Hosea 12 commentary

Ephraim feeds himself with vain hopes of help from man, when he is at enmity with God. The Jews vainly thought to secure the Egyptians by a present of the produce of their country. Judah is contended with also. God sees the sin of his own people, and will reckon with them for it. They are put in mind of what Jacob did, and what God did for him. When his faith upon the Divine promise prevailed above his fears, then by his strength he had power with God. He is Jehovah, the same that was, and is, and is to come. What was a revelation of God to one, is his memorial to many, to all generations. Then let those who have gone from God, be turned to him. Turn thou to the Lord, by repentance and faith, as thy God. Let those that are converted to him, walk with him in all holy conversation and godliness. Let us wrestle with Him for promised blessings, determined not to give over till we prevail; and let us seek Him in his ordinances.

Ephraim became a merchant: the word also signifies a Canaanite. They carried on trade upon Canaanitish principles, covetously and with fraud and deceit. Thus they became rich, and falsely supposed that Providence favoured them. But shameful sins shall have shameful punishments. Let them remember, not only what a mighty prince Jacob was with God, but what a servant he was to Laban. The benefits we have had from the word of God, make our sin and folly the worse, if we put any slight upon that word. We had better follow the hardest labour in poverty, than grow rich by sin. We may form a judgment of our own conduct, by comparing it with that of ancient believers in the like circumstances. Whoever despises the message of God, will perish. May we all hear his word with humble, obedient faith.

The Prophet here inveighs against the vain hopes of the people, for they were inflated with such arrogance, that they despised all instruction and all admonitions. It was therefore necessary, in the first place, to correct this vice, and hence he says, Ephraim feeds on wind For when one gulps the wind, he seems indeed to fill his mouth, and his throat, and his chest, and his whole stomach; but there is nothing but air, no nourishment. So he says that Israel entertained indeed much confidence in their crafty ways, but it was to feed only on the wind. They dreamt that they were happy, when they secured confederacies, when they had both the Assyrians and the Egyptians as their associates. They are only blasts, says the Prophet; nay, he says, they are noxious blasts; for by the East he understands the east wind, which blows from the rising of the sun; and this, as they say, is in Judea a dry and often a stormy wind. Other winds either bring rain or some other advantage: but this wind brings nothing but drought and storms. It hence then appears that the Prophet meant that Israel, through this their vain confidence, procured for themselves many sorrows and ever remained void and empty. Ephraim then feeds on the wind, and further, he follows after the east wind

Hosea explains afterwards his mind more clearly, He daily multiplies falsehood and desolation, he says. By falsehood he glances, I have no doubt, at the impostures by which the people deceived themselves, as hypocrites do, who, by sharpening their wits to deceive God, involve themselves in many fatal snares. So also is Israel said to have multiplied falsehood; for they made themselves so obstinate, as to become quite hardened against God’s teaching; and this obstinacy is called falsehood for this reason, for unbelieving men, as we see, fabricate for themselves many excuses; and though they be impostures, they yet think themselves safe against all the threatening of God, provided they set up, I know not what, something which they think will be sufficiently available. Hence the Prophet repeats again, that there was nothing but falsehood in all their crafty decrees.

He then presses the point still more, and says, that it was “desolation”, that is, the cause of desolation. He then first derides the vain confidence of the people, because they thought that they could blind the eyes of God by their vain disguises; “This is falsehood,” he says “this is imposture.” Then he presses them more heavily and says “This is your perdition: you shall at last perceive, that you have gained nothing by your counsels but destruction.”

How so? Because they made a covenant. I take this latter clause as explanatory: for if the Prophet had only spoken generally, the impiety of the people would not have been sufficiently exposed; and the masks of secure men must be torn away, and their crimes, as it were, painted, that they may be ashamed; for except they are drawn forth as it were before the public, and their turpitude exposed to the view of all, they will ever hide themselves in their secret places. This then is the reason why the Prophet here specifically points out their frauds, which he had before mentioned. Behold, he says, they made a covenant with the Assyrian, and carry their oil into Egypt; that is, they hunt for the friendship of the Assyrian on one side, and on the other they conciliate with great importunity the Egyptians; nay, they spare not their own goods, for they carry presents in order to gain them. We now then understand how Israel had multiplied falsehood and desolation; for they implicated themselves in illicit compacts. But why it was unlawful for them to fly to the Assyrians and Egyptians, we have explained elsewhere, nor is it needful here to repeat at large what has been said: God wished the people to be under his protection; and when God promised to be the defender of their safety, they ought to have been satisfied with his protection alone: but when they retook themselves to Egypt and to Assyria, it was a clear evidence of unbelief; for it was the same as to deny the power of God to be sufficient for them. And we also know that the Israelites never went to Assyria or to Egypt, except when they meditated the destruction of their own brethren; for they often laboured to overturn the kingdom of Judah: they only sought associates to gratify their own cruelty. But this one reason, however, was abundantly sufficient to condemn them, that they fortified themselves by foreign aids, when God was willing to keep them as it were inclosed under his own wings. Whenever then we attempt to provide for ourselves by unlawful means, it is the same thing as if we denied God; for he calls and invites us to come under his protection: but when we run in our thoughts here and there, and seek some vain helps, we grievously dishonour God: it is, as it were, to fly into Egypt or into Assyria. And for this purpose ought the doctrine of this verse to be applied. It follows —

Hosea 12:2

2. The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.

2. Contentio Jehovae cum Jehudah, et ad visitandum super Jacob: secundum vias ejus, secundum opera ejus rependet ei.

It may seem strange that the Prophet should now say, that God had a controversy with Judah; for he had before said, that Judah stood faithful with the saints. It seems indeed inconsistent, that God should litigate with the Jews, and yet declare them to be upright and separate them from the perfidious and ungodly. What then does this mean? The Prophet, as we have said, spake comparatively of the tribe of Judah, when he said that they remained faithful with the saints: for he did not intend wholly to exculpate the Jews, who were also full of grievous evils; but he intended to praise the worship which as yet prevailed at Jerusalem, that the impiety of the ten tribes might appear less excusable, who of their own accord had departed from the rule which God had given.

When any one at this day reproves the Papists, they say, that another mode of worship is unknown to them, and that they have been thus taught by their forefathers, and that the worship which they observe has so continued from antiquity, that they dare not either to change it or to deviate from it. Such might have been the excuse made by the Israelites. But the prophet charges them with voluntary defection, for the temple which God had chosen for himself stood in their sight; there the face of God was in a manner to be seen; for all things were arranged according to the heavenly pattern which had been shown to Moses in the mount. Since then pure religion was before their eyes, was not their sin proved by this very fact, that having neglected the word of God, they gave themselves up to new and fictitious modes of worship? The Prophet then had before praised the worship, but not the manners, of the tribe of Judah; and he now comes to their manners, and says, that there were many things in Judah which God would chastise.

The Lord then hath a controversy with Judah; and he will begin with that tribe, and will then come down to the house of Jacob The Prophet, however, speaks here only in passing of the house of Judah, and touches but lightly on the controversy he had with that portion of the people. How was this? Because he was not a teacher, as it has been said already, set over the kingdom of Judah, but only over the Israelites. He now refers only to that kingdom for the purpose of striking terror into his own people: as though he said “Think ye that the forbearance of God is to be forever, because he has hitherto borne with you? Nay, God will begin to contend with the tribe of Judah. I have said, indeed, that they are innocent compared with you; but yet they shall not escape punishment; for in a short time God will summon them to judgement. If he will not spare the Jews, how can your great crimes go unpunished? For certainly you deserve hundred deaths in comparison with the Jews, among whom at least some integrity and uprightness exist; for they have made no change in the worship of God. Their life is corrupt; but yet the law of God and religion are not despised by them as they are by you. If then God will not spare them, much less will he spare you.”

We now understand for what purpose the Prophet says that God had a controversy with Judah; for it was not his design to terrify the Jews themselves, or to exhort them to repentance, except it may be by the way; but his object was to present an example to the Israelites, that they might fear; for they ought to have thought within themselves, “If this shall be done in the green, what shall become of the dry tree? (Luke 23:31.) If God will exercise with so much severity his vengeance against our brethren the Jews, among whom pure religion as yet exists, what sort of end and how dreadful is that which awaits us, who have departed from the law, the worship, the teaching, and the obedience of God, who are become truce-breakers, and degenerate, and in every way profane?”

Hence he immediately adds, And will punish Jacob “God will indeed begin with the tribe of Judah; this will be the prelude, and he will treat the Jews more mildly than you; but against you he will thunder in full force. It will not then be a remonstrance to draw you to repentance, but a punishment such as ye deserve; for he has already contended with you more than enough.”

According to his ways. according to his doings, will he recompense him. He sets down here ways and doings, with no superfluous repetition, but to show that the repentance of this people had been already more than sufficiently looked for; for they had not ceased for a long time to pursue their own wickedness. The Prophet then, no doubt, condemns here the Jews for their perverse wickedness, that they never left off their sins, though they had now for a long time been admonished, and had been often reproved by the Prophets. It now follows —

Hosea 12:3-5

3. He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:

3. In utero apprehendit plantam fratri suo; et in fortitudine sua dominatus est cum Deo (quanquam nomen אלהים, Aleim, transfertur etiam saepe ad Angelos.)

4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us;

4 Et dominatus est cum Angelo (vel, adversus Angelum; vel, luctatus est, si quis malit, quanquam ad verbum ita habetur; sed quia sequitur יוכל, iucal, praevaluit, ideo libenter admitto luctandi verbum, non quod proprie conveniat, sed rem potius respicio quam verba) et praevaluit; flevit et rogavit eum: in Bethel invenit eum, et illic locutus est cum eo;

5 Even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is his memorial.

5 Et Jehova Deus exercituum; Jehova memoria ejus.

In all this discourse the Prophet condemns the ingratitude of the people; and then he shows how shamefully they had departed from the example of their father, in whose name they yet took pride. This is the substance. Their ingratitude is showed in this, that they did not acknowledge that they had been anticipated, Praeventum fuisse. This is a most difficult word to render correctly and intelligibly. To prevent, in the sense of going before, is not current. The meaning here is, that they did not own that in the case of Jacob free mercy was previous to any good on his part. — Ed. in the person of their father Jacob, by the gratuitous mercy of God. The first history is indeed referred to for this end, that the posterity of Jacob might understand that they had been elected by God before they were born. For Jacob did not, by choice or design, lay hold on the heel of his brother in his mother’s womb; but it was an extraordinary thing. It was then God who guided the hand of the infant, and by this sign testified his adoption to be gratuitous. In short, by saying that Jacob held the foot of his brother in his mother’s womb, the same thing is intended, as if God had reminded the Israelites, that they did not excel other people by their own virtue or that of their parents; but that God of his own good pleasure had chosen them. The same is alleged against them by Malachi,

‘Were not Jacob and Esau brethren? Yet Jacob I loved, and Esau I regarded with hatred,’ (Malachi 1:2,3.)

For we know wish what haughtiness this nation has ever exalted itself. “But whence have ye arisen? Look back to your origin: ye are indeed the children of Abraham and Isaac. In what then do ye differ from the Idumeans? They have certainly been begotten by Esau; and Esau was the son of Isaac and the brother of Jacob, and indeed the first-born. Ye then do not excel as to any dignity that may exist in you. Own then your origin, and know that whatever excellency may be in you proceeds from the mere favour of God, and this ought to bind you more and more to him. Whence then is this pride?”

Even thus does our Prophet now speak, Jacob held the foot of his brother in his mother’s womb; that is, “You have a near relationship with Esau and his posterity; but they are detested by you. Whence is this? Is it for some merit of your own? Boast when you can show that any thing has proceeded from you which could gain favour before God. Nay, your father Jacob, a most holy man indeed, while yet in his mother’s womb, laid hold on the foot of his brother Esau; that is, when he became superior to his brother and gained primogeniture, he was not grown up, and could do nothing by his own choice or power, for he was then inclosed in his mother’s womb, and had no worthiness, no merit. Your ingratitude is now then the more base, for God had put you under obligations to him before ye were born; in the person of the holy patriarch he chose you for his possession. But now, having forsaken him, and relinquished the worship which he has taught in his law, ye abandon yourselves to idols and impious superstitions. Bring now your pretences by which ye cover your impiety! Is not your baseness so gross and palpable, that you ought to be ashamed of it?” We now then understand the end for which the Prophet said that Esau’s foot was laid hold on by Jacob in his mother’s womb

Moreover, this passage clearly shows that men do not gain the favour of God by their free-will, but are chosen by his goodness alone before they are born, and chosen, not on account of works, as the Papists imagine, who concede some election to God, but think that it depends on future works. But if it be so, the charge of the Prophet was frigid and jejune. Now since God through his good pleasure alone anticipates men, and adopts those whom he pleases, not on account of works, but through his own mercy, it hence follows that those who have been chosen are more bound to him, and that they are less excusable when they reject the favour offered to them.

But here someone may object and say, that it is strange that the posterity of Jacob should be said to have been elected in his person, and yet they had in the meantime departed from God; for the election of God in this case would not be sure and permanent; and we know that whom God elects he also justifies, and their salvation is so secured, that none of them can perish; all the elect are also delivered to Christ as their preserver, that he may keep them by his divine power, which is invincible, as John teaches in chapter 10. John 10:25-30. — fj. What then does this mean? Now we know, and it has been before stated, that the election of God as to that people was twofold; for the one was general, and the other special. The election of holy Jacob was special, for he was really one of the children of God; special also was the election of those who are called by Paul the children of the promise, (Romans 9:8.) There was another, a general election; for he received his whole seed into his faith, and offered to all his covenant. At the same time, they were not all regenerated, they were not all gifted with the Spirit of adoption. This general election was not then efficacious in all. Solved now is the matter in debate, that no one of the elect shall perish; for the whole people were not elected in a special manner; but God knew whom he had chosen out of that people; and them he endued, as we have said, with the Spirit of adoption, and supplied with his own grace, that they might never fall away. Others were indeed chosen in a certain way, that is, God offered to them the covenant of salvation; but yet through their ingratitude they caused God to reject them, and to disown them as children.

But the Prophet subjoins, that Jacob by his strength had power with God, and had prevailed also with the angel He reproaches here the Israelites for making a false claim to the name of Jacob, since they had nothing in common with him, but had shamefully departed from his example. He had then power with the angel and with God himself; and he prevailed over the angel. But what sort of persons were they? As the heathen Poets called the Romans, when they became degenerated and effeminate, Romulidians, and said that they had sprung from those remarkable and illustrious heroes, whose prowesses were then well known, and for the same reason called them Scipiadians; so also the Prophet says, “Come now, ye children of Jacob, what sort of men are ye? He was endued with a heroic, yea, with an angelic power, and even more than angelic; for he wrestled with God and gained the victory: but ye are the slaves of idols; the devil retains you devoted to himself; ye are, as it were, in a bawdy house; for what else is your temple but a brothel? And then ye are like adulterers, and daily commit adultery with your idols. Your abominations, what are they but filthy chains, and which grove that there is no knowledge and no heart in you? For you must have been fascinated, when ye forsook God and adopted new and profane modes of worship.” This difference between the holy patriarch Jacob and his posterity must be marked, otherwise we shall not understand the object of the Prophet; and it will avail but little to collect various opinions, except first we know what the Prophet meant, and what was the purport of this upbraiding, and of this narrative, that Jacob had power with God and the angel.

But it must be noticed, that God and angel are here mentioned in the same sense; we may, indeed, render it angel in both places; for אלהים, Aleim, as well as מלאך, melac, signifies an angel. But, however, every doubt is removed by the Prophet, when he at last adds, Jehovah, God of hosts, Jehovah is his name, for here the Prophet expressly mentions the essential name of God, by which he testifies, that the same was the eternal and the only true God, who yet was at the same time an angel. But it may be asked, How was he the eternal God, and at the same time an angel? It occurs, indeed, so frequently in Scripture, that it must be well known to us, that when the Lord appeared by his angel, the name of Jehovah was given to them, not indeed to all the angels indiscriminately but to the chief angel, by whom God manifested himself. This, as I have said, must be well known to us. It then follows that this angel was truly and essentially God. But this would not strictly apply to God, except there be some distinction of persons. There must then be some person in the Deity, to which this name and title of an angel can apply; for if we take the name, God, without difference or distinction, and regard it as denoting his essence, it would certainly be inconsistent to say, that he is God and an angel too; but when we distinguish persons in the Deity, there is no inconsistency. How so? Because Christ, the eternal Wisdom of God, did put on the character of a Mediator, before he put on our flesh. He was therefore then a Mediator, and in that capacity he was also an angel. He was at the same time Jehovah, who is now God manifested in the flesh.

But we must, on the other hand, refute the delirium, or the diabolical madness of that caviller, Servetus, who imagined that Christ was from the beginning an angel, as if he was a phantom, and a distinct person, having an essence apart from the Father; for he says, that he was formed from three untreated elements. This diabolical conceit ought to be wholly discarded by us. But Christ, though he was God, was also a Mediator; and as a Mediator, he is rightly and fitly called the angel or the messenger of God, for he has of his own accord placed himself between the Father and men.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that inasmuch as thou showest thyself to us at this day so kindly as a Father, having presented to us a singular and an invaluable pledge of thy favour in thy only begotten Son, — O grant, that we may entirely devote ourselves to thee, and truly render thee that free service and obedience which is due to a Father, so that we may have no other object in life but to confirm that adoption, with which thou hast once favoured us, until we at length, being gathered into thy eternal kingdom, shall partake of its fruit, together with Christ Jesus thy Son. Amen.

Lecture Thirty-second

Yesterday we explained how it seemed proper to call him who appeared to holy Jacob in Bethel both God and an angel; for the name, Jehovah by which is expressed the eternal power, essence, and majesty of God, could not be transferred to a mere angel. It is hence certain that he was the only true God. But it could not be, that he was simply and without any distinction called an angel; but as Christ even then sustained the character of a Mediator, he was not inconsistently called an angel; and yet we know that he is the eternal God. So this passage is worthy of being remembered, as it bears testimony to the divinity of Christ; for the Prophet clearly affirms that he is Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth, and that he is so by his own power; and that he does not subsist in another, as all creatures do. Since then he is so, his sovereignty is proved, so that he is not inferior to the Father.

But he says, that this is his memorial, or remembrance. This expression has reference to men; the Prophet then means, that this wonderful and magnificent name would be well known in the world, when Christ should be revealed. The people, indeed, even then acknowledged that the true God appeared to their father Jacob; but the knowledge of a Mediator was hitherto obscure. The Prophet then seems to have respect here to the coming of Christ; as though he said, that the name, Jehovah, would be widely known to all, when the Mediator would be more clearly exhibited. But I will come now to the other parts of the passage.

The Prophet says that he was a prince, or had power, by his strength with God. What this saying imports, I shall shortly explain. The name, Israel, was given to Jacob, because of the victory he obtained in that noble wrestling, of which mention is made in Genesis 32: Genesis 32:24-30. — fj. for the holy man had not a contest with a mortal being, but with God himself; and he overcame in that combat, and is hence called the conqueror of God. As this mode of speaking is harsh, some have endeavoured by a comment to turn it to something more moderate, that is, that Jacob was a prince with God, meaning, that God approved of his unwonted courage. But God meant to express something more, when he gave this name to his servant; for he confessed that he gave way, being, as it were, overcome, and yielded the palm of victory to holy Jacob. And this ought not to appear strange to us; for we know that whenever God proves our faith, and tries us by temptations, these are so many combats by which he contends with us; for he seeks to find out what is the strength of our faith. Now? when we are said to wrestle with God, and the issue of the contest be such, that God leaves the victory to us, we are not then improperly called conquerors, yea, even of God himself. But how? Because God works wonderfully in his saints, so that by his own power he casts down himself; and while he wrestles with us, he supplies us with strength, by which we are enabled to bear the weight and pressure of the contest. Were God to assail us, what would he find but weakness? But when he calls us to the struggle, he at the same time supplies us with the necessary arms.

And it is a wonderful marshalling of the contest, when God on one side makes himself an antagonist, and, on the other, fights in us against his own temptations, or against all those wrestlings by which he tries our faith. Hence God is said to be overcome by us, when, by the power and aid of his own Spirit, he strengthens and renders us unconquerable; yea, when he makes us to triumph over temptations, and when we consider everything, such is the state of the case, that God will have the greater portion of strength to be on our side, and that he only takes the weaker portion to tempt and try us. There is not indeed, in this case, to be imagined by us, any such separation, as if God was divided against himself; but we know, that when he tries our faith, he comes forth as if he were a contender, or as if he challenged us to the contest. This is indeed certain. For what are temptations, or what is their object, but to afford us an occasion to exhibit, as on a field of battle, an example and proof of our strength and firmness? But this could not be done without an adversary; for what advantage would it be to fight with a shadow? or when no one engages with us? Hence God is like an adversary whenever he tries our faith; and, as it has been said before, we have this contest not with men, but with God himself. We have indeed to contend with the devil; for Paul says, that we have to fight not (only) with flesh and blood, but with mighty powers, (Ephesians 6:12.) This is doubtless true; but the Lord, at the same time, holds the first place, as that remarkable passage in Job testified, ‘The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away,’ (Job 1:21.) So, then, we must engage with God himself. How so? Because he tries and proves us. But he does not tempt us, as James says, (James 1:13,14;) for a person is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust. He does not tempt us to evil; he does not instil into us corrupt desires, which grow up spontaneously, and which are innate in our nature: but he tempts, that is, proves us, as he is said to have tempted Abraham, (Genesis 22:1.)

Since it is so, we must now wrestle with God; but for what end? That we may conquer: for God intends not to overwhelm us, while he is making known our faith and constancy of obedience; but, on the contrary, he builds a theatre, on which to show his gifts. We therefore come to the struggle with the hope of overcoming. That we may overcome, he, as I have said, not only exhorts us to be strong, but supplies us also with arms, endues us with strength, and also fights himself, in a manner, with us, and is powerful in us, and enables us to overcome our temptations. For this reason, Jacob is said to have power with God, or to have been God’s conqueror.

But what the Prophet adds may seem strange, that this was done by his strength. He had power with God, he says, by his own strength. But if Israel had fought by his own valour, he could not have borne even the shadow of God, for he must have fallen. He must have been brought to nothing, had he not power greater than that of man. What, then, does this mean, that he was a conqueror by his own strength? We grant, that this strength, of which the Prophet speaks, may be ascribed to holy Jacob when he gained dominion. There is no better title, as they commonly say, than that of donation; and God is wont to transfer to us whatever he bestows, as if it were our own. It is then necessary to distinguish wisely here between the strength which man has in himself, and that which God confers on him. The Papists, as soon as any mention is made of the strength or power of man, instantly lay hold on it, and say, “If there is no freewill in man, there is no strength, or there is no power to resist.” But they betray their own stupidity and thoughtlessness, inasmuch as they cannot distinguish between the intrinsic strength which is in man himself by nature, and the adventitious strength with which God endues men, and which is the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the Prophet, when he here commends the strength of holy Jacob, does not extol his free-will, as though he derived strength from himself, by which he overcame God; but he means that he was divinely endued with unconquerable power, so that he came forth a conqueror in the contest. We now then apprehend the meaning of the Prophet.

And since this was especially worthy of being remembered, he repeats, that he had power with the angel, and prevailed. But we have already said how Jacob prevailed not indeed of himself, but because God had so distributed his power, that the greater part was in Jacob himself. I am therefore wont, when I speak of the wrestling and of the daily contests with which God exercises the godly, to adduce this similitude, — That God fights with us with his left hand, and defends us with his right hand, that is, he assails us in a weak manner, (so to speak,) and at the same time stretches forth his right hand to defend us: he displays, in the latter instance, his greater power, that we may become victorious in the struggle. And this mode of speaking, though at the first view it seems harsh, does yet wonderfully set forth the grace and goodness of God, inasmuch as he deigns to humble himself for our sake, so as to choose to concede to us the praise of victory; not indeed that we may become proud of ourselves, but that he may be thus more glorified, when he prefers exercising his power in defending us rather than in overwhelming us, which he could do with one breath of his mouth. For he has no need of making any effort to reduce us to nothing: if he only chooses to blow on the whole human race, the whole world would in a moment be extinguished. But the Lord fights with us, and at the same time suffers us not to be crushed; nay, he raises us up on high, and, as I have already said, concedes to us the victory. Let us now go on.

The Prophet adds, that he wept and entreated: He wept, he says, and made supplication unto him Some explain this clause of the angel; but I know not whether weeping was suitable to him. The saying may be indeed defended that the angel was as it were a suppliant, when he yielded up the conquest to the holy man; for it was the same as though he who owns himself unequal in a contest were to throw himself on the ground. Then they explain weeping thus, “The angel entreated the patriarch when he said, ‘Let me go;’ and this was a confession of victory.” The sense would then be, that the patriarch Jacob did not gain any ordinary thing when he came forth a conqueror in the struggle; for God was in a manner the suppliant, for he conceded to him the name and praise of a conqueror. But I prefer explaining this of the patriarch, and to do so is, in my judgement, more suitable. It is not indeed said that Jacob wept; that is, it is not, I own, stated distinctly and expressly by Moses; but weeping may be taken for that humility which the faithful ever bring to the presence of God: and then weeping was meet for the patriarch; for he so gained the victory in the combat, that he did not depart without grief and loss, inasmuch as we know that his leg was put out of joint, and that his thigh was dislocated so that he was lame all his life. Jacob then obtained the victory, and there triumphed with God’s approbation: but yet he departed not whole, for God had left him lame. He felt then no small grief, since this weakness in his body continued through life. Hence weeping did not ill become the holy man, who was humbled in the struggle, though he carried away the palm of victory.

And this ought to be carefully noticed; for here the Prophet meets all calumnies, when he so moderates the sentence, that he takes away nothing from God and his glory, though he thus splendidly adorns the victory of the patriarch. He was then a prince with God; he prevailed also, he became a conqueror, — but how? He yet wept and entreated him; which means, that there was no cause for pride that he carried away the palm of victory from the contest, but that God led him to humility even by the dislocation of his thigh or leg: and so he entreated him. The praying of Jacob is related by Moses, which he made, when he asked to be blessed. But the less, as the Apostle says, is blessed by the greater, (Hebrews 7:7.) Then Jacob did not exalt himself, as blind men do, who claim merit to themselves; but he prayed to God, and asked to be blessed by Him, who owned himself to be overcome. And this ought to be carefully observed, especially the additional circumstance; for we hence learn that there is no cause why they who are proved by temptations should flee away from God, though our flesh indeed seeks ease, and desires to be spared.

But when a temptation is at hand, we withdraw ourselves, and there is no one who would not gladly make a truce, and also hide himself at a distance from the presence of God. Inasmuch then as we desire God to be far from us, when he comes forth as an antagonist to try our faith, this praying of Jacob ought to be remembered; for though he had his leg disjointed, though he was worn out with weariness, he did not yet withdraw himself, he did not wish the departure of the angel, but retained him as it were by force: “Thou shalt bless me; I would rather contend with thee, and be wholly consumed, than to let thee go before thou blesses me.” We hence see that we ought to seek the presence of God; though he may severely try us, though we may suffer much, though our strength fail, though we may be made lame through life, we ought not yet to shun the presence of God, but rather embrace him with both arms, and retain him as it were by force; for it is much better to groan under our burden, and to feel his power who is above us, than to continue free from toil, and to rot in our pleasures, as they do whom God forsakes. And we see how much such an indulgence ought to be dreaded by us; for unless we are daily sharpened by various temptations, we immediately gather rust and other evils. It is therefore necessary, in order that we may continue in a sound state, that our contests should be daily renewed: and hence I have said, that we ought to seek the presence of God, however severe the wresting may be.

It follows, He found him in Bethel To remove every ambiguity, I would render it, “In Bethel he had found him.” It is indeed a verb in the future tense; but it is certain that the Prophet speaks of the past. But when we take the past tense, ambiguity in the language still remains; for some thus understand the place, that God had afterwards found Jacob in Bethel, or, that Jacob had found God; that is, when the name of Israel was confirmed to him, after the destruction of the town of Sichem; for, to console his grief, God appeared to him there again. They then explain this of a second vision in that place. But it seems to me that the Prophet had another thing in view, even this, that God had already found Jacob in Bethel, that he had met him when he fled to Syria, and went away through the fear of his brother. It was then for the first time that God appeared to his servant, and exhorted him to faithfulness: he promised to him a safe return to his own country. The Prophet then means, that Jacob gained the victory, because God had long before began to embrace him in his love, and also testified his love when he had manifested himself to him in Bethel. Hence he found him in Bethel. This might indeed be referred to Jacob, “He found him in Bethel;” that is, he found God. But as it is immediately added, There he spake with us, and as this cannot be applied to any other than to God himself, I am inclined to add also, that God had found Jacob in Bethel. And the Prophet commends to us again the gratuitous goodness of God towards Jacob, because he deigned to meet him on his way, and to show that he was the leader of Jacob on his journey: for he did not think previously that God was nigh him, as he says himself,

‘This is the house of God, and the gate of heaven, and I knew it not,’ (Genesis 28:16,17.)

When therefore the holy man thought himself to be as it were cast away by God, and destitute of all aid, when he was alone and without any hope, God is said to have found him; for of his own good will he presented himself to him, when the holy man hoped no such thing, nor conceived such a thing in his mind. Hence God had already found his servant in Bethel; and there he spake, or (that the same strain may be continued) had spoken to him.

There he had spoken with us. Some take עמנו, omnu, for עמו, omu This is an instance in which critics, from not understanding the drift of a passage, have suggested emendations, which seem plausible, and yet take away an important meaning, as we shall see in the present case, from Calvin’s explanation. Horsley takes the same view with Calvin, though Newcome does not. — Ed. , he had spoken with him; and they do this, being forced by necessity; for they find no sense in the words that God spake with us in Bethel. But there is no need to change the words contrary to rules of grammar. Others who dare not to depart from the words of the Prophet, imagine a sense wholly different. Some say, “He spake with us there;” that is, “The Lord speaks by me, Hosea, and by Amos, who is my colleague and friend: for we denounce on you, by his authority, utter ruin and destruction; and God has made known to us at Bethel whatever we bring to you.” But how strained is this, all must see: this is to wrest Scripture, and not to explain it. Others also speak still more frigidly: “There he spake with us,” as though the angel had said, “Wait, the Lord will speak with us; I have called thee Israel, but the Lord will at length come, who will ratify what I now say to thee:” as if he was not indeed the eternal God; but this he immediately expresses when he says Jehovah is his memorial, Jehovah of hosts But thus the Jews trifle, who are like irrational beings whenever there is a reference made to Christ.

There does not seem, however, to be any great reason why we should toil much about the Prophet’s words: and some even of the Rabbis (not to deprive them of their just praise) have observed this to be the meaning, That the Lord had so spoken with Jacob, that what he said belonged to the whole people. For doubtless whatever God then promised to his servant appertained to the whole body of the people, and all his posterity. Why then do interpreters so greatly torment themselves, when it is evident that God spake through the person of one man with all the posterity of Abraham? And this agrees best with the context; for the Prophet now applies, so to speak, to the whole people what he had hitherto recorded of the patriarch Jacob. That they might not then think that the history of one man was related, he says that it belongs to all. How so? Because the Lord had so spoken with holy Jacob, that his voice ought to resound in the ears of all. For what was said to the holy man? Did God only reveal himself to him? Did he promise to be a Father only to him? Nay, he adopted his whole seed, and extended his favour to all his posterity. Since then he had so spoken to all the Israelites, they ought now to be more ashamed of their defection, inasmuch as they had so much degenerated from their father, with whom they were yet connected. For there was a sacred bond of unity between Jacob and his children, since God embraced them all in his love, and favoured them all with his adoption. We now perceive the mind of the Prophet. Let us proceed —

Hosea 12:6-7

6. Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgement, and wait on thy God continually.

6. Et tu ad Deum tuum convertere; bonitatem et judicium custodi; et spera in Deo tuo semper.

7. He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.

7. Chanaan! In manu ejus statera fraudis (vel, dolosa;) praedari diligit.

The Prophet is now here urgent on the people. Having referred to the example of the patriarch, he shows how unlike him were his posterity, with whom God could avail nothing by sound teaching, though he was constantly solicitous for their salvation, and stirred up his Prophets to bring back the lost and scattered to the way of safety. Since then it was so, the Prophet accuses them of ingratitude. But he speaks first of repentance; and then he shows that he and other ministers of God had laboured in vain; for such was the perversity of the people, that teaching had no effect. His sermon is short, but yet it contains much.

Turn, he says, to thy God. He glances here at the apostasy of the people, by bidding them to turn to their God, and, at the same time, condemns whatever the Israelites were wont to set up as a defence, when the Prophets reproved them. For they wished their own fictitious modes of worship to come in as a reason; they wished the gods devised by themselves to occupy the place of the true God. The Prophet cuts off the handle from subterfuges of this kind by commanding the people to turn to their God. “Why,” he says, “you do indeed worship gods, and greatly weary yourselves in your superstitions; but confess that you are apostates, who have rejected the law delivered to you by the true God. Return, then, to your God.” And he calls God the God of Israel, not to honour them, but to-reproach them, because they had willingly and designedly cast off the worship of the true God, who had made himself known to them.

There is afterwards shown the true way of repentance. The beginning of the verse, as I have already said, requires the people to repent; but as we know that men trifle with God when they are called to repentance, it is not in vain that a definitive, or, at least, a short description of repentance, is added by which is made evident what it is to repent, or to turn to God. Then the Prophet says, — Keep mercy, or kindness and judgement He begins with the second table, and then he adds piety towards God. But he lays down two things only, in which he included the whole teaching of the second table. For what is God’s design, from the fifth to the last commandment, but to teach us to shape our life according to the rule of love? We are then taught in the second table of the law how we ought to act towards our brethren; or if one wishes to have a shorter summary, in the second table of the law are shown the mutual duties of men. But the Prophet begins here with the second part of the law; for the Prophets are not wont strictly to observe order, Nor do they always observe a regular method; but it is enough with them to mention the main things by which they explain their subject; and hence, it is no wonder that the Prophet here, according to his usual manner, mentions love in the first place, and then goes on to the worship of God. This order, as I have said, is not indeed either natural or legitimate; but this is of no importance; nay, it was not without the best reason that the Prophets usually did this; for repentance is better tested by the observance of the second table, than by that of divine worship. For as hypocrites dissemble, and hide themselves with wonderful coverings, the Lord applies a touchstone, and this he does whenever he draws them to the light, and exposes to public view their frauds, robberies, cruelty, perjuries, thefts, and such like vices. Since, then, hypocrites can be better convicted by the second table of the law, the Lord rightly appeals to this when he speaks of repentance; as though he said, “Let it now be made evident what your repentance is, whether it be feigned or sincere; for if you act justly and uprightly towards your neighbours, if you observe equity and rectitude, it is a sure evidence of your repentance.”

At the same time, the Prophet overlooks not the worship of God; for he adds, — Hope always in thy God By the word, hope, he first requires faith, and then prayer, which arises from it, and thanksgiving, which necessarily follows. Thus the whole worship of God is briefly included, as a part for the whole, in the word, hope. The meaning of the Prophet then is, that Israel, forsaking their own superstitions, should recumb on the one true God, and place all their salvation on him, that they should fly to him, and ascribe to him alone the praise due for all blessings. By so doing, they would restore the pure worship of God, and cast away all their adulterous superstitions. He had spoken already of the second table of the law.

We hence see that repentance is nothing else but a reformation of the whole life according to the law of God. For God has explained his will in his law; and as much as we depart or deviate from it, so much we depart from the Lord. But when we turn to God, the true proof is, when we amend our life according to his law, and begin with worshipping him spiritually, the main part of which worship is faith, from which proceeds prayer; and when, in addition to this, we act kindly and justly towards our neighbours, and abstain from all injuries, frauds, robberies, and all kinds of wickedness. This is the true evidence of repentance.

But while the Prophet exhorted the Israelites to repentance, he adds, that such was their perverseness, that it was done without any fruit. Canaan! he says; I read this by itself; for what some consider to be understood is frigid, as, “He was assimilated to, or was like Canaan, in whose hand,” etc.. But, on the contrary, the Prophet here condemns the Israelites by one word; as though he said, that they were wholly aliens, and unworthy to be called the children of Abraham. And thus what we say is often abrupt, when we speak indignantly. The Prophet then calls them “Canaan” through indignation; which means this, “Ye are not the children of Abraham; ye falsely boast of his name, which cannot be suitable to you; for ye are Canaan.”

He afterwards adds In his hand is the balance of fraud, he loves to plunder, or to spoil. Literally it is, he loves to spoil. But the sense is clear, that they loved to plunder; that is, they were carried away with all greediness to acts of robbery. It must first be noticed, that the Prophet here exposes to infamy the carnal descendants of Abraham by calling them Canaan, and this imputation is often to be met with in the Prophets. And the reason why they were thus addressed was, that these senseless men were wont proudly to set up as their shield the distinction of their race. “What! we are a holy people.” Since by this pretence they rejected all the warnings of the Prophets, God casts back this reproach, “Ye are not the children of Abraham; but ye are Canaan:” as though he said, “Nothing in that nation has as yet changed, the Israelites are always like themselves.” The Lord had once cleansed the land of godless men: but when the descendants of Abraham became like the Canaanites, they were called the seed of Canaan; as though the same nation, which was there formerly, had still remained; for there was no difference in their manners, for they were equal or the same in depravity.

But the reason follows why he calls them the race of Canaan even because they carried in their hand a deceitful balance, and devoted themselves with all avidity to plunder. The deceitful balance may be extended to their dissimulations, fallacies, and falsehoods, by which God, as he had before complained, was surrounded; but as it immediately follows, He loves robberies, I prefer to understand here those two modes of doing injury which include almost every kind of wickedness; for men either craftily defraud when they injure others, or they do harm to their neighbours by open force. Since, then, they who wrong their neighbours do either openly injure them, or circumvent the simple by their frauds and crafty dealings, Hosea lays down here, in the first place, the deceitful balance, and then he adds their greediness in spoiling or plundering. It is then the same as if he had said that they were fraudulent, and that they were also robbers who proceeded with open violence. He means that they were, without law or any restraint, addicted to acts of wrong and injustice, and were so intent on doing mischief, as to do it either by craft or by open force. There is then no wonder that they were called an uncircumcised race. Why? Because they had nothing to do with God, inasmuch as they had thus departed from his law; yea, they abhorred kindness and mercy. It also follows that they were void of all piety, since they were thus unmindful of all equity towards their neighbours. This is the meaning.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that as thou appearest not now to us in shadows and types, as formerly to the holy fathers, but clearly and plainly in thy only-begotten Son, — O grant, that we may be wholly given to the contemplation of thine image, which thus shines before us; and that we may in such a manner be transformed into it, as to make increasing advances, until at length, having put off all the filth of our flesh, we be fully conformed to that pure and perfect holiness which dwells in Christ, as in him dwells the fulness of all blessings and thus obtain at last a participation of that glory which our Lord has procured for us by his resurrection. Amen.

Lecture Thirty-third

Hosea 12:8

8. And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.

8. Et dixit Ephraim, Attamen ditatus sum; inveni opes mihi: in omnibus laboribus meis non invenient mihi iniquitatem, quia scelus (vel, piaculum.)

Here God complains by his Prophet, that the Israelites flattered themselves in their vices, because their affairs succeeded prosperously and according to their wishes: and it is a vice too common, that men felicitate themselves as long as fortune, as they commonly say, smiles on them, thinking that they have God then propitious to them. Since then the condition of the people was such, they despised all the Prophets and their reproofs. Of this hardihood the Lord now complains. Ephraim has said I am yet become rich There is an emphasis to be noticed in the adversative particle אך“ach”. It is sometimes in Hebrew a simple affirmative; but here the Prophet meant to express another thing, even this, that the Israelites laughed at all reproofs, because God seemed to be propitious to them, as though he manifested his favour by prosperity. “I am, however, become rich; and therefore I care nothing for what the Prophets may say, for I am contented with my lot.” This, as I have said, is a common evil; and hence this passage ought to be carefully noted, lest when the Lord spares us for a time, we may think that we are innocent before him; for there is nothing more to be feared than the dazzling of our eyes by a prosperous and desirable state of things. Though the Lord then may bear with us, and not immediately draw forth his vengeance against us, but, on the contrary, cherish us as it were kindly in his bosom; yet if he reproves us by his word, we ought to attend to his threatenings.

But they further add, All my labours shall not find iniquity, or, they shall not find iniquity in all my labours. Many read simply as the words are, “My labours shall not find iniquity:” but as the expression seems stiff, I have tried to render it smoother, as others also have done, “They shall not find iniquity in all my labours.” This boasting went farther, for the Prophet shows that the people were not only secure, because the Lord gave them some tokens of his paternal favour; but that they were also inebriated with this impious confidence, that God would not have favoured them had they not been exempt from every fault and vice: and this second clause ought to be carefully noticed. Now it is a depravity that is by no means to be endured, when men begin to despise God, because he deals kindly with them, and when they abuse his levity so as to condemn all his teaching and all his threatening; this is indeed a very great perversion: but when to all this is added such a pride, that ungodly and reprobate men persuade themselves that they are just, because God does not immediately punish them, — this is, as it were, a diabolical madness; and yet we see that it is a common thing. For godless men are not only proud of their wealth, they are not only inflated with their own power; but they also think that God is in some way under obligations to them. “Why! it must be that God regards me innocent, and pure from every vice, for he favours me: he then does not find in me what is worthy of punishment.” Thus the wicked raise up their horns against God, while he indulges them, and appears not so severe towards them as they have deserved.

When at the present day we perceive these evils prevailing among the greater portion of mankind, there is no reason to feel astonished: but we ought at the same time to profit by the instruction of the Prophet, so that we may not be blinded by prosperity, and despise reproofs, and flatter ourselves in our sin; and also, that we may not accumulate for ourselves a store of God’s wrath, when he deals kindly with us. Let us not then abuse his forbearance; let us not think that we are innocent before him, because he does not immediately execute his judgements; but let us rather learn to make a scrutiny of ourselves, and to shake off our vices, so that we may humble ourselves under his hand, though he restrains himself from inflicting punishment. This is the application of the present doctrine.

But we must notice what the Prophet adds, They shall not find iniquity in my labours; that is, iniquity shall not be found in my labours, because this is wickedness or a crime requiring expiation. I wonder that interpreters explain this place so frigidly; for they say, that there shall not be found in my labours iniquity or sin. But the Prophet does not set down a copulative, but uses the particle אשר, asher, which is to be taken here exegetically. And the meaning is, that hypocrites, while they claim to themselves the praise of innocence, for the sake of dissembling, detest ostensibly every wickedness and crime. “Iniquity shall not be found in my labours, for this is wickedness; far be it that I should be discovered to be a wicked person in my doings; for I am without fraud in all my dealings.” But is this the case? By no means; but as they judge of God’s favour by prosperous fortune, they think that God would not be so kind to them unless he regarded them as just and pure. Hence we see how securely hypocrites mock God, when they begin to despise his teaching and warnings. We need not then wonder that at this day so much perverseness prevails everywhere in the world. But let us also use this mode of teaching which the Prophet sets before us. Let us now proceed —

Hosea 12:9

9. And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.

9. Ego autem Jehova Deus tuus a terra Aegypti: habitare te faciam in tabernaculis, sicut diebus conventus.

In the first clause God reproaches the Israelites for having forgotten the benefit of his redemption, the memory of which ought ever to have prevailed and flourished among them. I yet, he says, am thy God from the land of Egypt; that is, “It is strange that you are so forgetful that your redemption does not come to your mind, which yet ought to be well known, and be ever, as it were, before your eyes.” That was, as we know, a memorable instance of God’s kindness. But when he says that he is the God of that people from the land of Egypt, he points out the end of redemption, as though he said, “I redeemed thee for this end, that thou mightest be forever bound to me.” For we know that when he delivered that people from their cruel tyranny, he at the same time acquired for himself an eternal kingdom; he was then sanctified in his elect people. The end of redemption is then to be observed in the words of the Prophet, “I am,” he says, “thy God from the land of Egypt; how otherwise couldest thou have come forth from thy grave?” For they were like the dead, when God stretched out his hand to them. From the land of Egypt then I am thy God, which means this: “Since thou hast been so wonderfully restored from death to life by my favour, am not I thy God from that day? Thou owest then thyself and all thine to me; for I purchased thee for myself as a peculiar possession. When now thou detest petulantly to reject my Prophets, who speak in my name, it is surely an ingratitude not to be endured, that thou forgettest thy redemptions and the end for which I made known to thee my power and grace.”

But as to the second clause, interpreters vary; some explain it in this way, that God would not cease to show mercy to the Israelites, however unworthy they were, I will make thee to dwell in thy tabernacles; and they take tabernacles, not strictly proper, for houses. Then they say, according to the days of Moed, that is, of ancient agreement, or, according to appointed days; for God had promised to give the land of Canaan to the posterity of Abraham for their perpetual rest. But this exposition seems not suitable. Others say, that the Israelites are here reproved, because they neglected the command of God, who had instituted a festal-day, on which they were to commemorate yearly their redemption. We indeed know that there was the annual feast of tabernacles: so they think the meaning of the Prophet to be this “I not only once redeemed thee, but I also wished that there should be a memorial of this favour; and for what purpose have I commanded you to keep a yearly festival, except that ye might retain in your memory what otherwise might have been forgotten? But I have effected nothing by this rite, for I am now rejected, and my prophets possess no authority among you.” But this sense also is frigid. Some think that the Prophet here threatens the Israelites, as though he said, “God will again drive you out, that you may dwell in tents as you did formerly in the desert.” Though I do not reject this opinion, yet I think there is something more emphatical in the Prophet’s words, that is, that God here says in an indirect way, that there was need of a new redemption, that he might bind the people more to himself; as though he said, “I see that you are unmindful of my former redemption; for I see that you esteem it as nothing, as if it were obsolete; I must then lose all my labour, except the memory of my ancient favour be renewed: I will therefore make thee to dwell again in tents. It is necessary to eject thee again from thy heritage, and to restore thee again, and that in a manner unusual and least expected, that thou mayest understand that I am thy Redeemer.

We now then apprehend what the Prophet meant. After God had said that he was the God of Israel from the land of Egypt, he then adds, “Inasmuch as your former redemption has lost all its influence through your wicked forgetfulness, I will become again your Redeemer; I will therefore make thee to abide or dwell in tents as formerly; as your first redemption avails nothing, I will add a second, that you may at length repent, and know how much you are indebted to me.” The days of Moed he takes for their manner of proceeding in the desert as described by Moses; for they assembled together for sacrifices from their camps. Hence God does not speak here of the convention he had made with his people, as if he pointed out some perpetual compact; but he calls those the days of Moed on which the Israelites were assembled, when they were located in their camps according to the account given by Moses. It now follows —

Hosea 12:10

10. I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.

10. Et locutus sum super Prophetas, et ego visionem multiplicavi, et in manu Prophetarum assimilavi (vel, similitudines posui.)

The Prophet amplifies the sin of the people in having always obstinately opposed God, so that they were without any pretext of ignorance: for men, we know, evade God’s dreadful judgement as long as they can plead either ignorance or thoughtlessness. The Prophet denies that the people had fallen through want of information, for they had been often, nay, continually warned by the Prophets. It then appears that this people were become, as it were, wilfully rebellious against God; for they had ever despised the Prophets, not once or twice, but when the Lord sent them in succession: I have spoken, he says, upon my prophets, or, by my Prophets; for על, ol, is variously taken: ‘I have spoken upon my Prophets,’ that is, I have deposited with them the doctrine which ought to have restored you to the right way; and not only so, but I have multiplied visions; it has not been in one way that I have tried to gather you, but I have accumulated many visions: and then he says, In the hand of Prophets I have placed similitudes; that is, I have endeavoured in every way possible to restore you to a sound mind; for God speaks after the manner of men. He might indeed, if he chose, effect this by the secret movement of his Spirit; but it is enough to take away every excuse from men to allege the fact, that they obey not the word, and offer not themselves to God as submissive and teachable, when he by his Prophets cohorts them to repentance. It is then an enhancing of sin worthy of being noticed, when God remonstrates, and says, that he had uselessly spent all his efforts to collect the dispersed Israel, though he had constantly employed the labours of his Prophets.

But this reproach may be also applied to us at this day; yea, whatever the Prophet has hitherto said may justly be turned against us. For we see how the world hardens itself against all warnings; and we see also how long the Lord suspends his judgements, and tolerates men who scoff at his forbearance. Then the same depravity rages now in the world, which the Prophet describes in this place. Besides, God has not only redeemed us from Egypt, but from the lowest hell, and we know that we have been redeemed by Christ for this end, — that we may be wholly devoted to God; for Christ died and rose again for this purpose, — that he might be the Lord of the living and of the dead. But we see how much is the perverseness of men, and how with impunity they grow wanton against God. Who among us remember that they are no longer their own, because they have been purchased by the blood of Christ? Few think of this. And not only this only true and perpetual redemption ought to be kept in mind by us; for the Lord again redeemed us when we were sunk in the gulf of Popery; and daily also does he renew the same kindness towards us; and yet we are so forgetful, that often the grace of God is not remembered by us. We now see how necessary is this doctrine even for our age.

Besides, God, as I have already said, ceases not daily to stimulate and urge us; he multiplies prophecies and similitudes; that is, he in various ways accommodates himself to us; for by similitudes he means all forms of teaching. And doubtless we see that God in a manner transforms himself in his word, for he speaks not according to his own majesty, but as he sees to be suitable to our capacities and weakness; for the Scriptures set before us various representations, which show to us the face of God. Since God then thus accommodates himself to our rudeness, how great is our ingratitude, when no fruit follows? Let us then remember that the Prophet so reproved the men of his age, that he also speaks to us at this day. Let us now proceed —

Hosea 12:11

11. Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.

11. An in Gilead iniquitas? (vel, an Gilead coepit peccare?) certe vanitas (vel, mendacium) fuerunt in Gilgal (alii disjungunt istud בגלגל, ut contexant cum sequentibus) boves sacrificarunt, etiam altaria eorum sicut acervi super sulcos agrorum.

It is an ironical question, when the Prophet says, Is there iniquity in Gilead? and he laughs to scorn their madness who delighted themselves in vices so gross, when their worship was wholly spurious and degenerated. When they knew that they were perfidious towards God, and followed a worship alienated from his law, they yet were so perverse, that they proudly refused all admonitions. Since then they were blinded in their vices, the Prophet asks them ironically, Is there iniquity in Gilead? They are as yet doubtful, forsooth, whether they are guilty before God, whether they bear any blame. Surely, he says, they are vanity; that is, “How much soever they may seek specious pretences for themselves, and deny that they are conscious of doing wrong, and also introduce many reasons for doubt, that they may not be forced to own their sin, they yet, he says, are guilty of falsehood; all their glosses contain nothing solid, but they are mere disguises, which avail nothing before God.” We now then apprehend the meaning of the Prophet.

But there is no doubt but that he also condemns here their perverted worship, by which the Israelites at the same time thought that they rendered the best service to God. But obedience, we know, is better than all sacrifices. The Prophet then inveighs here against all fictitious modes of worship, devised without God against the authority of God’s law. But at the same time, as we have just hinted, he indirectly exposes their thoughtlessness for imagining themselves excusable, provided they set up their own good intention, as it is commonly done, and say, that they built altars with no other design than to make known everywhere the name of God, to preserve among themselves some tokens of religion. Since, then, they thus raised up a cloud of smoke to cover their impiety, the Prophet says, “They indeed still inquire, as of a doubtful thing, whether there is iniquity in Gilead; let them inquire and dispute; surely,” he says, “they are vain;” literally, surely they have been falsehood: but he means that they foolishly brought forward those frivolous excuses, by which they tried to escape the crime and its punishment. How was it that they were vain? Because God values his own law more than all the glosses of men, and he will have all men to obey, without dispute, his own word: but when they thus licentiously depart from his commandments, it is what he cannot endure. They are then false and deceive themselves, who think that their own inventions are of any value before God. He then lays down their crimes

In Gilgal, he says, have they sacrificed oxen Jerome translates, “They sacrifice to oxen,” and thinks that the Israelites are reprehended here for sacrificing to the calves: but this seems too remote from the words of the Prophet. The Prophet then mentions their sin — that they sacrificed oxen and multiplied altars. And yet it seemed to be a diligence worthy of praise, that they increased many altars, that they worshipped God everywhere, that they spared neither expense nor labour, that they were not content with few sacrifices, but added a great number; — all this seemed to deserve no common praise: but the Lord, as it has been already said, valued not these corrupt practices; for he would have himself to be alone worshipped by his people, and would have their piety to be attested by this single evidence — their obedience to his word. When we then turn aside from God’s word, nay, when we with loose reins abandon ourselves to new inventions, though we may plausibly profess that our object is to worship God, yet all this is a vain and fallacious pretence, as the Prophet here declares.

Jerome is mistaken in thinking that Gilgal was a town in the tribe of Judah; and the supposition cannot suit this place: for Judah, we know, was then free from those gross pollutions; Judah was not as yet polluted with the defilements which the Prophet here condemns in the kingdom of Israel. It is then certain, that Gilgal was a town of Israel; and we know that a celebrated temple and altar were there: hence he especially points out this place.

But he afterwards adds, Their altars are as heaps on the furrows of the field There was then we know, only one legitimate altar; and God would not have sacrifices offered to him, except in one place. Hence the more active the Israelites were in multiplying altars, the more they provoked the vengeance of God: how much soever it was their purpose to worship God, yet God spurned that foolish affectedness. We then see why the Prophet here compares the altars then erected in the kingdom of Israel to heaps of stones; as though he said “As one gathers stones into a heap, when the land is stony, that he may drive his plough more easily, so every one forms an altar for himself, as though he were raising up a hillock in his own field: thus it comes, that they perversely corrupt the pure and lawful worship which I have appointed.” We now then understand the meaning of the Prophet to be, that superstitious men gain nothing, when they boldly and openly boast that they worship God; for whatever disguise they may invent for themselves and others, the Lord yet abominates every thing that is contrary to his word: and our mode Of worshipping God is alone true and lawful, when we only follow what he prescribes, and allow to ourselves nothing but what is according to his command and appointment. This is the meaning. Let us proceed —

Hosea 12:12-13

12. And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep

12. Et fugit Jacob in agrum Syriae, et servivit Israel in uxore (hoc est, pro uxore,) et pro uxore custodivit (id est, custos fuit gregis.)

13. And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.

13. Et per Prophetam eduxit (ascendere fecit) Jehova Israelem ex Aegypto, et per Prophetam servatus est.

The Prophet now employs another kind of reproof, — that the Israelites did not consider from what source they had proceeded, and were forgetful of their origin. And the Prophet designedly touches on this point; for we know how boldly and proudly the people boasted of their own eminence. For as a heathen gloried that he was an Athenian, so also the Jews think that all we are brute animals, and imagine that they have a different origin from the rest of mankind, because they are the posterity of Abraham. Since then they were blinded by such a pride as this God meant to undeceive them, as he does here: “Jacob your father, who was he? What was his condition? What was his nobility? What was his power? What was his dignity and eminence according to the flesh? Yea, truly, he was a fugitive from his own country: had he always lived at home, his father was but a sojourner; but he was constrained to flee into Syria. And how splendidly did he live there? He was indeed with his uncle; but he was treated no better than if he had been some worthless slave: He served for a wife And how did he serve? He was a keeper of sheep. Go then now and boast of your dignity, as if ye were nobler than others, as if your condition were better than that of the common sort of people.” God then brings against them the condition of their father, in whose name they gloried, but who was an abject person and a fugitive, who was like a worthless slave, who was a keeper of sheep; who, in short, had nothing which could be deemed reputable among men.

And God, he says, brought you up by a Prophet from Egypt, and by a Prophet you have been preserved This was, as it were, their second nativity. Some think that the comparison is between their first origin and their deliverance; as though Hosea had said, “Though you were born of a very poor and ignoble man, yet God has favoured you with singular privilege; for he gave Moses to be the minister of your liberation.” But in my judgement the Prophet speaks in a more simple way; for, first, he shows what was the first origin of the people, that they were from Jacob; and then he shows what was their second origin; for God had again begotten them when he brought them out of Egypt. And they were there, as it is well known, very miserable, and they did not come out by their own valour, they did not attain for themselves their liberty; but Moses alone extended his hand to them, having been sent for this end by God. Since the case was so, it was strange that they now provoked God, as he says in the last verse, by their altars.

And it very frequently occurs in the Prophets, that God reminds the Israelites whence or from what source they had arisen, “Look to your origin, to the stone from which ye were cut off; for Abraham was alone and childless, and his wife also was barren;” and yet God multiplied their race, (Isaiah 51:2.) This was said, because the Israelites did not look to God, but in their adversity despaired, when no way appeared by which they could be restored; but in their prosperity they became proud, and regarded as nothing the favour of God. We then see what the Prophet had in view. The Lord says, “Acknowledge what you owe to me; for I have chosen Jacob your father, and have not chosen him because he was eminent for his great dignity in the world; for he was a fugitive and a keeper of sheep, and served for his wife. I afterwards redeemed you from the land of Egypt; and in that coming forth there was nothing that you did; there is no reason why you should boast that liberation was obtained by your velour; for Moses alone was my servant in that deliverance. I did then beget you the second time, when I redeemed you. How great is your ingratitude, when you do not own and worship me as your Redeemer?” We now then see that the Prophet thus treated the people of Israel, that it might in every way appear that they were unworthy of so many and so great benefits bestowed on them by God; for they had perverted all the works of God, and so perverted them, that they did not think that any thing, belonged to him, and they returned no thanks to God; nay, they extolled themselves, as if God had never conferred on them any kindness.

But I will not dwell on the history of Jacob, for it is not necessary for elucidating the meaning of the Prophet, and it is well known: it is enough to refer only to what is suitable to this place. Jacob then fled into the country of Syria; and then he says, Israel served for a wife He mentions the name, Israel, after Jacob. The name, Israel, was noble and memorable; yea, it was given by God to the holy patriarch: but at the same time Jacob did not in himself or in his own person excel; he nevertheless served, and was in a most humble condition, and he served for a wife; that is, that he might have a wife; for we know how he made an agreement with his uncle Laban.

Further, By a Prophet he brought them out of Egypt This was their second nativity: and by a Prophet Israel was preserved There is an allusion here to the word שמר, shimer; for I take the word נשמר, nushimer, passively. He had said before that Jacob kept sheep; and he says now, נשמר, nushimer, kept was Israel by a Prophet; as though he said, “Ye now see that God has given you a reason for humility in your father, since he was suffered to be so miserably distressed; and shen he preserved you beyond the hope of men, and by no human means except by Moses, who was also a fugitives and who came forth as from a cave, for he was also a keeper of sheep. Since, then, ye have been thus kept by the favour of God, how comes it that your present condition fascinates you, and that ye consider not that you were once redeemed by the Lord for this end, that ye might be wholly devoted to him forever?” Now he adds — (I will also run over this verse, for there will be no lecture to-morrow, nor the day after) —

Hosea 12:14

14. Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.

14. Provocavit Ephraim excelsis suis, et sanguis ejus super eum manebit (vel, fundetur:) et opprobrium ejus reddet illi Dominus suus.

The Prophet says first, that Ephraim had provoked God by his high places Some, however, take the word תמרורים, tamerurim, for bitternesses. Then it is, “Israel or Ephraim have provoked God to bitterness.” But since this word in other places as in the thirty-first of Jeremiah, is taken for high places and as it clearly appears that the Prophet here inveighs avowedly against Israel and their vicious worship, I doubt not but that he points out these high places in which the Israelites appointed their false and impious modes of worship. Ephraim then have provoked him with their high places: Calvin is not correct as to the meaning of this word. There is no instance in which it means “high places;” in Jeremiah 31:21, to which reference is made, it means obelisks or pillars set up as way-marks. There is no doubt but that the word signifies here what is expressed in our version. Gesenius says, that it is to be taken here adverbially, and with him Newcome and most critics agree. Horsley renders the clause thus, — “Ephraim has given bitterest provocation.” Ephraim having in so many ways immersed themselves in their superstitions, provoked God in their high places.

Then his blood shall remain on him. As the word נתש, nuthesh, signifies “to pour out,” and signifies also to “remain,” some render it, “His blood shall remain;” others “Shall be poured upon him.” But this makes but a little difference as to what is meant; for the Prophet intends to show, that Ephraim would have to suffer the punishment of their impiety; as though he said, “They shall not at last escape from the hand of God, they shall receive the wages of their iniquities.”

And his reproach shall his Lord return unto him Here he calls God himself the Lord of Israel, though Israel had shaken off the yoke, and alienated themselves from the service of God. They cannot, he says, escape the authority of God, though they have spurned his law; though they have become wanton in their superstitions, they shall yet know that they remain under the hand and power of God, they shall know that they effect nothing by this their petulance; though they thus wander after their abominations, yet the Lord will not lose his right, which he had obtained for himself by redeeming Israel. Their Lord then shall render to them their own reproach, of which they are worthy.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that as we have not only been created by thee, but when thou hast placed us in this world, thou hast also enriched us with abundance of all blessings, — O grant, that we may not transfer to others the glory duo to thee, and that especially since we are daily admonished by thy word, and even severely reproved, we may not with an iron hardness resist, but render ourselves pliable to thee, and not give ourselves up to our own devices, but follow with true docility and meekness, that rule which thou hast prescribed in thy word, until at length having put off all the remains of errors, we shall enjoy that blessed light, which thou hast prepared for us in heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Chapter 13

Lecture Thirty-fourth

Hosea 13:1

1. When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.

1. Quam loqueretur Ephraim, tremor: extulit se ipse in Israel, et peccavit in Baal, et mortuus est.

CHAPTER 12

Ho 12:1-14. Reproof of Ephraim and Judah: Their Father Jacob Ought to Be a Pattern to Them.

This prophecy was delivered about the time of Israel's seeking the aid of the Egyptian king So, in violation of their covenant with Assyria (see Ho 12:1). He exhorts them to follow their father Jacob's persevering prayerfulness, which brought God's favor upon him. As God is unchangeable, He will show the same favor to Jacob's posterity as He did to Jacob, if, like him, they seek God.

1. feedeth on wind--(Pr 15:14; Is 44:20). Followeth after vain objects, such as alliances with idolaters and their idols (compare Ho 8:7).

east wind--the simoon, blowing from the desert east of Palestine, which not only does not benefit, but does injury. Israel follows not only things vain, but things pernicious (compare Job 15:2).

increaseth lies--accumulates lie upon lie, that is, impostures wherewith they deceive themselves, forsaking the truth of God.

desolation--violent oppressions practised by Israel [Maurer]. Acts which would prove the cause of Israel's own desolation [Calvin].

covenant with ... Assyrians--(Ho 5:13; 7:11).

oil ... into Egypt--as a present from Israel to secure Egypt's alliance (Is 30:6; 57:9; compare 2Ki 17:4). Palestine was famed for oil (Eze 27:17).

2. controversy with Judah--(Ho 4:1; Mi 6:2). Judah, under Ahaz, had fallen into idolatry (2Ki 16:3, &c.).

Jacob--that is, the ten tribes. If Judah, the favored portion of the nation, shall not be spared, much less degenerate Israel.

3. He--Jacob, contrasted with his degenerate descendants, called by his name, Jacob (Ho 12:2; compare Mi 2:7). He took Esau by the heel in the womb in order to obtain, if possible, the privileges of the first-born (Ge 25:22-26), whence he took his name, Jacob, meaning "supplanter"; and again, by his strength, prevailed in wrestling with God for a blessing (Ge 32:24-29); whereas ye disregard My promises, putting your confidence in idols and foreign alliances. He conquered God, ye are the slaves of idols. Only have Jehovah on your side, and ye are stronger than Edom, or even Assyria. So the spiritual Israel lays hold of the heel of Jesus, "the First-born of many brethren," being born again of the Holy Spirit. Having no right in themselves to the inheritance, they lay hold of the bruised heel, the humanity of Christ crucified, and let not go their hold of Him who is not, as Esau, a curse (He 12:16, 17), but, by becoming a curse for us, is a blessing to us.

power with God--referring to his name, "Israel," prince of God, acquired on that occasion (compare Mt 11:12). As the promised Canaan had to be gained forcibly by Israel, so heaven by the faithful (Re 3:21; compare Lu 13:24). "Strive," literally, "as in the agony of a contest." So the Canaanitess (Mt 15:22).

his strength--which lay in his conscious weakness, whence, when his thigh was put out of joint by God, he hung upon Him. To seek strength was his object; to grant it, God's. Yet God's mode of procedure was strange. In human form He tries as it were to throw Jacob down. When simple wrestling was not enough, He does what seems to ensure Jacob's fall, dislocating his thigh joint, so that he could no longer stand. Yet it was then that Jacob prevailed. Thus God teaches us the irresistible might of conscious weakness. For when weak in ourselves, we are strong by His strength put in us (Job 23:6; Is 27:5; 2Co 12:9, 10).

4. the angel--the uncreated Angel of the Covenant, as God the Son appears in the Old Testament (Mal 3:1).

made supplication--Ge 32:26: "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me."

he found him--The angel found Jacob, when he was fleeing from Esau into Syria: the Lord appearing to him "in Beth-el" (Ge 28:11-19; 35:1). What a sad contrast, that in this same Beth-el now Israel worships the golden calves!

there he spake with us--"with us," as being in the loins of our progenitor Jacob (compare Psa 66:6, "They ... we;" He 7:9, 10). What God there spoke to Jacob appertains to us. God's promises to him belong to all his posterity who follow in the steps of his prayerful faith.

5. Lord God--Jehovah, a name implying His immutable constancy to His promises. From the Hebrew root, meaning "existence." "He that is, was, and is to be," always the same (He 13:8; Re 1:4, 8; compare Ex 3:14, 15; 6:3). As He was unchangeable in His favor to Jacob, so will He be to His believing posterity.

of hosts--which Israel foolishly worshipped. Jehovah has all the hosts (saba) or powers of heaven and earth at His command, so that He is as all-powerful, as He is faithful, to fulfil His promises (Psa 135:6; Am 5:27).

memorial--the name expressive of the character in which God was ever to be remembered (Psa 135:13).

6. thou--who dost wish to be a true descendant of Jacob.

to THY God--who is therefore bound by covenant to hear thy prayers.

keep mercy and judgment--(Mi 6:8). These two include the second-table commandments, duty towards one's neighbor, the most visible test of the sincerity on one's repentance.

wait on thy God--alone, not on thy idols. Including all the duties of the first table (Psa 37:3, 5, 7; 40:1).

7. merchant--a play on the double sense of the Hebrew, "Canaan," that is, a Canaanite and a "merchant" Eze 16:3: "Thy birth is ... of Canaan." They who naturally were descendants of pious Jacob had become virtually Canaanites, who were proverbial as cheating merchants (compare Is 23:11, Margin), the greatest reproach to Israel, who despised Canaan. The Phoenicians called themselves Canaanites or merchants (Is 23:8).

oppress--open violence: as the "balances of deceit" imply fraud.

8. And--that is, Notwithstanding.

Yet I am ... rich--I regard not what the prophets say: I am content with my state, as I am rich (Re 3:17). Therefore, in just retribution, this is the very language of the enemy in being the instrument of Israel's punishment. Zec 11:5: "They that sell them say ... I am rich." Far better is poverty with honesty, than riches gained by sin.

my labours--my gains by labor.

they shall find none--that is, none shall find any.

iniquity ... that were sin--iniquity that would bring down the penalty of sin. Ephraim argues, My success in my labors proves that I am not a guilty sinner as the prophets assert. Thus sinners pervert God's long-suffering goodness (Mt 5:45) into a justification of their impenitence (compare Ec 8:11-13).

9. And--rather, "And yet." Though Israel deserves to be cast off for ever, yet I am still what I have been from the time of My delivering them out of Egypt, their covenant God; therefore, "I will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles," that is, to keep the feast of tabernacles again in remembrance of a new deliverance out of bondage. Fulfilled primarily at the return from Babylon (Ne 8:17). Fully and antitypically to be fulfilled at the final restoration from the present dispersion (Zec 14:16; compare Le 23:42, 43).

10. by ... the prophets--literally, "upon," that is, My spirit resting on them. I deposited with them My instructions which ought to have brought you to the right way. An aggravation of your guilt, that it was not through ignorance you erred, but in defiance of God and His prophets [Calvin]. Ahijah the Shilonite, Shemaiah, Iddo, Azariah, Hanani, Jehu, Elijah, Elisha, Micaiah, Joel, and Amos were "the prophets" before Hosea.

visions ... similitudes--I adopted such modes of communication, adapted to man's capacities, as were calculated to arouse attention: I left no means untried to reform you. The first, second, and third chapters contain examples of "similitudes."

11. Is there iniquity in Gilead?--He asks the question, not as if the answer was doubtful, but to strengthen the affirmation: "Surely they are vanity"; or as Maurer translates, "They are nothing but iniquity." Iniquity, especially idolatry, in Scripture is often termed "vanity." Pr 13:11: "Wealth gotten by vanity," that is, iniquity. Is 41:29: "They are all vanity ... images." "Gilead" refers to Mizpah-gilead, a city representing the region beyond Jordan (Ho 6:8; Jud 11:29); as "Gilgal," the region on this side of Jordan (Ho 4:15). In all quarters alike they are utterly vile.

their altars are as heaps in the furrows--that is, as numerous as such heaps: namely, the heaps of stones cleared out of a stony field. An appropriate image, as at a distance they look like altars (compare Ho 10:1, 4; 8:11). As the third member in the parallelism answers to the first, "Gilgal" to "Gilead," so the fourth to the second, "altars" to "vanity." The word "heaps" alludes to the name "Gilgal," meaning "a heap of stones." The very scene of the general circumcision of the people, and of the solemn passover kept after crossing Jordan, is now the stronghold of Israel's idolatry.

12. Jacob fled ... served--Though ye pride yourselves on the great name of "Israel," forget not that your progenitor was the same Jacob who was a fugitive, and who served for Rachel fourteen years. He forgot not ME who delivered him when fleeing from Esau, and when oppressed by Laban (Ge 28:5; 29:20, 28; De 26:5). Ye, though delivered from Egypt (Ho 12:13), and loaded with My favors, are yet unwilling to return to Me.

country of Syria--the champaign region of Syria, the portion lying between the Tigris and Euphrates, hence called Mesopotamia. Padan-aram means the same, that is, "Low Syria," as opposed to Aramea (meaning the "high country") or Syria (Ge 48:7).

13. by a prophet--Moses (Nu 12:6-8; De 18:15, 18).

preserved--Translate, "kept"; there is an allusion to the same Hebrew word in Ho 12:12, "kept sheep"; Israel was kept by God as His flock, even as Jacob kept sheep (Psa 80:1; Is 63:11).

14. provoked him--that is, God.

leave his blood upon him--not take away the guilt and penalty of the innocent blood shed by Ephraim in general, and to Molech in particular.

his reproach shall his Lord return unto him--Ephraim's dishonor to God in worshipping idols, God will repay to him. That God is "his Lord" by right redemption and special revelation to Ephraim only aggravates his guilt, instead of giving him hope of escape. God does not give up His claim to them as His, however they set aside His dominion.

Ephraim feedeth on wind - He forms and follows empty and unstable counsels.

Followeth after the east wind - They are not only empty, but dangerous and destructive. The east wind was, and still is, in all countries, a parching, wasting, injurious wind.

He daily increaseth lies - He promises himself safety from foreign alliances. He "made a covenant with the Assyrians," and sent a subsidy of "oil to Egypt." The latter abandoned him; the former oppressed him.

The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah - The rest of the prophecy belongs both to Judah and Israel. He reproaches both with their ingratitude, and threatens them with God's anger. In order to make their infidelity the more hateful, and their malice the more sensible, he opposes to them the righteousness, obedience, and piety of their father Jacob. He recalls to their minds the benefits they had received since they returned from Egypt. He speaks afterwards of their kings; and how, in their ingratitude, they refused to have him for their monarch. Having mentioned this fact, he subjoins reflections, exhortations, invectives, and threatenings, and continues this subject in this and the two following chapters. - Calmet.

He took his brother by the heel - See on Gen 25:26 (note); Gen 32:24 (note), etc.

He had power over the Angel - Who represented the invisible Jehovah.

He wept, and made supplication - He entreated with tears that God would bless him; and he prevailed. The circumstance of his weeping is not mentioned in Genesis.

He found him in Beth-el - It was there that God made those glorious promises to Jacob relative to his posterity. See Gen 28:13-15.

The Lord is his memorial - He is the same God as when Jacob so successfully wrestled with him.

Therefore turn thou to thy God - Because he is the same, and cannot change. Seek him as faithfully and as fervently as Jacob did, and you will find him the same merciful and compassionate Being.

He is a merchant - Or a Canaanite; referring to the Phoenicians, famous for their traffic. Ephraim is as corrupt as those heathenish traffickers were. He kept, as many in all ages have done, a weight and a weight; a heavy one to buy with and a light one to sell by.

I am become rich - They boasted in their riches, notwithstanding the unjust manner in which they were acquired.

In all my labors they shall find none iniquity in me - This is frequently the language of merchants, tradesmen, etc. None are so full of professions of equity and justice, while all the time they are endeavoring to overreach, both in buying and selling. "Sir, I cannot afford it at that price." "It is not mine for that money." "I assure you that it cost me more than you offer." "I am sorry I cannot take your money; but if I did, I should lose by the article," etc., etc., etc. I have heard such language over and over, when I knew every word was false. Truth is a sacred thing in the sight of God; but who regards it as he should? There are, however, many noble exceptions among merchants and tradesmen. Bp. Newcome gives another turn to the subject, by translating: - "All his labors shall not be found profitable unto him,

For the iniquity wherewith he hath sinned."

And I - the Lord thy God - I who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, will again make thee to dwell in tabernacles. This appears to be a threatening. I will reduce you to as miserable a state in the land of your captivity, as you often were through your transgressions in the wilderness. This was the opinion of some of the ancients on this verse; and the context requires it to be understood in this way. I do not think that the feast of tabernacles is referred to.

I have also spoken - I have used every means, and employed every method, to instruct and save you. I have sent prophets, who spake plainly, exhorting, warning, and beseeching you to return to me. They have had Divine visions, which they have declared and interpreted. They have used similitudes, symbols, metaphors, allegories, etc., in order to fix your attention, and bring you back to your duty and interest. And, alas! all is in vain; you have not profited by my condescension. This text St. Paul seems to have had full in view, when he wrote, Heb 1:1 (note): "God who, at Sundry Times and in Divers Manners, spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets." See the note on the above.

Dr. Dodd supposes that there are three distinct kinds of prophecy mentioned here:

1. Immediate inspiration, when God declares the very words.

2. Vision; a representation of external objects to the mind, in as lively a manner as if there were conveyed by the senses.

3. Parables and apt resemblances.

Iniquity in Gilead - Gilgal and Gilead are equally iniquitous, and equally idolatrous. Gilead, which was beyond Jordan, had already been brought under subjection by Tiglath-Pileser. Gilgal, which was on this side Jordan, shall share the same fate; because it is now as idolatrous as the other.

Their altars are as heaps - They occur everywhere. The whole land is given to idolatry.

Served for a wife - Seven years for Rachel.

For a wife he kept sheep - Seven years for Leah; having been cheated by Laban, who gave him first Leah, instead of Rachel; and afterwards made him serve seven years more before he would confirm his first engagement. Critics complain of want of connection here. Why is this isolated fact predicted? Thus, in a detached sentence, the prophet speaks of the low estate of their ancestors, and how amply the providence of God had preserved and provided for them. This is all the connection the place requires.

By a prophet (Moses) the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet (Joshua) was he preserved - Joshua succeeded Moses, and brought the Israelites into the promised land; and when they passed the Jordan at Gilgal, he received the covenant of circumcision; and yet this same place was now made by them the seat of idolatry! How blind and how ungrateful!

Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him - He will not remove his guilt. These are similar to our Lord's words, Joh 3:36; Joh 9:41 : "He that believeth not on the Son of God, shall not see life, for the wrath of God Abideth On Him" - shall not be removed by any remission, as he rejects the only way in which he can be saved. Because ye say, We see; therefore, Your Sin Remaineth, i.e., it still stands charged against you. Your miseries and destruction are of your own procuring; your perdition is of yourselves. God is as merciful as he is just.

Feedeth on wind - It is a proverbial speech; denoting his supporting himself with hopes, as unfit to sustain him as the wind is to feed us. Increaseth lies - By making new leagues, and fortifying himself with them, against the menaces of God by his prophets. Desolation - Which will only hasten and increase his desolation. Oil - Not common oil for trade, but rich and precious oils, to procure friendship there too.

Jacob - Ephraim and Judah are of Jacob, both have corrupted themselves, and therefore I will proceed against both.

He - Jacob. Took his brother - The design of mentioning this is to mind them of that goodness which God shewed them in their father Jacob. His strength - This strength was not of nature, but of grace. Strength received of God was well employed betimes; in it he wrestled for and obtained the blessing.

The angel - Called ver.3, God; and ver.5, Jehovah, Lord of hosts. He was no created angel, but the Messiah; eternal God by nature and essence, angel by office, and voluntary undertaking. He wept - He prayed with tears from a sense of his own unworthiness, and with earnestness for the mercy he desired. He - God. Him - Jacob full of weariness, fears, and solicitude on his journey to Laban. He - God. With us - Being then in Jacob's loins.

The Lord God of hosts - He that appeared and spake, who promised the blessing and commanded the reformation at Beth - el was Jehovah, the eternal and unchangeable God; who can perform his promise, and execute his threat, who is a most terrible enemy, and most desirable friend. The Lord - Jehovah, repeated for confirmation. His memorial - By this he will be known.

Turn - Repent, leave idols and all sins. He worshipped God alone, do you so; he cast idols out of his family, do you so too; be Jacob's children herein. Mercy - Shew kindness to all who need it. Judgment - Wrong none; but with justice in dealings, in judicatures; and public offices, render to every one their due. Wait on thy God - In public worship and private duties serve and trust God alone: let not idols have either sacrifice, prayer, praise, or trust from you; and let your hope and worship, be for ever continued.

A merchant - Ephraim is so far from being as Jacob, that you may account him a Canaanite, a subtle merchant.

I am rich - Whatever is said, yet I get what I aim at. They shall find - Yet he hugs himself in the apprehension of close carriage of his affairs, so that no great crime can be found in him: none, that is sin, that is any great enormity.

From Egypt - From the time I brought thee out of it. In tabernacles - I have given thee all these blessings and comforts, expressed proverbially in allusion to the joy which they had at the feast of tabernacles.

Spoken - To warn them of their danger.

In Gilead - Tiglah Pileser had formerly took Gilead among other towns, leading the inhabitants captive. By this the prophet minds the Ephraimites what they must expect, and doth it in this pungent question, Is there iniquity in Gilead? Is it there only? Be it, Gilead was all iniquity; Gilgal is no better. They - They that come up to Gilgal to sacrifice, are idolaters. In the furrows - They are for number like heaps of stones, gathered out of plowed land and laid in furrows.

Fled - For fear of Esau.

A prophet - By Moses. Israel - Your forefathers. Preserved - In the wilderness. The aim of the prophet seems to be this, to prevent their vain pride, and boasting of their ancestors.

His blood - He shall bear the punishment of all his blood; his murders of the innocent, and his own guilt too. His reproach - Which Ephraim hath cast upon the prophets, the worshippers of God, and on God; preferring idols before him. His Lord - God who is Lord of all.

1 EPhraim feedeth on wind , and followeth after the east-wind : he daily increaseth lies and desolation , and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians , and oyl is carried into Egypt .

It is a proverbial speech denoting the self-flattery of Ephraim, his supporting himself with hopes as unfit to sustain him, as the Wind is to feed the body and nourish it, in his Religious pretensions he did, hypocrite like, compass God with lies, and now in his civil concerns he compasseth himself with lies.

In those Countreys the East winds were most vehement, dangerous and blasting, Psal. 48.7. Ionas 4.8. a very apt Emblem to represent the self-destroying course which Ephraim took, which though yet he will not believe, shall ere long scorch, blast, rend and tear him as the tempestuous East-winds do the weaker and unfenced plants.

By making new leagues, and fortifying himself with them against the menaces of God by his Prophets, he increaseth Friendships, but all of them will prove lies to him at last like the wind he feeds on. The like you have chap. 10.13. and Isa. 57.9, 13.

This is worse than meerly to be disappointed by a lie, as before the East-wind was hurtful and did him mischief, so here his purchased friendships shall hasten and increase his desolation. The League made with Sua or So King of Egypt, was accounted a conspiracy in Hoshea, and this brought Salmaneser upon Israel which war ended in Israel's ruin, and final desolation.

With purpose to defeat the threats of God, and to secure themselves in their courses. Thus they sinfully confederate as before, chap. 5.13. and 7.11. and 8.9. they forsake Gods Covenant and trust not him, but make a Covenant with Enemies and trust them.

Not common oyl for trade, but rich and precious oyles, presents and price to procure friendship there too, though forbidden, Isa. 30.2, 6. & 31.1.

2 The LORD hath also a controversie with Judah , and will punish Jacob according to his wayes : according to his doings will he recompence him .

Though Iudah compar'd with Ephraim be faithful, yet when considered in his wayes and doings he is found faulty in many things and God hath just matter of complaint against Iudah in point of manners; in publick worship Iudah was faithful, kept to God, and the Temple though not without some defects, but in their lives there were many more and greater faults, about which God will contend that Iudah may be reformed.

The two Tribes

Or visit with chastising to amend, else to destroy; there is hope of Iudah that he will be reclaimed, therefore I will try by gentler visitations, by fatherly corrections, yet I will not leave him as hopeless, nor as faultless.

Not the Patriarch, but those who are of him; his children, but that have degenerated from his wayes of love, fear, trust and obedience. Both Ephraim and Iudah are of Iacob, but both have corrupted themselves, and therefore will I proceed against both, and if Iudah, the less faulty, escape not, Ephraim can have no hope to escape; if Iudah be whipt with rods because a disobedient son, Ephraim may fear a sword because he hath been and still is an obstinate Rebel.

Neither can justly complain then, since their different ways are made the Standard of the different proceedings of God against them, he will not lay upon either more than is equal; who suffers most, hath deserved more, and who suffers lest needed so much to amend him.

This is an elegant and very usual ingemination of the same thing▪ which doth assure it will be done, and should affect us the more.

Marginal references: Heb. visit upon.

3 ¶ He took his brother by the heel in the womb , and by his strength he had power with God.

Iacob.

Esau.

The matter of Fact you have Gen. 25.26. the design of mentioning it in this place is to mind them of that Goodness which God shew'd to them in their Father Iacob who was by a Miracle foretold to be superior to Esau, that he and his should have the Birth-right, this should never be forgotten. The true Worship of God they should have preserved, since in the Priesthood, part of the Primogeniture it was included both as Priviledge and Duty; Justice and Equity they should have maintained as a flower of the Crown and Kingly Authority included in the Birth-right, and a double portion or share in God's blessings was theirs too. But all these blessings forfeited by their Apostacy, for which at once they should blush, repent, and humble themselves and at last remember their Primogeniture, and labour to recover to a temper worthy this their original. Iacob strove for the blessing in the womb, but you profanely neglect it in full age.

This strength was not of nature but of grace, a fruit of the divine Love and Election, strength from God.

Strength received of God was well imployed betimes, in it he wrestled for and obtain'd the blessing. But you let it slip out of your hands, and sin it away. There was somewhat of Heroic, a Conqueror from his Birth, but you are Revolters from the womb.

Marginal references: G[illegible: 2 letters]. [illegible: 1 letter].; Heb. [illegible: 1 span]; [illegible: 1 span] &c.

4 Yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed : he wept and made supplication unto him : he found him in Bethel , and there he spake with us .

Your famous Progenitour of whom you boast.

Behaved himself as a Prince with God, Gen. 32.28.

With, the Angel was willing to be conquered, or Iacob could not have gotten the Victory.

Called ver. 3. God, and ver. 5. is Iehovah Lord of hosts. He was no created Angel but the uncreated Angel Christ, the Messiah, Eternal God by Nature and Essence, Angel by Office, and voluntary undertaking.

Got the victory, went out of the Field a Conquerour, but not by such Armes, and Methods as you use. You are conquer'd by man because of your sins, he conquer'd with God by Faith and Prayer.

Not the Angel, as some through mistake but your father Iacob.

By this we know he pray'd with Tears though the story say not so with sense of his own unworthiness, with earnestness for the mercy he desired, and apprehensive of the Majesty of him with whom he wrestled. But you quite contrary proud as if worthy, regardless of the best part of the blessing, and earnest onely for the meaner part, seek it not of God but Idols.

It is Christ who is here intended, it was no meer creature, Iacob might not have pray'd to such, but 'twas the Creator of Angels and the Redeemer of Man, the blessed Jesus, to whom every knee ought to bow, Phil. 2.9.

God.

Iacob full of weariness, fears and solicitude on his Journey to Laban, Gen. 28.12, 20. when prayers obtain'd a blessing, but with this, and more directly, when on his return after this wrestling bout, Gen. 35.1; &c. God appeared to him, ver. 7, 8. to 15. and blessed him.

Formerly called Luz, but by Iacob new named and called Bethel, Gen. 28.19.

God.

Renewed his promise and confirm'd the blessing.

By the current of the words in their grammatical order it should be, He spake to him; but 'tis, not without good reason, changed to the plural first person, us, as Posterity were in Iacobs Loins, and blessed with him, Yet more where God appeared to Iacob he commanded him to build an Altar there to God, to restore Religion and reform his Family from Idolatry, Gen. 35.4. which he did. But you children of this Iacob by natural descent are of another, and far different humour, though you have been call'd and exhorted to leave your Idols, yet this 200 years you have kept them and will, I see, keep them, this is your sin, and in it you are obstinate, and I will punish such a Iacob as you.

5 Even the Lord GOD of hosts , the LORD is his memorial .

Or, And he that appear'd and spake, who promis'd the blessing, and commanded the Reformation at Bethel, was

Iehov[illegible: 2 letters] the eternal and unchangeable God, who still promiseth with like commands.

Who can both perform his promise and execute his threat, who is a most terrible enemy and most desirable friend, all being to us as he is.

Iehovah repeated for confirmation.

By this he will be known, by this name, by such methods of his Sovereignty and Grace, Exod. 3.15.

6 Therefore turn thou to thy God : keep mercy , and jadgment , and wait on thy God continually s.

No more vainly boast of Iacob; but, as he, do you approve your selves to God.

Repen[illegible: 1 letter], leave Idols, and all sins. He worshipt God alone, do you so, he cast Idols out of his family, do you so too; be Iacobs children herein.

Shew kindness to all who need it, cast off cruelty and inhumanity, and be merciful to the afflicted, this contains all the duties we owe to any that are in straits.

Wrong none; but with Justice in dealings, in judicatures, and publick Offices render to every one their due. Acquit the Innocent, and condemn the Guilty, and let none have just cause to complain of Injuries.

In publick Worship, and private duties of Prayer, and seeking God, him onely serve and trust, let not Idols have either Sacrifice, Prayer, Praise or trust from you.

And let your hope and worship, be perpetuated, for ever continued towards God, till he save and rescue, trust, pray, and resign your selves to him who will be yours as he was Iacobs God, on these termes and no other. This short phrase wait on thy God, includes all duties of the first Table of the Law, all Religious Worship of the true God, do this and the Lord will be to you, as to Iacob, defence against danger and fulness in your wants.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

7 ¶ He is a merchant , the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress .

Ephraim, of whom here, is so far from being Iacob, or as Iacob, that you may call and account him a Canaanite, a subtile Merchant.

What he cannot gain by fair Trading, he will by down right cheating, he is covetous, and very unjust.

Where violence, calumnies, and false accusations, are needful to compass his covetous and couzening designs, he will not stick at them; this way of gain he loveth, his heart is upon it, though God hate the false balance, and false witness, and the violent man, yet Ephraim loves them all for his gain.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] Canaan.; [illegible: 1 word] deceive.

8 And Ephraim said , Yet I am become rich , I have found me out substance : in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me, that were sin .

This covetous, oppressive merchant reckon'd with himself, or discours'd with himself upon the whole of his Trading.

Whater'e is said by some, or thought by others, yet I get what I aim at, either 'tis good and lawful and prospered to me by the blessing of God on it because 'tis just and righteous; or 'tis not so bad as morose Prophets and Preachers make it, or at worst (which I will venture saith Ephraim) it lessens my innocency but improves my stock, and this is more to such Merchants then all the Poor innocence in the World.

The same thing with a vain boast of what is not in his wealth and substance. If in his gain, he assumed his own onely to himself, it were praise-worthy; that is, if he took to himself with shame the sinful manner of acquiring it, but he takes the praise to himself and forgets God; boasts of his wit, though he cannot of his honesty.

Finally he hugs himself in the apprehension of close, and crafty carriage of all his Affairs, that no great fault, no crime can be found in it to deserve a reproach or punishment, that he hath more reason to believe all is well since it doth prosper, than to suspect any great miscarriage which should deserve punishment. So this People do at once flatter themselves into security fearless of punishment, and into hardned obstinacy in sin uncapable of amendment.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 11.5.; [illegible: 1 span] have [illegible: 1 span]; [illegible: 1 word] which.

9 And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt , will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the dayes of the solemn feast.

Or But, I the Lord thy God, who forbad thy frauds and gave thee wealth, and am forgotten in both, thou fearest no[illegible: 1 letter] mine anger and sinnest; thou forgettest that I give thee power to get wealth, and takest glory to thy self; but wouldst thou, as thou shouldst, remember, thou wouldest know

that all thy blessings from thy coming out of Egypt to this day are from me; I give more, than thou gettest; thou boastest of what is not thine and if thou wilt glory, remember it should be in my goodness and bounty.

Hitherto have made, &c. thy peace, safety, plenty and joy here exprest proverbially in allusion to the Joy and security which they enjoyed in the days of the Feast of Tabernacles) was all through my goodness, presence and faithfulness. And darest thou, O Ephraim! thus sacrilegiously rob me of the praise and glory? darest thou be thus unthankful? Or else thus I would still make thee to dwell, &c. I take what course is fittest to prevent thy dangers, sorrows and ruine, but all will not do, thou wilt undo thy self. I am Iehovah, I change not, I am thy God still, and have been so ever since thou camest out of Egypt, I gave thee plenty, peace, safety, joy, and would willingly continue it all, as will appear by what I have done to prevent thy sin, and continue thy obedience. Some tell us 'tis a threat that God will bring them into the condition of wanderers again, others make it a promise of future mercy, and in various conjectures we have ventured on what will suit the contexture of the words, at least tolerably well, if it be not the best, it best pleaseth at present.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 13.4.

10 I have also spoken by the Prophets, and I have multiplied visions , and used similitudes , by the ministery of the prophets.

And, Heb. i. e. Since I would have continued [illegible: 1 word] peaceful state, I have spoken to them by my Prophets, [illegible: 1 word] have warn'd them of their danger, reproved them for the[illegible: 2 letters] sins, intreated them to repent, and do their Duty, so I would have establish'd them, my Prophets spake plainly to them.

By many visions and representations of my mind, the duty of the People, what would be safe, what dangerous, by lively Emblems set before the Prophets, and by them told to Israel ▪ I have advised and warn'd that I might yet settle them. I would have had them dwelt still in the peace, safety, and joy of Festiva[illegible: 2 letters] therefore I have sent such as Hosea, Isaiah, Ioel, &c.

Parables, Examples, Actions; Isaiah goes barefoot, names his son Maher-shalal-hash-bash to-warn, Israel▪ Beth-arbel's desolation is mention'd to prevent Sama[illegible: 2 letters]a's. Hosea takes an Adulter[illegible: 2 letters]s to Wife to bring Israel to sight and sense of their sin. All this and much more by my Prophets because I had compassion and would have made them dwell in peace and safety under my Government. And yet uncounsellable, and unthankful Israel will not understand and comply, will not own their sins and Repent.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] by the [illegible: 1 word].

11 Is there iniquity in Gilead ? surely they are vanity, they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields .

In this concise interrogatory the Prophet warns the refractory ungodly Israelites by an Example of Gods wrath on them. About An. M. 3264. at Ahaz request and charges Tiglath Pileser, 2 King. 15 29. came up against Israel and took Gilead among other Towns, leading the inhabitants Captives, now some 16, or 17 years after doth our Prophet mind the sinful and secure Ephraimites what they must expect, and doth it in this pungent question, is there iniquity in Gilead? i. e. is there onely? or is there more? much like that of Christs, Luk. 13.2. [illegible: 1 word] ye them greater sinners? Be it, Captive Gilead was all iniquity, and Gilgal is no better.

That come up to Gilgal to Sacrifice, are Idolaters, they sin against God in offering to them▪ and against their own welfare in trusting to them, both ways they appear to be vanity; whilest they multiply these Altars and Sacrifices, they multiply their sins, Gods displeasure is increased, and the danger more near and dreadful.

Idolat[illegible: 1 letter]o[illegible: 1 letter]s Israel thou aboundest in Altars, but if they are for number like heaps of stones, gathered out of plowed land and laid in furrows, they are as common too i. e. as far from sacred, as far from commending any offering to God, or atoning his displeasure. And canst thou Ephraim hope to escape whose sins exceed the sins of captive Gilead? wilt thou never be wise, never warn'd, never repent?

Marginal references: chap. 6.[illegible: 1 letter].; chap. 4.1[illegible: 1 letter]. & 9.15. Amo[illegible: 1 letter] 4.4. & 5.5.

12 And Jacob fled into the countrey of Syria , and Israel served for a wife , and for a wife he kept sheep .

The Patriarch.

For fear of Esau.

Though honour'd with that great Name.

Stoopt to the condition which is next door to slave.

A Wife was his wages.

Of Laban. All which in the History is related Gen. 29. at large.

Marginal references: Gen. 29.20, 2[illegible: 1 letter].

13 And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt , and by a prophet was he preserved▪ ▪

By Moses.

Your forefathers.

Where they had been bondmen 215 years or near upon it, old Slaves, or Vassals for some descents.

In the Wilderness, Exod. cap. 2, 3, &c. Now the drift of the Prophet herein to me appear's to be this, to prevent their vain Pride and boasting of their Ancestors, their vainer sheltring themselves under Ancestors Merits against Gods just displeasure on them for their sins. And the sottish plea of what▪ their fathers did at Bethel ▪ and Gilgal. There are many things which arise on consideration of what their fathers were, suffered, enjoyed and did, to aggravate their sins and ensure them of punishment, but nothing to secure them against judgment to come, or to lessen judgments when they come.

Marginal references: Exod. 1[illegible: 1 letter].[illegible: 1 letter]0, 51. and 13.3.

14 Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly : therefore shall he leave his blood upon him : and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.

After all the means used from time to time to reclaim Idolatrous sinning Israel, yet still they provoked God to indignation by their Idolatries, perjuries, oppressions, murthers and all manner of sins which use to be ri[illegible: 1 letter]e among Idolaters, these things were bitterness unto God.

Seeing he will inco[illegible: 1 letter]rigibly persist as he hath begun, and end in▪ sin and misery.

He shall bear the guilt and punishment of all his blood, his murthers of the innocent, of those that testified against him and as one who hath murther'd himself shall bear his own guilt too.

Which Ephraim hath cast upon the Prophets, and pious worshippers of God; all the reproach Ephraim hath cast on God▪ preferring Idols before him.

Either God who is Lord of all, or the Assyrian King and his Princes, Lording it over captive Ephraim, God shall by these return the shame on Ephraim which he cast on God, his Worship, Temple and Prophets.

Marginal references: Heb. with his bitternesses.; Heb. blood[illegible: 1 letter].

3. Israel’s Apostasy and God’s Fidelity - Hosea 12-14

For the purpose of proving that the predicted destruction of the kingdom is just and inevitable, the prophet now shows, in this last division, first that Israel has not kept the ways of its father Jacob, but has fallen into the ungodly practice of Canaan (Hos 12:1-14); and secondly, that in spite of all the manifestations of love, and all the chastisements received from its God, it has continued its apostasy and idolatry, and therefore perfectly deserves the threatened judgment. Nevertheless the compassion of God will not permit it to be utterly destroyed, but will redeem it even from death and hell (ch. 13-14:1). To this there is appended, lastly, in Hos 14:2-9, a call to conversion, and a promise from God of the forgiveness and abundant blessing of those who turn to the Lord. With this the book closes (Hos 14:1-9 :10). Thus we find again, that the contents of this last division fall very evidently into three parts (Hos 12:13, Hos 12:14, and Hos 14:2 -10), each of which is still further divisible into two strophes.

Israel’s Degeneracy into Canaanitish Ways - Hebrew_Bible_12:1-14 (English_Bible_ 11:12-12:14).

The faithlessness of Israel and Judah’s resistance to God bring righteous punishment upon the entire posterity of Jacob (11:12-12:2); whereas the example of their forefather ought to have led them to faithful attachment to their God (Hos 12:3-6). But Israel has become Canaan, and seeks its advantage in deception and injustice, without hearkening to its God or to the voice of its prophets, and will be punished for its idolatry (Hos 12:7-11). Whereas Jacob was obliged to flee, and to serve for a wife in Aram, Jehovah led Israel out of Egypt, and guarded it by prophets. Nevertheless this nation has excited His wrath, and will have to bear its guilt (vv.12-14). The two strophes of this chapter are 11:12-12:6 and 7-14.

(Hebrew_Bible_12:1). “Ephraim has surrounded me with lying, and the house of Israel with deceit: and Judah is moreover unbridled against God, and against the faithful Holy One. Hos 12:1 (Hebrew_Bible_v_2).Ephraim grazeth wind, and hunteth after the east: all the day it multiplies lying and desolation, and they make a covenant with Asshur, and oil is carried to Egypt. Hos 12:2. And Jehovah has a controversy with Judah, and to perform a visitation upon Jacob, according to his ways: according to his works will He repay him.” In the name of Jehovah, the prophet raises a charge against Israel once more. Lying and deceit are the terms which he applies, not so much to the idolatry which they preferred to the worship of Jehovah (ψευδῆ καὶ λατρείαν, Theod.), as to the hypocrisy with which Israel, in spite of its idolatry, claimed to be still the people of Jehovah, pretended to worship Jehovah under the image of a calf, and turned right into wrong.Calvin explains סבבני correctly thus: “that He (i.e., God) had experienced the manifold faithlessness of the Israelites in all kinds of ways.” He interprets the whole sentence as follows: “The Israelites had acted unfaithfully towards God, and resorted to deceits, and that not in one way only, or of only one kind; but just as a man might surround his enemy with a great army, so had they gathered together innumerable frauds, with which they attacked God on every side.”Bēth Yisrâ'ēl (the house of Israel) is the nation of the ten tribes, and is synonymous with Ephraim. The statement concerning Judah has been interpreted in different ways, because the meaning of רד is open to dispute. Luther’s rendering, “but Judah still holds fast to its God,” is based upon the rabbinical interpretation of רוּד, in the sense of רדה, to rule, which is decidedly false. According to the Arabic râd, the meaning of rūd is to ramble about (used of cattle that have broken loose, or have not yet been fastened up, as in Jer 2:31); hiphil, to cause to ramble about (Gen 27:40; Psa 55:3). Construed as it is here with עם, it means to ramble about in relation to God, i.e., to be unbridled or unruly towards God. עם, as in many other cases where reciprocal actions are referred to, standing towards or with a person: see Ewald, §217, h. קדושׁים נאמן, the faithful, holy God. Qedōshı̄m is used of God, as in Pro 9:10 (cf. Jos 24:19), as an intensive pluralis majestatis, construed with a singular adjective (cf. Isa 19:4; 2Ki 19:4). נאמן, firm, faithful, trustworthy; the opposite of râd. Judah is unbridled towards the powerful God ('El), towards the Holy One, who, as the Faithful One, also proves Himself to be holy in relation to His people, both by the sanctification of those who embrace His salvation, and also by the judgment and destruction of those who obstinately resist the leadings of His grace. In Pro 9:1 the lying and deceit of Israel are more fully described. רעה רוּח is not to entertain one’s self on wind, i.e., to take delight in vain things; but רעה means to eat or graze spiritually; and rūăch, the wind, is equivalent to emptiness. The meaning therefore is, to strive eagerly after what is empty or vain; synonymous with râdaph, to pursue. קדים, the east wind, in Palestine a fierce tempestuous wind, which comes with burning heat from the desert of Arabia, and is very destructive to seeds and plants (compare Job 27:21, and Wetzstein’s Appendix to Delitzsch’s Commentary on Job). It is used, therefore, as a figurative representation, not of vain hopes and ideals, that cannot possibly be reached, but of that destruction which Israel is bringing upon itself. “All the day,” i.e., continually, it multiplies lying and violence, through the sins enumerated in Hos 4:2, by which the kingdom is being internally broken up. Added to this, there is the seeking for alliances with the powers of the world, viz., Assyria and Egypt, by which it hopes to secure their help (Hos 5:13), but only brings about its own destruction. Oil is taken to Egypt from the land abounding in olives (Deu 8:8), not as tribute, but as a present, for the purpose of securing an ally in Egypt. This actually took place during the reign of Hoshea, who endeavoured to liberate himself from the oppression of Assyria by means of a treaty with Egypt (2Ki 17:4).Manger has given the meaning correctly thus: “He is looking back to the ambassadors sent by king Hoshea with splendid presents to the king of Egypt, to bring him over to his side, and induce him to send him assistance against the king of Assyria, although he had bound himself by a sacred treaty to submit to the sovereignty of the latter.” Compare also Hengstenberg’s Christology, vol. i. p. 164 transl., where he refutes the current opinion, that the words refer to two different parties in the nation, viz., an Assyrian and an Egyptian party, and correctly describes the circumstances thus: “The people being severely oppressed by Asshur, sometimes apply to Egypt for help against Asshur, and at other times endeavour to awaken friendly feelings in the latter.”

The Lord will repay both kingdoms for such conduct as this. But just as the attitude of Judah towards God is described more mildly than the guilt of Israel in Hos 11:12, so the punishment of the two is differently described in Hos 12:2. Jehovah has a trial with Judah, i.e., He has to reprove and punish its sins and transgressions (Hos 4:1). Upon Jacob, or Israel of the ten tribes (as in Hos 10:11), He has to perform a visitation, i.e., to punish it according to its ways and its deeds (cf. Hos 4:9). לפקד, it is to be visited, i.e., He must visit.

Hos 12:3-5 “He held his brother’s heel in the womb, and in his man’s strength he fought with God. Hos 12:4. He fought against the angel, and overcame; wept, and prayed to Him: at Bethel he found Him, and there He talked with us. Hos 12:5. And Jehovah, God of hosts, Jehovah is His remembrance.” The name Jacob, which refers to the patriarch himself in Hos 12:3, forms the link between Hos 12:2 and Hos 12:3. The Israelites, as descendants of Jacob, were to strive to imitate the example of their forefather. His striving hard for the birthright, and his wrestling with God, in which he conquered by prayer and supplication, are types and pledges of salvation to the tribes of Israel which bear his name.“He shows what good Jacob received, and the son is named in the father: he calls to remembrance the ancient history, that they may see both the mercy of God towards Jacob, and his resolute firmness towards the Lord.” - Jerome. עקב, a denom. from עקב, “to hold the heel” = אחז בּעקב in Gen 25:26, which the prophet has in his mind, not “to overreach,” as in Gen 27:36 and Jer 9:3. For the wrestling with God, mentioned in the second clause of the verse, proves most indisputably that Jacob’s conduct is not held up before the people for a warning, as marked by cunning or deceit, as Umbreit and Hitzig suppose, but is set before them for their imitation, as an eager attempt to secure the birthright and the blessing connected with it. This shows at the same time, that the holding of the heel in the mother’s womb is not quoted as a proof of the divine election of grace, and, in fact, that there is no reference at all to the circumstance, that “even when Jacob was still in his mother’s womb, he did this not by his own strength, but by the mercy of God, who knows and loves those whom He has predestinated” (Jerome). בּאונו, is his manly strength (cf. Gen 49:3) he wrestled with God (Gen 32:25-29). This conflict (for the significance of which in relation to Jacob’s spiritual life, see the discussion at Genesis l.c.) is more fully described in Hos 12:4, for the Israelites to imitate. מלאך is the angel of Jehovah, the revealer of the invisible God (see the Commentary on the Pentateuch, pp. 118ff. transl.). ויּכל is from Gen 32:29. The explanatory clause, “he wept, and made supplication to Him” (after Gen 32:27), gives the nature of the conflict. It was a contest with the weapons of prayer; and with these he conquered. These weapons are also at the command of the Israelites, if they will only use them. The fruit of the victory was, that he (Jacob) found Him (God) at Bethel. This does not refer to the appearance of God to Jacob on his flight to Mesopotamia (Gen 28:11), but to that recorded in Gen 35:9., when God confirmed his name of Israel, and renewed the promises of His blessing. And there, continues the prophet, He (God) spake with us; i.e., not there He speaks with us still, condemning by His prophets the idolatry at Bethel (Amo 5:4-5), as Kimchi supposes; but, as the imperfect ידבּר corresponds to ימצאנּוּ, “there did He speak to us through Jacob,” i.e., what He there said to Jacob applies to us.“Let it be carefully observed, that God is said to have talked at Bethel not with Jacob only, but with all his posterity. That is to say, the things which are here said to have been done by Jacob, and to have happened to him, had not regard to himself only, but to all the race that sprang from him, and were signs of the good fortune which they either would, or certainly might enjoy” (Lackemacher in Rosenmüller’s Scholia).

The explanation of this is given in Hos 12:5, where the name is recalled in which God revealed Himself to Moses, when He first called him (Exo 3:15), i.e., in which He made known to him His true nature. Yehōvâh zikhrō is taken literally from זה זכרי לדר דּר; but there the name Jehovah is still further defined by “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” here by “the God of hosts.” This difference needs consideration. The Israelites in the time of Moses could only put full confidence in the divine call of Moses to be their deliverer out of the bondage of Egypt, on the ground that He who called him was the God who had manifested Himself to the patriarchs as the God of salvation; but for the Israelites of Hosea’s time, the strength of their confidence in Jehovah arose from the fact that Jehovah was the God of hosts, i.e., the God who, because He commands the forces of heaven, both visible and invisible, rules with unrestricted omnipotence on earth as well as in heaven (see at 1Sa 1:3).

Hos 12:6

To this God Israel is now to return. Hos 12:6. “And thou, to thy God shalt thou turn: keep love and right, and hope continually in thy God.” שׁוּב with ב is a pregnant expression, as in Isa 10:22 : “so to turn as to enter into vital fellowship with God;” i.e., to be truly converted. The next two clauses, as the omission of the copula before chesed and the change in the tense clearly show, are to be taken as explanatory of תּשׁוּב. The conversion is to show itself in the perception of love and right towards their brethren, and in constant trust in God. But Israel is far removed from this now. This thought leads the way to the next strophe (Hos 12:8 -15), which commences afresh with a disclosure of the apostasy of the people.

Hos 12:7-8 “Canaan, in his hand is the scale of cheating: he loves to oppress. Hos 12:8. And Ephraim says, Yet I have become rich, have acquired property: all my exertions bring me no wrong, which would be sin.” Israel is not a Jacob who wrestles with God; but it has become Canaan, seeking its advantage in deceit and wrong. Israel is called Canaan here, not so much on account of its attachment to Canaanitish idolatry (cf. Eze 16:3), as according to the appellative meaning of the word Kena‛an, which is borrowed from the commercial habits of the Canaanites (Phoenicians), viz., merchant or trader (Isa 23:8; Job 40:30), because, like a fraudulent merchant, it strove to become great by oppression and cheating; not “because it acted towards God like a fraudulent merchant, offering Him false show for true reverence,” as Schmieder supposes. For however thoroughly this may apply to the worship of the Israelites, it is not to this that the prophet refers, but to fraudulent weights, and the love of oppression or violence. And this points not to their attitude towards God, but to their conduct towards their fellow-men, which is the very opposite of what, according to the previous verse, the Lord requires (chesed ūmishpât), and the very thing which He has forbidden in the law, in Lev 19:36; Deu 24:13-16, and also in the case of ‛âshaq, violence, in Lev 6:2-4; Deu 24:14. Ephraim prides itself upon this unrighteousness, in the idea that it has thereby acquired wealth and riches, and with the still greater self-deception, that with all its acquisition of property it has committed no wrong that was sin, i.e., that would be followed by punishment. און does not mean “might” here, but wealth, opes, although as a matter of fact, since Ephraim says this as a nation, the riches and power of the state are intended. כּל־יגיעי is not written at the head absolutely, in the sense of “so far as what I have acquired is concerned, men find no injustice in this;” for it that were the case, בּי would stand for לי; but it is really the subject, and יצמצאוּ is to be taken in the sense of acquiring = bringing in (cf. Lev 5:7; Lev 12:8, etc.).

Hos 12:9-11 “Yet am I Jehovah thy God, from the land of Egypt hither: I will still cause thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the feast. Hos 12:10. I have spoken to the prophets; and I, I have multiplied visions, and spoken similitudes through the prophets. Hos 12:11. If Gilead (is) worthlessness, they have only come to nothing: in Gilgal they offered bullocks: even their altars are like stone-heaps in the furrows of the field.” The Lord meets the delusion of the people, that they had become great and powerful through their own exertion, by reminding them that He (ואנכי is adversative, yet I) has been Israel’s God from Egypt hither, and that to Him they owe all prosperity and good in both past and present (cf. Hos 13:4). Because they do not recognise this, and because they put their trust in unrighteousness rather than in Him, He will now cause them to dwell in tents again, as in the days of the feast of Tabernacles, i.e., will repeat the leading through the wilderness. It is evident from the context that mō‛ēd (the feast) is here the feast of Tabernacles. מועד (the days of the feast) are the seven days of this festival, during which Israel was to dwell in booths, in remembrance of the fact that when God led them out of Egypt He had caused them to dwell in booths (tabernacles, Lev 23:42-43). אד אושׁיבך stands in antithesis to הושׁבתּי ot si in Lev 23:43. “The preterite is changed into a future through the ingratitude of the nation” (Hengstenberg). The simile, “as in the days of the feast,” shows that the repetition of the leading through the desert is not thought of here merely as a time of punishment, such as the prolongation of the sojourn of the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years really was (Num 14:33). For their dwelling in tents, or rather in booths (sukkōth), on the feast of Tabernacles, was intended not so much to remind the people of the privations of their unsettled wandering life in the desert, as to call to their remembrance the shielding and sheltering care and protection of God in their wandering through the great and terrible wilderness (see at Lev 23:42-43). We must combine the two allusions, therefore: so that whilst the people are threatened indeed with being driven out of the good and glorious land, with its large and beautiful cities and houses full of all that is good (Deu 6:10.), into a dry and barren desert, they have also set before them the repetition of the divine guidance through the desert; so that they are not threatened with utter rejection on the part of God, but only with temporary banishment into the desert. In Hos 12:10 and Hos 12:11 the two thoughts of Hos 12:9 are still further expanded. In Hos 12:10 they are reminded how the Lord had proved Himself to be the God of Israel from Egypt onwards, by sending prophets and multiplying prophecy, to make known His will and gracious counsel to the people, and to promote their salvation. דּבּר with על, to speak to, not because the word is something imposed upon a person, but because the inspiration of God came down to the prophets from above. אדמּה, not “I destroy,” for it is only the kal that occurs in this sense, and not the piel, but “to compare,” i.e., speak in similes; as, for example, in Hos 1:1-11 and Hos 3:1-5, Isa 5:1., Ezekiel 16 etc.: “I have left no means of admonishing them untried” (Rosenmüller). Israel, however, has not allowed itself to be admonished and warned, but has given itself up to sin and idolatry, the punishment of which cannot be delayed. Gilead and Gilgal represent the two halves of the kingdom of the ten tribes; Gilead the land to the east of the Jordan, and Gilgal the territory to the west. As Gilead is called “a city (i.e., a rendezvous) of evil-doers” (פּעלי און) in Hos 6:8, so is it here called distinctly און, worthlessness, wickedness; and therefore it is to be utterly brought to nought. און and שׁוא are synonymous, denoting moral and physical nonentity (compare Job 15:31). Here the two notions are so distributed, that the former denotes the moral decay, the latter the physical. Worthlessness brings nothingness after it as a punishment. אך, only = nothing, but equivalent to utterly. The perfect היוּ is used for the certain future. Gilgal, which is mentioned in Hos 4:15; Hos 9:15, as the seat of one form of idolatrous worship, is spoken of here as a place of sacrifice, to indicate with a play upon the name the turning of the altars into heaps of stones (Gallim). The desolation or destruction of the altars involves not only the cessation of the idolatrous worship, but the dissolution of the kingdom and the banishment of the people out of the land. שׁורים, which only occurs in the plural here, cannot of course be the dative (to sacrifice to oxen), but only the accusative. The sacrifice of oxen was reckoned as a sin on the part of the people, not on account of the animals offers, but on account of the unlawful place of sacrifice. The suffix to mizbechōthâm (their sacrifices) refers to Israel, the subject implied in zibbēchū.

Hos 12:12-14

This punishment Israel well deserved. Hos 12:12. “And Jacob fled to the fields of Aram; and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife did he keep guard. Hos 12:13. And through a prophet Jehovah brought Israel out of Egypt, and through a prophet was he guarded. Hos 12:14. Ephraim has stirred up bitter wrath; and his Lord will leave his blood upon him, and turn back his shame upon him.” In order to show the people still more impressively what great things the Lord had done for them, the prophet recals the flight of Jacob, the tribe-father, to Mesopotamia, and how he was obliged to serve many years there for a wife, and to guard cattle; whereas God had redeemed Israel out of the Egyptian bondage, and had faithfully guarded it through a prophet. The flight of Jacob to Aramaea, and his servitude there, are mentioned not “to give prominence to his zeal for the blessing of the birthright, and his obedience to the commandment of God and his parents” (Cyr., Theod., Th. v. Mops.); nor “to bring out the double servitude of Israel - the first the one which the people had to endure in their forefather, the second the one which they had to endure themselves in Egypt” (Umbreit); nor “to lay stress upon the manifestation of the divine care towards Jacob as well as towards the people of Israel” (Ewald); for there is nothing at all about this in Hos 12:12. The words point simply to the distress and affliction which Jacob had to endure, according to Genesis 29-31, as Calvin has correctly interpreted them. “Their father Jacob,” he says, “who was he? what was his condition?... He was a fugitive from his country. Even if he had always lived at home, his father was only a stranger in the land. But he was compelled to flee into Syria. And how splendidly did he live there? He was with his uncle, no doubt, but he was treated quite as meanly as any common slave: he served for a wife. And how did he serve? He was the man who tended the cattle.” Shâmar, the tending of cattle, was one of the hardest and lowest descriptions of servitude (cf. Gen 30:31; Gen 31:40; 1Sa 17:20). Sedēh 'ărâm (the field of Aram) is no doubt simply the Hebrew rendering of the Aramaean Paddan-'ărâm (Gen 28:2; Gen 31:18 : see at Gen 25:20). Jacob’s flight to Aramaea, where he had to serve, is contrasted in sv. 10 with the leading of Israel, the people sprung from Jacob, out of Egypt by a prophet, i.e., by Moses (cf. Deu 18:18); and the guarding of cattle by Jacob is placed in contrast with the guarding of Israel on the part of God through the prophet Moses, when he led them through the wilderness to Canaan. The object of this is to call to the nation’s remembrance that elevation from the lowest condition, which they were to acknowledge with humility every year, according to Deu 26:5., when the first-fruits were presented before the Lord. For Ephraim had quite forgotten this. Instead of thanking the Lord for it by love and faithful devotedness to Him, it had provoked Him in the bitterest manner by its sins (הכעיס, to excite wrath, to provoke to anger: tamrūrı̄m, an adverbial accusative = bitterly). For this should its blood-guiltiness remain upon it. According to Lev 20:9., dâmı̄m denotes grave crimes that are punishable by death. Nâtash, to let a thing alone, as in Exo 23:11; or to leave behind, as in 1Sa 17:20, 1Sa 17:28. Leaving blood-guiltiness upon a person, is the opposite of taking away (נשׂא) or forgiving the sin, and therefore inevitably brings the punishment after it. Cherpâthō (its reproach or dishonour) is the dishonour which Ephraim had done to the Lord by sin and idolatry (cf. Isa 65:7). And this would be repaid to it by its Lord, i.e., by Jehovah.

The Crimes of Israel and Judah; Expostulations with Israel. (b. c. 723.)

1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt. 2 The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. 3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: 4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us; 5 Even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is his memorial. 6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.

In these verses,

I. Ephraim is convicted of folly, in staying himself upon Egypt and Assyria, when he was in straits (v. 1): Ephraim feeds on wind, that is, feeds himself with vain hopes of assistance from man, when he is at variance with God; and, when he meets with disappointments, he still pursues the same game, and greedily pants and follows after the east wind, which he cannot catch holy of, nor, if he could, would it be nourishing, nay, would be noxious. We say of the wind in the east, It is good neither for man nor beast. It was said (ch. viii. 7), He sows the wind; and as he sows so he reaps (He reaps the whirlwind); and as he reaps so he feeds—He feeds on the wind, the east wind. Note, Those that make creatures their confidence make fools of themselves, and take a great deal of pains to put a cheat upon their own souls and to prepare vexation for themselves: He daily increaseth lies, that is, multiplies his correspondences and leagues with his neighbours, which will all prove deceitful to him; nay, they will prove desolation to him. Those very nations that he makes his refuge will prove his ruin. Those that stay themselves upon lies will be still coveting to increase them, that they may build their hopes firmly upon them; as if many lies twisted together would make one truth, or many broken reeds and rotten supports one sound one, which is a great delusion and will prove to them a great desolation; for those that observe lying vanities the more they increase them the more disappointments they prepare for themselves and the further they run from their own mercies. The men of Ephraim did so when they thought to secure the Assyrians in their interests by a solemn league, signed, sealed, and sworn to: They make a covenant with the Assyrians, but they will find there is no hold of them; that potent prince will be a slave to his word no longer than he pleases. They thought to secure the Egyptians for their confederates by a rich present of the commodities of their country, not only to purchase their favour, but to show that their friendship was worth having: Oil is carried into Egypt. But the Egyptians, when they had got the bribe, dropped the cause, and Ephraim was never the better for them. Oleum perdidit et operam—The oil and the labour are both lost. This was feeding on wind; this was increasing lies and desolation.

II. Judah is contended with too, and Jacob, which includes both Ephraim and Judah (v. 2): The Lord has also a controversy with Judah; for though he had a while ago ruled with God, and been faithful with the saints, yet now he begins to degenerate. Or though, in keeping close to the house of David and the house of Aaron, and in them to the covenants of royalty and priesthood, they were so far in the right, in the former they ruled with God and in the latter were faithful to the saints, yet upon other accounts God had a controversy with them, and would punish them. Note, Men's being in the right in some things, in the main things, will not exempt them from correction, and therefore should not exempt them from reproof, for those things wherein they are in the wrong. There were those of the seven churches of Asia whom Christ approved and commended, and yet he adds, Nevertheless I have something against thee. So here; though the seed of Jacob are a people near to God, yet God will punish them according to the evil ways they are found in and the evil doings they are found guilty of; for God sees sin even in his own people, and will reckon with them for it.

III. Both Ephraim and Judah are put in mind of their father Jacob, whose seed they were and whose name they bore (and it was their honour), of the extraordinary things which he did and which God did for him, that they might be the more ashamed of themselves for degenerating from so illustrious a progenitor and staining the lustre of so great a name, and yet that they might be engaged and encouraged to return to God, the God of their father Jacob, in hopes for his sake to find favour with him. He had called this people Jacob (v. 2), threatening to punish them; but how shall I give them up? How shall that dear name be forgotten?

1. Three glorious things concerning Jacob the person Jacob the people are here put in mind of; but by brief hints only, for it is presumed that they knew the story:—(1.) His struggling with Esau in the womb: There he took his brother by the heel, v. 3. We have the story Gen. xxv. 26. It was an early act of bravery, and an effort for the best precedency, a pious ambition for that birthright in the covenant which Esau is justly branded as profane for despising. But his degenerate seed, by mingling with the nations, and making leagues with them, profaned that crown, and laid that honour in the dust, which he so gloriously put in for. Then it was that the dominion was given to him: The elder shall serve the younger. Then he was owned of God as his beloved: Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. But they had by their sin forfeited both the love of God and dominion over their neighbours. (2.) His wrestling with the angel. "Remember how your father Jacob had power with God by his own strength, the strength he had by the gift of God, who pleaded not against him by his great power, but put strength into him," Job xxii. 6. The angel he wrestled with is called God, and therefore is supposed to be the Son of God, the angel of the covenant. "God was both a combatant with Jacob and an assistant of him, showing, in the latter respect, greater strength than in the former, fighting as it were against him with his left hand and for him with his right, and to that putting greater force." So, Dr. Pocock. The providence of God fought against him when he met with one danger after another, in his return homewards; but the grace of God enabled him to go on cheerfully in his way, and, when his faith acted upon the divine promise that was for him prevailed above his fears that arose from the divine providences that wee against him, then by his strength he had power with God. But it refers especially to his prayer for deliverance from Esau, and for a blessing: He had power over the angel and prevailed, for he wept and made supplication. Here was a mixture of the greatest courage and the greatest tenderness, Jacob wrestling like a champion and yet weeping like a child. Note, Prayers and tears are the weapons with which the saints have obtained the most glorious victories. Thus Jacob commenced Israel—a prince with God; his posterity was called Israel, but they were unworthy the name, for they had forfeited and lost their communion with God, and their interest in him, by revolting from their duty to him. (3.) His meeting with God at Bethel: God found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us. God found him the first time in Bethel, as he went to Padanaram (Gen. xxviii. 10), and a second time after his return, Gen. xxxv. 9, &c. It is probable that this refers to both; for in both God spoke to Jacob, and renewed the covenant with him, and the prophet might very well say, There he spoke with us who are the seed of Jacob, for both times that God spoke with Jacob at Bethel he spoke with him concerning his seed. Gen. xxviii. 14, Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and Gen. xxxv. 12, This land I will give unto thy seed. Thus God then covenanted with him and his seed after him. Now justly are they upbraided with this; for in that very place which their father Jacob called Bethel—the house of God, in remembrance of the communion he there had with God, did they set up one of the calves, and worship it; thus they turned that Bethel into a Beth-aven—a house of iniquity. There God spoke with them exceedingly great and precious promises, which they had despised and lost the benefit of.

2. Two inferences are here drawn from these stories concerning Jacob, for instruction to his seed:—

(1.) Here is a use of information. From what passed between God and Jacob we may learn that Jehovah, the Lord God of hosts, is the God of Israel; he was the God of Jacob, and this is his memorial throughout all the generations of the seed of Jacob (v. 5)—the more shame for those who forgot the memorial of their church, deserted the God of their fathers, and exchanged a Lord of hosts for Baalim. Note, Those only are accounted the people of God that keep up a memorial of God, such a memorial of him as he himself has instituted, by which he makes himself known and will have us to remember him. Here are two memorials of his, by which he is distinguished from all others, and is to be acknowledged and adored by us. [1.] The former denotes his existence of himself. He is Jehovah, much the same with I AM, the same that was, and is, and is to come, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. Jehovah is his memorial, his peculiar name. [2.] The latter denotes his dominion over all: He is the God of hosts, that has all the hosts of heaven and earth at his beck and command, and makes what use he pleases of them. Jacob saw Mahanaim—God's two hosts, about the time that he wrestled with the angel (Gen. xxxii. 1, 2), and so learned to call God the God of hosts, and transmitted it to us as his memorial. God's names, titles, and attributes, are the memorials of him; there is no need for images to be such. And that which was a revelation of God to one is his memorial to many, to all generations.

(2.) Here is a use of exhortation, v. 6. "Is this so, that Jacob thy father had this communion with the Lord God of hosts, and is this still his memorial?" Then, [1.] Let those that have gone astray from God be converted to him: Therefore turn thou to thy God. He that was the God of Jacob is the God of Israel, is thy God; from him thou hast unjustly and unkindly revolted; therefore turn thou to him by repentance and faith, turn to him as thine, to love him, obey him, and depend upon him. [2.] Let those that are converted to him walk with him in all holy conversation and godliness: "Keep mercy and judgment, mercy in relieving and succouring the poor and distressed, judgment in rendering to all their due; be kind to all; do wrong to none. Keep piety and judgment" (so it may be read); "live righteously and godly in this present world; be devout and be honest. Do not only practise these occasionally, but be careful, and constant, and conscientious in the practice of them." [3.] Let those that walk with God be encouraged to live a life of dependence upon him: "Wait on thy God continually, with a believing expectation to receive from him all the succours and supplies thou standest in need of." Those that live a life of conformity to God may live a life of confidence and comfort in him, if it be not their own fault. Let our eyes be ever towards the Lord, and let us preserve a holy security and serenity of mind under the protection of the divine power and the influence of the divine favour, looking, without anxiety, for a dubious event, and by faith keeping our spirits sedate and even; this is waiting on God as our God in covenant, and this we must do continually.

Reproof for Sin; Judgment Threatened; Memorials of Divine Mercy. (b. c. 723.)

7 He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress. 8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin. 9 And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast. 10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. 11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields. 12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. 13 And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. 14 Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.

Here are intermixed, in these verses,

I. Reproofs for sin. When God is coming forth to contend with a people, that he may demonstrate his own righteousness, he will demonstrate their unrighteousness. Ephraim was called to turn to his God and keep judgment (v. 6); now, to show that he had need of that call, he is charged with turning from his God by idolatry, and breaking the laws of justice and judgment.

1. He is here charged with injustice against the precepts of the second table, v. 7, 8. Here observe,

(1.) What the sin is wherewith he is charged: He is a merchant. The margin reads it as a proper name, He is Canaan, or a Canaanite, unworthy to be denominated from Jacob and Israel, and worthy to be cast out with a curse from this good land, as the Canaanites were. See Amos ix. 7. But Canaan sometimes signifies a merchant, and therefore is most likely to do so here, where Ephraim is charged with deceit in trade. Though God had given his people a land flowing with milk and honey, yet he did not forbid them to enrich themselves by merchandise, and they succeeded the Canaanites in that as well as in their husbandry; they sucked the abundance of the seas and the treasures hidden in the sand, Deut. xxxiii. 19. And, if they had been fair merchants, it would have been no reproach at all to them, but an honour and a blessing. But he is such a merchant as the Canaanites were, who were honest only with good looking to, and, if they could, cheated all they dealt with. Ephraim does so; he deceives and thereby oppresses. Note, There is oppression by fraud as well as oppression by force. It is not only princes, lords, and masters, that oppress their subjects, tenants, and servants, but merchants and traders are often guilty of oppressing those they deal with, when they impose upon their ignorance, or take advantage of their necessity, to make hard bargains with them, or are rigorous and severe in exacting their debts. Ephraim cheated, [1.] With a great deal of art and cunning: The balances of deceit are in his hand. He uses balances, and delivers his goods by weight and measure, as if he would be very exact, but they are balances of deceit, false weights and false measures, and thus, under colour of doing right, he does the greatest wrong. Note, God has his eye upon merchants and traders, when they are weighing their goods and paying their money, whether they do honestly or deceitfully. He observes what balances they have in their hand, and how they hold them; and, though those they deal with may not be aware of that sleight of hand with which they make them balances of deceit, God sees it, and knows it. Trades by the wit of man are made mysteries, but it is a pity that by the sin of man they should ever be made mysteries of iniquity. [2.] With a great deal of pleasure and pride: He loves to oppress. To oppress is bad enough, but to love to do so is much worse. His conscience does not check and reprove him for it, as it ought to do; if it did, though he committed the sin, he could not delight in it; but his corruptions are so strong, and have so triumphed over his convictions, that he not only loves the gain of oppression, but he loves to oppress, sins for sinning-sake, and takes a pleasure in out-witting and over-reaching those that suspect him not.

(2.) How he justifies himself in this sin, v. 8. Wicked men will have something to say for themselves now when they are told of their faults, some frivolous turn-off or other wherewith to evade the convictions of the word. Ephraim stands indicted for a common cheat. Now see what he pleads to the indictment. He does not deny the charge, nor plead, Not guilty, yet does not make a penitent confession of it and ask pardon, but insists upon his own justification. Suppose it were so that he did use balances of deceit, yet, [1.] He pleads that he had got a good estate. Let the prophet say what he pleased of his deceit, of the sin of it and the curse of God that attended it, he could not be convinced there was any harm or danger in it, for this he was sure of that he had thriven in it: "Yet I have become rich, I have found me out substance. Whatever you make of it, I have made a good hand of it." Note, Carnal hearts are often confirmed in a good opinion of their evil ways by their worldly prosperity and success in those ways. But it is a great mistake. Every word in what Ephraim says here proclaims his folly. First, It is folly to call the riches of this world substance, for they are things that are not, Prov. xxiii. 5. Secondly, It is folly to think that we have them of ourselves, to say (as some read it), I have made myself rich; what substance I have is owing purely to my ingenuity and industry—I have found it; my might and the power of my hand have gotten me this wealth. Thirdly, It is folly to think that what we have is for ourselves. I have found me out substance, as if we had it for our own proper use and behoof, whereas we hold it in trust, only as stewards. Fourthly, It is folly to think that riches are things to be gloried in, and to say with exultation, I have become rich. Riches are not the honours of the soul, are not peculiar to the best men, nor sure to us; and therefore let not the rich man glory in his riches, Jam. i. 9, 10. Fifthly, It is folly to think that growing rich in a sinful way makes us innocent, or will make us safe, or may make us easy, in that way; for the prosperity of fools deceives and destroys them. See Isa. xlvii. 10; Prov. i. 32. [2.] He pleads that he had kept a good reputation. It is common for sinners, when they are justly reproved by their ministers, to appeal to their neighbours, and because they know no ill of them, or will say none, or think well of what the prophets charge them with as bad, fly in the face of their reprovers: In all my labours (says Ephraim) they shall find no iniquity in me that were sin. Note, Carnal hearts are apt to build a good opinion of themselves upon the fair character they have among their neighbours. Ephraim was very secure; for, First, All his neighbours knew him to be diligent in his business; they had an eye upon all his labours, and commended him for them. Men will praise thee when thou doest well for thyself. Secondly, None of them knew him to be deceitful in his business. He acted with so much policy that nobody could say to the contrary but that he acted with integrity. For either, 1. He concealed the fraud, so that none discovered it: "Whatever iniquity there is, they shall find none;" as if no iniquity were displeasing to God, and damning to the soul, but that which is open and scandalous before men. What will it avail us that men shall find no iniquity in us, when God finds a great deal, and will bring every secret work, even secret frauds, into judgment? Or, 2. He excused the fraud, so that none condemned it: "They shall find no iniquity in me that were sin, nothing very bad, nothing but what is very excusable, only some venial sins, sins not worth speaking of," which they think God will make nothing of because they do not. It is a fashionable iniquity; it is customary; it is what every body does; it is pleasant; it is gainful; and this, they think, is no iniquity that is sin; nobody will think the worse of them for it. But God sees not as man sees; he judges not as man judges.

2. He is here charged with idolatry, against the precepts of the first table, with that iniquity which is in a special manner vanity, the making and worshipping of images, which are vanities (v. 11): Surely they are vanity; they do not profit, but deceive. Now the prophet mentions two places notorious for idolatry:—(1.) Gilead on the other side Jordan, which had been branded for it before (ch. vi. 8): Is there iniquity in Gilead? It is a thing to be wondered at; it is a thing to be sadly lamented. What! iniquity in Gilead? idolatry there? Gilead was a fruitful pleasant country (pleasant to a proverb, Jer. xxii. 6), and does it so ill requite the Lord? It was a frontier-country, and lay much exposed to the insults of enemies, and therefore stood in special need of the divine protection; what! and yet by iniquity throw itself out of that protection? Is there iniquity in Gilead? Yea, (2.) And in Gilgal too; there they sacrifice bullocks (ch. ix. 15), and there their altars which they have set up, either to strange gods in opposition to his own appointed altar, are as thick as heaps of manure in the furrows of the field that is to be sown, ch. viii. 11. Is there iniquity in Gilead only? so some. Is it only in those remote parts of the nation that people are so superstitious, where they border upon other nations? No; they are as bad at Gilgal. In Gilead God protected Jacob their father (of whom he had been speaking) from the rage of Laban; and will you there commit iniquity?

II. Here are threatenings of wrath for sin. Some make that to be so (v. 9), I will make thee to dwell in tabernacles as in the days of the appointed time, that is, I will bring thee into such a condition as the Israelites were in when they dwelt in tents and wandered for forty years; that was the time appointed in the wilderness. Ephraim forgot that God brought him out of Egypt and brought him up to be what he was, and was proud of his wealth, and took sinful courses to increase it; and therefore God threatens to bring him to a tabernacle-state again, to a poor, mean, desolate, unsettled condition. Note, It is just with God, when men have by their sins turned their tents into houses, by his judgments to turn their houses into tents again. However, that is certainly a threatening (v. 14), Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly. See how men are deceived in their opinion of themselves, and how they will one day be undeceived. Ephraim thought that there was no iniquity in him that deserved to be called sin (v. 8); but God told him that there was that in him which was sin, and would be found so if he did not repent and reform; for, 1. It was extremely offensive to his God: Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly with his iniquities, which were so distasteful to God, and to him too would be bitterness in the latter end. He was so wilful in sinning against his knowledge and convictions that any one might see, and say, that he designed no other than to provoke God in the highest degree. 2. It would certainly be destructive to himself; that cannot be otherwise which provokes God against him, and kindles the fire of his wrath. Therefore, (1.) He shall take away his forfeited life: He shall leave his blood upon him, that is, he shall not hold him guiltless, but bring upon him that death which is the wages of sin. His blood shall be upon his own head (2 Sam. i. 16), for his own iniquity has testified against him and he alone shall bear it. Note, When sinners perish their blood is left upon them. (2.) He shall take away his forfeited honour: His reproach shall his Lord return upon him. God is his Lord; he had by idolatry and other sins reproached the Lord, and done dishonour to him, and to his name and family, and had given occasion to others to reproach him; and now God will return the reproach upon him, according to the word he has spoken, that those who despise him shall be lightly esteemed. Note, Shameful sins shall have shameful punishments. If Ephraim put contempt on his God, he shall be so reduced that all his neighbours shall look with contempt upon him.

III. Here are memorials of former mercy, which come in to convict them of base ingratitude in revolting from God. Let them blush to remember,

1. That God had raised them from meanness. When Ephraim had become rich, and was proud of that, he forgot that which God (that he might not forget it) obliged them every year to acknowledge (Deut. xxvi. 5), A Syrian ready to perish was my father. But God here puts them in mind of it, v. 12. Let them remember, not only the honours of their father Jacob, what a mighty prince he was with God, v. 3 (an honour which they had no share in while they were in rebellion against God), but what a poor servant he was to Laban, which was sufficient to mortify those that were puffed up with the estates they had raised. Jacob fled into Syria from a malicious brother, and there served a covetous uncle for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep, because he had not estate to endow a wife with. Jacob was poor, and low, and a fugitive; therefore his posterity ought not to be proud. He was a plain man, dwelling in tents, and keeping sheep; therefore balances of deceit ill became them. He served for a wife that was not a Canaanitess, as Esau's wives were; therefore it was a shame for them to degenerate into Canaanites, and mingle with the nations. God wonderfully preserved him in his flight and preserved him in his service, so that he multiplied exceedingly, and from that root in a dry ground sprang an illustrious nation, that bore his name, which magnifies the goodness of God both to him and them and leaves them under the stain of base ingratitude to that God who was their founder and benefactor.

2. That God had rescued them from misery, had raised them to what they were, not only out of poverty, but out of slavery (v. 13), which laid them under much stronger obligations to serve him and under a yet deeper guilt in serving other gods. (1.) God brought Israel out of Egypt on purpose that they might serve him, and by redeeming them out of bondage acquired a special title to them and to their service. (2.) He preserved them, as sheep are kept by the shepherd's care. He preserved them from Pharaoh's rage at the sea, even at the Red Sea, protected them from all the perils of the wilderness, and provided for them. (3.) He did this by a prophet, Moses, who, though he is called king in Jeshurun (Deut. xxxiii. 5), yet did what he did for Israel as a prophet, by direction from God and by the power of his word. The ensign of his authority was not a royal sceptre, but the rod of God; with that he summoned both Egypt's plagues and Israel's blessings. Moses, as a prophet, was a type of Christ (Acts iii. 22), and it is by Christ as a prophet that we are brought out of the Egypt of sin and Satan by the power of his truth. Now this shows how very unworthy and ungrateful this people were, [1.] In rejecting their God, who had brought them out of Egypt, which, in the preface to the commandments, is particularly mentioned as a reason for the first, why they should have no other gods before him. [2.] In despising and persecuting his prophets, whom they should have loved and valued, and have studied to answer God's end in sending them, for the sake of that prophet by whom God had brought them out of Egypt and preserved them in the wilderness. Note, The benefit we have had by the word of God greatly aggravates our sin and folly if we put any slight upon the word of God.

3. That God had taken care of their education as they grew up. This instance of God's goodness we have, v. 10. As by a prophet he delivered them, so by prophets he still continued to speak to them. Man, who is formed out of the earth, is fed out of the earth; so that nation, that was formed by prophecy, by prophecy was fed and taught; beginning at Moses, and so going on to all the prophets through the several ages of that church, we find that divine revelation was all along their tuition. (1.) They had prophets raised up among themselves (Amos ii. 11), a succession of them, were scarcely ever without a Spirit of prophecy among them more or less, from Moses to Malachi. (2.) These prophets were seers; they had visions, and dreams, in which God discovered his mind to them immediately, with a full assurance that it was his mind, Num. xii. 6. (3.) These visions were multiplied; God spoke not only once, yea, twice, but many a time; if one vision was not regarded, he sent another. The prophets had variety of visions, and frequent repetitions of the same. (4.) God spoke to them by the prophets. What the prophets received from the Lord they plainly and faithfully delivered to them. The people at Mount Sinai begged that God would speak to them by men like themselves, and he did so. (5.) In speaking to them by the prophets he used similitudes, to make the messages he sent by them intelligible, more affecting, and more likely to be remembered. The visions they saw were often similitudes, and their discourses were embellished with very apt comparisons. And, as God by his prophets, so by his Son, he used similitudes, for he opened his mouth in parables. Note, God keeps an account, whether we do or no, of the sermons we hear; and those that have long enjoyed the means of grace in purity, plenty, and power, that have been frequently, faithfully, and familiarly, told the mind of God, will have a great deal to answer for another day if they persist in a course of iniquity.

IV. Here are intimations of further mercy, and this remembered too in the midst of sin and wrath (as some understand v. 9): "I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, who then and there took thee to be my people, and have approved myself thy God ever since, in a constant series of merciful providences, have yet a kindness for thee, bad as thou art; and I will make thee to dwell in tabernacles, not as in the wilderness, but as in the days of the solemn feast," the feast of tabernacles, which was celebrated with great joy, Lev. xxiii. 40. 1. They shall be made to see, by the grace of God, that though they are rich, and have found out substance, yet they are but in a tabernacle-state, and have in their worldly wealth no continuing city. 2. They shall yet have cause to rejoice in God, and have opportunity to do it in public ordinances. The feast of tabernacles was the first solemn feast the Jews kept after their return out of Babylon, Ezra iii. 4. 3. This, as other promises, was to have its full accomplishment in the grace of the gospel, which provides tabernacles for believers in their way to heaven, and furnishes them with matter of joy, holy joy, joy in God, such as was in the feast of tabernacles, Zech. xiv. 18, 19.

CHAP. XII.

Verſe 1. EPhraim feedeth on wind,] Slender feeding; unleſſe Ephraim were of the Chamaeleon-kind: quippe nec cor auro ſatiatur nec corpus aura. Wind fills,Eſay 55.10, 2 Cor. 9.10. but feeds not. Ephraim had ſowed the wind, chap. 8.7. but to what profit? Hee that miniſtreth ſeed to the ſower, and bread to the eater, would here, ſurely, neither give bread for food, nor multiply their ſeed ſown, but ſend them to the gods that they had choſen, and to their confederates whom they ſo relied upon, from whom they ſhould reap the whirlwind. (See the Note on chap. 8.7.) Wind, we know, bloweth up ſtorms and tempeſts: ſo doth idolatry and creature-confidence, the tempeſt of Gods wrath that will never be blown over.

and followeth after the Eaſt-wind,] Which if he catch, a great catch he is like to have of it. Eurus eſt ventus urens & exſiccans. The Eaſt-wind is noted in Scripture for pernicious and hurtfull to fruits and herbs, Gen. 41.6. Ezek. 7.10. and 29.17. Hoſ. 13.15 violent it is alſo, and ſpareth not men, Ion. 4.8. The Seventy render it, [non-Latin text not transcribed], a burning blaſt, as they do the former words, Ephraim is an evil ſpirit, by a miſtake of the points. Iob ſpeaketh of ſome that fill their bellies with the Eaſt-wind; they think to do ſo, but it proves otherwiſe: they ſnuff up the wind with the wild-aſſe, but it tumours them onely, and proves peſtilentiall. It is very dangerous for men to follow after their own conceits and counſels. It may be worſe to them upon their death-beds, when they are lanching into the main of Immortality,Euroaquilo. then any rough Eaſt-wind, or then any Euroclydon, that wind mentioned, Acts 27.14. Ʋna eruſque uotuſ que ruunt. Virg. that hath its name from ſtirring up ſtormes, and is by Pliny called Navigantium peſtis, the Mariners miſery. An empty body meeting with tempeſts, will have much ado to bear up. If Ephraim firſt ſeed upon wind, and then fall under the Eaſt-wind, it muſt needs go hard with him. The godly man, who is filled with all the fulneſſe of God, Epheſ. 3.19. ſhall have him for a refuge from the ſtorme, a ſhadow from the heat, when the blaſt of the terrible ones is as a ſtorme againſt the wall, Eſay 25.4. His prayer is that of Ieremy, chap. 17. verſ. 17. Be not thou a terrour unto me, O Lord: thou art my hope in the day of evil. If the wind be not got into the earth, and ſtir not there, ſtorms and tempeſts abroad cannot make an earthquake: no more can afflictions, or death, an heart-quake, where there is peace with God: Such a mans mind immota manet, is as mount Zion which cannot be removed.

He daily increaſeth lies and deſolation,] This being the fruit and conſequent of thoſe; for flagitium & flagellum ſicut acus & filum, ſinne and puniſhment are inſeparable companions, Wo unto them for they have fled from me: deſtruction unto them, becauſe they have tranſgreſſed againſt me, Hoſ. 7.13. See the Note there. To heap up lies, is to haſten deſolation. A falſe witneſſe ſhall not be unpuniſhed: and he that ſpeaketh lies ſhall periſh, Prov. 19.9. They tell us of a threefold lie, i. e. A merry lie, an officious lie, and a pernicious lie. But the truth is, every lie is pernicious: and a man ſhould rather die then lie. He that lieth in jeſt, may go to hell for it in earneſt. Iacob told his father an officious three-foldlie, and ſcarce ever had a merry day after it, Gen. 27.19. God followed him with one ſorrow upon another, to teach him and us, what an evil and a bitter thing it is to cumulate lies, as here, and how it enſnares and enſnarles us.

And they do make a covenant with the Aſſyrian, and oil is carried into Egypt.] that is, all precious and pleaſant ſubstance was carried for a preſent, to make roomth for them. Oil is inſtanted, as the chief ſtaple commodity of the land, (ſee Ezek. 27.17.) and in Egypt very ſcarce: this ſin of theirs in ſeeking to other nations, and relying on the arme of fleſh, is oft reproved and threatned thorowout this Propheſie. See chap. 5.13. & 7.11. & 9.8. & 10.4 & 11.5. To neach Gods Miniſters to continue crying out againſt the prevailing ſinnes of the people, and never give over, till they ſee a reformation wrought amongſt them.Tle. 1.15. The Cretians are alwayes lyars, &c. Rebuke them ſharpely, ſaith the Apoſtle; yea, be inſtant and conſtant, in ſeaſon, and out of ſeaſon, uſing the ſame liberty in beating down ſin, that men do to commit it. Chryſ[illegible: 1 letter]ſtom told his heaters at Antioch, that till they left their ſwearing, he would never leave preaching againſt it.

Verſe 2. The Lord hath alſo a controverſie with Judah,] Leſt the Prophet ſhould be thought partiall in the law, Mal. 2.9. (See the Note there) and leſt Ephraim ſhould ſay of Judah, as once Oded did of Iſrael; Are there not with them, even with them alſo, ſinnes againſt the Lord? The Prophet anſwers by way of conceſſion, 2 Chro. 28.10 that there were ſo indeed; and that therefore God had a controverſie with them, a litigation, or diſceptation: he was expoſtulating with them by words, and ſome lighter ſtroaks, notwithſtanding he had commended them before, as ruling with God, and retaining his pure worſhip. God would take his time to deal with them too, for their many impieties, and eſpecially for running to Egypt for help, as they did in the dayes of Ahaz, and Zedekiah, ſee Eſay 30.2. and 31.1. but becauſe they were not yet ſo bad as the ten Tribes, nor ſo deſperately wicked,See chap. 4.15. & 5.5, 8, 12, 13, 14. & 6.11. therefore the Lord was yet but pleading with them, he had not paſſed ſentence, he was not reſolved upon their ruine and utter extirpation: as he was for the ten Tribes, thoſe foul Apoſtates and ſhameleſſe covenant-breakers: concerning whom he ſaith, and is ſet upon't, I will puniſh Jacob according to his wayes.] See the like words, chap. 4. verſe 9. with the Note. He calls them Jacob, becauſe they gloried much in him their Progenitour, as did likewiſe the Samaritans that ſucceeded them, Iob. 4.12. So did the Jews in Micah chap. 2.7. But the Prophet Hoſea anſwereth them in effect (as there) by proving a diſparity. O th[illegible: 2 letters] that art named the houſe of Iacob, (that wilt needs be named ſo, and therein prideſt thy ſelf) is the Spirit of the Lord [illegible: 1 letter]raitned? (ye are not ſurely ſtraitned in him, but in your own bowels,Odloſum & impium dog[illegible: 3 letters] An[illegible: 2 letters]aptiſtarum. qui idea pueris ba[illegible: 1 letter]tiſ. mum negant, quia ſenſu & mente careant. Luther. in loc. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. that yee expreſſe Iacob no better, that ye reſemble him no more) Are theſe his doings? was Iacob a man of your practiſes? No: for he left no means unattempted, that hee might attain the bleſſing: he ſtrove for it with his brother in the womb, afterwards with the Angel, againſt whom with much wreſtling and raiſing of duſt, he prevailed, as it followeth in the two next verſes.

Verſe 3. He took his brother by the heel in the womb, to have hindred him if he could, of the firſt-birth-right; ſo deſirous he ſhewed himſelf, ſo ſoon, of that deſireable ſireable priviledge, and the pro[illegible: 2 letters]iſes annexed. Whence we may learn (ſaith One) that God taketh care even of unborn babes, that belong to him, and worketh ſtrangely in them ſometimes, as he did in the Baptiſt, Luke 1.44. the child leaped in the womb, by a ſupernaturall motion; he leaped more like a ſuckling at the breſt, as the word ſignifieth, then an unborn Embryo. Mention had been made in the former verſe, of the name of Jacob: here we have the etymon, or reaſon of that name; He took his brother by the heel, or foot-ſole, as if he would have turned up his heels and got to the goal before him. Hence his name was called Iacob, Gen. 25.26. that is, Calcanearius, or Heel-catcher, as if he would have pulled his brother back; or preſage of what he ſhould afterwards do, viz. ſupplant Eſau, and get the preheminence both of birth-right; and bleſſing; Gen. 27.36. and withall a fruit, an inſtance of Gods free grace, in preferring Jacob when he could not yet do any thing that was good) before Eſan, though he were the elder, ſtronger, ſtouter, a manly child, a man already, as his name importeth, one that had every thing more like a man then a babe. See Mal. 1.2. with the Note. And obſerve, that God here upbraideth Iacobs degenerate brood, with his benefits toward him their forefather, whereof they now walked ſo utterly unworthy.

And by his ſtrength,] [non-Latin text not transcribed]. By his hard labour, ſay the Seventy[illegible: 1 letter] but better, by, or in his ſtrength, that is, by the ſupply of the Spirit of Ieſus Chriſt, Phil. 1.19. and by the power of the Almighty, caſting him down with the one hand, and bearing him up with the other.

He had [illegible: 1 word] with God.] Heb. he played the Prince with God, fortiter & fideliter ſe geſſit, he bore himſelf bravely, and had ſtrength with God. He doth not lie down ſullen and diſcouraged, but wreſtleth with excellent wreſtlings; he held with his hands, when his joynts were out of joynt. He wreſtled in the night, and alone, and when God was leaving him, and upon one leg, and prevailed, as it is in the next verſe. This he did partly by his bodily ſtrength elevated, for he was a very ſtrong man, as appeareth Gen. 29.10. by his rouling the great ſtone from the Wels mouth; but principally by the force of his faith put forth in prayer, which can work wonders.Epheſ. 3.16. Oh, its a ſweet thing indeed to be ſtrengthened with might, by the ſpirit, in the inner man. Orqu[illegible: 2 letters] hic home, non eſt omnium! This is the generation of them that ſeek him:Pſal. 24.6. that ſeek thy face, this is Iacob: yea, this is Iſrael, for ſo God knighted him, as it were, in the field for his good ſervice: and new named him, G[illegible: 2 letters] 3[illegible: 1 letter].28. Neither were the faithfull ever ſince called Abrahamites, or Iſaakites, but Iſraelites; for honours ſake.

Verſe 4. Yea, he had power over the Angel.] that Angel of the Covenant, Mal. 3.1. the Angel of the great Council, as the Seventy render, Eſay 9.6. the Lord Chriſt, [non-Latin text not transcribed] who redeemed Jacob from all evil, Gen. 48.16. and is called Elohim in the former verſe[illegible: 2 letters] Iacob is reproved for asking his name, an argument of his Majeſtie. God as he ſurmounteth all creatures, and hath no parallel, ſo he ſurpaſſeth all notion, and is above all name.Plutarch. lib. de Iſ[illegible: 1 letter]d. & Of[illegible: 1 letter]id The Africanes call him Amon, that is Heus, tu, quis et? Our beſt eloquence of him, [illegible: 2 letters] an humble filence: Or if we ſay any thing, to ſay as in the next verſe following, Iehovah, God of heaſts, Jehovah is his momoriall.

and prevailed[illegible: 1 letter] ] Sept. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. He had power, or got the better, Chriſt yeelding himſelf overdome by the prayers of the Patriarch: for the effectuall ſervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, ſaith St. James: there is a kinde of omnipotency in it, ſaith Luther, of whom alſo that ſaying paſſed amongſt his friends, Iſte vir pot uit, apud De[illegible: 2 letters]s qnod vol[illegible: 1 letter]it, That man could do what he would with God. The reaſon whereof is given by St. Hierom, in theſe words, Deus ipſe qui nulliscontra ſe viribu[illegible: 1 letter]ſuperari poteſt, precibus viucitur, that is God himſelf, who is otherwiſe inſuperable, may be overcome by prayers: provided that men perſevere in prayer as Jacob did,Invictum vincunt vota pre [illegible: 1 letter]eſ que Deum. holding out till the morning-light, and growing more reſolute toward the later end then he had been before.

He wept and made ſupplication.] Jacob did. (not the Angel, as Mercer and Druſrus would carry it) His wreſtling was by weeping, and his prevayling by praying. Verbum, preces, & lachryma, Miſera arma ſunt Eccleſia. We read not till this Text, of his weeping for the bleſſing, (no more we do of the earthquake in Hezekiah's dayes, till Amos 1. and Zach. 14.) But this we know, that ardent prayer is a pouring out of the ſoul to God, not without a ſhower of tears, or at leaſt a ſtorm of ſighes. And as muſick upon the water ſounds farther, and more harmoniouſly then upon the land: ſo prayers with tears are more pleaſing to God, and prevalent with him. Chriſt could not but look back to thoſe weeping women that followed him to the croſſe, and comfort them. Tears of compaſſion, and of compunction, when men love and weep, as Mary Magdalen did, are very acceptable to God, who puts them into his bottle as precious. There are tears of another ſort, lachrimae nequitiae, tears of wickedneſſe, expreſſed either by hypocriſie or a deſire of revenge: ſuch were Eſau's tears for the bleſſing too, Gen. 27.38. but he went without it, becauſe a profane hypocrite: he cried out of diſcontent, and threatened his brother Iacob: he complained of his fathers ſtore, (Haſt thou but one bleſſing) of his brothers ſubtilty, (was he not rightly called Iacob?) but not a word of his own wickedneſſe. He roared for the diſquietneſſe of his heart, but he did not, as Iacob, weep and make ſupplication to his Judge,Hithchame[illegible: 1 letter]. deploring his own wants, and imploring the ſupplies of his grace, quam unicè expetijt, as the main thing he deſired.

he found him in Bethel,] that is the Lord found Iacob there, Gen. 28.18. but eſpecially, Gen. 35.14. confirming his promiſes to him and all his poſterity.

there he ſpake with us,] who were then in Iacobs loyns, and promiſed that God ſhould be our God: but we have falſified with him, and turned Bethel into Bethaven: abuſing that place to idolatry and calf-worſhip, where we, in our forefathers, had ſo many manifeſtations of divine mercy. Oh better he had never ſpoken with us there. then that we ſhould have ſo ſlighted his promiſes, caſt his words behinde our backs, and wickedly departed from our God. Is this Iacob-like, &c. There hee ſpake with us. What he ſpake with Iacob, he ſpake with us: and wee are to hold our ſelves no leſſe concerned therein then he was. See a like expreſſion. Pſal. 66.6. See likewiſe, R[illegible: 1 letter]m. 15.4. and Heb. 13.5. what God ſpake to Ioſhua, chap. 1.5. he ſpake to all Beleevers And that which he ſpake to his afflicted; Pſal. 102. He will regard the prayer of the deſtitute, and not deſpiſe their prayer, that he ſpake to us: for verſe 18. This ſhall be written for the generations to [illegible: 1 letter]ome. The Hebrews have a proverb; Quae patribus a ciderunt ſignum ſunt filijs, What things befell the fathers, thoſe were a ſigne to their children: and thence it is, that the deeds of the fathers are oft attributed to the children. Let us labour to ſee our own names written upon every promiſe: and ſecure our intereſt by ſearching for the conditions whereunto the promiſes are annexed; and then put them in ſuit by faithfull prayer, ſaying with David, Remember thy word unto thy ſervant, whereupon thou haſt cauſed me to truſt.

Verſe 5. Even the Lord God of hoſts,] Lo, He it is who promiſed, who ſpake with us at Bethel: even that Jehovah who is himſelf unchangeable and Almighty; whoſe promiſes are eternall, and infallible: who will perform with his hand, what he hath ſpoken with his mouth, to the thouſandth generation of thoſe that return unto him. Concerning Gods name Jehovah, ſee the Note on Mal. 3.6. Concerning his Title, God of Hoſts, ſee the Notes on Mal. 3.17. Doct. 1.

The Lord is his memoriall.] Jehovah is that nomen majeſtativum (as Tertullian hath it) that holy and reverend name of God, whereby he will be known, and remembred,Pſal. 111. Exod. 3.19. which place doth notably illuſtrate this. True it is, that the Jews to countenance their conceit of the ineffability of this name Jehovah, do corrupt that Text: and, for this is my name Legnalam for ever, they read, this is my name Legnalam, to be concealed. Where it is well obſerved by One, how croſſe the ſuperſtition of men is to the will of God. They in a pretended reverence to God, will not ſo much as mention this name; becauſe they ſay, 'tis a name that God ſo much glorieth in: and yet the Text ſaith, this name is Gods memoriall: it is the name by which he would be remembred to all generations, as that which ſetteth forth his glory more then any other Name whatſoever. So that when we would have a holy memoriall of God (and to remember Him,Tam Dei meminiſſe opus eſt quam reſpirare. Nazianzen. is every whit as needfull as to draw breath, ſaith an Ancient) we need no Images or other unwarrantable helps: the meditation of the Name Jehovah, and the import of it, will be of ſingular uſe that way. Papiſts have their pictures, and their memories, as they call them; Idolaters fain to themſelves diverſe repreſentations, and remembrances. Behind the doors alſo and the poſts haſt thou ſet up thy remembrances, Eſay 57.8. where Gods Law ſhould have been written, according to Deut. 6.9. & 11.12. and when as Gods Name ſhould have been remembred, Pſal. 135.13. and Pſal. 102.12.

Verſe 6. Therefore turn thou to thy God,] The premiſes conſidered, Repent: and ſo return to God from whom thou haſt deeply revolted. It is to thy God, to whom thou art exhorted to turn; not to a tyrant, but to a God in covenant: yea it is with thy God (as the Hebrew hath it) with his good help, that thou ſhalt turn. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Onely cry unto him, Turn us Lord, and we ſhall be turned, draw us, and we will run after thee, &c. Of turning to the Lord, ſee the Note on Zach. 1.3.

Keep mercy and judgement,] Thoſe magnalia legis, thoſe weightier matters of the Law (as our Saviour calleth them, Matth. 23.23.) which Ephraim had made light of, chap. 4.1. He is therefore called upon to evidence the truth of his turning to God, by bringing forth fruits meet for repentance, Matth. 3.8. ſuch as are tantamount, and weigh juſt as much as repentance comes to. Optima & aptiſſima poenitentia eſt nova vita, ſaith Luther; The beſt and righteſt repentance is a new life, univerſall obedience to both Tables of the Law: Mercy and judgement are here put (by a figure) for the duties of the ſecond Table: as conſtant waiting upon God for the duties of the firſt: for the Prophet here obſerveth not the order of nature,Donande. Condonands. but of our knowledge, when he inſtanceth firſt in the ſecond Table, as doth alſo the Prophet Micah, chap. 6.8. Mercy muſt be kept and exerciſed, by 1 Giving, 2 Forgiving: This God prefers before ſacrifice, Hoſ. 6.7. This Chryſoſtom ſaith, is a more glorious work then to raiſe from the dead. And here let thoſe that would keep mercy (and not ſhew it onely ſometimes, when they are in a good mood) ſteep their thoughts in the mercies of God: and ſo ſtrive to be mercifull, as their heavenly Father is, Matth. 6. Judgement alſo muſt be kept, and juſtice done, Eſay 56.1. after the example of God, who is ſaid to exerciſe loving-kindneſſe, but withall judgement, and righteouſneſſe in the earth, Ier. 9.24. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous, yea our God is mercifull, Pſal. 116.5. the mixture of mercy and judgement is very comely: as in publike perſons, Pſal. 101.1. (where we ſee, that Davids ditty was compoſed of diſcords, which made an excellent harmony) ſo in others of all ſorts, Prov. 21.21. who are required to be mercifully juſt, and juſtly mercifull in all their enterdealings: according to that golden rule, given by our Saviour, Luke 6.31. Whatever ye would that men ſhould do unto you, do ye to them likewiſe. This is the ſtandard.

and wait on thy God continually.] Firſt, beleeve Him to be thy God, by a particular individuating faith: and then thou wilt be eaſily drawn to wait upon him, who waiteth to be gracious: or to draw near unto him, (as the Seventy here render it) and come boldly to the throne of grace, Heb 4.16. for as the Ark of the Covenant, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and the Mercy-ſeat, were never ſeparated: to neither is the mercy of God from thoſe that are in covenant with him, and can truely call him Theirs. Hope is compared to a line (the ſame Hebrew word that ſignifieth the one ſignifieth the other) and waiting on God is nothing elſe but Hope and Truſt lengthened, or drawn out. Sure it is that Truſt in God at length will triumph: and all his diſpenſations will appear beautifull in their ſeaſon. Hold out therefore faith and patience. Wait upon the Lord, be of good courage, and he ſhall ſtrengthen thy heart: Wait I ſay upon the Lord. Pſal. 27.14. Ponder that ſweet promiſe, Habak. 2.3. not delivered only, but doubled, and trebled for more ſurety. And then conſider firſt thy diſtance from God in worth, and degree: next thy dependance upon him, thine undone condition, if he deſert thee: and then thou wilt be content to wait upon him continually, to ſtay his leiſure as David did for the kingdom, and as thoſe in Eſther did for deliverance: to ſay with thoſe good ſouls in the Acts, The will of the Lord be done.

Verſe 7. He is a merchant,] Heb. He is Canaan, that is, a meer naturall man, Ezek. 16.3. a money-merchant, who ſo he may have it, careth not how he comes by it: he is more like a Canaanite then a Jacobite. Jacob ſaid, I have enough my brother; but Ephraim is ſick of the plague of unſatisfiableneſſe: and inſtead of keep mercy and judgement, as in the former verſe, he keepeth falſe ballances in his hand, and falſe weights in his bag, Deut. 15.13, 14, 15. Lev. 19.36. Prov. 11.1. and 16.11. and 20.10. See the Notes there, He that hath his hands full of the ballances of deceit, and will not looſe them to take hold of God, will not part with his fat and ſweet (as the Vine and Olive in Iothams Purable) though it be to raigne in heaven, how can it be expected that he ſhould turne to God, or that he ſhould love to be his ſervant, Eſay 56.6?

when hee loveth to oppreſſe.] To get gain, if not by fraud and cunning contrivance, then by force, and by forged cavillation, as Luke 19.9. Sic quaecunque poteſt arte nocere, nocet: And all this he loveth to do: he delights in it; he not onely is pleaſed with it, but pleadeth for it, and oppoſeth with creſt and breſt whatſoever ſtandeth in the way of his own heart; exerciſed with covetouſneſſe, (as S. Peters phraſe is, 2 Pet. 2.14,) which he conſtantly followeth, as the Artificer doth his trade. Let ſuch Canaanites read that flaming text, 1 Theſſ. 4.6. and take heed, leſt while they get all they can, by wrench and wile, leſt while they count all good fiſh that comes to net, they catch at length the Devil and all: leſt they receive no leſſe ſummes of curſes, then of coyn; leſt ſcreech-owls of woe cry aloud, from the beams of their chambers, &c. See the Note on chap. 7.1.

Verſe 8. And Ephraim ſaid, yet I am become rich,] Sed mihi plande domi. I have it howſoever, though I hear ill for it; though the Prophet inveigh againſt my covetouſneſſe, yet I am rich, while he and his companions are poor, and indigent:

yea I have found me out ſubſtance,] An idol, ſo the Vulgar renders it:Epheſ. 5.5. and indeed, every covetous man is an idolater, and performs both outward and inward ſervice to his Mammon of unrighteouſneſſe, to his golden-calf. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Subſtance hee here craekes of, and reſt to his ſoul (as the Seventy render it) in oppoſition happly to the aery notions (as he accounted them) of the Prophets invectives againſt his covetous practiſes, and the terrours of his own conſcience, which he endeavoured to corrupt and bribe: See to like purpoſe, Eſay 57.10. Thou haſt found the life of thy hand, that is, a livelihood by thy labour; therefore thou waſt not grieved: thy heart is hardened, and thou art inſenſible of thy ſin-guiltineſſe; thou ſetteſt the gain againſt the guilt, and then all is hall with thee. Felix ſcelus virtus vocatur; Tul. de divin. lib. 2. Proſperous wickedneſſe is accounted vertue. Leah, becauſe fruitfull, and ſucceſſefull, rejoyced in that whereof ſhe had greater reaſon to repent. So did thoſe Idolaters, Ier. 44.11. Dionyſius, after the ſpoil of an idol-Temple, finding the winds favourable in his Navigation; Lo, ſaid he, how the gods approve of ſacriledge. It is no better that Ephraim here deals with the Almighty: Surely ſaith he, if God diſliked my courſes ſo much as the Prophet would make beleeve,, I ſhould not gather wealth as I do: but the world comes tumbling in upon me, therefore my wayes are good before God. This is an ordinary paralogiſme, whereby wicked worldlings deceive their own ſouls; hardning and heartning themſelves in their ſinfull practiſes, becauſe they outwardly proſper. But a painted face is no ſigne of a good complexion. Seneea could ſay, That it is the greateſt unhappineſſe to proſper in evil.

In all my labours,] ſo he calleth his fraudulent and violent practiſes, as making the beſt of an ill matter.

They ſhall find no iniquity in me.] Though they ſearch as narrowly as Laban did into Jacobs ſtuff: What can they find, or prove by me? Am I not able, either to hide mine ill-dealings, or to defend them? Can they take the advantage of the Law againſt me? Why then ſhould I be thus condemned and cried out of, as I am? Thus the rich man is wiſe in his own conceit, Prov. 28.11. and covetouſneſſe is never without its cloak, 1 Theſſ. 2.5. which yet is too ſhort to cover it from God, who is not mocked with masks, or fed with fained words, whereof the covetous caitiff is ſull, 2 Pet. 2.3. witneſſe Ephraim here, with his pretences, of innocency, In all my labours, that is, mine ill-gotten goods, (the fruit of mine hard and honeſt labour, ſaith he) they ſhall find none iniquity, no crimen ſtellionatus, no craft or cruelty.

That were ſinne.] Piaculum eſſet, that were a foul buſineſſe: farre be it from me to ſtain my trading, or burden my conſcience with any ſuch miſdeed. I would you ſhould know, I am as ſhie of ſinne as another: neither would I be taken tripping for any good. Thus men notoriouſly guilty, may yet give good words, yea largely profeſſe what they are guilty of, to be an abominable thing. And this is a ſure ſigne of a profane and cauterized conſcience, of an heart that being firſt turned into earth and mud, doth afterwards freez and congeal into ſteel and adamant.

Verſe 9. And I that am thy Lord God from the land of Egypt,] This ſeemeth to be interlaced for the comfort of the better ſort, that trembled at the former threatnings: for as in a family, if the dogs be beaten, the children will be apt to cry; ſo is it in Gods houſe. Hence he is carefull to take out the precious from the vile, and telleth them, that he hath not caſt off his people whom he foreknew: but would ſurely obſerve his ancient covenant, made even in the land of Egypt toward his ſpirituall Iſrael

I will yet make them to dwell in tabernacles, &c.] i. e. I will deliver my Church from the ſpiritual Egypt: and make her to paſſe thorow the wilderneſſe of the world,Diod[illegible: 1 letter]e. in particular Churches, aſpiring toward the heavenly Canaan: even as my people dwelt in Tents in the wilderneſſe, the remembrance whereof is celebrated in the feaſt of Tabernacles, Lev. 23.43. See Zach. 14.16. with the Note.

Verſe 10. I have alſo ſpoken by the Prophets,] And not ſuffered you to walk in your own wayes,Eſay 30.20. as did all other Nations, Acts 14.16. The Miniſtery is a ſingular mercy, however now vilipended.

and I have multiplied viſions,] whereby I have diſcovered thy preſent ſins, and imminent dangers, though thou haſt ſaid, They ſhall finde none iniquity in me, &c. The wit of Mammoniſts will better ſerve them to palliate and plead for their dilectum delictum, their beloved ſinne, then their pride will ſuffer them once to confeſſe and forſake it, though never ſo plainly and plentifully ſet forth unto them.

and uſed ſimilitudes by the miniſtery of the Prophets,] Heb. by the hand, which is the inſtrument of inſtruments, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. ſaith the Philoſopher: ſo is the miniſtery of the word, for the good of ſouls. It is called a hand, becauſe it ſets upon mens ſouls with the ſtrength of God, and a certain vehemency. Did not my word lay hold upon your fathers? Zach. 1.6. See the Note there. It is ſaid, Luke 5.17. that as Chriſt was teaching, the power of the Lord was preſent, &c. The Goſpel of Chriſt is the power of God, Rom. 1.16. It is his mighty arm, Eſay 53.1. Now it was ordinary with the Prophets to uſe ſimilitudes, as Eſay 5.2. Ezek. 16.3. which is an excellent way of preaching and prevailing: as that which doth noth notably illuſtrate the truth, and inſinuate into mens affections. Galeatius Carac[illegible: 2 letters]olus, an Italian Marqueſſe, and Nephew to Pope Paul the fi[illegible: 1 letter]t, was converted by Peter Martyr reading on 1 Corinth. and uſing an apt ſimilitude. Miniſters muſt turn themſelves into all formes and ſhapes, both of ſpirit and of ſpeech for the reaching of their hearers hearts; they muſt come unto them in the moſt woing, winning, and convincing way that may be. Onely in uſing of Similies, they muſt, 1. Bring them from things known and familiar, things that their hearers are moſt acquainted with, and accuſtomed to. Thus the Prophets draw compariſons from fiſhes to the Egyptians, vineyards to the Jews, droves of cattle to the Arabians, trade and traffique to the Egyptians. And thus that great Apoſtle, 1 Cor. 9 24. fetcheth Similies from runners, and wreſtlers, exerciſes that they were well acquainted with in the Iſthmian Games, inſtituted by Theſus, not far from their city. 2. Similies muſt be very naturall, plain, and proper. 3. They muſt not be too far urged: we muſt not witwanton it in uſing them: and let it be remembred, that though they much illuſtrate a truth, yet Theologia parabolica nihil probat. There are [illegible: 1 letter]nterpreters of good note, that read this whole verſe in the future tenſe; and make a continuation of that promiſe in the verſe afore. I will ſpeak by the Prophets, ſc. in the dayes of the Goſpel, when great was the company of thoſe that publiſhed it, Pſal. 68.11. I will multiply viſions: See this fulfilled, Acts 2.17. with Joel 2.28. I will uſe ſimilitudes, teach in parables, and illuſtrate therewith grave ſentences and doctrines, as Chriſt and his Apoſtles did, and as the beſt Preachers ſtill do, that they may thereby ſet forth things to the life, and make them as plain, as if written with the Sunbeams.

Verſe 11. Is there iniquity in Gilead?] What in Gilead, a city of Prieſts? (See chap. 6. ver. 8. with the Note) yea Gilead is a city of thoſe that work iniquity, a very Poneropolis, a place of naughty-packs, chap. 4.15. Now there is not a worſe creature on earth, then a wicked Prieſt, nor a worſe place then a wicked Gilead The Hebrew hath it thus, Is Gilead iniquity? Or as Luther, Druſius, and others, [non-Latin text not transcribed] certè verè, profectè. Surely it is ſo. Confer Mich. 1.5. Gregory Nazianzen reports of Athens, that it was the plaguieſt place in the world for ſuperſtition. Our Univerſities were ſo in times of Popery, and began to be ſo again, a few years ſince. Revera Gilead eſt iniquitas, profectò vanitas ſunt, they were grown ſo incorrigibly flagitious, that they ſeemed to be as it were, transformed into ſinnes image. Some render the Text thus; Is there iniquity in Gilead? Are they onely vanity in Gilgal? They ſacrifice, bullocks, &c. and ſet this ſence upon it. What? think you the men of Gilead, thoſe beyond the river of Jordan, whom Tiglath Pileſen poyled and l[illegible: 1 letter]d captives, that they onely were guilty of idolatry, and you not, becauſe you remain at home, untouched of the Aſſyrian? Nay, ſaith He, the very entrance into the Countrey,Jun. & Trem. Gilgal it ſelf, ſo aboundeth with idolatry, that it is not to be doubted, but in the reſt of the parts of the kingdome, their altars are as thick as furrows in the field, that is to ſay, innumerable. Some think this laſt clauſe, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field (or of my fields, whereof I am chief Lord,Sadai. and wherein he ſhould have ſerved me, and not idols) hath reference to ſome ſuperſtitious way of theirs, of ſeeking God, by erecting altars in the furrows, for the fructifying of their fields[illegible: 1 letter] the Heathen did ſo to their Dij Terminales: and the Papiſts ſtill do ſo in their ſolemn Proceſſions, erecting croſſes and crucifixes in the bounds of their fields, and thereby thinking to get a bleſſing on their corn and paſtures. Turnovius, noteth here, that God in the old Teſtament would therefore have but one Altar, whereon to offer ſacrifice, and that to be at Jeruſalem onely, to teach them that Chriſt, the Anti-type of all their ſacrifices, ſhould once be offered up upon the altar of his Croſſe, a propitiation for their ſinnes, Heb. chap. 9. & 10. This Altar he alſo appointed to be in the Temple, that the ſacrificers might beleeve the gracious preſence of God with them, and might worſhip him in ſpirit and in truth.

Verſe 12. And Jacob fled into the countrey of Syria,] Iacob, in whom ye glory, was a poor forlorne fugitive, glad to runne for his life, and to take hard on for his livelyhood, Gen. 28. & 29. This they were bound by the Law to make confeſſion of ever when they offered their basket of firſt fruits, and to ſay, A Syrian ready to periſh was my father, &c. Deut. 26.5. that, conſidering the meanneſſe of their original, they might not boaſt of their anceſtry; but magnifie, Gods, free-grace in their preſent enjoyments; and ſay as that noble Athenian General Aphicrates did, in the middeſt of all his triumphs, [non-Latin text not transcribed] from how great baſeneſſe and miſery, to what great bleſſedneſſe and glory are we exalted? King Agathocles, would be ſerved in earthen veſſels, to mind him of his father, who was a poor potter. Willigis Arch biſhop of Ments, Anno 1011. being a Wheel-wrights ſonne, hang'd wheels, and wheel-wrights-tools round about his bed-chamber, and under-wrot in Capitall Letters, Willigis, Willigis recole unde veneris, Remember thine Originall.Buch[illegible: 1 letter]l[illegible: 1 letter]er: How low and mean were we of this Nanion at firſt? Brith ſignifieth blew-coloured, ſc. with woad; Hence our name Britains: This was their fine clothing: their food was barks of trees and roots. Holi[illegible: 1 letter]ſh[illegible: 1 letter]d ſaith, chat ſome old men he knew, who told of times in England, that if the good-man of the houſe had a matris, or a flock-bed, and a ſack of chaffe to reſt his head on, he thonght himſelf as well lodg'd, as the Lord of the Town: for ordinarily, they lay upon ſtraw-pallets covered with canvaſe, and a round log under them heads inſtead of a bolſter they ſaid, pillows were fit onely for women in child-bed and in a good farmers houſe, it was rare to find four pieces of Pewter: and it was accounted a great matter that a farmer ſhould ſhew five ſhillings, or a noble together in ſilver, &c. There are that render the Text thus: Thither fled Jacob nut of the countrey of Syri[illegible: 1 letter], after Iſrael had ſerved for a wife, and for a wife had kept ſheep.

Verſe 13. Hither alſo by a Prophee did Jehovah, bring up Iſrailent of Egypt, &c.] that is, Gilead ſerved as a ſanctuary unto Jacob, when be fled from Laban, In Gilgal alſo God by Joſhuah renewed his Covenant with your fathers after he had brought them out of Egypt, by the hand of Moſes and Aaron. A horrible thing therefore it is, if well conſidered, that theſe two places ſhould now he ſo impured with idolatry; and become the nut[illegible: 4 letters]s of evil, which heretofore were the means of ſo great comfort to Gods people. Thus Junius, P[illegible: 1 letter]lanus, and others. A witty interpretation, but ſomewhat forced.

And Iſrael ſerved for a wife,] He had nothing to endow her with, he would therefore earn her with his hard labour: wherein he ſhewed ſingular humility, patience, meekneſſe, waiting upon Gods providence: none of all which graces were found in his degenerate poſterity, who yet prided themſelves in their father Iacob.

And for a wife he kept ſheep.] q. d. Jacob, that he might obey his father, was content to ſerve his Uncle; and to ſuffer a great deal of wrong from him: but ye refuſe to ſerve me though a liberall Lord, a bountifull Benefactour. He held cloſe to me in that hard ſervice: but you abuſing your liberty, enſlave your ſelves to falſe gods. He in his miſery kept his confidence of the bleſſing: but you in your proſperity, caſt it clean away, &c. Luther upon this Text ſpeaketh much about the bleſſing of a good wife, [illegible: 1 letter]um qua perpetu[illegible: 1 letter] rixan. dum. (a commodity that cannot be too dear bought) and the plague of a ſcold that is alwayes rayling and wrangling. The Heathen well ſaith, that every man when he marrieth, bringeth either a good, or an evil ſpirit into his houſe; and ſo maketh it either an heaven or an hell. Parcus well obſerveth here, the great uſe of Hiſtories and holy examples, according to Rom. 15.4. Plato thinks that Hiſtoria comes [non-Latin text not transcribed],In Cratyle. of ſtopping the flux of errours and enormities.

Verſe 13. And by a Prophet the Lord brought Iſrael out of Egypt,] By Moſes that Prophet, by an excellencie: as Ariſtotle is called the Philoſopher, Tully the Oratour, Paul the Apoſtle, Calvin, the moſt learned Interpreter, &c. Moſes was a famous Prophet indeed, and a Type of Chriſt. Confer Deut. 18.15, 18. and 34.10, 11, 12. Acts 3.22. and 7.35, 36, 37, 38. Theodoret calleth him the great Ocean of Divinity. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Bellarmin, Gods ſpeciall favorite, then whom Antiquity had nihil ſapientius, ſanctius, mitius, none more wiſe, meek, and holy: Indeed, titles of honour are not worthy of him. Howbeit he was but a mean man at firſt, Exod. 4.30. he took his wife and his ſonne and ſet them upon an aſſe; that was the beſt, and the onely beaſt that he had, for ought we read. It was not very likely that ſo poor a Prophet ſhould do ſo great a deed. But God loves to help his people with a little help, Dan. 11.34. that through weaker means, his greater ſtrength may appear. His end here may ſeem to be the ſame as before, in ſetting forth Jacobs meanneſſe, to take down the haughtineſſe of the people, proud of their Founders and forefathers. A Prophet he is purpoſely called, and his name concealed, 1. To ſhew, that the work was done not by might nor by power, but by Gods Spirit; Zech. 4.6. 2. To ſhew what God will do for his people by the prayers and for the ſake of his Prophets, when they are moſt ſhiftleſſe and hopeleſſe. 3. To let this unworthy people ſee how much God and done for them once by a Prophet, how little ſoever now they ſet by ſuch. This is Cyrus obſervation.

Verſe 14.Excuſſerunt ex ſu[illegible: 1 letter]viſſim[illegible: 1 letter] pectore meo ſuevitatem. Ephraim hath provoked him to anger, moſt bitterly,] Heb. with bitterneſſes, or unto bitter diſpleaſure, or with bitter things, that is, ſinnes that imbitter Gods Spirit and put thunder-bolts into his hands. As a Bee ſtings not till provoked, ſo neither doth God puniſh, till there be no remedy, 2 Chron. 36.16. If Ephraim will provoke him to anger, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. (which he will not dare to do to his land-lord) if he will put it to the triall, whether God can be angry, as thoſe did, Heb. 3.9. he ſhall know the power of his wrath, Pſal. 90.11. he ſhall feel, to his ſorrow, that it is an evil thing and bitter, that he hath forſaken the Lord, and that his fear is not in them, Jer. 2.19. there will be bitterneſſe in the end, Principium dulce eſt, ſed finis amoris amarus, Am[illegible: 1 letter]r amaror. Luſt is a lie, as Amnon proved. Her end is bitter as wormwood, though her lips drop as an honey-combe, ſaith Solomon of ſinfull pleaſure, Prov. 5.3. It is like Jonathans honey, or Eſau's pottage, or Iudas his thirty pence, which he would gladly have been rid of, but could not. Thoſe that provoke God ſhall one day hear, Do ye provoke me to anger? Are ye ſtronger then I? they ſhall be taught to meddle with their match, and not to contend with him that is mightier then they, Eccleſ. 6.10. they ſhall cry out in the bitterneſſe of their ſouls, as Lam. 3.15. He hath filled me with bitterneſſes, he hath made me drunk with wormwood. And God ſhall reply, as Jer. 4.18. Thy way and thy doings have procured theſe things unto thee: and this is thy wickedneſſe, becauſe it is bitter.

therefore ſhall he leave his blood upon him,] God ſhall bring upon him deſerved deſtruction; he ſhall bring him into the fire, and leave him there, Ezek. 22.20. the guilt of his ſinne ſhall remain upon his ſoul, and then puniſhment cannot bee far off. See Ezek 24.7, 8. with chap. 18.13. Joſh. 2.19. Or, the enemy ſhall leave him all bloody.

and his reproach ſhall his Lord return unto him.] His Lord, not the Aſſyrian, as ſome ſence it, but his Liege Lord (whom he hath reproached, by changing his glory into the ſimilitude of a calf, and other corruptible things) ſhall cry quittance with him, as verſe 2. caſt utter contempt upon him, according to 1 Sam. 2.30.Rom. 1.23. and make him know that he is his Lord.