Psalms 40:7-8; not so his
adopted sons; for they turned upon him the back, and not the face, Jeremiah 2:27,
they refused to be reformed, they hated to be healed. See Hosea 7:1. {See Trapp on

24. "Hosea 7:1"} ay, to make up the full measure of their sins, and to heighten their
contempt,
They sacrificed unto Baalim, and burnt incense to graven images] Quasi aegre
facturi Deo, as if they would despite God on purpose, and spit in his very face;
commit the like villany in his presence, as the Irish rebels lately did, when they
bound the husband to the bedpost, while they abused his wife before him. See the
notes on Hosea 2:1-23, and almost on every chapter where their idolatry is cried out
upon, and their extreme ingratitude.
PETT, "Verse 2
‘The more they called them,
The more they went from them,
They sacrificed to the Baalim,
And burned incense to graven images.’
But it is made clear that Israel in fact never came out of Egypt in their hearts, for
the more that ‘they’ (the prophets) called them the more they deserted what they
had been taught, and sacrificed to Baalim and graven images. It was made clear by
this that idolatry and the ways of thinking of Egypt still possessed their hearts. In
their hearts they had never left Egypt. ‘Burned incense to graven images.’ As well as
the offering of sacrifices, the burning of incense in their many sanctuaries was a
regular feature of Egyptian/Canaanite worship, and some of these incense altars
have been discovered in what was Canaan.
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.
BAR ES, "I taught Ephraim also to go - Literally, “and I set Ephraim on his

25. feet;” i. e., while they were rebelling, I was helping and supporting them, as a nurse doth
her child, teaching it to go with little steps, step by step, “accustoming it to go by little
and little without weariness;” and not only so, but “taking them by their arms;” or it may
be equally translated, “He took them in His arms,” i. e., God not only gently “taught”
them “to walk,” but when they were wearied, “He took them up in His arms,” as a nurse
doth a child when tired with its little attempts to walk. Such was the love and tender care
of God, guiding and upholding Israel in His ways which He taught him, guarding him
from weariness, or, if wearied, taking him in the arms of His mercy and refreshing him.
So Moses says, “In the wilderness thou hast seen, how that the Lord thy God bare thee,
as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came unto this place”
Deu_1:31; and he expostulates with God, “Have I conceived all this people? have I
begotten them, that Thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing
father beareth his sucking child, unto the land which Thou swarest unto their father’s?”
Num_11:12. : “Briefly yet magnificently doth this place hint at the wondrous patience of
God, whereof Paul too speaks, “for forty years suffered He their manner’s in the
wilderness” Act_13:18.
For as a nursing father beareth patiently with a child, who hath not yet come to years
of discretion, and, although at times he be moved to strike it in return, yet mostly he
sootheth its childish follies with blandishments, and, ungrateful though it be, carries it
in his arms, so the Lord God, whose are these words, patiently bore with the unformed
people, ignorant of the spiritual mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and although He
killed the bodies of many of them in the wilderness yet the rest He soothed with many
and great miracles, “leading them about, and instructing them, (as Moses says) keeping
them as the apple of His eye” Deu_32:10.
But they knew not that I healed them - They laid it not to heart, and therefore
what they knew with their understanding was worse than ignorance. : “I who was a
Father, became a nurse, and Myself carried My little one in My arms, that he should not
be hurt in the wilderness, or scared by heat or darkness. By day I was a cloud; by night, a
column of fire, that I might by My light illumine, and heal those whom I had protected.
And when they had sinned and had made the calf, I gave them place for repentance, and
they knew not that I healed them, so as, for forty years, to close the wound of idolatry,
restore them to their former health.”
: “The Son of God carried us in His arms to the Father, when He went forth carrying
His Cross, and on the wood of the Cross stretched out His arms for our redemption.
Those too doth Christ carry daily in His arms, whom He continually entreateth,
comforteth, preserveth, so gently, that with much alacrity and without any grievous
hindrance they perform every work of God, and with heart enlarged run, rather than
walk, the way of God’s commandments. Yet do these need great caution, that they be
clothed with great circumspection and humility, and despise not others. Else Christ
would say of them, “They knew not that I healed them.”
CLARKE, "I taught Ephraim also to go - An allusion to a mother or nurse teaching
a child to walk, directing it how to lift and lay its feet, and supporting it in the meantime
by the arms, that it may use its feet with the greater ease. This is a passage truly pathetic.
GILL, "I taught Ephraim also to go,.... All the tribes of Israel and Ephraim, or the
ten tribes with the rest; these the Lord instructed in the way of his commandments, and

26. taught them to walk therein; he his angel before them, to conduct them through the
wilderness; yea, he himself went before them in the pillar of cloud by day, and in the
pillar of fire by night, to which history this seems to refer. So the Targum,
"I, by an angel sent by me, led Israel in the right way.''
The allusion seems to be to a mother or nurse accommodating herself to her child,
beginning to go; she stoops down, sets it on its feet, and one foot before another, forms
its steps, teaches it how to go, and walks its pace with it. And in like manner the Lord
deals with his spiritual Israel, his regenerated ones, who become like little children, and
are used as such; as in regeneration they are quickened, and have some degree of
spiritual strength given them, they are taught to go; they are taught what a Saviour
Christ is, and their need of him; they are instructed to go to him by faith for everything
they want, and to walk by faith on him, as they have received him; and having heard and
learned of the Father, they go to Christ, Joh_6:45; and are taught also to go to the
throne of grace for all supplies of grace; and to the house of God, to attend the word and
ordinances, for the benefit of their souls; and to walk in the ways of the Lord, for his
glory, and their good;
taking them by their arms; or "on his own arms" (x); bearing and carrying them in
his arms, as a father his son; see Deu_1:31 Num_11:12; so the Lord deals with his
spiritual Israel, either holding them by their arms while walking, as nurses their
children, to help and ease them in walking, and that they may not stumble and fall; so
the Lord holds up the goings of his people in his ways, that their footsteps slip not, and
upholds them with the right hand of his righteousness: or taking them up in his own
arms when weary, he carries them in his bosom; or, when they are failing or fallen, lays
hold on them, and takes them up again; and so they are not utterly cast down, whether
the fall is into sin, or into some calamity and affliction; when he puts underneath his
everlasting arms, and bears them and keeps them from sinking, as well as from a final
and total falling away. Abarbinel, and others after him, interpret this of Ephraim taking
up and carrying in his arms Baalim, the graven images and golden calves; which is
mentioned as an instance of ingratitude; but very wrongly;
but they knew not that I healed them; of the diseases of Egypt, or preserved them
from them: this includes the whole of their salvation and deliverance from Egypt, and all
the benefits and favours accompanying it, which they imputed to their idols, and not to
the Lord; see Exo_15:26. "Healing", in a spiritual sense, generally signifies the
forgiveness of sin, which the Lord's people may have, and not know it; and, through
want of better light and knowledge, may also ascribe it to their repentance, humiliation,
and tears, when it is alone owing to the grace of God, and blood of Christ.
HE RY 3-5, " He gave them a good education, took care of them, took pains with
them, not only as a father or tutor, but, such is the condescension of divine grace, as a
mother or nurse (Hos_11:3): I taught Ephraim also to go, as a child in leading-strings is
taught. When they were in the wilderness God led them by the pillar of cloud and fire,
showed them the way in which they should go, and bore them up, taking them by the
arms. He taught them to go in the way of his commandments, by the institutions of the
ceremonial law, which were as tutors and governors to that people under age. He took
them by the arms, to guide them, that they might not stray, and to hold them up, that
they might not stumble and fall. God's spiritual Israel are thus supported. Thou has
holden me by my right hand, Psa_73:23. 4. When any thing was amiss with them, or

27. they were ever so little out of order, he was their physician: “I healed them; I not only
took a tender care of them (a friend may do that), but wrought an effectual cure: it is a
God only that can do that. I am the Lord that healeth thee (Exo_15:26), that redresseth
all thy grievances.” 5. He brought them into his service by mild and gentle methods
(Hos_11:4): I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love. Note, It is God's work
to draw poor souls to himself; and none can come to him except he draw them, Joh_
6:44. He draws, (1.) With the cords of a man, with such cords as men draw with that
have a principle of humanity, or such cords as men are drawn with; he dealt with them
as men, in an equitable rational way, in an easy gentle way, with the cords of Adam. He
dealt with them as with Adam in innocency, bringing them at once into a paradise, and
into covenant with himself. (2.) With bands of love, or cartropes of love. This word
signifies stronger cords than the former. He did not drive them by force into his service,
whether they would or no, nor rule them with rigour, nor detain them by violence, but
his attractives were all loving and endearing, all sweet and gentle, that he might
overcome them with kindness. Moses, whom he made their guide, was the meekest man
in the world. Kindnesses among men we commonly call obligations, or bonds, bonds of
love. Thus God draws with the savour of his good ointments (Son_1:4), draws with
lovingkindness, Jer_31:3. Thus God deals with us, and we must deal in like manner with
those that are under our instruction and government, deal rationally and mildly with
them. 6. He eased them of the burdens they had been long groaning under: I was to
them as those that take off the yoke on their jaws, alluding to the care of the good
husbandman, who is merciful to his beast, and will not tire him with hard and constant
labour. Probably, in those times, the yoke on the neck of the oxen was fastened with
some bridle, or headstall, over the jaws, which muzzled the mouth of the ox. Israel in
Egypt were thus restrained from the enjoyments of their comforts and constrained to
hard labour; but God eased them, removed their shoulder from the burden, Psa_81:6.
Note, Liberty is a great mercy, especially out of bondage. 7. He supplied them with food
convenient. In Egypt they fared hard, but, when God brought them out, he laid meat
unto them, as the husbandman, when he has unyoked his cattle, fodders them. God
rained manna about their camp, bread from heaven, angels' food; other creatures seek
their meat, but God laid meat to his own people, as we do to our children, was himself
their caterer and carver, anticipated them with the blessings of goodness
JAMISO , "taught ... to go — literally, “to use his feet.” Compare a similar image,
Deu_1:31; Deu_8:2, Deu_8:5, Deu_8:15; Deu_32:10, Deu_32:11; Neh_9:21; Isa_63:9;
Amo_2:10. God bore them as a parent does an infant, unable to supply itself, so that it
has no anxiety about food, raiment, and its going forth. Act_13:18, which probably refers
to this passage of Hosea; He took them by the arms, to guide them that they might not
stray, and to hold them up that they might not stumble.
knew not that I healed them — that is, that My design was to restore them
spiritually and temporally (Exo_15:26).
CALVI , "Verse 3
Here again God amplifies the sin of the people, by saying, that by no kindness, even
for a long time, could they be allured, or turned, or reformed, or reduced to a sound
mind. It was surely enough that the people of Israeli who had been brought by the
hand of God from the grave to the light of life, should have repudiated every
instruction; it was a great and an atrocious sin; but now God goes on farther, and

28. says, that he had not ceased to show his love to them, and yet had attained nothing
by his perseverance; for the wickedness and depravity of the people were incurable.
Hence he says, I have led Ephraim on foot (76) Some are of opinion that it is a noun,
from ‫,רגל‬ regel, foot, and it seems the most suitable. For otherwise there will be a
change of a letter, which grammarians do not allow in the beginning of a word; for
‫,ת‬ tau, in this case would be put instead of ‫,ה‬ he; and put so as if it was of frequent
occurrence in Hebrew; but no such instance can be adduced. So they who are skilful
in the language think that for this reason it is a noun, and with them I agree. They,
however, who regard it as a verb, give this view, — “I have led him on foot, ‫,תרגלתי‬
teregelti; that is, as a child who cannot yet walk with a firm foot, is by degrees
accustomed to do so, and the nurse, or the father, or the mother, who lead him, have
a regard for his infancy; so also have I led Israel, as much as his feet could bear. But
the other version is less obscure, and that is, My walking on foot was for him; that
is, I humbled myself as mothers are wont to do; and hence he says, that he had
carried the people on his shoulders; and we shall presently see the same comparison
used. And Moses says in Deuteronomy, (77) that the people had been carried on
God’s wings, or that God had expanded his wings like the eagle who flies over her
young ones. With regard to the matter itself the meaning of the Prophet is not
obscure; for he means, that this people had been treated by God in a paternal and
indulgent manner; and also, that the perseverance of the Lord in continuing to
bestow his blessings on them had been without any fruit.
He afterwards adds, To carry on his arms Some render the expression, ‫,קחם‬ kochem,
“He carried them,” as if the verb were in the past tense; and they consider the word,
Moses, to be understood. But it is God who speaks here. Some think it to be an
infinitive — “To carry,” as when one carries another on his shoulders; and this
seems to be the most suitable exposition. There is in the sense no ambiguity; for the
design of the Prophet is what I have already stated, which is to show that this people
were most wicked in not obeying God, since they had been so kindly treated by Him.
For what could they have expected more than what God had done for them? As he
also says by Isaiah, (78) ‘What, my vine, ought I to have done more than what I have
done?’ So also in this place, My walking has been on foot with Ephraim; and for
this end, to carry them, as when one carries another in his arms. ‘They yet,’ he says,
‘did not know that I healed them;’ that is, “ either the beginning of my goodness,
nor its continued exercise, avails anything with them. When I brought them forth
from Egypt, I restored the dead to life; this kindness has been blotted out. Again, in
the desert I testified, in various ways, that I was their best and most indulgent
Father: I have in this instance also lost all my labour.” How so? “Because my favour
has been in no way acknowledged by this perverse and foolish people.” We now
then see what the Prophet meant: and he continues the same subject in the next
verse.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 3
(3) Read, Yet it was I who guided Ephraim’s steps, taking him by his arms. There is
a beautiful parallel to this in Deuteronomy 32:10-11.
Knew not . . .—This obtuseness to the source of all mercies—the refusal to recognise

29. the true origin in Divine revelation of those ideas which, though they bless and
beautify life, are not recognised as such revelation, but are treated as “the voice of
nature,” or “development of humanity,” or “dictum of human reason “—is one of
the commonest and most deadly sins of modern Christendom. The unwillingness to
recognise the Divine Hand in “creation,” “literature,” “history” takes the opposed
forms of Pantheism and Pyrrhonism. To each of these the prophet’s words apply.
TRAPP, "Verse 3
Hosea 11:3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew
not that I healed them.
Ver. 3. I taught Ephraim also to go] A child he was, Hosea 11:1, and like a child I
dealt with him, teaching him how to set his feet, pedare, to foot it, as nurses do their
little ones: he keepeth the feet of his saints, 1 Samuel 2:9; he guideth their feet in the
way of peace, Luke 1:79. See for this, Deuteronomy 1:31; Deuteronomy 32:11,
umbers 11:12. So great is the goodness of God to his people, that he dealeth with
us as with his little children, nos sublevando, submonendo, docendo, ducendo,
regendo, tegendo, convocando, condonando, portando, confortando, &c., we are
supported, admonished, taught, lead, guided, protected, assembled, forgiven,
carried, comforted, saith a learned interpreter truly, and trimly (Tarnovius). He
speaketh unto us as unto children, Hebrews 12:5 paterne diligit, amice dirigit, he
loveth us as a father, he directs us as a friend, guiding us with his eye, leading us in
his hand, setting us between his knees, as some interpret that text, Deuteronomy
33:3, setting us upon his knees, as a father doth his darling, and rejoicing over us
with joy, yea, joying over us with singing, Zephaniah 3:17. His affections are more
than fatherly; and his expressions are according. "We are like infants" (saith Mr
Baine), "newly born in a manner. They are kept by the loving parents from fire and
water; they are fed, laid to sleep, made ready, and unready, and shifted in their
scapes, but they know not who doth all this for them. So doth our heavenly Father
by us in Christ." But (he knows) little understanding have we of him. After this, he
teacheth us to go,
taking us by the arms.] to help our feeble knees. And taking us up in his own arms,
when we come to a foul or rough place, helping us over the quagmires of crosses,
and the difficulties of duties. And whereas we fall seven times a day, and in many
things fail all; he taketh us up after that we have caught a knock, and cherisheth us
in his bosom, &c. Montanus and Junius carry the sense another way, as if the words
were not a description of God’s love to the people, but of their unthankfulness to
God; rendering the words thus: When, as I inform Ephraim, he taketh them in his
arms, that is, he setteth up idols, and after the manner of impudent and shameless
strumpets, he taketh the puppets in his arms, and embraceth them before my face.
But I like the former sense better.
But they knew not that I healed them] ot only held them, that they might not fall,
but healed them when they had fallen. Daring they would be sometimes to stand

30. upon their own legs, to prevail by their own strength, 1 Samuel 2:9, to say with her
in the poet, Consilii satis est in me mihi, &c. (Arachno apud Ovid. Metam.). I am
wise enough, and able enough to go on, as if they were petty gods within themselves,
and had no need of nor dependance upon me. Hence they hurt themselves, but I
healed them. I forgave all their iniquities, I healed all their diseases, Psalms 103:3,
their bruises and putrefying sores, that else had not been closed, bound up, nor
mollified with ointment, Isaiah 1:6. God left not his people in their low estate, as
some physicians do their patients; but provided a sovereign salve, a horn of
salvation, such as would cure any disease or maim, (a) even the sin against the Holy
Ghost too, but that it is the nature of it to rage and rave both against the physic and
the physician. Christ is both the one and the other; as being made unto us of God,
wisdom righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 1 Corinthians 1:30. Quod
sanitas in corpore, id sanctitas in corde. He is Jehovah that healeth for he is Jehovah
that sanctifieth. This Ephraim knew not, that is, out of pride and stoutness they
acknowledged it not, but sacrificed to their own nets, wits, endeavours, &c. Of all
things God can least endure to be neglected or to have the glory of his benefits
transferred upon others, {see Hosea 2:8, with the note} When men shall either say,
in the language of Ashdod, It is a chance, or else, I have made myself thus and thus
happy, 1 Samuel 6:9 this, though the saints should at any time do yet God will
pardon their frowardness, and say as Isaiah 57:17-18, I have seen his ways, his
waywardness, and will heal him nevertheless and restore comforts to him.
PETT, "Verse 3
‘Yet I taught Ephraim to walk,
I took them on my arms,
But they knew not that I healed them.’
Yet in a touching picture God describes how He had ‘taught Ephraim (Israel) to
walk’ (through the covenant) and how He had upheld them in His arms
(Deuteronomy 33:27), or alternatively had grasped them by the arms. But the sad
fact was that they had been unresponsive to His guidance, not recognising the care
that He took over their wellbeing. They ‘knew not that He healed them’ includes not
only the thought that He looked after them when they were sick, but also that He
continually watched out for their welfare. He had done for them all that was
necessary.
K&D 3-4, "Nevertheless the Lord continued to show love to them. Hos_11:3, Hos_
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.” ‫י‬ ִ ְ‫ל‬ַ ְ‫ר‬ ִ , 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., Hos_
10:1; Amo_8:9), a denom. of ‫ל‬ֶ‫ג‬ ֶ‫,ר‬ 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. ‫ם‬ ָ‫ח‬ ָ‫,ק‬ per aphaeresin, for ‫ם‬ ָ‫ח‬ ָ‫ק‬ ְ‫,ל‬ like ‫ח‬ ָ‫ק‬ for ‫ח‬ ַ‫ק‬ ָ‫ל‬ in Eze_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

31. easily pass from speaking in the name of God to speaking of God Himself. ‫ח‬ ָ‫ק‬ cannot be
either an infinitive or a participle, on account of the following word ‫יו‬ ָ‫ּת‬‫ע‬‫ּו‬‫ר‬ְ‫,ז‬ 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 Deu_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, ‫ים‬ ִ‫את‬ ָ‫פ‬ ְ‫ר‬ pointing back to Exo_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 Hos_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.
‫ם‬ ָ‫ד‬ፎ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ל‬ ְ‫ב‬ ַ‫,ח‬ 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
(Psa_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 ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ ‫ּל‬‫ע‬ ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ה‬ does not mean to take the yoke away from (‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ ֵ‫)מ‬
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 (Exo_24:3, Exo_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. ‫ט‬ፍְ‫ו‬ is not the first pers. imperf. hiphil of ‫נטה‬ (“I inclined
myself to him;” Symm., Syr., and others), in which case we should expect ‫ט‬ፍָ‫,ו‬ but an
adverb, softly, comfortably; and ‫יו‬ ָ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ belongs to it, after the analogy of 2Sa_18:5. ‫יל‬ ִ‫ּוכ‬‫א‬ is
an anomalous formation for ‫יל‬ ִ‫כ‬ ֲ‫א‬ፍ, like ‫יד‬ ִ‫ּוב‬‫א‬ for ‫יד‬ ִ‫ב‬ ֲ‫א‬ፍ in Jer_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.”
BI, "I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms.
Taken by the arm
When God redeems and shelters His people by the blood of the Paschal Lamb,—i.e., of
Christ our Passover sacrificed for us—and gives them His law, telling them to serve Him,
He does not leave them to their own strength, but gives them power to do what He bids
them: He teaches them how to go, taking them, as a nurse would, by the arms. Our
obedience is not the cause which procures or awakens God’s love to us, but His love is
the cause that procures and awakens our obedience. The text tells us what God is doing
for the true disciples of Jesus, and how God undertakes to teach them how to go.
“Taking them by the arms.” As a nurse teaches a helpless child to walk, He invites us to
rely upon His strength and watchful care. He knows our weakness. The thought may be
illustrated by Deu_32:11. In this life we cannot go without the support of Christ; but

32. there are different ways in which He gives this to His people. At first He teaches them to
fight against their own evil passions, to resist their own wayward wills, to quench their
fiery temptations. But soon they pass onward. The new nature moves, stirs, waxes
stronger, grows; the old decays. At first He leads, He guides them against their will, then
without it, and it is a happy day when their will cheerfully goes along with His; then they
are taught to go. (W. Grant.)
But they knew not that I healed them.
Unrecognised blessings
Two different types of ignorance in relation to two different methods of Divine dealings.
Look—
1. At the words uttered by the Lord to Cyrus, the Persian king—“I girded thee,
though thou hast not known Me” (Isa_45:5). From these words we learn that while
God uses His own people for a gracious purpose, they are not the only people that He
uses for the furtherance of His designs. He places men in high positions, and by their
instrumentality He often brings about the fulfilment of His own purpose, though
they themselves have had no conscious part in the accomplishment of such a
glorious end.
2. Our text points to a very different dealing, namely, God’s treatment of the Jewish
people. The ignorance of Cyrus, as a heathen, was not the culpable thing that
ignorance of God on the part of any king of Israel or Judah would have been. God
had granted Israel a special revelation, and admitted them into an exceptional
relationship with Himself as His people. Notwithstanding all God’s goodness to
Israel, Hosea says, in God’s name, “They knew not that I healed them.” Thus we have
two types of ignorance. That of the man who has never been brought under godly
influence; and the wilful ignorance of those who sin against the light, and in spite of
gracious influences. The latter is the only ignorance possible to us. The surprising
thing about Israel was that they could be so ignorant of God’s goodness after all that
He had done for them. Knowledge of God they had, but it had formed no part of their
being, had not permeated their character and life, and had not given a bent to their
conduct. Their attitude Godward was atheistic. They talked flippantly enough about
their history, but there was no gratitude in the heart that would mould and fashion
life into submissive obedience to the law of God. Thus their ignorance was all the
worse for being so wilful and persistent. “Ye are weary of Me,” exclaimed God to
them. I know of no charge more pathetic than that. This ignorance is the result of the
blinding power of a sinful passion; an ignorance which will not let a man know the
truth because he is too closely wedded to his evil. (D. Davies.)
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love.

33. To them I was like one who lifts
a little child to the cheek,
and I bent down to feed them.
BAR ES, "I drew them with the cords of a man - o: “Wanton heifers such as
was Israel, are drawn with ropes; but although Ephraim struggled against Me, I would
not draw him as a beast, but I drew him as a man, (not a servant, but a son) with cords of
love.” “Love is the magnet of love.” : “The first and chief commandment of the law, is not
of fear, but of love, because He willeth those whom He commandeth, to be sons rather
than servants.” : “Our Lord saith, ‘No man cometh unto Me, except the father who hath
sent me, draw him.’ He did not say, lead ‘him,’ but ‘draw him.’ This violence is done to
the heart, not to the body. Why marvel? Believe and thou comest; love and thou art
drawn. Think it not a rough and uneasy violence: it is sweet, alluring; the sweetness
draws thee. Is not a hungry sheep drawn, when the grass is shewn it? It is not, I ween,
driven on in body, but is bound tight by longing. So do thou too come to Christ. Do not
conceive of long journeyings. When thou believest, then thou comest. For to Him who is
everywhere, people come by loving, not by traveling.” So the Bride saith, “draw me and I
will run after Thee” Son_1:4. “How sweet,” says Augustine, when converted, “did it at
once become to me, to want the sweetnesses of those toys; and what I feared to be parted
from, was now a joy to part with. For Thou didst cast them forth from me, Thou true and
highest Sweetness. Thou castedst them forth, and for them enteredst in Thyself, sweeter
than all pleasure, though not to flesh and blood; brighter than all light, but more hidden
than all depths; higher than all honor, but not to the high in their own conceits” .
: “Christ “drew” us also “with the cords of a man,” when for us He became Man, our
flesh, our Brother, in order that by teaching, suffering, dying for us, He might in a
wondrous way bind and draw us to Himself and to God; that He might redeem the
earthly Adam, might transform and make him heavenly;” : “giving us ineffable tokens of
His love. For He giveth Himself to us for our Food; He giveth us sacraments; by Baptism
and repentance He conformeth us anew to original righteousness. Hence, He saith, “I, if
I be lifted up from the earth, shall draw all men unto me” Joh_12:32; and Paul, “I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” Gal_2:20. This most
loving drawing, our dullness and weakness needoth, who ever, without grace, grovel
amidst vile and earthly things.”
“All the methods and parts of God’s government are twined together, as so many
twisted cords of love from Him, so ordered, that they ought to draw man with all his
heart to love Him again.” : “Man, the image of the Mind of God, is impelled to zeal for
the service of God, not by fear, but by love. No band is mightier, nor constrains more
firmly all the feelings of the mind. For it holdeth not the body enchained, while the mind
revolteth and longeth to break away, but it so bindeth to itself the mind and will, that it
should will, long for, compass, nought beside, save how, even amid threats of death, to
obey the commands of God. Bands they are, but bands so gentle and so passing sweet,
that we must account them perfect freedom and the highest dignity.”

34. And I was to them as they that take off - (literally, “that lift up”) the yoke on
their jaws, and I laid meat unto them Thus explained, the words carry on the description
of God’s goodness, that He allowed not the yoke of slavery to weigh heavy upon them, as
He saith, “I am the Lord your God, Which brought you out of the land of Egypt, that ye
should not be their bondmen, and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you
go upright” Lev_26:13; and God appealeth to them, “Wherein have I wearied thee?
testify against Me” Mic_6:3.
But the words seem more naturally to mean, “I was to them,” in their sight, I was
regarded by them, “as they that lift up the yoke on their jaws,” i. e., that raise the yoke,
(not being already upon them) to place it “over their jaws.” “For plainly the yoke never
rests on the jaws, but only passed over them, either when put on the neck, or taken off.”
This, God seemed to them to be doing, ever placing some new yoke or constraint upon
them. “And I, God” adds, all the while “was placing meat before them;” i. e., while God
was taking all manner of care of them, and providing for them “all things richly to
enjoy,” He was regarded by them as one who, instead of “laying food before them, was
lifting the yoke over their jaws.” God did them all good, and they thought it all hardship.
CLARKE, "I drew them with cords of a man - This is a reference to leading
strings, one end of which is held by the child, the other by the nurse, by which the little
one, feeling some support, and gaining confidence, endeavors to walk. God, their
heavenly Father, made use of every means and method to teach them to walk in the right
and only safe path; for, as the Targum says, “As beloved children are drawn I drew them
by the strength of love.”
That take of the yoke on their jaws - I did every thing that mercy could suggest,
and justice permit, to make their duty their delight and profit. There appears to be here
an illusion to the moving and pulling forward the collar or yoke of beasts which have
been hard at work, to let in the cool air between it and their neck, so as to refresh them,
and prevent that heat, which with the sweat would scald their necks, and take off not
only the hair, but the skin. I have often done this at the land ends, in ploughing, when at
the turnings the cattle were permitted a few moments to draw their breath after the hard
pull that terminated the furrow at either end of the field: -
And I laid meat unto them - Giving them at the same time a bite of grass or hay, to
encourage them to go on afresh. The metaphor is strong and expressive; and he who ever
had or saw the management of cattle in the plough or cart must admire it. Thus God
acted with the people on whose necks was the yoke of his law. How many privileges,
advantages, and comforts did he mingle with his precepts, to make them at once a
righteous and happy people!
GILL, "I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love,.... As Ephraim is
compared to a heifer in the preceding chapter, here he is said to be drawn; but not with
such cords and bands as cattle are, but with such as men are; in a rational and gentle
way, in a kind, loving, tender, humane, friendly, and fatherly way and manner; so the
Lord drew Israel on in the wilderness, till he was brought to Canaan's land, by bestowing
kind favours upon them, and by making precious promises to them. So the Lord deals
with his spiritual Israel; he draws them out of the present state and circumstances, in
which they are by nature, to himself, and to his Son, and to follow after him, and run in
the ways of his commandments; and which he does not by force and compulsion against

35. their wills, nor by mere moral persuasion, but by the invincible power of his grace,
sweetly working upon them, and attracting them; he does it by revealing Christ in them,
in the glories of his person and in the riches of his grace, and by letting in his love into
their hearts; and by kind invitations, precious promises, and divine teachings, attended
with his powerful and efficacious grace; see Jer_31:3;
and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws; as one that is
merciful to his beast; as a kind and humane husbandman, when his cattle have been
hard at work, takes off their bridles or muzzles, or the yokes on them, fastened with a
halter about their jaws, that they may have liberty to feed on food set before them, as the
next clause shows. So the Targum,
"my word was to them as a good husbandman, who lightens the shoulder of oxen, and
looses "the bridles" on their jaws.''
This may refer to Israel's deliverance from their bondage in Egypt; and be spiritually
applied to Christ, the essential Word of God, breaking and taking the yoke of sin, Satan,
and the law from off his people, and bringing them into the liberty of the children of
God. Schmidt reads and interprets the words quite otherwise, "and I was to them as they
that lift up the yoke upon their jaws"; not remove it from them but put it on them;
expressing their ignorance and ingratitude, who, when the Lord drew them in the kind
and loving manner he did, reckoned it as if he put a yoke upon them, and treated them
rather as beasts than men; but this seems not to agree with what follows:
and I laid meat unto them: or declined, or brought it down to them, to their very
mouths; referring to the manna and quails he rained about their tents. So the Targum,
"and, even when they were in the wilderness, I multiplied to them good things to eat.''
And thus in a spiritual sense the Lord gives meat to them that fear him, while in the
wilderness of this world; he brings it near, and sets it before them, in the ministry of the
word and ordinances; even that meat which endures to everlasting life, the flesh of
Christ, which is meat indeed; and the doctrines of the Gospel, which are milk for babes,
and strong meat for more experienced saints.
JAMISO , "cords of a man — parallel to “bands of love”; not such cords as oxen
are led by, but humane methods, such as men employ when inducing others, as for
instance, a father drawing his child, by leading-strings, teaching him to go (Hos_11:1).
I was ... as they that take off the yoke on their jaws ... I laid meat — as the
humane husbandman occasionally loosens the straps under the jaws by which the yoke
is bound on the neck of oxen and lays food before them to eat. An appropriate image of
God’s deliverance of Israel from the Egyptian yoke, and of His feeding them in the
wilderness.
CALVI , "Verse 4
The Prophet states, first, that this people had not been severely dealt with, as either
slaves, or oxen, or asses, are wont to be treated. He had said before, that the people
of Israel were like a heifer, which shakes off the yoke, and in wantonness loves only
the treading of corn. But though the perverseness of the people was so great, yet

36. God shows here that he had not used extreme rigour: I have drawn him, he says,
with human cords and lovely bands By the cords of man, he means humane
government. “I have not,” he says, “treated you as slaves, but dealt with you as with
children; and I have not regarded you as cattle, I have not driven you into a stall;
but I have only drawn you with lovely bands.” The sum of the whole is, that the
government which God had laid on the people was a certain and singular token of
his paternal favour, so that the people could not complain of too much rigour, as if
God had considered their disposition, and had used a hard wedge (as the common
proverb is) for a hard knot; for if God had dealt thus with the people, they could
have objected, and said, that they had not been kindly drawn by him, and that it
was no wonder if they did not obey, since they had been so roughly treated. “But
there is no ground for them,” the Lord says, “to allege that I have used severity: for
I could not have dealt more kindly with them, I have drawn them with human
cords; I have not otherwise governed them than as a father his own children; I have
been bountiful towards them. I indeed wished to do them good, and, as it was right,
required obedience from them. I have at the same time laid on them a yoke, not
servile, nor such as is wont to be laid on brute animals; but I was content with
paternal discipline.” Since then such kindness had no influence over them, is it not
right to conclude that their wickedness is irreclaimable and extreme?
He then adds I have been to them like those who raise up the yoke upon the cheeks
(79) “I have not laden you,” he says, “with too heavy burdens, as oxen and other
beasts are wont to be burdened; but I have raised up the yoke upon the cheeks. I
have chosen rather to bear the yoke myself, and to ease these ungodly and wicked
men of their burden.” And God does not in vain allege this, for we know that when
he uses his power, and vindicates his authority, he does this not to burden the
people, as earthly kings are wont to do; but he bears the burden which he lays on
men. It is no wonder then that he says now, that he had lifted the yoke upon the
cheeks of his people, like one who wishes not to burden his ox, but bears up the yoke
himself with his own hands, lest the ox should faint through weariness.
He afterwards adds, And I have made them to eat in quietness, or, “I have brought
meat to them.” Some think the verb ‫,אוכיל‬ aukil to be in the future tense, and that
‫,אוכיל‬ aukil is put for ‫,אאכיל‬ aakil; that is, I will cause them to eat; and that the
future is to be resolved into the past: and it is certain that the word ‫,אט‬ ath, means
tranquil sometimes. Then it will be, “I have caused them quietly to eat.” But another
exposition is more commonly received; as the word ‫,אט‬ ath, is derived from ‫,נטה‬
nathe, to raise, it is the same as though the Prophet had said, that meat had been
brought to them.
God then does here in various ways enhance the ingratitude and wickedness of the
people, because they had not acknowledged his paternal kindness, when he had
himself so kindly set forth his favour before their eyes; I have, he says, extended
meat to them; that is, “I have not thrown it on the ground, nor placed it too high for
them; they have not toiled in getting it; but I have, as it were, brought it with mine
own hand and set it before them, that they might eat without any trouble.” In short,
God declares that he had tried in every way to find out, whether there was any

37. meekness or docility in the people of Israel, and that he had ill bestowed all his
blessings; for this people were blind to favours so kind, to such as clearly proved,
that God had in every way showed himself to be a Father. It follows —
COFFMA , "Verse 4
"I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love; and I was drawn to them as
they that lift up the yoke on their jaws; and I laid food before them."
Some of the renditions in this verse appear to be questionable; but the meaning is
plain enough as Butler paraphrased it:
"I eased all their burdens like a farmer pushes back the yoke upon his oxen, so they
may eat their food in comfort; I even fed them manna from heaven, food for which
they did not work."[6]
"I drew them with cords of a man ..." This is evidently a reference to the leading
strings by which small children are kept near their parents, a device one may see to
this day in certain sections of ew York City. "Cords" here contrasts with "ropes"
by which animals were restrained. The view of such "cords" as "bands of love" is
very expressive.
COKE, "Hosea 11:4. I drew them with cords of a man— "I employed, to gain their
affection, all the motives which could influence a heart not insensible to love. They
cannot complain that I treated them as animals, or as slaves; that I commanded
them with rigour, or constrained them by force. I treated them as reasonable men,
and as a father treats his children." Houbigant concludes the verse with the words,
Yoke on their jaws; and begins the fifth thus; I drew him gently unto me: he shall
not, &c.
ELLICOTT, "(4) Cords of a man.—In contrast with the cords with which
unmanageable beasts are held in check. Israel is led with “bands of love,” not of
compulsion. Render the last clause, And gently towards them gave I food to eat,
expressing the tenderness, delicacy, and condescension of his personal regard.
ISBET, "THE BA DS OF LOVE
‘I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.’
Hosea 11:4
The great principle of all God’s works is attraction. We all know how the law of
attraction governs the material world. We call it by different names, but the thing
itself is everywhere the same.
And is not the natural world in this, as in everything else, a great picture-book?
Morally, just as much as physically, it is the will of God that everything should be
done by attraction. Therefore, first, God makes Himself so exceedingly attractive.
Everything that we know of the beautiful goes to make God’s nature. He is ‘love.’
Therefore, He has made His Son in all the tendernesses of a man; in all the
sympathies of a sufferer; that He may be winning to a man’s mind. Therefore the

38. Holy Spirit does His work of comforting. And therefore He has willed it, and
decreed it, that all our operations, one upon another, should all be done by
attraction—by gentleness.
We know, indeed, that as the attracting magnet has also a repelling end which
drives, so He, Who is the great fountain and centre of attraction, does sometimes
drive a soul; but then, He never drives or repels a soul but in order to place that soul
again in the sphere of attraction. The fact is, the habit is as universal as the promise
is absolute—‘I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.’ That
means, that as the sun, when it rises in the heavens, and rules its course by a secret
law of nature, makes all vegetation to turn upwards to that its spring of light and
life, so that ascended Saviour moves our world by His providence, and His works,
and His grace; and, as He moves, He exercises an essentially attracting power, which
no living man can help to feel.
We do anything effectually according to the degree we imitate God’s method of
doing it. His method we have seen is this, ‘I have loved thee with an everlasting love,
therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.’ Oh! God forbid that a poor
fellow-worm should ever weave ‘cords’ or ‘bands’ of a harder texture than his great
Creator and Father is pleased to do!
I. And now to return to God’s ‘drawings.’ I do not believe that there is a man that
breathes and walks this earth who has not had them!—It sometimes falls to a
minister to be able to put this to a test. He visits upon their sick beds those who, in
their gay career, might have seemed, of all others, to have been the least likely to be
the subjects of those inward experiences, which we call God’s ‘drawings.’ I believe
every minister would bear witness to the fact that he never met a single person,
however thoughtless and however dissipated he may have been, who, in those hours
of honest speaking and true confession, when a man lies upon his sick and perhaps
his dying bed, is not ready to acknowledge that, more times than he could
remember—from his infancy, and all through, at least, the earlier stages of his
wrong courses,—he had been conscious of secret impulses and invisible actings upon
his soul, which he felt, all the while, however he treated them, to be nothing else but
the hand of God. ow, ‘man’ is a rational creature, and no ‘cords’ could be rightly
framed to ‘draw man’ unless they were framed to act upon a ‘man’s’ reason; and
the Gospel of God does fit into a man’s reason. It is true that there are features of
our religion which soar far above reason. But then, God never demands of us to
believe anything until He has first made it a reasonable thing that we should go into
the chamber of faith and believe it.
II. For example, reason ‘draws’ us, by the strictest process, unto the inspiration of
the Bible, and that once established, it becomes actually reasonable to believe all
that that Bible contains, however unfathomable and however inexplicable some of it
may seem to our little minds! Surely it is reasonable that, in a communication from
a God to His creatures, there should be many things which should baffle man’s
understanding? But let us remember that the Gospel always invites the investigation
of the intellect, and always praises most the men who have brought their minds to

39. bear upon it. Those gigantic minds, the most gigantic we have ever known, such as
Paul, or Sir Isaac ewton, or Lord Bacon, responding to that call of the intellect,
have afterwards declared that they were ‘drawn’ by that very ‘cord of a man,’
reason, to the faith which they have embraced. Is not it the purest reason, in any
order of the world, that this world should be a world of probation? There must be
in it sin and virtue, misery and happiness. Is not it pure reason that a good and
righteous God should provide some way whereby the sinner may be saved, and He
be justified in His truth while He saves him? The Father’s wisdom and justice go out
in marvellous unity, and yet every guilty and unhappy man can be brought again to
his Father’s bosom, and live, for ever and ever, in a perfect felicity! I say, shall we
not be right in alleging that there is nothing in all philosophy that so addresses itself
to, and fits, a man’s highest intelligence as the simple Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ?
III. But again, ‘man’ is also characterised by a heart; he has affections.—We
wanted, then, a motive adequate to the very work which was to be done in man,
which was nothing less than the transformation of the whole ‘man.’ o other motive
could do that but ‘love.’ To awaken ‘love’ the whole dispensation was planned. God,
freely and absolutely, for Christ’s sake, forgives, and ‘loves,’ and invites, and
blesses, a poor wretched, miserable sinner! This is the first act—the foundation
stone of everything. The Spirit comes, and, having first shown that man his
miserable need, then makes him delightful—shows him that all his guilt is
pardoned, and that heaven is open to him. And, if he really believes that fact, can he
help to give himself now—body, soul, and spirit—to seek, and serve, and love that
God to Whom he owes everything?
IV. But ‘man’ is characterised by will, and therefore, in the will, God works
mightily.—He might have done otherwise. All praise be to His mercy! that, when He
might have studied only His own glory, He has made that glory to consist with our
happiness; so that it is our own self-interest to know, and love, and obey God.
Though there is a great deal of trial in being a Christian; though the cross is
sometimes very heavy, it is a sweet thing to be a child of God! It is the most blessed
thing that ever entered into the heart of man to think of! There is nothing gives
peace like that! There is nothing satisfies a man like that! There is nothing opens to
man a future like that!
V. And yet, once more, a very great part of a man is imagination.—It is a poor
character that has no imagination. What is imagination? The conception of the
unseen. ow, see how God works upon the imagination. He sanctifies it, and raises
it, and gives it object. He is always presenting the unseen to the man. Unheard
words are to be believed; an unseen Saviour is to be trusted; an unseen world is to
be sought. And thus, brethren, from hour to hour, ever since you were born, and at
this very moment—through outward calls and inward echoes,—by the ten thousand
springs of nature in the world, and ten thousand ‘bands of love”—God is ‘drawing’
that complex heart of yours. He Who made the heart plays over it His own sweet
music, and every note He strikes is a ‘cord.’ Lean yourself to that hand; let Him
tune you, and He will bring out such hidden melodies as will enable you to mingle

40. for ever in the anthems of the blest!
Rev. Jas. Vaughan.
EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "
Hosea , who lived at the decline and fall of the orthern Kingdom of Israel, had to
speak mostly of doom. The Prophet, loving his country with, a passionate devotion,
had no hope for the future except from the mercy of God using the inevitable
chastisement to bring Israel back to a purer faith and a nobler life.
I. In the earliest days of all God taught the nation to walk, holding it by the arms,
with patience and affection, as a mother teaches her child, encouraging him, but not
too quickly lest he should overtask his strength; and when he falls taking him up in
her arms, comforting and healing him. And then as the nation grew strong and
could walk, and like a child now grown to manhood was set tasks and had to bend
to serious burdens, like the oxen which did all the draught work in Palestine, the
figure changes from that of a loving faith Or mother teaching a child to that of a
considerate master driving a team of oxen. When Israel was grown up and had to
carry heavy burdens, which is the lot of all men, God was to them as a considerate
Master, never leaving them, making them feel that He was with them through it all,
setting them to the tasks, and gently leading them, and strenuously upholding them,
taking His place beside them, treating them with human sympathy, drawing them
with cords of a Prayer of Manasseh , with bands of love.
II. They are homely figures of a father with the patience of love towards his little
child, and of a wagoner with the kindness of sympathy towards his labouring cattle;
but what figures could be more expressive of the thought which Hosea is seeking to
express of the constant loving providence of God? His love faileth never. He would
still as of old, still even at the eleventh hour, draw them with cords of a Prayer of
Manasseh , with bands of love. Is not this explanation of Israel"s history the true
reading of our own experience. The secret of all God"s dealings with us is love. Even
in the experience that was hardest to understand, one day it comes to us with the
force of a revelation that God has been teaching and training us. It is this that
makes the religious Prayer of Manasseh , and distinguishes him from the irreligious.
Upon all men are laid the trials and tasks of life; to all men come the burden and the
yoke. The religious man knows that God is in all his experience, ever drawing him
with cords of a Prayer of Manasseh , with bands of love. This consciousness of a
Divine sympathy makes a man strong, and assures him that his life is worth living
since it commands the interest of heaven.
III. Hosea saw the past history of Israel to be the very romance of Divine love. It was
the key to explain all His dealing with them, from their childhood right on through
the long years of training. The revelation of God"s Divinity has been a revelation of
His humanity, drawing them with the cords of a Prayer of Manasseh , with bands of
love. How much more clearly should the Christian Church see this than Hosea ,
after the greatest of all object-lessons in Jesus Christ! The whole story thrills with
human tenderness, with human sympathy, sympathy with men in their joy and their

41. sorrow, sympathy with the little child, and with all on whom the yoke pressed, the
labouring and heavy-laden. Can He fail to draw all men unto Himself? With the
cords of a man He is drawing men: in the bands of love He is binding the world
together. Who can resist the appeal of His broken body and shed blood?
—Hugh Black, Christ"s Service of Love, p109.
TRAPP, "Verse 4
Hosea 11:4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them
as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
Ver. 4. I drew them with cords of a man] ot of a beast; though they have deserved
to be hampered as unruly heifers, and to be yoked and ruled over with rigour, to be
tamed and taken down a link lower, yet I, out of my philanthropy, yea, out of
singular grace, have dealt civilly, nay, courteously with them, in an amicable and
amiable way, and not as I might have done out of my sovereignty, and according to
my justice. I drew them by the cords of a man, that is, 1. Gently and favourably;
suiting myself to their dispositions (which are often as different as their faces),
hiring them to obedience, afflicting them in measure, with the rods of men, 2 Samuel
7:14, fitted to the weakness of men. If God should plead against us with his great
power, as Job speaks, Job 23:6, it would soon grind us to powder; but he hath no
such design; he correcteth his children, vel ad demonstrationem debitae miseriae vel
ad emendationem labilis vitro, vel ad exercitationem necessariae patientiae, saith
Augustine, Tract. in Joan. 124; ad exercitium non ad exitium, saith another ancient,
to refine and not to ruin them. 2. Rationally, by cogent arguments and motives,
befitting the nature of a man; able to convince them and set them down with right
reason, would they but consider, Deuteronomy 32:29, would they but be wise and
weigh things aright. This God wisheth they would do, calleth them to reason the
case with him, Isaiah 1:18, pleads with them in a friendly way, Jeremiah 2:31, and
then appeals to their own consciences, whether they have dealt well with him, yea or
no, Isaiah 5:3, making them read the sentence against themselves, as did Judas the
traitor, Matthew 27:4, and those Pharisees, Matthew 21:40. He bespeaks them, after
most clear conviction, as Isaiah 46:8. Remember this, and show yourselves men;
bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Most people are led on in a continued
hurry of lusts and passions, and never bethink themselves, as 1 Kings 8:47, never
say so much as, What have I done? Si haec duo tecum verba reputasses quid ago?
saith Cicero to evius: Hadst thou but bethought thyself of those few words, What
have I done? thou wouldst never have been so covetous a cormorant. Oh, could men
have but so much power over their passions and lusts as to get alone and weigh
God’s ways, much good might be done upon them; but for want of this, Fertur equis
auriga, &c., they rush into all excess of riot, as a horse into the battle; yea, they are
so far unmanned as to think that they have reason to be mad, and that tbere is no
small sense in sinning. "I do well to be angry, even unto death," Jonah 4:9.
SBC, "This is not a day for difficult doctrines, but for the simplest and humblest
feelings. The appeal is not made to our understanding nor even directly to our
conscience. With the cords of a man we are drawn. The human affections in which all

42. men share, the feelings which even the poorest, the meanest, the most ignorant partake
in; the pity, the tenderness, the love that can only be called forth by love—these are now
the cords by which our Father draws us, the cords of a man.
I. We are sometimes cold and dead. There are times when our feelings towards God
seem to lose their warmth. We can obey and we do, but we feel like servants, not like
children, and we are unhappy because we cannot rouse any warmer feelings in ourselves.
When this is so, where can we go but to the Cross of Christ? Can our hearts long resist
the pleading of that story, or can we refuse to come when the Father begins to draw us
with the cords of a man, with bands of love.
II. Perhaps under a decent exterior we hide some sinful habit which has long been eating
into our souls. Our besetting sin has clung to us, and we cannot get rid of it. If this be so,
yet once more let us turn to God, and gaze upon the Cross of Christ. Let us think of that
sorrow which was beyond all other sorrows, and that love which caused all the sorrow.
Let us look on this till our thoughts are filled with the sight, till our hearts answer to the
affection which could thus suffer, till we feel the cords draw us, the cords of a man, and
we sit at the foot of the Cross and never wish to leave it.
III. Or perhaps we have never really striven to serve God at all. We have lived as best
suited the society in which we were, as most conduced to our own pleasure. Whenever
the thought of God or conscience comes across us, we immediately find that but a dull
subject to think on, and we turn to pleasanter and more exciting themes. What then shall
warm our hearts but this plain story of sadness? Here shall all men find the medicine to
heal their sore disease. Proud thoughts, self-conscious contentment, cannot stand here.
We come as sheep that have gone astray. We hasten to the Shepherd whose voice we
hear calling us from afar. He hath sought us long. We think not of the pastures, but of
Him; to lie in His bosom, to be carried in His arms, to hear His words of comfort once
more, to see His face, to feel that we are pressed to His heart.
Bishop Temple, Rugby Sermons, 1st series, p. 1.
Consider the place of love in the Gospel.
I. The Gospel is a revelation of love. Herein lies its power, the secret of its strength. It
reveals the love of God. It tells how He, in whose Divine holiness there beats not, as in
the best of us) one pulse of sympathy with evil, yet loves with an unqualified love all the
souls which He has made. In the immense, immeasurable love of God there is room for
all His creatures. He loves, and therefore He pleads. He loved first, and therefore He
gave His Son to be the life of the fallen.
II. In addition to the revelation of love, there is, in the Gospel, an invitation of love.
There is something always pathetic to the unsophisticated ear in the petition of love.
Hearts athirst, hearts dried up, just for lack of love, sometimes see in the far distance,
something, some one, whom they feel they could have lived and died for. Pitiable, most
pitiable, when we think of it, is the wilderness of the unloved. And yet there was a love
for them, would they but have had it; a love better than of son or daughter, better than of
wife or husband; a love indestructible, satisfying, eternal. The place of love in the Gospel
is first a revelation, and then, a permission and an invitation. (3) In the Gospel there is a
communication or transmission of love. He who has been loved, and therefore loves, is
bidden, by the love of God to love his brother also. And then, in that transmission, that

43. tradition, that handing on of the love, the whole of the Gospel, its precept as its
comfort—is in deed and in truth perfected. Little indeed do they know of the power of
the Gospel, who think either that obedience will replace the love of God, or duty be a
substitute for the love of man. Christ teaches us that both towards God and towards man
love goes first and duty follows after.
C. J. Vaughan, Last Words at Doncaster, p. 87.
The words of the text suggest: (1) The humaneness of God’s discipline; (2) the
importance of human relations as well as Divine.
I. The humaneness of God’s rule is seen (1) in the way in which God conceals His laws
under the forms and influences of human society. Dependence—we learned the lesson
when we hung upon our mother’s breast; obedience—we were broken into it by all the
varied discipline of our early home; reverence—our souls learned reverence by the
perception of sanctity of character in some one whom we had before learned to love;
authority—we felt its constraint in human excellence before we knew the source of all
authority to be in God. (2) God makes use of human influences to draw us to Himself.
Among such influences are the necessary restrictions of society. (3) The sense of
responsibility is another influence by which God draws men to Himself. The pressure of
responsibility has made many pray who never prayed before; the human obligation has
been a cord to draw to God.
II. Consider the sanctity of human relations and the way to use them. They are the
temple of the living God, the channels of His grace; sacred as the form that enshrines an
eternal power. To be true to all human relations is not to be godly; but God intends this
to be the way to godliness. There is not a human affection that will not gain in beauty, a
human obligation that will not increase in sanctity, a human life that will not bloom
anew, when the End and Author of its grace and being is recognized and adored in God.
A. Mackennal, Sermons from a Sick Room, p. 49.
BI, "I drew them with cords of a man.
God’s saving method with the soul
I. God in the action of great solicitude. “I drew them.” There are two ways by which this
thought is confirmed—
1. By Scripture.
2. By experience.
God is represented in the Song of Solomon as drawing us with the odour of a great
ointment.
II. God drawing man through the principle of human agency—“Cords of a man.”
1. God did this in the use of the prophets.
2. God did this in the Person of Christ.
3. God is now doing this in the Christian ministry.
III. God drawing man through the principle of spiritual conditions: “With hands of

44. love.”
1. There is the voice of the inner life,—telling of wrong, and pointing to right and
duty.
2. There is the agency of the Holy Spirit,—pointing to holy decisions. Dr. Doddridge
once said to his daughter, “My dear, how is it that everybody seems to love you?” She
answered, “I do not know, papa,—unless it is that I love everybody.” Jesus loves us.
Shall we not love Him? (W. A. Perrins.)
God’s redemptive agency
I. The uncoerciveness of His redemptive agency. He draws, not drives. This Divine mode
of action implies two things—
1. That God respects the moral freedom of human nature. He has endowed us with
moral agency. We have a consciousness of freedom which defies and spurns all the
logic that would prove us slaves. The Holy Father treats us according to the natures
He has given us. God neither condemns nor saves men contrary to their own will.
2. That God’s moral power in the Gospel is extraordinarily great.
(1) It is a power to draw souls. Brute force can only drive bodies. Mere might has
no magnetism for the soul. There is a moral power, the power of anger,
falsehood, disgusting immorality, that can drive souls away—repel them with
disgust. But holy moral power alone can draw the entire soul.
(2) It is a power to draw depraved souls. It is something therefore
extraordinary—greater than the moral power of nature. It is the power of infinite
love, embodied in the life of Christ.
II. The humanity of God’s redemptive agency. It is by a man’s intellect, heart, life,
example, influence that he draws. God saves man by man.
1. The reasonable draws man. God appeals to our reason through man.
2. The merciful draws man. God appeals to our gratitude through man.
3. The excellent draws man.
4. The desirable draws man. (Homilist.)
The place of love in the Gospel
It is God who speaks of the humanity of His treatment of us. When a man would
influence, he must begin by loving. Few can resist that spell. I need not tell any one how
mighty, how almighty, in a man’s being is the force of love. There are not two definitions
of love, though it has many modifications. The symptoms common to all loving are
delight in presence, impatience of absence, eagerness for reciprocity, intolerance of
coldness, joy in exchange of thought, sympathy in each change of circumstance; delight
in the opportunity of benefiting, and corroding grief in the prohibition of intercourse.
We have claimed for hope—we have claimed even for fear—a place in the Gospel. Can it
be needful to do the same for love? Yet there may be some comparative, if not positive,
disparagement of this grace. I have heard men speak slightingly of Gospel love. They
judge it better, on the whole, for the character of Christ’s Gospel, that in its central’

45. innermost shrine the Deity of deities should be rather obedience than love. Thus, in
improving Christ’s Gospel, they spoilt, marred, ruined it.
I. The Gospel is a revelation of love. Herein lies its power, the secret of its strength. It
reveals the love of God. That God loves virtue, and will compensate and make up for the
sufferings of the good, is a tenet which needs not a revelation. But that God loves all
men, even the sinner, is that quite right? Must there not be something here not
altogether sound in doctrine, because not altogether conducive to morality and good?
The Gospel risks this perversion. It refers us to Christ. Did Christ’s example, did Christ’s
life, encourage or favour sin? There is, in the immeasurable love of God, room for all His
creatures. There is a yearning of soul over the scattered, dispersed, erring, and straying
race. He loves, therefore He pleads. The whole secret of the drawing lies in the
spontaneity of the love. Tell a man,—“Seek God, and He will be found of you,”—and you
waste words. Tell him—“God loves you as you are. God has come after you, with far-
reaching endeavour.” He will find there is strength in that which will not, cannot, be
resisted.
II. There is an invitation of love. There is something always pathetic, to the
unsophisticated ear, in the petition of love. The outcries of barren, thirsting affection
waste themselves oftentimes upon the desert. And yet there was a love for them, would
they but have had it, a love better than of son or daughter, better than of wife or
husband, a love indestructible, satisfying, eternal. It is permitted to you to love God.
Ought not that to be joy enough and privilege enough for any man? God makes it
religion to do the thing which will make us happy; and therefore He turns the invitation
into the injunction of love, and bids the fallen self-ruined creature just love and be
happy—just love and be saved.
III. There is a communication, or transmission, of love. He who has been loved, and
therefore loves, is bidden by that love of God to love his brother also; and then, in that
transmission, that handing on of the love, the whole of the Gospel—its precept as its
comfort—is in deed and in truth perfected. Little, indeed, do they know of the power of
the Gospel who think either that obedience will replace the love of God, or duty be a
substitute for the love of man. Christ teaches us that both towards God and towards man
love goes first and duty follows after. Not, indeed, that we are idly to wait for the feeling,
and excuse the not doing on the plea of not loving. There is such a thing as worshipping
because I desire to love. So there is such a thing as doing good to my brother, if so be I
may love him; a setting myself to every office of patient and self-denying charity, if by
any means it may at last become not a labour but a love to me. But how can we love the
unlovely? Surely whosoever sees with the eye of Christ, can discern, if he will look for it,
on the most tarnished, debased, defaced coin of humanity, that Divine image and
superscription in which God created, and for the sake of which Christ thought it no
waste to redeem. This is love’s place in Christ’s Gospel. Love revealed, love reciprocated,
then love handed on. (C. J. Vaughan, D. D.)
Good Friday
This is not a day for difficult doctrines, but for the simplest and humblest feelings. The
great work of this day is quite beyond, the reach of our understanding. The appeal is not
made to our understanding, nor even directly to our conscience. With the cords of a man
we are drawn. The human affections which all men share, the feelings which even the
poorest, the meanest, the most ignorant partake in, the pity, the tenderness, the love
that can only be called forth by love, these are now the cords by which our Father draws

46. us, the cords of a man. To the heart that loves like a child, to the sinner deeply laden with
his burden of unhappiness, to the broken spirit that secretly longs to escape from fetters
which it is powerless to break, to the soul that is ready to despair, this Gospel speaks,
and tells of hope, and love, and eagerness to forgive, and embracing arms, and falling on
the neck, and tears of joy, and the welcome of the prodigal son. We cannot study here.
We can but surrender our hearts to the love which is too much for them to contain. We
are sometimes cold and dead. There are times when our feelings towards God seem to
lose their warmth. We can obey and do, but we feel like servants, not like children, and
we are unhappy because we cannot rouse any warmer feelings in ourselves. And when
this is so, where can we go but to the Cross of Christ? Perhaps under a decent exterior we
hide some sinful habit which has long been eating into our souls. It is possible that we
may be discharging every duty as far as human eyes behold us. Yet time after time the
temptation has proved too strong, or we have been found too weak. Our besetting sin
has clung to us, and we cannot get rid of it. Then let us once more turn to God, and gaze
upon the Cross of Christ. Or perhaps we have never striven to serve God at all. We have
lived as best suited the society in which we were, as most conduced to our own
pleasures. Whenever the thought of God or conscience comes across us, we find that but
a dull subject to think on, and we turn to pleasanter and more exciting themes. What
then shall warm our hearts but this plain story of sadness? If we have human feelings
still left us, and sympathy can yet touch our souls, it will be impossible to read of the
Cross of Christ without emotion. (Archbishop Temple.)
God’s gracious dealings
I. I dealt with them rationally, as men, not as beasts.
1. My statutes were according to right reason.
2. They were supported by many arguments.
3. And by persuasions, motives, and exhortations.
II. I dealt with them gently, not with rigour and violence.
1. Suiting Myself to their dispositions.
2. Dealing with them when they were in their best temper.
3. Giving them time to consider.
III. I dealt with them honourably, in a manner suitable to that respect which is due to
man.
1. My instructions ever exceeded My corrections.
2. Whatever spark of ingenuousness remained in them, I took care to preserve it.
3. I aimed at their good, as well as My own glory, in all things. (Jeremiah
Burroughs.)
Silken cord
s:—No man ever does come to God unless he is drawn. Man is so utterly “dead in
trespasses and sins” that the same Divine power which provided a Saviour must make
him willing to accept a Saviour. But many make a mistake about Divine drawings. They

47. seem to fancy that when the time comes, they will, by some irresistible power, without
any exercise of thought or reasoning, be compelled to be saved. But no man can make
another man lay hold of Christ. Nay, God Himself does not do it by compulsion. He hath
respect unto man as a reasoning creature. Love is the power that acts upon men. God
draweth no man contrary to the constitution of man, but His methods of drawing are in
strict accordance with mental operations.
1. Some are drawn to Christ by seeing the happiness of true believers.
2. Another cord of love is the sense of the security of God’s people, and a desire to be
as secure as they.
3. Some will tell you they were first drawn to Christ by the holiness of godly relatives.
4. Not a few are brought to Christ by gratitude for mercies received.
5. Some have been caught by becoming convinced that the religion of Christ is the
most reasonable religion in the world.
6. A far larger number, however, are attracted to Jesus by a sense of His exceeding
great love.
7. The privileges which a Christian enjoys ought to draw some of you to Christ. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
God’s goodness to His people
Let us see what this goodness did for Israel, and what it does still for God’s people. Three
leading articles.
I. Attraction. “I drew them.” God attracted the Jews to Himself as their Lord and portion
by conviction and affection. The attraction is to Him as well as by Him. In pushing and
driving you urge a thing from you; but in drawing it you bring it towards you. God’s aim
is to bring us to Himself. This aim regards the state that we are previously in—a state of
distance and alienation from Him. As in this state we see his sin, so we equally see his
misery, for with God is the fountain of life, and we can never be happy save as we are
near Him. Look at the manner in which this attraction is accomplished. “With the cords
of a man.” That Is—
1. “Rationally. Hence religion is called a reasonable service.”
2. Affectionately. Love is the supreme attraction. There are four heads of goodness
which are peculiarly attractive and powerful.
(1) Unreserved kindness is very attractive. So is
(2) Disinterested kindness. And
(3) Magnanimous kindness. And
(4) Costly and expensive kindness.
II. Provision. “I laid meat unto them.” Meat means food generally. To show the
plenitude and riches of the Gospel provision it is represented in the Scriptures by a feast.
The provision is found in the Scriptures. It is “laid unto you in the preaching of the
Gospel.”
III. Emancipation. He takes off the yoke from our jaws. What yoke?

48. 1. The yoke of Judaism.
2. Of popery.
3. Of persecution.
4. Of bigotry.
5. Of ignorance. (William Jay.)
Drawn heavenwards
A weeping willow stood by the side of a pond, and in the direction of that pond it hung
out its pensive-looking branches. An attempt was made to give a different direction to
these branches. The attempt was useless; where the water lay, thither the boughs would
turn. However an expedient presented itself. A large pond was dug on the other side of
the tree, and as soon as the greater quantity of water was found there, the tree of its own
accord bent its branches in that direction. What a clear illustration of the laws which
govern the human heart. It turns to the water—the poisoned waters of sin, perhaps—but
the only streams with which it is acquainted. Remonstrate with it, and your
remonstrances are vain. It knows no better joys than those of earth, and to them it
obstinately clings. But open to its apprehension fuller streams, heavenly water; show to
it some better thing, some more satisfying joys; and then it is content to abandon what it
once worshipped, and turns its yearning affections heavenward. (J. A. Gordon, D. D.)
With bands of love] Heb, thick cords, cart ropes (as it is rendered, Isaiah 5:18),
ropes of many wreaths, twisted and intertwined with love, that sweetest attractive.
So Jeremiah 31:3, "With lovingkindness have I drawn thee"; and Isaiah 63:9, "In
his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all
the days of old." He gave them a law, the sum of which was nothing but love; and
multiplied mercies upon them without measure, as is amply set forth by those holy
Levites, ehemiah 9:4-5. ow, mercy commands duty; and every new deliverance is
a new tie to obedience. Love should have love, publicans and sinners yield that,
Matthew 5:46. Yea, love should show itself strong as death, Song of Solomon 8:6.
Jonathan would have died for his David; David for his Absalom; Priscilla and
Aquila for Paul, Romans 16:4. Christ out of his love did die for his people. Have I
but one life to lose for Christ? said that holy martyr ( Cos amoris amor). Let men
take heed how they sin against love, for this is the greatest aggravation of sin; this is
bestial, this is like unruly horses in a team, to break the gears, to snap in sunder the
traces that should hold them. Such yokeless sons of Belial shall one day be held by
the cords of their own sin, and whipped with those cords of conviction, that they
would not be drawn by. Shall the harlot’s hands be bands, her words cords to draw
men to destruction, and shall God stretch out his hand all day long to them to no
purpose? Shall he lose his sweet words upon them? &c. Peter’s heart burst, and he
brake out in weeping, when he saw love sparkling in Christ’s looks, Mark 14:72,
and considered how he had burst asunder the bands of love, sinned against such
manifestations of mercy, wiped off all his comfortables for the present, drew from
Christ those piercing quick questions, Lovest thou me? yea, but dost love me

49. indeed? O let the cords of God’s kindness draw us nearer to him, hold us closer; to
sin against mercy is to sin against humanity; and as no surfeit is more dangerous
than that of bread, so no judgment is more terrible than that which grows out of
love felt and slighted.
And I was to them as they that take off the yoke on the jaws, &c.] i.e. on their neck;
albeit it seemeth by that law, made for not muzzling the ox that treadeth out the
corn, that those creatures when they wrought were muzzled or haltered up; and that
halter fastened to the yoke that was upon their necks. The sense is this, I unyoked
them often to give them meat, as the good husbandman doth that is merciful to his
beast; he lifts up the yoke that lies hard upon its neck, leads it to the manger, lays
food before it. So dealt God by this people all along from the wilderness, and
forward; not suffering them to abide, iugiter, sub iugis Gentium, long under their
enemy’s yoke; but delivering them out of the hand of those that served themselves of
them, Ezekiel 34:27. Christ also hath delivered his out of the hands of those that
hated them, and lay hard upon them; as the devil is a hard taskmaster, that neither
takes off the yoke nor lays meat; gives no rest or refreshment to his drudges and
dromedaries; but acts them and agitates them day and night, &c. ow, those that
are his, Christ brings them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to
God, that they may do works meet for repentance, that weigh just as much as
repentance doth, Acts 26:18; Acts 26:20, and so find rest to their souls; provided
that they take and keep Christ’s yoke upon them (not thinking to live as they list
more, saying, as those libertines in Jeremiah 7:10, "we are delivered to do all these
abominations") and learn of him to be meek and lowly in heart, Matthew 11:29, so
shall they soon find Christ’s yoke easy, and his burden light, Matthew 11:30. And of
this easy yoke of Christ Luther understands this text in Hosea; and thereupon
discourseth of the law’s rigour, and gospel’s relaxation, according to that of Austin,
Lex iubet, gratia iuvat; the law commandeth, but the gospel helpeth; God by his
Spirit assisting, and farther accepting pence for pounds, the will for the work, the
desire for the deed done, and laying meat before us, meat that the world knows not
of, hidden manna, the convivium iuge ever flowing banquet of a good conscience.
SIMEO , "THE MA ER I WHICH GOD DRAWS HIS PEOPLE
Hosea 11:4. I drew them with of a man, with bands of love.
THE doctrine of Divine influences is generally considered as enthusiastic and
absurd. But though we grant that there is much in it which is above our
comprehension, there is nothing in it that is contrary to reason. We know not how
mind operates upon matter, when we move any of the members of our body: but
does any one, on this account, question the influence of volition upon our motions?
So, though there be much in Divine influences that is inexplicable, we affirm, that to
them must be ascribed all the good which we do. In fact, we have, in the deliverance
of Israel out of Egypt, a very striking illustration of the way in which the Spirit of
God operates upon the souls of men. In reference to that event God says, “I drew
them with cords of a man, with bands of love [ ote: Compare ver. 1. with the

50. text.]:” and the same may be said of all who are delivered from the infinitely sorer
bondage of sin and Satan.
Let us then consider,
I. How God drew his people out of Egypt—
They were not of themselves seeking deliverance. On the contrary, when Moses
interposed for them by slaying one of their oppressors, and proceeded to encourage
in them a hope of yet further deliverance, “they thrust him from them, saying, Who
made thee a ruler and a judge over us?” But when God’s time was fully come, “he
drew them,” as we are told, “by the cords of a man, and by bands of love”—
[He made them to feel their sore bondage, and to cry so bitterly by reason of it, that
God himself was afflicted by their afflictions. He then sent them a Saviour, even
Moses, whom he commissioned and qualified to effect their deliverance. By him he
displayed his almighty power; and in ten successive plagues inflicted upon Egypt,
(from all of which they were exempt,) he shewed them, that, under the guidance of
Moses, they might safely go forth from Egypt, and cast off the yoke of their
oppressors. Thus he drew them by such considerations as are proper to influence a
rational being: for it is impossible for a man under the pressure of grievous
affliction not to desire relief, and gladly to avail himself of such aid as promises to be
effectual: He drew them, I say, “with cords of a man.”
Further, God put himself at the head of them, and undertook to be their guide: and,
when their danger became so imminent, that they were reduced to utter despair, he
opened the sea before them, and led them through on dry ground, and overwhelmed
all their enemies in the waves, which had just before been a wall for the protection
of his chosen people. Here “he drew them with the bands of love,” as he did
afterwards in all their journeys, supplying by miracle their every want, and
manifesting his glory to them, and giving them a written revelation of his will and
taking them for his own peculiar people above all the people upon the face of the
whole earth. To them also he held forth the prospect of an inheritance. even of a
land flowing with milk and honey. where they should enjoy such peace and plenty
and happiness. as were unknown to the whole world besides.
ow these distinguishing favours were well calculated to bind them to him in such
love and gratitude. that nothing should ever be able to draw them from him. or to
damp their ardour in his service.
True indeed these means did not produce their full effect upon that generation. all
of whom perished in the wilderness. excepting two. What addresses itself to our
senses only. is but transient in its operation on the mind; whereas the things which
are seen by faith are always present and abidingly influential and uniformly
effectual. In this respect. therefore. the parallel between God’s dealings with the
Jews and with us will not hold good. But still the manner in which God drew them
serves as “a shadow of good things to come.” and affords to us a striking illustration

51. of the way in which he will draw his people to himself under the better dispensation
which we are privileged to enjoy.]
To elucidate this. I will shew.
II. How he will draw us at this day—
We need his influences as much as ever his ancient people did—
[ o man ever comes to God by any power of his own. Our blessed Lord expressly
says. “ o man cometh unto me. except the Father who hath sent me draw him
[ ote: John 6:44.].” In fact. we have not in ourselves a power to do a good act [ ote:
John 15:5.]. or speak a good word [ ote: Matthew 12:34.]. or think a good thoughts
[ ote: 2 Corinthians 3:5.]. “Our sufficiency for every thing is of God alone;” “nor
without him can we either will or do any one thing that is pleasing in his sight [ ote:
Philippians 2:13.]. If any man could have exerted such a power. it would have been
the Apostle Paul. But he confesses. “By the grace of God I am what I am;” and.
when constrained to speak of his labours, he recalls. as it were. his words. and. with
holy jealousy for God’s honour. adds. “yet not I. but the grace of God which was
with me [ ote: 1 Corinthians 15:10.].” If any man think he can renew and sanctify
his own soul. let him make the effort; and his own experience shall attest all that the
Scriptures have spoken.]
And how is it that God will work in us?—
[He will draw us, even as he did them, by rational considerations, and by gracious
influences, or, as my text expresses it, “by the cords of a man, and by the bands of
love”
When first God begins a work of grace upon the soul, he shews to a man his fallen
state, and his utter incapacity to save himself. Then He makes known to him the
Lord Jesus, who has died for the redemption of a ruined world, and shews to him,
that through that adorable Saviour he may obtain a deliverance from all guilt and
misery, and be made a partaker of everlasting happiness and glory. ow the
question necessarily arises in his mind, ‘Shall I persist in ray wickedness? Shall I
pour contempt upon these offers of mercy? Shall I plunge my soul into irremediable
and endless perdition? o: This were to act more stupidly than the beasts, and to
forfeit all title to the rationality of man.’ Thus is he drawn in the first instance by
“the cords of a man.” But in his further progress he experiences the still more
influential drawings of God’s love, which, as “bands,” constrain him to surrender
up himself a willing captive to his God. The Holy Spirit, whose office it is to “glorify
Christ, takes of the things that are Christ’s, and shews them to the believing soul
[ ote: John 16:14.],” and thus makes “Christ more precious to him” than ten
thousand worlds [ ote: 1 Peter 2:7.]. In time he enables the soul to “comprehend the
height, and depth, and length, and breadth of that love of Christ which passeth
knowledge [ ote: Ephesians 3:18.];” and by witnessing with the soul that it is an
object of God’s love, he enables it with boldness and with confidence to address him

52. by the endearing name of Father [ ote: Romans 8:15-16.], and to assure itself of an
everlasting participation of his kingdom and glory. With such bands cast around
him, the Believer is drawn to God in a way of holy obedience, and can “defy all the
hosts of hell itself ever to separate him from his love [ ote: Romans 8:35-39.].” The
abiding feeling of his heart from henceforth is, “The love of Christ constraineth me,
because I thus judge; that, if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died
for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him
who died for them and rose again [ ote: 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.].”]
Observe from hence,
1. What reason unconverted men have to blush and be ashamed—
[They will take occasion from the doctrine of Divine influences to justify themselves,
saying, ‘If God do not draw me, how can I go to him?’ But I ask. Have not the cords
of a man been spread around you, yea, and the bands of redeeming love also, and
you have burst all these bands asunder, and cast all these cords from you? Do you
not know that heaven and hell are before you? and are you acting the part of
rational beings, whilst you take no care to flee from the wrath to come, and to lay
hold on eternal life? And have you never heard of what Christ has done and
suffered for you, and felt too the influences of his Holy Spirit calling you to
repentance? Yet have you not ungratefully slighted all the love of Christ, and
wickedly resisted the Holy Ghost? Tell me, then, whether such conduct do not call
for the deepest humiliation before God? Verily, you may vindicate yourselves, as
you will, now; but you shall stand self-condemned at the judgment-seat of Christ.]
2. What reason believers have to bless and adore their God—
[Though the unbeliever must ascribe to himself alone the misery to which he is
hastening, you owe to God and to his sovereign grace all the blessedness which you
enjoy. Had not God of his infinite mercy drawn you, you had no more turned to
him, than Satan himself has done [ ote: John 6:44.]. In the view of all the good that
you either possess or hope for, you must say, “He that hath wrought us to the self-
same thing is God [ ote: 2 Corinthians 5:5.].” Give him then the glory due unto his
name — — — and look to him for a continuance of his grace, that his work may be
carried on and perfected in your souls. Beg of him to fasten his bands yet more
firmly about you, that nothing either within or without may break them. And
endeavour at all times to yield to his attractive influences, and to comply with the
first intimations of his will. And, if you be treated with contempt for this by an
ungodly world, comfort yourselves with the reflection, that you are acting the part
of rational beings; and that the more closely you are drawn to God in this world, the
more intimately you will enjoy him to all eternity in the world to come.]
PETT, "Verse 4
‘I drew them with cords of a man,
With bands of love,
And I was to them as those who lift up the yoke on their jaws,

53. And I laid food before them.’
And in spite of their misbehaviour YHWH had not deserted them. He had drawn
them along in their leading reins, bands which bound them to Him in love, and He
had been to them like the man who takes out the horse’s or oxen’s bit so that he
could feed them. He had constantly laid food before them (initially the manna and
quails, and then the ‘old corn of the land’ - Joshua 5:12).
TEMPLE, The Harness of Love
"This is God using the words of Hosea to express his relationship to His people. The
King James translation does not catch the full flavor of the farm, and I don't think it
gives the beauty that I am trying to get across to you at the moment as I speak to
you of the gentleness of Hosea, so I would like to share with you another translation.
Phillips translates the verse: ``I led them with gentle encouragement. The harness
was a harness of love." I like that. The harness was a harness of love. Believe me,
Friend, if you let God harness you, if you let God harness you and harness your
energies and your talents and your abilities, it will be a harness of love.
Husbands, what kind of a harness do you have on your wife? Do you have a harness
that sets you up as God Almighty Himself---the vicar of God upon the earth---or do
you have a harness of love?
Parents, what kind of a harness do you have on your children? Think now. You can
put a harness on them. You can keep a whip by the side of the buggy. You can make
them go in the direction they have to go. After all, what can they do? They are in the
harness and you have the whip. Have you tried a harness of love? Have you
harnessed them with love in such a fashion that they are glad to do what you ask
them to do? Are you understanding of their needs and ready to ease their pain?
Look again at verse 4 of chapter 11, as I share further with you:
HOSEA 11
4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they
that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
``I led them with gentle encouragement. Their harness was a harness of love. I

54. treated them like the man who eases the yoke to free the jaws. Yes, I bent down to
them and gave them food."
Once again, I don't want to paint the wrong picture. All I know about the farm and
the ranch is what I have been told or read. But I learned something a long time ago:
A child or an adult who is cruel to animals will be cruel to people. An individual
who is thoughtless of the comfort and the welfare of dumb animals will be as
thoughtless of the welfare of those who were created in the image of God.
Do you get this picture? The man harnessed his animals with a harness of love, and
one day he noticed that the yoke was galling to his animals. What did he do? Did he
forget the dumb animal? o, not at all. He loosed the yoke so his jaw would be set
free and then he stooped down and fed the animal. He didn't say, ``Oh, it's just a
horse, just an ox"---whatever it might have been. ``What difference does it make?"
He knew what the harness of love was.
I would like to submit to you, Beloved, that Hosea could not have written the book,
he could not have treated the wife of his bosom as he treated her if he hadn't learned
something about the harness of love. Figuratively speaking, I would suggest that you
check your tack room and if there isn't a harness of love, get one in there. Throw
away the old galling harness of coercion and try the harness of love and see what
happens.
5 “Will they not return to Egypt
and will not Assyria rule over them
because they refuse to repent?
BAR ES, "He shall not return to Egypt - Some had probably returned already to
Egypt; the rest were looking to Egypt for help, and rebelling against the Assyrian, (whose
servant their king Hoshea had become), and making alliance with So king of Egypt. The

55. prophet tells them, as a whole, that they shall not return to Egypt to which they looked,
but should have the Assyrian for their king, whom they would not. “They refused to
return” to God, who lovingly called them; therefore, what they desired, they should not
have; and what they feared, that they should have. They would not have God for their
king; therefore “the Assyrian” should “be their king,” and a worse captivity than that of
Egypt should befall them. For, from “that” they were delivered; from this, now hanging
over them, never should they be restored.
CLARKE, "He shall not return into - Egypt - I have brought them thence
already, with the design that the nation should never return thither again; but as they
have sinned, and forfeited my favor and protection, they shall go to Assyria; and this
because they refused to return to me. This view of the verse removes every difficulty.
GILL, "He shall not return into the land of Egypt,.... Ephraim or Israel, the ten
tribes: and the Septuagint and Arabic versions express them by name, though they give a
wrong sense of the words, rendering them, "and Ephraim dwelt in Egypt"; he did so
indeed with the other tribes formerly; but here it is said he shall not go thither again to
be a captive there, but shall go into bondage more severe than that in Egypt, even into
captivity in Assyria: rather the sense is, they should not go thither for shelter, at least not
as a body, though some few of them might, as in Hos_9:3; the far greater part of them
should he carried captive by the Assyrians: or they should not return to Egypt to seek for
help and assistence, as they had done; either they ought not to do it, nor would there be
any need of it, did they but return to the Lord, as Kimchi observes; or rather they should
now be so straitly shut up in Samaria, besieged so closely by the enemy, or else carried
into distant lands, that, if they would, they could not apply to Egypt for relief;
but the Assyrian shall be his king; the king of Assyria shall be king over the ten
tribes, whether they want him or not; they shall be forced to acknowledge him as their
king, and be subject to him, being taken and carried captive into his land:
because they refused to return: to the Lord, from whom they had backslidden, and
to his pure worship, word, and ordinances, they had departed from, setting up the calves
at Dan and Bethel; they refused to relinquish worshipping idols instead of the true God;
thus ungratefully behaving to him for all the above favours bestowed upon them;
wherefore they are righteously threatened with captivity and bondage in Assyria.
HE RY 5-6, " They were strangely averse to repentance and reformation. Here are
two expressions of their obstinacy: - (1.) They refused to return, Hos_11:5. So much
were they bent to backslide that, though they could not but find, upon trial, the folly of
their backslidings, and that when they forsook God they changed for the worse, yet they
went on frowardly. I have loved strangers, and after them I will go. They were
commanded to return, were courted and entreated to return, were promised that if they
would they should be kindly received, but they refused. (2.) Though they called them to
the Most High. God's prophets and ministers called them to return to the God from
whom they had revolted, to the most high God, from whom they had sunk into this
wretched degeneracy; they called them from the worship of the idols, which were so
much below them, and the worship of which was therefore their disparagement, to the

56. true God, who was so much above them, and the worship of whom was therefore their
preferment; they called them from this earth to high and heavenly things; but they called
in vain. None at all would exalt him. Though he is the most high God they would not
acknowledge him to be so, would do nothing to honour him nor give him the glory due
to his name. Or, They would not exalt themselves, would not rise out of that state of
apostasy and misery into which they had precipitated themselves; but there they
contentedly lay still, would not lift up their heads nor lift up their souls. Note, God's
faithful ministers have taken a great deal of pains, to no purpose, with backsliding
children, have called them to the Most High; but none would stir, none at all would
exalt him.
III. Here is God very angry, and justly so, with Israel; see what are the tokens of God's
displeasure with which they are here threatened. 1. God, who brought them out of Egypt,
to take them for a people to himself, since they would not be faithful to him, shall bring
them into a worse condition than he at first found them in (Hos_11:5): “He shall not
return into the land of Egypt, though that was a house of bondage grievous enough; but
he shall go into a harder service, for the Assyrian shall be his king, who will use him
worse than ever Pharaoh did.” They shall not return into Egypt, which lies near, where
they may hear often from their own country, and whence they may hope shortly to
return to it again; but they shall be carried into Assyria, which lies much more remote,
and where they shall be cut off from all correspondence with their own land and from all
hopes of returning to it, and justly, because they refused to return. Note, Those that will
not return to the duties they have left cannot expect to return to the comforts they have
lost. 2. God, who gave them Canaan, that good land, and a very safe and comfortable
settlement in it, shall bring his judgments upon them there, which shall make their
habitation unsafe and uncomfortable (Hos_11:6): The sword shall come upon them, the
sword of war, the sword of a foreign enemy, prevailing against them and triumphing
over them. (1.) This judgment shall spread far. The sword shall fasten upon their cities,
those nests of people and store-houses of wealth; it shall likewise reach to their
branches, the country villages (so some), the citizens themselves (so others), or the bars
(so the word signifies) and gates of their city, or all the branches of their revenue and
wealth, or their children, the branches of their families. (2.) It shall last long: It shall
abide on their cities. David thought three months flying before his enemies was the only
judgment of the three that was to be excepted against; but this sword shall abide much
longer than three months on the cities of Israel. They continued their rebellions against
God, and therefore God continued his judgments on them. (3.) It shall make a full end:
It shall consume their branches, and devour them, and lay all waste, and this because of
their own counsels, that is, because they would have their own projects, which God
therefore, in a way of righteous judgment, gave them up to. Note, The confusion of
sinners is owing to their contrivance. God's counsels would have saved them, but their
own counsels ruined them.
JAMISO , "He shall not return into ... Egypt — namely, to seek help against
Assyria (compare Hos_7:11), as Israel lately had done (2Ki_17:4), after having revolted
from Assyria, to whom they had been tributary from the times of Menahem (2Ki_15:19).
In a figurative sense, “he shall return to Egypt” (Hos_9:3), that is, to Egypt-like
bondage; also many Jewish fugitives were literally to return to Egypt, when the Holy
Land was to be in Assyrian and Chaldean hands.
Assyrian shall be his king — instead of having kings of their own, and Egypt as
their auxiliary.
because they refused to return — just retribution. They would not return

57. (spiritually) to God, therefore they shall not return (corporally) to Egypt, the object of
their desire.
CALVI , "Verse 5
Here the Prophet denounces a new punishment, that the people in vain hoped that
Egypt would be a place of refuge or an asylum to them; for the Lord would draw
them away to another quarter. For the Israelites had cherished this hope, that if by
any chance the Assyrians should be too powerful for them, there would yet be a
suitable refuge for them in Egypt among their friends, with whom they had made a
treaty. Since, then, they promised themselves a hospitable exile in Egypt, the
Prophet here exposes their vain confidence: “This their expectation,” he says, “that
they shall find a way open to Egypt, shall disappoint the people: it is shut up,” he
says, They shall not return to the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be their king.
By saying, that the Assyrian shall rule over them, he means that the people would
become exiles under the Assyrians, which indeed happened. He then anticipates
here all the vain hopes by which the people deceived themselves, and by which they
hardened themselves against all the threatening of God. “There is no reason for
them,” he says, “to look towards Egypt; for the Lord will not allow them to go there;
for he will draw them to Assyria.”
He afterwards gives the reason, Because they have been unwilling, he says, to return
This “return” is to be taken in another sense: but there is here a striking similarity
in the words. They thought that there would be to them a free passage into Egypt;
and yet they had been unwilling to pass over unto God, when he had so often called
them. The Prophet therefore says that a return into Egypt was now denied them,
inasmuch as they had been unwilling to return to God. The import of what is said is,
that when men perversely resist God, they in vain hope for any free movements
either to this or that quarter; for the Lord will hold them tied and bound. As it is
wont to be done to wild beasts, who, when they show too much ferocity, are shut up
in cages or bound with chains, or as it is usually done to frantic men, who are bound
with strong bands; so also the Lord does with obstinate men; he binds them fast, so
that they cannot move a finger. This, then, is the meaning of the Prophet.
There is, at the same time, to be understood, an implied comparison between the
former bondage they endured in Egypt, and the new bondage which awaited them.
They had known of what sort was the hospitality of Egypt, and yet so great a
blindness possessed their minds, that they wished to return there. Their fathers had
been kindly enough received; but their posterity were grievously burdened; nay,
they were not far from being entirely destroyed. What madness was this, to wish of
themselves to return to Egypt, when they knew how great was the ferociousness and
cruelty of the Egyptians? But as I have said, something more grievous awaited
them; they were not worthy to return to Egypt. To return there would have been
indeed a dreadful calamity; but the Lord would not, however open a way for them
to go there; for he would force them to pass to another country; yea, they were to be
by force dragged away by their conquerors into Assyria. The drift of the whole is,
that though the people had been cruelly treated in Egypt, there was now drawing
nigh a more grievous tyranny; for the Assyrians would double the injuries, and the

58. violence, and all kinds of wrongs and reproaches, which had been exercised against
this people.
Some think that it was added for consolation, that God, though greatly provoked by
the people, was yet unwilling to lead them again into Egypt, lest the former
redemption should be made void; but that a middle course was prepared by which
he would chastise the ungrateful and yet retain them as his peculiar possession. But
I have already shown what I mostly approve. At the same time, whichever view is
taken, we see how grievous and severe was the denunciation of the Prophet.
COFFMA , "Verse 5
"They shall not return into the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian shall be their king,
because they refused to return to me."
The critics quickly hail this verse as a contradiction of "they shall return to Egypt"
in Hosea 8:13; but, of course, the word was used figuratively in that place and
literally here, as many of the best commentators have pointed out. It is totally
irresponsible to harmonize(!) the two places by reversing the meaning in this verse
as in the ew English Bible, "But they shall go to Egypt, the Assyrian shall be their
king." It is this type of emending texts that discredits the people doing it "The
Hebrew in its most obvious meaning here reads a negative, `He shall not
return.'...They will not go back to Egyptian bondage, but fall to the Assyrian
conqueror."[7] Smith accepted the ew English Bible rendition, but corrected their
error in his interpretation:
"If they want Egypt, then Egypt they shall have. But it shall not be the old literal
Egypt, but rather another bondage in which Assyria shall be their king."[8]
Butler and others have followed Keil in seeing that, "Egypt is a type of the land of
bondage; but here the typical interpretation is precluded, especially by the
correspondence in which the words stand to Hosea 11:1b.[9] The point of this is that
in Hosea 11:1b the coming up of Israel out of Egypt was undeniably a literal thing;
and since a literal return to Egypt was never intended by God, the reference here
absolutely required a similar literal implication, hence the negative. "They shall not
return to Egypt," that is, "not to that Egypt."
TRAPP, "Verse 5
Hosea 11:5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his
king, because they refused to return.
Ver. 5. He shall not return unto the land of Egypt] That is, he needs not run to
Egypt for help (as King Hoshea did), nor to the Assyrian, to whom they were
tributaries from the time of Menahem; for they wanted nothing, and less should
have wanted if they would have been ruled by me.
But they refused to return] He was not to have returned to the land of Egypt or of

59. the Assyrian, who is his king; so some read the text. Others sense it thus: When I
threaten them with the Assyrian they think to move and shelter themselves in
Egypt; but I shall keep them thence, or find and ferret them out there. God knows
how to cross wicked men of their will, to spoil their plots. Egypt shall prove no
better than a broken reed running into the hand of him that leaneth on it, 2 Kings
18:21. The Egyptian was ever an enemy to Israel; and though for his own ends he
gave goodly words, and seemed reconciled, yet such reconciliations are but vulpine
amicitiae, friends to the fox. But were he never so fast a friend, yet sin guilty Israel
shall not have there an asylum, nec stabile stabulum {see Hosea 9:3} {See Trapp on
"Hosea 9:3"} because the "desire of the wicked shall perish," Psalms 112:10. They
take counsel together, but it shall come to nought, they speak the word, but it shall
not stand, Isaiah 8:10. Confer Isaiah 30:1-2; Isaiah 31:1-3; Proverbs 21:30.
But the Assyrian shall be his king] Will they, nill they, they shall be carried captive
to Assyria; and since they will needs be crossing of God, he will cross them much
more; he will walk contrary, to those that walk contrary to him, Leviticus 26:21,
and be as froward as they for the hearts of them, Psalms 18:26. They will not return
to me, saith the Lord, they shall not therefore return to Egypt; they will not submit
to my sceptre, they shall therefore have the Assyrian for their king, that proud,
cruel, stout-hearted prince, Isaiah 10:5; Isaiah 10:7; Isaiah 10:12, who will
tyrannize over their bodies and over their cattle at their pleasure, so that they shall
be in great distress, ehemiah 9:37.
Because they refused to return] Heb. ( ‫מאנו‬ ) they disdained to do it, scorned the
motion, slighted the messenger. By their sins they had run from God; by repentance
they should have returned unto him, and then the amends had been well nigh made:
for quem poenitet peccasse poene est innocens, the penitent is in almost as good a
case as the innocent (Sen. in Agamem.); Ambrose saith he is in a better ( plus est a
vitiis se revocasse quam vitia ipsa nescivisse). But for these men, to all other their
sins to add obstinace and impenitence, as Herod to all his former evils did the death
of the Baptist, this was to "heap up wrath against the day of wrath," Romans 2:5.
The word here rendered "refused" is by the Seventy turned they would not ( ουκ
ηθελησαν). That therefore they returned not to God, it was the fault of their will.
True it is, they had no power to turn themselves; but the cause of that inability too
was in themselves. They therefore neither could nor would return; and both by their
own fault and folly.
PETT, "Verse 5
‘Will they not return into the land of Egypt?
And Assyria be their king?
Because they refused to return to me?’
But having failed to recognise that it was He Who had healed them (Hosea 11:3),
they had refused to return to Him. Their hearts had remained in Egypt. Thus the
inevitable consequence was that they would ‘return to Egypt’ and let the king of
Assyria be their king. In other words their seeming hankering after being subject to,

60. and in bondage to, Assyria was the consequence of their hearts being ‘still in Egypt’,
still dominated by idolatry and foreign ideas. Of course many of the people, in order
to avoid Assyrian domination, did flee to Egypt, and thus the exiles would be
divided between Egypt and Assyria. That was the beginning of the build up of the
huge number of ‘Jews’ in what would become Alexandria. In Hosea’s eyes Israel
had never really left Egypt, for their hearts were still there.
ote the fact that they would ‘return to Egypt’ because they did not ‘return to
Him’. That was the choice with which they were faced. God or Egypt. And they
chose Egypt. That was why, when Jesus Christ came as their Redeemer and
Representative in order to bear their sins, He had to come out of Egypt (Matthew
2:15).
K&D 5-7, "By despising this love, Israel brings severe punishment upon itself. Hos_
11:5. “It will not return into the land of Egypt; but Asshur, he is its king, because they
refused to return. Hos_11:6. And the sword will sweep round in its cities, and destroy
its bolts, and devour, because of their counsels. Hos_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 Hos_8:13; Hos_9:3, that Israel should return to Egypt,
ought not to lead us to resort to alterations of the text, or to take ‫ּא‬‫ל‬ in the sense of ‫ּו‬‫ל‬,
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 ‫ּא‬‫ל‬ in the sense of ‫ּא‬‫ל‬ ֲ‫,ה‬ 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 Hos_8:13; Hos_9:3, Hos_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 Hos_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.
‫וּר‬ ፍְ‫ו‬ 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. Baddım, poles (Exo_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 Hos_11:7. ‫י‬ ִ ַ‫ע‬ְ‫,נ‬ and my
people (= since my people) are harnessed to apostasy from me (me
shūbhâthı, with an
objective suffix). ‫ים‬ ִ‫לוּא‬ ְ , lit., suspended on apostasy, i.e., not “swaying about in

61. 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 ‫ה‬ ָ‫ל‬ ָ with ‫ל‬ instead of ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ or ‫ב‬ (2Sa_18:10),
may be accounted for from the use of the verb in a figurative sense. ‫ל‬ ַ‫ל־ע‬ ֶ‫,ע‬ upwards (‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬
as in Hos_7:16), do they (the prophets: see Hos_11:2) call them; but it does not rise, sc.
to return to God, or seek help from on high. ‫ם‬ ֵ‫ּומ‬‫ר‬ 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” (Psa_25:1), or “the eyes” (Eze_33:25).
6 A sword will flash in their cities;
it will devour their false prophets
and put an end to their plans.
BAR ES, "And the sword shall abide on his cities - Literally, “shall light, shall
whirl” down upon. It shall come with violence upon them as a thing whirled with force,
and then it shall alight and abide, to their destruction; as Jeremiah says, “a whirlwind of
the Lord is gone forth in fury, a grievous whirlwind; it shall fall grievously (literally,
whirl down) on the head of the wicked” Jer_23:19. As God said to David, after the
murder of Uriah, “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house” 2Sa_
12:10, so as to Israel, whose kings were inaugurated by bloodshed. By God’s
appointment, “blood will have blood.” Their own sword first came down and rested upon
them; then the sword of the Assyrian. So after they “had killed the Holy One and the
Just,” the sword of the Zealots came down and rested upon them, before the destruction
by the Romans.
And shall consume his branches - that is, his mighty men. It is all one, whether
the mighty men are so called, by metaphor, from the “branches of” a tree, or from the
“bars” of a city, made out of those branches. Their mighty men, so far from escaping for
their might, should be the first to perish.
And devour them, because of their own counsels - Their counsels, wise after
this world’s wisdom, were without God, against the counsels of God. Their destruction
then should come from their own wisdom, as it is said, “Let them fall by their own
counsels” Psa_5:10, and Job saith, “He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the
counsel of the cunning is carried headlong” Job_5:13, i. e., it is the clean contrary of

62. what they intend or plan; they purpose, as they think, warily; an unseen power whirls
their scheme on and precipitates it. “And his own counsel shall cast him down” Job_
18:7; and above; “Israel shall be ashamed through his own counsels” Job_10:6. Hoshea’s
conspiracy with So, which was to have been his support against Assyria, brought Assyria
against him, and his people into captivity.
CLARKE, "The sword shall abide on his cities - Israel was agitated with
external and intestine wars from the time of Jeroboam the Second. Although Zechariah
his son reigned twelve years, yet it was in continual troubles; and he was at last slain by
the rebel Shallum, who, having reigned one month, was slain by Menahem. Pekahiah
succeeded his father Menahem, and reigned two years, and was killed by Pekah, son of
Remaliah. He joined Rezin, king of Syria, and made an irruption into the land of Judah;
but Ahaz having obtained succor from Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, Pekah was
defeated, and the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, were
carried away captives by the Assyrian king; and in a short time after, Hosea, son of Elah,
slew Pekah and usurped the kingdom, which he could not possess without the assistance
of Shalmaneser, who for his services imposed a tribute on the Israelitish king. Wishing
to rid himself of this yoke, he applied to the king of Egypt; but this being known to
Shalmaneser, he came against Samaria, and after a three years’ siege took and destroyed
it. Thus the sword rested on their cities; it continued in the land till all was ruined. See
Calmet.
GILL, "And the sword shall abide on the cities,.... Or "shall fall" (y), and
continue; meaning the sword of the Assyrians, whereby Ephraim should be brought into
subjection to them, and the king of Assyria become king over them; his sword should be
drawn, and rest upon them, not only on their chief city Samaria, besieged three years by
him, but upon all their other cities, which would fall into his hands, with the inhabitants
of them:
and shall consume his branches, and devour them; that is, the towns and
villages adjoining to the cities; which were to them as branches are to a tree, sprung
from them, and were supported by them; and, being near them, prospered or suffered as
they did: some render it, "his bars" (z), as the word is sometimes used, and interpret it of
the great men and nobles of the land. So the Targum,
"and it shall slay his mighty men, and destroy his princes;''
with which Jarchi agrees;
because of their own counsels; which they took and pursued, contrary to the
counsel of God, the revelation of his mind and will; particularly in setting up idolatrous
worship, and continuing in it, notwithstanding all the admonitions, exhortations,
counsels, and threatenings of God by his prophets; or else because of their counsels with
the Egyptians, and their covenants with them, for help against the Assyrian, whose yoke
they were for casting off, and refused to pay tribute to; which provoked him to draw his
sword upon them, which made the havoc it did in their cities, and the inhabitants of
them.

63. JAMISO , "abide — or, “fall upon” [Calvin].
branches — that is, his villages, which are the branches or dependencies of the cities
[Calvin]. Grotius translates, “his bars” (so Lam_2:9), that is, the warriors who were the
bulwarks of the state. Compare Hos_4:18, “rulers” (Margin), “shields” (Psa_47:9).
because of their own counsels — in worshipping idols, and relying on Egypt
(compare Hos_10:6).
CALVI , "Verse 6
As it was difficult to persuade proud people that the overthrow was at hand, which
Hosea had foretold, seeing, as they did, that they were furnished with many
defences, it is therefore now added, that their fortified cities would not prevent the
enemy to break through, and to devastate the whole country, and to lead away the
people captive. We now understand how this verse is connected with the last. The
Prophet had threatened exile; but as the Israelites thought themselves safe in their
nests, he adds, that there was no reason for them to trust in their fortresses, for the
Lord could by the sword destroy all their cities.
He therefore says, The sword shall fall on their cities. The verb ‫,חול‬ chul, means to
abide, and to encamp, and sometimes to fall or rush upon: and this second sense is
more suitable to this place. Some, however, render it, The sword shall abide on the
cities until it consume them. But as to the meaning, there is not much difference. I
will, however, briefly state what I deem the right view. The sword then shall fall, or
rush, upon his cities; and further, it shall consume his bars The Hebrews often call
bars or bolts ‫בדים‬ “badim ”, still oftener, branches, or members, — the branches of
a tree, or the members of man. Hence some take the word metaphorically, as
meaning towns and villages; for they are, as it were, the branches or members of
cities. Others, however, explain it as signifying sons, who grow from their parents as
branches from the tree: but this seems too far-fetched. I do not disapprove of the
opinion, that the Prophet refers here to towns and villages, which are, as it were, the
appendages of cities, as branches spread out here and there from the tree. The sense
then is not amiss, that the sword will consume and devour towns and villages, when
it shall fall on the cities. But what I have already said of bolts seems more suitable to
the design of the Prophet. We must at the same time consider the word ‫,בדים‬ bedim,
as including a part for the whole; for bolts were only a part of the fortifications; but
the gates, being closed and fastened, render the cities strong. So this place, by taking
a part for the whole, may be thus expounded, that the sword, when it fell on cities,
would consume and destroy whatever strength and defence they possessed.
He at the same time mentions the cause, Because, he says, of their own counsels o
doubt, he added this expression, because the Israelites thought themselves wise; for
ungodly men arrogate to themselves much prudence; and this they do, that they
may, as it were, from their height look down on God, and laugh at every instruction.
Since then they who despise God seem to themselves to be very wise, and to be
fortified by their good counsels, the Prophet shows that the cause of ruin to the

64. Israelites would be, that they were swollen with this diabolical prudence, and would
not condescend to obey the word of the Lord.
COFFMA , 'Verse 6
"And the sword shall fall upon their cities, and shall consume their bars, and
devour them, because of their own counsels."
Assyria is clearly identified in this chapter as the place of slavery for Israel, and
with the deportation shall come a savage murder of many of their population. The
sword, as one of the principal weapons used by the military in those days, is here
used by metonymy for all of the horrors and devastation of military conquest.
"Consume their bars ..." is a reference to the bars that secured the locks upon the
city gates, hence a symbol of the safety and security of the people. All such things
shall perish in the invasion.
"Because of their own counsels ..." It was the false teaching forming the principal
guidance of the people that actually resulted in their overthrow. The false teaching
was the philosophy which they had adopted instead of following the commandments
of the Lord.
ELLICOTT, "(6) The rendering of the English version is here incorrect. Render,
Then shall the sword be brandished amid his cities, and utterly destroy his princes.
The word for “princes” is, literally, bars, the heroes, leaders, or defenders of the
state being aptly called barriers, or bulwarks. Analogous metaphors frequently
occur in the Old Testament; such is the interpretation of the Targum.
TRAPP, "Hosea 11:6 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his
branches, and devour [them], because of their own counsels.
Ver. 6. And the sword shall abide on his cities] Heb. shall keep residence or rush
upon his cities. It can do no less; it cannot return into the scabbard, rest or be still,
till the Lord, who put it into commission, call back again his commission, Jeremiah
47:6-7. It is a dreadful thing when the sword abideth on a people; as in Germany,
that stage of war; Ireland, still a land of divine ire, &c. England hath some halcyons
at present, praise be given to God; and let every good man pray with David,
"Scatter thou the people that delight in war," Psalms 68:30. The Pirates’ war was
despatched by Pompey with incredible swiftness, to his eternal commendation (
incredibili celeritate et temporis brevitate a Pompeio confectum). And we have cause
to bless God (saith a countryman of ours) that God hath raised up instruments for
us, who have hazarded the shortening of their own lives for the shortening of the
war; who have done their work of late, as if they had took it by the great, &c. And
the same author observeth, that it is a sad thing for the sword to be in the field; but
for the sword to be in the cities it is much more sad: and he instanceth in Jerusalem
out of Josephus, where the number of the slain was 1,100,000 (Jos. de Bell. Jud. l. 7
c. 7.). We may further instance in that unhappy city of Magdeburg, in Germany,

65. where so much cruelty was exercised first by Charles V (much regretted by him at
last in his retired life, taking account of his actions), and since that in our memory
by M. Tilly, who, like a bloody villain, put to the sword there 20,000 persons at least
of all ranks, ages, and sexes: that great city also he burned down, utterly turning it
into cinders, excepting 139 houses. The like immunity was exercised by the pope’s
champions upon the poor Protestants at Angrogue, in France; where they killed and
burned without mercy; but could never set fire upon the two temples there, nor
upon the minister’s house, which remained whole, the houses round about being all
consumed with fire.
And shall consume his branches and devour them] His branches, or his villages,
which are as branches of the greater cities. The trees of America (but especially of
Brazil) are so large, that it is reported of them that several families have lived in
several arms or branches of one tree, to such a number as are in some petty village
or parish here. The greater cities are as the body or root of a tree, the village as the
branches. The Scripture often calleth them mother and daughter, as Heshbon and
all her daughters, that is, villages, umbers 21:25, as the Chaldee here explaineth it.
See Ezekiel 16:44-45; Ezekiel 16:48; Ezekiel 16:53. Hence we read of a city and
mother in Israel, 2 Samuel 20:19. Branches also are called daughters of the trees
they grow from, Genesis 49:22. The word here rendered branches is by some
rendered bars, by others, diviners or liars, as the word here used is interpreted,
Jeremiah 50:36. A sword is upon the liars or diviners, and they shall dote: potest
Augur Augurem videre et non ridere? saith Cicero of such diviners: that is, Can
they one look upon another and not laugh, considering how they gull people with
their lies and fopperies? The sword shall be upon such, as it was upon Balaam,
Satan’s spelman, they shall be a portion for foxes, Psalms 63:10, as those that
“ Astutam vapido servant sub pectore vulpem. ”
Because of their own counsels] He that goeth to school to his own carnal reason is
sure to have a fool to his master; an ignis fatuus, a foolish fire, that will bring him
into the bogs and briers. The wisdom of the flesh is enmity to God. emo daeditur
nisi a seipso. {See Trapp on "Hosea 10:6"}
PETT, "Verse 6
And the sword will fall on their cities,
And will consume their bars,
And devour,
Because of their own counsels.’
So because of their refusal to respond wholly to Him the sword would fall on their
cities, and the bars on their gates would be ‘consumed’ (broken ) so that the gates
were no longer safe. The sword would devour them because of the kind of counsel
that they followed. This counsel included the assurances of victory by false prophets,
and the confident claims of the king’s advisers and their own leaders. After all, they

66. might have argued, had not Assyria stopped short of Samaria previously? And
would he not do so again when he saw its strength?
The word translated ‘bars’ is an unusual one and some have therefore suggested
translating as ‘oracle priests’ (compare its use in Isaiah 44:25; Jeremiah 50:36),
indicating those who advised on warfare through divination. An idolatrous Israel
would have seen them as being as effective as bars on the gates
7 My people are determined to turn from me.
Even though they call me God Most High,
I will by no means exalt them.
BAR ES, "And My people are bent to backsliding from Me - Literally, “are
hung to it!” as we say, “a man’s whole being “hangs” on a thing.” A thing “hung to” or
“on” another, sways to and fro within certain limits, but its relation to that on which it is
hung, remains immovable. Its power of motion is restrained within those limits. So
Israel, so the sinner, however he veer to and fro in the details and circumstances of his
sin, is fixed and immovable in his adherence to his sin itself. Whatever else Israel did, on
one thing his whole being, as a nation, depended, on “backsliding” or aversion from God.
The political existence of Israel, as a separate kingdom, depended on his worship of the
calves, “the sin wherewith” Jeroboam “made Israel to sin.” This was the ground of their
“refusing to return” Hos_11:5, that, through habitual sin, they were no longer in their
own power: they were fixed in evil.
Though they called them to the most High - Literally, “called him.” As one man,
the prophets called Israel; as one man, Israel refused to return; “none at all would exalt”
Him, literally, “together he exalteth Him not.”
CLARKE, "Though they called them to the Most High - Newcome is better:
“And though they call on him together because of the yoke, he will not raise it. He shall
receive no refreshment.” See the metaphor, Hos_11:4 (note).
GILL, "And my people are bent to backsliding from me,.... There is a propensity

67. in thorn to it, through prevailing corruption in them; they are inclined unto it, the bias of
their minds is that way; they are bent upon it, and pertinaciously abide in it; nor will
they be reclaimed from it, by all the means and methods made use of, even though they
had been, and professed themselves to be the people of God. Some understand this, not
of their backsliding and aversion from God; but either of his return to them, or of their
return to him, rendering the words, "and my people are in suspense" (a); like a man that
hangs in the air, as Aben Ezra, neither ascends nor descends; that is, they are in doubt of
what should be done to thorn, or they themselves should do: either "about my return"
(b); that is, to them; whether after all they may expect that God would be kind and
merciful to them, so Abarbinel: or "about return to me" (c); whether they should or not,
inclining rather not to return. So the Targum,
"my people divide (or hesitate) to return to my law;''
with which Jarchi agrees, paraphrasing it,
"when the prophets instruct them to return unto me, they are in suspense whether to
return or not;''
but Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe the word is always used in a bad sense, of aversion or
backsliding, and that the word is in another form when used for repentance or returning;
though they called them to the most High; that is, the prophets of the Lord called
them to turn from their idols, and return to the most high God, the true and the living
God, from whom they had backslidden, and to his true worship, they had neglected and
forsaken:
none at all would exalt him; the most high God, and give him the praise and glory
due to his name; but, on the other hand, extolled their idols, and ascribed all their good
things to them: or "none would exalt them" (d) the prophets of the Lord that called
them; would not give that honour to them that was due to their office, or pay any regard
to them, or to their admonitions and advice, but depreciated them, and reproached and
persecuted them: or "none at all would lift up": that is, their head, as Aben Ezra, toward
the heaven, and to God in it, to whom they were called; but kept looking on the earth,
and to earthly things, particularly to their idols; and did not lift up or erect their ears, to
hearken to what was said to them, but were deaf to all counsel and reproof. The Targum
is,
"they walked not in an erect stature.''
Agreeably to which the former clause may be rendered, as by some, "and they called
them to things above"; but none would look upwards; See Gill on Hos_7:16.
HE RY, ". Here is Israel very ungrateful to God.
1. They were deaf and disobedient to his voice. He spoke to them by his messengers,
Moses and his other prophets, called them from their sins, called them to himself, to
their work and duty; but as they called them so they went from them; they rebelled in
those particular instances wherein they were admonished; the more pressing and
importunate the prophets were with them, to persuade them to that which was good, the
more refractory they were, and the more resolute in their evil ways, disobeying for
disobedience-sake. This foolishness is bound in the hearts of children, who, as soon as

68. they are taught to go, will go from those that call them.
2. They were fond of idols, and worshipped them: They sacrificed to Baalim, first one
Baal and then another, and burnt incense to graven images, though they were called to
by the prophets of the Lord again and again not to do this abominable thing which he
hated. Idolatry was the sin which from the beginning, and all along, had most easily
beset them.
3. They were regardless of God, and of his favours to them: They knew not that I
healed them. They looked only at Moses and Aaron, the instruments of their relief, and,
when any thing was amiss, quarrelled with them, but looked not through them to God
who employed them. Or, When God corrected them, and kept them under a severe
discipline, they understood not that it was for their good, and that God thereby healed
them, and it was necessary for the perfecting of their cure, else they would have been
better reconciled to the methods God took. Note, Ignorance is at the bottom of
ingratitude, Hos_2:8.
4. They were strongly inclined to apostasy. This is the blackest article in the charge
(Hos_11:7): My people are bent to backsliding from me. Every word here is aggravating.
(1.) They backslide. There is no hold of them, no stedfastness in them; they seem to
come forward, towards God, but they quickly slide back again, and are as a deceitful
bow. (2.) They backslide from me, from God, the chief good, the fountain of life and
living waters, from their God who never turned from them, nor war as a wilderness to
them. (3.) They are bent to backslide; they are ready to sin; there is in their natures a
propensity to that which is evil; at the best they hang in suspense between God and the
world, so that a little thing serves to draw them the wrong way; they are forward to close
with every temptation. It also intimates that they are resolute in sin; their hearts are
fully set in them to do evil the bias is strong that way; and they persist in their
backslidings, whatever is said or done to stop them; and yet, (4.) “They are, in
profession, my people. They are called by my name, and profess relation to me; they are
mine, whom I have done much for and expect much from, whom I have nourished and
brought up, as children, and yet they backslide from me.” Note, In our repentance we
ought to lament not only our backslidings, but our bent to backslide, not only our actual
transgressions, but our original corruption, the sin that dwells in us, the carnal mind.
JAMISO , "
CALVI , "Verse 7
This verse is variously rendered. Some explain the word ‫,תלואים‬ teluaim, as
signifying “perplexed;” as though the Prophet had said, that the people would suffer
a just punishment through being anxious and looking around them, and yet finding
no comfort; for this would be the reward of their defection or apostasy. Hence he
says, My people are in suspense; that is, there is no wonder that the Israelites are
now tormented with great anxiety, and find no end to their evils; for they who have
rebelled against the Lord are worthy of being thus bound fast by him. It is the fruit
of their defection that they are now so full of sorrow, and also of despair. This is one
exposition. Others say that God here complains of the wickedness of the people, as
of those who deliberated whether they ought to repent. They then take suspense for
doubt, My people are in suspense; that is, they debate on the subject as on a
doubtful matter, when I exhort them to repent, and they cannot at once decide what
to do, but alternate between divers opinions, and now incline to one thing and then
to another; as if truly the subject itself made it necessary for them to deliberate.
Doubtless what is right is in no way hid from them: but as they are unwilling, they
seek for themselves, by evasions, some excuses for doubting; for the Prophets cry to

69. them, and no one extols them. This is the second exposition.
It must at the same time be observed, that the word ‫,משובת‬ meshubat, is variously
taken; for the first render it, “turning away,” and the “jod ” that is affixed must
then be expounded passively, and must mean their turning away from God, because
the Israelites had fallen away from him; as in Isaiah chapter 56 (80) he calls that the
house of his prayer in which the people were wont to pray. Then the turning away
from God, according to them, is to be taken passively, because the people were
alienated from him. Others render it, “conversion.” But the Hebrew doctors will
have this word to be ever taken in a bad sense, and affirm that there is no place
where it signifies any thing but rebellion or apostasy. Since it is so, I am inclined to
consider it to be turning away; and thus the second sense, that the people
deliberated whether they ought to hear the admonitions of the Prophets, will not
stand.
The Prophet also seems to me to mean what is different from what I have referred to
in the first place, as the opinion of those who say, My people are in suspense; that is,
they anxiously torment themselves on account of their defection, because I punish
them for their apostasy; through which it has happened, that, forsaking me, they
have wandered after their own inventions. But I take the passage otherwise, as I
have already said, My people are fastened; that is, my people have not only once
departed from me, but they are, as it were, fastened in their defection. He says, that
they were fastened, not that they were sorrowful and endured great tortures, and
found their affairs perplexed; but that they were fastened, because they remained
obstinate; as when one says, that a man is fastened to a thing, when he cannot be
moved. This being fastened, is indeed nothing else but the obstinacy of the people.
They were then fastened to defection.
He afterwards adds, To him on high they call them; none at all rises up What an
indefinite sentence signifies we stated yesterday. The Prophet means that instruction
had been given the people, and that many witnesses or preachers had been sent by
the Lord, but that all this had been wholly useless. Hence he says, They call them to
him on high, no one raises up himself. Some indeed consider the word, God, to be
understood; and this is the commonly received opinion; but in my judgement they
are mistaken; for the Prophet, speaking of the Israelites, doubtless means that they
remained in the same state, and were not moved by any instruction to make any
progress, or to show any sign of repentance. Hence,no one rises up. He uses the
singular number, and puts down the particle ‫,יחד‬ ichad, as though he said, “There is
no one, from the first to the last, who is touched with grief, for they continue
obstinate in their wickedness.” And when he says, o one raises up himself, he
seems to allude to the word, fastened. They are then fastened to their defection; and
when the Prophets cry and diligently exhort them to repent, they do not rise up; that
is, they do not aspire to God; and this indeed they neglect with one consent, as if
they all alike blindly united in one and the same wickedness.
In this verse then the Prophet brings again to view the sins of the people, that it
might more fully appear that God threatened them so dreadfully not without a

70. cause; for they who were so perversely rebellious against God were worthy of the
most grievous punishment. This is the sum of the whole. Let us now proceed —
COFFMA , "Verse 7
"And my people are bent on backsliding from me: though they call them to him that
is on high, none at all will exalt him.
"Though they call them ..." Though God's prophets, such as Hosea, call the people
to God, no one pays any attention to it.
"This whole verse is declared wholly corrupt by modern commentators,"[10] and
due to the damage which the the Hebrew text of the O.T. has received through the
ages, there might not be any way to find out the exact meaning of the few mutilated
syllables that have reached us; but, certainly, the rendition as given here is fully in
line with everything that Hosea or any other sacred writer has written elsewhere.
SIMEO 7-9, "GOD’S COMPASSIO
Hosea 11:7-9. My people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them
to the Most High, none at all would exalt him: [yet] how shall I give thee up,
Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how
shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me; my repentings are
kindled together: I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger.
THE riches of divine grace are manifest in all the promises; but they are more
eminently displayed in the manner in which the promises are given. God often
introduces them after an enumeration of his people’s sins. The passage before us
well exemplifies this remark [ ote: See similar instances, Isaiah 43:22-25; Isaiah
57:17-18.]. God has been contrasting his kindness to Israel, and their ingratitude
towards him; in the text he sets forth their wickedness with all its aggravations: yet
all this is preparatory, not to a heavy denunciation of his wrath, but to the tenderest
expressions of paternal love—
I. The conduct of men towards God—
The ten tribes, since their separation from Judah, had become idolaters: yet God
calls them his people because they had been admitted into covenant with him, and
still professed to be his. Thus all who call themselves Christians are “God’s people.”
But they “are bent to backsliding from him”—
[The ungodly are justly compared to an unruly heifer: they will not submit to the
yoke of God’s laws: their whole spirit and temper is like that of Pharaoh [ ote:
Exodus 5:2.]; the “bent” and inclination of their hearts is wholly towards sin. An
outward conformity to God’s will they may approve, but they have a rooted
aversion to spiritual obedience.]

71. or can they by any means be prevailed on to “exalt and honour him”—
[They are “called” frequently by God’s ministers; they are exhorted and entreated
to return to the Most High; but neither promises can allure nor threatenings alarm
them:. they turn a deaf ear to all admonitions; they will not “exalt” God in their
hearts and lives.]
This is almost universally the conduct of mankind—
[There are a few indeed who desire and delight to serve God; they wish him to be
the sole Lord and Governor of their hearts; it is their study to exalt him both in
their words and actions: but these are few in every age and place; so few, that, in
comparison of the rebellious, they may be said to be “none at all.”]
What might such persons expect at the hand of God?
II. God’s conduct towards them—
How different are God’s ways from the ways of man! Instead of executing
vengeance in a moment,
He deliberates—
[Admah and Zeboim were cities destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah; and such
monuments of wrath do the unregenerate deserve to be; but God knows not, as it
were, how to inflict the deserved punishment: he calls to mind that they are his
people [ ote: The repetition of their names, “thee, Ephraim, and thee, Israel,”
seems to import tenderness and affection towards them.]; he hesitates, like a parent
that is about to disinherit his son; thus is he distracted between his affection for
them, and his regard for his own honour [ ote: Thus also in Hosea 6:4.].]
He relents—
[To accommodate himself to our weak apprehensions, he speaks of himself after the
manner of men: he cannot endure the thought of making men the objects of his
everlasting displeasure. Thus did Jesus weep over the murderous Jerusalem [ ote:
Luke 19:41.]; and thus do the bowels of our Father yearn over us [ ote: Jeremiah
31:20.].]
He resolves—
[Often has “the fierce anger” of the Lord been kindled against us; yet many times
has he turned away from his wrathful indignation [ ote: Psalms 78:38.]: often,
when his bow was bent, has he forborne to strike [ ote: Psalms 7:11-12.]: be waits,
if peradventure we may yet return to him. His language to his rebellious creatures is
the same as ever [ ote: Jeremiah 3:12-13.]—.]

72. Infer—
1. How precious in the sight of God are the souls of men!
[When it was necessary for man’s salvation, God gave his Son: nor did he then
deliberate, “how shall I do this [ ote: Romans 8:32.]?” neither did he relent, when
he laid our iniquities on him [ ote: Mark 14:35-36.]; yea, he was even pleased in
bruising his own Son for us [ ote: This is the proper sense of Isaiah 53:10.]. But
when a sinner seems irreclaimable, every tender emotion is excited; God sustains a
conflict in his mind, and cannot give him up. O that men would duly estimate the
worth of their own souls!]
2. How just will be the condemnation of the impenitent!
[This compassion of God greatly aggravates their backslidings; and at last it will
give way to wrath and indignation [ ote: Genesis 6:3.]. Soon God will not
deliberate, but decide; not relent, but laugh at their calamity; not resolve to pardon,
but swear they shall not enter into his rest. Then how just will their condemnation
appear! May this goodness of God now lead us to repentance!]
3. How certainly shall the returning sinner find mercy!
[If God feel thus for the rebellious, how much more for the penitent! Let all then
seek him with humble confidence in his mercy. Let them offer their supplications
like those of old [ ote: Isaiah 63:15.]—; so shall that song of praise succeed their
present disquietude [ ote: Isaiah 12:1.]—]
TRAPP, "Verse 7
Hosea 11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called
them to the most High, none at all would exalt [him].
Ver. 7. My people are bent to backsliding from me] They have a principle of
apostasy in them, as those Galatians had of whom the apostle, "I marvel that you
are so soon removed unto another gospel," Galatians 1:6, and as those old apostates
in the wilderness, who, as soon as Moses’ back was turned almost, cried out to
Aaron, Make us golden gods. This people was before accused to be acted by a spirit
of fornication, a certain violent impetus, a strong inclination to whoredom, and to be
apt to backslide with a perpetual backsliding: all their recidivations and revolts
were but a fruit of the bent of their spirits, which were false and unsettled; not
resolved whether yet to turn to God, though they were beset with so many mischiefs;
they hanged in suspense, and rather inclined to the negative than else. Suspensi
sunt, so Calvin, Pareus, and others read this text. My people are in suspense, or in a
mamering whether to turn to me or not; they hang in doubt, as the same word is
rendered, Deuteronomy 28:66. God liketh not that his people should stand doubtful
as sceptics, and adhere to nothing certainly; to be in religion as idle beggars are in
their way, ready to go which way soever the staff falleth; but that they should strive
to a full assurance in what they believe, Luke 1:4, to be fully persuaded, as Luke 1:1,

73. and to a firm purpose of heart in what they should practise, Acts 11:23. Irresolution
against sin or for God can hardly consist with the power of godliness: be not off and
on with him, halt not, hang not in doubt what to do, but follow God fully as Caleb
did; come off freely as David, who had chosen God’s precepts when he was solicited
to have done otherwise, Psalms 119:173. And again, "I have chosen the way of
truth: thy judgments have I laid before me," Psalms 119:30. I have weighed them,
and am resolved to keep them, I am come to a full determination. Mr Diodati
senseth the words thus, They desire and expect that I should turn in favour to them
and relieve them; whereas they should turn to me by repentance, which they will not
do: and herein he followeth Arias Montanus. Thus those stiffnecked Jews in
Jeremiah expected that God should still deal with them (however they dealt with
him) according to all his wondrous works, Jeremiah 21:2, presuming and promising
themselves impunity; and thus Judas also had the face to ask, Matthew 26:25, as the
rest did, "Is it I?" as resting upon Christ’s accustomed gentleness, and that he
would conceal him still, as he had done certain days before.
Though they called them to the most High] They, that is, the prophets, as Hosea
11:2, called them with great importunity, upon every opportunity, to the most High,
to God (in opposition to those dii minutuli, petty deities, whom they doted on. See
Hosea 7:16), to come up to him, to have high and honourable conceptions of him,
not casting him in a base mould, as those miscreants did, Psalms 50:21, but saying as
David, and with a David-like spirit, "Thou, Lord, art high above all the earth: thou
art exalted far above all gods"; and therehence inferring, "Ye that love the Lord,
hate evil," Psalms 97:9-10. "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be upright,"
Genesis 17:1. "The God of glory appeared to Abraham," Acts 7:2, he so conceived
of God; and hence his unchangeable resolutions for God.
one at all would exalt him] Heb. together he exalted not, scarce a he, a single man,
that would do it, that would lift up his head to listen to such good counsel (so some
sense it), or that would exalt and extol the most High; who, though he be high above
all praise, as ehemiah 9:5, and cannot be praised according to his excellent
greatness; yet is he pleased to account himself exalted and magnified by us, when,
considering the infinite distance and disproportion that is between him and us, we
lay ourselves low at his feet for mercy, we set him up in our hearts for our sole
sovereign, we esteem him as the people did David, more worth than ten thousand, 2
Samuel 18:3, we give him room in our souls, and with highest apprehensions, most
vigorous affections, and utmost endeavours we bestow ourselves upon him, as the
only worthy. ow this is done but of a very few, and well done but of fewer yet; so
drossy and drowsy are men’s spirits, and so little is the Lord lifted up by the sons of
men. See the prophet Isaiah’s complaint, Isaiah 64:7.
PETT, Verse 7
And my people are bent on backsliding from me,
Though they call them to on high,
one at all will exalt him.’

74. This was all necessary and certain because of the fact was that the people were
intent on backsliding from YHWH. Their hearts were set against Him. They might
give the impression of calling on the One Who was ‘on High’ (compare Hosea 7:16),
but really it was not with the intention of truly exalting Him. It was rather with a
perfunctory and formal acknowledgement of His existence because of their
historical past.
Alternately some see the reference as to Baal as Canaan’s high God, to whom the
people sought, and who would be in no position to exalt Israel. They would thus
discover that it was a waste of time. But Hosea 7:16 confirms that YHWH is meant.
BI, "My people are bent to backsliding from Me.
Religious declension
How singular is the moral condition of a believer bent on backsliding. It is not a mere
vacillation between God and mammon, holiness and sin, but a steady leaning, an earnest
leaning toward the latter.
I. Who are they who are bent on backsliding?
1. The first mark is a neglect of secret and family prayer. The neglect of one kind of
prayer usually follows neglect of the other kind.
2. Habitual neglect of the Bible. Whoever walks closely with God takes delight in His
Word. It is a bad sign when the Scriptures are read only from a conviction of duty.
3. Backwardness or reluctance in efforts to do good. Does a civil, political, or
pecuniary enterprise awaken an energy and zeal which you never evince for the
Saviour’s cause? If so, what does it indicate?
4. The undervaluing of religious ordinances. Lightly to esteem the house of God, its
praises, prayers, instructions, hallowed associations, indicates a backsliding heart.
Other marks of a backsliding believer are,—censoriousness; high regard for gaiety
and fashion; preference for vain amusements and frivolous company.
II. The guilt which this moral condition involves.
1. Every such professor is acting the part of a hypocrite. We may not charge him with
wilful hypocrisy, we may with practical hypocrisy.
2. Their influence goes to depress the standard of piety which the Saviour has fixed,
to adulterate that system of truth and duty which He has given as the hope of the
Word. Christianity is a holy religion. What we charge upon every Christian professor
whose heart is bent on backsliding, is the guilt of adulterating this holy religion, and
depressing, so far as his influence goes, its Divine standard of duty. What is it we are
doing when we put a base alloy into the gold of heaven? Inter mingling principles of
selfishness with those of a heaven-born beneficence. Of course, no Christian could
intend to perpetrate so audacious a crime. The inten tion to work such mischief is
not charged upon any one. Yet all this mischief is involved in the course pursued by
every backslider.
3. The backslider retards the progress of Christianity in the world. He cuts the
sinews of its strength; he takes off its chariot wheels.
4. While bent to backsliding you cannot be depended on in religion. You are not

75. reliable persons. You prove recreant to duty. Christianity may well exclaim in
reference to many of its professed votaries, “Deliver me from my friends.”
III. The consequences of continuing in this guilty course. There are two rods in the hand
of God for offenders, the rod of discipline and the rod of retribution. The former is to
correct, with a view to reclaim the offender. The latter is to punish the incorrigible, with
a view to vindicate and maintain His outraged authority. With the rod of discipline come
oftentimes desolation, rebuke, discomfort, darkness and barren ness in spiritual
experience.
1. The first appliances which God will use are disciplinary. The first consequence to
be apprehended by a backslider—whether an individual or a Church, is outward
rebuke.
2. Another consequence is the discomfort of the forsaken soul: its restless condition,
the possibly deep gloom which may settle like night upon it. It must be unhappy
when comforts are with drawn, with a grieved departing Saviour, the sweet
influences of His grace, as well as the joyful assurance of blessedness hereafter.
3. The last consequence relates to the future world. It takes hold of retribution.
Unless you repent and do your first works, you must perish. There is no talismanic
charm about the name of Christian, or about a profession of religion which can
rescue the hopeless back slider. He must lie down, like other sinners, under the
wrath of God. And connected with this consequence to yourselves are melancholy
consequences to the unconverted in your families, and in the community. How
seldom a sinner repenteth while the Church is far from God! (E. Strong.)
In suspense
Two explanations of this sentence are given.
1. The word teluaim signifies “perplexed.” The people would suffer a just
punishment through being anxious and looking around them, and yet finding no
comfort; for this would be the reward of their defection or apostasy.
2. God here complains of the wickedness of the people, as of those who deliberated
whether they ought to repent. They then take suspense for doubt. “My people are in
suspense.” They debate on the subject as on a doubtful matter, when I exhort them
to repent, and they cannot at once decide what to do, but alternate between divers
opinions, and now incline to one thing and then to another; as if the subject itself
made it necessary for them to deliberate. (John Calvin.)
Backsliding Israel
I. A certain course described. “My people are bent to backsliding from Me.”
1. What this fact proves. The doctrine of human depravity.
2. What it involves.
(1) Folly the most extreme.
(2) Ingratitude the most base.

76. (3) Treachery the most enormous.
II. A certain feeling indicated. “How shall I give thee up?”
1. Its nature. It was a feeling of perplexity.
2. Its causes. His back sliding children deserved to be punished; hut He waiteth to be
gracious, and is ready to forgive.
III. A certain resolution formed. “I will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger.” This
should—
1. Excite our astonishment.
2. Kindle our gratitude.
3. Subdue our opposition.
4. Dissipate our fears. (Author of “Foosteps of Jesus.”)
Backslider
In the west of Scotland when you travel, sometimes when the furnaces are all in full
blast, furnace after furnace flings its reflection on the sky. You see the molten metal
flowing into the mould. As you look from the carriage windows you see dusky figures
flitting about, all activity; but when the furnaces are damped down for a strike or for dull
trade, what a misery it is to go through these manufacturing districts and behold
idleness. The flames have been damped out, the men are not working, but lounging
about at street corners; women and bairns, sad at heart; wheels still; hammers ceased
hammering. It is the same way, maybe, with your soul. You have damped out the furnace
of Christian activity. God knows it. Why, when you were a young man, you had dozens of
furnaces in full blast for God. You gave tracts, you spoke to your fellows, you took a class
in the Sabbath school, you gave of your money, you prayed and agonised; and all is shut
up, and you know it. You’re asleep; you do nothing for God now. (John Robertson.)
8 “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboyim?
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion is aroused.

77. BAR ES, "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? - o: “God is infinitely just and
infinitely merciful. The two attributes are so united in Him, yea, so one in Him who is
always one, and in whose counsels “there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning,”
that the one doth not ever thwart the proceeding of the other. Yet, in order to shew that
our ills are from our own ill-deserts, not from any pleasure of His in inflicting ill, and
that what mercy He sheweth, is from His own goodness, not from any in us, God is
represented in this empassioned expression as in doubt, and (so to say) divided between
justice and mercy, the one pleading against the other. At the last, God so determines,
that both should have their share in the issue, and that Israel should be both justly
punished and mercifully spared and relieved.”
God pronounces on the evil deserts of Israel, even while He mitigates His sentence.
The depth of the sinner’s guilt reflects the more vividly the depth of God’s mercy. In
saying, “how shall I make thee as Admah?” how “shall I set thee as Zeboim?” He says, in
fact, that they were, for their sins, worthy to be utterly destroyed, with no trace, no
memorial, save that eternal desolation like the five “cities of the plain,” of which were
Sodom and Gomorrah, which God “hath set forth for an example, suffering the
vengeance of eternal fire” Jud_1:7. Such was their desert. But God says, with
inexpressible tenderness, “Mine heart is turned within Me” literally, “upon Me or against
Me,” so as to be a burden to Him; as we say of the heart, that it is “heavy.” God deigneth
to speak as if His love was heavy, or a weight upon Him, while He thought of the
punishment which their sins deserved.
My heart is turned - o: “As soon as I had spoken evil against thee, mercy prevailed,
tenderness touched Me; the tenderness of the Father overcame the austerity of the
Judge.”
My repentings are kindled together, - or My strong compassions are kindled. i.
e., with the heat and glow of love; as the disciples say, “Did not our hearts burn within
us?” Luk_24:32, and as it is said of Joseph “his bowels did yearn Gen_43:30 (literally,
were hot) toward his brother;” and of the true mother before Solomon, “her bowels
yearned 1Ki_3:26 (English margin, were hot) upon her son.”
“Admah” and “Zeboim” were cities in the same plain with Sodom and Gomorrah, and
each had their petty king Gen_14:2. In the history of the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah, they are not named, but are included in the general title “those cities and all
the plain” (Gen_19:25). The more then would Hosea’s hearers think of that place in
Moses where he does mention them, and where he threatens them with the like end;
“when the stranger shall see, that the whole land thereof is brimstone and salt and
burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the
overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in
His anger and His wrath” Deu_29:22-23. Such was the end, at which all their sins
aimed; such the end, which God had held out to them; but His “strong compassions
were kindled.”

78. CLARKE, "How shall I give thee up - See the notes on Hos_6:4, where we have
similar words from similar feeling.
Mine heart is turned within me - Justice demands thy punishment; Mercy pleads
for thy life. As thou changest, Justice resolves to destroy, or Mercy to save. My heart is
oppressed, and I am weary with repenting - with so frequently changing my purpose. All
this, though spoken after the manner of men, shows how merciful, compassionate, and
loath to punish the God of heaven is. What sinner or saint upon earth has not been a
subject of these gracious operations?
GILL, "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee,
Israel?.... That is, as usually interpreted, into the hand of the enemy, or unto wrath,
ruin, and destruction; for, notwithstanding all the sins of this people before observed,
and the punishment threatened to be inflicted on them, the Lord is pleased here, and in
the following verses, to give some intimations of his goodness, grace, and mercy to them;
not to the whole body of them, for they as such were given and delivered up to the
enemy, and carried captive, and dispersed among the nations, and were never recovered
to this day; but to a remnant among them, according to the election of grace, that should
spring from them, for the sake of which they were not all cut off by the sword; but were
reserved as a seed for later times, the times of the Messiah, which the prophecy in this
and the following words has respect unto; not only the first times of the Gospel, when
some of the dispersed of Israel were met with by it, and converted under it; but the last
times of it; times yet to come, when all Israel shall be saved; and may be applied to the
elect of God, in all ages, and of all nations, The words are generally understood as a
debate in the divine mind, struggling within itself between justice and mercy; justice
requiring the delivery of these persons unto it, and mercy being reluctant thereunto,
pleading on their behalf; and which at last gets the victory, and rejoices against
judgment. There is a truth in all this; justice seems to demand that sinners, as such, who
have injured and affronted him, be given up to, him, and suffer the curse of the law,
according to their deserts, and be delivered unto death, even eternal death, as well as to
temporal punishments; and which might be expected would be the case, by the instances
and examples of the angels that sinned, and of the men of the old world, and of the
inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah; but mercy cannot bear it, pleads against; it, and
asks how can it be done, since these are my children, my dear child, on, pleasant ones, as
Ephraim was, my chosen and my covenant ones, and, besides, for whom provision is
made in Christ for the satisfactions of justice? But the sense is rather this, "how might"
or "could I give thee up; Ephraim? how might" or "could I deliver thee, Israel" (e)? that
is, with what severity might I deal with thee? and how justly and righteously could I do
it? since thy sins are so many, and so great;
how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? two cities
that were utterly destroyed by fire from heaven, along with Sodom and Gomorrah, Deu_
29:23; how justly could I have made thee, and put thee in, the same condition and
circumstances, as those two cities, and the inhabitants of them, who were so severely
punished for their sins, and were never restored again? signifying, that inasmuch as they
were guilty of the same or like heinous sins, was he utterly to destroy them, and cut them
off from the face of the earth, he should not exceed the due bounds of justice. To this
sense Schmidt interprets the words. The design of which is to show the greatness of
Ephraim's sins, as deserving the uttermost wrath and vengeance of God, and to magnify

79. the riches of God's grace in their salvation, as next expressed; and it is true of all God's
elect, who, considered as sinners in Adam, and by their own transgressions, both before
and after conversion, deserved to be treated according to the rigour of justice; but God is
merciful to them, according to his choice of them, covenant with them, and provision he
has made in Christ, and upon the foot of his satisfaction;
mine heart is turned within me; not changed; for there is no shadow of turning
with the Lord, neither in his mind and purposes, which he never turns from, nor can be
turned back; nor in his affections for them; as his heart is never turned from love to
hatred, so neither from hatred to love; or his love would not be from everlasting, as it is,
and he rest in it as he does; but this expresses the strong motion of mercy in him
towards his people, springing from his sovereign will and pleasure, and what is
elsewhere signified by the troubling, soundings, and yearnings of his bowels towards
them; see Jer_31:20; with which compare Lam_1:20;
my repentings are kindled together; not that repentance properly belongs to God,
who is neither man, nor the Son of Man, that he should repent of anything, Num_23:19;
he repents not of his love to his people, nor of his choice of them, nor of his covenant
with them, nor of his special gifts and grace bestowed on them; but he sometimes does
what men do when they repent, he changes his outward conduct and behaviour in the
dispensations of his providence, and acts the reverse of what he had done, or seemed to
be about to do; as, with respect to the old world, the making of Saul king, and the case of
the Ninevites, Gen_6:6; so here, though he could, and seemed as if he would, go forth in
a way of strict justice, yet changes his course, and steers another way, without any
change of his will. The phrase expresses the warmth and ardour of his affections to his
people; how his heart burned with love to them, his bowels and inward parts were
inflamed with it; from whence proceeded what is called repentance among men, as in the
case of Jeremiah, Jer_20:9. The Targum is,
"the word of my covenant met me; my mercies (or bowels of mercies) were rolled
together.''
HE RY 8-9, "I. God's wonderful backwardness to destroy Israel (Hos_11:8, Hos_
11:9): How shall I give thee up? Here observe,
1. God's gracious debate within himself concerning Israel's case, a debate between
justice and mercy, in which victory plainly inclines to mercy's side. Be astonished, O
heavens! at this, and wonder, O earth! at the glory of God's goodness. Not that there are
any such struggles in God as there are in us, or that he is ever fluctuating or unresolved;
no, he is in one mind, and knows it; but they are expressions after the manner of men,
designed to show what severity the sin of Israel had deserved, and yet how divine grace
would be glorified in sparing them notwithstanding. The connexion of this with what
goes before is very surprising; it was said of Israel (Hos_11:7) that they were bent to
backslide from God, that though they were called to him they would not exalt him, upon
which, one would think, it should have followed, “Now I am determined to destroy them,
and never show them mercy any more.” No, such is the sovereignty of mercy, such the
freeness, the fulness, of divine grace, that it follows immediately, How shall I give thee
up? See here, (1.) The proposals that justice makes concerning Israel, the suggestion of
which is here implied. Let Ephraim be given up, as an incorrigible son is given up to be
disinherited, as an incurable patient is given over by his physician. Let him be given up
to ruin. Let Israel be delivered into the enemy's hand, as a lamb to the lion to be torn in

80. pieces; let them be made as Admah and set as Zeboim, the two cities that with Sodom
and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone rained from heaven upon them; let
them be utterly and irreparably ruined, and be made as like these cities in desolation as
they have been in sin. Let that curse which is written in the law be executed upon them,
that the whole land shall be brimstone and salt, like the overthrow of Sodom and
Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, Deu_29:23. Ephraim and Israel deserve to be thus
abandoned, and God will do them no wrong if he deal thus with them. (2.) The
opposition that mercy makes to these proposals: How shall I do it? As the tender father
reasons with himself, “How can I cast off my untoward son? for he is my son, though he
be untoward; how can I find in my heart to do it?” Thus, “Ephraim has been a dear son, a
pleasant child: How can I do it? He is ripe for ruin; judgments stand ready to seize him;
there wants nothing but giving him up, but I cannot do it. They have been a people near
unto me; there are yet some good among them; theirs are the children of the covenant; if
they be ruined, the enemy will triumph; it may be they will yet repent and reform; and
therefore how can I do it?” Note, The God of heaven is slow to anger, and is especially
loth to abandon a people to utter ruin that have been in special relation to him. See how
mercy works upon the mention of those severe proceedings: My heart is turned within
me, as we say, Our heart fails us, when we come to do a thing that is against the grain
with us. God speaks as if he were conscious to himself of a strange striving of affections
in compassion to Israel: as Lam_1:20, My bowels are troubled; my heart is turned
within me. As it follows here, My repentings are kindled together. His bowels yearned
towards them, and his soul was grieved for their sin and misery, Jdg_10:16. Compare
Jer_31:20. Since I spoke against him my bowels are troubled for him. When God was to
give up his Son to be a sacrifice for sin, and a Saviour for sinners, he did not say, How
shall I give him up? No, he spared not his own Son; it pleased the Lord to bruise him;
and therefore God spared not him, that he might spare us. But this is only the language
of the day of his patience; when men have sinned that away, and the great day of his
wrath comes, then no difficulty is made of it; nay, I will laugh at their calamity.
JAMISO , "as Admah ... Zeboim — among the cities, including Sodom and
Gomorrah, irretrievably overthrown (Deu_29:23).
heart is turned within me — with the deepest compassion, so as not to execute My
threat (Lam_1:20; compare Gen_43:30; 1Ki_3:26). So the phrase is used of a new turn
given to the feeling (Psa_105:25).
repentings — God speaks according to human modes of thought (Num_23:19).
God’s seeming change is in accordance with His secret everlasting purpose of love to His
people, to magnify His grace after their desperate rebellion.
CALVI , "Verse 8
Here God consults what he would do with the people: and first, indeed, he shows
that it was his purpose to execute vengeance, such as the Israelites deserved, even
wholly to destroy them: but yet he assumes the character of one deliberating, that
none might think that he hastily fell into anger, or that, being soon excited by
excessive fury, he devoted to ruin those who had lightly sinned, or were guilty of no
great crimes. That no one then might assign to God an anger too fervid, he says
here, How shall I set thee aside, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee up, Israel? How
shall I set thee as Sodom? By these expressions God shows what the Israelites
deserved, and that he was now inclined to inflict the punishment of which they were

81. worthy and yet not without repentance, or at least not without hesitation. He
afterwards adds in the next clause, This I will not do; my heart is within me
changed; I now alter my purpose, and my repenting are brought back again; that is
it was in my mind to destroy you all, but now a repenting, which reverses that
design, lays hold on me. We now apprehend what the Prophet means.
As to this mode of speaking, it appears indeed at the first glance to be strange that
God should make himself like mortals in changing his purposes and in exhibiting
himself as wavering. God, we know, is subject to no passions; and we know that no
change takes place in him. What then do these expressions mean, by which he
appears to be changeable? Doubtless he accommodates himself to our ignorances
whenever he puts on a character foreign to himself. And this consideration exposes
the folly as well as the impiety of those who bring forward single words to show that
God is, as it were like mortals; as those unreasonable men do who at this day seek to
overturn the eternal providence of God, and to blot out that election by which he
makes a difference between men. “O!” they say, “God is sincere, and he has said
that he willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and
live.” God must then in this case remain as it were uncertain, and depend on the
free-will of every one: it is hence in the power of man either to procure destruction
to himself, or to come to salvation. God must in the meantime wait quietly as to what
men will do, and can determine nothing except through their free-will. While these
insane men thus trifle, they think themselves to be supported by this invincible
reason, that God’s will is one and simple. But if the will of God be one, it does not
hence follow that he does not accommodate himself to men, and put on a character
foreign to himself, as much as a regard for our salvation will bear or require. So it is
in this place. God does not in vain introduce himself as being uncertain; for we
hence learn that he is not carried away too suddenly to inflict punishment, even
when men in various ways provoke his vengeance. This then is what God shows by
this mode of speaking. At the same time, we know that what he will do is certain,
and that his decree depends not on the free-will of men; for he is not ignorant of
what we shall do. God then does not deliberate as to himself, but with reference to
men. This is one thing.
But we must also bear in mind what I have already said, that the Prophet here
strikes with terror proud and profane despisers by setting before their eyes their
own destruction, and by showing how little short they were of the lot of Gomorra
and other cities. “For what remains,” the Lord says, “but that I should set you as
Sodom and Zeboim? This condition and this recompense awaits you, if I execute the
judgement which has been already as it were decreed.” ot that God would
immediately do this; but he only reminds the Israelites of what they deserved, and of
what would happen to them, except the Lord dealt mercifully with them. Thus much
of the first part of the verse.
But when he says that his heart was changed, and that his repentings were brought
back again, the same mode of speaking after the manner of men is adopted; for we
know that these feelings belong not to God; he cannot be touched with repentance,
and his heart cannot undergo changes. To imagine such a thing would be impiety.

82. But the design is to show, that if he dealt with the people of Israel as they deserved,
they would now be made like Sodom and Gomorra. But as God was merciful, and
embraced his people with paternal affection, he could not forget that he was a
Father, but would be willing to grant pardon; as is the case with a father, who, on
seeing his son’s wicked disposition, suddenly feels a strong displeasure, and then,
being seized with relenting, is inclined to spare him. God then declares that he
would thus deal with his people.
COFFMA , "Verse 8
"How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I cast thee off, Israel? how shall I
make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboiim? my heart is turned within
me, my compassions are kindled together."
"Admah ... Zeboiim ..." "The cities of the plain included these, as well as Sodom and
Gomorrah; all were overthrown for their wickedness."[11] See Deuteronomy 29:23.
"How shall I give thee up ..." In this passage, God is represented as having human
emotions about the overthrow of his once "chosen people"; but the reason behind
this type of passage is profound. Under the utmost necessity, God would have to
preserve a portion of the old secular Israel to keep from thwarting his holy purpose
of bringing in the Redeemer to provide salvation for the lost myriads of humanity;
but the problem was just this: how could God be just and continue to spare Israel?
This is exactly the problem mentioned in Romans 3:25, which found its ultimate
solution in the coming of Christ into the world. To make the problem even more
acute, Israel had fallen into a state of sinful debauchery which actually exceeded the
wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah (Ezekiel 16), which places God had summarily
destroyed for their sins; how then could God Almighty retain any inherent justice in
himself, unless he should also exterminate Israel? That was what brought about the
"tension" as one writer calls it, in the heart of God! It was not God's mere
reluctance to destroy wicked sinners who richly deserved his wrath, simply because
God had fallen in love with them! Such views are unworthy. And the real problem
with God in this and the following verses was the necessity of refraining from the
extermination of Israel, who deserved it every whit as much as had Sodom and
Gomorrah; but there was the larger purpose of redemption to be made available for
all mankind; and that was the consideration that overrode the immediate
consideration of justice on God's part toward Israel. The vast majority of Israel was
exterminated; it was the remnant which was preserved to keep alive the hope of
salvation for the world.
As Butler said, "This is the very essence of the gospel! The good news is that God is
both just and the Justifier" (Romans 3:21-26).[12] "It was on the Cross that God
paid the penalty of sin and satisfied his own justice."[13]
COKE, "Hosea 11:8. How shall I give thee up? &c.— The mercy of the Almighty is
here pathetically represented as contending with his justice; to shew that he does not
willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. Admah and Zeboim were two cities

83. involved in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. We may read, How shall I
deliver thee up, Israel? and instead of repentings—relentings
ELLICOTT, "(8) In the depth of despair the prophet delivers himself of one of the
most pathetic passages in Hebrew prophecy. On the darkest cloud gleams the bow of
promise. A nation so much beloved as Israel cannot be destroyed by Him who has
fostered it so tenderly. As the prophet loved his faithless bride, so Jehovah
continued to love His people. The “how?” of this verse expresses the most extreme
reluctance. Admah and Zeboim were cities of the plain destroyed with Sodom and
Gomorrah, which are often referred to as the type of irremediable catastrophe.
(Comp. Isaiah 1:9; Isaiah 13:19; Matthew 10:15.)
Mine heart is turned within me.—Better, against me—a violent revulsion of feeling.
Divine compassion pleads with Divine justice.
TRAPP, "Verse 8
Hosea 11:8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? [how] shall I deliver thee, Israel?
how shall I make thee as Admah? [how] shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is
turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.
Ver. 8. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim] Here beginneth the second part of this
chapter, full of many sweet evangelical promises, and here, if ever, mercy rejoiceth
against judgment, or treadeth on the very neck of it, as St James’s word importeth,
James 2:18, κατακαυχαται from αυχην ( cervix). The Lord seemeth here to be at a
stand, or at strife with himself, about the destruction of this people fore warning;
which well might have been a guff to swallow them up, and a grave to bury them in
for ever, being most worthy to perish, as were the cities which God destroyed in his
wrath, Genesis 19:23-25. Howbeit God in the bowels of his mercy yearning and
taking pity of his elect among them (for he had reserved seven thousand hidden ones
that had not bowed their knees to Baal), spareth to lay upon them the extremity of
his wrath, and is ready to save them for his mercy’s sake. Hear how father-like he
melts over them:
How should I expose thee, O Ephraim? how should I deliver thee up, O Israel? How
should I dispose thee as Admah? how should I set thee as Zeboim] q.d. Justice
requires that I should lay thee utterly waste, and even rain down hell from heaven
upon thee, as once upon Sodom and her sisters. But mercy interposeth her four
"hows" (in the original two only expressed, but the other two necessarily
understood, and by interpreters fitly supplied), for such pathetic interrogations as
the like are not to be found in the whole book of God, and not to be answered by any
but God himself; as indeed he doth to each particular in the following words: "My
heart is turned within me," that is the first answer; the second, "My repentings are
kindled together"; the third, "I will not execute the fierceness of my wrath"; the
fourth, "I will not return to destroy Ephraim." And why? First, "I am God and not
man"; secondly, the "Holy One in the midst of thee."

84. My heart is turned, or turneth itself, within me] That is, my mind is changed, or at
least is in doubt what to do in this business. This is spoken, ανθρωποπαθως, after
the manner of men, and must be understood, θεοπρεπως, agreeably to God’s
greatness. Here is mutatio rei non Dei, effectus non affectus, facti non consilii, a
change of a matter not of God, to effect and not to alter, to do senselessly.
Repentance with man is the changing of his will. Repentance with God is no more
than the willing of a change: ill is not a change of his will, but of his work. Confer
Lamentations 1:20; Lamentations 2:11, Amos 1:12. There are those who render it,
My heart is turned against me, that is, against my former severe sentence of cutting
them all utterly off at one blow; Fiat iustitia, pereat mundus. Oh! I cannot find in
my heart to do it. For my
Repentings are kindled together] Simul aestuant viscera mea poenitentia. So
Tremellius; My bowels are altogether on a light fire with repentings, as Genesis
43:30, 1 Kings 3:26. ow repentings are as improperly attributed to God as bowels.
There were a sort of ignorant monks in Egypt, who started this foolish and
ridiculous question (which yet bred no small stirs there, A.D. 403), An Deus
corporeus sit? Whether the Divine essence be a body, having hands, heart, bowels?
&c. The ruder sort of them held it affirmatively. What blasphemies Vorstius hath
vented in that base book of his, de Deo, I need not relate. How God is said to repent
hath been said already. Sure it is, that herein he graciously accommodateth himself
to our rudeness, and speaketh as we are able to bear (Calvin). It appeareth that fury
is not in God, Isaiah 27:4. Our sins put thunderbolts into his hands, and it is, on
nisi coactus with him, when he proceeds to punishment. His bowels are very ready
to work in the ways of grace and mercy toward sinners; and the least act of faith in
that mercy would certainly set bowels on work amain. This the Church in Isaiah
well knew, and therefore prayed when deserted, Look down from heaven, &c.
Where is thy zeal, and thy strength? the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies
toward me? are they restrained? Doubtless thou art our Father, notwithstanding
thine austerities, Isaiah 63:15-16. God seemeth sometimes to lose his bowels, and
then we must find them for him; to sleep, and we must awake him; to hide himself,
and then we must fetch him out, as the woman of Canaan did by the force of her
faith, Mark 7:24-25. God will come, but he will have the faithful prayers of his
people to lead him. I came for thy word, Daniel 10:12.
PETT, "Verse 8
‘How shall I give you up, Ephraim?
How shall I cast you off, Israel?
How shall I make you as Admah?
How shall I set you as Zeboiim?
My heart is turned within me,
My compassions are kindled together.’
YHWH’s response is a cry from the heart. How could He give up Ephraim, how
could He cast off Israel? How could He do to them what He had done to the cities of
the plain Admah and Zeboiim whom, along with Sodom and Gomorrah He had

85. destroyed with fire? For this latter see Deuteronomy 29:23; Genesis 10:19; Genesis
14:2-8 with Genesis 19:24-25; Genesis 19:29. This response was the result of the fact
that ‘His heart had turned within Him’. That is, He had ‘changed His mind and
purpose’ with regard to final destruction (as opposed to temporary chastisement)
and intended at some time to show mercy. And this was because instead of His anger
being kindled, it was His compassionate heart that was being kindled to show
compassion to His people. But it was a compassion that could only be revealed once
Israel had learned its lesson. He could not just overlook what they had done. It was
just that because of His very nature as God and not man, and as the Holy and
unique One, His judgment was not to be seen as absolutely final.
This cry from the heart of God reveals God’s continual quandary. He longs to show
mercy and forgive, but He cannot do so unless it is accompanied by men repenting
and turning from their sin. The love of God does not exclude the judgment of God,
for God is also ‘Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all’ (1 John 1:5). Those
who would experience His love must first come to His light. God cannot lower His
standards however great His love.
K&D 8-9, "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 Hos_11:8
from threatening to promise. Hos_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. Hos_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 Gen_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 Deu_29:22, where Admah and Zeboim are expressly mentioned
along with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, which stand alone in Gen_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
(Jer_49:18; cf. Mat_10:15; Luk_10:12). The promise that God will show compassion is
appended here, without any adversative particle. My heart has turned, changed in me (‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬
, lit., upon or with me, as in the similar phrases in 1Sa_25:36; Jer_8:18). ‫רוּ‬ ְ‫מ‬ ְ‫כ‬ִ‫נ‬ ‫ד‬ ַ‫ח‬ַ‫,י‬ in a
body have my feelings of compassion gathered themselves together, i.e., my whole
compassion is excited. Compare Gen_43:30 and 1Ki_3:26, where, instead of the abstract
nichūmım, we find the more definite rachămım, the bowels as the seat of the emotions. ‫ה‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ ָ‫ע‬
‫ף‬ፍ ‫ּון‬‫ר‬ ֲ‫,ח‬ to carry out wrath, to execute it as judgment (as in 1Sa_28:18). In the expression
‫ת‬ ֵ‫ח‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ‫שׁוּב‬ፎ ‫ּא‬‫ל‬, I will not return to destroy, ‫שׁוּב‬ may be explained from the previous ‫י‬ ִ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫ך‬ ַ ְ‫ה‬ֶ‫.נ‬
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. 1Sa_15:29; Num_23:19;
Mal_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

86. variableness in His decrees (see at Exo_19:6; Isa_6:3). The difficult expression ‫יר‬ ִ‫ע‬ ְ
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. ‫יר‬ ִ‫ע‬ signifies here aestus
irae, the heat of wrath, from ‫,עוּר‬ effervescere, just as in Jer_15:8 it signifies the heat of
alarm and anxiety, aestus animi.
BI 8-9, "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?
God’s feeling in the face of man’s obstinacy
Many have been the ways adopted by God to communicate His thoughts and reveal His
will to the human race. But in all, Divine truths were always represented in a manner
most adapted to the constitution of the human mind. Three things suggested by the
passage.
I. Man is able to resist God in the dispensations of his mercy. The supposition that man
is governed by some Divine fate, that he is a passive being, destitute of a capacity to act
in any way besides in accordance with the Divine will, has arisen partly from three
sources.
1. Unacquaintance with the nature of the human will Man is so constituted as to be
able to exercise authority not only over his own feelings, actions, and character, but
also over the heart itself; he can regulate his disposition, so as to turn his whole soul
to be a sanctuary to particular objects. Three reasons for this view.
(1) Mankind in general believe that they are free—at liberty to choose any course
of action they please.
(2) Our own consciousness. We are conscious that our actual volitions are such
and only such as we please to put forth.
(3) Our moral nature implies the same truth.
2. Unacquaintance with God’s moral government—confounding the natural with the
moral. God does not rule man with an irresistible force, but with motives of
gentleness and love.
3. Misinterpretation of some particular portions of the Word of God.
II. That man’s resistance renders it necessary, on God’s part, to give him up.
1. The most applicable means is insufficient for recovering him.
2. The only means is insufficient to recover him.
III. There is an infinite, compassionate reluctance on God’s part to give up man.
1. The relation that exists between God and man renders Him reluctant to give him
up. One is a father, the other is a child.
2. God’s knowledge of man renders Him reluctant to give him up.
3. God’s dealings towards man prove that He is infinite in mercy, reluctant to give
him up. The most illustrious display of Divine mercy was the sending of God’s only
begotten Son into the world. This mercy was displayed also in sending the Holy
Spirit. Then if God feels so intensely for those who are strangers and aliens from

87. Him, ought not the same compassionate feeling to characterise His Church
universally? And if we are free agents, having control over our dispositions and
actions, or endowed with capacity to choose the right and reject the wrong; and if we
are the objects of Divine pity, is it not our most incumbent duty to pity ourselves by
receiving God’s mercy, and obeying His commandments? (J. A. Morris.)
Justice and mercy in the heart of God
The Bible is pre-eminently an anthropomorphetic book. That is, it represents God
through man’s emotions, modes of thought and actions. It is in the character of a father
that these verses present Him to our notice. No human character can give a full or
perfect revelation of Him. Yet it is only through human love, human faithfulness, human
justice, that we can gain any conception of the love, faithfulness, and justice of the
Eternal.
I. Mercy and justice as co-existing in the heart of the eternal. To give up to ruin, to
deliver to destruction is the demand of justice. “Mine heart is turned within Me, My
repentings are kindled together.” This is the voice of mercy. What is justice? It is that
sentiment which demands that every one should have his due. What is mercy? A
disposition to overlook injuries and to treat things better than they deserve. These two
must never be regarded as elements essential]y distinct, they are branches from the
same root, streams from the same fountain. Both are but modifications of love. Justice is
but love standing up sternly against the wrong, mercy is but love bending in tenderness
over the helpless and the suffering. In the heart of God this love assumes two phases or
manifestations.
1. Material nature shows that there is the stern and mild in God.
2. Providence shows that there is the stern and the mild in God. The heavy afflictions
that befall nations, families, and individuals, reveal His sternness; the health and the
joy that gladden life reveal His mercy.
3. The spiritual constitution of man shows that there is the stern and the mild in
God. In the human soul there is an instinct to revenge the wrong, often stern,
inexorable, and heartless. There is also an instinct of tenderness and compassion.
These came from the great Father.
II. Mercy and justice as excited by man in the heart of the Father.
1. The moral wickedness of Ephraim evoked His justice. Human wickedness is
always stirring, so to say, the justice of the Infinite heart.
2. The filial suffering of Ephraim evoked His mercy. God calls Ephraim His son, and
Ephraim was in suffering, and hence His compassion was turned.
III. Mercy struggling against justice in the heart of the Great Father. Even as the human
father finds a struggle between what justice requires, and mercy pleads for, in dealing
with his wilful son.
IV. Mercy triumphing over justice in the heart of the Great Father.
1. Mercy has so triumphed in the perpetuation of the race.
2. In the experience of every living man.
3. In the redemptive mission of Christ.

88. How comes it to pass that mercy thus triumphs? Here is the answer: “For I am God, and
not man.” (Homilist.)
Divine forbearance towards sinners
The long-suffering of God, His patience toward sinners, His unwillingness to punish, His
readiness to pardon, form conspicuous parts of the Divine character, as set forth to our
view in the sacred writings. The text describes a strong and tender struggle in the mind
of God between the opposite and contending claims of justice and mercy: and in the end
represents the latter as prevailing, mercy rejoicing against judgment. We are not indeed
to suppose that a struggle ever really takes place in the Divine Mind. He does but speak
to us after the manner of men. Ephraim had done everything to provoke the Lord to
anger. Forgetful of all that He had wrought for them, and of all which they owed to Him,
they had left His service, renounced His worship, and had given themselves up to the
most shameful idolatries. Mercies and judgments had been employed to reclaim them,
but in vain. And now, what could be expected but that they should be dealt with
according to their deserts? But no—such is the sovereignty of Divine mercy, that instead
God says, “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?” Attend—
1. To the debate which is represented between justice and mercy.
2. The determination of the debate. After a long struggle mercy prevails.
3. The ground and reason of this determination: “For I am God, and not man.” He
who is God, and not man, alone could overcome the difficulty.
Draw some profitable reflections.
1. How exactly does the view here given of the Divine mercy and forbearance, in this
particular instance, agree with the general representations of them in Scripture.
Illustrate times before Flood. Israel in wilderness. The spiritual redemption of man.
2. How greatly do these views increase and aggravate the sinfulness of sin. Sin is
rebellion against a just and rightful Sovereign. It is robbery committed against a
good and a gracious Master. It is ingratitude to a most kind and bountiful Friend and
Benefactor. Sin is despite done to the richest mercy and tenderest compassion. If
God were not so very merciful, sin would not be so exceeding sinful. How great must
be the guilt of those who disregard the mercy offered in the Gospel I
3. What great encouragement does the subject give to every humbled and penitent
sinner! Such are apt to be full of doubts and fears. They cry for mercy, but cannot
believe that they shall find it. Was God so unwilling to give up even penitent
Ephraim? And will He be unwilling to receive and pardon penitent offenders? Surely
He feels for you the tenderest pity. He will meet you with loving-kindness. (E.
Cooper.)
The Holy One
The holiness of God is at once a ground why He punishes iniquity, and yet does not
punish to the full extent of the sin. Truth and faithfulness are part of the holiness of God.
He will keep His covenant. But the unholy cannot profit by the promises of the All-Holy.
(E. B. Pusey, D. D.)

89. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim
There is nothing more inspiring in human history than the long, hard struggle of the
Lord against the proclivities of the Jewish people. How this struggle of evil against God
arose, what are the conditions of the Divine and the creature nature which render it
possible, and render it possible that it should be prolonged, we may never be able to
settle. But the fact of the struggle is clear as the sunlight. We are resisting God’s will; we
make life a ceaseless struggle against His will. God has created free men; all the burden
of their activity, all the possibilities of their development He accepted ill the hour in
which He created them free. He parted as it were with a power, a power to rule all things
by His decree. A free spirit cannot be ruled by a decree. There is a new sphere of
existence created, in which God’s Spirit, in communion with free spirits, alone has power
to sustain His sway. And this Spirit may be grieved, wounded, resisted even unto death.
“Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone,” may proclaim that the resources of the Divine
patience and love are exhausted. And yet, was that sentence final? Certainly, in Hosea’s
time, Divine patience was not exhausted. Is it even exhausted yet? The answer is found
by considering, with some fulness of detail, the history of the long-suffering of God with
His ancient Church. (Baldwin Brown, B. A.)
God’s dealing with sin and sinners
It is important that we acquire and cherish right views of the character of God, and the
modes of His dealing with the children of men. We cannot fully comprehend the Divine
Being. It may happen that the aspect which is most attractive is just that which we most
fail to see. Revelation makes known to us that He is not regardless and indifferent to
what takes place on earth, and not unmindful of the welfare of the beings His hands have
made. He is the Father of our spirits. We read of God as a God of justice, and we are in
danger of thinking of justice as unallied with and untempered by mercy. But He is also
merciful. He delighteth in mercy. The aspect of God, brought before us in this text, is
that of God reluctant to inflict deserved punishment, suffering deep, disquietude and
longing because of the waywardness and sinfulness of men. Man s alienation and
rebellion causes grief and regret to God.
I. God’s back wardness to punish sin. The very strength of God’s love for His creatures
kindles His indignation against that which works their ruin, whilst regard for His own
character and government necessitates the punishment of the ungodly and impenitent.
One great difference between God’s anger and man’s is this,—whilst man’s anger is soon
kindled, God is “slow to anger, and of great mercy.”
II. God’s yearning disquiet for the salvation of men. Of this the words of the text are an
earnest expression. (Joseph Shillito.)
God unwilling to abandon the sinner
The making of His creatures happy, according to their capacities of happiness, is highly
pleasing to God. The Divine nature is all love and benignity. The sun and light may be as
soon separated as God and goodness, the Deity and loving-kindness. If He withdraws
His favour from any people, it is all along of themselves, not the least defect of goodness
in Him. It is wholly owing to their rendering themselves unmeet to be any longer

90. partakers of His grace and favour. God is always inclined to do good to His creatures,
but He is often under the necessity of being very severe. Still, He ever designeth a
general good in the judgments He executeth. Men’s learning of righteousness is God’s
designs in His judgments. Then God inflicts His judgments, not out of free choice, but
from constraint, and with a kind of unwilling willingness. In the text we see that, highly
as they had incensed the great God against them, He nevertheless makes good, when one
would least expect He would, that saying of the son of Sirach, “As is His majesty, so is
His mercy.” In the text He seems to say, “How can I find in My heart to be as bad as My
word in executing such fearful threatenings?” Nothing less than apparent necessity can
prevail with the infinitely good God to make His creatures miserable; and this further
appears by the following considerations.
1. God’s earnest and most pathetical exciting of sinners to turn and repent, that
iniquity may not be their ruin, is of itself sufficient to assure us hereof.
2. ‘Tis God’s ordinary method to give warning to sinners before He strikes. He wants
reformation and repentance to stay His hand and prevent the blow. Illustrate by the
warning of Noah’s ark, and the warnings sent by the prophets, etc. Signs of the times
are God’s warnings nowadays.
3. It is God’s usual course to try a wicked people with lighter judgments first, before
He brings the heaviest upon them.
4. When God determined to pour down the vials of His vengeance upon a wicked
people, He sometimes plainly intimated that He did it not, until their wickedness was
come up to such a height as did necessarily call for them.
5. It is likewise apparent that God Almighty is most backward to the destroying of a
wicked people, or putting them into miserable circumstances until necessitated, in
that He hath again and again declared His being diverted from so doing by such
motives as one would think could have but very little influence upon such a Being as
He is, or rather none at all. The following are some of these motives.
(1) A mere partial humiliation, one far short of true repentance, as in the case of
Ahab and Rehoboam.
(2) The prayers of a few good people. As in Moses’ intercessions.
(3) The advantages taken by God’s enemies from His destruction of His people
(Deu_32:27). Learn from this what strange folly, or even desperate madness,
doth lodge in the hearts of sinful men. Will sinners still persevere in this their
madness? (E. Fowler, D. D.)
The Gospel in Hosea
Hosea appears again and again to contradict himself. In one line he is denouncing a
ruinous and final doom; in the next, with a voice that breaks with tenderness, he is
promising a day of golden restoration. Does it not sound like a feeble absurdity to say
that both sets of declarations can be fulfilled? Yet fulfilled in some ideal way I believe
they are. Surely the prophet recognised that there were positive contradictions in life,—
life and death, light and darkness, blessing and’ cursing, the flame of wrath and the dew
of blessing; and leaving these contradictions as he found them, he yet believed that God
is a God of love, that mercy shall somehow or somewhere triumph over justice, that God
will smite sin, and yet will spare. Hosea’s was a real and not a sham message, and it was

91. a message full of comfort; and still more full of comfort was the reason, “for I am God,
and not man.” The deepest consolation of life lies in this, God and not man is the judge.
God is the Father of the prodigal. Christ was the friend of publicans and sinners; and in
the revelation of God throughout all the Scripture, as in the words of Christ, we find
always side by side with the awful certainty of retribution, the unquenchable beams of
love and hope. But Hosea had learned his lesson, as so many are forced to learn it, in
sorrow and anguish. He tells us his secret in the first three chapters. These explain the
varying of emotions in almost every verse of the prophecy; and they also explaln why this
prophet seems to see more deeply than all others into the heart of the love of God. The
sorrows of life come to us all though they seem to come in different measure; but the
point for us to observe is how differently they affect the wise and the foolish The holy
submissiveness of Hosea’s life taught him the one great lesson without which he would
never have become a prophet at all. This lesson, — If the love of man, the love of a
husband for a wife, of a father for his child can be so deep, how unfathomable, how
eternal must be the love of God! To what sunless depths, to what unfathomed caverns
can the ray of that light penetrate I In this is a message of hope for individual souls.
(Dean Farrar.)
Moderation in Divine judgments
1. God’s mercy interposing on the behalf of sinners doth produce not only good
wishes but real effects to them.
2. God’s mercy towards His sinful people, doth not see it fit to keep off all effects of
His displeasure, or leave them altogether unpunished.
3. When a sinful people are under saddest temporal judgments, yet so long as they
are in the land of the living, they are bound to reckon that their condition might have
been worse if all God’s just displeasure were let out.
4. The Lord’s moderating of deserved judgments, if it were but to preserve a people
from being utterly consumed, is a great proof of God’s mercy, and ought to be
acknowledged as such.
5. It is the great mercy and advantage of the Lord’s sinful people that they have to do
with God, not with man, in their miscarriages. (George Hutcheson.)
A father’s solicitude for the erring
A number of years ago, before any railway came into Chicago, they used to bring in the
grain from the Western prairies in waggons for hundreds of miles, so as to have it
shipped off by the lakes. There was a father who had a large farm out there, and who
used to preach the Gospel as well as attend to his farm. One day, when church business
engaged him, he sent his son to Chicago with grain. He waited and waited for his boy to
return, but he did not come home. At last he could wait no longer, so he saddled his
horse and rode to the place where his son had sold the grain. He found that he had been
there and got the money for the grain. Then he began to fear that his boy had been
murdered and robbed. At last, with the aid of a detective, he tracked him to a gambling
den, where he found that he had gambled away the whole of his money. In hopes of
winning it back again he had then sold the team and lost that money too. He had fallen
among thieves, and, like the man who was going to Jericho, they stripped him, and then

92. cared no more about him. What could he do? He was ashamed to go home and meet his
father, and he fled. The father knew what it all meant. He knew that the boy thought he
would be very angry with him. He was grieved to think that his boy should have such
feelings toward him. That is just exactly like the sinner. He thinks, because he has
sinned, God will have nothing to do with him. But what did that father do? Did he say,
“Let the boy go”? No; he went after him. He arranged his business, and started after the
boy. He went from town to town, from city to city. He would get the ministers to let him
preach, and at the close he would tell his story. “I have got a boy who is a wanderer on
the face of the earth somewhere.” He would describe his boy, and say: “If you ever hear
of him, or see him, will you not write to me?” At last he found that he had gone to
California, thousands of miles away. Did that father even then say, “Let him go”? No; off
he went to the Pacific coast, seeking his boy. He went to San Francisco, and advertised in
the newspapers that he would preach at such a church on such a day. When he had
preached he told his story, in the hope that the boy might have seen the advertisement,
and come to the church. When he had done, away under the gallery there was a young
man, who waited until the audience had gone out; then he came towards the pulpit. The
father looked, and saw it was his son, and he ran to him, and pressed him to his bosom.
The boy wanted to confess what he had done, but not a word would the father hear. He
forgave him freely, and took him to his home once more. Oh, prodigal, you may be
wandering on the dark mountains of sin, but God wants you to come home! The devil
has been telling you lies about God; you think He will not receive you back. I tell you He
will welcome you this minute if you will come. Say “I will arise, and go to my Father.”
There is not one whom Jesus has not sought far longer than that father. There has not
been a day since you left Him but tie has followed you. I do not care what the past has
been, or how black your life, He will receive you back. Arise, then, O backslider, and
come home once more to your Father’s house. (D. L. Moody.)
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,
nor will I devastate Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come against their cities.

93. BAR ES, "I will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger - It is the voice of
“mercy, rejoicing over judgment.” mercy prevails in God over the rigor of His justice,
that though He will not suffer them to go utterly unpunished, yet He will abate of it, and
not utterly consume them.
I will not return to destroy Ephraim - God saith that He will not, as it were,
glean Ephraim, going over it again, as man doth, in order to leave nothing over. As it is
in Jeremiah, “They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel, as a vine. Turn back
thine hand, as a grapegatherer into the baskets” Jer_6:9; and, “If grapegatherers come
to thee, would they not leave some gleaning-grapes? but I have made Esau bare” Jer_
49:9-10.
For I am God and not man - o: “not swayed by human passions, but so tempering
His wrath, as, in the midst of it, to remember mercy; so punishing the iniquity of the
sinful children, as at once to make good His gracious promises which He made to their
forefathers.” : “Man punishes, to destroy; God smites, to amend.”
The Holy One in the midst of thee - The holiness of God is at once a ground why
He punishes iniquity, and yet does not punish to the full extent of the sin. Truth and
faithfulness are part of the holiness of God. He, the Holy One who was “in the midst” of
them, by virtue of His covenant with their fathers, would keep the covenant which He
had made, and for their father’s sakes would not wholly cut them off. Yet the holiness of
God hath another aspect too, in virtue of which the unholy cannot profit by the promises
of the All-Holy. “I will not,” paraphrases Cyril, “use unmingled wrath. I will not “give”
over Ephraim, wicked as he has become, to entire destruction. Why? Do they not deserve
it? Yes, He saith, but “I am God and not man,” i. e., Good, and not suffering the motions
of anger to overcome Me. For that is a human passion. Why then dost Thou yet punish,
seeing Thou art God, not overcome with anger, but rather following Thine essential
gentleness? I punish, He saith, because I am not only Good, as God, but holy also, hating
iniquity, rejecting the polluted, turning away from God-haters, converting the sinner,
purifying the impure, that he may again be joined to Me. We, then, if we prize the being
with God, must, with all our might, fly from sin, and remember what He said. “Be ye
holy, for I am holy.”
And I will not enter the city - God, who is everywhere, speaks of Himself, as
present to us, when He shows that presence in acts of judgment or of mercy. He visited
His people in Egypt, to deliver them; He visited Sodom and Gomorrah as a Judge,
making known to us that He took cognizance of their extreme wickedness. God says, that
He would “not enter the city,” as He did “the cities of the plain,” when He overthrew
them, because He willed to save them. As a Judge, He acts as though He looked away
from their sin, lest, seeing their city to be full of wickedness, He should be compelled to
punish it. : “I will not smite indiscriminately, as man doth, who when wroth, bursts into
an offending city, and destroys all. In this sense, the Apostle says, “Hath God cast away
His people? God forbid! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of
Benjamin. God hath not east away His people, whom He foreknew. What saith the
answer of God to Elias! I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men, who have not
bowed the knee to Bard. Even so then, at this present time also, there is a remnant
according to the election of grace” Rom_11:1-2, Rom_11:4-5. God then was wroth, not
with His people, but with unbelief. For He was not angered in such wise, as not to
receive the remnant of His people, if they were converted. No Jew is therefore repelled,
because the Jewish nation denied Christ; but whoso, whether Jew or Gentile, denieth
Christ, he himself, in his own person, repels himself.”

94. CLARKE, "I will not execute - Here is the issue of this conflict in the Divine mind.
Mercy triumphs over Judgment; Ephraim shall be spared. He is God, and not man. He
cannot be affected by human caprices. They are now penitent, and implore mercy; he
will not, as man would do, punish them for former offenses, when they have fallen into
his hand. The holy place is in Ephraim, and God is in this holy place; and he will not go
into the cities, as he did into Sodom and Gomorrah, to destroy them. Judgment is his
strange work. How exceedingly affecting are these two verses!
GILL, "I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger,.... That is, his wrath and
fury to the uttermost; his people are deserving of his wrath as others, being by nature
children of wrath as the rest; which they are sensible of under spiritual conviction, and
therefore flee from it, where they may be safe: and though the Lord often chastises and
afflicts them, yet not in wrath; or however but in a little wrath, as it seems to them; he
does not stir up all his wrath, nor any in reality; all being poured upon his Son, their
surety, who saves and delivers them from wrath to come;
I will not return to destroy Ephraim; or "again", or "any more, destroy" (f) him;
not twice; he might be destroyed when carried captive into Assyria; but the remnant that
shall spring from him in the latter day shall not be destroyed, but saved. The Targum is,
"my word shall not return to destroy the house of Israel;''
or I will not return from my love and affections to them, I will never be wroth with them
any more; nor from my mercy to them, which is from everlasting to everlasting; or from
my covenant, promise, and resolution to save them, they shall not be punished with
everlasting destruction:
for I am God, and not man; a God gracious and merciful, longsuffering, slow to
anger, and pardoning sin, and not man, cruel, revengeful, implacable, who shows no
mercy when it is in the power of his hands to avenge himself; or God that changes not in
his purposes and counsels, in his love and affections, and therefore the sons of Jacob are
not consumed, and not man that repents, is fickle, inconstant, and mutable; or God that
is faithful to his covenant and promises, and not man that lies and deceives, promises
and never performs. The Targum is,
"seeing I am God, my word remains for ever, and my works are not as the works of the
flesh (or of men) who dwell upon the earth;''
the Holy One in the midst of thee; being in the midst of his people, he protects and
defends them, and so they are safe; and being the Holy One there, he sanctifies them,
and saves them, in a way consistent with his own holiness and justice: or there is "a Holy
One", or Holy Ones, the singular put for the plural, "in the midst of thee" (g); and
therefore thou shalt not be destroyed for their sakes, as Sodom would not, had there
been ten righteous persons in it, to which some think the allusion is:
and I will not enter into the city; in a hostile way to destroy or plunder it; but this is
not to be understood either of Samaria or Jerusalem, which were entered into in this
manner. The Targum is,

95. "I have decreed by my word that my holy Shechinah shall be among you, and I will not
change Jerusalem again for another city;''
which sense the Jewish commentators follow; but, as this respects Gospel times, the
meaning seems to be, that God would dwell among his people everywhere, and would
not be confined to any city or temple as heretofore; but wherever his church and people
were, there would be his temple, and there he would dwell.
HE RY, "His gracious determination of this debate. After a long contest mercy in
the issue rejoices against judgment, has the last word, and carries the day, Hos_11:9. It
is decreed that the reprieve shall be lengthened out yet longer, and I will not now execute
the fierceness of my anger, though I am angry; though they shall not go altogether
unpunished, yet he will mitigate the sentence and abate the rigour of it. He will show
himself to be justly angry, but not implacably so; they shall be corrected, but not
consumed. I will not return to destroy Ephraim; the judgments that have been inflicted
shall not be repeated, shall not go so deep as they have deserved. He will not return to
destroy, as soldiers, when they have pillaged a town once, return a second time, to take
more, as when what the palmer-worm has left the locust has eaten. It is added, in the
close of the verse, “I will not enter into the city, into Samaria, or any other of their cities;
I will not enter into them as an enemy, utterly to destroy them, and lay them waste, as I
did the cities of Admah and Zeboim.”
3. The ground and reason of this determination: For I am God and not man, the Holy
One of Israel. To encourage them, to hope that they shall find mercy, consider, (1.) What
he is in himself: He is God, and not man, as in other things, so in pardoning sin and
sparing sinners. If they had offended a man like themselves, he would not, he could not
have borne it; his passion would have overpowered his compassion, and he would have
executed the fierceness of his anger; but I am God, and not man. He is Lord of his
anger, whereas men's anger commonly lords it over them. If an earthly prince were in
such a strait between justice and mercy, he would be at a loss how to compromise the
matter between them; but he who is God, and not man, knows how to find out an
expedient to secure the honour of his justice and yet advance the honour of his mercy.
Man's compassions are nothing in comparison with the tender mercies of our God,
whose thoughts and ways, in receiving returning sinners, are as much above ours as
heaven is above the earth, Isa_55:9. Note, It is a great encouragement to our hope in
God's mercies to remember that he is God, and not man. He is the Holy One. One would
think this were a reason why he should reject such a provoking people. No; God knows
how to spare and pardon poor sinners, not only without any reproach to his holiness,
but very much to the honour of it, as he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
therein declares his righteousness, now Christ has purchased the pardon and he has
promised it. (2.) What he is to them; he is the Holy One in the midst of thee; his holiness
is engaged for the good of his church, and even in this corrupt and degenerate land and
age there were some that gave thanks at the remembrance of his holiness, and he
required of them all to be holy as he is, Lev_19:2. As long as we have the Holy One in the
midst of us we are safe and well; but woe to us when he leaves us! Note, Those who
submit to the influence may take the comfort of God's holiness.
JAMISO , "I will not return to destroy Ephraim — that is, I will no more, as in
past times, destroy Ephraim. The destruction primarily meant is probably that by

96. Tiglath-pileser, who, as the Jewish king Ahaz’ ally against Pekah of Israel and Rezin of
Syria, deprived Israel of Gilead, Galilee, and Naphtali (2Ki_15:29). The ulterior
reference is to the long dispersion hereafter, to be ended by God’s covenant mercy
restoring His people, not for their merits, but of His grace.
God, ... not man — not dealing as man would, with implacable wrath under awful
provocation (Isa_55:7-9; Mal_3:6). I do not, like man, change when once I have made a
covenant of everlasting love, as with Israel (Num_23:19). We measure God by the
human standard, and hence are slow to credit fully His promises; these, however, belong
to the faithful remnant, not to the obstinately impenitent.
in the midst of thee — as peculiarly thy God (Exo_19:5, Exo_19:6).
not enter into the city — as an enemy: as I entered Admah, Zeboim, and Sodom,
utterly destroying them, whereas I will not utterly destroy thee. Somewhat similarly
Jerome: “I am not one such as human dwellers in a city, who take cruel vengeance; I
save those whom I correct.” Thus “not man,” and “in the midst of thee,” are parallel to
“into the city.” Though I am in the midst of thee, it is not as man entering a rebellious
city to destroy utterly. Maurer needlessly translates, “I will not come in wrath.”
CALVI , "Verse 9
Then follows an explanation of this sentence,I will not execute the fury of my wrath:
by which figurative mode of speaking he sets forth the punishment which was
suitable to the sins of men. For it must ever be remembered, that God is exempt
from every passion. But if no anger is to be supposed by us to be in God, what does
he mean by the fury of his wrath? Even the relation between his nature and our
innate or natural sins. But why does Scripture say that God is angry? Even because
we imagine him to be so according to the perception of the flesh; for we do not
apprehend God’s indignation, except as far as our sins provoke him to anger, and
kindle his vengeance against us. Then God, with regard to our perception, calls the
fury of his wrath the heavy judgement, which is equal to, or meet for, our sins.I will
not execute, he says, that is, “I will not repay the reward which you have deserved.”
What then? I will not return to destroy Ephraim The verb ‫,אשוב‬ ashub, seems to
have been introduced for this reason, because God had in part laid waste the
kingdom of Israel: he therefore says, that the second overthrow, which he would
presently bring, would not be such as would destroy the whole of Israel, or wholly
consume them. I will not then return to destroy Ephraim; that is, “Though I shall
again gird myself to punish the sins of the people, I shall yet restrain myself so that
my vengeance shall not proceed to the destruction of the whole people.” The reason
is subjoined, For I am God, and not man.
As he intended in this place to leave to the godly some hope of salvation, he adds
what may confirm this hope; for we know that when God denounces wrath, with
what difficulty trembling consciences are restored to hope. Ungodly men laugh to
scorn all threatening; but those in whom there is any seed of piety dread the
vengeance of God, and whenever terror seizes them, they are tormented with
marvellous disquietude, and cannot be easily pacified. This then is the reason why
the Prophet now confirms the doctrine which he had laid down: I am God, he says,
and not man; as though he had said, that he would be propitious to his people, for

97. he was not implacable as men are; and they are very wrong who judge of him, or
measure him, by men.
We must here first remember, that the Prophet directs not his discourse
promiscuously to all the Israelites, but only to the faithful, who were a remnant
among that corrupt people. For God, at no time, suffered all the children of
Abraham to become alienated, but some few at least remained, as it is said in
another place, (1 Kings 19:18.) These the Prophet now addresses; and to administer
consolation, he moderates what he had said before of the dreadful vengeance of
God. This saying then was not to relieve the sorrow of hypocrites; for the Prophet
regarded only the miserable, who had been so smitten with the feeling of God’s
wrath, that despair would have almost swallowed them up, had not their grief been
mitigated. This is one thing. But further, when he says that he is God, and not man,
this truth ought to come to our minds, that we may taste of God’s gratuitous
promises, whenever we vacillate as to his promises, or whenever terror possesses our
minds. What! Do you doubt when you have to do with God? But whence is it, that
we with so much difficulty rely on the promises of God, except that we imagine him
to be like ourselves? Inasmuch then, as it is our habit thus to transform him, let this
truth be a remedy to this fault; and whenever God promises pardon to us, from
which proceeds the hope of salvation, how much soever he may have previously
terrified us by his judgements, let this come to our mind, that as he is God, he is not
to be judged of by what we are. We ought then to recumb simply on his promises.
“But then we are unworthy to be pardoned; besides, so great is the atrocity of our
sins, that there can be no hope of reconciliation.” Here we must take instant hold on
this shield, we must learn to fortify ourselves with this declaration of the Prophet,
He is God, and not man: let this shield be ever taken to repel every kind of
diffidence.
But here a question may be raised, “Was He not God, when he destroyed Sodom
and the neighbouring cities?” That judgement did not take away from the Lord his
glory, nor was his majesty thereby diminished. But these two sentences are to be
read together; I am God, and not man, holy in the midst of thee. When any one
reads these sentences apart, he does wrong to the meaning of the Prophet. God,
then, does not only affirm here that he is not like men, but he also adds, that he is
holy in the midst of Israel. It is one view of God’s nature that is here given us, and
what is set forth is the immense distance between him and men, as we find it written
by Isaiah the Prophet,
‘My thoughts are not as yours: as much as the heaven is distant from the earth, so
distant are my thoughts from your thoughts,’ (Isaiah 55:8.)
So also in this place, the Prophet shows what God is, and how much his nature
differs from the dispositions of men. He afterwards refers to the covenant which
God made with his people: and what was the purport of that covenant? Even that
God would punish his people; yet so as ever to leave some seed remaining.
‘I will chastise them,’ he says, ‘with the rod of men;

98. I will not yet take away from them my mercy,’
(2 Samuel 7:14.)
Since God then had promised some mitigation or some alleviation in all his
punishments, he now reminds us, that he will not have his Church wholly
demolished in the world, for he would thus be inconsistent with himself: hence he
says, I am God, and not man, holy in the midst of thee; and since I have chosen thee
to myself to be my peculiar possession and inheritance, and promised also to be for
ever thy God, I will now moderate my vengeance, so that some Church may ever
remain.”
For this reason he also says I will not enter into the city Some say, “I will not enter
another city but Jerusalem.” But this does not suit the passage; for the Prophet
speaks here of the ten tribes and not of the tribe of Judah. Others imagine an
opposite meaning, “I will not enter the city,” as though he said, that he would indeed
act kindly towards the people in not wholly destroying them; but that they should
hereafter be without civil order, regular government, and other tokens of God’s
favour: ‘I will not enter the city;’ that is, “I will not restore you, so that there may
be a city and a kingdom, and an united body of people.” But this exposition is too
forced; nay, it is a mere refinement, which of itself vanishes. (81) There is no doubt
but that the similitude is taken from a warlike practice. For when a conqueror
enters a city with an armed force, slaughter is not restrained but blood is
indiscriminately shed. But when a city surrenders, the conqueror indeed may enter,
yet not with a sudden and violent attack, but on certain conditions; and then he
waits, it may be for two days, or for some time, that the rage of his soldiers may be
allayed. Then he comes, not as to enemies, but as to his own subjects. This is what
the Prophet means when he says, ‘I will not enter the city;’ that is, “I will make war
on you and subdue your and force you to surrenders and that with great loss; but
when the gates shall be opened, and the wall demolished, I will then restrain myself,
for I am unwilling wholly to destroy you.”
If one objects and says, that this statement militates against many others which we
have observed, the answer is easy, and the solution has already been adduced in
another place, and I shall now only touch on it briefly. When God distinctly
denounces ruin on the people, the body of the people is had in view; and in this body
there was then no integrity. Inasmuch, then, as all the Israelites had become
corrupt, had departed from the worship and fear of God, and from all piety and
righteousness, and had abandoned themselves to all kinds of wickedness, the
Prophet declares that they were to perish without any exception. But when he
confines the vengeance of God, or moderates it, he has respect to a very small
number; for, as it has been already stated, corruption had never so prevailed among
the people, but that some seed remained. Hence, when the Prophet has in view the
elect of God, he applies then these consolations, by which he mitigates their terror,
that they might understand that God, even in his extreme rigour, would be
propitious to them. Such is the way to account for this passage. With regard to the
body of the people, the Prophet has already shown, that their cities were devoted to
the fire, and that the whole nation was doomed to suffer the wrath of God; that

99. every thing was given up to the fire and the sword. But now he says, “I will not
enter;” that is, with regard to those whom the Lord intended to spare. And it must
also be observed, that punishment was mitigated, not only with regard to the elect,
but also with regard to the reprobate, who were led into captivity. We must yet
remember, that when God spared them for a time, he chiefly consulted the good of
his elect; for the temporary suspension of vengeance increased his judgement on the
reprobate; for whosoever repented not in exile doubled, as it is evident, the wrath of
God against themselves. The Lord, however, spared his people for a time; for among
them was included his Church, in the same way as the wheat is preserved in the
chaff, and is carried from the field with the straw. Why so? Even that the wheat
may be separated. So also the Lord preserves much chaff with the wheat; but he will
afterwards, in due time, divide the wheat from the chaff. We now understand the
whole meaning of the Prophet, and also the application of his doctrine. It follows —
“Although I am no frequenter of cities.”
God is not a frequenter of cities!! How odd and meaningless is this when compared
with the view given by Calvin of the passage?
There is another explanation approved of by Dathe, which, as to the meaning,
agrees with that of Calvin. He takes ‫,עיר‬ rendered “city,” to mean “anger,” and then
the version would be, “I will not come in anger.” The Septuagint is, literally, “I will
not come into the city.”
COFFMA , "Verse 9
"I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy
Ephraim; for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee; and I will
not come in wrath.
The sentiment of this verse was fully fulfilled in the amelioration of Israel's
punishment, which was reduced from the sentence of death and extermination,
which they so richly deserved, even in a greater degree than Sodom and Gomorrah
which had received the ultimate penalty, to a lesser sentence of invasion, captivity,
dispersion, and the wholesale slaughter of vast numbers of them.
"I will not return to destroy Ephraim ..." This was rendered by Cheyne as, "I will
not come to exterminate."[14] Hailey also found exactly this same meaning: "He will
not completely exterminate Israel."[15] The restoration of Israel which seems to be
promised in this passage has its fulfillment in the precious conditions of the ew
Covenant, available alike to Jew and Gentile. As Polkinghorne observed: "The
penalty in view here was executed in history, but the restoration is
eschatological,"[16] which is exactly right, provided that the current era of the
kingdom is included in the concept of what is eschatological, "the last times" as in
Acts 2:16-17.
COKE, "Hosea 11:9. And I will not enter into the city— And I will not come as an
enemy. Houbigant renders it, or am I come speedily to depart from thee: and he

100. supposes that the contrast in this and the former clause is between an inhabitant
and a passing traveller. Bishop Lowth renders it, after St. Jerome, Though I inhabit
not cities: "I am not one of those who dwell in cities, who live according to human
laws; who reckon cruelty to be justice." Castalio follows St. Jerome. This sentence is
parallel and, synonymous to I am not a man. The future ‫אבוא‬ abo, has a
frequentative power: see Psalms 3:8. I am not used to enter, or dwell; I am no
inhabitant of a city. There is a very elegant contrast in each member of the sentence:
I am God, and not man; there is an increase of the sense in the following sentence,
and the contrast is varied: "I am thy God, dwelling with thee; but in a peculiar and
extraordinary manner, no way similar to that of mankind." othing can be more
plain and elegant.
ELLICOTT, "(9) This sublime passage is remarkable as drawing illustrations from
human emotions, and yet repudiating all human weakness. It suggests a hint of
Divine mercy in its greatness, and of Divine justice too, which shows how, both
being alike infinite, they can adjust themselves beyond the power of human
experience and imagination.
The Holy One in the midst of thee is such a blending of justice and mercy.
I will not enter into the city.—So ancient versions. “Enter”—i.e., as a destroyer.
(Comp. Hosea 11:6.) But many commentators interpret the Hebrew b‘îr (“into the
city”) to mean in wrath. This is preferable.
TRAPP, "Verse 9
Hosea 11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to
destroy Ephraim: for I [am] God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee:
and I will not enter into the city.
Ver. 9. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger] Heb. the heat of it. God’s
heart kindled, and whatsoever might cause repentance came together, and lay
glowing, as it were, at his heart; and this cooled and even quenched the heat of his
wrath (as the sunbeams when they shine full upon the fire), so that now he resolves
not to execute the height of his heat, the extremity of his fury, for then the spirit
should fail before him. Ephraim is God’s dear son, his pleasant child; whom, when
he hears bemoaning himself, as Jeremiah 30:18-20, he soon repents him of the evil,
and cries,
- “ Satis hoc pro crimine magno
Paulum supplicii lenem sumpsisse parentem. ”
I will not return to destroy Ephraim] I will not undo him twice over, or utterly ruin
him; as those that have laid their enemy for dead, return to see whether he be dead
outright; or as soldiers that have once pillaged a city return after a while to take all
that little that was left before, and to set the rest on fire. God will not deal so hardly

101. with Ephraim, though he might do it. Reprobates indeed shall have an evil, an only
evil, Ezekiel 7:5, without mixture of mercy; they must expect one plague upon
another, as it fared with Pharaoh, till God had dashed the very breath out of his
body. But for his elect people, Hath he smitten them, as he smote those that smote
them? o, but in measure, in the branches only; he stayeth his rough wind, &c.,
Isaiah 27:7-8. And as Croesus’ dumb son burst out into, Kill not King Croesus (’
Aνθρωπε, µη κτεινε τον χροισον. Herod.), so when enemies are ready to devour the
Church, or Satan to swallow God’s child up in despair, his heart’s work; he can
hold no longer, but cries, Save my child, save my Church. Why should "the spirit
fail before me, and the souls which I have made? I have seen his ways and" (though
bad enough) "I will heal him, I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him
and to his mourners," Isaiah 57:16-18.
For I am God, and not man] Yea, such a God as the like is not, for pardoning
iniquity, and passing by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage, Micah
7:18. It is natural to him, Exodus 34:6; it is usual, ehemiah 9:17, there he is called
a God of pardons, as, Isaiah 55:7, he is said to multiply pardons. He hath
commanded men to forgive an offending but repenting brother, seventy times seven
times in a day, Matthew 18:22. What then will himself do? For he is God Almighty,
and not man. Man is an angry, vindictive, cruel creature; one man is a wolf, yea, a
devil, to another; unsociable, implacable, unmerciful, as those were, Romans 1:31.
Beware of men, saith our Saviour to his disciples, Matthew 10:17; absurd and
wicked men, 1 Thessalonians 3:2; barbarous and brutish, skilful to destroy, Ezekiel
21:31. Yea, beware of good men when enraged. What strange deaths doth David
(soon after his foul fall and not fully recovered) put the poor Ammonites to, 2
Samuel 12:31. Further, men as they are unmerciful so they are unmindful of their
promises. But God is not a man that he should lie, umbers 23:18. What he hath
spoken with his mouth he will make good with his hand. The Eternity of Israel will
not lie (as men will, Romans 3:4), nor repent (as men do, whatever he may seem to
do; {See Trapp on "Romans 3:3"} Romans 3:3); for he is not a man that he should
repent, 1 Samuel 15:29. Men are mutable; the truest friend is ευµεταβλητον ζων, an
easily changeable creature, as the heathen complained; all in changeable colours, as
Tertullian saith of the peacock; as often changed as moved. ot so Almighty God. "I
am Jehovah, I change not," Malachi 3:6. {See Trapp On: Malachi 3:6"} and
remember still to retain high thoughts of God; not measuring him by our model; as
to think him to be as merciful as we are, as powerful as our understanding can
reach, &c. See Isaiah 55:8-9, and beg supernatural grace; without which it is
impossible for a finite creature to believe the infinite attributes of Almighty God.
The Holy One in the midst of thee] Though Israel had deeply revolted, set up golden
gods, and done wickedly as they could, so that there was no visible Church among
them, yet God was the Holy One in the midst of them; seven thousand he had
reserved that Elijah knew not of, 1 Kings 19:18, and a Church there was in Israel
when at worst. Like as there was in medio Papatu, in the darkest midnight of
damned Popery; and at this very day there are said to be thousands of professed

102. Protestants, even in Italy itself; and in Seville, a chief city of Spain, there are
thought to be no fewer than twenty thousand.
And I will not enter into the city] I will not invade the city as an enemy, to waste all
with fire and sword, as once at Sodom. For what reason? there are holy ones in the
midst of thee (so Rivet expoundeth it by an enallage of the number), a considerable
company of righteous people, for whose sake I will spare thee, Jeremiah 5:1.
PETT, Verse 9
I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger,
I will not return to destroy Ephraim,
For I am God, and not man,
The Holy One in the midst of you,
And I will not come in wrath.’
Thus while He would chastise them severely He would limit the way in which the
fierceness of His anger was exercised. He would not totally destroy Ephraim. They
would still have a hope in the more distant future once their chastisement was over.
This was precisely what Moses had declared centuries before when he had led them
out of the wilderness (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28-29). And YHWH would do this
because He was not a mere, vengeful man, but was God. He was the ‘Holy One’ of
Israel in the midst of them, that is, the One Who was unique and of a wholly
different nature from man, Who had chosen Israel. Thus while He would certainly
visit them in wrath, it would not be in final wrath. He would chastise, but not finally
destroy. Partial fulfilment of this future mercy took place in the restoration of Israel
to the land, a restoration which would have drawn many exiles back to Palestine
and resulted in the partly receptive Palestine to which Jesus came. But its greater
fulfilment took place through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ Himself as He
brought the remnant of Israel back to God, cutting off the old unbelieving Israel,
and establishing a new believing Israel which would reach out to the world. But the
restoration of old, unbelieving Israel to Palestine in the present day might also
suggest that in the future there will be a great working of God among them so that
they are once more ‘engrafted into the olive tree’ (Romans 11) by coming in
submission to Jesus Christ (without which there can be no salvation for anyone).
MT indicates that the final phrase is ‘And I will not enter into the city’, which
would then indicate that while Assyria might destroy Samaria, and the sword might
enter into the city (Hosea 11:6), YHWH Himself would not enter into the city in
final judgment. It would not have had the final death knell rung over it, but would
take part in the future about to be described.

103. 10 They will follow the Lord;
he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west.
BAR ES, "They shall walk after the Lord - Not only would God not destroy
them all, but a remnant of them should “walk after the Lord,” i. e., they shall believe in
Christ. The Jews of old understood this of Christ. One of them saith , “this pointeth to
the time of their redemption.” And another , “Although I will withdraw from the midst of
them My divine presence for their iniquity, and remove them out of their own land, yet
shall there be a long time in which they shall seek after the Lord and find Him.” This is
what Hosea has said before, that they should “abide many days without a king and
without a prince, and without a sacrifice; afterward shall the children of Israel return
and seek the Lord their God, and David their king” Hos_3:4-5. : “Whereas now they
“fled from” God, and “walked after other gods after the imagination of their evil hearts,
after their own devices” Hos_7:13; Jer_7:9; Jer_3:17; Jer_18:12, then he promises, they
shall “walk after God the Lord,” following the will, the mind, the commandments, the
example of Almighty God. As God says of David, He “kept My commandments, and
walked after Me with all his heart” 1Ki_14:8; and Micah foretells that “many nations
shall say, we will walk in His paths” Mic_4:2. They shall “follow after” Him, whose
infinite perfections none can reach; yet they shall “follow after,” never standing still, but
reaching on to that which is unattainable by His grace, attaining the more by imitating
what is inimitable, and stopping short of no perfection, until, in His presence, they be
perfected in Him.
He shall roar like a lion - Christ is called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” Rev_5:5.
His “roaring” is His loud call to repentance, by Himself and by His Apostles. The voice of
God to sinners, although full of love, must be full of awe too. He calls them, not only to
flee to His mercy, but to “flee from the wrath to come.” He shall call to them with a voice
of Majesty command.
When He shall roar, the children shall tremble from the West - that is, they
shall come in haste and fear to God. “His word is powerful, sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow” Heb_4:12. Whence those whose hearts were pricked at the preaching of Peter,
said to him with trembling, “Men and brethren what shall we do?” Act_2:37. So did the
preaching of judgment to come terrify the world, that from all places some did come out
of the captivity of the world and did fly to Christ” . He says, “from the West;” for “from
the West” have most come in to the Gospel. Yet the Jews were then about to be carried to
the East, not to the West; and of the West the prophets had no human knowledge. But
the ten tribes, although carried to the East into Assyria, did not all remain there, since

104. before the final dispersion, we find Jews in Italy, Greece, Asia Minor; where those who
had been restored to their own land, would not have anew exiled themselves. In these,
whenever they were converted, this prophecy was fulfilled.
CLARKE, "They shall walk after the Lord - They shall discern the operations of
his providence, when,
He shall roar like a lion - When he shall utter his majestic voice, Cyrus shall make
his decree. The people shall tremble - be in a state of commotion; every one hurrying to
avail himself of the opportunity to return to his own land.
GILL, "They shall walk after the Lord,.... That is, after the Messiah, who is
Jehovah our righteousness; that Jehovah the Jews pierced, and now shall mourn at the
sight of, being converted to him; for these are the chosen of God among that people, who
in the latter day shall partake of the grace and favour before expressed, in consequence
of which they shall be set a seeking the Lord their God, and David their King; and,
finding him, shall follow after him, as sheep go after their shepherd, being led by him
into green pastures; as subjects follow their prince, obeying his commands and orders;
as soldiers march after their leader and commander, so these after Christ, the great
Captain of their salvation, part of whose armies they will make: they will walk under the
influence of his grace, having life, strength, guidance, and direction, from him, which
walking implies; they will walk not after the flesh, as they now do, but after the Spirit of
Christ, taking him for their guide, by whom they will be led into all truth, as it is in
Jesus; they will walk in his ways, in all the paths of faith and holiness, truth and
righteousness; in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, according to his
word. The Targum is,
"they shall go after the worship of the Lord;''
he shall roar like a lion: the Lord Christ they walk after; who is the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, the Israelites shall now follow after; receiving, embracing, and confessing him
the true Messiah. So the Targum,
"and his Word shall be as a lion that roars;''
Christ, the essential Word of God: and so Jarchi, according to Lyra, interprets it of the
Messiah to come; who is compared to a lion for his strength and courage, and for the
fierceness of his wrath against his enemies; and his voice, in his word, is like the roaring
of a lion, exceeding loud, and reaching far, even the uttermost parts of the earth; as it did
in the first times of the Gospel, and will in the last; and which the Jews particularly, in
each of the parts of the world, will hear, and Gentiles also, and be affected with it; for it
will be also very strong, powerful, and efficacious; which is another reason of its being
compared to a lion roaring; see Joe_3:16;
when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west; the
children of Israel, the children of God, his adopted ones, whom he has predestinated to
the adoption of children; these, through the first impressions of Christ's voice or word
upon them, shall startle, and be set a trembling, and be astonished, as Saul was, when

105. called and converted; as it is reported of the lion, that, when it roars, other beasts are so
terrified that they are quite stunned and amazed, and are not able to stir; but though the
first sound of the voice of Christ may have some effect upon the Jews, yet this will not
cause them to tremble at him so as to flee from him, but to cause them to flee to him: for
the phrase is expressive of motion towards him, and to their own land, as appears from
Hos_11:11; when filled with a sense of his majesty and grace, they shall approach him
with a holy awe of him, with fear and trembling: or "come with honour" (h); agreeably to
1Sa_16:4; having high, honourable, and grand sentiments and apprehensions of him; so
that this trembling, at least, issues in a godly and filial fear and reverence of him,
suitable to their character as children. The phrase, "from the west", or "from the sea" (i),
meaning the Mediterranean sea, which lay west of Judea, and is often used for the west,
may signify the western or European part of the world, where the Jews for the most part
are, and from whence they will be gathered. The Targum is,
"for he shall roar, and the captives shall be gathered from the west.''
JAMISO , "he shall roar like a lion — by awful judgments on their foes (Isa_
31:4; Jer_25:26-30; Joe_3:16), calling His dispersed “children” from the various lands
of their dispersion.
shall tremble — shall flock in eager agitation of haste.
from the west — (Zec_8:7). Literally, “the sea.” Probably the Mediterranean,
including its “isles of the sea,” and maritime coast. Thus as Hos_11:11 specifies regions
of Africa and Asia, so here Europe. Isa_11:11-16, is parallel, referring to the very same
regions. On “children,” see Hos_1:10.
CALVI , "Verse 10
When the Prophet says, that they shall walk after Jehovah, he proceeds farther than
before; for here he refers not to the mitigation of punishment, but promises
restoration. He had said before, that though the Lord would deal severely with his
people, there would yet be some moderation in his wrath, so that he would not
destroy the whole people. ow, it follows, that God, after having thus restrained
himself, will extend his favour even to the restoration of the people, and bring to life
those who seemed to have been dead. We now then perceive what the Prophet
means.
But to expound this, — they shall walk after Jehovah, of the obedience of the people,
as it is done by interpreters, does not seem right to me. It is indeed certain that no
people can be restored except they repent; yea, it is the main beginning of God’s
favour, when he chastises men and heals them of their wickedness. But here the
Prophet handles another thing, even that the Lord will show himself a leader to his
people, who had been for a time dispersed. As long as the people were scattered in
Assyria and in other distant lands, they were without any head, as a mutilated body.
But when the ripened time of restoration came, the Lord revolved to deliver them,
and proclaimed himself the leader of his people; and in this manner the people were
gathered to God. This is what the Prophet now means when he says, after Jehovah:
that is, for a time, indeed, God will forsake them, that they may languish in their
dispersion; but at length he will gather them, and show himself as their leader in

106. their journey, that he may restore them to their country. They shall then, he says,
follow Jehovah, and he shall roar as a lion: when he shall roar, then children from
the sea shall tremble”; that is, God will be formidable to enemies so that none will
hinder the return of his people. Many, indeed, will be the enemies, many will labour
to set up opposition: but the people shall nevertheless come forth free. How so? For
the Lord will fill all with dread, and restrain all the efforts of their enemies; so that
they shall be constrained to withdraw from the Assyrians, as well as from the
Egyptians. Though, on one side, the Egyptians may resist, and, on the other, the
Assyrians, they shall not yet impede the return of the people. Why? Because the
Lord will put them to flight, and he will be to them as a lions and fill them all with
terror. But the rest we shall defer.
COFFMA , "Verse 10
"They shall walk after Jehovah, who will roar like a lion; for he will roar, and the
children shall come trembling from the west."
Mauchline defended this verse against the attack that would make it an
interpolation from some later time, saying, "It is undoubtedly difficult, but even
more difficult as an interpolation than as a genuine utterance of Hosea."[17]
This verse, as Keil noted, not only indicates obedience to the gathering voice of the
Lord on Israel's part, but also denotes their, "Walking in true obedience to the Lord
which follows from conversion."[18] This verse is therefore a reference to the times
of the dispensation of Christ and his holy apostles; and the Israel in view is not the
old secular kingdom at all, but the new Israel of the Church of Jesus Christ. "This
word is a ray of hope to be realized under the Messiah, through whom they would
be called by the gospel to peace and protection `in Him.'"[19] Butler also construed
this verse as positively Messianic and noted that the roaring lion as a figure of the
Lord is like those of Joel 3:16-17 and Amos 1:2, which is, of course, "A sending
forth of the gospel from Jerusalem to all those who will hear and become sons of the
covenant in the Messianic age."[20]
"The children shall come trembling from the west ..." "West is a very unusual word
in Hosea,"[21] and despite the fact of most commentators applying it to the
Mediterranean area, we believe it applies to people all over the world who would
obey the gospel.
COKE, "Hosea 11:10. They shall walk, &c.— It shall come to pass, that they shall
follow the Lord, when he shall roar like a lion; for he shall roar, and the fishes of
the sea shall tremble. Houbigant. See Ezekiel 38:20. By the fishes of the sea, are
supposed to be meant the people of Egypt and Babylon. But the following seems a
better and more consistent translation:—They shall walk after the Lord, who shall
roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall come fluttering from the
west. Hosea 11:11. They shall come fluttering as a bird, &c.
The children— It is remarkable, that the expression is neither their children, nor
my children, but simply the children. The first would limit the discourse to the

107. natural Israel exclusively; the second would be nearly of the same effect, as it would
express such as were already children at the time of the roaring. But the term the
children, put nakedly, without either of these epithets, expresses those who were
neither of the natural Israel, nor children, that is, worshippers, of the true God, at
the time of the roaring, but were roused by that sound, and then became children,
that is to say, the adopted children, by natural extraction Gentiles. This and the next
verse contain indeed a wonderful prophecy of the promulgation and progress of the
Gospel, and the restoration of the race of Israel. The first clause of this 10th verse
states generally, that they will return to the Lord. In what follows, the circumstances
and progress of the business are described. First, Jehovah will roar—the roaring is
unquestionably the sound of the Gospel. Jehovah himself shall roar—the sound
shall begin to be uttered by the voice of the incarnate God himself. The first effect
shall be, children shall come fluttering from the west; a new race of children—
converts of the Gentiles; chiefly from the western quarters of the world, or what the
Scriptures call the west; for no part, I think, of Asia Minor, Syria, or Palestine, is
reckoned a part of the east in the language of the Old Testament. Afterwards the
natural Israel shall hurry from all the regions of their dispersion, and be settled in
their own dwellings.
It is to be observed, that the roaring is mentioned twice. It will be most consistent
with the style of the prophets, to take this as two roarings; and to refer the hurrying
of the children from the west to the first; the hurrying from Egypt and Assyria to
the second. The times of the two roarings are the first and second advent. The first
brought children from the west; the renewed preaching of the Gospel, at the second,
will bring home the Jews. And perhaps this second sounding of the Gospel may be
more remarkable even than the first, the roaring of Jehovah in person.
REFLECTIO S.—1st, God puts the people of Israel in mind,
1. Of the grace and mercy that he had shewn them. When Israel was a child, then I
loved him, in their weak and helpless state, when first God took them for a people;
and called my son out of Egypt, from that house of their prison: and prophetically
this declares what should be the case with Christ, God's incarnate Son, to whom,
Matthew 2:15 the words are expressly applied, and in and through whom every
faithful soul has obtained a deliverance from the bondage of guilt and corruption,
infinitely more intolerable than that of Egypt. I taught Ephraim also to go, with all
the tenderness and care of the fondest mother; taking them by their arms; giving
them his holy law to direct them, and by a pillar and cloud guiding their marches in
the trackless wilderness. And thus God still upholds his believing people, teaching
them by his word and spirit; carrying them through their trials and temptations,
and strengthening their souls for his work and service. I healed them of their
diseases and plagues; as he doth the souls of genuine penitents, when wounded by
sin, or when they have suffered by spiritual decays. I drew them with cords of a
man, with bands of love; by every endearing motive, and the powerfully
constraining influence of his love shed abroad in their hearts, by which God still
draws every penitent sinner to come unto him. I was to them as they that take off
the yoke on their jaws; as the husbandman unmuzzles the ox, or looses the yoke

108. from its neck, so had God delivered them from the servitude of Egypt, as he doth his
believing people from the bondage of corruption: and I laid meat unto them; the
manna and quails wherewith he fed them in the wilderness, the emblems of the
better spiritual bread which cometh down from heaven, with which God
strengthens and comforts his faithful people in their way through this desart world
to the land of eternal rest.
2. Of the base ingratitude with which they had requited him. As they, the prophets
of the Lord, called them to their duty, and to return from their sinful backslidings;
so they went from them: the more importunately they were solicited, the more
obstinate and refractory they grew. They sacrificed unto Baalim, and burnt incense
to graven images, the abominable thing against which they were so particularly
warned. All God's kindness was thrown away upon them: they knew not that I
healed them, but ascribe to their idols all their mercies; and my people are bent to
backsliding from me; both under a constant propensity to depart from him, and
wilfully set upon their abominations, though nationally his people, which relation
aggravated their guilt exceedingly. They refused to return; whether courted or
threatened, they persisted in evil: though they called them to the Most High, to leave
their idols, and return to the worship of the true God, none at all would exalt him,
give him the glory due unto his name; or lift up their prayers to him for mercy, or
their hearts from earthly vanities to high and heavenly things. ote; Much pains are
often spent to little purpose by God's faithful ministers; yet, though sinners will not
hear, God is thereby glorified in leaving them without excuse.
3. Heavy wrath is denounced against them. He shall not return into the land of
Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, whose yoke would be so much heavier,
that they would wish rather for the task-masters of Egypt again: or so straitly
should they be besieged, or so far carried away captives, that they should not be able
to send ambassadors to Egypt for assistance. And the sword shall abide on his cities;
the destruction shall be long continued, as well as universal; and shall consume his
branches, and devour them; the villages and country around, or the inhabitants
thereof; because of their own counsels, which were their ruin. ote; Sinners have
none to blame but themselves: they choose those ways which necessarily lead to their
own perdition.
2nd, We have,
1. The reluctance that a gracious God expresses in giving up the once chosen people
of Israel to ruin. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? &c. Justice might well plead
for their total excision, and that, like the cities which were consumed with fire,
Deuteronomy 29:23. Israel deserved to be given up to the same terrible vengeance;
but mercy pleads for some mitigation or respite, if not for pardon; and God, as a
father, with bowels of tenderest compassion, appears most backward to ruin even
this rebellious son; and mercy prevails; mine heart is turned within me, my
repentings are kindled together. And most astonishing do these compassions of our
God appear! Oh, that the ungrateful sinner would for a moment pause, and think of
them! Surely they must soften his obdurate heart.

109. 2. God's determination to shew them some mercy. I will not execute the fierceness of
mine anger, in blotting out their name from under heaven; I will not return to
destroy Ephraim; though I visit them in wrath, I will not enter into the city; though
Jerusalem, Samaria, and the other cities, lie waste for a time, their desolations shall
not be perpetual, as those of Admah and Zeboim: for I am God, and not man,
(human compassions, indeed, would long ago have failed;) the holy One in the midst
of thee. Christ is his faithful people's protector: for his sake, who stands in the midst
of them to plead for them, they are spared; and, though they deserve punishment,
through him they obtain mercy. They shall walk after the Lord, the Messiah their
Saviour, their leader and commander, the Captain of their Salvation, receiving an
application of the great and precious promises of his Gospel, and yielding to be
saved by grace. He shall roar like a lion; his word shall be heard far and near: when
he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west; the returning penitents,
whose hearts shall be deeply affected with the preaching of the Gospel: and this
respects the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, the Gospel having chiefly spread that way
hitherto. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of
Assyria, flying swiftly, as the timorous dove when pursued by a bird of prey, to the
covert of redeeming grace: and I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord; in
the church of God below; and all those who persevere to the end in faith and love, in
the eternal mansions of glory above. ote; (1.) When we are most discouraged with
the sense of our own deserts, we should still remember with whom we have to do: he
is God, and not man; and as his majesty is, so is his mercy. (2.) The trembling of the
sinner is usually the first symptom of his return to God. (3.) When Christ is our
captain, and we walk after him, we cannot fail of victory over every foe.
3. A heavy complaint still lies against Ephraim: he compasseth me about with lies,
and the house of Israel with deceit. This seems to be a new discourse, and most
properly should begin the next chapter. Their services were hypocritical, and their
profession deceitful, and therefore an abhorrence in the sight of the heart-searching
God.
4. Judah is highly commended: Judeah yet ruleth with God. The two tribes
submitted in some measure to that Theocracy which God had established among
them, and their kings ruled according to God's law, and received their directions
from him in their emergencies; which was their truest honour and highest dignity:
and he is faithful with the saints, cleaving to the worship of the sanctuary and
treading in the steps of their pious progenitors; and, while they do so, they may
assuredly expect that God will be faithful to his promises, and preserve them to his
everlasting kingdom. ote; (1.) They who perseveringly make God their king shall
be exalted to reign with him. (2.) The faithful will be rewarded with mansions in
glory, when the hypocrite and unbeliever shall receive their portion in everlasting
burnings.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 10
(10) Render, They shall go up after Jehovah, who roars as a lion; yea, he shall roar
so that the children, &c. Lions accompanied Egyptian monarchs to the battle-field.

110. Read the picturesque description of Rameses II. in his battle with the Kheta, by
George Ebers in Uarda. “West” means the coast and islands of the Levant.
Tremble—i.e., come with an awe-stricken joy to the voice of the Divine summons.
TRAPP, "Verse 10
Hosea 11:10 They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall
roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.
Ver. 10. They shall walk after the Lord] Powerfully calling them by his Word and
Spirit, going before them, and bringing up the rear, Isaiah 3:12; their king shall
pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them, Micah 2:13. There was a time
when they fled from God, Hosea 7:13, and said, "I will go after my lovers," &c.
Hosea 2:5-7. ow they are of another mind and other manners; they shall walk after
the Lord, non pedibus sed affectibus; they shall be carried after him with strength
of desire and delight, which he shall work in them; they shall follow the Lamb
whithersoever he goeth, Revelation 14:4. God’s people are said in Scripture to walk
before him in godly sincerity, to walk with him in a humble familiarity, to walk after
him in a holy conformity, yielding unto him the obedience of faith. As Israel in the
wilderness, so must we, follow God and the line of his law, though it seem to lead us
in and out, backward and forward (as them), as if he were treading a maze.
He shall roar like a lion] By the preaching of the gospel he shall shake heaven and
earth. The voice of the gospel is, repent. Aut poenitendum, aut pereundum, except
ye repent ye shall all perish. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but
he that believeth not shall be damned," was a terrible voice, Mark 16:16. Of the lion
it is reported, that he roareth so fiercely that the rest of the creatures stand amazed;
and that, whereas his own whelps come dead into the world, he roareth over them
and reviveth them. Afterwards, when he meeteth with prey, he roareth for them to
come about him. Let this be applied to the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Confer Joel
3:16.
Then the children shall tremble from the west] The children of grace, Deuteronomy
14:1, shall join themselves in spirit to the communion of the Church from all the
ends of the world, where they have been scattered; they shall serve the Lord with
fear, rejoice with trembling. The ancient Hebrews applied this promise to the
coming of the Messiah; only they dreamed of an earthly kingdom of his, as did also
the disciples, being soured with the leaven of the Pharisees. Others think it to be a
prophecy of the conversion and calling of the Jews, to be accomplished in the last
days; as also of the general spreading of the gospel, and gathering of the elect, far
and wide, from one end of the heavens to another. And this they call the time of the
restitution of all things.
PETT, "Verse 10
‘They will walk after YHWH,

111. Who will roar like a lion,
For he will roar,
And the children will come trembling from the west.’
For when the time came for Him to act in mercy He would roar like a lion, so that
Ephraim would walk after YHWH. His roaring would cause them to respond to the
covenant with all their hearts (compare Amos 3:8). He would roar, and his young
lion cubs would come to Him ‘trembling’ (the word means ‘jumping with fear,
shaking’) from the west’ (i.e. through the Valley of Jezreel to the west of Samaria,
on their way from Assyria and Egypt). His people will once again know ‘the fear of
YHWH’.
Some see ‘from the west (sea)’ as signifying from further afield, even from countries
across the sea.
K&D 10-11, "“They will go after Jehovah; like a lion will He roar; for He will roar:
and sons will tremble from the sea. Hos_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 Hos_11:9, but here it is introduced quite abruptly, and without any logical
particle of connection, like the same promise in Hos_3:5. ‫יי‬ ‫אחרי‬ ְ‫ך‬ ַ‫ל‬ ָ‫,ה‬ 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 (Deu_13:5; 1Ki_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 Isa_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, Hos_3:5). ‫ם‬ָ ִ‫,מ‬ from
the sea, i.e., from the distant islands and lands of the west (Isa_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 Isa_11:11. The comparison to birds and
doves expresses the swiftness with which they draw near, as doves fly to their dovecots
(Isa_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. Jer_32:37, where ‫ח‬ ַ‫ט‬ ֶ‫ב‬ ָ‫ל‬ is added). On the
construing of ‫יב‬ ִ‫ּושׁ‬‫ה‬ with ‫ל‬ ַ‫,ע‬ cf. 1Ki_20:43, and the German auf der Stube sein. The
expression ‫יי‬ ‫ם‬ ֻ‫א‬ְ‫נ‬ 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 Hos_2:1-3.

112. 11 They will come from Egypt,
trembling like sparrows,
from Assyria, fluttering like doves.
I will settle them in their homes,”
declares the Lord.
Israel’s Sin
BAR ES, "They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt - The West denoted
Europe; Egypt and Assyria stand, each for all the lands beyond them, and so for Africa
and Asia; all together comprise the three quarters of the world, from where converts
have chiefly come to Christ. These are likened to birds, chiefly for the swiftness with
which they shall then haste to the call of God, who now turned away the more, the more
they were called. The dove, especially, was a bird of Palestine, proverbial for the
swiftness of its flight, easily aftrighted, and flying the more rapidly, the more it was
frightened, and returning to its cot from any distance where it might be carried; from
where Isaiah also says of the converts, “Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the
doves to their windows?” Isa_60:8. “The Hebrews,” says Jerome, “refer this to the
coming of the Christ, who, they hope, will come; we shew that it hath taken place
already. For both from Egypt and Aasyria, i. e., from East and West, from North and
South, have they come, and daily do they come, who sit down with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob.”
And I will place them in their houses - “Their houses” may be their own
particular Churches, in the one Church or “House of God” 1Ti_3:15. In this house, God
says, that He will make them to dwell, not again to be removed from it, nor shaken in it,
but in a secure dwelling-place here until they be suited to be removed to everlasting
habitations. : “In their houses, i. e., in the mansions prepared for them. For from the
beginning of the world, when He created our first parents, and blessed them and said,
“Increase and multiply and replenish the earth,” He prepared for them everlasting
houses or mansions. Whereof He said, just before His Death, “In My father’s house are
many mansions,” and in the Last Day, He will say, “Come ye blessed of My Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
CLARKE, "They shall tremble as a bird - Those of them that are in Egypt shall
also be called thence, and shall speed hither as a bird. Those in Assyria shall also be

113. called to return, and they shall flee as doves to their windows. All shall, in the fullness of
time, return to their own land. And,
I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord - They shall have their temple
once more, and all their holy ordinances.
GILL, "They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt,.... They shall come from thence
with fear and trembling; which may allude to the trembling of birds at the roaring of a
lion, or to the trembling motion of their wings in flying; and denotes the swiftness of the
motion of the Israelites and Jews to Christ, and to his church and people, and to their
own land, under divine influence and direction: or "shall come with honour" (k); with all
readiness and cheerfulness, in the obedience of faith:
and as a dove out of the land of Assyria; which is expressive of the same things, the
dove being both a timorous and swift creature. Birds in common are very timorous, and
tremble at any noise, and fearful of everything that disturbs them, and therefore make all
the haste and speed they can to get out of the way, and to do which they are naturally
provided; and more especially the dove is always represented as very fearful and
trembling, especially when pursued by the hawk, as the poet (l) observes. Though, it may
be, these figures may only signify, as the weak and impotent state of the Jews,
considered in themselves at this time, so the quick speed and haste they shall make to
their own land. And perhaps there may be something alluded to in the text, that may
refer to the dove as peculiar to Assyria, as it should seem to be. Now it is said of
Semiramis, an ancient queen of Assyria, that being exposed when an infant, was
nourished by doves, and at her death was turned into one; and from hence it is not only
said she had her name, which signifies a dove, in the Syriac tongue, but doves by the
Syrians were worshipped as deities (m). And Derceto, a Syrian goddess, supposed to be
her mother, having a temple at Askelon, perhaps the above story may be the reason why
the inhabitants of that place reckoned doves so sacred that they did not kill them; for
Philo (n), who lived there some time, having observed great numbers of them in the
highways, and in every house, asked the reason of it; and he was answered, that the
citizens were of old forbid the use of them: and it may be further observed, that, in
honour of Semiramis, the kings of Assyria bore a dove in their coat of arms (o); but
whether there is any thing peculiar or no in this reference is not certain: and, besides
what has been observed of the fearfulness of this creature, and its swiftness and haste it
makes in flying, it may also denote the characters of meekness, humility, and
harmlessness, which the Jews, now converted, will have by the grace of God, as well as
their mournful disposition. Egypt and Assyria are particularly mentioned, as they
generally are where the return of Israel and Judah into their own land is prophesied of,
Isa_11:11; and may signify the Turks, in whose possession these countries are, and
among whom many Jews live: and the one lying to the south, and the other to the north
of Judea, and the west being observed before, this shows that these people should be
gathered from all parts of the world, where they are dispersed; the east is not mentioned,
because their land they will be returned unto lies there;
and I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord; it is not said in towns and
cities, and fortified places, but in houses, signifying that they should dwell in their own
land, in a civil sense, securely, and in their habitations, under their vines and fig trees,
being in no fear and danger of enemies, and live in the utmost safety, under the
government and protection of the King Messiah; or, in a spiritual sense, they will be

114. placed in the congregations of the saints in the churches of Christ, which will be as dove
houses to them, and whither they shall fly as doves to their windows, Isa_60:8; and it is
observed of doves, that they fly the swiftest when they make to their own houses: and at
last, as all the people of God will, they will be placed in the mansions of glory, in Christ's
Father's house, those everlasting habitations. These words, "saith the Lord", are added,
for the certain and sure accomplishment of all this. The Targum of the whole is,
"as a bird which comes openly, so shall they come who are carried captive into the land
of Egypt; and as a dove that returns to its dove house, so shall they return who are
carried into the land of Assyria; and I will return them in peace to their houses, and my
word shall be their protection, saith the Lord.''
HE RY, "Here is his wonderful forwardness to do good for Israel, which appears in
this, that he will qualify them to receive the good he designs for them (Hos_11:10, Hos_
11:11): They shall walk after the Lord. This respects the same favour with that (Hos_
3:5), They shall return, and seek the Lord their God; it is spoken of the ten tribes, and
had its accomplishment, in part, in the return of some of them with those of the two
tribes in Ezra's time; but it had its more full accomplishment in God's spiritual Israel,
the gospel-church, brought together and incorporated by the gospel of Christ. The
ancient Jews referred it to the time of the Messiah; the learned Dr. Pocock looks upon it
as a prophecy of Christ's coming to preach the gospel to the dispersed children of Israel,
the children of God that were scattered abroad. And then observe, 1. How they were to
be called and brought together: The Lord shall roar like a lion. The word of the Lord (so
says the Chaldee) shall be as a lion that roars. Christ is called the lion of the tribe of
Judah, and his gospel, in the beginning of it, was the voice of one crying in the
wilderness. When Christ cried with a loud voice it was as when a lion roared, Rev_10:3.
The voice of the gospel was heard afar, as the roaring of a lion, and it was a mighty
voice. See Joe_3:16. 2. What impression this call should make upon them, such an
impression as the roaring of a lion makes upon all the beasts of the forest: When he shall
roar then the children shall tremble. See Amo_3:8, The lion has roared; the Lord God
has spoken; and then who will not fear? When those whose hearts the gospel reached
trembled, and were astonished, and cried out, What shall we do? - when they were by it
put upon working out their salvation, and worshipping God with fear and trembling,
then this promise was fulfilled. The children shall tremble from the west. The dispersed
Jews were carried eastward, to Assyria and Babylon, and those that returned came from
the east; therefore this seems to have reference to the calling of the Gentiles that lay
westward from Canaan, for that way especially the gospel spread. They shall tremble;
they shall move and come with trembling, with care and haste, from the west, from the
nations that lay that way, to the mountain of the Lord (Isa_2:3), to the gospel-
Jerusalem, upon hearing the alarm of the gospel. The apostle speaks of mighty signs
and wonders that were wrought by the preaching of the gospel from Jerusalem round
about to Illyricum, Rom_15:19. Then the children trembled from the west. And, whereas
Israel after the flesh was dispersed in Egypt and Assyria, it is promised that they shall be
effectually summoned thence (Hos_11:11): They shall tremble; they shall come
trembling, and with all haste, as a bird upon the wing, out of Egypt, and as a dove out of
the land of Assyria; a dove is noted for swift and constant flight, especially when she
flies to her windows, which the flocking of Jews and Gentiles to the church is here
compared to, as it is Isa_60:8. Wherever those are that belong to the election of grace -
east, west, north, or south - they shall hear the joyful sound, and be wrought upon by it;
those of Egypt and Assyria shall come together; those that lay most remote from each
other shall meet in Christ, and be incorporated in the church. Of the uniting of Egypt

115. and Assyria, it was prophesied, Isa_19:23. 3. What effect these impressions should have
upon them. Being moved with fear, they shall flee to the ark: They shall walk after the
Lord, after the service of the Lord (so the Chaldee); they shall take the Lord Christ for
their leader and commander; they shall enlist themselves under him as the captain of
their salvation, and give up themselves to the direction of the Spirit as their guide by the
word; they shall leave all to follow Christ, as becomes disciples. Note, Our holy
trembling at the word of Christ will draw us to him, not drive us from him. When he
roars like a lion the slaves tremble and flee from him, the children tremble and flee to
him. 4. What entertainment they shall meet with at their return (Hos_11:11): I will place
them in their houses (all those that come at the gospel-call shall have a place and a name
in the gospel-church, in the particular churches which are their houses, to which they
pertain; they shall dwell in God, and be at home in him, both easy and safe, as a man in
his own house; they shall have mansions, for there are many in our Father's house), in
his tabernacle on earth and his temple in heaven, in everlasting habitations, which may
be called their houses, for they are the lot they shall stand in at the end of the days.
III. Here is a sad complaint of the treachery of Ephraim and Israel, which may be an
intimation that it is not Israel after the flesh, but the spiritual Israel, to whom the
foregoing promises belong, for as for this Ephraim, this Israel, they compass God about
with lies and deceit; all their services of him, when they pretended to compass his altar,
were feigned and hypocritical; when they surrounded him with their prayers and praises,
every one having a petition to present to him, they lied to him with their mouth and
flattered him with their tongue; their pretensions were so fair, and yet their intentions
so foul, that they would, if possible, have imposed upon God himself. Their professions
and promises were all a cheat, and yet with these they thought to compass God about, to
enclose him as it were, to keep him among them, and prevent his leaving them.
JAMISO , "tremble — flutter in haste.
dove — no longer “a silly dove” (Hos_7:11), but as “doves flying to their windows”
(Isa_60:8).
in their houses — (Eze_28:26). Literally, “upon,” for the Orientals live almost as
much upon their flat-roofed houses as in them.
CALVI , "Verse 11
In the last lecture, we began to explain what the Prophet means by saying, that the
Israelites shall come after the Lord: that is, that when the time of the exile shall be
completed, God will be the leader of his people in their journey, that they might
return safe to their country. And for this reason, he also subjoins, that the Egyptians
as well as the Assyrians would be timid; and hence he compares them to doves and
sparrows, or birds; for when the nations should attempt to hinder the return of the
people, and strive against them with great forces and great efforts, God would break
down their courage. For as God had determined to redeem his people, his decree
could not have been nullified, no, not by the whole world. Whatever then, the
Assyrians, and also the Egyptians, might attempt to do, though powerful in forces, it
would yet avail nothing; nay, God would strike into both such fear and dread, that
they should not make any stir when the Lord restored his people. There is a similar
mode of speaking in Joel, (82) except that he does not introduce the similitudes that
they would be like birds and doves. But he speaks of the roaring of God, as though

116. he said, that the power of God would be terrible and invincible, so that he would
defend and protect his people, and no one would dare to rise up against him; and
that if one should dare, he would be constrained instantly to succumb. Let us now
proceed —
COFFMA , Verse 11
"They shall come trembling as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of
Assyria; and I will make them to dwell in their houses, saith Jehovah."
" othing is said here of their returning to Palestine."[22] The dwelling in "their
houses" is used as a metaphor of the blessings in the kingdom of Christ. Keil and
others who referred this to a literal return to Palestine are undoubtedly mistaken.
"This mercy of God which the prophet foresees is fulfilled in Christ."[23] The
physical facts of the situation force this interpretation, because Assyria no longer
exists; and we cannot take the "return from Assyria" as figurative, and the entering
into their houses as literal.
ELLICOTT, "(11) Will place them.—Better, will cause them to dwell. The
prophetic word looks beyond the restoration of the sixth century B.C. to the
gathering together of some from east and west, from all the places where they are
hidden in exile under the lion of the tribe of Judah; the broader and grander
accomplishment will satisfy and more than fulfil the yearnings of the spiritual
Israel.
TRAPP, "Verse 11
Hosea 11:11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land
of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.
Ver. 11. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt] Trepide accurrent, so
Tremellius; they shall run tremblingly. Fear causeth haste. Men delay and trifle till
God strikes their hearts with fear; then it is Ecce ego, mitre me, Here I am, send me;
Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth; What wilt thou have me to do, Lord? &c.
Timor addidit alas. As the doves when pursued by the hawk fly quicky into their
dove cotes, as birds frightened fly to their nests, and other creatures to their holes
and harbours; so do those that are pricked at heart with the terrors of the law flee
to the precious promises of the gospel, hiding themselves in the wounds of Christ
crucified, and are relieved. All St Paul’s care was, that when he was sought for by
the justice of God, he might be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness,
but that which is through the faith of Christ, Philippians 3:9.
And as a dove out of the land of Assyria] i.e. out of what country soever, where they
shall be scattered, I will recollect them by my gospel, which is therefore called God’s
arm, because thereby he gathereth his elect into his bosom. Doves fly swiftly, Psalms
55:6, and by flocks, Isaiah 60:8; so shall the elect to Christ, both of Jews and
Gentiles. By the children of the west may be meant these western Churches, and

117. plus the northern parts. By Egypt, the whole south. By Asshur, all the eastern tract,
those large and mighty kingdoms that lie eastward from Judea, even to the
sunrising. Thus "many shall come from east and west, and shall sit down with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven," Matthew 8:11. The molten
sea stood upon twelve oxen, which looked to all the four quarters of the world; so
did the twelve gates of the new Jerusalem.
And I will place them in their houses] ot in strong garrisons, but in their own
houses; where they shall dwell securely under their own vines and fig trees; for they
shall have the gospel of peace and the peace of the gospel, see 2 Samuel 7:10. Or
thus, I will place them in their own houses, that is, in my Church (saith Polanus),
which hath its houses and places of receipt among all people the whole world
throughout, where they may serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness
before him all their days. Thus the apostles in their travels, wherever they came,
found brethren, &c., and having nothing, yet they possessed all things, 2
Corinthians 6:10. True tranquillity and sound security is to be found nowhere but
in Christ, Micah 4:4; Micah 5:5, nor by any but by those that hear him roaring, and
calling them to the participation of his grace and peace. Those that hearken to
Christ’s oracles shall dwell in his tabernacle.
PETT, "Verse 11
They will come trembling as a bird out of Egypt,
And as a dove out of the land of Assyria,
And I will make them to dwell in their houses,
Say YHWH.’
Responding in reverent fear His people will come ‘like a bird out of Egypt, and like
a dove out of the land of Assyria. This may have in mind the dove that returned to
the ark after God’s judgment on the world in the time of oah, and be the
indication of a new beginning. Or the idea may be in order to emphasise their
defencelessness. ot like an eagle, but like a dove. And the thought is that God’s
people will renounce Egypt once and for all, and will return from the place of exile
in Assyria, and will come and make their homes with God. The metaphor is a
picturesque one. The birds would be firmly settled in Egypt and Assyria until
suddenly disturbed by the roar of the Lion, at which they will take to the skies and
make for their homeland. It was partly fulfilled when Israel returned to the land in
droves after the exile, it found a greater fulfilment when the Gospel reached out to
the Jews from Palestine both north and south as witnessed to in Acts, resulting in
their coming tremblingly to God, but its greatest fulfilment awaits the new Heaven
and the new earth where Abraham too will finally find the city that he was looking
for (Hebrews 11:10-14), and where all who are His will find their resting places
(John 14:2).
And all this is certain of fulfilment because it has been declared by YHWH. The lion
of Judah will be roused up (Genesis 49:9) and will roar (in the form of the Lamb as
it had been slain - Revelation 5:5-6), Shiloh will come, and His people will be
gathered to Him (Genesis 49:10).

118. 12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
Israel with deceit.
And Judah is unruly against God,
even against the faithful Holy One.[b]
BAR ES, "Ephraim compasseth Me about with lies - Having spoken of future
repentance, conversion, restoration, he turns back to those around him, and declares
why they can have no share in that restoration. Nothing about them was true. If ever
they approached God, it was “with lies.” : “God, being infinite, cannot really be
“compassed about.” The prophet so speaks, to describe the “great multitude of those
who thus lied to God, and the multitude and manifoldness of their lies. Wherever God
looked, in all parts of their kingdom, in all their doings, all which He could see was lying
to Himself.” All was, as it were, one throng of lies, heaped on one another, jostling with
one another. Such is the world now. “Their sin was especially a lie, because they sinned,
not through ignorance, but through malice.” Their chief lie was the setting up of the
worship of the calves, with a worldly end, yet with pretence of religion toward God;
denying Him, the One true God, in that they joined idols with Him, yet professing to
serve Him. And so all their worship of God, their repentance, their prayers, their
sacrifices were all one lie. For one lie underlay all, penetrated all, corrupted all. All half-
belief is unbelief; all half-repentance is unrepentance, all half-worship is unworship;
and, in that each and all give themselves out for that divine whole, whereof they are but
the counterfeit, each and all are “lies,” wherewith men, on all sides, encompass God.
From these wrong thoughts of God all their other deceits flowed, while yet, “they
deceived, not Him but themselves, in that they thought that they could deceive Him,
who cannot be deceived.” When Christ came, the house of Israel surrounded Him with
lies, the scribes and lawyers, the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians, vying with one
another, “how they might entangle Him in His talk” Mat_22:15.
But Judah yet ruleth with God - Ephraim had cast off the rule of God, the kings
and priests whom He had appointed, so that his whole kingdom and polity was without
God and against Him. In contrast with this, Judah, amid all His sins, was outwardly
faithful. He adhered to the line of kings, from whom was to spring the Christ, David’s
Son but David’s Lord. He worshiped with the priests whom God had appointed to offer
the typical sacrifices, until “He” should come, “the high priest forever, after the order of
Melchisedek,” who should end those sacrifices by the Sacrifice of Himself. Thus far

119. Judah “ruled with God;” he was on the side of God, maintained the worship of God, was
upheld by God. So Abijah said to Jeroboam, “The Lord is our God, and we have not
forsaken Him, and the priests which minister unto the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and
the Levites wait upon their business. For we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but ye
have forsaken Him, and behold God is with us for our Captain, ...” 2Ch_13:10-12.
And is faithful with the saints - Or (better perhaps, with the E. M) “with the All-
Holy.” The same plural is used of God elsewhere (Jos_24:19; and in Pro_30:3); and its
use, like that of the ordinary name of God, is founded on the mystery of the Trinity. It
does not teach it, but neither can it be accounted for in any other way. This faithfulness
of Judah was outward only, (as the upbraiding of the prophet to Judah testifies,) yet did
it much favor inward holiness. “The body without the soul is dead;” yet the life, even
when seeming to be dying out, might be brought back, when the body was there; not,
when it too was dissolved. Hence, Judah had many good kings, Israel none. Yet, in that
he says, “yet ruleth with God,” he shows that a time was coming when Judah too would
be, not “with God” but against Him, and also would be cast off.
CLARKE, "Ephraim compasseth me about with lies - I think this verse does
not well unite with the above; it belongs to another subject, and should begin the
following chapter, as in the Hebrew.
Judah yet ruleth with God - There is an allusion here to Gen_32:24, where Jacob
having “wrestled with the Angel,” had his name changed to Israel, one that rules with
God. That glory the Israelites had lost by their idolatry; but Judah still retained the true
worship, and alone deserved the name of Israel.
Bp. Newcome translates this clause thus: -
“But hereafter they shall come down a people of God, even a faithful
people of saints.”
Even allowing this to be the most correct view of the original, I do not see what we
gain by this change.
GILL, "Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel
with deceit,.... Here properly we should begin a new chapter, as many interpreters and
commentators do; for the prophet, or the Lord by him, in Hos_11:11, having finished his
predictions concerning the call and conversion of the Israelites, and their return to their
land, here begins a new discourse, by comparing the characters of Ephraim and Judah,
and thence descends to the sins and punishment of both. The former, namely, Ephraim
or Israel, that is, the ten tribes, surrounded either the prophet, to hear him prophesy,
and professed a great regard to what he said; though it was all deceit and flattery: or
rather the Lord himself, whom they pretended to serve and worship when they
worshipped the calves at Dan and Bethel; and would have it thought they did not
worship them, but the Lord in them, and by them, as the Papists now say of their images
and image worship; but let them not deceive themselves, God will not be mocked: or
when they did at any time seem to approach unto him in any branch of religious
worship, either to pray unto him, or to praise him, it was not done with sincerity; it was
only with their mouths, not with their hearts; these agreed not together, but, like their
ancestors of old, "they did flatter, him with their mouth, and lied unto him with their

120. tongues", Psa_78:36; and so all such professors of religion, who are not sincere in their
service and worship of God; or meet together to speak and hear false doctrines, which
are lies in hypocrisy; or attend to superstition and will worship, and set up ordinances
and institutions of their own, neglecting those which are of God, do as Ephraim did,
encompass the Lord with lies and deceit;
but Judah yet ruleth with God; a theocracy was as yet acknowledged and supported
among them; God ruled in the midst of them, and; they ruled with him; their kings ruled
in the fear of God, and according to his laws, statutes, and appointment, and not their
own; particularly in the days of Hezekiah, which may be here respected, the people
retained and practised the true worship and service of God: which, as it is the truest
liberty, so is the highest honour and dignity: such are rulers with God, as all the Lord's
people, all that believe in Christ, are; they are made by his grace kings and princes; and
they appear to be so by their new birth; they are clothed, fed, and guarded as princes, as
the sons of a king, as kings themselves; they have the riches and power of kings; they are
possessed of a kingdom of grace now, which is within them, and where grace reigns,
through righteousness, over their lusts and corruptions; and great power, like princes,
have they in prayer with God, and are heirs of the kingdom of glory, as well as shall reign
with Christ on earth. Gussetius renders it, "Judah yet weeps with God": as his father
Jacob did, imitating him, as in Hos_12:4;
and is faithful with the saints; which Kimchi's father interprets of God himself; and
so Lyra, and according to him Jarchi: and then the sense is, "and he", that is, God, "is
faithful with the saints"; in fulfilling all his counsels, purposes, and designs of grace
concerning them; in making good his covenant with them, and his promises unto them;
and by bringing them to the enjoyment of all that grace and glory he calls them to: but
this is rather an epithet of Judah, who kept to the word and worship of the true God, as
the saints of old, their ancestors, had done; walked in the good old way, in the way of
good men, and kept the paths of the righteous; abode by the true priests of the Lord,
who were set apart and sanctified for that office; and hearkened to the prophets, the holy
men of God, who spake to them, being moved by the Holy Spirit: and adhered firmly "to
the holy things" (p), as it may be rendered; to the holy temple, and the worship in it; to
the holy sacrifices, altars, &c. when the ten tribes departed from them: and so this may
be applied to the faithful in Christ Jesus, that believe in him truly, and continue in the
faith of him in all ages; and who are "faithful with the Holy Ones" (q); the same with God
in the former clause; so Kimchi interprets it, and so the word is used in Pro_9:10; see
Jos_24:19; that is, with Father, Son, and Spirit; with the Father, when they worship him
in spirit and truth; with the Son, when they cleave to him with full purpose of heart; with
the Spirit, when they walk after him, and give to each the glory due unto them: or rather,
"faithful with holy men" (r); sanctified by the Spirit and grace of God; as they are, when
they hold fast the faith delivered to the saints without mixture or wavering, with courage
and manliness; though the greater number is against them, and they are reproached and
persecuted for so doing; when they abide by the ordinances of Christ, as they were
delivered, and keep them in faith and love, without sinister views; when they continue
steadfastly in the communion of the saints, attending with them on the word and
ordinances, and do not forsake their assembling together; and when they constantly
exhort and stir up one another to the duties of religion, and faithfully admonish and
reprove each other as there is occasion for it.
HE RY, "Here is a pleasant commendation of the integrity of the two tribes, which
they held fast, and this comes in as an aggravation of the perfidiousness of the ten tribes,

121. and a reason why God had that mercy in store for Judah which he had not for Israel
(Hos_1:6, Hos_1:7), for Judah yet rules with God and is faithful with the saints, or with
the Most Holy. 1. Judah rules with God, that is, he serves God, and the service of God is
not only true liberty and freedom, but it is dignity and dominion. Judah rules, that is,
the princes and governors of Judah rule with God; they use their power for him, for his
honour, and the support of his interest. Those rule with God that rule in the fear of God
(2Sa_23:3), and it is their honour to do so, and their praise shall be of God, as Judah's
here is. Judah is Israel - a prince with God. 2. He is faithful with the holy God, keeps
close to his worship and to his saints, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose steps they
faithfully tread in. They walk in the way of good men; and those that do so rule with
God, they have a mighty interest in Heaven. Judah yet does thus, which intimates that
the time would come when Judah also would revolt and degenerate. Note, When we see
how many there are that compass God about with lies and deceit it may be a comfort to
us to think that God has his remnant that cleave to him with purpose of heart, and are
faithful to his saints; and for those who are thus faithful unto death is reserved a crown
of life, when hypocrites and all liars shall have their portion without.
JAMISO , "Maurer joins this verse with the twelfth chapter. But as this verse
praises Judah, whereas Hos_12:2 censures him, it must belong rather to the eleventh
chapter and a new prophecy begins at the twelfth chapter. To avoid this, Maurer
translates this verse as a censure, “Judah wanders with God,” that is, though having the
true God, he wanders after false gods.
ruleth with God — to serve God is to reign. Ephraim wished to rule without God
(compare 1Co_4:8); nay, even, in order to rule, cast off God’s worship [Rivetus]. In
Judah was the legitimate succession of kings and priests.
with the saints — the holy priests and Levites [Rivetus]. With the fathers and
prophets who handed down the pure worship of God. Israel’s apostasy is the more
culpable, as he had before him the good example of Judah, which he set at naught. The
parallelism (“with GOD”) favors Margin, “With THE MOST HOLY ONE.”
CALVI , "Verse 12
I shall not stay now to recite the opinions of others; nor does it seem necessary. I
might have indeed referred in the last verse to what some say respecting the roaring
of God, — that his voice will roar through the Gospel: but as this and the like are
refinements of which I think the Prophet never thought, it is enough to understand
the simple meaning of the Prophet, and not to accumulate the sentiments of others. I
indeed know that this makes a great display, and there are some who are delighted
with a mass of opinions; but I regard what is more useful.
I come now to the last verse, in which the Lord complains,that he had been
compassed with the falsehood and fraud of the people By these words he means that
he had in every thing found the multiplied perfidy of the Israelites; for this is the
import of the word, “compassed”. We now then perceive that the Prophet means
that the Israelites, not only in one way, or in one thing, acted unfaithfully towards
God, and used frauds: but that it was the same, as when one besieges an enemy with
a great army; so that they were thus full of innumerable frauds, with which on

122. every side they surrounded God. And this is what hypocrites are wont to do; for not
only in one thing do they endeavour to deceive God, but they transform themselves
in various ways, and ever seek some new subterfuges. When they are caught in one
sin, they pass into another; so that there is no end to their deceit. This subject the
Prophet now takes up, that is, that the Israelites never ceased to act deceitfully
towards God.
And he speaks of frauds and falsehood; for they thought that they escaped, provided
they covered themselves with some disguise whenever the Prophets reproved them.
But God here testifies, that they gained nothing by their craftiness, as though he
said, “Ye think indeed that your coverings will avail with me, but they are vain. I
indeed see myself as it were encompassed by your falsehoods, for on every side ye
attempt to cover your sins; but they are false coverings.” In short, the Prophet
reprobates those specious excuses, by which people think that they are absolved
before God, so as to elude through this confidence all the threatening and reproofs
of the Prophets. “I see,” the Lord says, “what the Israelites bring forward for
themselves; but they are only falsehoods and frauds.” This passage then teaches,
that men in vain make excuses before God; for when they contrive pretences to
deceive God, they are themselves greatly deceived; for he clearly perceives their
guiles and falsehoods.
He afterwards subjoins, that Judeah still ruled, or, held sovereignty, with God, and
was faithful with the saints By saying that he held sovereignty with God, he
declares, I doubt not, that the kingdom of Judah was legitimate, because it was
connected with a pure and lawful priesthood. For whence did arise the corruptions
in the other kingdom, but because the people had revolted from the family of
David? Hence it was that the new king changed both the law and the worship of
God, and erected new temples. Israel then did not rule with God, for the kingdom
was spurious, and the beginning of the dispersion, so that the people forsook God.
But of Judah the Prophet speaks much otherwise, that he still ruled with God,
because the posterity of David, though we know that they laboured under many
vices, had not yet changed the worship prescribed by the law, except that Ahab had
erected an altar like one at Damascus, as the sacred history relates, (2 Kings 16:11;)
but yet pure religion always prevailed at Jerusalem. But the Prophet speaks
comparatively, as it will be presently seen: for he does not wholly excuse the Jews,
but says that in comparison with Israel they yet ruled with God; for the kingdom
and the priesthood, as we have said, were joined together in Judah, and both had
been divinely instituted.
He says further, that he was faithful with the saints By saints some understand God.
The word ‫,קדושים‬ kodushim, we know, is plurals and sometimes an epithet of the
singular number is joined to it, though not often. In the last chapter of Joshua (83)
we have these words, ‫הרא‬ ‫,קדושים‬ kodushim eva, holy is he But as I have said, these
examples are rare. And here I know not whether or not the Prophet means God. I
would rather refer this word to the holy fathers or to the whole Church; so that the
Prophet calls here ‫,קדושים‬ kodushim, saints, Abraham and others who justly
deserved to be counted among the children of God; and I am inclined to include the

123. angels. But of the sanctuary we do not find this word anywhere used; when the
Scripture refers to the sanctuary, the letter ‫,מ‬ mem, is added. He uses indeed the
plural number, though one may suppose that both the sanctuary and its worship are
here intended. But as this application would be strained, and without example, I am
satisfied with this plain meaning — that Judah was faithful with the saints; that is,
that he retained faith in God together with the fathers, and departed not from the
pure worship which had been delivered to him, according to which God had made
his covenant with Abraham and his seed.
But the Prophet here praises the tribe of Judah, not because he wished to flatter
them; but, as it has been stated in a former place, he had regard to the office
deputed to him. When we at this day cry against our domestic evils, when we say
that things are better ordered elsewhere, under what supposition is this done? We
take it as granted, that others have their own teachers by whom they are reproved
and if there be any vices prevailing, there are those who are to apply the remedy.
This consideration then ought often to be remembered by us, that we may, by way
of reproach, bring forward the conduct of others, when we wish deeply to wound
those, the care of whom has been committed to us by God. Even so our Prophet did:
at the same time, those who then taught at Jerusalem did not spare the Jews; they
cried boldly and vehemently against their vices. But Hosea, as we have said, does
here attend to his own vocation; and hence he exposes the sin of the ten tribes in
having departed from the legitimate worship of God, when they had at the same
time a well-known and memorable example in the tribe of Judah, who had
continued in obedience to the law. This is the meaning. Let us now go on —
COFFMA , "Ephraim compasseth me about with falsehood, and the house of
Israel with deceit, but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the Holy
One."
The big problem with this verse lies in the fact of Judah's being an essential part of
"the house of Israel" which is identified with "deceit" in almost the same sentence.
Uncertainties in the text are evidently responsible for the difficulty. Mauchline
translated the last sentence of this verse thus:
Judah is still wayward with God,
And is faithful with sacred prostitutes.[24]SIZE>
The ew English Bible renders the passage thus:
And Judah is still restive under God,
Still loyal to the idols he counts holy.SIZE>
It is beyond the scope of our purpose to attempt any resolutions of questions
deriving from damaged manuscripts, and we shall leave the matter as uncertain.
The two renditions just noted appear to fit what has been repeatedly stated
throughout Hosea with regard to Judah.

124. All of the intimations of some great holiness in the future for Israel in this chapter
are to be understood of the ew Israel in the kingdom of Christ. This is made
starkly clear by a review of Hosea 2 where Gomer's return as a slave to her former
home was not the prelude to a remarriage of the prophet with her. There is another
wedding, to be sure, but it was to be with the ew Israel, not with the old one. That
is why Gomer was not mentioned in connection with the nuptial scenes of Hosea
2:14-3:5. She represented the old Israel, not the new.
ELLICOTT, "(12) Should stand as the first verse of Hosea 12, just as in the Hebrew
text. The rest of the prophecy appears as a distinct composition, a new
commencemen, of judgment and incrimination, followed at last by one more
utterance of Divine promise.
The rendering of the latter part of the verse in the English version was that of the
Jewish scholars who saw here a reference to the reign of Hezekiah, but it is opposed
to the mention of the “controversy with Judah” in Hosea 12:3. Accordingly, the
rendering adopted by Ewald, Wünsche, owack, and others, is more probable:—
“And Judah still roves unbridled towards God, and towards the faithful Holy One,”
Judah’s inconstancy being contrasted with the faithfulness of God. The plural form,
the Holy Ones, may, like the plural forms, Elohîm, Adonîm, suggest personalities
within the substance of deity. The LXX. seem to indicate that we have not the right
Hebrew text here.
TRAPP, "Verse 12
Hosea 11:12 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with
deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.
Ver. 12. Ephraim compasseth me about with lies] They get about me as if they
would do me doughty service (Psalms 76:11, the saints are called a people that are
round about God; and Psalms 148:14, a people near unto him, and that compasseth
his altar. See Revelation 4:4), but all is but counterfeit; a mere imposture, a loud lie,
Psalms 78:36, whereby they would deceive me of heaven if they could; putting upon
me false coin silvered over a little; and circumventing me, if it lay in their power.
But what saith Bernard? Sapiens nummularius Deus est; nummum fictum non
recipiet. God is a wise mint man; there is no beguiling him with counterfeit coin.
Hypocrisy (that real lie) is an odious, a complexive evil; for it hath in it, 1. Guile,
opposite to simplicity, as intending to beguile God, which he cannot, and man,
which he fain would, and often doth, to farther his worldly and wicked designs, as
Judas, Herod, Matthew 2:8, Pharisees, Matthew 23:14. 2. Falsehood, opposite to
truth; as only acting religion, playing devotion, compassing God with deceit, as the
house of Israel here, deceiving him not by impotence only, and in the event, but by
imposture, and so in purpose; contenting themselves with a show, with a semblance,
Luke 8:18, with a form of knowledge, Romans 2:20, and of godliness, 2 Timothy 3:5,
rather seeming to be good than seeking to be so. These are hell’s freeholders; and
other sinners are said but to have their part with them. There are those who thus
interpret this text: "Ephraim compasseth me," the prophet preaching mercy, and

125. promising good things, they beset me, and gather close about me, as desirous of my
doctrine: but it is in mendacio, in hateful hypocrisy, {see Ezekiel 33:31-32} and
when I cross them never so little, they craftily conspire to prejudice my ministry, to
asperse my person, &c. To preach, saith one, is nothing else but to derive the rage of
the whole world upon a man’s self, to become the butt mark, yea, the centre ad quod
omnes lineae dolorum tendunt, to which all the lines of lies and falsehoods do tend
(Meisner in loc.).
But Judah yet ruleth with God] To serve God is to rule with him; as Livia said, she
ruled her husband Augustus by obeying him. It is the greatest liberty, Romans 6:18;
Romans 6:22, 1 Peter 2:16. Abraham was a prince of God. Jacob prevailed with
God, and had power as a prince, Genesis 32:28. Moses (as if he had been chancellor
of heaven) overruled the business, and God is fain to bespeak his own freedom,
Exodus 32:10. Judah also is here said to rule with God, to be potent with him;
because God was sincerely served among them, and they held fast their first
integrity; the true religion was openly professed, and the true worship of God
incorruptly maintained in the temple at Jerusalem. This made Abijah (though none
of the best) so boldly to boast, and he prevailed; so that there fell down of Israel
slain 500,000, 2 Chronicles 13:10; 2 Chronicles 13:17, and yet the men of Judah that
slew them were but 400,000 in all, Hosea 11:3. Israel’s apostasy is here aggravated
by Judah’s integrity; they were not under the temptation of evil example. Judah was
the worse for them, and not they for Judah.
And is faithful with the saints] Or, with the most Holy: he keepeth the faith to God,
those holy ones, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (so some sense it), as Joshua 24:19,
Proverbs 9:10; he is far from those false and fraudulent dealings wherewith the ten
tribes seek to circumvent and beguile God. Or thus, Judah is faithful with the saints
of former ages; he holds to his old principles, to the good old way, wherein Abraham
and the other ancients went before him. He is also faithful with such as are
sanctified, the true priests of God, consecrated to himself, and set apart for holy use:
in opposition to the ten tribes, who went after those leaden priests made by
Jeroboam of the lower sort of the people, and well fitted to golden deities. Lastly, he
is faithful with the people of God, those good souls that left the ten tribes and went
to Judah, to the true worship of God. With these Judah was faithful, courteous, and
communicative; embracing and encouraging them all that might be. This was a
singular commendation.
PETT, "Verse 12
‘Ephraim compasses me about with falsehood,
And the house of Israel with deceit,
But Judah yet rules with God,
And is faithful with the Holy One.
These words suggest that Hosea was now aware of the reforms of Hezekiah in Judah
(see Hosea 1:1 and 2 Kings 18:1-6) and saw in them an indication that Israel’s hope
for the future depended on the Davidic house. For he declares that Judah yet rules

126. with God and is in faithful submission to Him, thereby indicating that Judah’s
kingship is now responsive to YHWH and true worship has now been restored. We
can indeed see that Hezekiah’s reforms must have come as a breath of fresh air to
the prophets struggling to bring Israel to its senses, and may well have raised
Messianic hopes.
He points out that whilst Ephraim were still ‘surrounding’ Him with falsehood, and
the whole house of Israel were ‘surrounding’ Him with deceit, (the language might
suggest that at this stage Samaria was ‘surrounded’ by the Assyrian army thus
providing the symbolism used here) and were in fact about to crumble, Judah was
yet reliable and ‘ruled with God’, that is, their king ruled in obedience to God. For
in the third year of Hoshea Hezekiah had come to the throne of Judah and had
submitted Himself to God (2 Kings 18:1-6). It was not said of Judah that they had
‘appointed kings, but not by Me’ (Hosea 8:4), for they still held to the Davidic
kingship Thus the whole future of Israel was seen to depend on the firm foundation
of the Davidic kingship, and on their faithfulness to the Holy One. and especially on
the coming greater King Who would bring in righteousness (Isaiah 11:1-4). Once He
came the lion would roar and the people would turn back to God, an apt picture of
the ministry of Jesus Christ and what followed it after Pentecost.
(On the other hand the Masoretes in their Hebrew text and many modern scholars
(the latter by repointing the consonants and altering the sense) see the verse as
opening chapter 12, even though the Masoretes held to the text as translated above.
But the analysis above indicates that its sentiments are required to round off the
chiasm in chapter 11, whilst the translation above (following MT) more fully
explains the reference to the lion in Hosea 11:11. It was Judah, who would be the
lion’s whelp, from whom the Final Hope would come (Genesis 49:9-10)).
BI, "Ephraim compasseth Me about with lies.
Beset round with lies
By lies understand false worship, for that is a lie with false pretences; they put fair
glosses upon things, but all are but lies; they have beset Me with politic shifts of their
own devising. They not only seek to blind men, but they would (if it were possible)
deceive Me, saith God. And indeed, when men seek to blind their own consciences, what
do they but seek to deceive God? In the very act of worship they are false.
1. Many, in their prayers, in the solemn act of worship, beset God with lies. Can God
be deceived? No, but they did what lay in them to deceive Him; if it were possible for
God to have been deceived they would have deceived Him.
2. Many also beset the business and affairs that they manage with lies. They plot
with themselves how they may handsomely contrive to put together a goodly number
of lies, that so they may beset men’s understandings. There are such cunning
attempts in the world to beset the understandings of men, that men shall not know
what to say to things; and yet, whilst they cannot tell how to believe them, neither do
they know what to say, things are so contrived. Deceitful men think with themselves,
If such a thing shall be questioned, then I have such a shift to put it off; and if
another thing shall be doubted of, then I have such a report, and such a fair pretence,

127. to make it good.
3. When men are once engaged in shifts and lies, they grow pertinacious in them,
and there is little hope of their recovery. (Jeremiah Burroughs.)
Fraud and falsehood
The Lord complains “that He had been compassed with the falsehood and fraud of the
people.” By these words He means that He had in everything found the multiplied
perfidy of the Israelites; for this is the import of the word “compassed.” Not only in one
way, or in one thing had they acted unfaithfully towards God; they were full of
innumerable frauds, with which they surrounded God, like an army at a siege. This is
what hypocrites are wont to do; not only in one thing do they endeavour to deceive God,
but they transform themselves in various ways, and ever seek some new subterfuges.
When they are caught in one sin they pass into another; so that there is no end to their
deceit. He speaks of “frauds and falsehoods,” for they thought that they escaped,
provided they covered themselves with some disguise, whenever the prophets reproved
them. But God here testifies that they gained nothing by their craftiness. The prophet
reprobates those specious excuses, by which people think they are absolved before God,
so as to elude all the threatenings of the prophet. This passage teaches that men in vain
make excuses before God; for when they contrive pretences to deceive God, they are
themselves greatly deceived; for He clearly perceives their guiles and falsehoods. (John
Calvin.)
But Judah . . . is faithful with the saints.
Faithful with the saints
That is—
1. With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with Moses, with the prophets, with the
forefathers.
2. Faithful with such as are sanctified, the true priests of God, that God has
sanctified to Himself. Whereas Jeroboam took of the lowest of the people and made
them priests to God, Judah would have no other priests but the sanctified ones of
God.
3. Faithful with the people of God. For all of Israel that were holy, that were godly,
that were saints, and were not detained by some special hand of God, went up from
the Ten Tribes to Judah, to the true worship of God; now Judah entertained them,
and used them well, and was faithful to them. But on the contrary, Israel, the Ten
Tribes, were unfaithful, by using the saints of God evilly that would worship God
according to God’s own way; they were cruel and oppressing and unfaithful to them,
but Judah was faithful towards such, embracing and encouraging them. For us to go
on in faithfulness, though we have none to join with, is a commendation; and the
ways of God are excellent, whether any or no do join with us in them. But it is a great
encouragement to be faithful with the saints; that is, to go on in those ways in which
we see the saints walk: and to join with the saints, with such as are the choice saints
of God, greatly encourages and strengthens the people of God in their way.
(Jeremiah Burroughs.)

128. The faithful tribe
There is a striking analogy between the leading characteristics and facts of Church
history under the Old Testament dispensation, and under the New. In both we see a
chosen people, a redeemed people, a preserved people, and a perverse, rebellious, stiff-
necked people. Nothing but immutable love and sovereign grace could have borne with
their conduct. The great mass of nominal Israel of old were carnally minded. They
degraded themselves with abominable idolatries. Just so do multitudes who pass for
Christians in the nineteenth century, boasting of ancient pedigree, long succession, and
exclusive right; wearing the name of Christian without possessing one spark of
Christianity. The modem profession of Christianity has awfully apostatised from ancient
orthodoxy, and set up idols throughout Christendom, worshipping the work of men’s
hands according to the free will system. The great calamity of the present day arises from
carnal men interfering with religion in any way, for in so doing they are sure to do
mischief: if they legislate for it, they clog and fetter it; if they endow it, they curse it; if
they even speak of it, they misrepresent it,—and can it be otherwise while they are
destitute of it? Turn attention to the faithful tribe who, in the face of all the revolting and
apostasy of the present day, may be said to rule with God, and deal faithfully with the
saints. There is still such a tribe in Christendom. If the God of all grace would bestow
upon His elect remnant a revival of vital godliness, Christian union, and fervent prayer,
there would be nothing to fear from pope or infidel. Brethren, be of one mind. Electing
love, Divine substitution, and invincible grace are our rallying-points. (Joseph Irons.).