The document discusses the prophetic warnings delivered to Israel regarding their covenant transgressions and impending judgment from enemies symbolized by an eagle. It emphasizes the urgency for the prophet to proclaim the message of looming destruction due to Israel's idolatry and rejection of God's law. Ultimately, the text reflects on the consequences of turning away from God and the assurance of divine justice against unfaithfulness.

1. HOSEA 8 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Israel to Reap the Whirlwind
1 “Put the trumpet to your lips!
An eagle is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
BAR ES, "The trumpet to thy mouth! - So God bids the prophet Isaiah, “Cry
aloud, spare not, llft up thy voice like a trumpet” Isa_58:1. The prophets, as watchmen,
were set by God to give notice of His coming judgments Eze_33:3; Amo_3:6. As the
sound of a war-trumpet would startle a sleeping people, so would God have the
prophet’s warning burst upon their sleep of sin. The ministers of the Church are called to
be “watchmen” . “They too are forbidden to keep a cowardly silence, when “the house of
the Lord” is imperilled by the breach of the covenant or violation of the law. If fear of the
wicked or false respect for the great silences the voice of those whose office it is to “cry
aloud,” how shall such cowardice be excused?”
He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord - The words “he shall
come” are inserted for clearness. The prophet beholds the enemy speeding with the
swiftness of an eagle, as it darts down upon its prey. “The house of the Lord” is, most
strictly, the temple, as being “the place which God had chosen to place His name there.”
Next, it is used, of the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, among whom the temple was;
from where God says, “I have forsaken My house, I have left Mine heritage; I have given
the dearly-beloved of My soul into the hands of her enemies” Jer_12:7, and, “What hath
My beloved to do in Mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many?” Jer_
11:15. Yet the title of “God’s house” is older than the temple, for God Himself uses it of
His whole people, saying of Moses, “My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all
Mine house” Num_12:7. And even the ten tribes, separated as they were from the
Temple-worship, and apostates from the true faith of God, were not, as yet, counted by
Him as wholly excluded from the “house of God.” For God, below, threatens that
removal, as something still to come; “for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them
out of My house” Hos_9:15. The eagle, then coming down “against or upon” the house of
the Lord, is primarily Shalmaneser, who came down and carried off the ten tribes. Yet
since Hosea, in these prophecies, includes Judah, also, “the house of the Lord” is most

2. probably to be taken in its fullest sense, as including the whole people of God, among
whom He dwelt, and the temple where His Name was placed. The “eagle” includes then
Nebuchadnezzar also, whom other prophets so call Eze_17:3, Eze_17:12; Jer_48:40;
Hab_1:8; and (since, all through, the principle of sin is the same and the punishment the
same) it includes the Roman eagle, the ensign of their armies.
Because they have transgressed My covenant - “God, whose justice is always
unquestionable, useth to make clear to people its reasonableness.” Israel had broken the
covenant which God had made with their fathers, that He would be to them a God, and
they to Him a people. The “covenant” they had broken chiefly by idolatry and apostasy;
the “law,” by sins against their neighbor. In both ways they had rejected God; therefore
God rejected them.
CLARKE, "Set the trumpet to thy mouth - Sound another alarm. Let them know
that an enemy is fast approaching.
As an eagle against the house of the Lord - of this be a prophecy against Judah,
as some have supposed, then by the eagle Nebuchadnezzar is meant, who is often
compared to this king of birds. See Eze_17:3; Jer_48:40; Jer_49:22; Dan_7:4.
But if the prophecy be against Israel, which is the most likely, then Shalmaneser, king
of Assyria, is intended, who, for his rapidity, avarice, rapacity, and strength, is fitly
compared to this royal bird. He is represented here as hovering over the house of God, as
the eagle does over the prey which he has just espied, and on which he is immediately to
pounce.
GILL, "Set the trumpet to thy mouth,.... Or, "the trumpet to the roof of thy mouth"
(t); a concise expression denoting haste, and the vehemence of the passions speaking;
they are either the words of the Lord to the prophet, as the Targum,
"O prophet, cry with thy throat as with a trumpet, saying;''
Aben Ezra take them to be the words of the Lord the prophet, and the sense agrees with
Isa_58:1. The prophet is here considered as a watchman, and is called upon to blow his
trumpet; either to call the people together, "as an eagle to the house of the Lord" (u), as
the next clause may be connected with this; that is, to come as swiftly to the house of the
Lord, and hear what he had to say to them, and to supplicate the Lord for mercy in a
time of distress: or to give the people notice of the approach of the enemy, and tell them
that
he shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord; "flying as an eagle over"
(w) or "against the house of the Lord": or they are the words of the Lord, or of the
prophet, to the enemy, to blow his trumpet, and sound the alarm of war, and call his
army together, and bid them fly like an eagle, with that swiftness and fierceness as that
creature does to its prey, against the house of the Lord; meaning not the temple at
Jerusalem, but the nation of Israel, formerly called the house and family of God, and still
pretended to be so. There may be some allusion to Bethel, which signifies the house of
God, where they practised their idolatry. This is to be understood, not of
Nebuchadnezzar, sometimes compared to an eagle, Eze_17:3; for not the destruction of
the city and temple of Jerusalem is here meant; nor of the Romans, as Lyra seems to

3. understand it, the eagle being the ensign of the Romans; but of Shalmaneser, king of
Assyria, compared to this creature for his swiftness in coming, his strength, fierceness,
and cruelty; this creature being swift in flight, and a bird of prey. So the Targum
interprets it of a king and his army,
"behold, as an eagle flieth, so shall a king with his army come up and encamp against the
house of the sanctuary of the Lord.''
Some reference seems to be had to Deu_28:49;
because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my
law; the law that was given to Israel by Moses at the appointment of God, to which they
assented, and promised to observes: and so it had the form of a covenant to them: the
bounds of this law and covenant they transgressed, and dealt perfidiously with, and
prevaricated in, and wilfully broke all its commands, by their idolatry, murder, adultery,
theft, and other sins.
HE RY, "The reproofs and threatenings here are introduced with an order to the
prophet to set the trumpet to his mouth (Hos_8:1), thus to call a solemn assembly, that
all might take notice of what he had to deliver and take warning by it. He must sound an
alarm, must, in God's name, proclaim war with this rebellious nation. An enemy is
coming with speed and fury to seize their land, and he must awaken them to expect it.
Thus the prophet must do the part of a watchman, that was by sound of trumpet to call
the besieged to stand to their arms, when he saw the besiegers making their attack, Eze_
33:3. The prophet must lift up his voice like a trumpet (Isa_58:1), and the people must
hearken to the sound of the trumpet, Jer_6:17. Now,
I. Here is a general charge drawn up against them as sinners, as rebels and traitors
against their sovereign Lord. 1. They have transgressed my covenant, Hos_8:1. They
have not only transgressed the command (every sin does that), but they have
transgressed the covenant; they have been guilty of such sins as break the original
contract; they have revolted from their allegiance, and violated the marriage-covenant by
their spiritual whoredom; they have, in effect, declared that they will be no longer God's
people, nor take him for their God; that is transgressing the covenant. They have not
only done foolishly, but have dealt deceitfully. 2. They have trespassed against my law
in many particular instances. God's law is the rule by which we are to walk; and this is
the malignity of sin, that it trespasses upon the bounds set us by that law. 3. They have
cast off the thing that is good. They have put away and rejected good, that is, God
himself; so some understand it, and very fitly. He is good, and does good, and is our
goodness. There is none good but one, that is God, the fountain of all good. They have
cast him off, as not desiring to have any thing more to do with him. God was abandoning
them to ruin, and here gives the reason for it. Note, God never casts off any till they first
cast him off. Or, as we read it, They have cast off the thing that is good; they have cast
off the service and worship of God, which is, in effect, casting God off. They have cast off
that which denominates men good; they have cast off the fear of God, and the regard of
man, and all sense of virtue and honesty. Observe, They have transgressed my
covenant; it has come to this at last; for they trespassed against my law. Breaking the
command made way for breaking the covenant; and they did that, for they cast off that
which was good; there it began first. They left off to be wise and to do good, and then
they went all to naught, Psa_36:3. See the method of apostasy; men first cast off that
which is good; then those omissions make way for commissions; and frequent actual

4. transgressions of God's law bring men at length to an habitual renunciation of his
covenant. When men cast off praying, and hearing, and sabbath-sanctification, and
other things that are good, they are in the high road to a total forsaking of God.
JAMISO , "Hos_8:1-14. Prophecy of the irruption of the Assyrians, in punishment
for Israel’s apostasy, idolatry, and setting up of kings without God’s sanction.
In Hos_8:14, Judah is said to multiply fenced cities; and in Hos_8:7-9, Israel, to its
great hurt, is said to have gone up to Assyria for help. This answers best to the reign of
Menahem. For it was then that Uzziah of Judah, his contemporary, built fenced cities
(2Ch_26:6, 2Ch_26:9, 2Ch_26:10). Then also Israel turned to Assyria and had to pay
for their sinful folly a thousand talents of silver (2Ki_15:19) [Maurer].
Set the trumpet, etc. — to give warning of the approach of the enemy: “To thy
palate (that is, ‘mouth,’ Job_31:30, Margin) the trumpet”; the abruptness of expression
indicates the suddenness of the attack. So Hos_5:8.
as ... eagle — the Assyrian (Deu_28:49; Jer_48:40; Hab_1:8).
against ... house of ... Lord — not the temple, but Israel viewed as the family of
God (Hos_9:15; Num_12:7; Zec_9:8; Heb_3:2; 1Ti_3:15; 1Pe_4:17).
K&D 1-2, "The prophecy rises with a vigorous swing, as in Hos_5:8, to the prediction
of judgment. Hos_5:1. “The trumpet to thy mouth! Like an eagle upon the house of
Jehovah! Because they transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
Hos_5:2. To me will they cry: My God, we know Thee, we Israel!” The first sentence of
Hos_5:1 is an exclamation, and therefore has no verb. The summons issues from
Jehovah, as the suffixes in the last sentences show, and is addressed to the prophet, who
is to blow the trumpet, as the herald of Jehovah, and give the people tidings of the
approaching judgment (see at Hos_5:8). The second sentence gives the alarming
message to be delivered: like an eagle comes the foe, or the judgment upon the house of
Jehovah. The simile of the eagle, that shoots down upon its prey with the rapidity of
lightning, points back to the threat of Moses in Deu_28:49. The “house of Jehovah” is
neither the temple at Jerusalem (Jerome, Theod., Cyr.), the introduction of which here
would be at variance with the context; nor the principal temple of Samaria, with the fall
of which the whole kingdom would be ruined (Ewald, Sim.), since the temples erected
for the calf-worship at Daniel and Bethel are called Bēth bâmōth, not Bēth Ye
hōvâh; nor
even the land of Jehovah, either here or at Hos_9:15 (Hitzig), for a land is not a house;
but Israel was the house of Jehovah, as being a portion of the congregation of the Lord,
as in Hos_9:15; Num_12:7; Jer_12:7; Zec_9:8; cf. οᅼκος Θεοሞ in Heb_3:6 and 1Ti_3:15.
The occasion of the judgment was the transgression of the covenant and law of the Lord,
which is more particularly described in 1Ti_3:4. In this distress they will call for help to
Jehovah: “My God (i.e., each individual will utter this cry), we know Thee?” Israel is in
apposition to the subject implied in the verb. They know Jehovah, so far as He has
revealed Himself to the whole nation of Israel; and the name Israel is in itself a proof
that they belong to the people of God.
CALVI , "Verse 1
Interpreters nearly all agree in this, that the Prophet threatens not the kingdom of
Israel, but the kingdom of Judah, at the beginning of this chapter, because he names

5. the house of God, which they take to be the temple. I indeed allow, that the Prophet
has spoken already, in two places, of the kingdom of Judah, but as it were in
passing. He has, it is true, introduced some reproofs and threatening, but so that the
distinction was quite clear; and we see that he now goes to the kingdom of Judah,
but in the second verse, he names Israel, and yet continues his discourse. To thy
mouth, he says, the trumpet, etc. ; and afterwards he adds, To me shall they cry, My
God; we know thee, Israel. Here, certainly, the discourse is addressed to the ten
tribes. I am therefore by no means induced to explain the beginning of the chapter
by applying it to the kingdom of Judah: and I certainly do wonder that interpreters
have mistaken in a matter so trifling; for the house of God means not only the
temple, but also the whole people. As Israel retained this boast, that they were a
people holy to God, and that they were his family, he says, “Put or set the trumpet to
thy mouth, and proclaim the war, which is now nigh at hand; for the enemy hastens,
who is to attack the house of God, that is, this holy people, who cover themselves
with the name of God, and who, trusting in their election and adoption, think that
they shall be free from all evils; war shall come as an eagle against this house of
God.”
Had the Prophet added any thing which could be referred peculiarly to the kingdom
of Judah, I should willingly accede to their opinion, who think that the house of God
is the sanctuary. But let the whole context be read, and any one may easily perceive,
that the Prophet speaks of Israel no less in the first verse than in the second and
third. For, as it has been said, he lays down no difference, but pursues throughout
his teaching or discourse in the same strain.
He says first, A trumpet to thy mouth, or, “Set to thy mouth the trumpet.” It is an
exhibition, (hypotyposis;) for we know that God, in order to affect more powerfully
the people, clothes his Prophets with various characters. The Prophet then is
introduced here as a herald who proclaims war, or a messenger, or by whatever
name you may be pleased to call him. Here then the Prophet is commanded, not to
speak with his mouth, but to show by the trumpet that war was nigh, as though God
himself by his trumpet declared war against Israel, which was to be carried on soon
after by earthly enemies. The enemies were soon after to come, and the herald was
to come in the usual manner to declare war. The Greeks call them κηρρυκες,
proclaimers, we say, “Les heraux “. As these earthly kings have their proclaimers,
or κηρυκες, or heralds, or messengers, who proclaim war; so the Lord sends his
Prophet with the usual charge to declare war: “Go then, and let the Israelites know,
not now by thy mouth, but even by thy throat, by the sound of the trumpet, that I
am an enemy to them, and that I am present with a strong army to destroy them.” It
is indeed certain that the Prophet did not use a trumpet; but the Lord by this
representations as I have already said increased the reality of what was taught that
the Israelites might perceive, that it was not in sport or in play that the Prophet
threatened them, but that it was done seriously, as though they now saw the heralds
who was to proclaim war; for this was not usually done except when the army is
already prepared for battle.
He then says, As an eagle against the house of Jehovah We have already said what

6. the Prophet means by the house of Jehovah, even that people who thought that they
would be exempt from every evil, because they had been adopted by the Lord.
Hence the Israelites called themselves God’s household; and though under this
cover, they impiously and profanely abandoned themselves to every kind of
turpitude, yet they thought that they were on the best of terms with God himself.
“There shall come,” he says, “a common ruin to you all; this boasting shall not
prevent me from taking vengeance at last on your sins.” But he adds As an eagle,
that the Israelites might not think that there was to be a long delay; for the impious
procrastinate, when they see any danger at hand. Hence, that the Israelites might
not continue torpid in their vices, the Prophet says, that the destruction of which he
spoke would be like the eagle; for in a moment the eagle goes over an immense
distance, and we wonder when we see it over our heads, though a little before it did
not appear. So also the Prophet says, that destruction, though not yet seen, was
however nigh at hand, that being smitten with terror, though now late, yet as the
Lord was thus urging them, they might return to him.
COFFMA , "Verse 1
The shift of emphasis in this chapter is to the broken covenant between God and
Israel, as outlined in the Decalogue and the entire Pentateuch. The long prior
existence of the Decalogue and the whole law of Moses in written form is the stark
background against which every line of Hosea is written. othing in the prophecy
makes any sense at all without the situation provided by that background. In vain,
the critics have attempted to get rid of the stern echoes of God's written covenant
through the employment of every device known to them. The echo of that holy Law
which Israel had wantonly broken and disobeyed occurs in every other line of
Hosea's entire writing. As Ralph Smith observed:
Chapter 8 is a summary of Israel's sins, especially related to covenant breaking, in
which those who "sow the wind reap the whirlwind."[1]
But this chapter actually takes up no new theme; it is really a continuation of the
sad lament and prophecy of forthcoming destruction which is the unique theme of
the entire prophecy. Despite this, there are many new glimpses into the condition of
Israel which are afforded in this chapter.
Hosea 8:1
"Set the trumpet to thy mouth. As an eagle, he cometh against the house of Jehovah,
because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law."
"Set the trumpet to thy mouth ..." A glance at the American Standard Version text
will reveal that these are not full sentences in the Hebrew, the translators providing
certain words which seem to be implied. If we were to leave out the supplied words,
the text would read something like this: "Trumpet to mouth ... as an eagle against
the house of Jehovah, etc." The meaning is clear enough. The first staccato sentence
commands that a general alarm and warning be sounded.

7. "As an eagle he cometh against the house of Jehovah ..." Who is the eagle? It really
makes no difference. Ward thought:
"The eagle was a familiar Assyrian state symbol; and since Assyria was the obvious
threat to Israel's sovereignty in the eighth century B.C., there is every reason to
conclude that the eagle symbolizes Assyria here."[2]
Whether Ward's comment is correct, or Keil's understanding of the eagle as "the
judgment of Jehovah,"[3] the meaning is exactly the same either way, because God
used Assyria as his chosen instrument in bringing about the destruction and
captivity of the northern Israel, that, in fact, being his special object in the
commission to Jonah; because, after their temporary repentance following the
mission of Jonah, Assyria was preserved until the time was ripe for God to use that
nation against Israel.
The actual figure of "eagle" could possibly be that of a "vulture," as the place is
rendered in some translations. either the common turkey buzzard, nor the
American bald eagle, however, is the actual bird used in this metaphor.
"It is the griffon vulture which is mentioned. The slaughter has already taken place,
since this bird is a scavenger of carrion.[4] So Job, referring to this very eagle,
writes: `Her young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is she" (Job
39:30).'"[5]
Thus, the movement of the eagle against Israel here is spoken of prophetically, the
destruction as sure to occur as if it had already done so.
"Against the house of Jehovah ..." This does not mean the temple, nor the land of
Israel; but it means that the destruction is directed against the people of Israel. They
are "God's house" as used here. Although directed especially against the northern
Israel, they were nevertheless considered "God's house" because they were a part of
the congregation of the Lord.[6] The ew Testament writers also used this same
terminology in speaking of ancient Israel (Hebrews 3:2).
"Because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law ..."
What is this? if not the Pentateuch and the Decalogue. Why should God at that
particular moment in history have destroyed Israel for idolatry and associated sins,
and have refrained from destroying Assyria and all the other pagan nations for
doing the very same things? The only answer lies in the prior existence of God's own
sacred covenant with Israel and the specific terms of it spelled out in the Decalogue
and the writings of Moses. It is difficult indeed to refrain from designating the
blindness of many scholars in this matter as willful and self-induced. Without the
prior fact of the Law of Moses and the tables of the Decalogue, Hosea's prophecy
has no meaning at all. Furthermore, in this very chapter, as we shall see, Hosea
spelled out specific instances in which the sacred covenant had been ignored and
disobeyed. Israel had incurred the greater wrath of God because they had
covenanted with the Lord to enter into his plans for redeeming all men in the
eventual coming of the blessed Messiah into our world; and, in order to prevent the
total frustration of that purpose, God punished and removed the northern kingdom

8. and severely disciplined the southern kingdom.
ELLICOTT, "(1) Eagle.—The image of swiftness (Jeremiah 4:13; Jeremiah 48:40).
So Assyria shall come swooping down on Samaria, to which Hosea, though with
some irony, gives the name “House of Jehovah,” recognising that the calf was meant
to be symbolic in some sense of Israel’s God. (See, however, ote on Hosea 9:15.)
TRAPP, "Hosea 8:1 [Set] the trumpet to thy mouth. [He shall come] as an eagle
against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and
trespassed against my law.
Ver. 1. Set the trumpet to thy mouth] Heb. The trumpet to thy palate. A hasty
expression, an abrupt and imperfect speech, common with such as are moved with
passions, of anger, grief, or fear, as Hosea 5:8, "after thee, O Benjamin." God,
though not subject to such perturbations, James 1:17, yet here aud elsewhere utters
himself in this sort; to set forth the nearness of the people’s danger by the enemies’
approach; and the necessity of their return to him by true repentance, for the
diversion of his displeasure. "Break off thy sins by righteousness," saith the prophet
to ebuchadnezzar; be abrupt in the work, cut the cart ropes of vanity, if "it may be
a lengthening of the tranquillity," Daniel 4:27. Take the bark from the tree, and the
sap can never find the way to the boughs; get sin remitted, and punishment shall be
removed. In this sermon of the prophet (which is much sharper than the former,
and may seem to be one of the last, because God is so absolute in threatening, as if
he meant to be resolute in punishing) there is (as one saith) peccatorum et poenarum
συναθροισµος, a heaping together of sins and of punishments of many sorts; and the
prophet commanded to give sudden warning of the enemy at hand, which is
elegantly set forth by a military hypotyposis, or lively representation; as if it were
now doing. "The trumpet to thy mouth," that is, set up thy note, and proclaim with
a loud and clear voice, as Isaiah 58:1, cry in the throat (so the Chaldee hath it here),
spare not, that none may say he was not warned; "lift up thy voice like a trumpet,"
that all may hear and fear, Amos 3:6, as people use to do when an alarm is sounded,
or the bells are rung backward. See Hosea 5:8. There they had been before alarmed,
here reminded in brief; for the prophet is, as it were, monosyllabus, as one in haste;
he uttereth amputatas sententias et verba ante expectatum cadentia, as Seneca
somewhere hath it, broken sentences, concise but pithy periods.
He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord] He, that is, the Assyrian;
not ebuchadnezzar, though the like is said of him, Ezekiel 17:3; Ezekiel 17:7;
much less the Romans (as Lyra interpreteth this text of the last destruction of
Jerusalem, because the eagle was their ensign); but Pul, Tiglathpileser, and
Shalmaneser, who came against the ten tribes as an eagle, to waste, spoil, and carry
captive speedily, impetuously, irresistibly; as 2 Kings 15:19; 2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings
17:3; 2 Kings 18:19, Lamentations 4:19. The eagle is the strongest and swiftest of
birds, and feareth no obstacle, either from other fowl, or wind, or thunderbolt, as
Pliny afflrmeth (Plin. lib. x. 3). ebuchadnezzar is not only compared to an eagle (as
before is noted), but to a lion with eagle’s wings, Daniel 7:4, that is, with invincible

9. armies, that march with incredible swiftness. And all this was long since
forethreatened, Deuteronomy 28:49, "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee
from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth"; to which text the
prophet here seemeth to allude; as indeed all the prophets do but comment upon
Moses, and draw out that arras, which was folded together by him before.
Against the house of the Lord] That is, the house of Israel, called God’s house,
umbers 12:7, Hebrews 3:5, and God’s land, Hosea 9:3; Hosea 9:15, and their
commonwealth is by Josephus called a theocracy. And although they were now
become apostates, yet they gloried no less than before to be of the stock of Abraham,
and of the family of faith; like as the Turks call themselves at this day Mussulmans,
that is, the true and right believers; especially after they are circumcised, which is
not done till they be past ten years of age; following the example of Ishmael, whom
they imitate and honour as their progenitor; alleging that Abraham loved him, and
not Isaac, and that it was Ishmael whom Abraham would have sacrificed.
Because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed] Sin is the mother of
misery; and the great makebate between God and his creature. It moves him when
we ask bread and fish to feed us, {as Hosea 8:2} to answer us with a stone to bruise
us, or a serpent to bite us. The sin of this people was the more heinous, because they
were covenanters, and confederate with God. It was his covenant that was in their
flesh, Genesis 17:13, and he had betrothed them to himself, and betrusted them with
his oracles, "but they like men transgressed the covenant, and dealt treacherously
against him," Hosea 6:7, {See Trapp on "Hosea 6:7"} they performed not the
"stipulation of a good conscience toward God," 1 Peter 3:21.
They trespassed against his law] As if it had not been holy, and just, and good,
precious, perfect, and profitable; grounded upon so much good reason, that if God
had not commanded it, yet it had been best for us to have practised it. Isaiah 48:17,
"I am the Lord that teacheth thee to profit, &c. O that thou hadst hearkened to my
commandments!" &c. q.d. It is for thy profit, and not for mine own, that I have
given thee a law to live by. But they have trespassed, or prevaricated; and this out of
pride and malice, as the word signifieth; and as before he had oft convinced them of
many particulars, and more will do, therefore are they justly punished.
BE SO , "Hosea 8:1. Set the trumpet to thy mouth — The Vulgate renders it, In
guttere tuo sit tuba; that is, Let thy throat, or mouth, sound like a trumpet. God
speaks in these words, says Grotius, to the prophet, and commands him to proclaim,
with a very loud voice, both the sins of the people, and the evils about to come upon
them. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord — The words, he shall
come, are not in the Hebrew, and seem to be improperly supplied by the translators;
the sense of the words appearing to be, that the prophet should warn the people,
and denounce the judgments of God against them for their sins, with a voice so loud
that it might be heard as far as the cry of the eagle, flying over, or sitting upon, the

10. top of the temple. Because they have transgressed — Or rather, that they have
transgressed my covenant. “Hoc enim ipsum est quod proclamari vult Deus;” for
this is the thing which God commanded to be proclaimed. — Grotius. amely, that
they had transgressed against God’s covenant, and violated his law.
PETT, "Verse 1
‘The ram’s horn to your mouth!
Like an eagle he comes against the house of YHWH,
Because they have transgressed my covenant,
And trespassed against my law.
The opening lines are brief and to the point, being literally:
‘ “The ram’s horn to your mouth!” Like an eagle against the house of YHWH’
In other words the prophet is to sound the alarm (compare Hosea 5:8; Amos 3:6)
because in vision the eagle has been sighted , and it is coming against ‘the house of
YHWH’. This does not refer to the Jerusalem Temple for that Temple is nowhere
under consideration by Hosea, nor does it refer to the Temple at Bethel (or even in
Samaria) which were never described as houses of YHWH. Rather ‘YHWH’s house’
is either the land of Israel (Hosea 9:15) or the people of Israel (Hosea 1:4; Hosea 1:6;
Hosea 5:1; Hosea 6:10).
The picture of the eagle swiftly descending on its prey (which is ‘the silly dove’ -
Hosea 7:11) is taken from Deuteronomy 28:49. It is a part of the Deuteronomic
curses on those who ‘do not observe His commandments or His statutes’
(Deuteronomy 28:15). Compare also the picture in Ezekiel 17. And here it comes on
those who ‘have transgressed My covenant and trespasses against My Law’. It was
because Israel were neglecting God’s requirements as laid down by the covenant of
Sinai (see Hosea 4:2) that they would now be snatched away from their land.
Verses 1-3
When The Enemy Descend Like An Eagle Because They Have Broken The
Covenant And Cast Off What Is Good, Israel Will Cry In Vain, ‘”O God Of Israel
We Know You” (Hosea 8:1-3).
The present hopelessness of Israel’s current situation comes out strongly here. The
enemy are coming against them like an eagle descending on its prey (compare
Deuteronomy 28:49), and this because they have broken the covenant and disobeyed
His Law. So desperate will the situation be that Israel will appeal to YHWH on the
grounds that He is their God and known to them. But it will do them no good
because they have ‘cast off what is good’, that is have rejected Him, His covenant
and His ways. Therefore all that remains is for them to be effectively pursued by
their enemy (compare Deuteronomy 28:22; Deuteronomy 28:45;
Analysis of Hosea 8:1-3.
· “The ram’s horn to your mouth!” Like an eagle he comes against the house
of YHWH. (Hosea 8:1 a).

11. · Because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law
(Hosea 8:1 b).
· To me they will cry, “O God of Israel, we know you” (Hosea 8:2).
· Israel has cast off what is good (Hosea 8:3 a).
· The enemy will pursue him (Hosea 8:3 b).
ote that in ‘a’ the eagle will some against the house of YHWH (the people of
Israel), and in the parallel the enemy will pursue them. In ‘b’ they have transgressed
His covenant and trespassed against His Law, and in the parallel they have cast off
what is good. Centrally in ‘c’ they make their false and hypocritical cry to YHWH.
BI, "Set thy trumpet to thy mouth.
The Gospel trumpet
1. By sounding the Gospel trumpet the mind of God can alone be communicated to
man. The voice of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost must be heard from the Scriptures.
To the whole Christian priesthood the command is given, “Preach the Word.”
2. It is the purpose that all shall hear and obey the Gospel trumpet. The silver
trumpet of the wilderness was for the entire encampment. “Preach the Gospel to
every creature.”
3. In setting the trumpet to the mouth, we must give no uncertain sound. In the
ordinance of the silver trumpet the greatest care was taken to instruct the sons of
Aaron in its proper use. What is the Gospel? Is it not this?
(1) Man is a sinner, and responsible for his own salvation.
(2) Jesus Christ is the only Saviour.
(3) Man’s part in his salvation is faith in the Lord Jesus. The faith must trust
wholly in God, and produce a pure life.
(4) In the Gospel trumpet is Divine power; hence hope of victory over every
spiritual foe. Intemperance, infidelity, Sabbath desecration, indifferentism, sin in
the heart—these are the Jerichos of our day. Where is the hope of taking these
strongholds of Satan? The preaching of the Cross as the power of God. Then set
this Gospel trumpet to thy mouth! (A. H. Moment.)
As an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed
my covenant, and trespassed against My law.
The conventional Church
These words are singularly abrupt, and indicate the suddenness of the threatened
invader. By “the house of the Lord” we are to understand Israel as a section of the
professed people of God.
I. As endangered. How comes the eagle? Ravenously, suddenly, and swiftly. A
conventional Church is in greater danger than any secular community, because—
1. Its guilt is greater.
2. Its influence is more pernicious.
Whose influence on society is the most baneful—the man who denies God, the man who

12. ignores Him, or the man who misrepresents Him? The conventional Church gives
society a mal-representation of God and His religion.
II. As warned. Blow a blast that shall thrill every heart in the vast congregation of Israel.
Why sound the warning?
1. Because the danger is tremendous.
2. Because the danger is at hand.
3. Because the danger may be avoided.
What is wanted now is a ministry of warning to conventional Churches.
III. As repentant. “Israel shall cry unto Me, My God, we know Thee.” Oh hasten the day
when all conventional Churches shall be brought to a deep and experimental knowledge
of God and His Son! when this transpires the dense cloud that has concealed the sun of
Christianity shall be swept away, and the quickening beam shall fall on every heart.
(Homilist.)
God coming in judgment
whatever be the local and particular references as to the eagle, the great principle
remains from age to age that God comes to judgment in various forms, always definitely,
and always, as we shall see, intelligibly, not only inflicting vengeance as a Sovereign
whose covenants have been outraged, but condescending to explain the reasons upon
which His most destructive judgments are based. Thus we read, “Because they have
transgressed My covenant, and trespassed against My law”: the covenant had been
broken by idolatry, and the law had been violated by social sins. It is needful to mark this
distinction with great particularity, because it shows the breadth of the Divine
commandment. God is not speaking about a merely metaphysical law,—a law which can
only be interpreted by the greatest minds, and put into operation on the sublimest
occasions of life; He is speaking about a law which had indeed its lofty religious aspects,
but which had also its social, practical, tender phases, in whose preservation every man,
woman, and child in the kingdom ought to be interested. God has made it clear that sin
is always a crime. Whoever sins against God sins against his own soul. Once let God’s
beneficent laws be violated, and the man does not only suffer metaphysically, or go down
in some practical quantity or quality, but he actually suffers in body and estate,
sometimes apparently, always really. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’

13. BAR ES, "Israel shall cry unto Me, My God, we know Thee - Or, according to
the order in the Hebrew, “To Me shall they cry, we know Thee, Israel,” i. e., “we, Israel,”
Thy people, “know Thee.” It is the same plea which our Lord says that He shall reject in
the Day of Judgment. “Many shall say unto Me, in that Day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in Thy Name, and in Thy Name cast out devils, and in Thy Name done many
wonderful works” Mat_7:22. In like way, when our Lord came in the flesh, they said of
God the Father, He is our God. But our Lord appealed to their own consciences; “It is My
Father who honoreth Me, of whom ye say, He is our God, but ye have not known Him”
Joh_8:54. So Isaiah, when speaking of his own times, prophesied of those of our Lord
also; “This people draweth nigh unto Me, with their mouth and honoreth Me with their
lips; but their heart is far from Me” Mat_15:8; Isa_29:13. “God says, that they shall urge
this as a proof, that they know God, and as an argument to move God to have respect
unto them, namely, that they are the seed of Jacob, who was called Israel, because he
prevailed with God, and they were called by his name.” As though they said, “we, Thy
Israel, know thee.” It was all hypocrisy, the cry of mere fear, not of love; from where
God, using their own name of Israel which they had pleaded, answers the plea, declaring
what “Israel” had become.
CLARKE, "Israel shalt cry - The rapidity of the eagle’s flight is well imitated in the
rapidity of the sentences in this place.
My God, we know thee - The same sentiment, from the same sort of persons, under
the same feelings, as that in the Gospel of St. Matthew, Mat_7:29 : “Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? Then will I profess unto
them, I never Knew You.”
GILL, "Israel shall cry unto me, my God, we know thee. In their distress they
shall cry to the Lord to help them, and have mercy on them, as they used to do when in
trouble, Isa_26:16; when the eagle is come upon them, and just ready to devour them;
when Samaria is besieged with file Assyrian army, their king taken prisoner, and they
just ready to fall into the hands of the enemy, then they shall cry to God, though in a
hypocritical manner; own him to be the true God, and claim their interest in him, and
pretend knowledge of him, and acquaintance with him; though they have not served and
worshipped him, but idols, and that for hundreds of years; like others who profess to
know God, but in works deny him, Tit_1:16. Israel is the last word in the verse, and
occasions different versions: "they shall cry unto me"; these transgressors of the
covenant and the law, these hypocrites, shall pray to God in trouble, saying, "my God, we
Israel", or Israelites, "know thee"; or, "we know thee who are Israel" (x); and to this
sense is the Targum,
"in every time that distress comes upon them, they pray before me, and say, now we
know that we have no God besides thee; redeem us, for we are thy people Israel;''
why may they not be rendered thus, "they shall cry unto me; my God, we know thee,
Israel" shall say? Castalio renders them to this sense, "my God", say they; but "we know

14. thee, Israel"; we, the three Persons in the Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, we know thy
hypocrisy and wickedness, that it is only outwardly and hypocritically, and not sincerely,
that thou criest unto and callest upon God.
JAMISO , "My God, we know thee — the singular, “My,” is used distributively,
each one so addressing God. They, in their hour of need, plead their knowledge of God as
the covenant-people, while in their acts they acknowledge Him not (compare Mat_7:21,
Mat_7:22; Tit_1:16; also Isa_29:13; Jer_7:4). The Hebrew joins “Israel,” not as English
Version, with “shall cry,” but “We, Israel, know thee”; God denies the claim thus urged
on the ground of their descent from Israel.
SBC, "I. The prophet’s language may justly be regarded as a distinct promise or
prophecy on the part of God. He says, with that infinitude of meaning that all words
truly spoken by Him must have: "To Me shall they cry, My God, we know Thee, Israel,"
or "Israel shall cry, My God, we know Thee." In the very midst of the national sins and
disasters of His people, the Lord in His anger yet remembers mercy, and declares that
the time shall come when idolatrous Israel shall confess to the knowledge of Him, in
deed and in truth.
II. The conversion of Israel, we are taught, is contingent upon the bringing in of the
Gentiles. To say, therefore, that Israel shall be restored, is to say that the world shall be
converted; that the world shall cry, "My God, we know Thee;" that the earth shall be
filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Nor must we judge of
this matter from our own position in time; the wheels of His chariot seem to tarry, the
Bridegroom is long in coming, but God has eternity to work in. He is not hampered by
human circumstances, nor hurried for lack of time. If His purposes are real purposes,
they concern the human race as a whole, and their accomplishment is coeval with the
consummation of the race.
III. It is a remarkable transition here from the singular to the plural; from the "My God"
to the "We know Thee." No scheme of religion would be complete that did not equally
recognize the claims of the individual, and those of the multitude; none could be Divine
that did not reconcile them. But the religion of the Bible says that "we" is made up of a
whole nation, or rather of many nations, and yet every unit is a living entity, and instinct
with life; for every individual cries "My God." Many of our practical problems of the
present day consist in the difficulty of adjusting these rival claims. They can only be
adjusted, they can only be eradicated and reconciled in the kingdom of God, when every
unit of the great army that no man can number, can cry in deed, and in truth, "My God,"
and when they all alike can say, "We know Thee."
S. Leathes, Good Words, 1874, p. 606.
CALVI , "Verse 2
By the Prophet saying, To me shall they cry, some understand that the Israelites are
blamed for not fleeing to God; and they thus explain the Prophet’s words, “They
ought to have cried to me.” It seems to others to be an exhortation, “Let the
Israelites now cry to me.” But I take the words simply as they are, that is that God
here again touches the dissimulation of the Israelites, They will cry to me, We know
thee; and to this the ready answer is Israel has cast away good far from himself; the
enemy shall pursue him I thus join together the two verses; for in the former the

15. Lord relates what they would do, and what the Israelites had already begun to do;
and in the latter verse he shows that their labour would be in vain, because they
ever cherished wickedness in their hearts, and falsely pretended the name of God, as
it has been previously observed, even in their prayers. Israel, then will cry to me, My
God, we know thee. Thus hypocrites confidently profess the name of God, and with
a lofty air affirm that they are God’s people; but God laughs to scorn all this
boasting, as it is vain, and worthy of derision. They will then cry to me; and then he
imitates their cries, My God, we know thee When hypocrites, as if they were the
friends of God, cover themselves with his shadow, and profess to act under his
guardianship, and also boast at the same time of their knowledge of true doctrine,
and boast of faith and of the worship of God; be it so, he says, that these cries are
uttered by their mouths, yet facts speak differently, and reprove and expose their
hypocrisy. We now then see how these two verses are connected together, and what
is the Prophet’s object.
COFFMA , "Verse 2
"They shall cry unto God, We Israel know thee."
Israel itself thus became a witness to the fact that they indeed possessed prior
knowledge and relationship with God; but, instead of conforming their lives to the
requirements of such knowledge, they had presumptuously decided that it did not
make any difference what they did. There is no need to suppose that Israel was
insincere in this frantic appeal to God in their final extremity; but when the
Assyrians were already at the border, it was far too late for them to plead for
further days of grace.
TRAPP, "Verse 2
Hosea 8:2 Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
Ver. 2. Israel shall cry unto me] It is their course and custom to do so; they will
needs do it, though I take no delight in it. Hypocrisy is impudent, as Hosea 5:6,
Jeremiah 3:4-5. o, nay, but it will despite God with seeming honour; and present
him with a ludibrious devotion. Israel, though revolted and degenerated into
Jezreel, Hosea 1:4, shall cry, yea, cry aloud, vociferabuntur, cry till they are hoarse,
as criers do; and unto me, but not with their heart, Hosea 7:14. It is but clamor sine
fide fatuus, an empty ring, that God regards not. For, "not every one that saith unto
him, Lord, Lord," &c., Matthew 7:21. Many lean upon the Lord and say, "Is not
the Lord among us? none evil can come unto us," Micah 3:11, who yet shall hear,
Discedite, Avaunt, ye workers of iniquity; I know you not. Woe then to all profligate
professors, carnal gospellers; their prayers shall not profit them, neither shall they
be a button the better for their loud cries to the most High, Proverbs 1:28, and
odious fawnings.
My God, we know thee] When their hearts are far from him. Of such pretenders to
him and his truth it is that the apostle speaketh, Titus 1:16, "They profess that they
know God" (which yet God denies, Hosea 4:1; Hosea 5:4), "but in works they deny

16. him; being abominable, and disobedient, and to every good work reprobate." To
come and call God Father, the guide of our youth, and then to fall to sin, this is to do
as evil as we can; we cannot easily do worse, Jeremiah 3:4-5. To cry, "The temple of
the Lord, The temple of the Lord," and then to "steal, murder, and commit
adultery.," &c., this is painted hypocrisy, Jeremiah 7:4; Jeremiah 7:9. When men
shall take sanctuary, and think to save themselves from danger by a form of
godliness (as the Jews fable that Og, king of Bashan, escaped in the flood by riding
astride upon the Ark) when they are perfect strangers to the power of it, this is to
hasten and heap up wrath, Job 36:13. Religion, as it is the best armour, so the worst
cloak; and will serve hypocrites as the disguise Ahab put on, and perished. Castalio
maketh this last clause to be the speech of the blessed Trinity, We know thee, O
Israel: q.d. Though thou collogue and cry, My God; yet we know thine hypocrisy
and the naughtiness of thy heart. But the former sense is better, though the placing
of the word Israel in the end of the verse seem to favour this; for thus it runs in the
Hebrew, "To me they shall cry, My God, we know thee, Israel."
BE SO , "Hosea 8:2-4. Israel shall cry unto me — amely, when calamities come
upon them, My God, we know thee — Thou art our God in covenant with us, and
we make profession of thy name, and own thee for the only true God: see Matthew
7:21-22. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good — They have not walked
agreeably to their profession, but have cast off obedience to my laws. This is a
declaration, that all the worship of Israel, or their crying, My God, was vain, since
their actions were wicked, or they had cast off what was good. Christ has made a
declaration to the same purpose, to warn us of falling into the like error, in the
passage above referred to. They have set up kings — Made a defection from the
house of David, formed themselves into a distinct kingdom, and chosen what kings
and governors they pleased, without ever asking my advice or consent. ot by me —
ot by my warrant or order. Shallum, and Menahem, and Pekah, usurped the
kingdom by murder and treason, 2 Kings 15:13-14; 2 Kings 15:25, not by any
declaration of God’s will, as Jeroboam and Jehu did; nor were any of the kings
between Jeroboam and Jehu, nor any after the posterity of Jehu, made by God’s
appointment. They have made princes and I knew it not — They have appointed
judges, or magistrates, such as I approved not of, and had no hand in raising up to
that dignity. Of their silver, &c., they have made themselves idols — They have
abused their wealth to idolatry, which will be the occasion of their destruction: see
Hosea 2:8.
SIMEO , "THE DA GER OF FALSE CO FIDE CE
Hosea 8:2-3. Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. Israel hath cast off the
thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.
THERE is not a more intimate connexion between any two things than between sin
and misery. However specious an appearance any hypocrite may make in the world,
God, who sees his heart, will sooner or later expose and punish his hypocrisy. The
Israelites on different occasions professed to repent, and to return to God: but they
were “as a deceitful bow,” that effected not the purpose for which it seemed to be

17. bent: on which account God commanded the prophet to “set the trumpet to his
mouth,” and to proclaim their speedy destruction. The prophet’s testimony is then
confirmed by God himself in the words before us: in which we may see,
I. The vain confidence of the ungodly—
All men have, to a certain extent, the very confidence expressed in my text. As
amongst the Jews, so amongst ourselves, the grounds of that confidence are diverse,
whilst the confidence itself is the same.
[Some found it on their bearing of the Christian name. They have been born of
Christian parents, and educated in a Christian country, and therefore they account
themselves children of the Most High; exactly as the Jews claimed to be the children
of God, because they were descended from the stock of Abraham, and had been
admitted into covenant with God by circumcision. Hence we find them confidently
asserting that “God was their Father [ ote: John 8:33; John 8:39-41.].”
Others found it on their belonging to a peculiar Church. As the Jews said of
themselves, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord
are these [ ote: Jeremiah 7:4.],” so persons belonging to the Church of England
esteem themselves especially favoured of the Lord on that account, whilst all the
various classes of dissenters arrogate to themselves the same high privilege, as
arising out of their separation from the Established Church, and the imagined
superiority of their respective advantages for spiritual instruction.
Others found their confidence on their moral conduct, and their regular observance
of all the external duties of religion. But like the Pharisees of old, whilst their
regular deportment makes them objects of admiration to those around them, they
shew by their whole conduct that they have only “the form of godliness without any
of its power.” Yet do they value themselves as standing high in the favour of God,
and would be filled with indignation if their acceptance with him were questioned,
or their state before him made even for a moment a subject of doubt.
Others again found their confidence on their having embraced the principles of the
Gospel, and professed themselves in a more peculiar manner the followers of Christ.
These are apt to consider themselves as lights shining in a dark world [ ote: Psalms
78:34-37.] — — — and, with more than ordinary boldness, will adopt as their own
appropriate and distinctive privilege that assertion of the ancient Church, “My
Beloved is mine, and I am his.” ow I am far from saying that none are entitled to
express this confidence; for I know that it is the Christian’s privilege to possess it,
and to “hold it fast even to the end.” But it is far too easily adopted, and too
generally entertained. For thousands who “call God their Rock, and the Most High
God their Redeemer, do, in fact, only flatter him with their mouths, and lie unto him
with their tongues [ ote: Matthew 7:21-23.]:”and many of the most confident
among them will meet with that repulse in the last day, “Depart from me; I never
knew you, ye workers of iniquity [ ote: See Isaiah 58:2.].”]

18. Seeing, then, that there are so many who indulge a vain confidence before God, let
me declare to you,
II. The disappointment that awaits them—
Whatever have been the erroneous standards which men have adopted for
themselves, there is one, and one only, by which they shall be tried in the last day;
and that is, the word of God.
Accordingly God casts in the teeth of self-deceivers their violations of his word—
[The Jews, as Jews, were bound to walk according to God’s law. But they had “cast
off their allegiance to God, transgressing his covenant, and setting at nought his
commandments [ ote: ver. 1].” And this is the very state of us Christians. What a
covenant has God made with us in Christ Jesus, “a covenant ordered in all things
and sure,” and comprehending our every want, both in time and eternity! In this
covenant we have the remission of all our sins accorded to us freely for Christ’s
sake, and all needful supplies of the Holy Spirit, for the sanctification of our souls,
yea, and eternal glory also vouchsafed to us as the purchase of the Redeemer’s
blood. But how little have we regarded this covenant, or sought an interest in it! In
fact, “we have rather trodden under foot the Son of God by our continuance in sin,
and counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing,
and have done despite to the Spirit of his grace [ ote: Hebrews 10:29.].” And, as for
the laws either of the first or second table, we have never made them the rule of our
conduct, or even desired to conform to them any further than suited our own
interest or convenience. In our baptism indeed we engaged to walk according to the
revealed will of God; but in our whole lives we have rebelled against him, and “cast
off the thing that was good.”]
What then can we expect at God’s hands?
[He told the hypocritical Jews that “their Assyrian enemies should pursue them.”
True, the Assyrians thought only of gratifying their own ambition; but they were a
sword in God’s hand to “avenge the quarrel of his covenant:” and they did fearfully
execute on these transgressors the Divine judgments.
And has not God instruments at hand to inflict punishment on us? See the
perturbed state of Europe at this moment [ ote: Of France and Belgium more
particularly, May 1831.],” and see how we ourselves are approximating towards it.
The outrages and conflagrations which have recently pervaded our land will have
been as nothing in comparison of what we may soon behold, if God give us up to
that anarchical spirit which now threatens to bear down all before it — — — Truly
the occasional prayers which have for some time been in use amongst us by the
appointment of our ecclesiastical superiors, may yet well be continued amongst us,
for the averting of those judgments which we have so justly merited.
Amongst the professors of religion, too, there is a spirit not unlike to that which

19. prevails in the ungodly world, a spirit of unhumbled inquiry, and of dogmatical
assertion, tending only to divide the Church of God, and to diffuse uncharitable
feelings amongst those who ought to “love one another with a pure heart fervently.”
To what that also may grow, God alone knows. But it is a sad scandal to the Church
of God, and can be pleasing to none but Satan, the author and abettor of all evil.
But there are other enemies that may pursue both the world and the Church of
God: for most assuredly the wrath of God shall follow and overtake sin, whether it
be found in the openly profane, or in the professors of the Gospel of Christ. “The sin
of every man,” whoever he may be, shall assuredly, in due season “find him out.” A
man’s profession may have raised the admiration of all around him: but if it prove
at last unsound, he shall sink the deeper into irremediable shame and misery [ ote:
Job 20:4-7.] — — —]
Application—
1. Let us examine well the grounds of our confidence—
[I would by no means be understood to condemn all confidence, but only to
recommend a careful examination of the grounds on which our confidence is built.
We may, if we will attentively discriminate between things which differ, find a very
broad distinction between the confidence which is delusive, and that which is truly
scriptural. As a general observation, we may say, that that alone is scriptural which
is attended with holy fear and jealousy: for even St. Paul himself laboured
incessantly to “bring all his bodily appetites into subjection, lest, after having
preached to others, he himself should become a cast-away.” That which stands on a
presumptuous conceit about God’s decrees, and is sanctioned only by an appeal to
past experience, may well be questioned: but that which is founded rather on the
general promises of the Gospel, and is borne out and warranted by an appeal to the
present experience of the soul, may safely be treasured up as an invaluable blessing.
And if this latter appear more fluctuating than the other, let not that render it less
estimable in your minds: for it is far the more scriptural and safe. In fact, Satan
exerts himself to the uttermost to strengthen the confidence which is erroneous, that
so his vassals may not suspect the delusion under which they labour; whilst, on the
other hand, he infuses doubts into the minds of the upright, that they may not reap
the full benefit of their confidence in God. Only let your confidence be humble, and
its habitual effect be practical, and then you may say boldly, “O God, thou art my
God!” and may hold fast your confidence, and the rejoicing of your hope firm unto
the end.]
2. Let us endeavour to maintain a close walk with God—
[Whilst this, as I have already shewn, is the proper test of our confidence, it is also
the means whereby our confidence is to be made more and more assured. “If we
abide with God, he will abide with us: but if we forsake him, he also will forsake us
[ ote: 2 Chronicles 15:2.].” Here we see, that, if the text is true, so will the converse
of it be found true also. Only let us “hold fast that which is good,” and no enemy

20. whatsoever shall prevail against us. You all know how the Apostle sets all his
enemies at defiance [ ote: Romans 8:33-39.] — — — And thus may we also do: for,
“if God be with us, who can be against us?” Our office is, to serve the Lord. His
office, if I may so speak, is to save us. Only then let us attend to our part, and we
may with safety leave to our heavenly Father the execution of his.]
PETT, "Verse 2-3
‘To me they will cry,
“O God of Israel, we know you.”
Israel has cast off what is good,
The enemy will pursue him.
In its extremity Israel will then call out, ‘O God of Israel we know you’. They would
assume that because God wastheirGod, the God of Israel, He must listen to them in
their need and respond to their call because they ‘knew His ame’. This would
include the idea that they knew how to manipulate Him through the cultus and
could thus persuade Him to do what they wanted. And they would make this claim
even though Hosea and YHWH had both made clear that that was far from the
truth (Hosea 4:1; Hosea 4:6; Hosea 5:4; Hosea 6:6), for had they truly known Him
they would have known that they could not manipulate Him and would have obeyed
His commandments. Their failure had lain precisely in the fact that they had seen
Him as just another nature god, and not as the living God Who required obedience.
In other words they had not had a true knowledge of YHWH.
And because they did not know YHWH they had ‘cast off what was good’, that is
the covenant and the Law and true worship and social justice. Thus the consequence
was that ‘the enemy would pursue them’. Pursuit by the enemy was one essential
aspect of the curses in Deuteronomy 28:22; Deuteronomy 28:45. Thus the
Levitical/Deuteronomic curses are being seen as being fulfilled on faithless Israel.
Some translate as, ‘Israel has cast off the Good One’, but there is no precedent for it
elsewhere, and ‘casting off what is good’ fits the context, and indeed includes the
idea of casting off the Good One as part of what is good.
‘O God of Israel.’ In the Hebrew text ‘God’ and ‘Israel’ are divided by the word ‘we
know you’ (thus producing some of the unusual translations), but in fact the
separating up of titles in this way so as to fit in with the metre was a feature of
Hebrew poetry.
BI, "My God, we know Thee.
Agnosticism
An agnostic is not one who knows nothing, for some men who are embraced by this term
are men of unusual mental attainments and ability. He is one who neither denies nor
affirms. The term is applied to those who hold that there are matters pertaining to
religion which we not only do not know, but have no means of knowing. An agnostic
does not simply assert the incompleteness of human knowledge upon things Divine, but
that real knowledge concerning such things is an impossibility to man. An agnostic is not
an atheist. He does not deny the existence of a God. He is not a sceptic or doubter. He is

21. positive in affirming that we neither have nor.can get any knowledge of God, or of the
unseen world. Mr. Herbert Spencer’s views have been thus summarised:
“1. The proper object of religion is a Something which can never be known, or
conceived, or understood; to which we cannot apply the terms emotion, will,
intelligence; of which we cannot either affirm or deny that it is either a person, or being,
or mind, or matter, or, indeed, anything else.
2. All that we can say of it is that it is an inscrutable existence, or an unknowable
cause; we can neither know nor conceive what it is, nor how it came about, nor how
it operates. It is notwithstanding the ultimate cause, the all-being, the creative
power.
3. The essential business of a religion so understood is to keep alive the
consciousness of a mystery that cannot be fathomed.
4. We are not concerned with the question what effect this religion will have as a
moral agent, or whether it will make good men and women. Religion has to do with
mystery, not with morals.” Agnostics reverence the phenomenal and the Great
Unknown above and behind it; but, holding that the senses are the only source of
knowledge, they do not know, and say we never can know, that the eternal energy
behind all phenomena can think, feel, will, and contrive. Agnosticism is open to three
objections.
I. It is presumptive. The agnostic begins by a confession of human ignorance, and then
proceeds to make a universal assertion which implies the possession of universal
knowledge. To assert that the unknown cause “can never be known, or conceived, or
understood” is to assume that the speaker is acquainted with the constitution and calibre
of all mind in all ages. To say that the inscrutable existence will never be known by man
is to say we know what will be the extent of all men’s knowledge in the future. We cannot
measure all possible knowledge with our finite minds. He who says that God is
“unknowable,” takes a self-contradictory attitude, and assumes such knowledge as can
be attributed only to a Divine Being.
II. Agnosticism is paralysing. The great mainspring of human activity and basis of
human happiness is faith. The three steps taken by every man who has achieved ought
worthy of remembrance have been these—conception, conviction, and action. The
conviction was the faith which stimulated to and sustained the action. United to faith,
but distinct from it, is hope, that vigorous principle which enlists in its service both head
and heart. Agnosticism bows these two fair angels out of human society. It tells us that
we know only the phenomenal; we have no spiritual insight. If every man in society were
a consistent agnostic there would be a speedy and inglorious termination to all scientific,
social, political, and ecclesiastical enterprises.
III. Agnosticism is positively pernicious. It disposes of all true religion. For religion is
the linking of a soul to a personal God. Agnosticism defines religion as “devotion to that
which is believed to be best.” It has no personal God. Dispensing with religion—
1. Agnosticism strikes away one of the chief supports of society.
2. Begets despair.
There is nothing left for the heart of man but to settle down into a stony state of utter
desolation and despair. Agnosticism encourages pessimism. But we affirm that God is
known, though our knowledge is incomplete. We have sufficient knowledge to justify
and demand our worship of God, our trust in, and love for, and obedience to Him. That

22. God is known is proved by the Scriptures, by the manifestation of Christ, and by the
testimony of Christian experience. (J. Hiles Hitchens, D. D.)
The knowledge of God
Israel pretended to know God, but in works denied Him. They would cry and say, We
know Thee; when in truth they knew Him not, and were only speaking lies in hypocrisy.
I. Observe the time when they would make this profession. In a season of great affliction
and distress, when God would contend with them, when their enemies should be let
loose upon them, and everything around them look dark and distressing. When they
begin to feel God’s wrath they will begin to humble themselves, and profess themselves
to be His people. Troubles will often make those pray who never prayed before. But if
they leave off prayer when the trouble is over, this shews that it came out of feigned lips.
Conviction is often the fruit of correction, but does not always lead to conversion.
II. The manner in which this profession would be made, They would not only speak, but
speak vehemently, and “cry” with earnestness and confidence. But they called God their
God, though they had no interest in Him, and claimed an acquaintance with Him while
they were ignorant of His true character.
III. The importance of a right knowledge of God.
1. It is a great thing truly to know the Lord. A perfect knowledge of God is
unattainable by us. But a true knowledge of God is vital and efficacious, and has a
transforming influence. It is the effect of Divine illumination, so that none have it
until it is communicated from above.
2. A profession of this knowledge is of great importance. It is no light matter to be
able to say on good ground, “My God, I know Thee.” With the mouth confession is
made unto salvation, but there must first be a believing with the heart unto
righteousness. True faith will produce a good confession. Let us see that our
acknowledgment of God be accompanied with corresponding affections and
dispositions towards Him, going to the grounds of our religion, and tracing it up to
its source and origin.
IV. Some of the evidences of a true knowledge of God.
1. All saving knowledge proceeds from God only. All the knowledge we have of Him
by the unassisted efforts of reason will come to nothing.
2. Saving knowledge will produce a humble confidence in God. Humility is one of the
first fruits of a good understanding.
3. A spiritual acquaintance with God will be accompanied with a conformity of soul
to Him. There will be a resemblance of His holy nature, and a subjection to His holy
will.
(1) It is a great evil to profess to know God, and yet, in works, to deny Him.
(2) Beware the contrary extreme, of withholding an open profession of the truth
after we have been brought to understand and receive it.
(3) The subject shows the reason why many apostatise from their profession.
They have received the truth, but not in the love of it.
(4) The enlightening and renewing influences of the Holy Spirit are necessary to

23. form the Christian character. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
The claim to know God
In the Hebrew the order of the words is, “To Me they shall cry, My God, we know Thee;
Israel.” This order hints some observations that would hardly arise from our version. In
our Bible it is only a speech of God to them. In the Hebrew they seem to remind God
who they wore; as if they said, “We are Israel, who know Thee, remember we are not
strangers to Thee.” Observe—
1. In affliction men see their need of God.
2. Even hypocrites and the vilest wretches in the time of their distress will claim
interest in God and cry to Him.
3. Knowledge and acknowledgment of God in an outward and formal way hypocrites
think will commend them much to God in time of affliction. They expect favour from
God because they have made some profession of Him. “We know Thee,” as if they
said, “Lord, we were not as others who forsook Thee; we continued Israel still; we did
not turn to the heathens.” It is very difficult to take away men’s spirits from trusting
in formality in outward worship. (Jeremiah Burroughs.)
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.
BAR ES, "
Israel has cast off the thing that is good - Or (since the word means “to cast off
with abhorrence” “Israel hath east off and abhorred Good,” both “Him who is Good” and
“that which is good.” The word “tob” includes both. They rejected good in rejecting God ,
“Who is simply, supremely, wholly, universally good, and good to all, the Author and
Fountain of all good, so that there is nothing simply good but God; nothing worthy of
that title, except in respect of its relation to Him who is “good and doining good” Psa_
119:68. So then whatsoever any man hath or enjoys of good, is from his relation to Him,
his nearness to Him, his congruity with Him. “The drawing near to God is good to me”
Psa_73:28. All that any man hath of good, is from his being near to God, and his being,
as far as human condition is capable of, like unto Him. So that they who are far from
Him, and put Him far from them, necessarily “cast off” all that is “good.”
The enemy shall pursue him - “Forsaking God, and forsaken by Him, they must

24. needs be laid open to all evils.” The “enemy,” i. e., the Assyrian, “shall pursue him.” This
is according to the curse, denounced against them in the law, if they should forsake the
Lord, and break His covenant, and “not hearken to His voice to observe to do His
commandments” Deu_28:15-25.
GILL, "Israel hath cast off the thing that is good,.... Or "rejected him that is
good" (y); that is, God, as Kimchi observes; for there is none good but him, Mat_19:17;
he is the "summum bonum", "the chiefest good" to men, and is essentially, originally,
and infinitely good in himself, and the fountain of all goodness to his creatures; and yet
Israel has rejected him with detestation and contempt, as the word (z) signifies, though
they pretended to know him, which shows their hypocrisy; and therefore it is no wonder
that their prayers were rejected by him: or they rejected the good word of God, the law,
or doctrine contained in it, and the good worship, service, and fear of God, and indeed
everything that was good, just, and right. Cocceius renders it, "the good One", or he that
is God, the good God, "hath cast off Israel". This reading of the words Drusius also
mentions, and seems to like best, and as agreeing with what follows; so Rivet; but the
position of the words in the Hebrew text, and the accents, do not favour it;
the enemy shall pursue him; who is before compared to an eagle, which flies swiftly,
and pursues its prey with eagerness and fierceness: Shalmaneser is meant, who should
invade the land, come up to Samaria, besiege and take it; nothing should stop him, nor
should Israel escape from him, since they had cast off the Lord, and everything that was
good. The Targum is,
"the house of Israel have erred from my worship, for the sake of which I brought good
things upon them; henceforward the enemy shall pursue them.''
HE RY, " Here are general threatenings of wrath and ruin for their sin: The enemy
shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, and (Hos_8:3) shall pursue him.
If by the house of the Lord we understand the temple at Jerusalem, by the eagle that
comes against it we must suppose to be meant either Sennacherib, who had taken all the
fenced cities of Judah, laid siege to Jerusalem (and, no doubt, aimed at the house of the
Lord, to lay that waste, as he had done the temples of the gods of other nations), or
Nebuchadnezzar, who burnt the temple and made a prey of the vessels of the temple.
But, if we make it to point at the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes by the king
of Assyria, we must reckon it is the body of that people which as Israelites, to whom
pertained the adoption, the glory, and the covenants, is here called the house of the
Lord. They thought their being so would be their protection; but the prophet is directed
to tell them that now they had lost the life and spirit of their religion, though they still
retained the name and form of it, they were but as a carcase to which the eagles and
other birds of prey should be gathered together. The enemy shall pursue them as an
eagle, so swiftly, so strongly, so furiously. Note, Those who break their covenant of
friendship with God expose themselves to the enmity of all about them, to whom they
make themselves a cheap and easy prey; and their having been the house of the Lord,
and his living temples, will be no excuse nor refuge to them. See Amo_3:2.
III. Here is the people's hypocritical claim of relation to God, when they were in
trouble and distress (Hos_8:2): Israel shall cry unto me; when either they are
threatened with these judgments, and would plead an exemption, or when the
judgments are inflicted on them and they apply to God for relief, pouring out a prayer

25. when God's chastening is upon them, they will plead that among them God is known
and his name is great (Psa_76:1) and in their distress will pretend to that knowledge of
God's ways which in their prosperity they desired not, but despised. They will then cry
unto God, will call him their God, and (as impudent beggars) will tell him they are well
acquainted with him, and have known him long. Note, There are many who in works
deny God, and disown him, yet, to serve a turn, will profess that they know him, that
they know more of him than some of their neighbours do. But what stead will it stand a
man in to be able to say, My God, I know thee, when he cannot say, “My God, I love
thee,” and “My God, I serve thee, and cleave to thee only?”
JAMISO , "Israel — God repeats the name in opposition to their use of it (Hos_
8:2).
the thing that is good — Jerome translates, “God” who is good and doing good
(Psa_119:68). He is the chief object rejected, but with Him also all that is good.
the enemy shall pursue him — in just retribution from God.
K&D, "But this knowledge of God, regarded simply as a historical acquaintance with
Him, cannot possibly bring salvation. Hos_8:3. “Israel dislikes good; let the enemy
pursue it.” This is the answer that God will give to those who cry to Him. ‫ּוב‬‫ט‬ denotes
neither “Jehovah as the highest good” (Jerome) or as “the good One” (Sims.), nor “the
good law of God” (Schmieder), but the good or salvation which Jehovah has guaranteed
to the nation through His covenant of grace, and which He bestowed upon those who
kept His covenant. Because Israel has despised this good, let the enemy pursue it.
CALVI , "Verse 3
The verb ‫,זנח‬ zanech, means “to remove far off,” and “to throw to a distance;” and
sometimes, as some think, “to detest.” There is here, I doubt not, an implied contrast
between the rejection of good and the pursuing of which the Prophet speaks
afterwards, Israel has driven good far from himself; some expound ‫,טוב‬ thub, of
God himself, as if it was of the masculine gender: but the Prophet, I have no doubt,
simply accuses the Israelites of having receded from all justice and uprightness; yea,
of having driven far off every thing right and just. Israel, then, has repelled good;
the enemy, he says, will pursue him There is a contrast between repelling and
pursuing, as though the prophet said, that the Israelites had by their defection
obtained this, that the enemy would now seize them. There is then no better defense
for us against all harms than attention to piety and justice; but when integrity is
banished from us, then we are exposed to all evils, for we are deprived of the aid of
God. We then see how beautifully the Prophet compares these two things — the
rejection of good by Israel — and their pursuit by their enemies. He then adds —
COFFMA , "Verse 3
"Israel hath cast off that which is good; the enemy shall pursue him."
We believe that Harper rendered the last clause more effectively than it stands in
our version, "Let the enemy pursue him."[7] Our version is too mild a statement.

26. The import of the passage is, "Let the destruction commence! The time for
judgment and punishment had already come!
The reason for this destruction is not left out. It was because Israel had "cast off"
that which was good. They had cast off the knowledge of the true God, forsaken all
the blessed promises of the covenant, and taken up greedily the licentious and
drunken ways of the pagan Canaanites, even wallowing in the sensuality of the
immoral orgies of their shameful bull-gods. How could God use such a nation any
further?
TRAPP, "Hosea 8:3 Israel hath cast off [the thing that is] good: the enemy shall
pursue him.
Ver. 3. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good] Heb. the good: as, first, the good
God, who is good, original, universal, all-sufficient, and satisfactory, proportionable
and fitting to our soul. He both is good and doeth good, Psalms 119:68, and that
both naturally, abundantly, freely, and constantly. "Good thou art, O Lord, and
ready to forgive," saith David, Psalms 86:5. And, the good Lord be merciful, saith
Hezekiah in his prayer for the people, 2 Chronicles 30:9; 2 Chronicles 30:18. To
speak properly, there is none good but God, saith our Saviour, Matthew 19:17, but
Israel cast him, or rather kicked him, off ( procul a se reiecit), as the word signifieth.
So do all gross hypocrites; they are rank atheists, practical atheists, though
professional Christians. Secondly, they reject Christ as a sovereign, thongh they
could be content to have him as a Saviour; they send messages after him, saying, We
will not have this man to rule ever us; they will not submit to the laws of his
kingdom, nor receive him in all his offices and efficacies; they are Christless
creatures, as without God, so without Christ in the world. Thirdly, hypocrites reject
the good Spirit of God (as David calleth him, Psalms 143:10), the fruit whereof is in
all goodness, and righteousness, and truth, Ephesians 5:9. When God striveth with
them by his good Spirit, {as ehemiah 9:20} they, by yielding to Satan’s suggestions,
grieve that Holy Spirit, and by grieving resist him, and by resisting quench him, and
by quenching maliciously oppose him, and offer despite unto him; and so cast
themselves into the punishing hands of the living God, Hebrews 10:29; Hebrews
10:31. Lastly, they cast off the good word and true worship of God; those "right
judgments, true laws, good statutes and commandments," ehemiah 9:13; they put
the promises from them, and judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life, Acts
13:46; they hate instruction, and cast God’s words behind them, Psalms 50:17. In a
word, "he hath left off to be wise, and to do good: he setteth himself in a way that is
not good; he abhorreth not evil," Psalms 36:3-4. The words may be read thus, The
good (God) hath rejected Israel; the enemy, shall pursue him according to that in
the Psalm, "God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to
deliver him," Psalms 71:11. Sure it is that the Lord is with us while we are with him;
and if we seek him he will be found of us. But if we forsake him he will forsake us.
And if he forsake us woe be to us, Hosea 9:12, we are in danger to be caught up by
every paltry enemy, as young lapwings are to be snatched up by every buzzard. If
Israel cast away the thing that is good, 2 Chronicles 15:2, what marvel if evil hunt

27. him to overthrow him, Psalms 140:11, and if he find himself in all evil in the midst
of the congregation and the assembly, Proverbs 5:14. Hence Cain’s fear, when cast
out by God; and Saul’s complaint, that the Philistines were upon him, and God had
forsaken him.
BI, "Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.
The chastening of them that forsake God
In this short sentence we have at once the sin of Israel and his punishment. Consider the
various ways in which Israel may be said to have “cast off the thing that is good.”
I. By their murmurings. So long as they trusted God’s Word, they continued to walk
safely. When they began to murmur, Amalek came upon them.
II. By their idolatries. When God was arranging for their worship, they made and
worshipped the golden calves.
III. By their rebellion. As in their response to the message of the returned spies.
Referring to Israel in their later history, we may say—
IV. By their rejection of Christ. Because, when Messiah did come, He did not suit their
expectations, they despised and rejected Him. And the enemy was not slow in pursuing
them. Their city was destroyed, and they were scattered over the earth. This threat is not
confined to Israel. It is equally applicable to nations and to individuals now. (N. Ashby.)
Good rejected
Him who is good, That which is good. The word tob includes both. They rejected good in
rejecting God, who is simply, supremely, wholly, universally good, and good to all, the
Author and Fountain of all good, so that there is nothing simply good but God, nothing
worthy of that title, except in respect of its relation to him who is good and doing good.
(E. B. Pusey, D. D.)
The abandonment of good, and consequent pursuit of evil
I. The abandonment of good. “Israel hath rejected what is good.” The good here is the
true worship of the true God.
1. True, Worship is “the good thing” for man. It is good not only because God
requires it, but because it is the necessary condition of spiritual life, growth,
harmony, and blessedness.
2. This “good thing” man sometimes abandons. Moral mind has the power of
abandoning the highest good.
3. The abandonment of this “good thing” imperils the soul. Moral good is the only
effective safeguard of the spirit; when this is given up, or “cast off,” all the gates of
the soul are thrown open to tormenting fiends.
II. The consequent pursuit of evil. “Set up kings, but not by Me.” Reference is to
Jeroboam and his successors. From kings of their own making came the setting up of the
idolatrous calf-worship. So they went wrong in their politics and in their religion. Let a
man go wrong in his relations to God, and he will go wrong in all his relations, secular

28. and spiritual, There is nothing in connection with the human race of such transcendent
importance as worship. The religious element is the strongest of all elements, and men
must have a god of some sort, and their god will fashion their character and determine
their destiny. (Homilist.)
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.
With their silver and gold
they make idols for themselves
to their own destruction.
BAR ES, "They have set up kings, but not by ME - God Himself foretold to
Jeroboam by Ahijah the prophet, that He would “rend the kingdom out of the hands of
Solomon, and give ten tribes” to him, “and” would “take” him, “and” he “should reign
according to all that” his soul desired and” should “be king over Israel” 1Ki_11:31, 1Ki_
11:37; and, after the ten tribes had made Jeroboam king, God said by Shemaiah the
prophet to Rehoboam and the two tribes, “Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your
brethren the children of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me”
1Ki_12:22-24.
Yet although here, as everywhere, man’s self-will was overruled by God’s will, and
fulfilled it, it was not the less self-will, both in the ten tribes and in Jeroboam. It was so
in the ten tribes. For they cast off Rehoboam, simply of their own mind, because he
would not lessen the taxes, as they prescribed. If he would have consented to their
demands, they would have remained his subjects 1Ki_12:4. “They set up kings, but not
by or through” God, whom they never consulted, nor asked His will about the rules of
the kingdom, or about its relation to the kingdom of Judah, or the house of David. They
referred these matters no more to God, than if there had been no God, or than if He
interfered not in the affairs of man. It was self-will in Jeroboam himself, for he received
the kingdom (which Ahijah told him, he “desired”) not from God, not requiring of him,
how he should undertake it, nor anointed by Him, nor in any way acknowledging Him,
but from the people. And as soon as he had received it, he set up rebellion against God,
in order to establish his kingdom, which he founded in sin, whereby he made Israel to
sin.

29. In like way, the Apostle says, “against Thy holy Child Jesus, whom Thou hast both
Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered
together, for to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done”
Act_4:27, Act_4:8. Yet not the less did they sin in this Deicide; and the Blood of Jesus
has ever since, as they imprecated on themselves, been on the Jews and on their
children, as many as did not repent.
As was the beginning of the kingdom of Israel, such was its course. “They made kings,
but not from God.” Such were all their kings, except Jehu and his house. During 253
years, for which the kingdom of Israel lasted eighteen kings reigned over it, out of ten
different families, and no family came to a close, save by a violent death. The like self-
will and independence closed the existence of the Jewish people. The Roman Emperor
being afar off, the Scribes and Pharisees hoped, under him, without any great control, to
maintain their own authority over the people. They themselves, by their “God forbid!”
Luk_20:16, owned that our Lord truly saw their thoughts and purpose, “This is the heir;
come let us kill Him, that the inheritance may be ours.” They willed to reign without
Christ, feared the Pagan Emperor less than the holiness of Jesus, and in the words, “We
have no king but Caesar,” they deposed God, and shut themselves out from His
kingdom.
And I knew it not - “As far as in them lay, they did it without His knowledge” Joh_
8:54. They did not take Him into their counsels, nor desire His cognizance of it, or His
approbation of it. If they could, they would have had Him ignorant of it, knowing it to be
against His will. And so in His turn, God knew it not, owned it not, as He shall say to the
ungodly, “I know you not” Mat_25:12.
Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols - God had multiplied
them, (as He said before Hos_2:8), and they ungratefully abused to the dishonor of the
Giver, what He gave them to be used to His glory.
That they may be cut off - Literally, “that he may be cut off.” The whole people is
spoken of as one man, “one and all,” as we say. It is a fearful description of obstinate sin,
that their very object in it seemed to be their own destruction. They acted with one will
as one man, who had, in all he did, this one end - to perish. : “As if on set purpose they
would provoke destruction, and obstinately run themselves into it, although forewarned
thereof.” Holy Scripture speaks of that as people’s end, at which all their acts aim. “They
see, not, nor know, that they may be ashamed” Isa_44:9; i. e., they blind themselves, as
though their whole object were, what they will bring upon themselves, their own shame.
“They prophesy a lie in My Name, that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish,
ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you” Jer_27:15. This was the ultimate end of
those false prophecies. The false prophets of Judah filled them with false hopes; the real
and true end of those prophecies, that in which they ended, was the ruin of those who
uttered, and of those who listened to them. We ourselves say almost proverbially, “he
goes the way to ruin himself;” not that such is the man’s own object, but that he
obstinately chooses a course of conduct, which, others see, must end in utter ruin. So a
man chooses destruction or hell, if he chooses those tilings which, according to God’s
known law and word, end in it. Man bides from his own eyes the distant future, and fixes
them on the nearer objects which he has at heart. God lifts the veil, and discovers to him
the further end, at which he is driving, which he is, in fact, compassing, and which is in
truth the end, for his own fleeting obiects perish in the using; this and this alone abides.
CLARKE, "They have set up kings, but not by me - Properly speaking, not one

30. of the kings of Israel, from the defection of the ten tribes from the house of David, was
the anointed or the Lord.
I knew it not - It had not my approbation. In this sense the word know is frequently
understood.
That they may be cut off - That is, They shall be cut off in consequence of their
idolatry.
GILL, "They have set up kings, but not by me,.... Not by his authority, order, and
command; not by asking advice of him, or his leave, but of themselves, and of their own,
accord: this refers to the case of Jeroboam their first king, after their separation from the
house of David, and from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; for though his becoming
king of Israel was according to the secret will of God, and by his overruling providence;
yet it was done without his express orders, and without asking counsel of him, or his
consent, and of their own heads; and many of his successors were conspirators, and set
up themselves with the consent of the people, to the dethroning of others, and upon the
slaughter of them, as Shallum, Menahem, Pekah, and Hoshea: the people of Israel had
no right to choose a king for themselves; the right was alone in the Lord; it was he that
chose, appointed, and constituted their kings, Deu_17:15; thus Saul, David, and
Solomon, were chose and appointed by him, 1Sa_10:24; it was not the person of
Jeroboam chosen God disliked; but their taking it upon them to choose and set him up
without his leave;
they have made princes, and knew it not; that is, they set up subordinate
governors, judges, civil magistrates, elders of the people, over them, without his
approbation, and such as were very disagreeable to him; otherwise he knew what was
done by them, as being the omniscient God, but he did not approve of what they did.
Some observe, that ‫,ש‬ in the word used, is put for ‫,ס‬ and should be rendered, "they have
removed", so Jarchi and Japhet; that is, they have set up kings, and they have removed
them; they have took it upon them to make and pose kings at pleasure, without seeking
the Lord about it, when this is his prerogative, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords,
Dan_2:21; which sense makes a strong and beautiful antithesis;
of their silver and their gold have they made their idols; some of their idols
were made of silver, others of gold; particularly the calves at Dan and Bethel, which are
called the golden calves, because made of gold; as was the calf in the wilderness, 1Ki_
12:28; see Isa_46:6;
that they may be cut off: which denotes not the end, intentions, and design of making
these idols of silver and gold, but the event thereof; namely, either the destruction of the
idols themselves, which, for the sake of the silver and gold they were made of; were cut
in pieces by a foreign enemy; or the gold and silver were cut off from the people, their
riches and wealth were wasted by such means; or rather the people were cut off,
everyone of them, because of their worship of them, or this would be the case.
HE RY, " Here are some particular sins which they are charged with, are convicted
of the folly of, and warned of the fatal consequences of, and for which God's anger is
kindled against them.
1. In their civil affairs. They set up kings without God, and in contempt of him, Hos_

31. 8:4. So they did when they rejected Samuel, in whom the Lord was their king, and chose
Saul, that they might be like the nations. So they did when they revolted from their
allegiance to the house of David, and set up Jeroboam, wherein, though they fulfilled
God's secret counsel, yet they aimed not at his glory, nor consulted his oracle, nor
applied to him by prayer for direction, nor had any regard to his providence, but were
led by their own humour and hurried on by the impetus of their own passions. So they
did now about the time when Hosea prophesied, when it seems to have grown
fashionable to set up kings, and depose them again, according as the contenders for the
crown could make an interest, 2Ki_15:8, etc. Note, We cannot expect comfort and
success in our affairs when we go about them, and go on in them, without consulting
God and acknowledge not him in all our ways: “They set up kings, and I knew it not, that
is, I did not know it from them, they did not ask counsel at my mouth, whether they
might lawfully do it or whether it would be best for them to do it, though they had
prophets and oracles with whom they might have advised.” They looked not to the Holy
One of Israel, Isa_31:1. Nor did the princes do as Jephthah, who, before he took upon
him the government, uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh, Jdg_11:11. Note,
Those that are entrusted with public concerns, and particularly with the election and
nomination of magistrates, ought to take God along with them therein, by desiring his
direction and designing his honour.
2. In their religious matters they did much worse; for they set up calves against God,
in competition with him and contradiction to him. “Of their silver and their gold which
God gave them, and multiplied to them, that they might serve and honour him with
them, they have made them idols.” They called them gods (1Ki_12:28, Behold thy gods,
O Israel!) but God calls them idols; the word signifies griefs, or troubles, because they
are offensive to God and will be ruining to those that worship them. Their silver and
their gold they have made to them idols; so the words are, referring primarily to the
images of their gods, which they made of gold and silver, especially the golden calves at
Dan and Bethel. Idolaters spare no cost in worshipping their idols. But they are very
applicable to the spiritual idolatry of the covetous: Their silver and their gold are the
gods they place their happiness in, set their hearts upon, to which they pay their
homage, and in which they put their confidence. Now, to show them the folly of their
idolatry, he tells them,
JAMISO , "kings ... not by me — not with My sanction (1Ki_11:31; 1Ki_12:20).
Israel set up Jeroboam and his successors, whereas God had appointed the house of
David as the rightful kings of the whole nation.
I knew it not — I approved it not (Psa_1:6).
of ... gold ... idols — (Hos_2:8; Hos_13:2).
that they may be cut off — that is, though warned of the consequences of idolatry,
as it were with open eyes they rushed on their own destruction. So Jer_27:10, Jer_27:15;
Jer_44:8.
K&D, "The proof of Israel's renunciation of its God is to be found in the facts
mentioned in Hos_8:4. “They have set up kings, but not from me, have set up princes,
and I know it not: their silver and their gold they have made into idols, that it may be
cut off.” The setting up of kings and princes, not from Jehovah, and without His
knowledge, i.e., without His having been asked, refers chiefly to the founding of the
kingdom by Jeroboam I. It is not to be restricted to this, however, but includes at the
same time the obstinate persistence of Israel in this ungodly attitude on all future

32. occasions, when there was either a change or usurpation of the government. And the fact
that not only did the prophet Ahijah foretel to Jeroboam I that he would rule over the
ten tribes (1Ki_11:30.), but Jehu was anointed king over Israel by Elisha's command (2
Kings 9), and therefore both of them received the kingdom by the express will of
Jehovah, is not at variance with this, so as to require the solution that we have a
different view here from that which prevails in the books of Kings, - namely, one which
sprang out of the repeated changes of government and anarchies in this kingdom
(Simson). For neither the divine promise of the throne, nor the anointing performed by
the command of God, warranted their forcibly seizing upon the government, - a crime of
which both Jeroboam and Jehu rendered themselves guilty. The way in which both of
them paved the way to the throne was not in accordance with the will of God, but was
most ungodly (see at 1Ki_11:40). Jeroboam was already planning a revolt against
Solomon (1Ki_11:27), and led the gathering of the ten tribes when they fell away from
the house of David 91 Kings Hos_12:2.). Of Jehu, again, it is expressly stated in 2Ki_
9:14, that he conspired against Joram. And the other usurpers, just like the two already
named, opened the way to the throne by means of conspiracies, whilst the people not
only rebelled against the rightful heir to the throne at Solomon's death, from pure dislike
to the royal house of David, which had been appointed by God, and made Jeroboam
king, but expressed their approval of all subsequent conspiracies as soon as they have
been successful. This did not come from Jehovah, but was a rebellion against Him - a
transgression of His covenant. To this must be added the further sin, viz., the setting up
of the idolatrous calf-worship on the part of Jeroboam, to which all the kings of Israel
adhered. It was in connection with this, that the application of the silver and gold to
idols, by which Israel completely renounced the law of Jehovah, had taken place. It is
true that silver was not used in the construction of the golden calves; but it was
employed in the maintenance of their worship. ‫ת‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָⅴִ‫י‬ ‫ן‬ ַ‫ע‬ ַ‫מ‬ ְ‫:ל‬ that it (the gold and silver) may
be destroyed, as more fully stated in Hos_8:6. ‫ן‬ ַ‫ע‬ ַ‫מ‬ ְ‫ל‬ describes the consequence of this
conduct, which, though not designed, was nevertheless inevitable, as if it had been
distinctly intended.
CALVI , "Verse 4
The Prophet here notices two things, with respect to which he reprobates the perfidy
and impious perverseness of the people, — they had, against the will of God, framed
a religion for themselves, — and they had instituted a new kingdom. The salvation
of that people, we know, was, as it were, founded on a certain kingdom and
priesthood; and by these two things God testified that he was allied to the children
of Abraham. We know where the happiness of the godly is deposited, even in Christ;
for Christ is to us the fulness of a blessed life, because he is a king and a priest.
Hence I have said, that through a certain kingdom and priesthood did the favor of
God towards the people then shine forth. ow when the Israelites overturned the
kingdom, which God by his own authority instituted, and when they corrupted and
adulterated the priesthood, did they not, as it were, designedly extinguish the favor
of God, and strive to annihilate whatever was needful for their salvation? This then
is what the Prophet now speaks of, that is, that the Israelites in changing the
kingdom and priesthood had undermined the whole appointment of God, and
openly showed that they were unwilling to be ruled by God’s hand; for they would
have never dared to turn asides even in the least degree, from the kingdom of David,
nor would they have dared to set up a new and spurious priesthood, if any particle

33. of the fear of God had prevailed in their hearts.
We now perceive the design of the Prophet, which interpreters have not sufficiently
considered; for some refer this to the covenants, as it seemed strange to them, that
the Israelites should be so severely reproved for setting up Jeroboam as their king,
since Ahijah the Shilonite had already declared by God’s command, that it would be
so. But they attend not sufficiently to what the Prophet had in view; for, as I have
already said, when God instituted the priesthood, there shone forth in it the image
of Christ the Mediator, whose office it is, to intercede with God that he might
reconcile him to men; and then in the person of David shone forth also the kingdom
of Christ. ow when the people tumultuously chose a new king for themselves
without any command from God, and when they built for themselves a new temple
and altar contrary to what the law prescribed, and when they divided the
priesthood, was not all this a manifest corruption, a denial of religion? It is hence
evident that the Israelites were in both these respects apostates; for they forsook
God in two ways, — first, by separating from the house of David, — and then by
forming for themselves a strange worship, which God had not commanded in his
law.
With regard to the first, he says, They have caused to reign, but not through me;
they have instituted a government, and I knew it not, that is, without my consent;
for God is said not to know what he does not approve, or that concerning which he
is not consulted. But some one may object and say, that God knew of the new
kingdom since he was the founder of it. To this the answer is, that God so works,
that this pretext does not yet excuse the ungodly, since they aim at something else,
rather than to execute his purpose. As for instance, God designed to prove the
patience of his servant Job: the robbers who took away his property, were they
excusable? By no means. For what was their object, but to enrich themselves by
injustice and plunder? Since then they purchased their advantage at the expense of
another, and unjustly robbed a man who had never injured them, they were
destitute of every excuse. The Lord, however, did in the meantime execute by them
what he had appointed, and what he had already permitted Satan to do. He
intended, as it has been said, that his servant should be plundered; and Satan, who
influenced the robbers, could not himself move a finger except by the permission of
God; nay, except it was commanded him. At the same time, the Lord had nothing in
common or in connection with the wicked, because his purpose was far apart from
their depraved lust. So also it must be said of what is said here by the Prophet. As
God intended to punish Solomon, so he took away the ten tribes. He indeed suffered
Solomon to reign to the end of his days, and to retain the government of the
kingdom; but Rehoboam, who succeeded him, lost the ten tribes. This did not
happen by chance; for God had so decreed; yea, he had declared that it would be so.
He sent Ahijah the Shilonite to offer the kingdom to Jeroboam, who had dreamt of
nothing of the kind. God then ruled the whole by his own secret counsel, that the ten
tribes should desert their allegiance to Rehoboam, and that Jeroboam, being made
king, should possess the greater part of the kingdom. This, I say, was done by God’s
decree: but yet the people did not think that they were obeying God in revolting
from Rehoboam, for they desired some relaxation, when they saw that the young

34. king wished tyrannically to oppress them; hence they chose to themselves a new
king. But they ought to have endured every wrong rather than to deprive themselves
of that inestimable blessing, of which God gave them a symbol and pledge in the
kingdom of David; for David, as it has been said, did not reign as a common king,
but was a type of Christ, and God had promised his favor to the people as long as
his kingdom flourished, as though Christ did then dwell in the midst of the people.
When therefore the people shook off the yoke of David, it was the same as if they
had rejected Christ himself because Christ in his type was despised.
We hence see how base was the conduct of the people in joining themselves to
Jeroboam. For that sedition was not merely a proof of levity, as some people do
often rashly upset the state of things; it was not merely a rash levity, but an impious
denial of God’s favor, the same as if they had rejected Christ himself. They had also,
in this way, torn themselves from the body of the Church; and though the kingdom
of Israel surpassed the kingdom of Judah in wealth and power, it yet became like a
putrid member, for the whole soundness depended on the head, from which the ten
tribes had cut themselves off. We now then see why the Prophet so sharply
expostulates with the Israelites for setting up a kingdom, but not through God; and
solved also is the question, how God here declares that was not through him, which
yet he had determined and testified by the mouth of his prophet, Ahijah the
Shilonite; that is, that God, as it has been said, had not given a command to the
people, nor permitted the people to withdraw themselves from their allegiance to
Rehoboam. God then denies that kingdom, with respect to the people, was set up by
his decree; and he says that what was done was this, — that the people made a king
without consulting him; for the people ought to have attended to what pleased him,
to what the Lord himself conceded; this they did not, but suddenly followed their
own blind impulse.
And this place is worthy of being observed; for we hence learn that the same thing is
done and not done by the Lord. Foolish men at this day, not versed in the Scripture,
excite great commotions among us about the providence of God; yea, there are
many rabid dogs who bark at us, because we say, (what even Scripture teaches
everywhere,) that nothing is done except by the ordination and secret counsel of
God, and that whatever is carried on in this world is governed by his hand. “How
so? Is God, then a murderer? Is God, then a thief? Or, in other words, are
slaughters, thefts, and all kinds of wickedness, to be imputed to him?” These men
show, while they would be deemed acute, how stupid they are, and also how absurd;
nay, rather what mad wild beasts they are. For the Prophet here shows that the
same thing was done and not done by the Lord, but in a different way. God here
expressly denies that Jeroboam was created king by him; on the other hand, by
referring to sacred history, it appears that Jeroboam was created king, not by the
suffrages of the people, but by the command of God; for no such thing had yet
entered the mind of the people, when Ahijah was bidden to go to Jeroboam; and he
himself did not aspire to the kingdom, no ambition impelled him; he remained quiet
as a private man, and the Lord stirred him up and said, “I will have thee to reign.”
The people knew nothing of these things. After it was done, who could have denied
but that Jeroboam was set on the throne, as it were, by the hand of God? All this is

35. true; but with are regard to the people, he was not created by God a king. Why?
Because the Lord had commanded David and his posterity to reign perpetually. We
hence see that all things done in the world are so disposed by the secret counsel of
God, that he regulates whatever the ungodly attempts and whatever even Satan tries
to do, and yet he remains just; and it avails nothing to lessen the fault of evils when
they say, that all things are governed by the secret counsel of God. With regard to
themselves, they know what the Lord enjoins in his law; let them follow that rule:
when they deviate from it, there is no ground for them to excuse themselves and say
that they have obeyed God; for their design is ever to be regarded. We hence see
how the Israelites appointed a king, but not by God; for it was sedition that impelled
them, when, at the same time, the law enjoined that they should choose no one as a
king except him who had been elected by God; and he had marked out the posterity
of David, and designed that they should occupy the royal throne till the coming of
Christ.
Then follows the other charge, — that they made to themselves idols from their gold
and from their silver God here complains that his worship was not only fallen into
decay, but that it was also wholly corrupted by superstitions. It was an impiety not
to be borne, that the people had desired a new king for themselves; but it was the
summit of all evils, when the Israelites converted their gold and their silver into
idols. They have made, he says, their gold and silver idols; that is, “I destined the
gold and the silver, with which they have been enriched, for very different purposes.
When, therefore, I was liberal to them, they abused my kindness, and from their
gold and their silver they made to themselves idols or gods.” Here, then, the
Prophet, by implication, sharply reproves the blind madness of the people, that they
made to themselves gods of corruptible things, which ought, in the meantime, to be
serviceable to them; for to what purpose is money given us by the Lord, but for our
daily use? Since, then, the Lord has destined gold and silver for our service, what
frenzy it is when men work them into gods for themselves! But this main point must
be ever remembered, that the Israelites, in all things, betrayed their own defection;
for they hesitated not to overthrow the kingdom which God had instituted for their
salvation, and they dared to pervert the whole worship of God, together with the
priesthood, by introducing new superstitions.
Then follows a denunciation of punishment — Therefore Israel shall be cut off.
Were any, indeed, to object and say that God was too rigid, there would be no
reason for such an objection; for they had betrayed and violated their pledged faith,
and by condemning and treading under foot both the kingdom and priesthood, they
had rejected his favor. We hence see that the Prophet threatens them now with
deserved destruction. Let us proceed —
COFFMA , "Verse 4
"They have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I knew it not:
of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off."
"They have made them kings ..." Most of the commentators limit the prophet's
rebuke in this place to the murderous overthrow of one king after another in the

36. closing year's of the northern monarchy; but we believe much more is included. The
very conception of an earthly ruler over God's people was contrary to the will of
God (1 Samuel 8:7ff). All of their kings, even Saul, were nothing more than a total
rejection of the Theocracy; and, although God accommodated himself to their
rebellion in that instance, there is no evidence at all that the secular kings were ever
anything other than a snare and a pit for the chosen people. "The princes" were
necessarily corollary to the existence of kings; hence both were mentioned here. The
Pentateuch which was designated by Jesus as God's Word (John 10:34,35) had
provided judges for Israel; and all of their kings were a violation of the prior
written Law of God.
"Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols ..." This was a sin
compounded by the fact that God had given them the very wealth which they were
intent upon squandering in the promotion of their vulgar, orgiastic paganism.
"Idols ..." ot only were there the golden calves which Jeroboam I had set up at
Dan and at Bethel, these, in all probability had proliferated (see under Hosea 8:5-6,
below). Also May tells us that, "Besides the bull images at Bethel and Dan, figurines
and plaques of various deities designed for use in private rites were abundant."[8]
ow the big thing about Hosea's citation here is that the Decalogue specifically
forbade the making of any graven image (Exodus 20:3-6,23; 34:17), not merely the
worshipping of such devices; but the very making of them (as religious items) was
also forbidden. If Israel's breaking of their agreement with God regarding idols is
not in focus here, it may be inquired then, as to why God was any more provoked
with Israel than he was with a whole world of pagan nations all around Israel? For
this prophecy to have any claim whatever to validity, the prior existence of the
Decalogue and the Old Testament laws related to it is absolutely necessary.
ELLICOTT, "(4) Set up kings.—It is possible that the prophet alludes to the history
of the northern kingdom as a whole. Though the revolt of the Ten Tribes received
Divine sanction (1 Kings 11:9-11), it was obviously contrary to the Divine and
prophetic idea which associated the growth of true religion with the line of David
(Hosea 3:5). But it is best to regard the passage as referring to the short reigns of
usurpers and to the foul murders which disgraced the annals of the northern
kingdom since the death of Jeroboam II. Jehovah repudiates all participation in
their anarchy.
Knew it not.—Should be, knew them not—viz., the gold and silver splendours
wherewith Israel had adorned its apostacy.
TRAPP, "Verse 4
Hosea 8:4 They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I
knew [it] not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may
be cut off.
Ver. 4. They have set up kings, but not by me, &c.] The Septuagint and Vulgate
Latin render it, "They have reigned themselves"; like as St Paul telleth the haughty

37. Corinthians, who, carried aloft by their waxen wings, domineered and despised
others, "ye have reigned as kings without us," &c., 1 Corinthians 4:8. But our
reading is according to the original; and so they are charged with a double
defection; the one civil, from the house of David, "they have set up kings," &c.; the
other ecclesiastical, from the sincere service of God, "they had made them idols."
For the first, it was not their fault to set up kings; but to do it without God, without
his license and approbation. They took counsel, but not of God; they covered with a
covering, but not of his spirit, that they might add sin to sin, Isaiah 30:1. They went
headlong to work, in setting up Jeroboam, the son of ebat. For although the things
were done by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, as was likewise
Christ’s crucifixion, Acts 2:23, {see 1 Kings 11:31; 1 Kings 12:15; 1 Kings 12:24} yet
because the people were led by their own pride and ambition to choose a new king,
without either asking God’s consent or eyeing his decree, they did it rashly and
seditiously; neither aimed they at anything else, but at the easing of their burdens,
and drawing to themselves the wealth of the kingdom. As for Jeroboam, it is before
noted, that although he had it cleared to him, that God’s will was he should be king
over the ten tribes, yet because it was a will of God’s decree, not of his command, as
of a duty to be done by him; and because he did not as David, who when he had the
promise of the kingdom (yea, was anointed king) yet invaded not the kingdom, but
waited till he was lawfully exalted thereunto by God; therefore passeth he for a
usurper. And the people are here worthily reprehended, since whatsoever is not of
faith is sin; and it is obedience when men obey a divine precept; but not ever when
they follow a divine instinct.
They have made princes, &c.] Some render it, They have removed princes (as if in
the word Hasiru Sin were put for Samech, R. Sal. Jerki.), they have taken liberty to
make and unmake princes at their pleasure; as the Roman army did emperors; and
as that potent Earl of Warwick, in Henry VI’s time, who is said to have carried a
king in his pocket. But because the former reading is confirmed by the Chaldee
paraphrase, and the sense is agreeable to what went before, neither read we of any
kings of Israel deposed by the people, we retain it as the better.
Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols] Of the guts and garbage of
the earth had they made them terricula, fray-bugs (or spectres), or molestations (
Gnatsabim): terrorem enim et tristitiara duntaxat afferunt suis cultoribus, for they
cause terror and heaviness only to those that worship them (Polan.). "Their sorrows
shall be multiplied that hasten after another god," Psalms 16:4. The Greek
Churches, for instance, so set upon image worship, and therefore now subjected to
the Turkish tyranny; a type whereof were these ten tribes carried captive by the
Assyrian, without any return. Idols are called griefs, or sorrows, saith Peter Martyr,
because they torment the mind and trouble the conscience; neither can they quiet or
pacify it; so that idolaters must needs be always in doubt and despair, as Papists are,
whose whole religion is a doctrine of desperation. Their penances and pilgrimages to
such or such an idol might still their consciences for a while; but this was a truce
rather than a peace; a palliate cure, which would not hold long; a corrupting of the

38. sergeant, but not compounding with the creditor.
That they may be cut off] ot their silver and gold, the matter of their idols, as some
sense it; but the whole nation, princes and people together. Idolatry is a God-
provoking and a land-desolating sin, as in this prophecy. Often it is not so much the
enemies’ sword as the sin of idolatry that destroyeth cities and kingdoms, through
the justice and jealousy of Almighty God.
EBC, " ARTIFICIAL KI GS A D ARTIFICIAL GODS
Hosea 8:4-13
The curse of such a state of dissipation as that to which Israel had fallen is that it
produces no men. Had the people had in them "the root of the matter," had there
been the stalk and the fiber of a national consciousness and purpose, it would have
blossomed to a man. In the similar time of her outgoings upon the world Prussia had
her Frederick the Great, and Israel, too, would have produced a leader, a heaven-
sent king, if the national spirit had not been squandered on foreign trade and
fashions. But after the death of Jeroboam every man who rose to eminence in Israel,
rose, not on the nation, but only on the fevered and transient impulse of some
faction; and through the broken years one party monarch was lifted after another to
the brief tenancy of a blood-stained throne. They were not from God, these
monarchs; but man-made, and sooner or later man-murdered. With his sharp
insight Hosea likens these artificial kings to the artificial gods, also the work of
men’s hands; and till near the close of his book the idols of the sanctuary and the
puppets of the throne form the twin targets of his scorn.
"They have made kings, but not from Me; they have made princes, but I knew not.
With their silver and their gold they have manufactured themselves idols, only that
they may be cut off"-king after king, idol upon idol. "He loathes thy Calf, O
Samaria," the thing of wood and gold which thou callest Jehovah. And God
confirms this. "Kindled is Mine anger against them! How long will they be
incapable of innocence?"-unable to clear themselves of guilt! The idol is still in his
mind. "For from Israel is it also-as much as the puppet-kings"; a workman made it,
and no god is it. Yea, splinters shall the Calf of Samaria become." Splinters shall
everything in Israel become. "For they sow the wind, and the whirlwind shall they
reap." Indeed like a storm Hosea’s own language now sweeps along; and his
metaphors are torn into shreds upon it. "Stalk it hath none: the sprout brings forth
no grain: if it were to bring forth, strangers would swallow it." ay, "Israel hath let
herself be swallowed up! Already are they becoming among the nations like a vessel
there is no more use for." Heathen empires have sucked them dry. "They have gone
up to Assyria like a runaway wild-ass. Ephraim hath hired lovers." It is again the
note of their mad dissipation among the foreigners. "But if they" thus "give
themselves away among the nations, I must gather them in, and" then "shall they
have to cease a little from the anointing of a king and princes." This willful roaming
of theirs among the foreigners shall be followed by compulsory exile, and all their

39. unholy artificial politics shall cease. The discourse turns to the other target. For
Ephraim hath multiplied altars-to sin; altars are his own-to sin. Were I to write for
him by myriads My laws, as those of a stranger would they be accounted. They slay
burnt-offerings for Me and eat flesh. Jehovah hath no delight in them. ow must He
remember their guilt and make visitation upon their sin. They-to Egypt-shall
return" Back to their ancient servitude must they go, as formerly He said He would
withdraw them to the wilderness. [Hosea 2:16]
PETT, "Verse 4
‘They have set up kings, but not by me,
They have made princes, and I knew it not,
Of their silver and their gold they have made idols for themselves,
That they may be cut off.’
YHWH’s first complaint was that Israel had set up kings and made princes without
consulting YHWH, and this appears to have been so from the beginning, for while
prophetic voices certainly were raised in support of Jeroboam I and Jehu, these
were in private messages and not publicly proclaimed (1 Kings 11:30-38; 2 Kings
9:1-10). There is no suggestion anywhere that the people attempted to discover
YHWH’s will as to who should reign over them, or who should be their princes,
something which very much indicated that YHWH’s will was not very important to
them. In Israel the king was supposed to be YHWH’s representative who acted in
the ame of YHWH, but this made it quite clear that the people of Israel did not
care about that one jot. And both Jeroboam and Jehu then proceeded to sin
grievously, so that both were subsequently condemned by YHWH (1 Kings 14:7-16;
2 Kings 10:28-31; Hosea 1:4). Furthermore at this time when Hosea was speaking
kings were being replaced by means of assassination with none seemingly objecting
that YHWH’s representative had been removed. YHWH’s will was being treated as
irrelevant.
YHWH’s second complaint was that instead of bringing their treasures to Him they
were using them to make idols for themselves. This would certainly include the
golden calves set up by Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:28-29), but would almost certainly
also include smaller images of Baal and Asherah and other gods made in both silver
and gold. And this in itself was the guarantee that Israel would be ‘cut off’.
It was as a consequence of the appointment of inept kings and princes without
YHWH’s agreement that the golden idols were being set up which were mainly
responsible for the downfall of Israel, and that strangers would be able to come in
and seize their crops (Hosea 8:7). It is the former which will be dealt with first.
PETT, "Verses 4-7
Israel Have Laid False Foundations In Kingship And Religion, And YHWH,
Despairing Of There Being Any Likelihood Of Their Becoming Pure, Will In Anger
Both Destroy ‘The Calf Of Samaria’ And Minimise Their Harvest (Hosea 8:4-7).
Having appointed kings and princes without regard to YHWH, and having used
their God-given wealth in order to make idols for themselves, Israel is subject to the

40. anger of YHWH, Who despairs of their ever becoming pure in the near future. He
will therefore destroy the calf of Samaria and break it in pieces, and will make their
fields barren, while anything that is produced will be swallowed up by foreigners.
Analysis of Hosea 8:4-7.
a They have set up kings, but not by me, they have made princes, and I knew it not,
of their silver and their gold they have made idols for themselves, that they may be
cut off (Hosea 8:4).
b He has cast off your calf, O Samaria (Hosea 8:5 a).
c My anger is kindled against them. How long will it be before they attain to
innocency? (Hosea 8:5 b).
b For from Israel is even this, the workman made it, and it is no God. Yes, the calf of
Samaria will be broken in pieces (Hosea 8:6).
a For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind, he has no standing grain,
the blade will yield no meal. If so be it yield, strangers will swallow it up (Hosea 8:7).
ote that in ‘a’ their kings and princes are strangers to YHWH, and their wealth
they have turned into idols, that they may be cut off, and in the parallel their fields
will be fruitless (fruitfulness was the main aim of Baalism), and strangers would
swallow up anything that they did produce, because their kings and princes would
be unable to prevent it. In ‘b’ the bull of Samaria has been cut off, and in the
parallel it is because it was made by workmen and is no God, which is why it will be
broken in pieces. Centrally in ‘c’ YHWH is angry with them and despairs of their
ever becoming pure.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?
BAR ES, "Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off - Israel had cast off God, his
good. In turn, the prophet says, the “calf,” which he had chosen to be his god instead of
the Lord his God, “has cast” him “off.” He repeats the word, by which he had described
Israel’s sin, ”Israel hath cast off and abhorred good” in order to show the connection of

41. his sin and its punishment. “Thy calf,” whom thou madest for thyself, whom thou
worshipest, whom thou lovest, of whom thou saidst, “Behold thy gods, O Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” 1Ki_12:28-31; “thy” calf, in whom thou didst
trust instead of thy God, it has requited thee the dishonor thou didst put on thy God; it
hath “cast thee off” as a thing “abhorred.” So it is with all people’s idols, which they
make to themselves, instead of God. First or last, they all fail a man, and leave him poor
indeed. Beauty fades; wealth fails; honor is transferred to another; nothing abides, save
God. Whence our own great poet of nature makes a fallen favorite say, “had I but serv’d
my God with half the zeal I served my king, He would not in mine age have left me naked
to mine-enemies.”
Mine anger is kindled against them - Our passions are but some distorted
likeness of what exists in God without passion; our anger, of His displeasure against sin.
And so God speaks to us after the manner of people, and pictures His divine displeasure
under the likeness of our human passions of anger and fury, in order to bring home to
us, what we wish to hide from ourselves, the severe and awful side of His Being, His
Infinite Holiness, and the truth, that He will indeed avenge. He tells us, that He will
surely punish; as people, who are extremely incensed, execute their displeasure if they
can.
How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? - Literally, “how long will they
not be able innocency?” So again it is said, “him that hath an high look and a proud
heart, I cannot” Psa_101:5; we supply, “suffer.” “New moons and sabbaths I cannot”
Isa_1:13; our version adds, “away with,” i. e., endure. So here probably. As they had with
abhorrence cast off God their good, so God says, “they cannot endure innocency;” but He
speaks as wondering and aggrieved at their hardness of heart and their obdurate holding
out against the goodness, which He desired for them. “How long will they not be able to
endure innocency?” “What madness this, that when I give them place for repentence,
they will not endure to return to health of soul!”
CLARKE, "Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off - Bishop Newcome
translates: “Remove far from thee thy calf, O Samaria!” Abandon thy idolatry; for my
anger is kindled against thee.
How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? - How long will ye continue
your guilty practices? When shall it be said that ye are from these vices? The calf or ox,
which was the object of the idolatrous worship of the Israelites, was a supreme deity in
Egypt; and it was there they learned this idolatry. A white ox was worshipped under the
name of Apis, at Memphis; and another ox under the name of Mnevis, was worshipped
at On, or Heliopolis. To Osiris the males of this genus were consecrated, and the females
to Isis. It is a most ancient superstition, and still prevails in the East. The cow is a most
sacred animal among the Hindoos.
GILL, "Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off,.... Or, is the cause of thy being cast
off by the Lord, and of being cast out of thine own land, and carried captive into another;
the past tense is used for the future, as is common in prophetic writings, to denote the
certainty of the thing: or "thy calf hath left thee" (a); in the lurch; it cannot help thee; it
is gone off, and forsaken thee; it has "removed" itself from thee, according to the sense of
the word in Lam_3:17; as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; or is removed far from thee,
being carried captive itself into Assyria; for, when the king of Assyria took Samaria, he
seized on the golden calf for the sake of the gold, and took it away; see Hos_10:5; or "he

42. hath removed thy calf" (b); that is, the enemy, taking it away when he took the city; or
God has rejected it with the utmost contempt and abhorrence: the calf is here, and in the
following verse, called the calf of Samaria, because this was the metropolis of the ten
tribes, in which the calf was worshipped, and because it was worshipped by the
Samaritans; and it may be, when Samaria became the chief city, the calf at Bethel might
be removed thither, or another set up in that city:
mine anger is kindled against them: the calves at Dan and Bethel, the singular
before being put for the plural; or against the if of Samaria, and Samaria itself; or the
inhabitants of it, because of the worship of the calf, which was highly provoking to God,
it being a robbing him of his glory, and giving it to graven images:
how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? or "purity" (c); of worship, life,
and conversation: the words may be rendered thus, "how long?" (d) for there is a large
stop there; and this may be a question of the prophet's, asking how long the wrath of
God would burn against the people, what; would be the duration of it, and when it would
end? to which an answer is returned, as the words may be translated, "they cannot bear
purity" (e); of doctrine, of worship of heart, and life; when they can, mine anger will
cease burning: or, as the Targum,
"as long as they cannot purify themselves,''
or be purified; so long as they continue in their sins, in their superstition and idolatry,
and other impieties, and are not purged from them.
HE RY, " Here is the prophet's expostulation with them, in God's name (Hos_8:5):
How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? It is not meant of absolute innocency
(that is what the guilty can never attain to); but how long will it be ere they repent and
reform, ere they become innocent in this matter, and free from the sin of idolatry? They
are wedded to their idols; how long will it be ere they are weaned from them, ere they
are able to get clear of them? so it might be rendered. This intimates that custom in sin
makes it very difficult for men to part with it. It is hard to cleanse from that filthiness,
either of flesh or spirit, which has been long wallowed in. But God speaks as if he
thought the time long till sinners cast away their iniquities and come to live a new life.
He complains of their obstinacy; it is that which keeps his anger against them burning,
which would soon be turned away if they did but attain to innocency from those sins
that kindled it. They in trouble cry, How long will it be ere God return to us in a way of
mercy? but they do not hear him ask, How long will it be ere they return to God in a way
of duty?
JAMISO , "hath cast thee off — As the ellipsis of thee is unusual, Maurer
translates, “thy calf is abominable.” But the antithesis to Hos_8:3 establishes English
Version, “Israel hath cast off the thing that is good”; therefore, in just retribution, “thy
calf hath cast thee off,” that is, is made by God the cause of thy being cast off (Hos_
10:15). Jeroboam, during his sojourn in Egypt, saw Apis worshipped at Memphis, and
Mnevis at Heliopolis, in the form of an ox; this, and the temple cherubim, suggested the
idea of the calves set up at Dan and Beth-el.
how long ... ere they attain to innocency? — How long will they be incapable of
bearing innocency? [Maurer].

43. CALVI , "Verse 5
The Prophet goes on with the same subject; for he shows that Israel perished
through their own fault, and that the crime, or the cause of destruction, could not be
transferred to any other. There is some ambiguity in the words, which does not,
however, obscure the sense; for whether we read calf in the objective case, or say,
thy calf has removed thee far off, it will be the same. Some say, “has forsaken thee,”
as they do above, “Israel has forsaken good;” but the sense of throwing away is to
be preferred. Thy calf, then, Samaria, has cast thee off, or, “The Lord has cast far
off thy calf.” If we read thy calf in the “objective” case, then the Prophet denounces
destruction not only on the Israelites, but also on the calf in which they hoped. But
the probable exposition is, that the calf had removed far off, or driven far Samaria
or the people of Samaria; and this, I have no doubt, is the meaning of the words; for
the Prophet, to confirm his previous doctrine, seems to remind the Israelites again,
that the cause of their destruction was not anywhere to be sought but in their
wickedness, and especially because they, having forsaken the true God, had made an
idol for themselves, and formed the calf to be in the place of God. ow, it was a
stupidity extremely gross and perverse, that having experienced, through so many
miracles, the infinite power and goodness of God, they should yet have betaken
themselves to a dead thing. They forged for themselves a calf! Must they not have
been moved, as it were, by a prodigious madness, when they did thus fall away from
the true God, who had so often and so wonderfully made himself known to them?
Hence God says now Thy calf O Samaria; that is “The captivity which now impends
over thee will not happen by a fortuitous chance, nor will it be right to ascribe it to
the wrong done by enemies, that they shall by force take thee to distant lands; but
thy very calf drives thee away God had indeed fixed thee in this land, that it might
be to thee a quiet heritage to the end; but thy calf has not suffered thee to rest here.
The land of Canaan was indeed thy heritage, as it was also the Lord’s heritage; but
after God has been banished, and the calf has been introduced in his place, by what
right can you now remain in the possession of it? Thy calf, then, expels thee,
inasmuch as by thy calf thou hast first attempted to banish the true God.” We now
perceive the mind of the Prophet.
He afterwards says that his anger kindled against them He includes here all the
Israelites, and shows that it cannot be otherwise, but that God would inflict on them
extreme vengeance, inasmuch as they were not teachable, (as we have before often
observed,) and could not be turned nor reformed by any admonitions.
How long, he says, will they be not able to attain cleanness, or innocence? He here
deplores the obstinacy of the people, that at no period or space of time had they
returned to a sane mind, and that there was no hope of them in future. How long
then will they not be able to attain innocence? “Since it is so; that is, since they are
unimpressible, (incompatibiles ) as they commonly say, since they are void of all
purity or innocence, I am, therefore, now constrained to adopt the last remedy, and,
that is, to destroy them.” Here God shuts the mouth of the ungodly, that they could
not object that the severity which he so rigidly exercised towards them was

44. immoderate. He refutes their calumnies by saying, that he had patiently borne with
them, and was still bearing with them. But he saw them to be so obstinate in their
wickedness, that no hope of them could be entertained. It follows —
COFFMA , "Verse 5
"Thy calf, O Samaria ..." One is amazed at the unwillingness of scholars to see in
this the certain existence of a golden-calf idol in Samaria, as well as at Dan and
Bethel. Yes, it is true that Samaria was the capital of the whole country and was
often used as a name for all northern Israel; but if that had been the usage here,
"calves" would have been in the plural. The singular strongly indicates that
Samaria too had its golden idol. Some are quick to point out that there is no other
Old Testament mention of a calf at Samaria; but what of it? God needs to say it only
once! Besides that, can it really be supposed that in all that wretched parade of evil
kings no one of them ever copied setting up a bull-god in his capital? "Samaria had
not been built when Jeroboam set up the calves at Dan and Bethel; and it would not
be surprising that an image was set up there when Samaria became the capital."[9]
"A number of the "translations" of this verse appear to have gone overboard. The
ew English Bible, for example, renders this, "Your bull-god stinks, O Samaria." It
is enough to know that God rejected it totally, Keil rendered it "Thy calf disgusts, O
Samaria."[10] The same author has another interesting rendition here, "How long
are they incapable of purity,"[11] thus making this an expression of amazement that
the wickedness of the people of God had continued such a long time, rather than a
suggestion that there would ever be a time when they would be otherwise than
wicked.
TRAPP, "Hosea 8:5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast [thee] off; mine anger is kindled
against them: how long [will it be] ere they attain to innocency?
Ver. 5. Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off] That is, it can do thee no stead, nor
deliver thee from the destroyer. "Be not afraid of such idols" (saith Jeremiah), "for
they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good," Jeremiah 10:5, they can
neither hurt nor help; for an idol is nothing in the world, 1 Corinthians 8:4, nothing
but a mere fiction; it hath no godhead or power divine in itself, as the following
words show, "that there is none other God but one." How then can help be
reasonably expected from it? Israel had cast off the thing that is good for calf
worship, Hosea 8:3, therefore is he worthily cast off by his calf, called here
Samaria’s calf, or calves, because that was the chief city, the palace of the king, and
is therefore put for the whole province; and their idols called a calf, by way of
contempt, as the brazen serpent is called ehushtan, or a piece of brass, when once
it was idolized. See how Rabshakeh insults over those heathen deities, 2 Kings 18:33-
35, and blasphemously applieth it to the God of Israel, who never casteth off his
faithful servants; but is with them in trouble, to deliver them, and honour them,
Psalms 91:15. Surely "the Lord will not cast off his faithful people, neither will he
forsake his inheritance," Psalms 94:14. "Behold, God will not cast away a perfect
man," Job 8:20. "But though he cause grief, yet he will have compassion according

45. to the multitude of his mercies," Lamentations 3:32. Some read it thus, "Thy calf, O
Samaria, hath been carried away into a far country," namely, into Assyria; as the
idols of the nations which were overcome were carried away captive in triumph by
the conquerors. See Hosea 10:6.
Mine anger is kindled against them] God is said to be angry against idolaters,
because he doth that which an angry man useth to do, viz. 1. chide, 2. fight: see the
second commandment in the sanction of it, and tremble at God’s displeasure, which
when once kindled, and comes into his face, or nostrils (as here), it burneth to the
lowest hell, consumeth the earth with her increase, and sets on fire the foundations
of the mountains, Deuteronomy 32:22. It is ill angering him that is the Ancient of
days, and a consuming fire. The Jews use to say to this day, that there is no
punishment befalleth them in which there is not an ounce of Aaron’s golden calf.
How long will it be ere they attain to innocency?] Quousque non poterunt
innocentiam? a forcible ellipsis; as if God were so vexed, that be could not fully
utter himself, nor at all speak to Samaria as he had begun, but turns his discourse to
others, saying, How long will they not be cleansed? or, not abide innocence? By
which powerful expression three things are intimated. First, that these Israelites
were refractory and desperate; not only unclean, but enemies to innocence, such as
could not abide it: they were inveterate and incurable, their diseases ingrained, and
not easily stirred by any potion. Secondly, that God is most patient, who though he
thinks over a long period of time that men continue in their evil courses, and
therefore cries, Quousque, How long? &c., and, when will it once be? yet bears with
their evil manners, and inviteth them to better. Thirdly, that he will at length break
off his patience, and proceed to punishment, since there is no other remedy, 2
Chronicles 34:16, Proverbs 29:1.
“ Compenset longas ut gravitate moras. ”
BE SO , "Hosea 8:5-6. Thy calf, O Samaria — Here God himself, who is the
speaker, turns short upon Samaria, or the ten tribes; and, in a tone of dreadful
indignation, upbraids their corrupt worship. Hath cast thee off — That is, “will
profit thee nothing in dangers.” — Grotius. As if he had said, As the people of
Samaria hath cast off that which is good, Hosea 8:3, so the calf, which they worship,
shall not protect or deliver them from the evils coming upon them, now my anger is
kindled against them. How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? — How long
will it be ere they repent and reform? Bishop Horsley renders it, How long will they
bear antipathy to pure religion? The Hebrew word, ‫,נקיו‬ signifies purity, or
cleanness generally; hence moral purity, innocence. But here, says he, “I think it
particularly denotes pure religion, or the purity of worship; pure religion and
undefiled, in opposition both to the superstitious practices of idolaters, and the false
show of hypocrites. For from Israel was it also — Or, “from Israel came even this;
this thing, vile and abominable as it is, was his own invention; not a thing that he
had learned or borrowed from any other nations. Archbishop ewcome indeed says,

46. ‘The Israelites may have originally borrowed this superstition from the Egyptians;’
for in Egypt, he observes, ‘this species of animals were worshipped, the Apis at
Memphis, and the Mnevis at Heliopolis.’ But the prophet expressly says, that the
Israelites borrowed this superstition from nobody; it was all their own. Indeed, what
they had seen in Egypt was the worship of a living calf, not of the lifeless image of a
calf, or of any other animal.” — Bishop Horsley. The workman made it, therefore it
is not God — It is no more than the work of man, and therefore there is no divine
power in it. But the calf of Samaria — Or, the calf of Beth-el, in the kingdom of
Samaria, shall be broken in pieces — Whereby it shall be proved to all, that there is
nothing divine in it. Horsley renders it, Verily, the calf of Samaria shall be reduced
to atoms. So also Grotius understands the Hebrew expression, ‫היה‬ ‫,שׁבבים‬
interpreting the noun ‫,שׁבב‬ as signifying, “minimum quidque in re quâvis: ut
scintillæ, fragmenta, segmenta;” the smallest particle in any thing, as sparks,
shivers, shreds; Jerome says, atoms. This was done by the Assyrians, when they
made an entire conquest of the ten tribes.
ISBET, "CALF-RELIGIO
‘Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off.’
Hosea 8:5
I. Man is a religious animal.—Both terms in this definition are needed to describe
him. Man has what a molluse has not, namely, a conscience. And man’s conscience
tells him that he must be religious.
To be religious is something more than simply to be moral. Our word morality
comes from the Latin word for manners, and relates itself simply with the etiquette
of earth. It does not look above earth’s depressed levels. Religion, on the other hand,
though not, perhaps, etymologically the thing that ‘binds back’ to God, is practically
the energising belief which associates the spiritual nature of man with a
superhuman being, thus supplying the heavenly sanctions and impulses for a true
morality.
II. An unfortunate tendency, however, is observable in many directions to
disassociate the idea of religion from that of morals, as though a man might be
religious or moral, either or neither, as he chooses. But pure religion is morality
spiritualised, spirituality etherised, and only exists when the life of the human
subject is absorbed in the grace and service of Him Whose will and worship alone
make a religious religion possible.
Men do not, will not, always recognise this, and go about to establish a righteousness
and a religiousness of their own. Hence results a multiplication of man-made
‘faiths,’ which, during history’s crowded, diversified day spring up for awhile, like
rank-growing weeds, but having no deepness of earthly rootage, after a little fade
away and disappear. Page after page of the annals of the race are occupied with the
records of such futile attempts to manufacture novel forms of religion.
III. This sort of arbitrarily conceived and artificially cultivated piety may well be
denominated calf-religion.—The term is suggested by the course of the scheming

47. Jeroboam, who was not prepared wholly to break with the past, nor to be entirely
iconoclastic in respect to the old faiths of united Israel. He would make two calves,
yet he would not cry over them a wholly pagan cry of ‘gods,’ but would try to
persuade Israel to make the calves a symbolic means of the lifting of their thoughts
to the one God on high.
IV. By calf-religion, therefore, we mean a crude, incomplete, unsympathetic
imitation of true religion or awkward travesty on genuine faith.—The inferior
imitation may not consist literally of two golden images of the calf Mnevis, but the
deceptive, underlying Satanry is the same in every period, under many forms of
particular manifestation. Anything that takes man a little distance toward the
worship of God, but halts him far this side of the true position of a spiritual
adoration, is a phase of calf-religion.
Again, superstitious obscurations of the light of revelation, veiling its doctrines from
the view of the common people, are but stupid bovine exhibits of unintelligent piety.
The system of Islam, an unartistic and unreliable amalgam of Jewish, Persian, and
Christian elements, a patchwork of Abraham, Gabriel, and Mohammed, is a
colossal calf now planted over a far wider domain than from Bethel to Dan.
So, too, sordid admixtures of greed with godliness, counting godliness without
contentment to be great gain, are thoroughly foreign to the purposes and spirit of a
true faith, since a calf is no less a calf because made of gold. Such covetousness, from
Korah to Simon the sorcerer, and from Simon the sorcerer to modern times, is an
unrelenting and irreconcilable foe of spirituality.
Heretical distortions of the faith once delivered to the saints are vealy, too. Heresy is
at best immature doctrine, and at worst it is a decaying carrion. Jeroboam’s calves
may have been shiny beasts, and his counsel to Israel, ‘Ye have gone up to
Jerusalem long enough,’ appeared very plausible. ‘Jerusalem is not up to date’ was
what he meant to say, ‘and the doctrines down there are a trifle hard. Let us make
our own theology hereafter, up here at Bethel and Dan, where the critical breezes
blow freer, where “traditionalists” cease from troubling and innocent innovators
are at rest.
V. Still, calves are calves, even if they are new calves, and Jeroboam was wrong,
even though he was a radical. His whole scheme of revised Judaism is dismissed by
the sacred chronicler with the decisive comment: “This thing became a sin.” That is
the trouble with calf-religion. It makes people to sin. The chief trouble with it is not
that it causes people to be disappointed and discouraged, but disobedient to the
heavenly vision, to the pattern of true piety shown once for all from the mount. o
Jeroboam can make a religion. A Divine Author holds the copyright on revelation.
Illustration
‘Riches will cast you off; the world will cast you off; pleasure will fling you from her
polluted arms over into the pit; let me tell you of One Who will not—will never cast

48. you off. May I prevail on one and another to come; and cast themselves into His
arms; and close this hour with His offered mercy? A great statesman, abandoned in
his old age by his sovereign, lay dying one day in England; and it is recorded of him
that he said, “If I had served my God as faithfully as I have served my king, He had
not cast me off now.” How true, Blessed God! Thou wilt never abandon any who put
their trust in Thee. “They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, that cannot
be moved.” I have seen an earthly master cast off an old, faithful servant. When his
hair was grey, and his back was bent, and his arm was withered, and his once
stalwart, iron frame was worn out in service, he has been thrown on the parish, or
the cold charity of the world. Blessed Jesus! Thou never didst cast off any old
servant or old soldier of Thine!’
SIMEO , "THE ATURE A D EXTE T OF CHRISTIA I OCE CE
Hosea 8:5. How long will it be ere they attain to innoceney?
IT is impossible to read the history of God’s ancient people, or to survey the world
around us, without being filled with wonder at the patience and forbearance of God.
In vain were all his mercies to the Jews in delivering them from their bondage in
Egypt, and in giving them Possession of the promised land: no manifestations of his
power and grace were sufficient to convince them of his exclusive right to their
service, or to knit them to him as their only Lord and Saviour. They would make to
themselves idols of wood and stone, and transfer to them the allegiance which they
owed to God alone. Yet, instead of breaking forth against them in wrathful
indignation to destroy them, he bore with them, and, with tender anxiety for their
welfare, said, “How long will it be ere they attain to innocency?” Precisely thus does
he wait for us also, who, notwithstanding all that he has done for the redemption of
our souls, are ever prone to depart from him, and to fix on the creature that regard
which is due to him only. Yet he is waiting to be gracious to us also, and longing for
the return of our souls to him as their proper rest.
In illustration of this pathetic complaint, I shall consider,
I. What is the attainment here specified—
Perfect innocency is utterly unattainable in this life—
[Once we possessed it in our first parents: but since the Fall, we all have inherited a
corrupt nature; since “it was impossible to bring a clean thing out of an unclean.”
or can we by any means wash away so much as one sin that we have ever
committed. Rivers of tears would be insufficient for that. Sinners therefore we must
be even to the end.]
Yet is there in a scriptural sense an innocency to lie attained—
[Our Lord said of his disciples, “ ow ye are clean through the word that I have
spoken unto you [ ote: John 15:3.].” And we too may be clean, yea so clean as to be

49. “without spot or blemish,” if only we use the means which God himself has
appointed [ ote: Ephesians 5:26-27.]. There is “a fountain opened for sin and for
uncleanness [ ote: Zechariah 12:1.];” even the Redeemer’s blood, which is able to
“cleanse us from all sin [ ote: 1 John 1:7.]” — — — The Holy Spirit also will renew
our souls, and make us “partakers of a divine nature [ ote: 2 Peter 1:4. ],” and
“sanctify us throughout in body, soul, and spirit [ ote: 1 Thessalonians 5:23.],” —
— — and enable us, in the whole of our life and conversation, to approve ourselves
“Israelites indeed in whom there is no guile” — — —
This is scriptural innocency: and this every sinner in the universe may attain. It is
freely offered to all [ ote: Isaiah 55:1.] — — — and has actually been vouchsafed to
the most abandoned of mankind [ ote: 1 Corinthians 6:11.] — — — or shall it be
withheld from any one that will seek it at the hands of God [ ote: John 6:37.] — —
— God himself pants, if I may so say, to give it us: “Wilt thou not be made clean?
When shall it once be [ ote: Jeremiah 13:27.]?” Those to whom it was offered in my
text were wicked idolaters [ ote: ver. 4.]: and therefore we cannot doubt but that it
will be granted to us also.]
II. The expostulation respecting it—
Long has God borne with us, even as he did with his people of old—
[Who amongst you has not harboured idols in his heart? — — — and whom has not
God followed with warnings, exhortations, and entreaties, even to the present hour?
— — —]
And how much longer must he bear with us?
[Have we not already provoked him long enough? — — — Or do we hope ever to
enjoy his favour if we attain not to innocency? — — — O! delay not to seek this
inestimable gift. Is it so small a matter to possess the forgiveness of your sins
through Jesu’s blood, and the renovation of your souls by the influence of the Holy
Spirit, and the entire conformity of your lives to the mind and will of God, that you
will not set yourselves to seek them in the exercise of faith and prayer? — — —
How long shall it be ere you begin to seek these blessed attainments? Will you wait
till old age, and give to God only the dregs of your life? Or will you put off this
necessary work to a dying hour? Believe me, that is by no means a fit season for so
important a work as this, and who can tell whether time for it shall be allowed you
then, or grace be given you for the execution of it? The attainment is difficult in
proportion as it is delayed, and what bitter regret will you feel to all eternity, if the
season afforded you for the attainment of this blessing pass away unimproved, and
you be called with all your sins upon you into the eternal world! I would address
you all in the very spirit of my text, and say to every one among you, “Seek the Lord
whilst he may be found, call upon him whilst he is near. Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and
he will have mercy upon him, and unto our God, for he will abundantly pardon
[ ote: Isaiah 55:6-7.].”]

50. Address—
1. Those who think this blessing unattainable—
[Were this innocency really unattainable, God would never have so pathetically
expressed his concern respecting it. But perhaps you think that the infirmities which
of necessity cleave to our fallen nature are inconsistent with it. This however is by
no means the case. If the heart be upright before God, then shall we be accepted of
him in Christ Jesus, and “be presented before him faultless with exceeding joy.”]
2. Those who desire to attain it—
[Be sure you seek it in the appointed way. Seek not forgiveness only, nor renovation
only, nor holiness only; but seek them all in their proper order, and in harmonious
operation. First, your sins must be blotted out through faith in the Redeemer’s
blood, next, must your soul be renewed after the Divine image by the power of the
Holy Ghost, and lastly, must these blessings manifest themselves in holiness of heart
and life. o one of these can be spared. And though we have placed them in the
order in which they must be sought, yet will they all be vouchsafed to every one,
who believes in Christ, His sins will all be cast into the depths of the sea, and the
moral change also be begun, which shall issue in everlasting happiness and glory.]
3. Those who through mercy have attained it—
[Is it true that any one in this life is authorized to conceive of himself as “innocent”
before God? Yes surely; else our Saviour would never have declared his own
Apostles “clean.” ot that any attainment, however great, will supersede the
necessity of continued watchfulness: for St. Paul himself felt the need of “keeping
under his body, and bringing it into subjection, lest, after having preached to others,
he himself should become a cast-away:” and the proper use of all the promises is,
“to cleanse yourselves by means of them from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
and to perfect holiness in the fear of God.”]
PETT, "Verse 5-6
‘He has cast off (is disgusted at) your calf, O Samaria,
My anger is kindled against them,
How long will it be before they attain to innocency?
For from Israel is even this,
The workman made it, and it is no God,
Yes, the calf of Samaria will be broken in pieces.’
YHWH has especially determined that ‘the calf of Samaria’ will be cast off in His
disgust, and will be broken in pieces, and it is spoken of prophetically as something
already accomplished. The use of ‘cast off, be disgusted at’ here contrasts with its
use in Hosea 8:3. In Hosea 8:3 Israel had cast off, and been disgusted at, that which
was good. Here YHWH is disgusted at their golden calf. That this refers to the calf
at Bethel can hardly be doubted for there is no suggestion anywhere else of the

51. making of ‘calves’ other than at Bethel and Dan (compare Hosea 10:5). But the one
at Dan had probably by this time been melted down or taken as ‘hostage’ by
invaders (Dan, being on the northern border was very vulnerable). Thus the one at
Bethel was probably called ‘the calf of Samaria’. This may have been (a) because
‘Samaria’ as their leading city was seen as standing for the people of Israel, or (b)
because the golden calf of Bethel had itself been taken to Samaria, or simply (c)
because it was the centre point of the worship of the people of Samaria..
It was both their casual attitude as to who should reign over them, and their
willingness to worship before the golden calves, that had made YHWH angry with
them, and caused Him to despair as to when they would return to a state of purity.
For by this they were both disregarding His rule and debasing His ame. The calves
may well have been seen by them as the base on which the invisible YHWH stood, in
the same way as the god Hadad stood on the back of a bull, but this made them no
more acceptable to YHWH, for it meant that they were still involving graven images
in their worship contrary to His commandment, and YHWH knew, even if they did
not, that that inevitably led to idolatry. It is significant in this regard that the graven
image was not seen as acceptable even though the sophisticated among them no
doubt argued that they did not worship it, for God knew their hearts and recognised
that, whether they themselves recognised it or not, a great deal of their worship was
being directed at the calf itself (Baal was worshipped in the form of a bull). The
same applies today when people argue that they are only ‘venerating’ images and
using them as a means of worshipping God. The sad truth is that there is often little
difference in many of these cases between veneration and worship, and it is not long
before worship begins to be directed at the images.
The debased condition of Israel was further revealed by the fact that ‘this’ (we can
sense the contempt behind the word), which was a graven image made by the hands
of a workman, was being worshipped even though it was ‘no God’. And the total
folly of worshipping it was revealed by the fact that men would later ‘break it in
pieces’. So they worshipped a god that could be broken in pieces? What kind of a
god was that?
‘He has cast off your calf, O Samaria.’ The change of person to ‘He’ might indicate
that this was an interjection by Hosea himself, but it is not necessary to see it in that
way for we often have such changes of person being used in the prophets to bring
out a special emphasis, without the person involved being changed, especially when
that person was God.
K&D 5-6, "“Thy calf disgusts, O Samaria; my wrath is kindled against them: how
long are they incapable of purity. Hos_8:6. For this also is from Israel: a workman
made it, and it is not God; but the calf of Samaria will become splinters.” Zânach
(disgusts) points back to Hos_8:3. As Israel felt disgust at what was good, so did
Jehovah at the golden calf of Samaria. It is true that zânach is used here intransitively in
the sense of smelling badly, or being loathsome; but this does not alter the meaning,
which is obvious enough from the context, namely, that it is Jehovah whom the calf
disgusts. The calf of Samaria is not a golden calf set up in the city of Samaria; as there is

52. no allusion in history to any such calf as this. Samaria is simply mentioned in the place
of the kingdom, and the calf is the one that was set up at Bethel, the most celebrated
place of worship in the kingdom, which is also the only one mentioned in Hos_10:5,
Hos_10:15. On account of this calf the wrath of Jehovah is kindled against the Israelites,
who worship this calf, and cannot desist. This is the thought of the question expressing
disgust at these abominations. How long are they incapable of ‫ּן‬‫י‬ ָ ִ‫,נ‬ i.e., purity of walk
before the Lord, instead of the abominations of idolatry (cf. Jer_19:4); not “freedom
from punishment,” as Hitzig supposes. To ‫לוּ‬ ְ‫יוּכ‬ ‫ּע‬‫ל‬, “they are unable,” we may easily
supply “to bear,” as in Isa_1:14 and Psa_101:5. “For” (kı, Hos_8:6) follows as an
explanation of the main clause in Hos_8:5, “Thy calf disgusts.” The calf of Samaria is an
abomination to the Lord, for it is also out of Israel (Israel's God out of Israel itself!); a
workman made it, - what folly! ‫הוּא‬ְ‫ו‬ is a predicate, brought out with greater emphasis by ‫ו‬
, et quidem, in the sense of iste. Therefore will it be destroyed like the golden calf at
Sinai, which was burnt and ground to powder (Exo_32:20; Deu_9:21). The ᅏπ. λεγ. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְ‫שׁ‬
, from Arab. sabb, to cut, signifies ruins or splinters.
SBC, "I. Consider the expression, "Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off." The clever
policy by which Jeroboam was to escape a difficulty which he could and ought to have
met in faith in the providence of God, not only failed, but ruined his house; and brought
down God’s heaviest judgments on an unhappy land. Hardly had his son taken his
father’s place when Baasha rose and hurled him from his throne, and with that thirst for
blood, which to this day marks the Oriental spirit, slew every man, woman, and child,
belonging to the royal family. And amid the silence that reigned over this scene of
ruthless massacre, the voice of Providence was heard, saying, "Thy calf, O Jeroboam,
hath cast thee off." What the calf did to the monarch, it did to the people—here called
Samaria—"who, following the steps of their king apostatized from God, and turned their
backs on His temple. Judgment succeeded judgment. The ten tribes, a broken bleeding
band, left the land of Israel to go into banishment—to be lost for ages or for ever; and
over the two idols that were left behind without a solitary worshipper at their shrine,
God in providence might be heard saying, "Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off."
II. By way of warning and instruction I observe that the sentiments and spirit of my text
are illustrated: (1) By the case of those who put riches in the place of God; (2) by those
who live for fame—for the favour, not of God, but of men; (3) by those who seek their
happiness in the pleasures of sin.
T. Guthrie, Family Treasury, Sept. 1861, p. 129 (see also The Way to Life, p. 20).
BI, "Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cut thee off; or, Thy calf, O Samaria, hath kicked thee
off.
Kicking calves
The words of the text have a quaint sound. They suggest a ludicrous figure. There is
something ludicrous in the notion of a boy trying to drive a calf, and getting kicked by it.
When you understand what the words mean, you will soon grow grave enough. Samaria
was the centre and capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, as Jerusalem was the
centre and capital of the southern kingdom of Judah. Each city was a sacred city, a
centre of worship, as well as of business and government. There was a temple in each of

53. them, and in the temple certain symbols of the Divine presence and activity. At Mount
Gerizim they had only the golden calf and the emblems of its worship. At first this calf
was intended to be a nature-symbol of Jehovah. But it too closely resembled the animal
forms in the heathen temples—especially in Egypt—and these animal forms were very
apt to breed a kind of worship which gave free play to animal lusts. At best, moreover,
the calf was a “graven image,” and was therefore a standing and flagrant violation of the
law which God had given to Israel. Soon the Ten Tribes sunk into the idolatries of the
nations around them, with their degradation of God and man. And they put no more
restraint on their carnal passions and lusts than the beasts whose forms they placed in
their temples. Men grow like the gods they worship, The animal part of their nature soon
prevailed over the spiritual. As soon as a man suffers the beast in him to prevail, he
grows worse than the beasts, and sinks below their level. What they do by the law of
their nature, he does against the taw of his nature. Hosea paints a dreadful picture of the
impotence and degradation into which the Israelites had sunk through their false
worship. They were consequently so weakened by their strifes and divisions, their loss of
manliness and patriotism, as to be unable to resist the foreign invader when he came.
And so their calf had kicked them. If they did not speedily return to the God of their
fathers, their calf would soon “kick them off.” They would find themselves abandoned by
their god, in whose foul service they had sacrificed their manhood, their unity, their
strength. They would fall before the sword of the foe, or be led captive by him into a
strange land. So there is a principle in Hosea’s quaint words. It is this—every sin carries
in itself its own retribution, and is sure to avenge itself upon us if we fall into it.
Punishment is only the other half of sin. Or every calf we worship is sure to kick us, or
even to kick us off. Whatever we love best and pursue most heartily, that, for the time at
least, is our god, our “calf.” For the moment we look to it for the happiness or the
gratification we most crave, and serve and follow it with our supreme affection or desire.
Look at some of these calf worshippers, and mark how their god treats them. There is
the greedy boy, who puts no restraint upon his appetite. To gratify his appetite he will do
things which are mean, selfish, wrong. What follows? The calf which Little Glutton
worshipped has kicked him, and kicked him in his tenderest part, just where he feels it
most. Take the case of a vain, foolish girl, who gives herself great airs when she goes to a
new school. When she is found out, her fibs detected, or her foolish self-complacency
resented and exposed, may we not say that her calf has kicked her, humbled her in the
dust, so that she who wanted to be admired is despised. Her sin has wrought its own
punishment. But in the mercy of God her punishment is intended to help her to recover
herself. And men have made idols of their very sins—drunkenness and licentiousness.
They have sacrificed their all to them. And not only our base passions, but even our best
affections, our plainest duties, may be exalted into the place of God, and thus be turned
into calves which will only too surely kick us, or kick us off, before they have done with
us. Young men may be tempted to snatch at business success by taking some mean
advantage of their fellows, so straining their integrity and defiling the clear honour of
their soul, violating the allegiance they owe to principles, conscience, and God. Or men
may suffer mere success in business to absorb all their energies, so that they neglect the
culture of the mind, and the purest and best affections of the heart and home. In either
case, if you yield to these temptations, you will have turned what was once a clear duty
into an idol, into a calf such as that which of old men worshipped in Samaria. And your
calf will kick you as it kicked them. Your want of integrity, your meanness and baseness
will be detected and exposed. Your punishment will grow out of your sin. And young
women need to be told that even love, if it be made an idol, will prove to be but a calf. If
in the sacred name of love, you cast away prudence, principle, parental control, and
marry a man who has not yet learned to earn his own livelihood, or whose character is

54. dubious, or whose life is bad, you may be sure your calf will kick you for your pains. All
these foolish and hurtful idolatries of ours spring from our false conceptions of God, and
of what He requires of us. The true ends of life do not lie in mere worldly success, or
even in gratified affection. Hosea teaches us to think of God as a wise and loving Father
who is ever seeking to make us good. In this light we may see how poor and paltry are
many of the aims which men pursue, and how inevitable it is that they should be
frustrated of these poor aims in order that they may learn to set the true end of life
before them. Our well-deserved falls and failures are parts of the process by which our
Heavenly Father is teaching us to walk, and to walk with Him. (S. Cox, D. D.)
Idols worshipped
The gross and debasing idolatry of Israel soon brought upon them the judgments of
heaven; and when in their deep distress they discovered their folly, they found that,
having cast off Jehovah, they “had no god to go to.” It is to this course of wickedness the
text refers. The prophet addresses the people of Samaria in tones of withering irony. Two
important lessons.
I. That every false and worldly confidence is sure in the end to cheat and disappoint us.
Speak to those who are worshipping some other object than the one true God—drink,
business.
II. The Lord himself, and He alone, will never fail or cast off those that trust in Him.
Why should He taunt Israel upon the faithlessness and vanity of their earthly idols, if to
trust Himself might prove equally vain? Wherefore should He remind you that the
golden calves of worldly pleasure, pelf, and pride will all cast you off, if perchance He will
cast you off Himself? It is a curious fact that just as foolish and worldly people generally
cherish unfounded hopes, so Christian persons often indulge unfounded fears. The one
never imagine that their calf, their idol, will cast them off: the other are constantly
doubting and dreading that their God will forsake them. If there is anything that God
makes quite plain, it is that this can never be; He never fails nor forsakes. The truth is
that God draws nearer and closer to His people in their trouble. (J. Thain Davidson, D.
D.)
The world a lie
The story of Jeroboam the son of Nebat affords a perpetual warning. Other things
besides consumption, and lunacy, and various maladies our flesh is heir to are
hereditary. Jeroboam’s sin descended to his children; and was transmitted like an entail
from sire to son. More than that, it struck like a malaria of a virulent disease to the very
walls of his palace; it infected all his successors, and from the throne spread its deadly
influence to the poorest and most distant cottages of the land.
I. The sin of Jeroboam. He was hardly seated on the throne, when a political difficulty
arose,—and that a very serious one. The Mosaic law required every male to go up three
times each year to Jerusalem. An astute and sagacious politician, Jeroboam foresaw how
this custom might be attended with dangerous results. But he was not the man to meet
the difficulty aright. He did what, no doubt, the world had thought a clever thing. Setting
up one calf in Bethel and another in Dan, in imitation of the cherubim in the temple, he
sent forth this edict, “Let him that sacrificeth, kiss the calves,”—go and worship these.
Jeroboam succeeded, but his success brought down ruin on his house and government.

55. It was followed by results which should teach our statesmen that no policy in the end
shall thrive which traverses the Word of God. That can never be politically right, which is
morally and religiously wrong. What the “calf” did to the monarch, it did to the people—
here called Samaria. Following the steps of their king, they apostatised from God, and
turned their backs on His temple. Then judgment succeeded judgment, and one trouble
breaking on the back of another, the land had no rest. The commonwealth sank under
the weight of its idolatry. The voice of God in providence might have been heard saying,
“Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off.”
II. Warning from the sin and sorrow of Samaria. The sentiment of the text is
illustrated—
1. By the case of those who put riches in the place of God. The thirst for gold, like the
drunkard’s, is insatiable. The more it is indulged, the more the flame is fed, it burns
the fiercer.
2. The sentiment of the text is illustrated by the case of those who live for fame—for
the favour, not of God, but of men. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
The sinner betrayed by his sin
s:—Jeroboam’s calf symboled not only his casting off the true faith, but also his
preference for the secular and sensual culture of Egypt, instead of the simplicity and
purity of life which God had prescribed for His people. For a while the rebellious people
seemed to prosper. At length the thunderbolt of Divine wrath fell. The godless land was
ravaged, and the people carried away captive by the Assyrians. Egypt turned a deaf ear to
their appeals. This, Hosea predicted in words of withering sarcasm: “Thy calf, O
Samaria, hath cast thee off.” (The calf was a copy of the Egyptian Mnevis.)
I. The calf stands in general for sin. No sin ever, in the long-run, meets the promise it
makes to the imagination. In the end the soul has to pay for its guilty pleasures out of its
own pains. True of fleshly lusts. Their glow is that of a fever rising; soon they will burn.
Nature does not put enough strength in the human frame to endure more than a
temperate, lawful supply of the appetites. This fuel gone, the indulgence has become a
necessity, and consumes the life itself. Selfishness cannot enjoy its accumulations
beyond a limited amount; beyond this they feed impatience and ennui. “Pride,” as
Bulwer says, “is a garment all stiff brocade outside, and all grating sackcloth on the side
next the skin.”
II. The calf stands for a peculiar class of sins. The Samaritans did not regard their
worship as degrading. The calf represented life, productiveness; a far nobler object of
worship than that set up by many heathen nations. It represented especially polite sins,
and those lines of conduct whose evil consists chiefly in that they are not obedience to
God. For instance, such as meet our ideas of expediency, but are not according to strict
conscience. Young men generally begin with such sins. Thus the standard is gradually
lowered.
1. They will do nothing disreputable in religious or even secular society.
2. Nothing disreputable in club life.
3. Nothing that they (now blinded by indulgence) think will hurt them.
4. At last, their own passion has become their standard, and they are socially a wreck

56. before they are fully aware of their danger.
III. The calf stands for a current form of unbelief. The calf-worship was mixed with
some features of the true worship of Israel. It had a line of priests. Its chief sites were
places already sacred in the religious history of God’s people. The altars were dedicated
at the time of a true religious festival—the Feast of Tabernacles. A current form of
infidelity is a blending of human conceits with some scriptural teaching. It uses
Sabbaths, sanctuaries, ministries. It admires Jesus, and praises His precepts. But it
denies supernaturalism. Not God’s Word, but the human reason, is supreme. (L.)
Cast off by the god of worldliness
The great Wolsey, after he had climbed the highest round of ambition’s ladder, in the
evening of life bitterly exclaimed, “Would that I had served my God as faithfully as I have
served my king. He would not have abandoned me in my old age.” The illustrious
statesman, William Pitt, the favourite of king and people, “died,” says Wilberforce, his
friend, “of a broken heart. On his dying bed he is stated to have said, I fear I have
neglected prayer too much to make it available on a death-bed.” Still more distressing
was the closing scene of Sheridan’s career. He who had stood on the pinnacle of glory,
and gained the most flattering distinctions, writes in old age to one of his friends, “I am
absolutely undone and broken-hearted.” Misfortunes crowded on him, and his last
moments were haunted by fears of a prison. Forsaken by his gay associates, dispirited,
and world-weary, he closed his eyes in gloom and sorrow. Campbell, the author of “The
Pleasures of Hope,” in his old age wrote “I am alone in the world. My wife and child of
my hopes are dead; my surviving child is consigned to a living tomb (a lunatic asylum);
my old friends, brothers, sisters, are dead, all but one, and she too is dying; my last
hopes are blighted. As for fame, it is a bubble that must soon burst.”
How long will it be ere they attain to innocency?—
Attainment hindered
I. An attainment spoken of. “How long will it be ere they attain unto innocency?”
“Innocency” is here put for “true and saving religion.” And this is a most desirable
attainment, more so than all besides.
1. It is important because without it there can be no fellowship with God. Without
fellowship with God there can be no peace; without peace there can be no happiness.
2. It is important because without it man cannot live well. A guilty man lives
according to his thoughts.
3. It is important because without it man cannot die well. There is nothing before a
sinner but death, darkness, and despair.
II. A hindrance suggested. The calves were the idols set up to prevent the Israelites from
worshipping Jehovah. The hindrances to attaining innocency (that is, satisfying the
natural cravings of religion in worshipping God) are the idols which are set up in the
human heart. These idols may be—
1. The gratification of self. Self is one of the most favoured of idols, it is worshipped
by all, and the man who worships self cannot worship God.
2. The vanities of the world. The idolatry of the present day, if not so bold in its
rebellion, is not so religious as in the days of old. The idolatrous Jews and heathen

57. were essentially religious. It was death to any one to speak against the gods. It is
pleasure now men worship, and a god of any sort is forgotten.
3. The blandishments of science. This is another idol men fall down before. These
are the calves which keep men from God, calves set up by themselves at the
instigation of Satan. No man can ever “attain unto innocency” so long as they
remain.
III. The consequences inferred. A time is coming when true religion will be the only
thing worth possessing. The day of sifting will arrive. God’s anger will be kindled against
the persistently ungodly. Then what avail will the false gods which men have served so
long be to afford them shelter? The calf will cast thee off. There are two penalties, then,
to the guilty. They lose both earth and heaven. They are cast off—
1. By the devil whom they serve. The world cannot offer them help. Satan’s object is
only to effect their ruin.
2. By the God whom they have neglected. How can He who has been scorned and
forsaken be the succour of those who have despised His love and rejected His rule?
(J. J. S. Bird, B. A.)
6 They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf of Samaria.
BAR ES, "For - This verse may assign the reasons of God’s displeasure, “mine
anger is kindled;” or of Israel’s impenitency, “How long will it be?” This indeed is only
going a little further back, for Israel’s incorrigibleness was the ground of God’s
displeasure. And they were incorrigible; because they had themselves devised it; “for
from Israel was it also.” Those are especially incorrigible, who do not fall into error
through ignorance, but who through malice devise it out of their own heart. Such
persons act and speak, not as seduced by others, but seducing themselves, and
condemned by their own judgment. Such were Israel and Jeroboam his king, who were
not induced or seduced by others to deem the golden calf to be God, but devised it, of
malicious intent, knowing that it was not God. Hence, Israel could be cured of the

58. worship of Baal, for this was brought from without by Jezebel; and “Jehu destroyed Baal
out of Israel.” But of the sin of the calf they could not be healed. In this sin all the kings
of Israel were impenitent.
From Israel was it also - Their boast, that they were of Israel, aggravated their sin.
They said to God, we, Israel, know thee. So then their offence, too, their brutishness also,
was from those who boasted themselves of bearing the name of their forefather, Israel,
who were the chosen people of God, so distinguished by His favor. The name of Israel,
suggesting their near relation to God, and the great things which He had done for them,
and their solemn covenant with Him to be His people as He was their God, should, in
itself, have made them ashamed of such brutishness. So Paul appealeth to us by our
name of Christians, “Let every one who nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity”
2Ti_2:19.
The workman made it, therefore it is not God - The workman was rather a god
to his idol, than it to him, for “he” made it; “it” was a thing made. To say that it was
made, was to deny that it was God. Hence, the prophets so often urge this special proof
of the vanity of idols. No creature can be God. Nor can there be anything, between God
and a creature. : “Every substance which is not God is a creature; and that which is not a
creature, is God.” God Himself could not make a creature who should be God. The Arian
heresy, which imagined that God the Son could be a creature and yet an object of our
worship, or that there could be a secondary god, was folly as well as blasphemy. They
did not conceive what God is. They had low, debased notions of the Godhead. They knew
not that the Creator must be removed as infinitely above His most exalted creature, as
above the lowest.
Nor do the prophets need any subtleties (such as the pagan alleged) that their idol
might be indwelt by some influence. Since God dwelt not in it, any such influence could
only come from a creature, and that, an evil one.
The calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces - The calves were set up at Bethel
and at Dan, but they were the sort of tutelar deity of the ten tribes; therefore they are
called “the calf of Samaria.” They represented one and the same thing; from where they
are called as one, the calf, not “calves.” A thing of nought it was in its origin, for it had its
form and shape from man; a thing of nought it should be in its end, for it should be
“broken in pieces,” or become “chips, fragments,” for fire.
CLARKE, "The workman made it; therefore it is not God - As God signifies
the supreme eternal Good, the Creator and Upholder of all things, therefore the
workman cannot make Him who made all things. This is an overwhelming argument
against all idols. Nothing need be added. The workman has made them; therefore they
are not God.
GILL, "For from Israel was it also,.... That is, the calf was from Israel; it was an
invention of theirs, as some say; they did not borrow it from their neighbours, as they
did other idols, but it was their own contrivance: but this tines not seem to be fact; for
the calf, the making of it indeed, was of themselves, but the worship of it they borrowed
from the Egyptians; with this difference, the Egyptians worshipped a living cow or ox,
these the golden image of a calf: but rather the sense is, that this calf was made by the
advice of Israel, by the advice of Jeroboam their king, and of their princes, they
assenting to it, so Aben Ezra; or the gold and silver of which it was made was exacted on
them, and collected from them, as the Targum and Jarchi; or workmen were employed

59. by them to make it; and so it was of them also, as any other work that was done by their
advice and direction, and at their expense; and therefore could never have any divinity in
it, any more than other things they did; though this is commonly interpreted as having
respect to the making of the golden calf by Aaron, that this also was of Israel as well as
that:
the workman made it; therefore it is not God; a strong and invincible reason this;
for, since the call was the work of an artificer, of the goldsmith or founder, it could not
be God; there could not be deity in it; for a creature cannot make a God, or give that
which itself has not; if the workman was not God, but a creature, if deity was not in him,
he could never give it to a golden image, a lifeless statue fashioned by him: this, one
would think, should have been a clear, plain, striking, and convincing argument to them,
that their calf was, as the Targum has it,
"a deity in which there was no profit:''
but the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces; or "for (f) the calf of Samaria",
&c. being another reason to prove it could not be God; if the former would not convince
them, this surely would, when they should see it broke to pieces by the enemy, from
whom it could not save itself; and therefore could not be a god that could be of any
service to them, or save them. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "for the calf of
Samaria shall become spiders webs": and Jerom says he learned it of a Jew that the word
so signifies; but his Jew imposed upon him: it, does not appear to be any where so used,
either in the Bible, or in any other writings. Kimchi interprets it shivers, fragments,
broken pieces of anything. Jarchi says it signifies, in the Syriac language, beams, planks,
and boards, pieces of them; so the Targum and Ben Melech from the Rabbins; or rather
the dust which falls from them in sawing, sawdust; to dust as small as that should this
calf be reduced, as the golden calf was ground to powder by Moses, to which, it is
thought, there is an allusion.
HE RY, "Whence their gods came. Trace them to their original, and they will be
found the creatures of their own fancies and the work of their own hands, Hos_8:6. The
calf they worshipped is here called the calf of Samaria, because it is probable that when
Samaria, in Ahab's time, became the metropolis of the kingdom, a calf was set up there
to be near the court, besides those at Dan and Bethel, or perhaps one of those was
removed thither; for those that are for new gods will still be for newer. Now let them
consider what this god of theirs owed its rise and being to. [1.] To their own invention
and institution: From Israel was it also, not from the God of Israel (he expressly forbade
it), but from Israel; it was a device of their own (some think), not borrowed from any of
their neighbours, no, not from the Egyptians, for, though they worshipped Apis in a
living cow, they never worshipped a golden calf; that was from Israel; it was their own
iniquity. Now could that be worthy of their worship which was a contrivance of their
own? It was from Israel, that is, the gold and silver of which it was made were collected
from the people of Israel by a brief: it was a poor god that was framed by contribution.
[2.] It was owing to the skill and labour of the craftsman, Deu_27:15. The workmen
made it, therefore it is not God, Hos_8:6. This is a very cogent conclusive argument, and
the inference so very plain that one would think their own thoughts should have
suggested it to them, so as to make them ashamed of their idolatry. What can be more
absurd than for men to worship that as a god, giving being and good to them, which they
themselves gave being to (both matter and form), but could not give life to? A made god
is no God. This is a self-evident truth; and yet St. Paul was accused as a criminal for

60. preaching that those are no gods which are made with hands, Act_19:26. And, here,
this which should have turned them from their idols comes in as a reason why they were
inseparably wedded to them; therefore they could not attain to innocency because it was
from themselves; they were willing to have gods of their own to do what they pleased
with, that they themselves might do what they pleased.
(2.) What their gods would come to. If they are not gods, they will not last; nay, if they
pretend to be gods, they will be reckoned with: The calf of Samaria shall be broken to
pieces, and those that would not yield to the force of the former argument shall be
convinced by this that it is not God, but an unprofitable idol, as the Chaldee calls it. It
shall be broken to shivers, like a potter's vessel, though it be a golden calf. It shall be
chips or saw-dust; it shall be a spider's web; so St. Jerome. It seems to allude to Moses's
grinding to powder the golden calf that was in his time. This shall be served as that was.
Sennacherib boasted what he had done to Samaria and her idols, Isa_10:11. Note,
Deifying any creature makes way for the destruction of it. If they had made vessels and
ornaments for themselves of their silver and gold, they might have remained; but, if they
make gods of them, they shall be broken to pieces.
JAMISO , "from Israel was it — that is, the calf originated with them, not from
Me. “It also,” as well as their “kings set up” by them, “but not by Me” (Hos_8:4).
CALVI , "Verse 6
The beginning of this verse is not rightly explained, as I think, by those who so
connect the pronoun demonstrative ‫,הוא‬ eva, as if it had an interposed copulative;
and this ought to be noticed, for it gives a great emphasis to the Prophet’s words.
Even this is from Israel But what does the Prophet mean? He means this, that the
calf was from Israel, as they had long before, at the beginning, formed to themselves
a calf in the desert. But we do not yet clearly apprehend the mind of the Prophet,
unless we perceive that there is here an implied comparison. For he accuses the
Israelites of being the first founders of this superstition, and that they had not been,
as it were, deceived by others; for they had not borrowed this corruption from the
Gentiles, as it had been at times the case; but it was, so to speak, an intrinsic
invention. From Israel, he says, it is; that is, “I find that you are now the second
time the fabricators of this impious superstition. Could your fathers, when they
forged a calf for themselves in the desert, make excuse (as they did) and say, that
they were led by the faith of others? Could they plead that this cause of offence was
presented to them by the Gentiles, and that they were ensnared, as it often happens,
when some draw others into error? By no means. As then your fathers, when no one
tempted them to superstition, became the founders of this new superstition through
their own inclination, and, as it were through the instigation of the devil, so this calf
is the second time from Israel, for ye cannot otherwise account for its origin, ye
cannot transfer the fault to other nations; within, within,” he says, “has this evil
been generated.” We now perceive the meaning of the Prophet, which is, that this
superstition was not derived from others, but that Israel, under the influence of no
evil persuader, had devised for themselves, of their own accord, this corruption,
through which they had departed from the true and pure worship of God. It ia
indeed true, that oxen and calves were worshipped in Egypt, and the same also

61. might be said of other nations; but rivalship did not influence the people of Israel.
What then? It cannot certainly be denied, but that they had stimulated themselves
to this impious denial of God.
The same thing may be brought against the Papists of this day; that is, that the
filthy mass of superstitions, by which the whole worship of God is corrupted by
them, has been produced by themselves. If they object and say, that they have
borrowed many rites from the heathens: this is indeed true; but was it the imitation
of heathens which led them to these wicked inventions? By no means, but their own
lust has led them astray; for being not content with the simple word of God, they
have devised for themselves strange and spurious modes of worship; and afterwards
additions were made according to the caprices of individuals: thus it has happened,
that they are sunk in the deepest gulf. Whence then have the Papists so many
patrons, on whom relying, then despise Christ the Mediator? Even because they
have adopted them for themselves. Whence also have they so many ungodly
ceremonies, by which they pervert the worship of God? Even because they have
fabricated them for themselves.
We now then see how grievous was the accusation, that the calf was even from
Israel. “There is no reason then”, the Lord says, “for you to say that you have been
deceived by bad examples, like those who are mixed with profane heathens and
contract their vices, as contagion creeps in easily among men, for they are by nature
prone to vice; there is no reason,” he says, “for any one to make an objection of this
kind.” Why? “Because the calf your fathers made for themselves in the desert was
from Israel; and this calf also is from Israel, for it was not thrust upon you by
others, but Jeroboam, your king, made it for you, and you willingly and
applaudingly received it.”
The workman, he says, made it, and it is not God Here the Prophet derides the
stupidity oú the people; and there are many other like places, which occur
everywhere, especially in the Prophets, in which God reprobates this madness of
having recourse to modes of worship so absurd. For what is more contrary to reason
than for man to prostrate himself before a dead piece of wood or before a atone, and
to seek salvation from it? The unbelieving indeed put on their guises and say that
they seek God in heaven, and, because idols and images are types of God, that they
come to him through them; but yet what they do appears evident. These pretencea
are then altogether vain, for their stupidity is openly seen, when they thus bend
their knees before a wood or stone. Hence the Prophet here inveighs against this
senseless stupidity, because man had made the idol. “Can a mortal man make a
god? Ye do certainly ascribe divinity to the calf; is this in the power of the
workman? Man has not bestowed life on himself, and cannot for one moment
preserve that life which he has obtained at the pleasure of another; how then can he
make a god from wood or stone? What sort of madness is this?”
He then adds, It is not God, for in fragments shall be the calf of Samaria The
Prophet shows here from the event, how there was no power or no divinity in the
calf, because it was to be reducedto fragments. The event then would at length show

62. how madly the Israelites played the fool, when they formed to themselves a calf, to
be as it were the symbol of the divine presence. We now see what the Prophet
means: for he enhances the sin of Israel, because they had not been enticed by others
to depart from the pure and genuine worship of God, but they had been their own
deceivers. This is the meaning. It follows —
COFFMA , "Verse 6
"For from Israel is even this; the workman made it, and it is no God; yea, the calf of
Samaria shall be broken in pieces."
"It is no God ..." Polkinghorne accurately discerned this as proof that, "the calf
itself was worshipped, not regarded as a mere throne for the deity."[12] McKeating
has an especially irresponsible and inaccurate comment on this place, thus:
"This is a very early example of this type of argument against idolatry. It is also a
very superficial argument, since it assumes that the idolater equates his image with
the god. The idolater was no more likely to equate his image with his god than the
Christian to equate his crucifix with Christ."[13]
This is totally wrong. The masses of the people did worship the idols themselves, as
indicated here, not by Hosea's words, but by the Word of God. Furthermore, even if
there were sophisticates among the people who did not do this, the very
manufacture of such religious items had been condemned in the Decalogue, not
merely the worship of them. McKeating's comment is one with the specious type of
reasoning by which the Medieval Church has promulgated the adoration of sacred
images in our own times; and there can be no doubt whatever of the sinfulness of
such things.
TRAPP, "Hosea 8:6 For from Israel [was] it also: the workman made it; therefore it
[is] not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
Ver. 6. For from Israel was it also] There is an emphasis in "also," and it is as if the
prophet should say, This calf of Samaria is no less from Israel, and came out of his
shop or device, than that of old set up by them in the wilderness. Israel then brought
a calf out of Egypt, Jeroboam brought two; and Israel hath received them, and are
much taken with them; so that they cannot attain to innocence (as it is in the former
verse), so far they are engaged and so fast joined to idols, that they cannot get off;
there is so much of self in it; it was the bairn of their own brain; and hence so overly
admired, so clasped and hugged, with the ape, &c.; or rather, as Cleopatra hugged
her vipers that sucked her blood, and took away her life, so did they their own
inventions, though fairly warned of the danger, Hosea 8:3-5. Lo, this was Israel that
acted thus madly. Israel that was wont to laugh at or pity other nations for their
idolomany, for worshipping the works of their own hands, for going a whoring after
their own inventions, for changing the glory of the incorruptible God into an image
made like corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping
things, Romans 1:23; as in Lapland, the people worship that all day for a god
whatsoever they see first in the morning, ow that a calf worship should be found in

63. Israel, and not only so, but found out by Israel; who was herein worse than Egypt;
for that the Egyptians worshipped a living ox of God’s making; but Israel, a dead
calf of their own making; such sots they were grown, and so thwart to the very
principles of reason.
The workman made it] Who confessedly is no God:
therefore it is not God] for no man can give that divinity to another which himself
hath not. ay, it is certain that God himself by his infinite power cannot make
anything to be a God to us. He cannot do this, I say; like as he cannot lie, he cannot
die, he cannot deny himself, &c., so he cannot raise a created excellence to that
height as to be a God to us. How vile, then, is the voluptuary, that maketh his belly
his god! the mammonist, that maketh his gold his god! the ambitionist, that maketh
his honour his god! How abominable the mass monger, that maketh his god and
eateth him when he hath done! This made Averroes, the Mahometan, cry out;
Quoniam Christiani Deum suum mauducant, sit anima mea cum Philosophis, that
is, Forasmuch as Christians do eat their God, let my soul be rather with the souls of
the philosophers. Those Pseudo Christians, the Papists, stick not to call the
consecrated host their God and Lord; and Harding (that sottish apostate, for he was
once a zealous preacher against Popery, and wished that he had a voice as loud as
the bells of Oseney, to cry it down, Artic. 21), in his disputation against Jewel, is not
ashamed to defend it. And yet we all know that that host or sacrament, as they call
it, of the altar is the work of the baker, therefore it is no God, neither Lord nor God
(whatsoever our Lord God the pope say to the contrary). Which yet further
appeareth, in that (as the calf of Samaria here) it may be broken in pieces, or to
shivers (which word of ours seemeth to come from the Hebrew shebharim here
used), yea, ground to powder, as was the molten calf in the wilderness, whereto the
prophet may well here allude. Is not their breaden god broken by the priest into
three bits? Is it not chewed with his teeth? May it not be gnawed by mice, become
meat for worms, &c.? Murescit, putrescit, et corrumpitur; all which things the
Papists themselves confess may befall their god, which is therefore no god, or
nomine tantum et non numine deus, a nominal god only ( in cautelis Missae) in the
sureties of the Mass. And the like we may say of images and relics (such as is at
Genoa, the tail of that ass whereon Christ rode into Jerusalem); these and other
monuments of idolatry may, nay, they ought to be broken, burnt, and utterly
abolished, Exodus 34:13, Deuteronomy 7:5, Ezekiel 20:7; as (blessed be God) they
are lately among us, by our worthies in parliament; to whom, perhaps, for that and
the like good services, we attributed but too much, we even idolized them; and the
king of Sweden (that bright northern star) a little before his decease, being in
discourse with Dr Fabricius, his chaplain, he told him that he thought God would
ere long take him away, because the people did so overvalue and deify him (Mr
Clark in his Life).
BI, "The workman made it; therefore it is not God.

64. The religion of humanity
Humanitarianism has become the creed of the earnest and thoughtful who have found
for themselves the awful truth regarding their fellow-men in the depths, and with that
ever pressing upon them, have forsaken all else to grapple with that evil and right that
wrong. It has become the home of loving, aching hearts that have lost their God. It has
also become the mere fad of many who put on charity as they do a garment when it is
fashionable, and are philanthropic when philanthropy is in vogue. But let these hangers-
on of humanitarianism be distinguished from humanitarians. Humanitarians proper are
large-souled enthusiasts. Humanitarianism has been elevated to the dignity of a religion,
and the humanitarian god has been hailed as the God of humanity. When that is so, we
have to look at the work in a new light, and study anew the claims which it puts forth.
And, first of all, I think we may safely say that the first duty of any one who desires to
elevate a cult to the rank of a religion is to demonstrate that it is applicable to humanity
in general, that it is deep enough to find a common basis in characters the most widely
diverse. For that only is really religious which can be shared by all. The beauty-lover,
who is convinced that in the power of perceiving and appreciating the beauty and
harmony of the universe lies the uplifting of his Kind, sets himself to show that that
power is to be found, latent at least, in every one. The moralist, who thinks that a certain
code of laws, if strictly adhered to, would meet all wants and settle all difficulties, has,
for the first part of his task, to prove that an inherently moral nature is co-existent
everywhere with human nature. And the humanitarian, too, must show that his religion
may be a religion for humanity. To the enthusiasts who are fired to generous
forgetfulness of self it may seem for a time to fulfil the purposes of religion. They find in
it an aim, an inspiration, a faith. But what of the other side! Will it do for a religion to
those who are to be uplifted to the passive element, which, in their scheme, is simply to
permit itself to be raised to better conditions of life? Ah! that is where humanitarians
err. They cling tenaciously to their theory that conditions make humanity. It is true, we
grant it, but it must at the same time be admitted that humanity makes its own
conditions. The conditions of man’s material life, ii they be evil, eat slowly but surely into
his soul with corroding influence. But is the converse not also true? Does what a man is,
down in the heart of him, not stamp itself upon his surroundings? Does not the likeness
of a soul body itself out by slow degrees in the conditions amid which it exists?
Conditions the most favourable for the growth of virtue, if round an ignoble soul,
become a rich soil for vice to grow in. Beauty may be changed to ugliness by man’s
vulgar breath, harmony to discord by his strident voice. Conditions make humanity, and
humanity makes its conditions. But these two truths were never meant to be brought
into violent opposition. A perfect humanity is the humanitarian’s dream, but a perfect
humanity is an impossible thing. If humanitarians would study humanity more they
would see the weakness of their claim for humanitarianism as a religion. There is a
something in humanity, an unknown quality, which for ever evades the analyst. There is
a wailing need for something greater than itself, the “something never seen but still
desired,” there is a hidden strength totally unpresaged by the individual’s past life.
Humanity is full of surprises; only the most careful student of it knows how small the
circle is within which he may work, how great is the tract outside of it which must be
allowed for unknown powers and their influences. Only those who know its
waywardness, its uncertainty, its inherent weakness, its potential greatness, know how
strong a hope, how Divine a thought, humanity needs for its deliverance. To serve is to
obey, but do humanitarians ever dream of obeying the humanity which they deify? And
to look to humanity as a paymaster, ah, what wages of sorrow they are earning, what
disappointed hopes, what frustrated endeavours, what bitterness of heart that there is

65. not sweetness enough in the world to sweeten! Oh, that they had given as unto God, and
He would have repaid; that they had followed Christ’s example—to serve God and save
humanity. Then God would have rewarded, and humanity would have been the
recompense. And now the thought of Christ arrests us. What, after all, is the
humanitarianism which we have been seriously considering as a new religion, but a
branch of practical Christianity? The limitation, which is its weakness, is all that is new
in it. Why, then, has it attained such great proportions, become so prominent that it has
for the time overshadowed all other considerations? Simply because it was for so long
overshadowed and neglected. And yet the Church, whatever it may have done, has seen
and attempted the greater part. It has taught this part of Christ’s doctrine, that to be
heroic and Christlike is better than to be comfortable. But the humanitarian flood
answers back vehemently—“Your God is a God for the idealists, for those who in their
visionary world delight themselves with thoughts of ideal beauty, and goodness, and
truth, and never feel the burdened heart of the world of reality labouring beside them.
Your creed is a creed for the comfortable, the well-to-do, the intellectual who study
Christ’s marvellous philosophy, and forget that His practice gave it its power, and
demonstrated its truth. Heroism is for the strength of the individual heart; the ideal is a
home for the individual soul, but the attitude and practice of man towards his fellow-
men should be that of pitying, helpful love. Christ was heroic. He stood majestic and
unmoved in the midst of a scoffing, incensed mob. Yet He was the champion of the
friendless woman taken in adultery. He lived the life of an idealist, and fed His soul on
the beauty of heaven. Yet He was always ready to render practical help to those in
trouble or adversity. The duty of the Church as an exponent of Christ is to expound Him
fully and equally. The Founder of Christianity came to enlarge, and deepen, and exalt the
sphere of every life. It is terrible to think how, instead of helping Christ in such a work,
we spend so much time and energy in crushing the life and power out of men; out of the
boy or girl who want sunshine and joy to brighten their growth; out of the young man or
woman enthusiastic with a great purpose to do good;—how we crowd men and women
out of their places and push them down and cause them to despond, when all the while
we could have inspired hope and given them life. The mission of religion is to give true
increase of life, and the Church of Christ exists to help on the work. And the members of
Christ’s Church should each feel upon them the twofold chain that links them to God
and their fellow-men. If our march were but from the cradle to the grave, then we could
afford to leave such aids as the Church and religious communion out of account, and the
creed and practice of the humanitarian might satisfy us. But are we only the creatures of
the passing hour? Nay; verily the chords we strike here in the music of life are but the
prelude to a never-ending song. When all our material wants are satisfied there is still a
hunger of the soul which refuses to be allayed, because only God, the Infinite One, can
satisfy it. We are infinite, spiritual beings, and no finite, material God, such as the
humanitarian worships, can give lasting help and sarisfaction. Nothing but the Infinite
can fulfil our infinite needs; nothing but the Highest can satisfy those who are made in
the image of the Most High. We need a God wide as the universe and eternal as the life to
which we belong. (A. H. M. Sime.)

66. 7 “They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.
BAR ES, "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind
- “They shall reap,” not merely as “they have sown,” but with an awful increase. They
sowed folly and vanity, and shall reap, not merely emptiness and disappointment, but
sudden, irresistible destruction. “They sowed the wind,” and, as one seed bringeth forth
many, so the wind, “penn’d up,” as it were, in this destructive tillage, should “burst forth
again, reinforced in strength, in mightier store and with great violence.” Thus they
“reaped the whirlwind,” yea, (as the word means) “a mighty whirlwind”. But the
whirlwind which they reap doth not belong to “them;” rather they belong to it, blown
away by it, like chaff, the sport and mockery of its restless violence.
It hath no stalk - If their design should for the time seem to prosper, all should be
but empty show, disappointing the more, the more it should seem to promise. He speaks
of three stages of progress. First, the seed should not send forth the grain with the ear;
“it hath no stalk or standing corn;” even if it advanced thus far, still the ear should yield
no meat; or should it perchance yield this, the enemy should devour it. Since the yielding
fruit denotes doing works, the fruit of God’s grace, the absence of the “standing corn”
represents the absence of good works altogether; the absence of the “meal,” that nothing
is brought to ripeness; the “devouring” by “the enemy,” that what would otherwise be
good, is, through faulty intentions or want of purity of purpose, given to Satan and the
world, not to God. : “When hypocrites make a shew of good works, they gratify therewith
the longings of the evil spirits. For they who do not seek to please God therewith,
minister not to the Lord of the field, but to “strangers.” The hypocrite, then, like a
fruitful but neglected “ear,” cannot retain his fruit, because the “ear” of good works lieth
on the ground. And yet he is fed by this very folly, because for his good works he is
honored by all, eminent above the rest; people’s minds are subject to him; he is raised to
high places; nurtured by favors. But “then” will he understand that he has done foolishly,
when, for the delight of praise, he shall receive the sentence of the rebuke of God.”
CLARKE, "They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind -
As the husbandman reaps the same kind of grain which he has sown, but in far greater
abundance, thirty, sixty, or one hundred fold; so he who sows the wind shall have a
whirlwind to reap. The vental seed shall be multiplied into a tempest so they who sow

67. the seed of unrighteousness shall reap a harvest of judgment. This is a fine, bold, and
energetic metaphor.
It hath no stalk - Nothing that can yield a blossom. If it have a blossom that blossom
shall not yield fruit; if there be fruit, the sower shall not enjoy it, for strangers shall eat it.
The meaning is, the labors of this people shall be utterly unprofitable and vain.
GILL, "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind,....
The sense is, the Israelites took a great deal of pains in the idolatrous worship of the
calves, and made a great stir, bustle, and noise in it, like the wind; were very vainglorious
and ostentatious, made a great show of religion and devotion, and promised themselves
great things from it, peace and plenty, wealth and riches, all prosperity and happiness,
enjoyed by Heathen nations; but this was lost labour, it was labouring for the wind, or
sowing that; they got nothing by it, or what was worse than nothing; it proved not only
useless, but hurtful, to them; for, for their idolatry, and continuance in it, the whirlwind
of God's wrath would be raised up against them, and the Assyrian army, like a vehement
storm of wind, would rush in upon them, and destroy them; so they that sow to the flesh,
shall of the flesh reap corruption, Gal_6:8;
it hath no stalk; what they sowed did not rise up above ground; or, if it did, it did not
spring up in a blade or stalk, which was promising of fruit; no real good, profit, and
advantage, sprung from their idolatrous practices:
the bud shall yield no meal; yea, though it rise up into a stalk, and this stalk
produced ears of corn, yet those so thin, that no meal or flour could be got out of them,
and so of no worth and use:
and if so be it yield: any meal or flour:
the strangers shall swallow it up; the Israelites should not be the better for it; it
should till come into the hands of foreigners, the Assyrian army. The meaning is, that if
they did prosper and increase in riches, yet they should not long enjoy them themselves,
but be pillaged and spoiled of them; as they were by the exactions of Pul, and by the
depredations of Shalmaneser, kings of Assyria. So the Targum,
"if they got substance, the nations shall spoil them of it.''
HE RY, " What their gods would bring them to. The breaking of them to pieces would
be a disappointment to those who trusted in them. But that was not all: They have made
to themselves idols, that they may be cut off (Hos_8:4), that their gold and silver, which
they so abused, may be cut off (so some take it), nay, that they may themselves be cut off
from God, from their own land, from the land of the living. Their idolatry will as
certainly end in their extirpation as if they had purposely designed it. And, when this
proves to be the effect of their sin, what relief will they have from the gods wherein they
trusted? None at all: “Thy calf, O Samaria! has cast thee off; it cannot give thee any help
in thy distress, and the pleasure thou now takest in it will vanish, and be no pleasure to
thee.” Those that were justly sent to the gods whom they had chosen found them
miserable comforters, Jdg_10:14. If men will not quit the love and service of sin, yet
they shall certainly lose all the delights and profits of it. If Samaria had continued firm
and faithful to the God of Israel, he would have been a present powerful help to her; but

68. the calf she preferred before him was a broken reed. The case will be the same with those
that make their silver and their gold their god. It will cast them off, and not profit them
in the day of wrath, Eze_7:12. Note, Those that suffer themselves to be deceived into
any idolatries will certainly find themselves deceived in them. Cardinal Wolsey owned
that if he had served his God as faithfully as he had served his prince he would not have
cast him off, as his prince did, in his old age. Their disappointment in their idols is
illustrated (Hos_8:7) by a similitude which intimates both that and the destruction
which God brought upon them for their idolatry. [1.] They got no good to themselves by
worshipping idols: They have sown the wind. They have put themselves to a great deal
of trouble and expense to make and worship their idols, have made a business of it as
much as the husbandman does of sowing his corn, in expectation of reaping some
mighty advantage from it, and that they should be as prosperous and victorious as the
neighbouring nations were, that worshipped idols. But it is all a cheat; it is like sowing
the wind, which can yield no increase; they labour in vain, labour for the wind, Ecc_
5:16. They take great pains to no purpose, and weary themselves for very vanity, Hab_
2:13. Those that make an idol of this world do so; they set their eyes on that which is not,
which, like the wind, makes a great noise, but has nothing substantial in it. [2.] They
brought ruin upon themselves by it: They shall reap the whirlwind, a great whirlwind
(so the word signifies), which shall hurry them away and dash them to pieces. They not
only have not their false gods for them but they set the true God against them; their
favour will stand them in no more stead than the wind, but his wrath will do them more
mischief than a whirlwind. As a man sows, so shall he reap. “If it may be supposed that a
man should sow the wind, and cover it with earth, or keep it there for a while penned up,
what could he expect but that it should be forced by its being shut up, and the accession
of what might increase its strength, to break forth again in greater quantities with
greater violence?” So Dr. Pocock. They promise themselves plenty, peace, and victory, by
worshipping idols, but their expectations come to nothing. What they sow never comes
up; it has no stalk, no blade, or, if it have, the bud shall yield no meal; it shall be as the
thin ears in Pharaoh's dream, that were blasted with the east wind, and there was
nothing in them. Or if it yield, if they do prosper for a while in their idolatrous courses,
the strangers shall swallow it up; it shall be so far from doing them any service that it
shall be but as a bait to invite strangers to invade them, and as a spoil to enrich those
strangers and enable them to do so much the more mischief. Note, The service of idols is
an unprofitable service, and the works of darkness are unfruitful; nay, in the end they
will be pernicious. Rom_6:21, The end of those things is death. Those that sow iniquity
reap vanity: nay, those that sow to the flesh, reap corruption. The hopes of sinners will
be cheats, and their gains will be snares.
JAMISO , "sown ... reap — (Pro_22:8; Gal_6:7). “Sow ... wind,” that is, to make
the vain show of worship, while faith and obedience are wanting [Calvin]. Rather, to
offer senseless supplications to the calves for good harvests (compare Hos_2:8); the
result being that God will make them “reap no stalk,” that is, “standing corn.” Also, the
phraseology proverbially means that all their undertakings shall be profitless (Pro_
11:29; Ecc_5:16).
the bud — or, “growth.”
strangers — foreigners (Hos_7:9).
K&D, "This will Israel reap from its ungodly conduct. Hos_8:7. “For they sow wind,
and reap tempest: it has no stalks; shoot brings no fruit; and even if it brought it,
foreigners would devour it.” With this figure, which is so frequently and so variously

69. used (cf. Hos_10:13; Hos_12:2; Job_4:8; Pro_22:8), the threat is accounted for by a
general thought taken from life. The harvest answers to the sowing (cf. Gal_6:7-8). Out
of the wind comes tempest. Wind is a figurative representation of human exertions; the
tempest, of destruction. Instead of rūăch we have ֶ‫ן‬‫ו‬ፎ, ‫ל‬ ָ‫מ‬ ָ‫,ע‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫ל‬ְ‫ו‬ ַ‫ע‬ (nothingness, weariness,
wickedness) in Hos_10:13; Job_4:8, and Pro_22:8. In the second hemistich the figure is
carried out still further. ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ָ‫,ק‬ “seed standing upon the stalk,” is not to it (viz., that which
has been sowed). Tsemach brings no qemach, - a play upon the words, answering to our
shoot and fruit. Qemach: generally meal, here probably the grain-bearing ear, from
which the meal is obtained. But even if the shoot, when grown, should yield some meal,
strangers, i.e., foreigners, would consume it. In these words not only are the people
threatened with failure of the crop; but the failure and worthlessness of all that they do
are here predicted. Not only the corn of Israel, but Israel itself, will be swallowed up.
CALVI , "Verse 7
The Prophet here shows by another figure how unprofitably the Israelites exercised
themselves in their perverted worship, and then how vainly they excused their
superstitions. And this reproof is very necessary also in the present day. For we see
that hypocrites, a hundred times convicted, will not yet cease to clamour something:
in short, they cannot bear to be conquered; even when their conscience reproves
them, they will still dare to vomit forth their virulence against God. They will also
dare to bring forward vain pretences: hence the Prophet says, that they have sown
the wind, and that they shall reap the whirlwind. It is an appropriate metaphor; for
they shall receive a harvest suitable to the sowing. The seed is cast on the earth, and
afterwards the harvest is gathered: They have sown, he says, the wind, they shall
then gather the whirlwind, or, the tempest. To sow the wind is nothing else than to
put on some appearance to dazzle the eyes of the simple, and by craft and guise of
words to cover their own impiety. When one then casts his hand, he seems to throw
seed on the earth, but yet he sows the wind. So also hypocrites have their displays,
and set themselves in order, that they may appear wholly like the pious worshipers
of God.
We hence see that the design of the Prophet’s metaphor, when he says that they sow
the wind, is to show this, that though they differ nothing from the true worshippers
of God in outward appearance, they yet sow nothing but wind; for when the
Israelites offered their sacrifices in the temple, they no doubt conformed to the rule
of the law, but at the same time came short of obedience to God. There was no faith
in their services: it was then wind; that is, they had nothing but a windy and an
empty show, though the outward aspect of their service differed nothing from the
true and legitimate worship of God. They then sow the wind and reap the
whirlwind. But we cannot finish to-day.
COFFMA , "Verse 7
"For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: he hath no standing
grain; the blade shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up."

70. "Israel has done nothing but sow the wind in idolatry and national affairs at home
and abroad. ow, according to both natural and spiritual law (Galatians 6:7), the
harvest is due in great measure."[14]
The Septuagint (LXX) translated the word for "whirlwind" as [@katastrophe],[15]
and for Israel the harvest would be a catastrophe indeed! (For a further discussion
of "Sowing and Reaping," see in my commentary on Galatians-Colossians, pp.
99,100.)
ELLICOTT, "(7) Wind . . . whirlwind.—The great law of Divine retribution, the
punishment for sin being often a greater facility in sinning—indifference to God
becoming enmity, forgetfulness of duty or truth becoming violent recoil from both.
“Wind” expresses what is empty and fruitless, and the pronoun “it” refers, in
accordance with the metaphor, to such unproductive seed.
It hath no stalk.— ot even incipient prosperity, as in the days of Jeroboam II. “The
growth shall yield no grain,” as we might express the play of words in the Hebrew.
TRAPP, "Verse 7
Hosea 8:7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath
no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it
up.
Ver. 7. For they have sown the wind, and shall reap the whirlwind] To sow the wind
is to labour in vain, as Ecclesiastes 5:16, to labour for the wind, and Proverbs 11:29,
to possess the wind, to feed on the wind, Hosea 12:1, and to be eaten up of the wind,
Jeremiah 22:22. The Greeks express the same by hunting after and husbanding the
wind, ανεµους γεωργειν. The wind, we know, maketh a mighty bustle, as if it were
some great business, solid and stable; but presently it blows over, and comes to
nothing. Or if it get, as seed, into the bosom of the earth, either it breeds an
earthquake, or at least ariseth in a whirlwind, which blows dust into the eyes, and
once at least buried a considerable army in the Libyan sands. Solomon saith, "He
that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity," Proverbs 22:8. But our prophet here saith
more. He that soweth the wind of iniquity shall reap the terrible tempest of
inconceivable misery. By the "blast of God he shall perish, and by the breath of his
nostrils he shall be consumed," Job 4:8-9. As the beginnings of idolatry, hypocrisy,
vain glory, carnal policy, &c., are empty and unhappy (it is but the sowing of
blasted grain, as the Septuagint here hath it, seed corrupted by the wind,
ανεµοφθορα), so the end thereof is very sad and dismal. The word here rendered the
whirlwind hath a syllable in it more than ordinary (Suphathah), to note (saith
Tremellius) the fearfulness of the divine vengeance that will befall the
forementioned; and especially at death, when they are entering upon eternity. Oh
what a dreadful shriek gives the guilty soul at death, to see itself launching into an
infinite ocean of scalding lead, and must swim naked in it for ever; not having the
least cold blast of that wind it sowed all its life long to cool it; but rather to add to its
torment! Then will God speak to such, as once he did to Job out of a whirlwind, but
after another manner; Go to now, ye formalists, false worshippers, triflers, troublers
of Israel; ye that have been mere mutes and ciphers, nullities in the world,

71. superfluities in the earth, or worse than all this; go to now, I say, weep and howl for
the miseries that are come upon you. "Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and
been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter," James 5:5.
But now an end is come, is come; an evil, an only evil, without mixture of mercy,
sorrow without succour (help), mischief without measure, torments without hope of
ever either mending or ending, are the portion of your cup; the dregs of that cup of
mine must you now drink off, that hath eternity to the bottom. Oh lamentable! Oh
did but men forethink what would be the end of sin, they dare not but be innocent.
Oh let that terrible tempest at death be timely thought on and prevented: Job 27:20-
21, &c., "Terrors take hold of him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the
night. The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth
him out of his place. For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee
out of his hand," &c.
It hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal] ihil habet fertilitatis firmitatisque, as
Ruffinus expoundeth it. It hath no firmness or fruitfulness; the wind of wickedness
that thou hast sown, the blasted grain that thou hast committed to the earth, will
yield thee nothing but loss and disappointment. A blade there may be, but not a
stalk; or if a stalk, yet not a bud; or if a bud, yet it shall be nipped in the bud, it shall
yield no meal, but only dust and chaff; or if it come to the meal, yet strangers shall
swallow it up, so that you shall be never the better for it; but after that ye have sown
the wind of iniquity, ye shall reap the wirlwind of misery, maledictionem
omnimodam, curses of all kinds, which God hath hanged at the heels of your
idolatry, a pernicious evil (whatever those superstitious she-sinners bragged to the
contrary, Jeremiah 44:17). Or if they flourish for a season, and have hopes of a large
crop; yet God will curse their blessings, and frustrate their fair hopes, Psalms 37:2,
as he dealt by that rich wretch mentioned by Mr Burroughes in his comment on the
second chapter of this prophecy. I had certain information, said he, from a reverend
minister, that in his own town there was a worldling who had a large crop of grain.
A good honest neighbour of his walking by his grain said, eighbour, you have a
very fine crop of grain, if God bless it. Yes, said he, I will have a good grain,
speaking contemptuously. And before he could come to get it into the barn, it was
blasted, that the grain of the whole crop was not worth sixpence.
BE SO , "Hosea 8:7. For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the
whirlwind, &c. — A proverbial expression, to signify, that as men’s works are, so
must their reward be; that they who sow iniquity shall reap vanity, Proverbs 22:8.
Their labour shall be fruitless, or shall turn to their hurt and damage: As if he had
said, All the pains which the kings of Israel and their subjects had taken to enrich
themselves, and to strengthen their kingdom, being built upon the foundation of
apostacy and idolatry, shall turn to no better account, than countrymen expect from
a blasted crop of corn; and whatever advantage they make, it shall at last be a prey
to foreigners, to the kings of Syria and Assyria.
COKE, "Hosea 8:7. For they have sown the wind, &c.— Because they have sown the
wind, they shall reap the whirlwind: The stalk shall be without grain: It shall yield
no meal; and if it yield it, strangers shall devour it. These proverbial expressions are

72. used to signify that the rewards of men will always be according to their works.
Jehovah, Jesus, whose right it is to judge, hath thus determined. They who sow
iniquity, shall reap vanity. All the pains which the kings of Israel have taken to
enrich themselves, and to strengthen their kingdom, being built on the foundation of
apostacy and idolatry, shall prove like a blasted crop of corn; the small increase
whereof, if there be any, shall become a prey to their enemy. See Lowth and
Houbigant.
The first clause of this 7th verse, observes Bishop Horsley, predicts generally the
dispersion of the ten tribes, and the demolition of their monarchy by the force of the
Assyrian, represented under the image of a scattering wind and destroying
whirlwind. The following clauses describe the progressive steps of the calamity, in
an inverted order. "There shall be no stem belonging to him:" othing standing
erect and visible in the field; that is, the nation shall be ultimately so utterly
extinguished, that it shall not be to be found upon the surface of the earth. But
before this utter ruin takes place, it shall be impoverished, and reduced to great
weakness. For "the ear," upon the stem yet standing, shall be an ear of empty husks,
"yielding no meal." The nation shall not thrive in wealth or power. "And what
perchance it may yield, strangers shall consume." Before the extreme decay,
represented by the barren ear, takes place; its occasional temporary successes, in its
last struggles, will all be for the enrichment and aggrandizement of foreign allies, at
last the conquerors of the country.
SIMEO , "THE CO SEQUE CES OF SI
Hosea 8:7. They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
MISERY is attached to sin as its inevitable consequence. This connexion does not
always appear to a superficial observer. On the contrary, transgression often seems
productive of happiness; and obedience: to be a source of much affliction and
trouble: but, whatever conclusions we may be led to draw from present
appearances, we are sure that the wicked are not happy; nor have they any
reasonable expectation of happiness in the eternal world. The Israelites had
forsaken the true God for idols, and God warned them of the judgments which
would ere long come upon them: but the declaration in the text may be understood
as a general position. We shall take occasion from it to shew,
I. Who may be said to sow the wind—
To “sow the wind” is a proverbial expression for labouring in vain. It is applied to
idolaters, because the silver and gold lavished on idols was unprofitably spent, and
it may well be applied to all who seek happiness in a way of sin:
1. To sensualists—
[They expect to find much comfort in the indulgence of their lusts. Hence they yield
themselves up to all the gratifications of sense. But they find that such pursuits can

73. afford them no real happiness. While they forsake the Fountain of living waters,
they hew out to themselves only broken cisterns that can hold no water [ ote:
Jeremiah 2:13.]. Solomon, with the amplest means of enjoyment, confessed this
[ ote: Ecclesiastes 2:1; Ecclesiastes 2:10-11.]. And we may address that appeal to all
the votaries of pleasure [ ote: Romans 6:21.]—.]
2. To worldlings—
[The lovers of this present world seem to follow something substantial. They hope to
obtain, not a momentary gratification, but solid and lasting benefits. They promise
to themselves the acquisition of ease, and affluence, and respect. But riches are
justly, and on many accounts, termed “uncertain [ ote: 1 Timothy 6:17.].” o
dependence can be placed on their continuance with us [ ote: Proverbs 23:5.]. Our
cares are also generally multiplied by means of them: but if they were more
conducive to happiness now, what shall they profit in the day of wrath [ ote:
Proverbs 11:4.]? What advantage has he now, who once took such delight in his
stores [ ote: Luke 12:19.]? or he, who placed his happiness in sumptuous fare, and
magnificent apparel [ ote: Luke 16:19; Luke 16:23-24.]? Surely all such persons
will find ere long, that they “sowed the wind.”]
3. To formalists—
[The performance of religious duties seems more calculated to make us happy. It is
certain that no one can be happy who disregards them. But a mere round of services
can never satisfy the conscience. “The form of godliness without the power” will
avail little. It will leave the soul in a poor, empty, destitute condition. Some indeed
delude themselves with an idea that it will secure the Divine favour; and, under that
delusion, they may be filled with self-complacency [ ote: Luke 18:11-12.]. But if
God send a ray of light into the mind, these comforts vanish. A sight of sin will
speedily dissipate these self-righteous hopes [ ote: Romans 7:9.]. or will any thing
satisfy an enlightened conscience but that which satisfies God. There was but one
remedy for the wounded Israelites in the wilderness [ ote: John 3:14-15.]. or can a
wounded spirit ever be healed but by a sight of Christ.]
4. To false professors—
[Many wish to be thought religious, when they are destitute of spiritual life. They
perhaps are zealous for the doctrines of the Gospel, and for their own particular
form of Church government. But they are not solicitous to live nigh to God in holy
duties; nor do they manifest the efficacy of religion in their spirit and conduct. Yet,
because of their professing godliness, they think themselves possessed of it, and buoy
up themselves with expectations of happiness in the world to come. Alas! what
disappointment will they one day experience [ ote: Matthew 25:11-12.]! What will
it avail them to “have had a name to live, while they were really dead?” or to have
“cried, Lord, Lord! while they departed not from iniquity?” The pains they have
taken to keep up a profession will all be lost. othing will remain to them but shame
and confusion of face.]

74. From the seed which they sow, we may easily perceive,
II. What they may expect to reap—
“A whirlwind” is a figure used to represent extraordinary calamities. [ ote:
Proverbs 1:27.]And such is the harvest which they will reap in due season. Their
calamities will be,
1. Sudden—
[The corn ripens gradually for the sickle, and its fate is foreseen; but the destruction
of the ungodly cometh suddenly and at an instant. They indeed have many warnings
from all which they see around them; but they put the evil day far from them, and
think it will never come [ ote: 2 Peter 3:4.]. Thus it was with the whole world before
the Deluge. Though oah preached to them for many years, they would not regard
him; and were taken by surprise at last, as much as if no notice had been given
them. [ ote: Matthew 24:38-39.] Thus also it will be with all who reject the Gospel
salvation. Solomon has expressly declared it in reference to those who sow discord
[ ote: Proverbs 6:14-15.]. And St. Paul has asserted it respecting all that live in a
neglect of God [ ote: 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3.].]
2. Irresistible—
[Sinners of every description can withstand the word spoken by their fellow-
creatures [ ote: Ezekiel 20:49.]; but they will not be able to resist God when he shall
call them into judgment. Then, if the whole universe should enter into a confederacy
to protect one sinner, they would fail in their attempt [ ote: Proverbs 11:21.]. There
is not any thing more irresistible to man, in some climates, than a whirlwind. Yet far
less power shall the ungodly have to avert the wrath of God. They will be carried to
destruction as the chaff before the wind [ ote: Psalms 1:4-5.]; and call in vain to the
rocks to fall upon them, or the hills to cover them [ ote: Revelation 6:15-17.].]
3. Tremendous—
[ othing can be conceived more dreadful than the desolation made by whirlwinds.
Yet this suggests a very inadequate idea of the ruin that will come on the ungodly.
The raining of fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrha must have been
exceedingly terrible. But even that was light, when compared with the vials of God’s
wrath which will be poured out upon the ungodly world. Who can comprehend the
full import of that threatening in the Psalms [ ote: Psalms 11:6.]? Who can form a
just idea of the judgment denounced by Isaiah [ ote: Isaiah 5:24.]—? May we never
experience such dreadful calamities! May we tremble at the apprehension of them,
and seek shelter in Christ [ ote: Isaiah 32:2.]!]
Infer—

75. 1. How earnest should we be in redeeming time!
[The present hours are given us that we may sow for eternity. Every action, word
and thought is as seed that will spring up hereafter. According to what we sow now,
we shall reap at the last day [ ote: Galatians 6:7-8.]. Every moment increases our
“treasure of wrath,” or our “weight of glory.” How should we be affected with this
consideration! Let us lay it to heart, and “walk, not as fools, but as wise men [ ote:
Ephesians 5:15-16.].” And let that just expostulation shame us to a sense of duty
[ ote: Isaiah 55:2.]—.]
2. How blessed are they who are living to God!
[There is not a work which they perform for him that will not be rewarded. God
would esteem himself unjust, if he made them no recompence [ ote: Hebrews 6:10.].
However small and insignificant the service be, it shall not be forgotten [ ote:
Matthew 10:42.]. Some perhaps may complain, that they cannot do any thing for
God, and. that they can only weep for their unprofitableness. But the sighs and tears
of the contrite are “precious seed.” They will spring up to a glorious and abundant
harvest [ ote: Psalms 126:6.]. Let the humble then go on “sowing in tears till they
reap in joy.” Let them persist in their labour, assured that it shall not be in vain
[ ote: 1 Corinthians 15:58.].]
PETT, "Verse 7
He has no standing grain,
The blade will yield no meal,
If so be it yield,
Strangers will swallow it up.’
The ‘he’ refers to Israel. Israel will have no standing grain, all will be flattened,
their blades of corn will yield no meal, and any that they do yield will simply be
swallowed up by strangers. The picture is one of total devastation and famine, and
complete defencelessness (so much for their nature gods, and their kings and
princes). Alternately it is an indication that they will be no longer be there but in
exile, while their land will be given to others. The strangers who swallowed it up
would be wandering tribes (similar to bedouin) who swept down and seized all that
was available.
BI, "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The consequences of sin
Misery is attached to sin as its inevitable consequence; but the connection does not
always appear to a superficial observer. Transgression sometimes appears to be
productive of happiness, and obedience to be a source of much affliction and trouble.
But the wicked are not really happy now, and they have no reasonable expectation of
happiness in the eternal world.
I. Who may be said to sow the wind? To “sow the wind” is a proverbial expression for
labouring in vain. It may be applied to all who seek happiness in the way of sin.
1. To sensualists, who yield themselves up to the gratifications of sense. See

76. confession of Solomon (Ecc_2:1; Ecc_2:10-11).
2. To worldlings. The lovers of this present world hope to obtain, not a momentary
gratification, but solid and lasting benefits. But riches are proverbially uncertain.
Our cares are generally multiplied by means of them.
3. To formalists. The performance of religious duties seems more calculated to make
us happy. No one can be happy who disregards them. But a mere round of services
can never satisfy the conscience. Some delude themselves with an idea that it will
secure the Divine favour. Under that delusion they may be filled with self-
complacency. A sight of sin will speedily dissipate these self-righteous hopes.
4. To false professors. There are many who wish to be thought religious when they
are destitute of spiritual life. They may be jealous about doctrines and their own
particular form of Church government, but they are not solicitous to live nigh to God
in holy duties.
II. What they may expect to reap. A “whirlwind” is a figure to represent extraordinary
calamities. Their calamities will be—
1. Sudden. They receive warnings, but are taken by surprise at last.
2. Irresistible. Illustrate by a whirlwind.
3. Tremendous. See desolation wrought by a whirlwind. Infers
(1) How earnest should we be in redeeming time!
(2) How blessed are they who are living to God! (Sketches of Sermons.)
Reaping the whirlwind
Said Napoleon to La Place, “I see no mention of God in your system of theology.” “No,
sire,” was the answer, “we have no longer any need of that hypothesis.” A half-century of
anarchy and social disorder in unhappy France was the result—the awful “reign of
terror.” How much wiser was Montesquieu, who said: “God is as necessary as freedom to
the welfare of France!”
Sowing the wind
This is a proverbial speech, signifying the taking a great deal of pains to little purpose; as
if a man should go abroad in the fields, and spread his hands about with effort and yet
grasp nothing but air. The wind is an empty creature in respect of things solid, therefore
the Scripture often makes use of it to signify the vanity of the hopes and laborious
endeavours of wicked men.
1. Many do nothing all their lifetime but sow the wind; they labour and toil, but what
comes of it? It is no good account to give to God of our time, to say that we have
taken a great deal of pains; we may take pains and yet “sow the wind.” Who are those
that sow the wind?
(1) Some students: men that spend their thoughts and strength about things in
no way profitable to themselves or others, such sow the wind: with a great deal of
earnestness they do just nothing.
(2) Idolaters. All those who take pains and are at great cost in superstitious
worship, all their intentions that they have to honour God, come to nothing, it is

77. but a sowing the wind.
(3) Formalists. Such as content themselves in the outward part of God’s worship,
having no power nor life of godliness in the services they perform.
(4) The vainglorious. They who do all that they do out of vainglory, who, to set
up themselves among others, spend a long time in prayer, and an ostentatiously
scrupulous observance of all rites and ceremonies, a principle of vainglory
actuating them throughout. Men of public gifts, who do abundance of good in the
Church of God and in the commonwealth, but are moved thereto by a principle of
self and vainglory, these lose all, they sow but to the wind.
(5) Such as serve themselves of sin; such as seek to shift for themselves by sinful
means when they are in any straits, and forsake lawful courses to help themselves
out of trouble. “They reap the whirlwind.” The Hebrew word has a syllable more
than usual added to it to increase its signification. It is not only a whirlwind, but
a most terrible whirlwind. There is more in the harvest than in the seed. Sow a
little sinful pleasure, and a great deal of misery is the fruit. (Jeremiah
Burroughs.)
The growth and power of habit
Notice the way in which the acts of daily life influence destiny.
I. We are continually forming habits.
II. The tendency of habits once formed is to increase in strength. “Wind—whirlwind.”
III. Habits increase in the direction of original tendency. Same in kind, though vastly
different in intensity and force.
IV. The tendency of habits is to increase in strength till they pass beyond control. The
whirlwind desolates the land and strews the sea with wrecks. Habit is something like
appetite: we are led by it, just as a hungry man makes his way towards home. It cannot
be explained how it is that actions become easier by being repeated, but that it is so
everybody must admit. If we do anything a certain number of times, the doing has an
effect upon us, and that effect we call “habit.” We should therefore be very careful what
we accustom ourselves to do, lest we should acquire the appetite or habit of doing things
that are hurtful and wrong. Habit is the result of repeated acts, and it is wonderful how
soon a little child acquires a habit. The doing of a thing once or twice is sufficient to lead
the child to do it again—
“All habits gather, by unseen degrees,
As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.”
(A. Hampden Lee.)
8 Israel is swallowed up;

78. now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.
BAR ES, "Israel is swallowed up - Not only shall all which they have, be
swallowed up by the enemy, but themselves also; and this, not at any distant time, but
“now.” “Now,” at a time all but present, “they shall be among the Gentiles, as a vessel
wherein is no pleasure,” or, quite strictly, “Now they have become, among the Gentiles.”
He speaks of what should certainly be, as though it already were. “A vessel wherein is no
pleasure,” is what Paul calls “a vessel to dishonor” 2Ti_2:20, as opposed to “vessels to
honor” or honorable uses. It is then some vessel put to vile uses, such as people turn
away from with disgust. Such has been the history of the ten tribes ever since:
“swallowed up,” not destroyed; “among” the nations, yet not of them; despised and
mingled among them, yet not united with them; having an existence, yet among that
large whole, “the nations,” in whom their national existence has been at once preserved
and lost; everywhere had in dishonor; the Pagan and the Muslim have alike despised,
outraged, insulted them; avenging upon them, unconsciously, the dishonor which they
did to God. The Jews were treated by the Romans of old as offensive to the smell, and
are so by the Muslims of North Africa still. “Never,” says a writer of the fifth century ,
“has Israel been put to any honorable office, so as, after losing the marks of freedom and
power, at least to have the rank of honorable servitude; but, like a vessel made for
dishonorable offices, so they have been filled with revolting contumelies.” “The most
despised of those in servitude” was the title given by the Roman historian to the Jews,
while yet in their own land.
Wealth, otherwise so coveted, for the most part has not exempted them from
dishonor, but exposed them to outrage. individuals have risen to eminence in
philosophy, medicine, finance; but the race has not gained through the credit of its
members; rather, these have, for the most part, risen to reputation for intellect, amid the
wreck of their own faith. When Hosea wrote this, two centuries had passed, since the
fame of Solomon’s wisdom (which still is venerated in the East) spread far and wide;
Israel was hated and envied by its neighbors, not despised; no token of contempt yet
attached to them; yet Hosea foretold that it should shortly be; and, for two thousand
years, it has, in the main, been the characteristic of their nation.
CLARKE, "Now shall they be among the Gentiles - They shall be carried into
captivity, and there be as a vessel wherein there is no pleasure; one soiled, unclean,
infectious, to be despised, abhorred, not used. The allusion is to a rotten, corrupted skin-
bottle; a bottle made of goat, deer, or calf hide, still commonly used in Asia and Africa.
Some of them are splendidly ornamented. This is the case with one now before me made
of a goat’s skin well dressed, variously painted, and ornamented with leather fringes,
tassels, etc. In such a bottle there might be pleasure; but the Israelites are compared to
such a bottle, rough, ill-dressed, not ornamented, old, musty, and putrid. This shows the
force of the comparison.

79. GILL, "Israel is swallowed up,.... Not only their substance, but their persons also,
the whole nation of them, their whole estate, civil and ecclesiastic: it notes the utter
destruction of them by the Assyrians, so that nothing of them and theirs remained; just
as anyone is swallowed up and devoured by a breast of prey; the present is put for the
future, because of the certainty of it:
now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure;
when Shalmaneser took Samaria, and with it swallowed up the whole kingdom of Israel,
he carried captive the inhabitants of it, and placed them among the nations, in "Halah,
Habor, by the river Gozan", and in the cities of the Medes, 2Ki_17:6; where they lived
poor, mean, and abject, and were treated with the utmost neglect and contempt; no
more regarded than a broken useless vessel, or than a vessel of dishonour, that is made
and used for the ease of nature, for which no more regard is had than for that service:
thus idolaters, who dishonour God by their idolatries, shall, sooner or later, be brought
to disgrace and dishonour themselves.
HE RY 8-9, "It was the honour and happiness of Israel that they had but one God to
trust to and he all-sufficient in every strait, and but one God to serve, and he well worthy
of all their devotions. But it was their sin, and folly, and shame, that they knew not when
they were well off, that they forsook their own mercies for lying vanities; for,
I. They multiplied their alliances (Hos_8:9): They have hired lovers, or (as the margin
reads it) they have hired loves. They were at great expense to purchase the friendship of
the nations about them, that otherwise had no value nor affection at all for them, nor
cared for having any thing to do with them but only upon the Shechemites' principles -
Shall not their cattle and their substance be ours? Gen_34:23. Had Israel maintained
the honour of their peculiarity, the surrounding nations would have continued to admire
them as a wise and understanding people; but, when they profaned their own crown,
their neighbours despised them, and they had no interest in them further than they paid
dearly for it. But those surely have behaved ill among their neighbours who have no
loves, no lovers, but what they hire. See here, 1. The contempt that Israel lay under
among the nations (Hos_8:8): Israel is swallowed up, devoured by strangers, their land
eaten up (Hos_8:7), and themselves too, and, being impoverished, they have quite lost
their credit and reputation, like a merchant that has become a bankrupt, so that they are
among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure, a vessel of dishonour (2Ti_2:20),
a despised broken vessel, Jer_22:28. None of their neighbours have any value for them,
nor care to have any thing to do with them. Note, Those that have professed religion, if
they degenerate and grow profane, are of all men the most contemptible. If the salt have
lost its savour, it is fit for nothing but to be trodden under foot of men. Or it denotes
their dispersion and captivity among the Gentiles; they shall be among them poor and
prisoners; and who has pleasure in such? 2. The court that Israel made to the nations
notwithstanding (Hos_8:9): They have gone to Assyria, to engage the king of Assyria to
help them; and herein they are as a wild ass alone by himself, foolish, headstrong, and
unruly; they will have their way, and nothing shall hold them in, no, not the bridle of
God's laws, nothing shall turn them back, no, not the sword of God's wrath. They take a
course by themselves, and the effect will be that, like a wild ass by himself, they will be
the easier and surer prey to the lion. See Job_11:12; Jer_2:24. Note, Man is in nothing
more like the wild ass's colt than in seeking for that succour and that satisfaction in the
creature which are to be had in God only. 3. The crosses that they were likely to meet

80. with in their alliances with the neighbouring nations (Hos_8:10): Though they have
hired among the nations, and hoped thereby to prevent their own ruin, yet now will I
gather them, as the sheaves in the floor (Mic_4:12); so that what they provided for their
own safety shall but make them the easier prey to their enemies. Note, There is no fence
against the judgments of God, when they come with commission; nay, that which men
hire for their own preservation often contributes to their own destruction. See Isa_7:20.
The king of Assyria, whose friendship they courted, called himself a king of princes, Isa_
10:8. Are not my princes altogether kings? He laid burdens upon Israel, levied taxes
upon them, 2Ki_15:19, 2Ki_15:20. And for these they shall sorrow a little; this shall be
but a little burden to them in comparison of what they may further expect; or they will
be but little sensible of this grievance, will not lay it to heart, and therefore may expect
heavier judgments. They have begun to be diminished (so some read it), by the burden
of the king of princes; but this is only the beginning of sorrows (Mat_24:8), the
beginning of revenges, Deu_32:42. Note, God often comes gradually with his judgments
upon a provoking people, that he may show how slow he is to wrath, and may awaken
them to repentance; but those that are made to sorrow a little, if they are not thereby
brought to sorrow after a godly sort, will, another day, be made to sorrow a great deal, to
sorrow everlastingly.
JAMISO , "vessel wherein is no pleasure — (Psa_41:12; Jer_22:28; Jer_
48:38).
K&D, "With this thought the still further threatening of judgment in the next strophe
is introduced. Hos_8:8. “Israel is swallowed up; now are they among the nations like a
vessel, with which there is no satisfaction.” The advance in the threat of punishment lies
less in the extension of the thought, that not only the fruit of the field, but the whole
nation, will be swallowed up by foes, than in the perfect ‫ע‬ ַ‫ל‬ ְ‫ב‬ִ‫,נ‬ which indicates that the
time of the ripening of the evil seeds has already begun (Jerome, Simson). ‫יוּ‬ ָ‫ה‬ ‫ה‬ ָ ַ‫,ע‬ now
already have they become among the nations like a despised vessel, which men cast away
as useless (cf. Jer_22:28; Jer_48:38). This lot have they prepared for themselves.
CALVI , "Verse 8
He uses the same word as before when he spake of the meal, and says, that not only
the provision of Israel shall be devoured, but also the people themselves; and he
upbraids the Israelites with their miseries, that they might at length acknowledge
God to be adverse to them. For the Prophet’s object was this — to make them feel
their evils, that they might at length humble themselves and learn suppliantly to
pray for pardon. For it is a great wisdom, when we so far profit under God’s
scourges, that our sins come before our eyes.
He therefore says, Israel is devoured and is like a cast off vessel, even among the
Gentiles, when yet that people excelled the rest of the world, as the Lord had chosen
them for himself. As they were a peculiar people, they were superior to other
nations; and then they were set apart for this end, that they might have nothing in
common with the Gentiles. But he says now that this people is dispersed, and
everywhere despised and cast off. This could not have been, except God had taken

81. away his protection. We hence see that the Prophet had this one thing in view — to
make the Israelites feel that God was angry with them. It now follows
COFFMA , "Verse 8
"Israel is swallowed up: now are they among the nations as a vessel wherein none
delighteth."
"Israel is swallowed up ..." Again, the prophetic tense speaks of the impending ruin
of the nation as if it had already happened, which, in a sense, of course, it had.
"Vessel wherein none delighteth ..." Harper and others have rejected this as a gloss,
[16] but the scriptural use of this very terminology in Rom. 9:22,2 Timothy 2:20
makes such a view untenable. Paul elaborated the figure used here, applying it
specifically to the whole of Israel, not merely the northern kingdom. (See my
commentary on Romans, pp. 346-348, for a full discussion of this.) Dummelow
accurately defined the meaning of "vessel wherein none delighteth" as "a cheap and
worthless piece of pottery."[17]
TRAPP, "Hosea 8:8 Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as
a vessel wherein [is] no pleasure.
Ver. 8. Israel is swallowed up] ot their meal only, as Hosea 8:7, but themselves also
are devoured by those workers of iniquity, that eat up God’s people as they eat
bread, Psalms 14:4. Persecutors are men-eaters, more cruel than those American
cannibals, that devour men piecemeal; they make but a breakfast of God’s people,
as Sennacherib meant to do of Jerusalem, and the powder-papists of England. "If it
had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us; then they
had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us. But blessed be
God, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth," Psalms 124:2-3; Psalms 124:6.
Let us keep us out of the claws and clutches of that old manslayer, who night and
day walketh about (in a circular motion) that he may take us at advantage, seeking
whom he may swallow down his wide gullet, 1 Peter 5:8, καταπιη, which he hath
even made red with the blood of souls; and is therefore happily called the great red
dragon, Revelation 12:3, that hath seven heads to plot, and ten horns to push men
into the sin of idolatry, and thereby into hell. So long as Israel was holiness to the
Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase, all that devoured him found that they
offended; for evil came upon them, Jeremiah 2:3, they could no more digest him
than the whale did Jonah; a cup of trembling or of poison he was to all the people
round about, Zechariah 12:2 : see the note there. But "when he offended in Baal he
died"; when he "chose new gods, then was war in the gates," 5:8; when they made
leagues with idolaters, then were they even swallowed up by them; as were likewise
the Greek and Latin Churches by the Eastern and Western Antichrist, those
crooked Leviathans, those dragons in the sea, as the Egyptian and Assyrian are
called, Isaiah 27:1.

82. ow shall they be among the Gentiles] Whose favour and friendship they have
basely sought, and dearly bought. It was threatened in the former chapter, Hosea
7:16, that "they should be a derision in the land of Egypt." {See Trapp on "Hosea
7:16"} To have Egyptians deride us, and that for sin, is a heavy judgment. So here,
to be disdained and vilified by such, as an old broken vessel, fit for none but unclean
uses.
As a vessel wherein is no pleasure] o delight or complacence; vas despectum,
reieculum, abiectum, a vessel that is for the carrying up and down of excrements: so
shall Israel be employed by Gentiles in base and contemptible offices, as they were
by the Babylonians, Jeremiah 51:34; yea, Jehoiakim himself (though a king) was no
better used, Jeremiah 22:18, and Moab, that haughty nation, Jeremiah 48:38. In
which sense, "Moab shall be my washpot," saith David, Psalms 60:8, that is,
brought into most abject slavery, as your scullions or scavengers; they shall "lie
among the pots," Psalms 68:13, not only to make pots for the king of Babylon’s use
(as those servile souls, the base brood of their degenerated forefathers, 1 Chronicles
4:23), but also to hold pots, or empty pots and vessels of dishonour, matulam
praebere, that they might know a difference between God’s service (which is all
clean and fair work, fit for a vessel of honour, an elect vessel, elect and precious,
sanctified and fit for the master’s use, 2 Timothy 2:21) and the service of their
enemies, base and beastly; such as is beneath the excellence of an ingenuous man,
such as the Turks at this day put the Jews to, and the Spaniards the poor Indians.
BE SO , "Hosea 8:8. Israel is swallowed up — Under this image the Hebrew
language, the Greek, and our own, describe any sudden destruction, so complete as
to leave no visible vestige of the thing remaining. The prophet speaks of what was
future, as though it were already present; and signifies that the Israelites would be
as certainly carried captives into Assyria, as if they were already gone thither into
captivity. ow shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel, &c. — In a short time
they shall be despised, as a vessel or utensil that is broken, or become useless. For
they are gone up to Assyria — amely, of their own accord, as the original
expression, ‫עלו‬ ‫,המה‬ seems to imply. So do also the versions of the LXX. and the
Vulgate; the former read, αυτοι ανεβησαν εις ασσυριους, ipsi ascenderunt ad Assur;
they themselves have gone up to Assyria. This is not meant of their going into
captivity. The captivity, though near at hand, was yet to come; but this going up was
past. It was a voluntary going up, and a crime; a going up both for alliance, and also
for idolatrous commerce. The captivity was to be the punishment. A wild ass alone
by himself — The meaning is, that Ephraim was such; that is, as Archbishop
ewcome interprets it, Ephraim was like the solitary wild ass, he was as untamed to
the yoke, and traversed the desert as earnestly in pursuit of idols, as the wild ass in
quest of his mates. “Though wild asses,” says Pocock, “be often found in the deserts
in whole herds, yet it is usual for some one of them to break away, and separate
himself from his company, and run alone at random by himself; and one so doing is
here spoken of.” Ephraim hath hired lovers — He alludes to the flagitiousness of
adulteresses hiring men to have commerce with them, to which he compares Israel’s
procuring foreign allies with great expense, and relying on them, and not on God,

83. for succour and protection. And the reference may be, not only to the bargain with
Pul, but to the general profusion of the government in forming foreign alliances; in
which the latter kings, both of Israel and Judah, were equally culpable, as appears
by the history of the collateral reigns of Ahaz and Pekah. It must be observed,
“every forbidden alliance with idolaters was a part of the spiritual incontinence of
the nation.” — Horsley.
PETT, "Verse 8-9
‘Israel is swallowed up.
ow are they among the nations,
As a vessel in which none delights.
.
For they are gone up to Assyria,
A wild ass alone by himself,
Ephraim has hired lovers.’
ot only will Israel’s crops be swallowed up (Hosea 8:7), but the same will happen
to Israel themselves. For they are now to be found courting the nations, although
turning out to be a sad deserted figure (like a wild ass alone in the desert lands)
welcomed finally only by Assyria. They had sought many allies against the
Assyrians, but they had all deserted her for one reason or another (they had not
delighted in her), driving her into the arms of the Assyrians. But now that Israel are
a part of the Assyrian empire they have many hired lovers, including the Assyrian
gods, for all the good it does them. ote the play on words of ’pr (Ephraim) and pr’
(wild ass).
We can see in this a picture of the last decades of Israel prior to 722 BC, when they
first sought alliances against Assyria (instead of looking to YHWH), and then
finally, deserted by those allies, had to look to Assyria itself.
Verses 8-14
Because Israel Have Deserted YHWH And Looked To Others, (Both ations And
Gods), In Spite Of Having Received His Abundant Instruction, He Will Desert
Them And They Will Return To Egypt And See Their Cities Destroyed By Fire
(Hosea 8:8-14).
The argument now swings to consider Israel’s attitude towards other nations.
YHWH had delivered Israel from Egypt in order that they might look to Him and to
Him alone. But far from doing this Israel were hiring lovers and looking to Assyria.
Well, they would soon discover that that was costly. Being under ‘the king of the
princes’ did not come cheap. And meanwhile they are multiplying altars at which
they can sin, in spite of YHWH having provided them with abundant instruction.
In consequence YHWH will take note of their sin and ‘return them to Egypt’, that
is, bring them once more into slavery and subjection. And this because by their
actions they have forgotten their Maker and put their trust in fortified cities which
can easily be put to the flame.

84. Analysis of Hosea 8:8-14.
a Israel is swallowed up. ow are they among the nations, as a vessel in which none
delights (Hosea 8:8).
b For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself, Ephraim has hired
lovers (Hosea 8:9).
c Yes, because they hire among the nations, now will I gather them, and they begin
to be diminished, by reason of the burden of the king of princes (Hosea 8:10).
d Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been to him for
sinning (Hosea 8:11).
e I wrote for him the ten thousand things of my law, but they are counted as a
strange thing (Hosea 8:12).
d As for the sacrifices of my offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it, but YHWH
does not accept them (Hosea 8:13 a).
c ow will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins, they will return to Egypt
(Hosea 8:13 b).
b For Israel has forgotten his Maker, and built palaces, and Judah has multiplied
fortified cities (Hosea 8:14 a).
a But I will send a fire on his cities, and it will devour its castles. (Hosea 8:14 b).
ote that in ‘a’ Israel is swallowed up, and rejected, and in the parallel its cities and
castles are devoured by fire. In ‘b’ Israel has gone up to Assyria for protection, and
has hired lovers, and in the parallel he has looked to fortified cities for protection,
and has forgotten his Maker. In ‘c’ Israel begin to be diminished as a result of the
burden of the king of Assyria, and in the parallel their iniquities are remembered
and their sins are visited on them in that they return to Egypt. In ‘d’ Ephraim has
multiplied altars for sinning, and in the parallel they sacrifice flesh and eat it.
Centrally in ‘e’ He has written for him ten thousand things of His Law, but they
count them as a strange thing.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria
like a wild donkey wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.

85. BAR ES, "For they are gone up to Assyria - The ground of this their captivity is
that wherein they placed their hope of safety. They shall be presently swallowed up; “for”
they went to Asshur. The holy land being then honored by the spectral presence of God,
all nations are said to “go up” to it. Now, since Israel forgetting God, their strength and
their glory, went to the Assyrian for help, he is said to “go up” there, where he went as a
suppliant.
A wild donkey alone by himself - As “the ox” which “knoweth its owner, and the
donkey its Master’s crib,” represents each believer, of Jew or Gentile; Israel, who would
not know Him, is called the “wild ass.” The “pere,” or “wild ass” of the East , is “heady,
unruly, undisciplinable” , “obstinate, running with swiftness far outstripping the swiftest
horse” , whither his lust, hunger, thirst, draw him without rule or direction, hardly to be
turned aside from his intended course.” Although often found in bands, one often breaks
away by himself, exposing itself for a prey to lions, from where it is said, “the wild
donkey is the lion’s prey in the wilderness” (Ecclus. 13:19). Wild as the Arab was, a “wild
ass’ colt by himself” , is to him a proverb for one , “singular, obstinate, pertinacious in
his purpose.” Such is man by nature Job_11:12; such, it was foretold to Abraham,
Ishmael would be Gen_16:12; such Israel again became; “stuborn, heady, selfwilled,
refusing to be ruled by God’s law and His counsel, in which he might find safety, and, of
his own mind, running to the Assyrian,” there to perish.
Ephraim hath hired lovers or loves - The plural, in itself, shows that they were
sinful loves, since God had said, “a man shall cleave unto his wife and they twain shall be
one flesh.” These sinful “loves” or “lovers” she was not tempted by, but she herself
invited them (see Eze_16:33-34). It is a special and unwonted sin, when woman,
forsaking the modesty which God gives her as a defense, becomes the temptress. “Like
such a bad woman, luring others to love her, they, forsaking God, to whom, as by
covenant of marriage, they ought to have cleaved, and on Him alone to have depended,
sought to make friends of the Assyrian, to help them in their rebellions against Him, and
so put themselves to that charge (as sinners usually do) in the service of sin, which in
God’s service they need not to have been at.”
And yet that which God pictures under colors so offensive, what was it in human eyes?
The “hire” was presents of gold to powerful nations, whose aid, humanly speaking, Israel
needed. But wherever it abandoned its trust in God, it adopted their idols. “Whoever has
recourse to human means, without consulting God, or consulting whether He will, or
will not bless them, is guilty of unfaithfulness which often leads to many others. He
becomes accustomed to the tone of mind of those whose protection he seeks, comes
insensibly to approve even their errors, loses purity of heart and conscience, sacrifices
his light and talents to the service of the powers, under whose shadow he wishes to live
under repose.”
CLARKE, "They are gone up to Assyria - For succor.
A wild ass alone by himself - Like that animal, jealous of its liberty, and suffering
no rival. If we may credit Pliny and others, one male wild ass will keep a whole flock of
females to himself, suffer no other to approach them, and even bite off the genitals of the
colts, lest in process of time they should become his rivals. “Mares singuli faeminarum
gregibus imperitant; timent libidinis aemulos, et ideo gravidas custodiunt, morsuque
natos mares castrant.” - Hist. Nat., lib. viii., c. 30. The Israelites, with all this selfishness

86. and love of liberty, took no step that did not necessarily lead to their thraldom and
destruction.
Ephraim hath hired lovers - Hath subsidized the neighboring heathen states.
GILL, "For they are gone up to Assyria,.... Or, "though they should go up to
Assyria" (g); to the king of Assyria, to gain his friendship, and enter into alliance with
him; as, when Pal king of Assyria came against them, Menahem king of Israel went forth
to meet him, and gave him a thousand talents of silver to be his confederate, and
strengthen his kingdom, 2Ki_15:19; yet this hindered not but that Israel was at length
swallowed up by that people, and scattered by them among the nations; for this is not to
be understood of their going captive into the land of Assyria, as the Targum interprets it:
a wild ass alone by himself; which may be applied either to the king of Assyria, and
be considered as a description of him, to whom Israel went for help and friendship; who,
though he took their present, and made them fair promises, yet was perfidious,
unsociable, and inhuman, studied only his own advantage, and not their good: or to the
Israelites that went to him, who were as sottish and stupid as the ass, and as headstrong
and unruly as that, and, like it, lustful, and impetuous in their lusts; running to and fro
for the satisfying of them, and taking no advice, nor suffering themselves to be
controlled, and, being alone, became an easy prey to the Assyrian lion: or yet they should
be as "a wild ass alone by itself" (h); notwithstanding all the methods they took to obtain
the friendship and alliance of the king of Assyria, yet they should be carried captive by
him, and dwell in the captivity like a wild ass in the wilderness; and so it is to be
understood here, agreeably to Job_24:5; otherwise, as Bochart (i) has proved from
various writers, these creatures go in flocks:
Ephraim hath hired lovers; by giving presents to the kings of Assyria and Egypt, to
be their allies and confederates, patrons and defenders, 2Ki_15:19; who are represented
as their gallants, with whom Ephraim or the ten tribes committed adultery, departing
from God their Husband, and liege Lord and King, and from his true worship; see Eze_
16:26. R. Elias Levita (k) observes, that some interpret the words, "Ephraim made a
covenant with lovers".
(g) ‫עלו‬ ‫המה‬ ‫כי‬ "quamvis, etiamsi ascenderint"; so Schmidt observes it may be rendered,
though he chooses to render it by "quando", "when they should go up", &c. (h) ‫לו‬ ‫בודד‬ ‫פרא‬
"erunt onager, qui solitarius sibi est", Schmidt. (i) Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 16. col. 870.
(k) Tishbi, p. 267.
HE RY, "The court that Israel made to the nations notwithstanding (Hos_8:9): They
have gone to Assyria, to engage the king of Assyria to help them; and herein they are as
a wild ass alone by himself, foolish, headstrong, and unruly; they will have their way,
and nothing shall hold them in, no, not the bridle of God's laws, nothing shall turn them
back, no, not the sword of God's wrath. They take a course by themselves, and the effect
will be that, like a wild ass by himself, they will be the easier and surer prey to the lion.
See Job_11:12; Jer_2:24. Note, Man is in nothing more like the wild ass's colt than in
seeking for that succour and that satisfaction in the creature which are to be had in God
only.

87. JAMISO , "gone ... to Assyria — referring to Menahem’s application for Pul’s aid
in establishing him on the throne (compare Hos_5:13; Hos_7:11). Menahem’s name is
read in the inscriptions in the southwest palace of Nimrod, as a tributary to the Assyrian
king in his eighth year. The dynasty of Pul, or Phalluka, was supplanted at Nineveh by
that of Tiglath-pileser, about 768 (or 760) b.c. Semiramis seems to have been Pul’s wife,
and to have withdrawn to Babylon in 768; and her son, Nabonassar, succeeding after a
period of confusion, originated “the era of Nabonassar,” 747 b.c. [G. V. Smith]. Usually
foreigners coming to Israel’s land were said to “go up”; here it is the reverse, to intimate
Israel’s sunken state, and Assyria’s superiority.
wild ass — a figure of Israel’s headstrong perversity in following her own bent (Jer_
2:24).
alone by himself — characteristic of Israel in all ages: “lo, the people shall dwell
alone” (Num_23:9; compare Job_39:5-8).
hired lovers — reversing the ordinary way, namely, that lovers should hire her (Eze_
16:33, Eze_16:34).
CALVI , "Verse 9
Here again the Prophet derides all the labour the people had undertaken to exempt
themselves from punishment. For though hypocrites dare not openly and avowedly
to fight against God, yet they seek vain subterfuges, by which they may elude him.
So the Israelites ceased not to weary themselves to escape the judgment of God; and
this folly, or rather madness, the Prophet exposes to scorn. They have gone up to
Assyria, he says, as a wild ass alone; Ephraim had hired lovers In the first clause he
indirectly reprobates the brutish wildness of the people, as though he said, “They
are like the wild animals of the wood, which can by no means be tamed.” And
Jeremiah uses this very same similitude, when he complains of the people as being
led away by their own indomitable lust, being like the wild ass, who, snuffing the
wind, betakes himself, in his usual manner, to a precipitant course, (Jeremiah 2:24.)
Probably he touches also, in an indirect way, on the unbelief of the people in having
despised the protection of God; for the people ought not to have thus hastened to
Assyria, as if they were destitute of every help, because they knew that they were
protected by the hand of God. And the Prophet here reproves them for regarding as
nothing that help which the Lord had promised, and which he was really prepared
to afford, had not the Israelites betaken themselves elsewhere. Hence he says,
Ephraim, as a wild ass, has gone up to Assyria; he perceived not that he would be
secure and safe, provided he sheltered himself under the shadow of the hand of his
God; but as if God could do nothing, he retook himself to the Assyrians: this was
ingratitude. And then he again takes up the similitude which we have before
noticed, that the people of Israel had shamefully and wickedly departed from the
marriage-covenant which God had made with them: for God, we know, was to the
Israelites in the place of a husband, and had pledged his faith to them; but when
they transferred themselves to another, they were like unchaste women, who
prostitute themselves to adulterers, and desert their own husbands. Hence the
Prophet again reproves the Israelites for having violated their faith pledged to God,
and for being like adulterous women. He indeed goes farther, and says, that they
hired adulterers for wages. Unchaste women are usually enticed by the charms of

88. gain; for when adulterers wish to corrupt a woman, they offer gifts, they offer
money. He says that this practice was inverted; and the same thing is expressed by
the Prophet Ezekiel; who, after having stated that women are usually corrupted by
having some gain or some advantage proposed to them, adds,
‘But thou wastest thine own property, and settest not thyself to hire, but on the
contrary thou hirest wantons,’
(Ezekiel 16:31.)
So the Prophet speaks here, though more briefly, Ephraim, he says, has hired lovers
COFFMA , "Verse 9
"For they are gone up to Assyria, like a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath
hired lovers."
The close proximity of these two figures of speech is puzzling, but apparently, the
implied deduction is that Ephraim was more stupid than a renegade wild ass that
kept his independence by remaining alone; but Ephraim made alliance with his
enemies which resulted in his destruction. It is usually alleged that the wild asses
went in companies; and therefore, this should be understood as a renegade. This
interpretation just given is actually based upon some of the various readings, of
which there are many in this part of . Hosea. In line with the text of our version
(American Standard Version), it appears that Ephraim is like the wild, renegade ass
in that he went stubbornly about doing his own thing, without any regard whatever
for any restrictions, whether of common sense or divine commandment.
ELLICOTT, "(9) Gone up to Assyria.—The word thus translated is elsewhere used
for “going up” to the sanctuary of the Lord. (See ote on Hosea 7:11.) Wild ass is
the image of untamed waywardness (Job 39:5, sea.) it is described by Wetzstein as
inhabiting the steppes, a creature of dirty yellow colour, with long ears and no
horns, and a head resembling a gazelle’s. Its pace is so swift that no huntsman can
overtake it. It is seldom seen alone, but in herds of several hundreds. From Jeremiah
2:24 we infer that the animal wanders alone after the object of its lust. Israel, like a
solitary wild ass, seeks strange loves, courts strange alliances. On the last clause, see
Ezekiel 16:32-34. Ephraim pays abnormally for her own shame.
TRAPP, "Verse 9
Hosea 8:9 For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim
hath hired lovers.
Ver. 9. For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself] This was that
that most moved the Lord to denounce and determine hard and heavy things
against Israel, they had suspicious thoughts of God, as if he either could not or
would not do for them, and help them out, as the Assyrian (though an enemy)
would. This prank of theirs God uttereth here with as great indignation and dislike
as old Jacob did his son Reuben’s incest, when he said, "He went up to my couch."
The Lord is as jealous of his glory as any man can be of his wife; neither will he give

89. it to another, Isaiah 42:8; he admits not of any co-rival in heaven or earth, as
Potiphar’s wife was his own peculiar. ow God is no way more glorified by us than
when we put our trust in his love and faithfulness, and expect from him safety here,
and salvation hereafter. For in so doing, we set him up for our king, 9:15, and put
the royal crown upon his head, Song of Solomon 3:11. As in doing otherwise we turn
his glory into shame, "loving vanity, seeking after leasing," Psalms 4:2. Hence that
angry expostulation, Jeremiah 2:36, "Why gaddest thou about so much to change
thy way?" How dost thou think to mend thyself by running to the creature, as if
there were no God in Israel? "thou also shall be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast
ashamed of Assyria: yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine
head" (after the manner of mourners, 2 Samuel 13:19), "for the Lord hath rejected
thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them."
A wild ass alone by himself] Foolish and fierce above measure, untameable and
untractable; loving to be alone, and so becomes a prey to the lion, as saith Siracides,
chap. 13. ver. 21. Pliny speaketh much of the wild ass and his properties; and
interpreters on this text bring many reasons why Israel is compared to him. Israel is
as stupid and as mad as the wild ass, saith Lyra. He is all for himself, saith Junius;
he casteth off God’s yoke, saith Tremellius; he is a contemptible creature, saith
Kimchi; he walks where he lists, as masterless, saith the Chaldee; he seeketh water
in the wilderness, but hardly findeth it, so doth Israel help of the cruel enemies, and
hath it not, saith Oecolampadius; he taketh a great deal of pains for his belly, saith
Mercer; he cannot be tamed and made serviceable, saith Gesner; he is left alone by
God to be carried captive by the Assyrian, saith Ribera. The Scripture describeth
the nature of this creature in many places, Genesis 16:12, Job 6:5; Job 11:12; Job
24:5; Job 39:5; Job 39:8, Psalms 104:11, Isaiah 32:14, Jeremiah 2:24; Jeremiah 14:6,
Daniel 5:21.
Ephraim hath hired lovers] This is the second similitude, taken from a most
libidinous harlot. See the like baseness in Judah, Ezekiel 16:33. They were so mad
upon their idols and creature confidences, that they were at no small charge for
them; they lavished money out of the bag, Isaiah 6:6, and laid on, as if they should
never see an end of their wealth. They sent great gifts and sums of money to the
Assyrians and Egyptians, and leaned upon them as their champions; they hired
loves, as the Hebrew here hath it. But love, as it cannot well be counterfeited (a man
may paint fire, but he cannot paint heat), so it cannot at all be hired or purchased.
Those that go about it shall find loathing for love, and be scorned of those
mercenaries which are seldom either satisfied, or sure.
COKE, "Verse 9-10
Hosea 8:9-10. For they are gone up to Assyria— These verses are connected with
that preceding, and are thus translated by Houbigant: Because they go to the
Assyrian, though the Assyrian is nothing more than a wild ass, [one who has no
regard for any thing but himself,] Hosea 8:10. Ephraim sends love-presents:
Because they have sent these, I will immediately gather them among the nations;

90. and truly they shall be refreshed a little from the burden of the king and the princes.
This is spoken ironically, and refers to the heavy tributes which were imposed upon
the people for the support of the wars, and to the alliances which Israel was then
forming.
Ephraim hath hired lovers— The prophesy alludes not exclusively to the bargain
with Pul, but to the general profusion of the government in forming foreign
alliances; in which the latter kings both of Israel and Judah were equally culpable;
as appears by the history of the collateral reigns of Ahaz and Pekah. Lovers: every
forbidden alliance with idolaters was a part of the spiritual incontinence of the
nation. The Hebrew word ‫התנו‬ hithnu, rendered hired, might be more literally
rendered gifted, or endowed. But to preserve any thing of the spirit of the original, it
is necessary to use a word here capable of being applied to military bounties in the
next verse. In the next verse God says, that whatever bounties the Israelites might
offer, in order to raise armies of foreign auxiliaries; he would embody those armies;
he would press the men, paid by their money, into his own service against them.
K&D 9-10, "“For they went up to Asshur; wild ass goes alone by itself; Ephraim
sued for loves. Hos_8:10. Yea, though they sue among the nations, now will I gather
them, and they will begin to diminish on account of the burden of the king of the
princes.” Going to Assyria is defined still further in the third clause as suing for loves,
i.e., for the favour and help of the Assyrians. The folly of this suing is shown in the
clause, “wild ass goes by itself alone,” the meaning and object of which have been quite
mistaken by those who supply a ְ‫כ‬ simil. For neither by connecting it with the preceding
words thus, “Israel went to Asshur, like a stubborn ass going by itself” (Ewald), nor by
attaching to it those which follow, “like a wild ass going alone, Ephraim sued for loves,”
do we get any suitable point of comparison. The thought is rather this: whilst even a wild
ass, that stupid animal, keeps by itself to maintain its independence, Ephraim tries to
form unnatural alliances with the nations of the world, that is to say, alliances that are
quite incompatible with its vocation. Hithnâh, from tânâh, probably a denom. of 'ethnâh
(see at Hos_2:14), to give the reward of prostitution, here in the sense of bargaining for
amours, or endeavouring to secure them by presents. The kal yithnū has the same
meaning in Hos_8:10. The word ‫ם‬ ֵ‫צ‬ ְ ַ‫ק‬ ֲ‫,א‬ to which different renderings have been given,
can only have a threatening or punitive sense here; and the suffix cannot refer to ‫ם‬ִ‫ּוי‬ ַ ,
but only to the subject contained in yithnu, viz., the Ephraimites. The Lord will bring
them together, sc. among the nations, i.e., bring them all thither. ‫ץ‬ ֵ ִ‫ק‬ is used in a similar
sense in Hos_9:6. The more precise definition is added in the next clause, in the difficult
expression ‫ט‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫מ‬ ‫וּ‬ ֵ‫ח‬ָ ַ‫,ו‬ in which ‫וּ‬ ֵ‫ח‬ָ ַ‫ו‬ may be taken most safely in the sense of “beginning,”
as in Jdg_20:31; 2Ch_29:17, and Eze_9:6, in all of which this form occurs, and ‫מעט‬ as an
adject. verb., connected with ‫ל‬ ֵ‫ח‬ ֵ‫ה‬ like the adjective ‫ּות‬‫ה‬ ֵⅴ in 1Sa_3:2 : “They begin to be, or
become, less (i.e., fewer), on account of the burden of the king of princes,” i.e., under the
oppression which they will suffer from the king of Assyria, not by war taxes or
deportation, but when carried away into exile. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ ְ‫ך‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ֶ‫מ‬ = ‫ים‬ ִ‫כ‬ ָ‫ל‬ ְ‫מ‬ ְ‫ך‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ֶ‫מ‬ is a term applied to
the great Assyrian king, who boasted, according to Isa_10:8, that his princes were all

91. kings.
BI, "A wild ass alone by himself.
The Scripture figure of the wild ass
What a figure of the untamed soul which refuses the easy yoke of the blessed Redeemer.
Man’s untamed spirit spurns the adorable Lord’s love. You cannot conceive a truer
picture of the altogether untractable than this. The wild ass will go its own way. But this
is according to nature. What we are Called to contemplate is the fallen being man,
described as a “wild ass alone by itself.” Ephraim and the Ten Tribes are compared to the
wild ass for many reasons.
1. They refused Christ’s easy yoke; their hearts were untamed; they were stubborn in
their rejection of God’s inviting grace; they were full of obdurate folly; they were
headstrong and unruly, not consenting to any restraints; they chose their own
course, running up and down after sin, mad upon their idols, as the wild ass
traverses the desert only to gratify its own low nature.
2. The wild ass is excessively swift; and although numbers of them commonly herd
together, yet it is usual for some one of them to break away and separate himself
from his company, and run alone or at random by himself. It is when he thus breaks
away that he is such an easy prey to the lion. Ephraim, in seeking to be all for
himself, became the more sure prey of the devourer; and whenever the sinner breaks
away by himself, thinking thereby to be masterless and free, he is in a fair way of
being left to his own devices and given up by God.
3. The wild ass is the lion’s prey in the wilderness, and the soul faithless to Christ,
seeking its own things, is as a wild ass alone by himself, or for himself, for his own
gratification, his own pleasure, and the end of these things is death. (Alfred Clayton
Thiselton.)
10 Although they have sold themselves among the
nations,
I will now gather them together.
They will begin to waste away
under the oppression of the mighty king.

92. BAR ES, "Yea, though they have hired - Or better, “because or when they hinge
among the pagan, now will I gather them;” i. e., I will gather the nations together. The
sin of Israel should bring its own punishment. He sent presents to the king of Assyria, in
order to strengthen himself against the will of God; “he thought himself secured by his
league made with them; but he should find himself much deceived in his policy;” he had
“hired among them” only; “now,” ere long, very speedily, God Himself would “gather
them,” i. e., those very nations, not in part, but altogether; not for the help of Israel, but
for its destruction. As though a man would let out some water from a deep lake ponded
up, the water, as it oozed out, loosened more and more the barriers which withheld it,
until, at length, all gave way, and the water of the lake was poured out in one wide wild
waste, desolating all, over which it swept. It may be, that Assyria would not have known
of, or noticed Israel, had not Israel first invited him.
And they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes - So great
shall be the burden of the captivity hereafter, that they shall then sorrow but little for
any burdens put upon them now, and which they now feel so heavy. “The king of
princes” is the king of Assyria, who said, “Are not my princes altogether kings?” Isa_
10:8. The burden of plained will then be the thousand talents of silver which Menahem
gave to Pul, king of Assyria, to support him in his usurpation, and in order to pay which,
he “exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty
shekels of silver” 2Ki_15:19-20.
If we adopt the English margin, “begin,” we must render, “and they shall begin to be
minished through the burden of the king of the princes,” i. e., they shall be gradually
reduced and brought low through the exactions of the Assyrians, until in the end they
shall be carried away. This describes the gradual decay of Israel, first through the
exactions of Pul, then through the captivity of Gilead by Tiglathpileser.
CLARKE, "For the burden of the king of princes - The exactions of the
Assyrian king, and the princes of the provinces.
GILL, "Yea, though they have hired among the nations,.... That is, lovers, as
before; got into confederacies and alliances with the nations about them, thinking
thereby to strengthen their hands, and secure themselves and their kingdom; particular
regard may be had to the Egyptians, as distinct from the Assyrians, whom they privately
engaged on their side to shake off the Assyrian yoke, or their obligation to send yearly
presents to the Assyrian king:
now will I gather them; either the Assyrians against them, to invade their land,
besiege their city, and take and carry them captive; or the Israelites in a body into the
city of Samaria, and there be cooped up, and taken and destroyed, or carried captive; for
this is not to be interpreted of the collection of them out of their captivity, as the Targum
and Jarchi, but of the gathering of them together for their destruction:
and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes; the tax or
tribute imposed upon them by the king of Assyria, whose princes were altogether kings,
Isa_10:8; and who used to be called king of kings, being at the head of a monarchy,

93. which had many kings subject to it; as the kings of Babylon were afterwards called, Eze_
26:7; this may refer to the yearly present or tribute, which Hoshea king of Israel was
obliged to give to the king of Assyria, which he was very uneasy at, and did not pay it,
which drew upon him the resentment of the Assyrian king; and that sorrow and
uneasiness which that tribute gave the king of Israel and his people were but little and
small in comparison of what they after found; it was the beginning of sorrows to them:
and so some render the words, "they began" (l); that is, to sorrow and complain "a little";
or this may refer to their burdens and oppressions when in captivity, which were laid
upon them by the king of Assyria, and the princes, the rulers, and governors of the
several places where the Israelites were carried captive: even the "few that shall remain"
(m), as some render it; and not die by famine, pestilence, and sword. Kimchi and Ben
Melech think there is a deficiency of the copulative and between king and princes; which
is supplied by the Targum, and by the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic
versions, which read, "the king and princes".
HE RY, " The crosses that they were likely to meet with in their alliances with the
neighbouring nations (Hos_8:10): Though they have hired among the nations, and
hoped thereby to prevent their own ruin, yet now will I gather them, as the sheaves in
the floor (Mic_4:12); so that what they provided for their own safety shall but make
them the easier prey to their enemies. Note, There is no fence against the judgments of
God, when they come with commission; nay, that which men hire for their own
preservation often contributes to their own destruction. See Isa_7:20. The king of
Assyria, whose friendship they courted, called himself a king of princes, Isa_10:8. Are
not my princes altogether kings? He laid burdens upon Israel, levied taxes upon them,
2Ki_15:19, 2Ki_15:20. And for these they shall sorrow a little; this shall be but a little
burden to them in comparison of what they may further expect; or they will be but little
sensible of this grievance, will not lay it to heart, and therefore may expect heavier
judgments. They have begun to be diminished (so some read it), by the burden of the
king of princes; but this is only the beginning of sorrows (Mat_24:8), the beginning of
revenges, Deu_32:42. Note, God often comes gradually with his judgments upon a
provoking people, that he may show how slow he is to wrath, and may awaken them to
repentance; but those that are made to sorrow a little, if they are not thereby brought to
sorrow after a godly sort, will, another day, be made to sorrow a great deal, to sorrow
everlastingly.
JAMISO , "will I gather them — namely, the nations (Assyria, etc.) against Israel,
instead of their assisting her as she had wished (Eze_16:37).
a little — rather, “in a little” [Henderson]. English Version gives good sense: They
shall sorrow “a little” at the imposition of the tribute; God suspended yet the great
judgment, namely, their deportation by Assyria.
the burden of the king of princes — the tribute imposed on Israel (under
Menahem) by the Assyrian king Pul, (2Ki_15:19-22), who had many “princes” under his
sway (Isa_10:8).
CALVI , "Verse 10
But it follows, Though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them.
This place may be variously expounded. The commonly received explanation is, that

94. God would gather the hired nations against Israel; but I would rather refer it to the
people themselves. But it admits of a twofold sense: the first is, that the great forces
which the people has on every side acquired for themselves, would not prevent God
from destroying them; for the verb ‫,קבף‬ kobets, which they render, “to gather,”
often means in Hebrew to throw by a slaughter into an heap, as we say in French,
Trousser , (to bundle.) And this meaning would be very suitable — that though they
extended themselves far and wide, by gathering forces on every side, they would yet
be collected in another way, for they would be brought together into a heap. The
second sense is this — that when Israel should be drawn away to the Gentiles, the
Lord would gather him; as though he said, “Israel burns with mad lusts, and runs
here and there among the Gentiles; this heat is nothing else than dispersion; it is the
same as if he designedly wished to destroy the unity in which his safety consists; but
I will yet gather him against his will; that is, preserve him for a time.”
It then follows, They shall grieve a little for the burden of the king and princes. The
word which the Prophet uses interpreters expound in two ways. Some derive ‫,יחלו‬
ichelu, from the verb ‫,חל‬ chel, and others from ‫,חלל‬ chelal, which means, “to begin;”
and therefore give this rendering, “They shall begin with the burden of the king and
princes;” that is, They shall begin to be burdened by the king and princes. Others
offer this version, “They shall grieve a little for the burden of the king and princes;”
that is, They shall be tributaries before the enemies shall bring them into exile; and
this will be a moderate grief.
If the first interpretation which I have mentioned be approved, then there is here a
comparison between the scourges with which God at first gently chastised the
people, and the last punishment which he was at length constrained to inflict on
them; as though he said, “They complain of being burdened by tributes; it is
nothing, or at least it is nothing so grievous, in comparison with the dire future grief
which their last destruction will bring with it.”
But this clause may well be joined with that mitigation which I have briefly
explained, and that is, that when the people had willingly dispersed themselves, they
had been preserved beyond expectation, so that they did not immediately perish; for
they would have run headlong into destruction, had not God interposed an
hindrance. Thus the two verses are to be read conjointly, They ascended into
Assyria as a wild ass; that is, “They showed their unnameable and wild disposition,
when thus unrestrainedly carried away; and then they offer me a grievous insult;
for as if they were destitute of my help, they run to the profane Gentiles, and esteem
as nothing my power, which would have been ready to help them, had they
depended on me, and placed their salvation in my hand.” He then reproaches their
perfidy, that they were like unchaste women, who leave their husbands, and
abandon themselves to lewdness. Then it follows, Though they do this, that is,
“Though having despised my aid, they seek deliverance from the profane Gentiles,
and though they despise me, and choose to submit themselves to adulterers rather
than to keep their conjugal faith with me, I will yet gather them, when thus
dispersed.” The Lord here enhances the sin of the people; for he did not
immediately punish their ingratitude and wickedness, but deferred doing so for a

95. time; and in his kindness he would have led them to repentance, had not their
madness been wholly incurable: though then they thus hire among the Gentiles, I
will yet gather them, that is, “preserve them;” and for what purpose? That they may
grieve a little, and that is, that they may not wholly perish, as persons running
headlong into utter ruin; for they seemed designedly to seek their last destruction,
when they were thus wilfully and violently carried away to profane nations. That is
indeed a most dreadful tearing of the body, which cannot be otherwise than fatal.
They shall, however, grieve a little; that is, “I will so act, that they may by degrees
return to me, even by the means of moderate grief.”
We hence see more clearly why the Prophet said, that this grief would be small,
which was to be from the burden of the king and princes. It was designed by the
Israelites to excite the Assyrians immediately to war; and this would have turned
out to their destruction, as it did at last; but the Lord suspended his vengeance, and
at the same time mitigated their grief, when they were made tributaries. The king
and his counsellors were constrained to exact great tributes; the people then
grieved: but they had no other than a moderate grief, that they might consider their
sins and return to the Lord; yet all this was without any fruit. Hence the less
excusable was the obstinacy of the people. We now perceive what the Prophet
meant. It now follows —
COFFMA , "Verse 10
"Yea, though they hire among the nations, now will I gather them; and they begin to
be diminished by reason of the burden of the king of princes."
There are sharp differences of opinion about whom God will gather, as stated in this
verse. Pfeiffer considered it to be that: "God would gather the Israelites and send
them into exile."[18] Keil believed that the reference is to God's gathering the
nations together against Israel.[19] The reason for such differences of opinion is the
poor condition of the Masoretic text. The translators have been compelled to supply
many words, and in some instances, to rearrange clauses and phrases in an effort to
understand what the prophet wrote. Despite such difficulties, however, the broad
outlines of Hosea's message are impossible to misunderstand; and the uncertainties
that exist pertain only to very minor and inconsequential details.
The meaning is simply this: no matter what Israel may do in their seeking alliances
among their neighbors, God had already determined the issue of their destruction;
and Hosea in these verses thundered the full certainty of it.
The burden of the king of the princes ..." This does not appear to be the burden
imposed upon the people by the king and his company, but the burden which their
whole godless system was to God, a burden that God would not bear indefinitely,
but would remove utterly with the impending diminishing of the people.
ELLICOTT, "(10) There is much difference of opinion as to the interpretation of
this verse. Much depends on the reference of the word “them.” We prefer to regard

96. it as referring to Ephraim rather than to the nations (i.e., Assyria and Egypt).
Render, I will gather them (Israel) together, so that in a short time they may delay
(this translation approved by Ewald, Wünsche, and Simson) to render the tribute
burden due to the king of princes (i.e., the Assyrian monarch). “Gather them
together,” i.e., in restraint, so that they cannot roam so wildly, seeking help (Ewald).
This accords with Hosea 2:8-9; Hosea 3:4. Such non-payment of tribute actually
occurred a few years later (2 Kings 17:4). Others render it: I will gather these
nations (of the East) round about her to look scornfully on her ruin, and they shall
sorrow a little (used ironically) at the imposition of the king of the princes.
TRAPP, "Hosea 8:10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I
gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes.
Ver. 10. Yea, though they have hired among the nations] The uncircumcised;
strangers to the promises, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, that they
should so far distrust God and debase themselves as to seek help of such; this went
near to the heart of God, and was very grievous. They brought up an evil report
upon God’s housekeeping, charged him with unfaithfulness to his people, whom he
now seemed to leave in the lurch, to shift for themselves in their straits; and
hardened his enemies in their wicked but yet more prosperous condition. Felix
scelus virtus vocatur Pleasent wickedness is called virtue. (Cic. de Divin., lib. ii.).
How would these heathens hug themselves in the conceit that Israel should do thus,
who was God’s portion, Deuteronomy 32:9, the dearly beloved of his soul, Jeremiah
12:7, of whom it was anciently sung, and commonly said among the heathen, "The
Lord hath done great things for them," Psalms 126:2. "Happy art thou, O Israel;
who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help; and who is
the sword of thine excellence! and thine enemies shall he found liars unto thee, and
thou shalt tread upon their high places," Deuteronomy 33:29. Whosoever was free
of the city of Rome might not accept any freedom in another city; for they were
counted a dishonour to Rome. And will not God take it in ill part from his
covenanters, to seek or make after correspondence with his enemies, and safety by
them? The help of the wicked are at the best perfidious, and at length pernicious to
the Church: Ecclesiae sunt tandem perniciosa et semper perfidiosa.
ow will I gather them] This the Chaldee and the Vulgate make to he a promise of
bringing back their captivity; when indeed it is a commination of carrying them into
captivity.
I will gather them] That is, either the enemies against Israel or else Israel for the
enemies; ut eos acervatim perdam, that I may lay them heaps upon heaps, and
gather them, as dead corpses slain in battle are gathered together for burial. Or, I
will gather them, to the end that I may disperse them.
And they shall sorrow a little] And but a little now,

97. for the burden of the king of princes] For the taxes and tributes exacted from them
by the king of Assyria (whose nobles were princes, 2 Kings 18:24, Isaiah 10:5-7, 2
Kings 15:19; 2 Kings 15:29. But all this is but a little; it is but the beginning of
sorrows; it is but small drops forerunning the great storm; or as a crack
forerunning the fall of the house. They shall sorrow much more hereafter, when
carried captive, and made a scorn to the scum of the people: see Deuteronomy 32:42.
Some read the whole verse, "Yea, because they have hired among the nations, now
will I gather them together (for they have begun a little): because of the burden of
the king of princes." And they thus paraphrase it: Well may they bribe and hire,
but this will be the end: the Israelites themselves shall fall by heaps; the nations
whom they hire shall come so tumbling in upon them (as Isaiah told Ahaz, Isaiah
8:9). Do you not see it prettily well begun already? Look upon the late example that
is yet now fresh and bleeding before your eyes; so you will the better believe my
threatening in that which is to come; I mean, the sacking and carrying away of the
tribes beyond Jordan, by Pul and Tiglathpileser. If you ask me the reason why God
should be so angry with you? it is because you are so foolish, or so wicked rather, to
send presents and tributes to the king of Ashur (who in the pride and vanity of his
heart nameth himself the king of princes, the mighty and most potent king) with the
pilling, polling, and burdening of your subjects.
BE SO , "Hosea 8:10. Yea, though they have hired — amely, allies; among the
nations — And have been no way solicitous to gain my favour or help; now will I
gather them — I will now (though they make so little account of my power) bring
those very allies, namely, the Assyrians, against them. Here God tells them, that
whatever sums they might offer, or expense they might be at, in order to raise
armies of foreign auxiliaries, he would imbody those armies, he would press the
men, paid by their money, into his own service against them. And they shall sorrow
a little — Or, in a little time; for the burden of the king of princes — “They shall be
severely galled by the yoke of the Assyrian king, and of the princes set over his
several provinces.” — ewcome. Bishop Horsley, who thinks that the kings and
princes, or rulers, of Israel are here intended, renders this clause differently, thus:
And ere long they shall sorrow on account of the burden, the king and the rulers:
that is, “Ere long the king and the rulers will lament the impolitic expense incurred
in gifts and presents to their faithless allies, and the burden of taxes for that purpose
laid upon the people.” The reading of
‫,ושׂרים‬ and rulers, “is supported,” says he, “by such a weight of authority, that I
cannot but adopt it; and yet there is no difficulty in the construction of the common
text. For it might be thus rendered: And ere long the rulers shall sorrow for the
burden of the king, that is, for the burden imposed by the king [namely, the king of
Israel] in taxes.”
PETT, "Verse 10
‘Yes, because they hire among the nations,
ow will I gather them,

98. And they begin to be diminished,
By reason of the burden of the king of princes.’
YHWH therefore intends to ‘gather’ them for judgment and slowly squeeze them
dry by reason of the financial demands of the king of Assyria, ‘the king of princes’.
This began with Menahem’s payment of tribute, extracted from the rich in the land
(2 Kings 15:19-20), and continued through the years as greater and greater tribute
was demanded as a consequence of their continuing rebellions.
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin
offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.
BAR ES, "Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall
indeed be unto him to sin - that is, they shall be proved to him to be so, by the
punishment which they shall draw upon him. The prophet had first shown them their
folly in forsaking God for the help of man; now he shows them the folly of attempting to
“secure themselves by their great shew and pretences of religion and devotion in a false
way.” God had appointed “one” altar at Jerusalem. There He willed the sacrifices to be
offered, which He would accept. To multiply altars, much more to set up altars against
the one altar, was to multiply sin. Hosea charges Israel elsewhere with this multiplying
of altars, as a grievous sin. “According to the multitude of his fruit, he hath increased
altars. Their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field” Hos_10:1; Hos_12:11. They
pretended doubtless, that they did it for a religious end, that they might thereon offer
sacrifices for the expiation of their sins and appeasing of God. They endeavored to unite
their own selfwill and the outward service of God. Therein they might deceive
themselves; but they could not deceive God. He calls their act by its true name. To make
altars at their own pleasure and to offer sacrifices upon them, under any pretence
whatever, was to sin. So then, as many altars as they reared, so often did they repeat
their sin; and this sin should be their only fruit. They should be, but only for sin. So God
says of the two calves, “This thing became a sin” 1Ki_12:30, and of the indiscriminate
consecration of priests (not of the family of Aaron), “This thing became sin unto the
house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth” 1Ki_
13:33-34.

99. CLARKE, "Many altars to sin - Though it does not appear that the Jews in
Babylon were obliged to worship the idols of the country, except in the case mentioned
by Daniel, yet it was far otherwise with the Israelites in Assyria, and the other countries
of their dispersion. Because they had made many altars to sin while they were in their
own land, they were obliged to continue in the land of their captivity a similar system of
idolatry against their will. Thus they felt and saw the evil of their idolatry, without power
to help themselves.
GILL, "Because Ephraim hath, made many altars to sin,.... Not with an
intention to commit sin, but to offer sacrifice for sin, and make atonement for it, as they
thought; but these altars being erected for the sake of idols, and sacrifices offered on
them to them, they sinned in so doing, and were the cause of sin in others, who were
drawn into it by their example; as they were made to sin, or drawn into it, by Jeroboam
their king, These altars were those set up at Dan and Bethel, and in all high places, and
tops of mountains, where they sacrificed to idols; and which was contrary to the express
command of God, who required sacrifice only at one place, and on one altar, Deu_12:5;
typical of the one altar Christ, and his alone sacrifice, who is the only Mediator between
God and man; and they are guilty of the same crime as Ephraim here, who make use of
more, or neglect him;
altars shall be unto him for sin; either these same altars, and the sacrifices offered
on them, shall be reckoned and imputed to him as sins, trod shall be the cause of his
condemnation and punishment: or, "let the altars be unto him for sin", so some (n);
since he will have them, let him have them, and go on in sinning, till he has filled up the
measure of his sins, and brought on him just condemnation; or else other altars are
meant, even in the land of Assyria, where, since they were so fond of multiplying altars,
they should have altars enough to sin at, whereby their sins would be increased, and
their punishment for them aggravated. The Targum is,
"seeing the house of Ephraim hath multiplied altars to sin, the altars of their idols shall
he to them for a stumbling block,''
or ruin; so sin is taken in a different sense, both for guilt, and the punishment of it.
HE RY, " How they kept up the form of godliness notwithstanding, and to what
little purpose they did so.
(1.) They multiplied their altars (Hos_8:11): Ephraim made many altars to sin. God
appointed that there should be but one altar for sacrifice (Deu_12:3, Deu_12:5); but the
ten tribes, having forsaken that, would still be thought very devout, and zealous for the
honour of God, and, as if they would make amends for the affront they put on God's
altar, they made many altars, dedicated to the God of Israel, whom hereby they
intended, or at least pretended, to give glory to; but that would not justify their violation
of God's express command, nor would the example of the patriarchs, who before the law
of Moses had many altars. No, they made many altars to sin (that is, they did that which
turned into sin to them), and therefore these altars shall be unto them to sin, that is,
God will charge it upon them as a heinous sin, and put that upon the score of their
crimes which they designed to be for the expiation of their crimes. Or they shall be to
them an occasion of further sin. Their multiplying of altars dedicated to the God of Israel

100. would introduce altars dedicated to other gods. Note, It is a great sin to corrupt the
worship of God, and it will be charged as sin upon those that do it, how plausible soever
their pretensions may be. And the way of this, as other sins, is down-hill; those that once
deviate from the fixed rule of God's commands will wander endlessly.
JAMISO , "God in righteous retribution gives them up to their own way; the sin
becomes its own punishment (Pro_1:31).
many altars — in opposition to God’s law (Deu_12:5, Deu_12:6, Deu_12:13, Deu_
12:14).
to sin ... to sin — Their altars which were “sin” (whatever religious intentions they
might plead) should be treated as such, and be the source of their punishment (1Ki_
12:30; 1Ki_13:34).
K&D 11-12, "This threat is accounted for in Hos_8:11., by an allusion to the sins of
Israel. Hos_8:11. “For Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, the altars have become
to him for sinning. Hos_8:12. I wrote to him the fulnesses of my law; they were counted
as a strange thing.” Israel was to have only one altar, and that in the place where the
Lord would reveal His name (Deu_12:5.). But instead of that, Ephraim had built a
number of altars in different places, to multiply the sin of idolatry, and thereby heap
more and more guilt upon itself. ‫ּא‬‫ט‬ ֲ‫ח‬ ַ‫ל‬ is used, in the first clause, for the act of sin; and in
the second, for the consequences of that act. And this was not done from ignorance of
the divine will, but from neglect of the divine commandments. ‫ּוב‬ ְ‫כ‬ ֶ‫א‬ is a historical
present, indicating that what had occurred was continuing still. These words refer
unquestionably to the great number of the laws written in the Mosaic thorah. ‫,רבו‬
according to the chethib ‫ּו‬ ִ‫,ר‬ with ‫ת‬ dropped, equivalent to ‫ה‬ ָ‫ב‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְ‫,ר‬ as in 1Ch_29:7, ten
thousand, myriads. The Masoretes, who supposed the number to be used in an
arithmetical sense, altered it, as conjecturally unsuitable, into ‫י‬ ֵ ֻ‫,ר‬ multitudes, although
‫ּב‬‫ר‬ does not occur anywhere else in the plural. The expression “the myriads of my law” is
hyperbolical, to indicate the almost innumerable multitude of the different
commandments contained in the law. It was also in a misapprehension of the nature of
the hyperbole that the supposition originated, that ‫ּוב‬ ְ‫כ‬ ֶ‫א‬ was a hypothetical future
(Jerome). ‫ר‬ָ‫ז‬ ‫ּו‬‫מ‬ ְⅴ, like something foreign, which does not concern them at all.
BI, "Ephraim hath made many altars to sin.
Perversion of worship
Israel was to have only one altar. Ephraim had built a number of altars in different
places. Men have perverted worship, not only by making false gods, but by making false
altars for the true God.
I. False worship is a great sin.
1. It is a very propagative sin. Once admit a wrong thing in worship, and that one
thing will multiply itself; superstition will give it fertility.
2. It is a self-punishing sin. This is the heavy judgment of God, to give men their

101. heart’s desire in what is evil.
II. It is a sin against great light. Israel could not say it sinned in ignorance.
1. God has given us laws concerning worship.
2. These laws are oft repeated.
3. These oft-repeated laws leave false worshippers Without excuse. (Homilist.)
CALVI , "Verse 11
The Prophet here again inveighs against the idolatry of the people, which was,
however, counted then the best religion; for the Israelites, as it has been said were
become hardened in their superstitions, and had long before fallen away from the
pure and lawful worship of God. And we know, that where error has once
prevailed, it attains firmness by length of time: hence the Israelites had become
hardened in their perverted and fictitious worship. They thought that they did the
most meritorious deed whenever they sacrificed, while at the same time, they
provoked in this way the wrath of God more and more against themselves. And as
they had become thus hardened, the Prophet says, that they multiplied for
themselves altars for the purpose of sinning, and that there would be altars for them
to sin It was (as I have already said) most difficult to persuade theme that their
altars were for the purpose of sinnings and that the more attentive they were in
worshipping God, the more grievously they sinned.
We see how Papists of this day glory in their abominations. It is certain that they do
nothing but what is accursed before God; for there reigns among them every kind of
filthiness, and there is no purity whatever: they therefore continue to offend God as
it were designedly. Put at the same time it is their highest holiness to multiply altars:
the same also was the prevailing error in the Prophet’s time. This was the reason
why he said, that altars were multiplied in order to sin Who at this day can
persuade the Papists, that many chapels as they build, are so many sins by which
they provoke the wrath of God? But the faithful ought to be content, not with one
altar, (for there is now no need of an altar,) but they ought to be content with a
common table. The Papists, on the contrary, build altars to themselves without end,
where they sacrifice; and they think that God is thus bound to them as by so many
chains: as many chapels as are under the papacy are, they think, so many holds for
God, (dei carceres ,) and that God is there held inclosed. But if any one should say,
that so many fiends (Diabolos ) dwell in such places, we know how furiously angry
they would be.
It is then no superfluous repetition, when the Prophet says, that altars were
multiplied in order to sin; and then, that altars would be for sin: for in the second
clause, he speaks of the punishment which God would inflict on superstitious men.
In the first clause, he shows that their good intentions were frivolous, and that they
were greatly deceived, when at their pleasure they devised for themselves various
forms of worship. This is one thing. Then it follows, There shall then be to them
altars to sin; as they would not willingly repent, nor embrace salutary admonitions,

102. God would at last really show how much he valued what they called their good
intentions; for now a dreadful vengeance was at hand, which would prove to them,
that in increasing altars, they did nothing else but increase sins. It then follows —
COFFMA , "Verse 11
"Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been unto him for
sinning."
The importance of this statement lies in the testimony which it furnishes to the
existence of laws, or a code of laws, in Hosea's time.[20]
Of course, that code of laws was none other than the one given by the Lord himself
in the Pentateuch. Hindley pointed out that:
At any one time, only one altar was to be set up for the nation in the place which
God would choose (Deuteronomy 12:26f; 14:24; 27:4-8; 2 Kings 21:4,5). o special
stress on write in the following verse suggests that Hosea was already familiar with
a written law.[21]
"Altars have been unto him for sinning ..." The purpose of an altar was that of
procurement of the forgiveness of sins; but in the case of Ephraim, his altars were
only occasions for committing more sins. This derived not merely from the fact of
their multiplicity, which in itself was sinful, but also from the fact of the vulgar and
licentious "worship" associated with the altars of the fertility cult all over Israel.
Sacred prostitution was their dominant feature. Having multiplied altars and
having degraded them with the evil rites of paganism, the very purpose of the altars,
in any holy sense, was lost to the nation of northern Israel.
ELLICOTT, "(11) Many altars.—Multiplication of altars was condemned in the law
(Deuteronomy 12:5 seq.). The narrative in Joshua 22 shows that unity of altar and
sanctuary was essential to the unity of the nation. The last clause should be
rendered, he had altars for sinning. The worship of God was degraded into the
sensuous approaching Baal-worship. In the first clause sin equals transgression, in
the last transgression plus guilt and peril.
TRAPP, "Hosea 8:11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be
unto him to sin.
Ver. 11. Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin] Because he hath multiplied
altars against God’s express command, Leviticus 17:3-9, Deuteronomy 12:5-7,
Joshua 22:22-23, Jeremiah 11:13; and that, to sin; as if it were on purpose to cross
and provoke the Lord to anger by their superstitions and will worship, and to
despite him with seeming honours (for displeasing service is double dishonour),
therefore he shall have enough of it ere I have done with it. He shall be given up to a
reprobate sense; that going on from one sin to another, he may fill up his measure,
till wrath come upon him to the utmost.

103. “ Per quod quis peccat, per idem punitur et ipse. ”
Idolatry is sin with an accent, wickedness with a witness, 1 Kings 15:30; 1 Kings
15:34; 1 Kings 16:2; 1 Kings 12:30; 1 Kings 13:34, and shall be punished
accordingly; for so the Chaldee paraphraseth here; Because they have multiplied
their altars for sin, the altars of their idols shall be their ruin. There is one Hebrew
word for sin and punishment: sin hails hell at the very heels of it, as one saith
wittily. Polanus upon this text hath these three profitable observations. First, that as
in the Old Testament one only altar was set up by God’s command in the tabernacle
and temple, so also in the ew Testament we have no other altar but Christ,
Hebrews 13:10. (Iren. lib. 4, contra Haeres, cap. 34.) Secondly, as the Israelites
sinned in multiplying altars, so do the Papists most grievously, in that, not content
with Christ and his satisfactory sacrifice alone, they set up other altars, and bring in
other expiatory sacrifices. Thirdly, as the Israelites made many altars to sin, though
they pretended good intention and devotion, so the Papists at this day multiply
altars (even hundreds in some one church in Rome). to sin, though they falsely
pretend their good retention therein, and the preservation and augmentation of
God’s service.
BE SO , "Hosea 8:11-12. Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin —
“Since the Israelites, forsaking that one altar at which alone God required them to
serve him, idolatrously multiplied altars to themselves, — altars against God’s
command; (to do which was manifestly a sin in them;) therefore shall those, their
beloved altars, be accordingly occasions of great sin, and as such imputed to them to
their condemnation.” The meaning is, that
“God would give them up, to run on in their evil courses, till their iniquity was full,
and they were ripe for destruction; and then that God would deliver them into the
hands of their enemies, who should compel them to do that service at, and to, their
idolatrous altars, which should appear a manifest punishment to them for those of
their own. So should they be punished by that wherein they had offended.” —
Pocock. I have written to him the great things of my law — Or, many things, as ‫רבי‬
may be translated. The Vulgate renders it, multiplices leges meas, my manifold laws.
That law which I gave them by Moses, containing rules excellent in themselves, and
such as would have made them great in the eyes of their neighbours, they have
disregarded, as if it had neither reason nor authority, and did not concern them: see
Deuteronomy 4:6; Deuteronomy 4:8.
COKE, "Hosea 8:11. Because Ephraim hath made, &c.— This verse may be thus
paraphrased: "Since Ephraim, forsaking God, and that one altar, at which alone he
required them to serve him, idolatrously multiplied altars to themselves,—altars
against his command; (to do which was manifestly a sin in them;) therefore should
those their beloved altars be accordingly occasions of great sin; and as such imputed
to them to their condemnation. God would give them up to run on in their evil
courses, till their iniquity was full, and they ripe for destruction; and then deliver
them into the hands of their enemies, who should compel them to do that service at
and to their idolatrous altars, which should appear a manifest punishment so them

104. for those of their own. So should they be punished by that wherein they had
offended." See Pococke.
PETT, "Verse 11
Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
Altars have been to him for sinning.’
Meanwhile they have also continued to multiply altars at which they could sin (or
‘offer a sin offering’), establishing their altars ‘on every high hill and under every
green tree’. Indeed all that their altars had done for them was to make them sin
even more deeply. And this was true whether they were syncretistic altars at which
both YHWH and Baal were worshipped, or altars merely for the Baalim.
We should not overlook the fact that according to Elijah there were a number of
legitimate ‘altars of YHWH’ in Israel which had been torn down because of the new
Baal cult (1 Kings 18:30; 1 Kings 19:10), which may subsequently have been
restored (without them there could have been no legitimate worship in Israel), but
those are not in mind here.
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.
BAR ES, "I have written to him the great things of My law - Literally, “I write.”
Their sin then had no excuse of ignorance. God had written their duties for them in the
ten commandments with His own hand; He had written them of old and “manifoldly” ,
often repeated and in divers manners. He wrote those manifold things “to them” (or “for
them”) by Moses, not for that time only, but that they might be continually before their
eyes, as if He were still writing. He had written to them since, in their histories, in the
Psalms. His words were still sounding in their ears through the teaching of the prophets.
God did not only give His law or revelation once for all, and so leave it. By His
providence and by His ministers He continually renewed the knowledge of it, so that
those who ignored it, should have no excuse. This ever-renewed agency of God He
expresses by the word, “I write,” what in substance was long ago written. What God then
wrote, were “the great things of His law” (as the converted Jews, on the day of Pentecost
speak of “the great” or “wonderful things of God” ) or “the manifold things of His law,”
as the Apostle speaks of “the manifold wisdom of God” Eph_3:10, and says, that “God at

105. sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets”
Heb_1:1.
They were counted as a strange thing by them - These “great,” or “manifold
things of God’s law,” which ought to have been continually before their eyes, in their
mind and in their mouth Deu_6:7-9, they, although God had written them for them,
“counted as a strange thing,” a thing quite foreign and alien to them, with which they
had no concern. Perhaps this was their excuse to themselves, that it Was “foreign” to
“them.” As Christians say now, that one is not to take God’s law so precisely; that the
Gospel is not so strict as the law; that people, before the grace of the Gospel, had to be
stricter than with it; that “the liberty of the Gospel” is freedom, not from sin, but from
duty; that such and such things belonged to the early Christians, while they were
surrounded by pagan, or to the first times of the Gospel, or to the days when it was
persecuted; that riches were dangerous, when people could scarcely have them, not now,
when every one has them; that “vice lost half its evil, by losing all its grossness” ; that the
world was perilous, when it was the Christian’s open foe, not now, when it would be
friends with us, and have us friends with it; that, “love not the world” was a precept for
times when the world hated us, not now, when it is all around us, and steals our hearts,
So Jeroboam and Israel too doubtless said, that those prohibitions of idolatry were
necessary, when the pagan were still in the land, or while their forefathers were just
fresh out of Egypt; that it was, after all, God, who, was worshiped under the calves; that
state-policy required it; that Jeroboam was appointed by God, and must needs carry out
that appointment, as he best could. With these or the like excuses, he must doubtless
have excused himself, as though God’s law were good, but “foreign” to “them.” God
counts such excuses, not as a plea, but as a sin.
CLARKE, "I have written to him the great things of my law - I have as it were
inscribed my laws to them, and they have treated them as matters in which they had no
interest.
GILL, "I have written to him the great things of my law,.... Which was given by
Moses to Israel at the appointment of God, in which were many commands, holy, just,
and true; a multiplicity of them, as the Targum, relating to the honour of God, and the
good of men; many excellent and useful ones of a moral nature, and others of a
ceremonial kind; and particularly concerning sacrifices, showing what they should be,
the nature and use of them, and where and on what altar they should be offered; and
which pointed at the great sacrifice of the Messiah, who is both altar, sacrifice, and
priest: and these things were frequently inculcated by the prophets, who from time to
time were sent unto them; so that the Lord was continually writing these things to them
by them, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech interpret it; hence they could not plead
ignorance, and excuse themselves on that account. The law sometimes not only designs
the law of the decalogue, and the ceremonial law, respecting sacrifices, &c. but all the
books of Moses, in which are written many great and excellent things concerning Christ,
his person, offices, and grace; yea, all the books of the prophets, the whole of Scripture,
which is by inspiration of God, and is the writing and word of God, and not men; and of
which holy men of God were the "amanuenses"; and in which many valuable and
precious things are recorded, even all the works of God, of creation, providence, and
grace; yea, the various thoughts, counsels, and purposes of his heart, relating to the
salvation of men, are transcribed here; and the manifold grace of God, or each of the

106. doctrines of grace, are contained herein, especially in the doctrinal and evangelical part
of it, which is sometimes called the law of the Lord, even of Christ; and the law or
doctrine of faith; see Psa_119:18; here are delivered and held forth the great doctrines of
a trinity of Persons in the Godhead; of the everlasting love of God to his people, and of
their choice in Christ before the world began; of the covenant of grace; of the incarnation
of Christ; of redemption by him; of peace, pardon, righteousness, and atonement,
through him; of eternal salvation by him; these things are written, and to be read and
referred unto, and observed as the rule of faith and practice, and not unwritten
traditions, pretended revelations, reveries, and dreams of men; and written they were,
not for the use of the Israelites only under the former dispensation, but for the learning
and instruction of us Gentiles also, Rom_3:2;
but they were counted as a strange thing; the laws respecting sacrifices more
especially, and the place where they were to be offered, which are the things mentioned
in the context, had been so long disregarded and disused by Ephraim or the ten tribes,
that when they were put in mind of them by the prophets, they looked upon them as
things they had no concern with; as laws that belonged to another people, and not to
them: and so the great things of divine revelation, the great doctrines of the Gospel, are
treated by many as things they have nothing to do with, not at all interesting to them;
yea, as nauseous and despicable things, deserving their scorn and contempt, very
ungrateful and disagreeable, and in this sense strange, as Job's breath was to his wife
Job_19:17; and also as foreign to reason and good sense, and what cannot be reconciled
thereunto: so the Athenians charged the doctrines of the Apostle Paul as strange,
irrational, and unaccountable, Act_17:20.
HE RY, "They multiplied their altars and temples. Observe,
1. How they denied the power of godliness, and wholly cast that off (Hos_8:12): I have
written to him the great things of my law; this intimates the privilege they enjoyed, as
having God's statutes and judgments made known to them, and being entrusted with the
lively oracles. Note, (1.) The things of God's law are magnalia Dei - the great things of
God. They are things that proclaim the greatness of the Law-maker, and things of great
use and great importance to us; they are our life, and our eternal welfare depends upon
our observance of them and obedience to them; they will make us great if we make a
right use of them; and they are things which God will magnify and make honourable. (2.)
It is a great privilege to have the things of God's law written; thus they are reduced to a
greater certainty, spread the further, and last the longer, with much less danger of being
embezzled and corrupted than if they were transmitted by word of mouth only. (3.) The
things of God's law are of his own writing; for Moses and the prophets were his
amanuenses, and holy men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (4.) It is the
advantage of those that are members of the visible church that these great things are
written to them, are intended for their direction, and so they must receive them; what
things were written in former ages were written for our learning, and are profitable for
us. And, if those were happy who had the great things of God's law written to them, how
much happier are we who have the gospel written to us! But see how this privilege was
slighted; these great things of the law were counted as a strange thing, as unintelligible
and unreasonable (which might therefore be slighted, because not to be fathomed, not to
be accounted for), or as foreign, and things of no concernment to them, things that they
had nothing to do with nor were to be governed by; they used those things as strangers,
which they were shy of, and knew not how to bid welcome. We desire not the knowledge
of thy ways. Note, [1.] God having written to us the great things of his law, we ought to
make them familiar to us, as our nearest relations (Pro_7:3, Pro_7:4); for therefore we

107. have them written, that they may talk with us, Pro_6:22. [2.] We make nothing of the
things of God's law if we make strange of them, as if they did not affect us and therefore
we need not be affected with them.
JAMISO , "great things of ... law — (Deu_4:6, Deu_4:8; Psa_19:8; Psa_119:18,
Psa_119:72; Psa_147:19, Psa_147:20). Maurer not so well translates, “the many things
of My law.”
my law — as opposed to their inventions. This reference of Hosea to the Pentateuch
alone is against the theory that some earlier written prophecies have not come down to
us.
strange thing — as if a thing with which they had nothing to do.
CALVI , "Verse 12
The Prophet shows here briefly, how we ought to judge of divine worship, and thus
intends to cut off the handle from all devices, by which men usually deceive
themselves, and form disguises, when at any time they are reproved. For he sets the
law of God, and the rule it prescribes, in opposition to all the inventions of men.
Men think God unjust, except he receives as good and legitimate whatever they
imagine to be so; but God, as it is said in another place, prefers obedience to all
sacrifices. Hence the Prophet now declares, that all the superstitions, which then
prevailed among the people of Israel, were condemned before God; for they obeyed
not the law, but had spurious and perverted modes of worship, which they had
invented for themselves. We then see the connection of what the Prophet says: he
had said in the last verse, that they had multiplied altars for the purpose of sinning;
but so great, as I have said, was the obstinacy of the people, that they would by no
means bear this to be told to them; he then adds in the person of God, that his law
had been given them, and that they had departed from it.
We hence see, that there is no need of using many words in contending with the
superstitious, who daringly devise various kinds of worship, and wholly different
from what God commands; for they are to be distinctly pressed with this one thing,
that obedience is of more account with God than sacrifices, and further, that there is
a certain rule contained in the law, and that God not only bids us to worship him,
but also teaches us the way, from which it is not lawful to depart. Since, then, the
will of God is known and made plain, why should we now dispute with men, who
close their eyes and wilfully turn aside, and deign not to pay any regard to God? I
have written then, the Lord says: and to give this truth more weight, he introduces
God as the speaker. It would have indeed been enough to say, “God has delivered to
you his law, why should you not seek knowledge from this law, rather than from
your own carnal judgment? Why do you wish thus licentiously to wander, as if no
restraint has been put upon you?” But it is a more emphatical way of speaking,
when God himself says, I have written my law, but they have counted it as
something foreign; that is, as if it did not belong to them.
But he says, that he had written to Israel. He does not simply mention writing, but
says, that the treasure had been deposited among the people of Israel; and the worse

108. the people were, because they acknowledged not that so great an honor had been
conferred on them, for this was their peculiar inheritance. I have written thenmy
law, “and I have not written it indiscriminately for all, but have written it for my
elect people; but they have counted it as something extraneous.” For the word may
be rendered in either way.
He adds, The great things, or, the precious, or, the honorable things of my law. Had
he said, “I have written to you my law,” the legislator himself was doubtless worthy,
to whom all ought to submit with the greatest reverence, and to form their whole life
according to his will; but the Lord here extols his own law by a splendid eulogy, and
this he does to repress the wickedness of men, who obscure its dignity and
excellency: I have written, he says, the great things of my law “How much soever
they may despise my law, I have yet set forth in it a wisdom which ought to be
admired by the whole world; I have in it brought to light the secrets of heavenly
wisdom. Since then it is so, what excuse can there be for the Israelites for despising
my law?” He says, that they counted it as something foreign, when yet they had been
brought up under its teaching, and the Lord had called them to himself from their
very infancy. Since then they ought to have acknowledged the law of God as a
banner, under which the Lord preserved them, he here reproaches them for having
counted it as something extraneous. It then follows —
COFFMA , "Verse 12
"I wrote for him the ten thousand things of my law; but they are counted as a
strange thing."
This statement clearly assumes that Hosea knew a written form of Torah. Its precise
content can only be guessed from clues like Hosea 4:2 with its reflection of the
Decalogue.[22]
Of course, there is another way to K OW exactly what was in that TORAH, and
that is by reading the Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament. Only that source will
answer to "the ten thousand things" mentioned here. The so-called scholarship
which seeks to destroy the integrity of the Pentateuch has failed; and scholars
should not long be burdened by their pedantic fulminations against it.
"Ten thousand things of my law ..." As Hailey said, "This indicates the complete
fullness of God's law in the covenant he had made with the nation."[23] It would
have been impossible to choose an expression which any more eloquently teaches
this. The covenant was a specific and detailed thing, having been written in its
entirety by God Himself; it concerned practically every aspect of the life of the
people; and it is impossible to construe a passage like this as being some kind of an
extravagant reference to merely a few maxims which had been handed down among
the people. O! It is the Decalogue and the whole prior portion of the Old
Testament that dramatically surfaces in such a word as this. "This law was
extensive enough to cover every behavior of life, every thought, deed, and
motive."[24] In the whole history of the world, there has never been anything else

109. except the Law of Moses that undertook to do such a thing as this.
TRAPP, "Hosea 8:12 I have written to him the great things of my law, [but] they
were counted as a strange thing.
Ver. 12. I have written to him the great things of my law] magnalia legis; great
things of the law, there are also minutula legis, small things of the law, Matthew
5:22; both must be looked to: for though the civilian say of his law, De minutis non
curat lex, The law takes no notice of small faults; yet it holds not true of the law of
God, which is spiritual, and must be kept as the apple of the eye, Proverbs 7:2, and
observed in every point and part, nay, in every punctilio and particle thereof. But to
come to the words; Ephraim could not plead ignorance of God’s mind, for their
many altars and superstitions, Deus enim iure quaerat et queratur, for God might
very well say and complain, as Proverbs 22:20, "Have not I written for thee
excellent things in counsels and knowledge?" and in the verse next before, "I have
made known (my mind) this day to thee, even to thee." So here, "I have written," sc.
by my penmen and secretaries, "to him" chiefly, and for his better direction in my
service, that he might walk therein by rule, and not at random, {see Deuteronomy
4:8 Psalms 147:19} "the great things," or excellent documents (the multiplicity or
multiformity, saith the Chaldee) "of my law," or of my wise doctrine; Proverbs
13:14, which taketh in the gospel too, that law of Christ, Galatians 6:2.
But they were counted as a strange thing] As not pertaining to them, as that wherein
they were little or nothing concerned, as the narration of foreign affairs. Whereas
men should read and regard the Holy Scriptures as they do the statutes of the land;
holding themselves as much concerned and intended as any other; threatening
themselves in every threat, binding themselves in every precept, blessing themselves
in every promise, mingling the whole word with faith in their hearts, and resolving
upon the obedience of faith; as knowing that these are verba vivenda non legenda,
words to be lived, not read only; and that they should indwell in us familiarly, and
yet richly, Colossians 3:16, and we should be as inwardly acquainted with them as
any man is with his sister, or nearest allies, Proverbs 7:4. All this the rather; First,
because God is the author of the Holy Scriptures, both matter and words are his, 2
Peter 1:21; "he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the
world began," Luke 1:70; and he guided their hands in writing the Bible. How dare
Papists then say that they wrote it iniussi without command from God. Secondly,
because God hath written his law for us, for our behoof and benefit, Romans 4:23;
Romans 15:4. The Scripture is God’s Epistle to us, saith Gregory. It "is a lamp to
my feet, and a light to my paths," saith David, Psalms 119:105. ot a light that I see
at a distance, a great way off; but a light held to my feet, that I may see my way in
this land of Chabul, this dirty and dark world; and not lift up one foot, till I
discover and find sure footing for another, as those, Psalms 34:6. Thirdly, because
he hath written for us the honorabilia legis, honourable and precious things, such as
a man would fetch from China or the uttermost part of the habitable world upon his
bare feet, rather than be without. David prefers it before gold and silver, Psalms
19:11; Solomon, before pearls and rubies, Proverbs 3:15; Moses, before all the

110. learning of other nations, Deuteronomy 4:6. The Scripture is the soul’s food, saith
Athanasius; the soul’s medicine, saith Chrysostom; the invariable rule of truth,
saith Irenaeus. It is, saith another, the aphorisms {short pity statements or maxims}
of Christ, the library of the Holy Ghost, the divine pandects, {compendium in fifty
books of Roman civil law made by the order of Justinian in the 6th century,
complete body of laws} the wisdom of the cross, the cubit of the sanctuary, the
firmament of faith, the touchstone of error, &c. What reason then had Darbishire
(Bishop Bonner’s kinsman and chaplain) to say to Mr Hawkes the martyr, that he
was too curious; for he would have nothing but his little pretty God’s book? And is
it not sufficient for my salvation? said Hawkes. Yes, said he, but not for your
instruction. God send me the salvation (said Hawkes) and you the instruction. That
the Scripture is full and sufficient for both instruction and salvation, see 2 Timothy
3:16-17, and my treatise called the True Treasure. Has igitur nocturna versato
manu, versate diurna, Psalms 1:2. Let there not, by infrequence or disuse, grow an
alienation or strangeness between us and the Holy Scriptures; but be ready in them,
and have them, as Saul had his pitcher and spear at his bolster; as David had his
chosen stones at hand in his scrip. Luther wishes all his own books burnt; because I
fear, saith he, they hinder men from reading the Bible, that book of books; in
comparison whereof all the books in the world are but waste paper. After which, I
tremble, saith he, to think of the former age, wherein many divines spent so much
time in reading Aristotle and Averroes, and so little in reading the Book of God.
Melancthon saith that he heard some preach upon texts taken out of Aristotle’s
Ethics. Carolostadius was eight years doctor when he began to read the Scriptures;
and yet at the taking of his degree had been pronounced sufficientissimus most
adequate (Joh. Manlius). Another doctor of divinity, being asked whether he had
read the decalogue, negitabat se huiusmodi librum in Bibliotheca sua habuisse
unquam; he denied that he had ever had, or heard of any book so called (Amama in
Antibar. praef.); such a perfect stranger was he to the great things of God’s law.
And if the learned doctors be thus bare and ignorant, what may we think of the
poor misled and muzzled multitude, that lie fast locked up in the pope’s dark
dungeon, and are flatly forbidden to meddle with the Scriptures, lest they should be
infected with heresy, or possessed with a devil, as some (say they) have been by that
means?
COKE, "Verse 12
Hosea 8:12. I have written, &c.— And thus will I inscribe him [Ephraim]; they who
were the masters [or teachers] of my law, are esteemed as strangers; "are become
utterly useless;" Hosea 8:8. God supported the Jews, that they might support the
true religion; which as they had now neglected to do, there was no reason why God
should support and defend them against the neighbouring kings. See Houbigant.
REFLECTIO S.—1st, The prophet is here commanded to spread the alarm, Set the
trumpet to thy mouth, and deliver at least his own soul, if he cannot save theirs.
1. He charges them in general as rebels and traitors against the Lord their king;
they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law, by a variety of
crimes, in direct violation of it, and by a general apostacy of heart from God, and

111. disregard of his worship and service. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good, or,
him that is good, even God; justly therefore are they rejected by him.
2. Because of this, the enemy shall pursue him: Salmaneser, the Assyrian king; he
shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, so they called themselves, and
thought their relation to him as his family would be their protection; but when they
had turned out such undutiful and rebellious children, God gave them into the
enemy's hand; and, swift as an eagle hasteth to her prey, should he seize their
country, and spread desolation on every side. ote; o external relation to God can
profit us, if our hearts are alienated from him.
3. In their distress they will plead for help, as God's people. Israel shall cry unto me,
but in vain, My God, we know thee, claiming an interest in him, and professing to
know him as the true God; but their professions are hypocritical, and therefore
their prayers are rejected.
4. Several particular crimes are charged upon them. [1.] They have set up kings, but
not by me; they took the government at first out of his hands, when he was their
king; revolted from the house of David, and set up Jeroboam; and about this time
several had mounted the throne successively on the murder of their predecessors, 2
Kings 15:8 and herein the people had not consulted God at all, but followed their
own humour, and gratified their own passions; they have made princes, and I knew
it not, without his approbation or consent, affecting independence, and shewing an
utter disregard to God's honour and pleasure: and they may not hope to prosper
who thus take their affairs into their own hands, and leave God far above out of
their sight. [2.] They not only made themselves kings, but gods also; of their silver
and their gold have they made them idols; and to this day the covetous do the same;
that they may be cut off by their enemies, the Assyrians, when their gods of gold
could yield them no assistance. Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off, was the
cause of their being rejected of God, and given to the sword and to captivity; or hath
deserted thee, failed their hopes in the day of trouble, and was seized among other
spoils, and carried away by the king of Assyria. Probably, when Samaria became
the capital, another calf might be erected there, or one of those from Dan or Beth-el
was removed. thither: mine anger is kindled against them, the idolaters, who
worshipped the work of their own hands. From Israel was it also, erected with the
approbation of the people, and molten out of their treasures; the workman made it,
therefore it is not God, a most conclusive and irrefragable argument; but the calf, or
for the calf, of Samaria shall be broken in pieces, a sure proof of its vanity; so far
from helping them, it could not rescue itself from the hands of the enemy.
5. The prophet expostulates with them on their folly and obstinacy. How long will it
be ere they attain to innocency? leaving these wretched dependencies, and returning
to the pure worship of God; nor any longer provoke the fierce anger of the Lord.
ote; It is the grief of ministers to behold the perverseness of sinners, and they
cannot but warmly remonstrate against their provocations.
6. He warns them of the fatal issue of their ways. For they have sown the wind, in

112. the fruitless labours of their idolatrous worship, and their expectation of help from
these vanities, and they shall reap the whirlwind; they shall not merely be
disappointed of their harvest, but reap their own destruction, swept away by the
Assyrian army, as by a resistless whirlwind; it hath no stalk, their seed produces
nothing; the bud shall yield no meal, withered with blasting and mildew; and if so
be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up; so far would it be from a blessing to
them, that when they prospered and grew wealthy in their sinful and idolatrous
courses, their riches would be a temptation to their enemies to come and plunder
them. And thus will every sinner and hypocrite's hope perish; they will reap as they
sow, and find by dire experience that the wages of sin is death.
2nd, They who forsake God, forsake their own mercies.
1. Israel's ruin is foretold. Israel is swallowed up, their whole country shall be
devoured, and themselves led captive by the Assyrians: now shall they be among the
Gentiles, as a vessel wherein is no pleasure, dispersed, contemptible, and mean.
They had profaned the crown of their glory, and therefore justly were trodden
under foot. ote; They who dishonour their holy profession, deserve to be made
despicable.
2. The cause of their desolations is, their departure from God. For they are gone up
to Assyria, to engage their assistance, 2 Kings 15:19 a wild ass alone by himself, so
obstinate, unruly, and headstrong were they in their ways; or such they should
become when carried captive, they should experience every hardship in a strange
land. Ephraim hath hired lovers, by expensive presents endeavouring to purchase
the friendship of the neighbouring nations; thus deserting God, and changing a rock
for a reed. ote; The sinner is as foolish as he is wicked; and instead of the
happiness that he expects, really courts his own ruin.
3. Their lovers whom they courted will prove their destroyers. Though they have
hired among the nations, now will I gather them, either their enemies against them,
or themselves into the midst of their besieged cities, as sheaves on the floor; and they
shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes; the tribute imposed upon
them by the king of Assyria, which is the prelude to greater evils approaching, and
which should bring more bitter sorrows along with them. God thus gives warning
before he strikes, and brings sinners first into lesser troubles, to see if that will lead
them to repentance, before he pours out the vials of his wrath.
4. Their multiplied temples, altars, and sacrifices, shall stand them in no stead.
Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, to offer sin-offerings upon them
with great shew of devotion, altars shall be unto him to sin; so far from expiating his
crimes, the very altars would aggravate them, as being reared contrary to the divine
prescription, Deuteronomy 12:3-5 and dedicated to the honour of the calves, and
other idols. I have written to him the great things of my law, wherein all the great
things which pertain unto life and godliness were clearly set forth; what God
required of them, in what manner he would be worshipped and served, what
sacrifices should be offered, and where; and what was the great end of the sacrifices,

113. even to lead them to that atoning Blood that should be shed in the fulness of time;
but they were counted as a strange thing, they paid no regard to the institutions of
God; and, after long disuse, counted the prophets who would bring them back to the
true worship and service of God, as setters forth of strange doctrines. They sacrifice
flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; instead of offering it to God,
they feasted upon it themselves, and made their devotions minister to their luxury;
no wonder, therefore, that the Lord accepteth them not, neither them nor their
offerings; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins, so far from
pardoning them, that the very sacrifices of atonement which they offered should
only add to their iniquities: they shall return to Egypt, Whither many fled on the
Assyrian invasion, and miserably perished, chap. Hosea 9:3; Hosea 9:6 or their
captivity in Babylon should be as another Egyptian bondage. For Israel hath
forgotten his Maker, his worship and ways, and buildeth temples to idols; and
Judeah hath multiplied fenced cities, placing their confidence on these feeble
bulwarks, instead of the arm of Omnipotence; but I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour the palaces thereof, which we see fearfully accomplished,
Jeremiah 52. ote. (1.) God's own word, not our fancies, must be the directory of
our worship. (2.) The law of God contains great things to the enlightened mind, even
the way to pardon, peace, life, and glory everlasting. If the things contained therein,
to any appear strange and unaccountable, it is owing to the corruption, blindness,
and ignorance of their fallen minds. (3.) Let not that which God hath written for our
learning, be suffered to become strange through our neglect. (4.) Sacrifices for sin,
while the love of it is unmortified, are abominable; they who think by their duties
thus to commute for their iniquities, will find the works in which they chiefly
trusted, turned into sin. (5.) They who think to fence against God's judgments, only
build Babel walls.
SIMEO , "ME ’S DISREGARD OF THE GOSPEL
Hosea 8:12. I have written to him the great things of my Law, but they were counted
as a strange thing.
GOD, in estimating the sins of men, takes into his consideration all the aggravations
with which they are committed. For instance; the warnings which have been given
us against sin, the judgments with which we have been visited on account of it, the
mercies that have been vouchsafed to us in the midst of it, are all regarded by him as
enhancing our guilt in the commission of it. Hence, in criminating his people, whom
now he was about to punish, he particularly charges home upon them their
contempt of his word, which he had sent to guide them in the paths of righteousness,
and to encourage them in a faithful discharge of their duty towards him. In this
view our sins are peculiarly aggravated, inasmuch as we have been favoured with a
more perfect revelation of God’s mind and will. And to evince this, I will shew,
I. What great things God has written to us in his law—
By God’s “law,” we are to understand his word in general; and by “the great things
of it,” are meant its fundamental truths.

114. Let us take a view of them, as recorded in God’s blessed word—
[Our fall in Adam, our recovery by Christ, and our restoration to the Divine image
by the Holy Spirit, these are plainly written in every part of the inspired volume.
They were made known in the Old Testament, so far as was necessary for the
instruction of men under that dark and temporary dispensation. The rite of
circumcision marked, that we brought into the world a corrupt nature; and the
appointment of sacrifices, whilst it shewed to all their desert of death, evinced to
them the necessity of looking forward to that great sacrifice which should in due
time he offered for the sins of men. The various lustrations also that were enjoined,
gave a striking intimation of what should in due season be effected on the souls of
men, through the operation of the Spirit of God. In the writings of David and the
prophets, a further light is thrown upon these things: man is declared to be shapen
in iniquity, and conceived in sin [ ote: Psalms 51:5.]: and his guilt is said to be
removed only through the vicarious sufferings of the Son of God, “on whom the
iniquities of all mankind are laid [ ote: Isaiah 53:5-6.].” And for the renewal of our
nature, we are taught to look to that Divine Agent, who is sent from heaven on
purpose to impart it [ ote: Ezekiel 36:25-27.].
In the ew Testament, these points are more fully opened: and every thing relating
to them is developed with all the clearness and certainty that the most scrupulous
mind can desire.
Who can doubt the corruption of our nature, when we are told that “we are by
nature children of wrath [ ote: Ephesians 2:3.]?” What stronger proof can we have
of the necessity of believing in Christ, than the assurance that there is salvation in
no other, and “no other name given under heaven whereby we can be saved [ ote:
Acts 4:12.]?” As to the Spirit’s operations upon the soul, we are expressly told, that
“if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”]
And are not these things justly called “great”?
[Verily, in whatever light we view them, they are “great.” Contemplate the
mysteriousness of them. How do they, in every part of them, surpass all human
conception! What shall we say to our fall in Adam, and the consequent
condemnation of all the human race? What shall we think of the incarnation of
God’s only dear Son, for the purpose of satisfying Divine justice in our behalf, and
working out a righteousness wherein we guilty creatures may stand before God
without spot or blemish? What shall we say of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person in
the ever-blessed Trinity, making our polluted souls his temples, for the purpose of
renewing our fallen natures, and rendering us meet for glory? Well may the Apostle
say, “Great is the mystery of godliness [ ote: 1 Timothy 3:16.]!” and well may every
one, in the contemplation of it, exclaim, “O the depth [ ote: Romans 11:33.]”—]
But consider also the importance of these things. There is not any child of man, to
whom the tidings of them are made known, that can be saved without an

115. experimental acquaintance with them, and a suitable operation of them upon his
soul. Under a sense of our fallen condition, we must lie low before God, in dust and
ashes: under a conviction that there is no salvation for us but in Christ Jesus, we
must cleave unto him with full purpose of heart: and, under a consciousness of our
incapacity to do any thing for ourselves, we must commit ourselves altogether to the
care of God’s Holy Spirit, that he may “work all our works in us,” and “perfect that
which concerneth us.”
Say, then, whether things so deeply mysterious and so infinitely important be not
great. Truly there is nothing in the whole universe that deserves a thought in
comparison of these stupendous truths.]
But it is humiliating to observe,
I. How they are regarded by an ungodly world—
“They are counted as a strange thing:”
1. They are neglected as unimportant—
[One would imagine that the book which reveals these great truths should be
universally sought after with insatiable avidity; and be studied day and night, in
order to the obtaining of a perfect knowledge of its contents. But how is this book
treated? It is thought a proper book for children, that they may be made acquainted
with its truths so far as their slender capacities can comprehend them: but for
persons of adult age it is supposed to contain nothing that is interesting; and it is
laid aside by them, as undeserving any serious attention. Angels in heaven are
searching into its unfathomable mysteries with an anxiety worthy of the occasion;
but men, who are far more deeply interested in them, suffer them to remain without
any serious inquiry. In fact, there is no other book so generally slighted as the
inspired volume; not a novel or a newspaper but is preferred before it; so little is the
excellence of its mysteries contemplated, and so little the importance of its truths
considered.]
2. They are ridiculed as absurd—
[Universally is the corruption of our fallen nature regarded as a subject calculated
only to inspire gloom, and therefore injurious to the happiness of man. The
salvation which Christ has wrought out for us, and freely offers to the believing
soul, is reprobated as a licentious doctrine, subversive of morality. The sanctifying
influences of the Spirit, also, are held in contempt, as the dreams of a heated
imagination, or the pretences of a hypocritical profession. Sin itself, unless in its
most hideous forms, is not so universally despised and hated as are the truths of our
most holy religion. They were so when proclaimed by prophets, and Apostles, and
by our blessed Lord himself. “Ah, Lord God, doth he not speak parables [ ote:
Ezekiel 20:49.]?” is the slightest expression of contempt that any preacher of them
can expect. In truth, no man can preach them with success, without being accused as

116. “deceiving the people,” and “turning the world upside down.”]
Application—
How great is the blindness of the natural man!
[The depths of philosophy may be successfully explored by men of studious habits
and of intellectual attainments. But who, by any powers of his own, can comprehend
the great things of God’s law? Verily, they are “to the Jews a stumbling-block, and
to the Greeks foolishness;” and the most learned man on earth, no less than the most
illiterate, must say, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of
thy law [ ote: Psalms 119:18.].”]
2. How inestimable are the privileges of God’s people!
[“They have been brought out of darkness into marvellous light;” and the “things
which God has hid from the wise and prudent, he has revealed unto them” — — —
Still, however, there remains a veil upon their hearts, which yet they need to have
removed. “They still see only as in a glass darkly;” and must wait for a full vision,
till they come to the regions of the blest above.]
PETT, "Verse 12
I wrote for him the ten thousand things of my law,
But they are counted as a strange thing.’
It was not that Israel did not know better. God had written for them ‘the ten
thousand things of my Law’, in other words a large number of instructions. But
they had counted them as a strange thing, something that was to be avoided. ote
the use of ‘ten thousand’ to indicate ‘a large number’.
BI, "I have written to him the great things of My law, but they were counted a strange
thing.
A grave miscalculation
What God complains of is that whilst He has made known to Israel the loftiest truths of
righteousness and grace, Israel has treated those truths as matters altogether foreign,
with which he had the very least concern. And is not this matter of ignoring the law
characteristic of our own day? How many live without attending to Divine revelation;
they give it the go-by, they dismiss it with serene unconcern.
I. The truths of revelation are of the highest concern, If the dilemma of life is that we
cannot attend to everything, only to things of pre-eminent importance, then we must
attend to the great doctrines of revelation; for they are hound up with our highest
interests. Take the doctrine of righteousness from the Old Testament. The righteousness
of the law is essential to our worldly interests, to our characters, to our happiness, and to
our final salvation. Take the doctrine of grace from the New Testament. Is not this great
doctrine essential? Many pride themselves upon neglecting religion. They attend to their
business, and have no time for religion. Religion is a fancy, a fashion, a luxury, g thing to
be brought in if possible, to be left out if necessary. But it is the one thing needful.

117. II. The truths of revelation are of abiding concern. In Hosea’s time the law had become
irrevelant, obsolete. Many now regard the law of God in revelation as inadequate to the
modern world. But do not these very objectors go back to the Greek for intellectual
perfection; to Euclid to learn mathematics; to Demosthenes to learn eloquence; to
Praxiteles to learn sculpture; to Homer for the ideal of poetry? As God gave the Hebrew
the knowledge of righteousness, it is no reflection on us that we go back to Moses and
Isaiah, to Job and Paul. Our text declares the abiding validity of the law. God keeps on
writing the law; He is continually freshening it, and making it a living thing in the
conscience of the world. Men speak of outgrowing Christianity when they have become
dead to it through a life of materialism, worldliness, lust, selfishness. God’s Word is not
a strange thing. It is written for our admonition and salvation, upon whom the ends of
the world have come. We need the precious truths of this Holy Book as much as ever.
III. The truths of revelation are of universal concern. There is often in men the feeling
that the truths of religion may concern others, but are not applicable to them. But the
weighty things of the law concern us all. We all need the mercy Of God in Christ (W. L.
Watkinson.)
The Scripture despised
It is in vain to imagine that the depravity of the Jews was peculiar to themselves. They
were fair specimens of human nature. Under superior advantages, we are no better than
they. With regard to the Scriptures consider—
I. Their author. If we consider Scripture to be a cunningly devised fable, we shall treat it
as a delusion. If we believe it to be the word of mall, We shall receive it as a human
production. If we are convinced that it is indeed the Word of God, we shall feel it to be
Divine, and it will work powerfully in us, as it does in those who believe. In favour of
these writings we advance a Divine claim. Whoever was the penman, God was the
author. Evidence comes from the prophecies; from kinness with the Book of Creation;
from adaptation to the wants of man.
II. Their contents. We naturally judge of an author by his work, but there are cases in
which we judge of a work by the author. As soon as we learn that God Himself is the
author of this Book, we may approach it confidently, expecting to find in it a greatness
becoming His glorious: name. We find great things.
1. Great in number.
2. In profundity.
3. In importance.
4. In their efficacy.
The greatest thing we have upon earth is the Gospel.
III. The reception which this divine communication meets with. “They were counted as
a strange thing.” That means a thing foreign to us; a matter of indifference. That men
thus treat the Scriptures of truth is the charge here advanced.
1. It is a charge the most wonderful. We should naturally suppose that a book written
by God Himself would engage attention. And people are naturally attracted to a work
that regards themselves.
2. The most criminal. We often err in our estimate of things, especially those of a

118. moral nature. We have frequently a wrong standard by which to judge of what is
good; hence that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight
of God. In the same way we deceive ourselves with regard to what is evil. God takes
into view the dishonour done to Himself. He weighs the state of the mind, the
motives that determine us, the good we oppose and hinder;: the difficulties we have
to overcome, the convictions we have to stifle, the reasons that render us
inexcusable. By this rule, nothing can be more wicked than to treat with contempt or
neglect the means God has provided for our everlasting welfare.
3. The most dreadful. Though God is most patient with you, His judgments must
most surely fall.
4. The charge is very commonly deserved. Few pay a due regard to the blessed Word
of God. Of those who hear the Word, how many are curious hearers, captious
hearers, forgetful hearers, hearers only deceiving their own selves.
5. The charge is not universally true. There are many exceptions. Good men have
always been attached to their Bibles. Let me urge upon you a still greater attention to
the Word of God. (William Jay.)
Our duty to the Bible
What should be our attitude and action in relation to the Holy Volume?
1. We should accept the volume gratefully as the gift of God. It is the message of our
Divine Father to us; designed to instruct us in all the multiform duties of life—to
guide us in the intricacies of our pilgrimage—to solace us in the seasons of our
sadness—to be a companion to us in our hours of loneliness. It is fully adapted to all
the necessities of our nature, and to all the vicissitudes of our surroundings. Let us
treat it as we treat no other volume. Let there be no cessation to our thankfulness to
God for a treasure so precious, a comfort so profound, a guide so unerring, a weapon
so unfailing, a light so transcendent.
2. Our duty is to circulate it. The Book of books should be placed in the hands of
every man. It is addressed to all, intended for all, adapted to all, and should not be
confined to any clime or any class.
3. We owe the duty to God and ourselves, to study the volume for our own
consolation and guidance.
(1) The Book should be approached prayerfully.
(2) It should be searched intelligently.
(3) It should be searched frequently.
Did ever a nation, a family, or an individual regret adopting and following the inspired
Book as their guide? Compare it with all the volumes in the public libraries of to-day.
None originated in purer motives; none had a Diviner origin; none has had a more
wonderful history; none has produced fruits of happiness and holiness so world wide;
none has been so miraculously preserved; none is destined to a future so glorious. (J.
Hiles Hitchens, D. D.)

119. The great things of Scripture
I. The Holy Scriptures are God’s writing.
II. The subjects of which the Holy Scriptures treat are great things. The things written in
the Scriptures may well be styled great things.
1. Because of their inherent grandeur. Can there possibly be any greater subject than
God Himself in His character, in His infinite excellence, and in His relations to men,
God as incarnated and revealed in the person of His Son Jesus Christ? Can any
themes exceed in interest, atonement for sin, redemption, the indwelling Spirit,
immortal life, resurrection, heaven?
2. Because of their supreme importance. They have been given mainly for the
purpose of answering those great questions which had perplexed the minds of men
from the beginning of human history, and which weighed heavily upon their hearts
and consciences the more they thought about them.
3. Because of their great effects. They make all those great who lovingly receive them
into their hearts. And much of what the Word of God does for individuals it also does
for nations. It introduces into them the germs of solid prosperity and the elements of
true greatness. It makes a people righteous, temperate, pure, unselfish, benevolent.
III. Every human being has a personal interest in the contents of the Holy Scriptures.
They have been written for all, in the sense of having been written for each individual in
that all. I have written unto him. This “I have written” arms every part of the sacred
Book with all the authority of God.
IV. And yet, how many treat the “great things” which God has written in His word in the
very manner which is here condemned! They were counted by them as a strange thing;
that is, with indifference, with looks askance, as things with which they had no practical
concern, perhaps even with positive aversion. (Homiletic Magazine.)
The dignity of the Scripture
God hath vouchsafed the free use of His Word; what greater bounty? Men pass by it as a
thing not worth the looking to; what greater impiety?
I. The free use of God’s Word.
1. The commendation of God’s Word, by the plenty, abundance, and largeness of the
matter that is in it; and by the price, excellency, and worth of the matter. All
necessary points, either touching faith or manners, are abundantly contained and
laid forth in the Scriptures. This fact condemns the common neglect and universal
contempt of the rules and precepts of Holy Scripture. In matters of conversation,
men prefer the examples and guides of the times, the course and practice of the
multitude, before the principles of God’s Spirit. The excellency of Scripture is seen in
that the author of it is God; the matter of it is the mystery of godliness; the style of it,
there is a fulness of majesty in simplicity of words; the end of it is to make men wise
unto salvation.
II. The mercy of God in vouchsafing His word to us.
1. How can it be said that God hath written His Word?
2. Why was it meet to write it?

120. 3. When the Word of God began first to be written, and how it was preserved for the
Church’s use all that time.
4. How we shall be assured that that which amongst us is now called the Scripture is
the very same Word and precious will of God, which He hath written for the use and
comfort of His people. Nothing is able to persuade a man’s conscience that the
Scripture is the Word of God, but only the Spirit of God. The best proofs are to be
fetched out of Scripture itself. Its excellency is shown in the purity of the law of God
by Moses: the quality of the matter in Scripture; the antiquity of the Scripture.
III. Man’s misuse of scripture.
1. Shew the nature of the fault. They regarded Scripture as containing matter that
did not pertain to them. This fault is compounded of three gross evils—disobedience,
unthankfulness, neglect of their own private good, even the good of their souls. What
judgment is due to this offence? In general it openeth the very floodgate of God’s
wrath. In particular, it makes all our prayers odious, and the torment of our souls.
Seeing then that to account the great things of God’s law as a strange thing, is a fault,
a grievous fault, a fault liable to extreme punishment, our fault, there is no remedy
but we must henceforth give all diligence, that the Word of God may be no more a
stranger unto us, but a dweller with us, and familiar unto us. (S. Hieron.)
The great things of God
1. They are things that proclaim the greatness of the Law-maker; and things of great
use and importance to us.
2. It is a great privilege to have the things of God’s law written; thus they are reduced
to a greater certainty, spread the further, and last the longer, with much less danger
of being embezzled and corrupted than if they were transmitted by word of mouth
only.
3. The things of God’s law are of His own writing; for Moses and the prophets were
His amanuenses.
4. It is the advantage of those that are members of the visible Church that these
things are written to them, are intended for their direction, and so they must receive
them. (Matthew Henry.)
The great things of God’s law counted as a strange thing
That which should have been for their health, became to them an occasion of more
heinous and aggravated guilt.
I. God has written unto us the great things of His law. By the law of God understand the
whole revelation which God has given of His will. Take brief survey of God’s law, as
written and delivered to us.
1. The declarations contained in it are great and important.
2. There are many promises which are exceeding great and precious.
3. There are great things written in the way of invitation and encouragement.

121. 4. There are great and interesting precepts and instructions.
5. There are solemn threatenings against obstinate and impenitent offenders. We are
certainly not less favoured than Israel was.
II. Whether and in what degree we are chargeable with their guilt, in “counting the great
things of God’s law a strange thing.”
1. They did not receive what God delivered to them as being of Divine authority, but
as a kind of imposition to which they were under no obligation to submit. We may
judge who among ourselves are in a similar state of guilt. All those who deny the
Divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and deem that invaluable treasury of great
things to be nothing better than a cunningly devised fable.
2. They did not at all see or discern their own interest in those things. Are not similar
views entertained among us? And is not similar conduct the consequence? Some
consider the Bible and religion as adapted only to persons of a gloomy and
melancholy cast of mind. Others think the study of them belongs only to divines.
3. They were apprehensive that a strict adherence to God’s law would make their
conduct appear strange and singular among their surrounding neighbours. We
contract greater guilt when ever we are ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; when we are
afraid to act up to its sacred rules. The mercy of God, in writing and committing to us
the great things of His law, is such as cannot be sufficiently estimated. It calls for
fervent and lasting gratitude. “To whom much is given, of him shall much be
required.” (S. Knight, M. A.)
No excuse of ignorance
God had written their duties for them in the Ten Commandments with His own hand;
He had written them of old, and manifoldly. He wrote those manifold things to them (or
for them) by Moses, not for that time only, but that they might be continually before
their eyes, as if He were still writing. He had written to them since, in their histories, in
the Psalms. His words were still sounding in their ears through the teaching of the
prophets. God did not only give His law or revelation once for all, and then leave it. By
His providence and by His ministers, He continually renewed the knowledge of it, so
that those who ignored it should have no excuse. (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)
The Bible to be read
Young man, if some one laughs at you, because you read the Bible, laugh him to scorn.
Let him laugh at you because you read Plato, or Homer, or Dante, or Shakespeare, or
Browning; but laugh at him if he laugh at you because you read the Bible. More than we
have gained from all other literatures we have gained from this. More of our law from
Moses than from Justinian; more of our poetry from David than from Homer; more of
our inspiration from Isaiah than from Dante, Demosthenes, or Cicero; more of our
philosophy from Paul than from Plato; more of our life from this one Book than from all
other books combined. And yet it is not the book; it is the message in the book that has
to give the life. (Lyman Abbott.)

122. 13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.
ow he will remember their wickedness
and punish their sins:
They will return to Egypt.
BAR ES, "They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of Mine offerings, and eat
it; but the Lord accepteth them not - As they rejected God’s law, so God rejected
their “sacrifices,” which were not offered according to His law. They, doubtless, thought
much of their sacrifices; and this the prophet perhaps expresses by an intensive form ;
“the sacrifices of My gifts, gifts,” as though they thought, that they were ever giving. God
accounted such sacrifices, not being hallowed by the end for which He instituted them,
as mere “flesh.” They “offered flesh” and “ate” it. Such was the beginning, and such the
only end. “He” would “not accept them.” Nay, contrariwise, “now,” now while they were
offering the sacrifices, God would show in deed that He “remembered” the sins, for
which they were intended to atone. God seems to man to forget his sins, when He
forbears to punish them; to “remember” them, when He punishes.
They shall return to Egypt - God had commanded them to return no more to
Egypt Deu_17:16 of their own mind. But He had threatened that, on their disobedience,
“the Lord would bring them back to Egypt by the way, whereof He spake unto them,
Thou shalt see it no more again” Deu_28:68. Hosea also foretells to them, that they (i.
e., many of them) should go to Egypt and perish there Hos_9:3, Hos_9:6. Thence also,
as from Assyria, they were to be restored Hos_12:11. Most probably then, Hosea means
to threaten an actual return to Egypt, as we are told, that some of the two tribes did go
therefor refuse, against the express command of God Jer. 42–43. The main part of the
ten tribes were taken to Assyria, yet as they were, even under Hosea, conspiring with
Egypt 2Ki_17:4, such as could, (it is likely) took refuge there. Else, as future deliverance,
temporal or spiritual, is foretold under the image of the deliverance out of Egypt, so,
contrariwise, the threat, “they shall return to Egypt,” may be, in figure, a cancelling of
the covenant, whereby God had promised, that His people should not return: a threat of
renewed bondage, “like” the Egyptian; an abandonment of them to the state, from which
God once had freed them and had made them His people.

123. CLARKE, "They sacrifice flesh - Bp. Newcome translates thus: “They sacrifice
gifts appointed unto me, and eat flesh.” They offer to their idols the things which belong
to Jehovah; or, while pretending to offer unto the Lord, they eat and drink idolatrously;
and therefore the Lord will not accept them.
They shall return to Egypt - Many of them did return to Egypt after the conquest
of Palestine by Shalmaneser, and many after the ruin of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar;
but they had in effect returned to Egypt by setting up the worship of the golden calves,
which were in imitation of the Egyptian Apis.
GILL, "They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings,
and eat it,.... Or, "as to the sacrifices mine offerings" or "gifts, they sacrifice flesh, and
eat it" (o); these sacrifices, which, according to the law, should given to God when they
offered them, they did not give them to him, they took them to themselves, and ate
them; they were carnal offerings, and offered with a carnal mind, without faith and piety,
without any regard to the glory of God, but merely for the sake of caring: the Targum
interprets it of sacrifices got by rapine, which God hates, Isa_61:8;
but the Lord accepteth them not; neither the sacrifices, nor the sacrificers, but
despised and abhorred them; no sacrifice was acceptable to God but what was offered
according to law, and where he directed, and in the faith of Christ, and through him:
now will he remember their iniquities, and visit their sins; he will not pardon
them, but punish for them; so far were their sacrifices making atonement for them, as
they expected, they added to the measure of their iniquities:
they shall return into Egypt; either flee thither for refuge, many of them it seems
did, when the king of Assyria entered their land, and besieged Samaria; where they lived
miserably, as in exile, and were there buried, and never returned to their own land any
more; see Hos_9:3; or they should be carried captive into Assyria, where they should be
in a like state of bondage as their fathers were in Egypt. Some render it, "they return into
Egypt" (p); and consider it not as their punishment, but as their sin; that when the Lord
was about to visit them for their transgressions, they being made tributary to the
Assyrians, instead of returning to the Lord, and humbling themselves before him, they
sent to the king of Egypt for help, 2Ki_17:4.
HE RY, " They multiplied their sacrifices, Hos_8:13. Their altars were smoking altars:
They sacrificed flesh for the sacrifices of God's offerings, and they celebrated their feasts
upon their sacrifices; they were at a great expense upon their devotions, and (as those
commonly are who set up their own inventions in the room of divine institutions) were
very zealous in their way; as if they hoped by their impositions on themselves to atone
for the contempt of the great atonement, and by their observing a ceremonial law of
their own to excuse themselves from the obligation of all God's moral precepts. But how
did they speed? [1.] God makes no reckoning of their services: The Lord accepts them
not. How should he, when they did not offer their sacrifice upon that altar which alone
sanctified the gift, and when they only sacrificed flesh, but not the spiritual sacrifice of a
penitent believing heart? Note, Those services only are acceptable to God which are
performed according to the rule of his word, and through Jesus Christ, 1Pe_2:5. [2.] He
takes that occasion to reckon with them for their sins; now will he, instead of pardoning

124. their iniquity and blotting out their sins, as they expected, remember their iniquity and
visit their sins. Such an abomination to the Lord are the sacrifices of the wicked that
they provoke him to call them to an account for all their other abominations. When they
think by their sacrifices to bribe the Judge of heaven and earth into a connivance at their
wickedness he will resent that as the highest affront they can put upon him, and it shall
be the measure-filling sin. Note, A petition for leave to sin amounts to an imprecation of
the curse for sin, and so it shall be answered, according to the multitude of the idols. “I
will punish their sins, for they shall return to Egypt;” they shall be carried captive into
Assyria, which shall be to them a house of bondage, as Egypt was to their fathers. Or it
refers to Deu_28:68, where returning to Egypt is made to close and complete the
miseries of that sinful nation.
JAMISO , "sacrifices of mine offerings — that is, which they offer to Me.
eat it — Their own carnal gratification is the object which they seek, not My honor.
now — that is, “speedily.”
shall return to Egypt — (Hos_9:3, Hos_9:6; Hos_11:11). The same threat as in
Deu_28:68. They fled thither to escape from the Assyrians (compare as to Judah,
Jeremiah 42:1-44:30), when these latter had overthrown their nation. But see on Hos_
9:3.
CALVI , "Verse 13
Interpreters think that the Israelites are here derided because they trusted in their
own ceremonies, and that their sacrifices are reproachfully called flesh. But we must
see whether the words of the Prophet contain something deeper. For the word ‫,הבהב‬
ebeb, some rightly expound, in my judgment, as meaning “sacrifices,” either burnt
or roasted; it is a word of four letters. Others derive it from ‫,יהב‬ ieb, which signifies
“to give gifts;” and hence they render thus, “sacrifices of my gifts;” and this is the
more received opinion. I view the Prophet here as not only blaming the Israelites for
putting vain trust in their own ceremonies, which were perverted and vicious; but
also as adducing something more gross, and by which it could be proved, that their
folly was even ridiculous, yea, to profane men and children. When we only read,
The sacrifices of my gifts, which they ought to have offered to me, the sense seems
frigid; but when we read, “The sacrifices of my burnt-offerings! they offer flesh”,
the meaning is, So palpable is their contempt, that they cannot but be condemned
even by children. How so? Because for burnt-offerings they offer flesh to me; that is
they fear lest any portion of the sacrifices should be lost: and when they ought, when
offering burnt-sacrifices, to burn the flesh, they keep it entire, that they may stuff
themselves. Hence they make a great display in sacrificing: and yet it appears to be
palpable mockery, for they turn burnt-offerings into peace-offerings, that the flesh
may remain entire for them to eat it. And no doubt, it has ever been a vice dominant
in hypocrites to connect gain with superstitions. How much soever, then, idolaters
may show themselves to be wholly devoted to God, they yet will take care that
nothing be lost.
The Prophet then seems now to reprove this vice; I yet allow that the Israelites are
blamed for thinking that God is pacified by sacrifices which were of themselves of

125. no value, as we have had before a similar declaration. But I join both views together
— that they offered to God vain sacrifices without piety, and then, that they offered
flesh for burnt-offerings, and thus fed themselves and cared not for the worship of
God. The sacrifices then of my burnt-offerings they offer; but what do they offer?
Flesh or does he seem to have mentioned in vain the word flesh. Some say that all
sacrifices are here called flesh by way of contempt; but there seems rather to me to
be a contrast made between burnt sacrifices and flesh; because the people of Israel
wished to take care of themselves and to have a rich repast, when the Lord required
a burnt-offering to be presented to him: and he afterwards adds, and they eat By
the word eating, he confirms what I have already said, that is, that he here reproves
in the Israelites the vice of being intent only on cramming themselves, and of only
putting forth the name of God as a vain pretence, while they were only anxious to
feed themselves.
It is the same with the Papists of our day, when they celebrate their festivals; they
indulge themselves, and think that the more they drink and eat, the more God is
bound to them. This is their zeal; they eat flesh, and yet think that they offer
sacrifices to God. They offer, then, their stomach to God, when it is thus well filled.
Such are the oblations of the Papists. So also the Prophet now says, “They eat the
flesh which they ought to have burned.”
The Lord, he says, will not accept them Here again he briefly shows, that while
hypocrites thus make pretences, they are self-deceived, and will at last find out how
vainly they have lied to God and men: “God will not accept them.” He here
repudiates, in the name of God, their sacrifices; for whatever they might promise to
themselves, it was enough that they devised for themselves these modes of worship;
for God had never commanded a word respecting them.
It then follows, ow will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins The
Prophet denounces a future punishment, lest hypocrites should flatter themselves,
when God’s fury is not immediately kindled against them, for it is usual with them
to abuse the patience of God. Hence Hosea now forewarns them, and says, “Though
God may connive for a time, there is yet no reason for the Israelites to think that
they shall be free from punishment: God will at length,” he says, “remember their
iniquity.” He uses a common form of speaking, which everywhere occurs in
Scripture: God is said to remember when he really, and as with a stretched-out
hand, shows himself to be an avenger. “The Lord now spares you; but he will, in a
short time, show how much he abominates these your impure sacrifices: He will
remember, then, your iniquity Visitation follows this remembering, as the effect the
cause.
They shall flee, he says, to Egypt The Prophet, I doubt not, intimates here, that vain
would be all the escapes which the Israelites would seek; and though God might
allow them to flee to Egypt, yet it would be, he says, without any advantage: “Go,
flee to Egypt, but your flight will be useless.” The Prophet expressed this distinctly,
that the people might know that they had to do with God, against whom they could
make no defense, and that they might no longer deceive themselves by foolish

126. imaginations. And though the people were blinded by so great an obstinacy, that
this admonition had no effect; yet they were thus rendered the more inexcusable. It
now follows —
COFFMA , "Verse 13
"As for the sacrifices of mine offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; but Jehovah
accepteth them not: now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins; they
shall return to Egypt."
Hosea had already pointed out one thing which made their sacrifices unacceptable
to God, and that was the very multiplicity and location of the altars themselves; but
from the other prophets we learn that there were other glaring defects. They had
ignored the law with regard to offering leaven with the sacrifices; there was the
omission of any sin offerings; there were the licentious fertility rites that were
carried on right side by side with the altars; there was the desecration of sacred
vessels dedicated to God which were used for drinking, etc., etc.
"They sacrifice flesh and eat it ..." There was nothing to their sacrifices except the
satisfaction of bodily appetite.
" ow will I remember their iniquity ..." The emphasis here is upon the word
"now." The day of grace was past. God had exhausted every possible means of
winning the wayward nation back to any acceptable loyalty to himself. othing was
left except to order the punishment. As dramatically stated in Hosea 8:3, "Let the
enemy pursue him."
"They shall return to Egypt ..." "Egypt is merely a type of the land of bondage, as
in Hosea 9:3,6."[25] All of the redemptive work of God's calling and development of
Israel will be nullified. They began as a nation of slaves; very well, they shall
become so again. Given also noted the figurative nature of this expression:
"The turning point was now reached; their iniquity was full. God had delivered
their fathers out of the bondage of Egypt; but now he will send their posterity into a
bondage similar to or even worse than that of Egypt."[26]
As a matter of fact, the bondage into which the northern kingdom fell was far worse
than that of Egypt, because: (1) the nation would not continue to grow as it had in
Egypt; (2) there would be no terminus of it; and (3) the complete amalgamation of
the once chosen people with their pagan captors would be final. They would no
longer exist as a separate people, distinguished in any manner from the populations
of the world.
TRAPP, "Hosea 8:13 They sacrifice flesh [for] the sacrifices of mine offerings, and
eat [it; but] the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and
visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.
Ver. 13. They sacrifice flesh in the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it] q.d. They

127. would seem not to have rejected the great things of my law, not to be such strangers
thereunto; since they were much in sacrificing according to the law. But their
hypocrisy is most hateful: in that first, they offer (with Cain) non personam, sed
opus personae, as Luther saith; not themselves, but their bare sacrifices, Isaiah 66:3,
which is but as a brainless head and soulless body; it is but flesh, as it is here called
in contempt and scorn. See the like, Jeremiah 7:21, Hosea 9:4. And think the same
of all external services, si careant anima sua, id est recta in Deum fide, et erecta in
illum mente, if not performed in faith and obedience. Secondly, they pretended to
serve God, when indeed they only served their own bellies, as those, Romans 16:18,
sought their own ends, Philippians 2:21, catered for the flesh, Romans 13:14, insigne
donum quo afficior (as Luther paraphraseth the text) carnem offertis quam vos ipsi
voratis, i.e. A goodly gift it is that you give me, viz. the flesh of your peace offerings
which yourselves may feast with; and you therefore multiply sacrifices, that you
may gorge yourselves with good cheer. ow one egg is not more like to another than
these old fleshmongers were to the Popish flesh flies at this day. It was an honest
complaint of one of them: We, saith he, handle the Scripture, tantum utnos pascat et
vestiat, only that it may feed us and clothe us. And it is evident to all the world that
their masses, pilgrimages, festivals, vowed presents and memorials, &c., are only to
pamper their paunches; which made them so angry with Erasmus and Luther for
meddling.
But the Lord accepteth them not] How should he, pray, when there was nothing but
flesh, nothing but self in them. See the like, Jeremiah 4:10, Amos 5:22, Isaiah 1:10,
where God telleth them that their sacrifices were grievous and offensive to all his
several senses, nay, to his very soul too. "The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination
to the Lord," Proverbs 15:8, yea, though he bring it with never so good an intent,
Proverbs 21:27; how much more if he bring ex rapina holocaustum, a sacrifice of
what he hath got by rapine and robbery! and so the Chaldee carrieth the sense of
the former words; the sacrifices of mine offerings, quae collecta sunt ex iniuria,
saith he, which were gathered and gotten by wrong dealing: how then should the
Lord accept them?
ow will he remember their iniquity] Even while they are sacrificing, let them not
think to blind his eyes with the smoke of their offerings, to stop his mouth with their
rich gifts and donaries; to bribe him into a connivance; to expiate and set off their
sins with their sacrifices; for God will remember them, and punish them. Yea, now
will he do it, in the time of their holy duties; he will come upon them then in his
wrath, as Pilate came upon the Galileans, and mingled their blood with their
sacrifices, Luke 13:2. Sure it is that sin (brought into God’s holy presence) petitions
against the sinner, as Esther did against Haman at the banquet of wine, Esther 7:6;
picks out the time of prayer and other duties to accuse and call for vengeance. Take
we heed, lest while we are confessing our sins (which yet we close with, and will not
forsake) and judging ourselves worthy to be destroyed, God say not, Out of thine
own mouth will I condemn thee, thou graceless person, that hast so much
impudence as to bring thy Cozbi into my presence, [ umbers 25:18] then, when all

128. the people (as on a fastday) are weeping before the door of the tabernacle. God will
be sanctified of all that draw nigh unto him; one way or other he will be sanctified,
either in them, or on them, Leviticus 10:3. Of such he saith, as Solomon once did of
Adonijah, "If he show himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of his head fall
to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shal1 die," 1 Kings 1:52. If
any defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, 1 Corinthians 3:17.
They shall return to Egypt] They had a mind to run thither for refuge; they sent
also to So, king of Egypt, for that purpose, 2 Kings 17:4. Instead of making their
peace with God, they betook themselves to base shifts, and sought help of the
creature. This is the guise of graceless men when distressed. But they shall soon have
enough of Egypt, Hosea 9:8; Hosea 9:6. Their strength (or their Egypt) had been to
have sat still, in expectation of help from heaven, Isaiah 30:7, and to have
considered that the last and greatest curse denounced against their disobedience
was, "And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt," &c., Deuteronomy 28:68.
BE SO , "Hosea 8:13. They sacrifice flesh, &c., and eat it, but the Lord accepteth
them not — They offer sacrifices indeed, but their sacrifices are not acceptable to
God, not being offered with a pious and devout mind. Dr. Wheeler translates the
clause, They have sacrificed the choicest sacrifices, and have eaten flesh: Jehovah
taketh not delight therein. ow will he remember their iniquity, &c. — God
supported the Jews, that they might support the true religion; which as they had
now neglected to do, there was no reason why God should support and defend them
against their enemies. They shall return to Egypt — Going into Egypt seems to have
been a proverbial expression for extreme misery; and may here denote, that they
should go into a state of captivity and bondage as bad as that which their
forefathers had suffered in Egypt. Or else, taken literally, it might be intended to
signify, that they should seek the alliance and friendship of Egypt, contrary to the
faith they had given to the Assyrians, which would bring on their destruction. This
proved to be the case, as the reader will see by consulting 2 Kings 17:4-5, “The king
of Israel sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no presents to the king
of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up,
and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout the land,
took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria.”
PETT, "Verse 13
‘As for the sacrifices of my offerings,
They sacrifice flesh and eat it,
But YHWH does not accept them,
ow will he remember their iniquity,
And visit their sins,
They will return to Egypt.
And even when their sacrifices were ‘offered to YHWH’ and they sacrificed flesh
and ate it before Him in a ceremonial meal, YHWH did not accept their sacrifices
because they continued sinning without restraint and were treating Him as the

129. equivalent of a nature god. Therefore He would remember their iniquity and visit
their sins on them, causing them to ‘return to Egypt’. The idea of ‘returning to
Egypt’ might be symbolic, indicating that Israel would once more become a slave
nation. But we must not forget that Egypt would in fact offer a safe haven for
refugees from Assyria, so that we need not doubt that many Israelites fled there,
only to find themselves ‘enslaved’, or in trying circumstances, once more (see
Deuteronomy 28:68).
K&D 13-14, "“Slain-offerings for gifts they sacrifice; flesh, and eat: Jehovah has no
pleasure in them: now will He remember their transgression, and visit their sins: they
will return to Egypt. Hos_8:14. And Israel forgot its Creator, and built palaces: and
Judah multiplied fortified cities: and I shall send fire into its cities, and it will devour its
castles.” With the multiplication of the altars they increased the number of the sacrifices.
‫י‬ ַ‫ב‬ ָ‫ה‬ ְ‫ב‬ ַ‫ה‬ is a noun in the plural with the suffix, and is formed from ‫יהב‬ by reduplication. The
slain-offerings of my sacrificial gifts, equivalent to the gifts of slain-offerings presented
to me continually, they sacrifice as flesh, and eat it; that is to say, they are nothing more
than flesh, which they slay and eat, and not sacrifices in which Jehovah takes delight, or
which could expiate their sins. Therefore the Lord will punish their sins; they will return
to Egypt, i.e., be driven away into the land of bondage, out of which God once redeemed
His people. These words are simply a special application of the threat, held out by Moses
in Deu_28:68, to the degenerate ten tribes. Egypt is merely a type of the land of
bondage, as in Hos_9:3, Hos_9:6. In Hos_8:14 the sin of Israel is traced back to its root.
This is forgetfulness of God, and deification of their own power, and manifests itself in
the erection of ‫ּות‬‫ל‬ ָ‫יכ‬ ֵ‫,ה‬ palaces, not idolatrous temples. Judah also makes itself partaker
of this sin, by multiplying the fortified cities, and placing its confidence in fortifications.
These castles of false security the Lord will destroy. The 'armânōth answer to the
hēkhâloth. The suffixes attached to ‫יו‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ and ָ‫יה‬ ֶ‫ּת‬‫נ‬ ְ‫מ‬ ְ‫ר‬ፍ refer to both kingdoms: the
masculine suffix to Israel and Judah, as a people; the feminine to the two as a land, as in
Lam_2:5.
14 Israel has forgotten their Maker
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.”

130. BAR ES, "For Israel hath forgotten his Maker - God was his Maker, not only
as the Creator of all things, but as the Author of his existence as a people, as He saith,
“hath he not made thee, and established thee?” Deu_32:6.
And buildeth temples - as for the two calves, at Bethel and at Dan. Since God had
commanded to build one temple only, that at Jerusalem, to “build temples” was in itself
sin. The sin charged on Ephraim is idolatry; that of Judah is self-confidence ; from
where Isaiah blames them, that they were busy in repairing the breaches of the city, and
cutting off the supplies of water from the enemy; “but ye have not looked unto the Maker
thereof, neither had respect unto Him, that fashioned it long ago Isa_22:11. Jeremiah
also says, “that they shall impoverish (or, crush) the fenced cities, wherein thou
trustedst, with the sword” Jer_5:17.
But I will send a fire upon his cities - In the letter, the words relate to Judah; but
in substance, the whole relates to both. Both had forgotten God; both had offended Him.
In the doom of others, each sinner may read his own. Of the cities of Judah, Isaiah says,
“your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire Isa_1:7 and in the fourteenth
year of Hezekiah,” (some twelve years probably after the death of Hosea) “Sennacherib
came up against all the cities of Judah and took them” 2Ki_18:13; and of Jerusalem it is
related, that Nebuchadnezzar “burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all
the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house he burnt with fire” 2Ki_25:8-9.
Man set them on fire; God brought it to pass; and, in order to teach us that He doeth all
things, giving all good, overruling all evil, saith that He was the doer of it.
CLARKE, "Israel hath forgotten his Maker - And therefore built temples to
other gods. Judah had lost all confidence in the Divine protection, and therefore built
many fenced cities. But the fire of God’s anger burnt up both the temples and the
fortified cities.
GILL, "For Israel hath forgotten his Maker,.... The Creator and Preserver of
everyone of them, and who had raised them up to a state and kingdom, and had made
them great and rich, and populous, and bestowed many favours and blessings on them;
and yet they forgot him, to give him glory, and to serve and worship him:
and buildeth temples; to idols, as the Targum adds; to the calves at Dan and Bethel,
at which places, as there were altars set up, and priests appointed, so temples and
houses of high places built to worship in; see 1Ki_12:31;
and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities; to protect them from their enemies,
which was not unlawful; but that they should put their trust and confidence in them, and
not in the Lord their God, which was their sin; when they saw the ten tribes carried
captive by the Assyrians, they betook themselves to such methods for their security, but
were not careful to avoid those sins which brought ruin upon Israel:

131. but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof;
that is, an enemy, that should set fire to their cities, particularly Jerusalem their chief
city, and burn the temple of the Lord, the palaces of their king and nobles, and all the
fine houses of the great men; which was done many years after this prophecy, by
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Jer_52:13.
HE RY, "They multiplied their temples, and these also in honour of the true God, as
they pretended, but really in contempt of the choice he had made of Jerusalem to put his
name there. Israel has forgotten his Maker, Hos_8:14. They pretended to know him,
and yet forgot him, for they liked not to retain God in their knowledge, when the
remembrance of him would give check to their lusts. It was an aggravation of their sin in
forgetting God that he was their Maker (Deu_32:15, Deu_32:18; Job_35:10), as nothing
obliges us more to remember him than that he is our Creator, Ecc_12:1. “He has
forgotten his Maker, and builds temples; he seems by the temples he builds to me
mindful of his Maker, and to be desirous still to keep him in mind, and yet really he has
forgotten him, because he has cast off the fear of him.” Some by temples here
understand palaces, for so the word sometimes signifies. “He has forgotten his Maker,
and yet is so secure and haughty that he sets his judgments at defiance, as
Nebuchadnezzar did when he said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built?” Judah is
likewise charged with multiplying fenced cities, and trusting in them for safety, when the
judgments of God were abroad. To fortify their cities in subjection and subordination to
God was well enough; but to fortify them in opposition to God, and without any regard
to him or his providence (Isa_22:11), shows their hearts to be desperately hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin. But none ever hardened his heart against God and
prospered, nor shall they. God will send a fire upon his cities, upon the cities both of
Judah and Israel, not only the head-cities of Jerusalem and Samaria, but all the other
cities of those two kingdoms, and it shall devour not only the cottages, but the palaces
thereof; though ever so strong, the fire shall master them; though ever so stately and
sumptuous, the fire shall not spare them. This was fulfilled when all the cities of Israel
were laid in ashes by the king of Assyria, and all the cities of Judah by the king of
Babylon. The fires they both kindled were of his sending; and when he judges he will
overcome.
JAMISO , "forgotten ... Maker — (Deu_32:18).
temples — to idols.
Judah ... fenced cities — Judah, though less idolatrous than Israel, betrayed lack of
faith in Jehovah by trusting more to its fenced cities than to Him; instead of making
peace with God, Judah multiplied human defenses (Isa_22:8; Jer_5:17; Mic_5:10, Mic_
5:11).
I will send ... fire upon ... cities — Sennacherib burned all Judah’s fenced cities
except Jerusalem (2Ki_18:13).
palaces thereof — namely, of the land. Compare as to Jerusalem, Jer_17:27.
SBC, "I. Consider the statements of the text in their primary reference to Israel and
Judah, showing their application in spirit to ourselves. (1) Those whom God originally
called to be one, whom He consolidated into a Church, making them His family and
people, are now two; they are split and divided into contending factions. (2) Notice the
different conduct by which the two parties in the text were distinguished. Israel builds

132. temples. Judah multiplies fenced cities. Israel fell from and corrupted the primitive
institutions of Divine worship. Judah put her trust, not in what God had promised to do
for her, but in herself. The people had the form of godliness without the power. While
they approached God with their lips, their hearts were far from Him; they bowed in His
temple, but they trusted in themselves. (3) The conduct of Israel and Judah, though so
different, was alike bad; in each case it proceeded from the same sinful source; against
both the judgments of God were equally denounced.
II. Notice a few practical lessons from the subject. (1) Religion is the most powerful thing
in the world. (2) This power, the strongest in itself over the human mind, is exposed by
the heart to the greatest perversion, and that in various and opposite directions. (3) The
liability of religion to corruption, and the power and tendency of men to corrupt it, are
no presumption against the reality of religion in general, or against the truth of
Christianity in particular. (4) While large masses of the professing Church may seem to
be characterized by particular and obvious forms of error, we should always remember
that many individuals in each mass may not be involved in the surrounding corruption.
(5) It is highly important for us to consider what may be the tendency of any Church
system with which we are connected, and to examine narrowly into our own spirit or
temper.
T. Binney, Sermons in King’s Weighhouse Chapel, 2nd series, p. 267.
CALVI , "Verse 14
Here the Prophet concludes his foregoing observations. It is indeed probable that he
preached them at various times; but, as I have already said, the heads of the
sermons which the Prophet delivered are collected in this book, so that we may
know what his teaching was. He then discoursed daily on idolatry, on superstitions,
and on the other corruptions which then prevailed among the people; he often
repeated the same threatenings, but afterwards collected into certain chapters the
things which he had spoken. The conclusion, then, of his former teaching was this,
that Israel had forgotten his Maker, whilst for himself he had been building temples
He says, that he forgot his Maker by building temples because he followed not the
directions of the law. We hence see that God will have himself to be known by his
word. Israel might have objected and said, that no such thing was intended, when he
built temples in Dan and Bethel, but that he wished by these to retain the
remembrance of God. But the Prophet here shows that God is not truly known, and
that men do not really remember him, except when they worship him according to
what the law prescribes, except when they submit themselves wholly to his word,
and undertake nothing,and attempt nothing, but what he has commanded. What
then the superstitious say is remembrance, the Prophet here plainly testifies is
forgetfullness. The case is the same at this day, when we blame the Papists for their
idols; their excuse is this, that what they set forth is in pictures and statues the
image of God, and that images, as they say, are the books of the illiterate. But what
does the Prophet answer here? That Israel forgot his Maker There was an altar in
Bethel, and there Israel was wont to offer sacrifices, and they called this the worship
of God; but the Prophet shows that each worship was accursed before God, and that
it had no other effect than wholly to obliterate the holy name of God from the minds
of men, so that the whole of religion perished.

133. Remarkable then is this passage; for the Prophet says, that the people forgot God
their Maker, when they built temples for themselves But what was in the temples so
vicious, as to take away the remembrance of God from the world? Even because
God would have but one temple and altar. If a reason was asked, a reason might
indeed have been given; but the people ought to have acquiesced in the command of
God. Though God may not show why he commands this or that, it is enough that we
ought to obey his word. ow, then, it appears, that when Israel built for himself
various temples, he departed from God, and for this reason, because he followed not
the rule of the law, and kept not himself within the limits of the divine command.
Hence it was to forget God. We now apprehend the object of the Prophet.
Though then they were wont to glory in their temples, and there to display their
pomp and splendor, and proudly to delight in their superstitions, yet the Prophet
says, that they had forgotten their Creator, and for this reason only, because they
had not continued in his law. He says, that they had forgotten God their Maker; by
the word Maker, the Prophet alludes not to God as the framer of the world and the
creator of men, but he applies it to the condition of the people. For, as we well know,
the favor of God had been peculiar towards that people; he had not only made them,
as a part of the human race, but also formed them a people to himself. Since then
God had thus intended them to be devoted to him, the Prophet here increases and
enhances their sin, when he says, that they obeyed not his word, but followed their
own devices and depraved imaginations.
COFFMA , "Verse 14
"For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and builded palaces; and Judah multiplied
fortified cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the castles
thereof."
"For Israel hath forgotten his Maker ..." This is a reference to God as the creator of
the human race in general, also to the fact of God's special intervention in the
creation of the nation of Israel.
Critics intent upon plastering up the Bible with their own varieties of scissors and
paste jobs sometimes attempt to delete this verse because of its reference to Judah;
but Judah belongs here. That portion of Israel was not very far behind the northern
kingdom in their apostasy; and it would be but a relatively short time before Judah
also would suffer from the heel of the invader and the reduction to captivity already
determined for Ephraim. or is this the only time that Judah appears in the
prophecy, being never very far out of view in everything that Hosea wrote. There is
no textual evidence whatever of any such thing as a gloss here. Mays indicated that
"no confident argument" can sustain allegations of any such thing.[27]
"And builded palaces ..." This may not be a reference merely to spacious and
luxurious dwellings; for, "The word translated palaces may equally well mean
temples."[28] The Hebrew word literally means "great houses" or "great house,"
and was usually applied either to the residence of a king or to the temple of some
god. If the latter is meant, it would indicate that Israel had entrenched and fortified

134. paganism in their land with an elaborate system of magnificent buildings dedicated
to pagan deities.
Answering the objection of some critics to the effect that this verse is "in the style of
Amos," Hindley inquired, "Why should Hosea not have caught a phrase from the
older prophet of Israel?"[29]
The mention of castles and fortified cities speaks of a people relying upon
themselves rather than upon God. Also, in the case of Israel there seems to have
been an inordinate glorying in such human achievements, as attested by the long
and tedious records of the Kings and Chronicles of the Old Testament. Again from
Hindley, "Human achievement is not always to the glory of God."[30
ELLICOTT, "(14) Temples.—The word here used for temple is used sixty times for
Jehovah’s temple. The building of these temple-palaces was a distinct sin against the
unity of the Godhead.
Judah hath multiplied fenced cities.—Referred to by Sennacherib, in the inscription
relating to the campaign of 701 B.C. “Forty-six of his (Hezekiah’s) strong cities,
fortresses . . . I besieged, I captured.” These were erected by Uzziah and Jotham (2
Chronicles 26:10; 2 Chronicles 27:4). With the allusions to Israel’s temples (palaces)
compare Amos 3:11; Amos 3:15.
TRAPP, "Hosea 8:14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples;
and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it
shall devour the palaces thereof.
Ver. 14. For Israel hath forgotten his maker] ot more his factor than his
benefactor, as, 1 Samuel 12:6, the Lord made Moses and Aaron, i.e. he advanced
them to that honour in his Church. So our Saviour is said to have made twelve,
when he ordained them to the apostleship, Mark 3:14. And the apostle saith of
Israel, that God exalted the people, when they dwelt as strangers in the land of
Egypt, Acts 13:17, sc. to the privilege of his peculiar people, the possession of the
promised land, the custody of his oracles and services, &c., besides the many
benefits and deliverances wrought for them. All which they are said to have
forgotten: 1. Because they laid them not to heart, see Isaiah 57:11, they saw not God
in them; 2. Because their lives were not answerable; they walked not worthy of such
a God; but said (in effect), "We are delivered to do all these abominations,"
Jeremiah 7:10. God challengeth remembrance, and well he may, Ecclesiastes 12:1,
for he hath created us for his glory, Isaiah 43:7, he hath formed us, yea, he hath
made us (as it followeth there, and all that we might remember him): the word
(made) is used for a degree of grace after creation. Those that are his workmanship,
his artificial facture ( ποιηµα), created in Christ Jesus (who is the beginning of this
creation of God, Revelation 3:14) unto good works, Ephesians 2:10, if ever they
should forget God (which is the character of a wicked man, Psalms 50:22); if they
should forsake God that made them, and lightly esteem tha Rock of their salvation,
Deuteronomy 32:15, as Solomon did the Lord that had appeared unto him twice; if

135. they should not prefer him above their chief joy, or make him ascend above the
head of their joy (as the Hebrew hath it, Psalms 137:6), and set him over all, as
Pharaoh did Joseph (causing sun, moon, and stars to do obeisance to him), I mean,
all their natural, moral, temporal, and spiritual abilities to be subject and
serviceable to him; he would have an unanswerable action against them, and both
heaven and earth Would have cause to blush at their disingenuity and
unthankfulness. Let it ever be remembered, that of all things God cannot abide to be
forgotten.
And buildeth temples] To God, no doubt; and yet, because they worshipped him not
in his own way they are said to have forgotten him: so do Papists in all their
structures, vowed presents, and memories (as they call them). In King Stephen’s
time here, notwithstanding all the miseries of war, there were more Abbeys built
than in a hundred years before. But who required those things at their hands?
Christus opera nostra non tam actibus quam finibus pensat (Zanchius). ow the
end why those temples and monasteries were built appears in stories to be pro
remissione et redemptione peccatorum, pro remedio et liberatione animae: pro
amore coelestis patriae: in honorem gloriosae Virginis, in eleemosynam animae, &c.,
for remission of sins, redemption of souls, honour of the Virgin Mary, and other
superstitious ends and uses.
And Judah hath multiplied fenced cities] As thinking thereby to fence themselves
against God’s wrath, to mott themselves up against his fire that had burnt up the
ten tribes, and threatened them. Strong cities and munitions may be lawfully built;
but then their foundations must not be laid upon fireworks. If sin be at the bottom
(as the voice from heaven is said to have told Phocas), though they build as high as
heaven it will not do. Babylon’s thick walls and large provisions could not secure
her from the enemy; Samaria held out for two or three years, but was surprised at
last by the Assyrian; so was Jerusalem by the Babylonians, and then by the Romans,
Isaiah 22:8-10. Great fault is found with this people, for their warlike preparations
with neglects of God, Hosea 8:11, and of deep and downright humiliation, Hosea
8:12-14. The name of the Lord is the strongest tower, Proverbs 18:10. But cursed is
he that maketh flesh his arm, that trusteth in men, though never so great; or means,
though never so likely, Jeremiah 17:5, those were never true to those that trusted
them. The Jebusites were beaten out of their fort, though they presumed it
impregnable. The men of Shechem were burned out, 9:49 : so shall Judah be; for,
I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof] The enemy
did this, but not without the Lord; who cannot brook it that men should trust in
palaces and strongholds; and as Luther well observeth, in this whole chapter is fully
set forth whence it is that strong palaces and flourishing kingdoms come to nought;
it is because men believe not in God, but trust to their own strength, Deuteronomy
28:52; they fortify themselves against an enemy, but do not pacify God’s
displeasure; who is himself a devouring fire, and can quickly quash all our forces,

136. and confute our confidences.
BE SO , "Hosea 8:14. For Israel hath forgotten his Maker — Hath forgotten him
who formed them into a people, preserved and advanced them, and conferred on
them all those privileges wherein they excelled all other nations: either they have not
remembered him at all, or have done it without reverence, gratitude, love, or
consideration of the duty and service which they owe him. And buildeth temples —
For idolatrous worship. And Judah hath multiplied fenced cities — To secure
themselves from the invasion of the enemy. When the Jews saw what incursions
were made upon the Israelites, or the ten tribes, by the Assyrians, they diligently set
about fortifying their cities, thinking to find security in so doing, and putting
greater confidence in their fortifications than in God’s protection. But I will send
afire upon his cities — My judgments shall destroy them, as surely as if a fire had
been kindled in them. Or the threatening may be interpreted literally; for when
Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah, except Jerusalem, he undoubtedly
set fire to many of them, as conquerors were wont to do in those days.
PETT, "Verse 14
For Israel has forgotten his Maker, and built palaces,
And Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
But I will send a fire on his cities,
And it will devour its castles.’
And all this was because Israel had forgotten its Maker (compare Deuteronomy
32:15; Deuteronomy 32:18) and were therefore, along with Judah, busy making
themselves substitutes, this included multiplied fortified cities, palaces and castles,
and multiplied altars. But once the one living God had been dispensed with,
replacing Him would prove impossible. However, all these would be destroyed by
fire, just as their false sacrifices had been.
The mention of Judah makes Judah’s inclusion in Hosea’s indictments all the more
clear. They are not now simply seen as involved in the cult, but it is indirectly
confirmed that they were in danger of being in wholesale rebellion against YHWH.
His knowledge concerning the fortification of their cities brings home how familiar
he was with what was going on in Judah.
We may summarise the situation of Israel as follows:
1) They had usurped Yahweh's sovereign authority over the nation (Hosea 8:4).
2) They were blatantly worshipping idols (Hosea 8:4-6).
3) They were depending on foreign treaties rather than on God (Hosea 8:9-10).
4) They had adopted and perpetuated a corrupt system of worship (Hosea 8:5-
6; Hosea 8:11; Hosea 8:13).
5) They had arrogantly disregarded YHWH's Law (Hosea 8:1-3; Hosea 8:5;
Hosea 8:12; Hosea 8:14).
6) They had forgotten their Maker (Hosea 8:14).
It was no wonder that God purposed final judgment upon them until they could in
the distant future be brought back to repentance.

137. BI, "For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath
multiplied fenced cities.
Neither the religion nor security of a nation to be judged by appearances
The temples are the idolatrous temples built after the models from Syrophoenicia.
Fenced cities are fortified places erected against foreign invaders.
1. The multiplicity of temples is no infallible proof of the growth of religion in a
country. When we think of the moral causes that often lead to the erection of
temples, they rather prove our forgetfulness of God. They are greed, spite, sectism.
2. The increase of national defences is no proof of the increase of national security.
The safety of a people is in the moral excellence of their character, and in the
guardianship of heaven. (Homilist.)
God forgotten
Prosperous men become dangerously independent, and in their pride they forget God,
and exclaim with Nebuchadnezzar, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built?” As
Daniel Quorm quaintly says, “The devil is called in the Bible ‘Beelzebub’—that do mean,
the ‘god o’ flies’—and you’re sure to find ‘em a-buzzin’ about the honey-pots o’
prosperity.” Nothing so completely blinds a man as gold-dust, for he cannot even see
God—he is a practical atheist. Affluence leads first to indifference, then to coldness, then
to unbelief, then to cynicism, and then to godlessness! Henry IV. once asked the Duke of
Alva if he had observed certain eclipses which had occurred that year. “No,” was the
reply, “I have had so much business to attend to upon earth, that I have had no time
even to look up to heaven.” This is one of the perils of prosperity—to forget God, and
leave heaven out of account. (Helping Words.).