Hosea 7 commentary

A practical disbelief of God's government was at the bottom of all israel's wickedness; as if God could not see it or did not heed it. Their sins appear on every side of them. Their hearts were inflamed by evil desires, like a heated oven. In the midst of their troubles as a nation, the people never thought of seeking help from God. The actual wickedness of men's lives bears a very small proportion to what is in their hearts. But when lust is inwardly cherished, it will break forth into outward sin. Those who tempt others to drunkenness never can be their real friends, and often design their ruin. Thus men execute the Divine vengeance on each other. Those are not only heated with sin, but hardened in sin, who continue to live without prayer, even when in trouble and distress.

Israel was as a cake not turned, half burnt and half dough, none of it fit for use; a mixture of idolatry and of the worship of Jehovah. There were tokens of approaching ruin, as grey hairs are of old age, but they noticed them not. The pride which leads to break the law of God leads to self-flattery. The mercy and grace of God are the only refuge to which obstinate sinners never think of fleeing. Though they may howl forth their terrors in the form of prayers, they seldom cry to God with their hearts. Even their prayers for earthly mercies only seek fuel for their lusts. Their turning from one sect, sentiment, form, or vice, to another, still leaves them far short of Christ and holiness. Such are we by nature. And such shall we prove if left to ourselves. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us.

God, that he might show how corrupt was the state of all the people of Israel, compares himself here to a physician, who, while he wishes to try remedies, acknowledges that there are hid more grievous diseases; which is often the case. When a sick person sends for a physician, his disease will be soon discovered; but it may be that he has for many years labored under other hidden complaints, which do not immediately come to the knowledge of the physician. He may indeed think that the symptoms of the disease are those which proceed from a source more hidden; but on the third or fourth days after having tried some remedies he then knows that there is some hidden malady. God then says, that by applying remedies he had found out how corrupt Israel was, While I was healing my people, he says, then I knew what was the iniquity of Samaria and of all Ephraim.

By Samaria he means the principal part of the kingdom; for that city, as it is well known, was the capital and the chief seat of government. The Prophet therefore says, that the iniquities of Samaria were then discovered to be, not common, but inveterate diseases. This is the meaning. We now see what God had in view; for the people might deceive themselves, as it often happens, and say, “We are not indeed wholly free from every vice; but God ought not however to punish us so severely, for what nation is there under the sun which does not labour under the common diseases?” But the Prophet here answers, that the people of Israel were so corrupt, that light remedies would not do for them. God then here undertakes the office of a physician, and says, “I have hitherto wished to heal Israel, and this was my design, when I hewed them by my Prophets, and employed my word as a sword; and afterwards when I added chastisements; but now I have found that their wickedness is greater than can be corrected by such remedies.” The iniquity of Ephraim then has been discovered, he says, and then I perceived the vices of Samaria

Now this place teaches, that though the vices of men do not immediately appear, yet they who deceive themselves, and disguise themselves to others, gain nothing, nor are they made free before God, and their fault is not lessened, nor are they absolved from guilt; for at last their hidden vices will come to light: and this especially happens, when the Lord performs the office of a physician towards them; for we see that men then cast out their bitterness, when the Lord seeks to heal their corruptions. Under the papacy, even those who are the worst conceal their own vices. How so? Because God does not try them; there is no teaching that cauterizes or that draws blood. As then the Papists rest quietly in their own dregs, their perverseness does not appear. But in other places, where God puts forth the power of his word, and where he speaks effectually by his servants, there men show what great impiety was before hid in them; for in full rage they rise up against God, and they cannot bear any admonition. As soon then as God begins to do the office of a physician, men then discover their diseases. And this is the reason why the world so much shun the light of heavenly doctrine; for he who does evil hates the light, (John 3:20.) We may also observe the same as to chastisements. When God indulges the wicked, they then with the mouth at least bless him; but when he begins to punish their sins they clamour against him and are angry, and at length show how much fury was before hid in their hearts. We now see what the Prophet here lays to the charge of the people of Israel. It may also be observed at this day through the whole world, that the curing of diseases discovers evils which were before unknown.

But we have said, and this ought to be borne in mind, that Ephraim is here expressly named by the Prophet, and also the city, Samaria, because he wished to intimate that their diseases were inveterate, existing not only in the extreme members, but deeply fixed in the head and bowels, and occupying the vital parts. It then follows, Because they have acted mendaciously, or, done falsely. The Prophet signifies by this expression, that there was nothing sound in the whole people, because they were addicted to their own depravities. By the word שקר, shikor, he means every kind of falseness, that is, that men were thoroughly imbued with depraved lusts, and that there was now remaining in them nothing sound or whole. This then is the main point, that the wickedness of the people was discovered, and that it could not be cured by moderate severity, because it had penetrated into the very bowels and spread over the whole body.

What follows interpreters are wont to regard as the punishment which God had already inflicted. The Prophet says The thief has entered in, and the robber has plundered without. They therefore think that this is to be referred to the manner in which God had already begun by punishment to recall the people to a sound mind; as though he said, “You have been pillaged by thieves as well as harassed by robbers.” But I rather think that the Prophet here pursues the same subject, and shows that the people were inwardly and outwardly so infected with vices, that there was now no whole part; and that by mentioning a part for the whole, he here designates every kind of evil, for he specifies two kinds which may stand for all things in general. He therefore says, The thief has entered in, that is, stealthily, and does mischief insidiously, or even openly like robbers, who use open violence; which means, that impiety so prevailed, either by frauds or by open war, that they were in every way corrupt. But when he says, that the thief had entered in, he means, that many of the people were like foxes, who craftily do mischief; and when he says, that the robber had plundered abroad, he means that others, like lions, seized openly and without shame on what belonged to others, and thus by open force stripped and plundered the miserable and the poor.

We now apprehend the meaning of the Prophet. Having said that the Israelites and the citizens of Samaria had conducted themselves so deceitfully, he now, by specifying two things, shows how they had departed from all uprightness, and prostituted themselves to every kind of wickedness; because where violence reigned, there also frauds and all kinds of evil reigned. The thief then had entered in, and the robber plundered abroad; that is, they secretly circumvented their neighbors, and also went forth like robbers openly and without any shame. It then follows —

Hosea 7:2

2. And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face.

2. Et non sixerunt in corde suo, omnis malitiae eorum recordatus sum (hoc est, quod recordatus sim omnis malitiae ipsorum:) nunc circumdederunt ipsos facinora eorum, in conspectu meo sunt.

The Prophet shows here that the Israelites had advanced to the highest summit of all wickedness; for they thought that no account was ever to be given by them to God. Hence arises the contempt of God; that is, when men imagine that he is, as it were, sleeping in heaven, and that he rests from every work. They dare not indeed to deny God, and yet they take from him what especially belongs to his divinity, for they exclude him from the office of being a judge. Hence then it is that men allow themselves so much liberty, because they imagine that they have made a truce with God; yea, they think that they can do any thing with impurity, as if they had made a covenant with death and hell, as Isaiah says, (Isaiah 28:15.) Of this sottishness then does the Prophet here arraign the Israelites, They have not said, he says, in their heart, that I remember all their wickedness; that is, “They so audaciously mock me, as though I were not the judge of the world; they consider not that all things are in my sight, and that nothing is hid from me. Since then they suppose me to be like a dead idol, they have no fear, nay, they abandon themselves to every wickedness.”

He then adds, Now their wicked deeds have surrounded them, for they are in my sight; that is, “Though they promise impunity to themselves, and flatter themselves in their hypocrisy, all their works are yet before me; and thus they surround them;” that is, “They shall at last perceive that they are infolded in their own sins, and that no escape will be open to them.” We now understand the object of the Prophet; for after having complained of the stupidity of the people, he now says that they thus flattered themselves with no advantage, because God is not in the meantime blind. Though then they think that a veil is drawn over their sins, they are yet mistaken; for all their sins are in my sight, and this they themselves shall at last find out by experience, because their sins will surround or besiege them.

Let us learn from this place, that nothing ought to be more feared than that Satan should so fascinate us as to make us to think that God rests idly in heaven. There is nothing that can stir us up more to repentance, than when we adorn God with his own power, and be persuaded that he is the judge of the world, and also when we walk as in his sight, and know that our sins cannot come to oblivion, except when he buries them by pardon. This then is what the Prophet teaches in the first part of the verse. Now when we imagine that we have peace with God, and with death and hell, as Isaiah says in the place we have quoted, the prophet teaches that God is yet awake, and that his office cannot be taken from him, for he knows whatever is carried on in this world; and that this will at length be made openly known, when our sins shall surround us, as it is also said in Genesis chapter 4, Genesis 4:7. — fj. ‘Sin will lie down at thy door.’ For we may for a time imagine that we have many escapes or at least hiding-places; but God will at length show that all this is in vain, for he will come upon us, and has no need of forces, procured from this or that quarter; we shall have enemies enough in our own vices, for we shall be besieged by them no otherwise than if God were to arm the whole world against us. Let us go on —

Hosea 7:3

3. They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.

3. In malitia sua exhilarant regem, et in mendaciis suis principes.

The Prophet now arraigns all the citizens of Samaria, and in their persons the whole people, because they rendered obedience to the king by flattery, and to the princes in wicked things, respecting which their own conscience convicted them. He had already in the fifth chapter mentioned the defection of the people in this respect, that they had obeyed the royal edict. It might indeed have appeared a matter worthy of praise, that the people had quietly embraced what the king commanded. This is the case with many at this day, who bring forward a pretext of this kind. Under the papacy they dare not withdraw themselves from their impious superstitions, and they adduce this excuse, that they ought to obey their princes. But, as I have already said, the Prophet has before condemned this sort of obedience, and now he shows that the defection which then reigned through all Israel, ought not to be ascribed to the king or to few men, but that it was a common evil, which involved all in one and the same guilt, without exception. How so? By their wickedness, he says, they have exhilarated the king, and by their lies the princes; that is, If they wish to cast the blame on their governors, it will be done in vain; for whence came then such a promptitude? As soon as Jeroboam formed the calves, as soon as he built temples, religion instantly collapsed, and whatever was before pure, degenerated; how was the change so sudden? Even because the people had inwardly concocted their wickedness, which, when an occasion was offered, showed itself; for hypocrisy did lie hid in all, and was then discovered. We now perceive what the Prophet had in view.

And this place ought to be carefully noticed: for it often happens that some vice creeps in, which proceeds from one man or from a few; but when all readily embrace what a few introduce, it is quite evident that they have no living root of piety or of the fear of God. They then who are so prone to adopt vices were before hypocrites; and we daily find this to be the case. When pious men have the government of a city, and act prudently, then the whole people will give some hope that they will fear the Lord; and when any king, influenced by a desire of advancing the glory of God, endeavors to preserve all his subjects in the pure worship of God, then the same feeling of piety will be seen in all: but when an ungodly king succeeds him, the greater part will immediately fall back again; and when a magistrate neglects his duty, the greater portion of the people will break out into open impiety. I wish there were no proofs of these things; but throughout the world the Lord has designed that there should exist examples of them.

This purpose of God ought therefore to be noticed; for he accuses the people of having made themselves too obsequious and pliant. When king Jeroboam set up vicious worship, the people immediately offered themselves as ready to obey: hence impiety became quite open. They then delighted the king by their wickedness, and the princes by their lies; as though he said, “They cannot transfer the blame to the king and princes. Why? Because they delighted them by their wickedness; that is, they haltered the king by their wickedness and delighted the princes by their lies.” It follows —

Hosea 7:4

4. They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.

4. Omnes adulteri, sicut fornax incensa a pistore, cessabit ab excitando post conspersionem (vel, mixtionem) farinae, sonec fermentetur.

The Prophet pursues the same subject in this verse: he says that they were all adulterers. This similitude has already been often explained. He speaks not here of common fornication, but calls them adulterers, because they had violated their faith pledged to God, because they gave themselves up to filthy superstitions, and also, because they had wholly corrupted themselves, for faith and sincerity of heart constitute spiritual chastity before God. When men become corrupt in their whole life, and degenerate from the pure worship of God, they are justly deemed adulterers. In this sense does the Prophet now say, that they were all adulterers, and thus he confirms what I have said before, that as to the corruptions which then prevailed, it was not few men who had been drawn into them, but that the whole people were implicated in guilt; for they were all adulterers To say that they had been deceived by the king, that they had been forced by authority, that they had been compelled by the tyranny of their princes, would have been vain and frivolous, for all of them were adulterers.

He afterwards compares them to a furnace or an oven, They are, he says, as a furnace or an oven, heated by the baker, who ceases from stirring up until the meal kneaded is well fermented The Prophet by this similitude shows more clearly, that the people were not corrupted by some outward impulse, but by their own inclination and propensity of mind; yea, by a mad and furious desire of acting wickedly. He had previously said that they had willfully sinned, when they readily embraced the edict of the king; but now he goes still farther and says that they had been set on fire by an inward sinful instinct, and were like a hot oven. Then he adds that this had not been a sudden impulse, as it sometimes happens; but that it had so continued, that they were confirmed in their wickedness. When he says, that adulterers are like a burning oven, he means, that their defection had not only been voluntary, so that the blame was in themselves; but that they had also ardently seized on the occasion of sinning, and had been heated, as an hot oven. The ungodly often restrain their desires, and suppress them when no occasion is presented, but give vent to them when they have the opportunity of sinning with impunity. So God now declares that the people of Israel had not only been prone to defection, but had also greedily desired it, so that their madness was like a burning flame. “The sensuality here, is that of which sensuality is the constant scriptural type, the absurd and wicked passion of idolatry” Bp. Horsley

But a third thing follows, and that is, that this fire had not been suddenly lighted up, but had been for a long time gathering strength. Hence he says As an oven heated by the baker, who ceases, he says, from stirring up after the shaking or mixing of the meal, until it be fermented לום, lush, means “to besprinkle,” empaster is what they say here. Some foolishly hold that they were like those who sleep and afterwards awake early in the morning. But the Prophet had a different thing in view, and that was, that by length of time their wickedness had increased, and, as it were, by degrees. He means, in short, that they had not been under a sudden impulse, like men who often break out through want of thought, and immediately repent; and their lust, which had been in a moment set on fire, in a short time abates. The Prophet says, that the frenzy of the people of Israel had been different; for they had been like an oven, which the baker, after having lighted up, allows to grow quite hot even to the highest degree; for he waits while the dough is becoming well fermented. It was not then the intemperance and lust of a few days; but they made their hearts quite hot, as when a baker heats his oven, and puts in a great quantity of fuel, that after a time it may become heated, while the dough is fermenting.

The word מעיר, meoir, “from stirring up,” is to be taken for מהעיר, maeoir; for what some say, that the baker rested from the city, that is, to manage public affairs, is frigid. Others render it thus, “He rests from the city,” so as not to be a citizen, — to what purpose? There is then no doubt but that the Prophet here pursues his own similitudes which he will again shortly repeat. It follows —

Hosea 7:5

5. In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.

5. Dies regis nostri, fecerunt principes aegrotare utre vini; ex tendit manum suam ad illusores.

The Prophet here reproves especially the king and his courtiers. He had spoken of the whole people, and showed that the filth of evils was every where diffused: but he now relates how strangely the king and his courtiers ruled. Hence he says, The day of our king! the princes have made him sick; that is, so great has been the intemperance of excess, that the king himself became sick through too much drinking, and extended his hand to mockers. In short, the Prophet means, that the members of government in the kingdom of Israel had become so corrupt, that in the hall or palace of the king there was no regard for decency, and no shame.

By “the day of the king,” some understand his birth-day; and we know that it has been a very old custom even for the common people to celebrate their birth-day. Others refer it to the day of coronation, which is more probable. Some take it for the very beginning of his reign, which seems strained. The day of our king! that is “Our king is now seated on his throne, he has now undertaken the government of the kingdom; let us then feast plentifully, and glut ourselves with eating and drinking.” This sense suits well; but I do not know whether it can bear the name of day; he calls it the day of the king. I would then rather adopt their opinion, who explain it as the annual day of coronation: The day then of our king. There are yet interpreters, who render the sentence thus, “In the day the princes have made the king sick;” but I make this separation in it, The day of the king! the princes have made him sick.

It was not indeed sinful or blamable to celebrate yearly the memory of the coronation; but then the king ought to have stirred up himself and others to give thanks to God; the goodness of the Lord, in preserving the kingdom safe, ought to have been acknowledged at the end of the year; the king ought also to have asked of God the spirit of wisdom and strength for the future, that he might discharge rightly his office. But the Prophet shows here that there was nothing then in a sound state; for they had turned into gross abuse what was in itself, as I have said, useful. The day then of our king — how is it spent? Does the king humbly supplicate pardon before God, if he has done any thing unworthy of his station, if in any thing he has offended? Does he give thanks that God has hitherto sustained him by his support? Does he prepare himself for the future discharge of his duty? No such thing; but the princes indulge excess, and stimulate their king; yea, they so overcome him with immoderate drinking, that they make him sick. This then, he says, is their way of proceeding; nothing royal now appears in the king’s palace, or even worthy of men; for they abandon themselves like beasts to drunkenness, and so great intemperance prevails among them, that they ruin the king himself with a bottle of wine.

Some render this, “a flagon;” חמת, chemet, means properly a bottle; and we know that wine was then preserved in bottles, as the Orientals do to this day. Then with a bottle of wine, with immoderate drinking, they made the king sick.

He then says, that the king stretched forth his hand to scorners; that is, forgetting himself, he retained no gravity, but became like a buffoon, and indecently mixed with worthless men. For the Prophet, I doubt not, calls those scorners, who, having cast away all shame, indulge in buffoonery and wantonness. He therefore says, that the king held forth his hand to scorners, as a proof of friendship. As he was then the companion of buffoons and worthless men, he had cast away from him everything royal which he ought to have had. This is the meaning. The Prophet, therefore, deplores this corruption, that there was no longer any dignity or decency in the king and his princes, being wholly given, as they were, to excess and drunkenness; yea, they turned sacred days into this abuse, when the king ought to have conducted himself in a manner worthy of the rank of the highest honor: he prostituted himself to every kind of wantonness, and his princes were his leaders and encouragers. Quasi faces, vel stimuli; — “as it were, firebrands, or goads.” This so great a depravity the Prophet now deplores. It follows —

Hosea 7:6

6. For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.

6. Quoniam appropinquare fecerunt (ad verbum; hoc est, aptarunt) instar fornacis cor suum in fraudibus suis (vel, insidiis;) tota nocte dormiet pistor ipsorum; mane fornax ardebit quasi ignis flammae (hoc est, ignis projciens flammam.)

Here the Prophet says, that the Israelites did secretly, and by hidden means, prepare their hearts for deeds of evil; and he takes up nearly the same similitude as he did a little while before, though for a different purpose; for he says that they had prepared their hearts secretly, as the baker puts fire in the night in his oven, and then rests, and in the morning the oven is well heated, having attained heat sufficient to bake the bread. The oven becomes hot in the morning, though the baker sleeps. How so? Because an abundance of fuel had been put together, so that it is heated by the morning. Hence nocturnal rest does not prevent the fire from making hot the oven, when it has a sufficient quantity of fuel, when the baker has so filled his oven, that the fire cannot be extinguished, nor be gradually smothered. When the baker has thus set in order an heap of wood, he then securely rests, for the fire can continue until the morning. We now then see the design of the Prophet.

They have prepared, he says, their hearts insidiously; that is, though they have not at first made evident their wickedness, they have yet previously prepared their hearts, as the oven is lighted up, or as the furnace is heated before the bread is prepared; nay, there is no need of much bustle, — there is no need of much noise when the baker lights up his oven, for he prepares the wood, and then he goes to rest; and, in the meantime, while he sleeps all the night, the fire is burning. So also they, though all do not perceive their wickedness, they have yet, in the meantime, heated their hearts like an oven; that is, evil deeds have, by degrees and during a long period of time, been conceived by them, before they came forth into open acts of wickedness.

We hence see that the similitude of an oven is set forth here by the Prophet in a sense different from what it had been before; and this ought to be noticed, because interpreters heedlessly pass over this wholly, as if the Prophet meant in both places the same thing. But the meaning, as it is evident, is far different. For he intended only, in the first instance, to reprove the mad lust with which they were burning; but he now speaks of their plots and concealed frauds; that is, that the Israelites before openly showed themselves to be ungodly and wicked, but that they were now wicked before God. How so? Because they were now like an oven lighted up in the night; for as the baker, having closed the door of his house, puts in fire, while none perceive that the furnace or the oven is being heated; so also the people fed and nourished their wickedness before God; and afterwards, in course of time, it broke forth openly, whenever an opportunity was offered.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that since thou hast once shone upon us by thy gospel, — O grant, that we may always be guided by this light, and so guided, that all our lusts may be restrained; and may the power of thy Spirit extinguish in us every sinful fervor, that we may not grow hot with our own perverse desires, but that all these being subdued, we may gather new fervor daily, that we may breathe after thee more and more: nor let the coldness of our flesh ever take possession of us, but may we continually advance in the way of piety, until at length we come to that blessed rest, to which thou invites us, and which has been obtained for us by the blood of thy only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lecture Nineteenth

Hosea 7:7

7. They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.

7. Omnes calent tanquam clibanus, comederunt judices suos: omne reges eorum ceciderunt; nemo in illis clamat ad me.

The Prophet repeats what he had said before, that the Israelites were carried away by a mad zeal into their own superstitions and wicked practices, and could not be allayed or quieted by any remedies; and he shows at the same time that this malady or intemperance raged in the whole people, lest the vulgar should accuse a few men, as if they were the authors of all the wickedness. He gives proof of their frenzy, because they could not have been hitherto amended by any corrections. They have eaten, he says, their own judges; their kings have fallen; and in the meantime not one of them cries to me What the Prophet says here I refer to good kings, or to those who were able to uphold an ordinary government among the people. He says that judges as well as kings had fallen; by which words he means, that the Israelites had been deprived of good and wise governors; and this was a sad and miserable disorder to the people; it was the same as if the head were taken from the body. He says, in short, that the body was mangled and mutilated, because the Lord had taken away the kings and judges. We indeed know that kings in continual succession reigned among the Israelites; but we must consider of what kings the Prophet here speaks.

But let us now notice what he says: Judges have been devoured Some hold that the people through their wantonness had risen up against their judges, and, as if freed from all laws, had by main force upset all order; but this seems to me strained. The Prophet, I doubt not, means that the judges had been devoured, because the people had through their own fault made, as it were, entirely void the favor of God, as it often happens daily. God indeed so begins to do good, that he intends to continue his benefits to us to the end; but we devour his benefits; for we dry up, as it were, the fountain of his goodness, which would otherwise be exhaustless and perpetually flow to us. As then the goodness of God, which is otherwise inexhaustible, is in a manner dried up to us, when we allow it not to approach us; it is in this sense that the Prophet now complains that judges had been devoured by the Israelites; for through their impiety they had been deprived of this singular kindness of God; and they had consumed it, as rust or some other fault in brass destroys good fruit. We now comprehend the meaning of this verse.

God first shows that the Israelites were so ardent, that their frenzy could not be corrected or quieted. How so? “I have tried,” he says, “whether their disease was healable; for I have taken away their kings and governors, which was no obscure sign of my displeasure: but I have effected nothing.” Then it follows, אין קרא בהם אלי, ain kora beem ali, There is no one, he says, among them who cries to me He had said that all were burning with the lust of committing sin; now, accusing their stupidity, he excepts none. We hence see that the whole people were so seized with frenzy, that when chastised by God’s hand, they did not yet cry to him. It is indeed certain that the Israelites did cry, but without repentance; and it is usual with hypocrites to howl when God punishes them; but they yet direct not to him their supplications and their groans, for their heart is locked up by obstinacy. Thus then ought this clause to be expounded, that they repented not, nor fled to God for mercy. Then it follows —

Hosea 7:8

8. Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned. “Ephraim! he hath mixed himself among the peoples! Ephraim is a cake not turned!” —Bp. Horsley.

The Bishop adds this note, — “The word עמים, in the plural, always signifies the various nations of the earth, the unenlightened nations, in opposition to God’s peculiar people, the Israelites.”

8. Ephraim inter populos ipse miscuitse: Ephraim fuit panis subciniricius, qui versus non est.

God now complains, that Ephraim, whom he had chosen to be a peculiar possession to himself, differed nothing from other nations. The children of Abraham, we know, had been adopted by God for this end, that they might not be like the heathens: for the calling of God brings holiness with it. And we ought to remember that memorable sentence, which often occurs, ‘Be ye holy, for I am holy.’ The Israelites then ought to have been mindful of their calling, and to resolve to worship God purely, and not to pollute themselves with the defilements and filth of the Gentiles. But God says here that Ephraim differed now nothing from the uncircumcised nations. He mingles himself, he says, with the peoples And there is an emphasis to be noticed in the pronoun demonstrative, הוא, eva, Ephraim himself, he says: for surely this was unworthy and by no means to be endured, that Ephraim, on whom God had engraven the mark of his election, was now entangled in the superstitions of the Gentiles. We now then see the drift of the Prophet’s words, He, even Ephraim, mingles himself with the nations If the condition of Israel and of all the nations had been alike and equal, the Prophet would not have thus spoken; but as God had designed Ephraim to be holy to himself; the Prophet here amplifies his sin, when he says that even Ephraim had mingled himself with the nations.

He then adds, Ephraim is like bread baked under the ashes, which is not turned This metaphor most fitly suits the meaning of the Prophet and the circumstances of this passage, provided it be rightly understood. And I think the Prophet simply meant this, that Ephraim was in nothing fixed, but was inconstant and changeable; as, when we in vulgar language notify their changeableness who are not consistent with themselves, and in whom there is no sincerity, we say, Il n’est ne chair ne poisson, (It is neither flesh nor fish.) So also in this place the Prophet says, that Ephraim was like a cake burnt on one side, and was on the other doughy, or a crude and unbaked lump of paste. For Ephraim, we know, boasted themselves to be a people sacred to God; and since circumcision distinguished that people from other nations, there seemed to be some difference; but in the meantime the worship of God was corrupted; all the sacrifices were adulterated, as we have already seen and the whole of their religion was a confused mixture; yea, a chaos composed of Gentile superstitions and of something that resembled true and legitimate worship. When, therefore, the Israelites were thus perfidiously mocking God, they had nothing fixed: hence the Prophet compares them to a cake, which, being placed on the hearth, is not turned; for on one side it must be burnt, while on the other it remains unbaked. Bishop Horsley gives the same exposition, — “One thing on one side, another on the other; burnt to a coal on the bottom, raw dough at the top. An apt image of a character that is all inconsistencies. Such were the ten tribes of the Prophet’s day; worshippers of Jehovah in profession, but adopting all the idolatries of the neighboring nations, in addition to their own semi-idolatry of the calves.”

“Baked on one side and raw on the other, he is neither through hot nor through cold, but partly a Jew and partly a Gentile.” — Geneva Bible.

The Prophet here anticipates what the Israelites might object; for hypocrites, we know, never want pretenses. The Israelites might then bring forward this defense, “Thou sayest that we are now entangled in the pollutions of the heathens; but the heathens have no circumcision; among them the God of Israel is despised, there is no altar on which the people can sacrifice to the true God; we, on the contrary, are the children of Abraham, we have the God who stretched forth his hand to deliver us from Egypt, and the priesthood ever abides with us.” As then the Israelites might have introduced these pretenses for their superstitions, the Prophet says, by anticipation, that they were like bread baked under the ashes, which, being thrown on the hearth, is not turned, so that the baking might be equal; for then on the one side it would receive heat, and on the other there would be no proportionate temperature. “Ye are,” he says, “on one side burnt, but on the other crude; so that with you there is nothing but mere perfidiousness.” We now understand what the Prophet means.

But this similitude might also be referred to their punishment; for God had shown before in many places, that the Israelites were so perverse, that they could not be subdued nor brought to a sound mind by any distresses: and he again repeats this complaint. The meaning of the words may then be this, That Ephraim was like a cake, which was not turned on the hearth, because he had been sharply and severely chastised, but without any benefit; being like reprobates, who, though the Lord may bruise them, yet continue obstinate in their hardness. They are then on one side burnt, because they are nearly wasted away under their evils; but on the other side they are wholly unbaked, because the Lord had not softened their perverseness. But what I have adduced in the first place is more suitable to the context.

We now then understand what the Prophet says: in the first clause God accuses Ephraim, because he had made himself profane by receiving the rites and superstitions of heathens, so that there was, as I have said before, a confused mixture. In the second place, he answers the Israelites, in case they pleaded in their favor the name of God, for it was usual for them to make false pretenses. He therefore says, that they were in some things different from the uncircumcised nations, but that this difference was nothing before God, for they were like bread baked under the ashes, which is neither baked nor unbaked on either side; for on one side it is burnt, and on the other it remains unbaked. The account which Pocock, as quoted by Newcome, gives of baking in the East among the country-people is the following: — “The people make a fire in the middle of the room: when the bread is ready for baking they sweep a corner of the hearth, lay the bread there, cover it with hot ashes and embers, and in a quarter of an hour they turn it.” It now follows —

Hosea 7:9

9. Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

9. Comederunt extranei robur ejus, et ipse non intelligit: etiam canities sparsa est in eo, et ipse non intelligit.

The Prophet follows the same subject, that is, that Israel had not repented, though the Lord had in various ways invited them to repentance; yea, and constrained them by his scourges. It is indeed a proof of desperate and incurable wickedness, when God prevails nothing with us either by his word or by his stripes. When we are deaf to his teaching and admonitions, it is quite evident that we are wholly perverse: but when the Lord also raises up his hand and inflicts punishment, if then we bend not, what can be said, but that our sins have taken such deep roots, that they cannot be torn away from us? Hence God in these words shows that the Israelites were now past all remedy; for after having been so often and in so many ways warned, they did not return to the right way; nay, they did not think of their sins, but remained insensible. And Paul says of such that they are απηλγηκοτας, (“past feeling,” Ephesians 4:19,) that is void of feeling. When men are touched by no grief in their distresses, it is certain that they are smitten by the spirit of giddiness. Notwithstanding, the Israelites no doubt felt their evils; but the Prophet means, that they were so stupefied, that they did not consider the cause and source of them. And what can it avail, when one knows himself to be ill, and yet looks not to God, nor thinks that he is justly visited? Hence when any one cries only on account of the strokes, and regards not the hand of the striker, as another Prophet says, (Isaiah 9:13,) there is certainly in him complete stupidity. We hence see what the Prophet had in view when he said, that Israel did not understand while he was devoured by strangers, while hoariness was spreading over him; for he attended not to the cause of evils, but remained stupid; nor did he raise up his mind to God, so as to impute to his sins all the evils which he suffered.

He says, that his strength was eaten by strangers God had promised that the people would be under his protection; and when they were exposed to the plunder of strangers, why did they not perceive that they were deprived of God’s protection? And this could not have happened, except their own sin had deprived them of this privilege. Hence the Israelites must have been extremely blind and alienated in mind, when they did not perceive that they were thus spoiled by strangers, because God did not now defend them, nor was their patron, as he was wont to be formerly.

He adds, that hoariness was upon him Some understand by this, that the Israelites were not improved by long succession of years. Age, as we know, through long experience, brings to men some prudence. Young people, even when the Lord invites them to himself, are carried away by some impulse or another; but in the aged there is greater prudence and moderation. Many hence think that the Israelites are here condemned because they had profited nothing — no, not even by the advance of age. But the Prophet, I doubt not, expresses the greatness of their calamities by this mode of speaking, when he says that hoariness was sprinkled over him; for we know, that when any one is grievously pained and afflicted, he becomes hoary through the very pressure of evils; inasmuch as hoariness proceeds not only from years, but also from troubles and heavy cares, which not only waste men, but consume them. We indeed know that men grow old through the suffering of evils. And here, in my judgment, the Prophet means, that “hoariness had come upon Israel,” — that is, that he had been visited with so many evils, that he was worn out, as it were, with old age; and that, after all, he had derived no benefit. We now perceive the truth of what I have said before, that it was the constant teaching of the Prophet, that the diseases which prevailed among the people of Israel were incurable, for they could by no remedies be brought to repentance. It follows —

Hosea 7:10

10. And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.

10. Et testificabitur (vel, testificata est) superbia Israelis ad faciem ejus, et non reversi sunt ad Jehovam Deum suum, et non quaesierunt eum in omnibus his.

The Prophet now confirms his previous doctrine, and speaks generally, that the pride of Israel shall bear testimony to him to his face, or shall humble him to his face. The word ענה, one, means, in Hebrew, “to testify,” and often, also, “to humble,” or “to afflict,” as it was stated in the fifth chapter; and the words of the Prophet are now the same, and both senses are appropriate. I do not, however, make much of this, for the design of the Prophet is clear; what he means is, that God had so openly chastised the Israelites, that they must have perceived his hand, except they were blind indeed, and that, being at the same time warned, they ought to have suppliantly humbled themselves. Whether then we read, “to testify” or “to humble,” the sense will be the same, and the design of the Prophet will appear to be the same. “The pride, then, of Israel will humble him to his face,” or, “the pride of Israel will testify to his face:” for the Prophet means, that however fiercely the Israelites might rise up against God, and be uncourteous to his Prophets and however perversely they might reject all teaching, and also excuse their own sins, yet all this would avail them nothing, since they were so cast down by their pride, that the Lord regarded them as convicted as much so as if their crime had been proved by many witnesses, and their mask now taken away; in short, there was no longer any doubt: this is what the Prophet means.

The pride, then, of Israel testifies, or, humbles him to his face; that is, though Israel had appeared hitherto inflexible against all admonitions, against all punishments, they were yet held as convicted; and, at the same time, they return not, he says, to their God, and seek him not for all these things We now perceive what I have said, that the previous complaint respecting the diabolical perverseness which so reigned in the people is here confirmed, so that their salvation was now past hope. And he says that they returned not to Jehovah their God; for they were running constantly after their idols, as we have before seen; yea, they were possessed with that inordinate zeal of which the Prophet speaks in the beginning of the chapter; but they returned not to Jehovah; they were wholly taken up with the multitude of their deities, and at the same time had no regard for God.

And when he says, their God, he conveys a strong reprobation; for God had manifested himself to them; yea, he had made himself plainly known to them by his law. That they then did not return to him, was not simply through ignorance or error; but through a diabolical madness, as if they wished of their own accord and deliberately to perish. God then calls himself here the God of Israel, not for honour’s sake, but that he might the more expose their ingratitude, and enhance their perfidiousness, because they had fallen away from him, and would not seek him.

What he means, when he says, For all these things, is, that every kind of remedy had been tried, and hence that their disease was wholly incurable. When we can do nothing in one way, we often try another. Now God had not tried in one way only to bring Israel back to himself, but he had tried all remedies. When no good followed, what was to be said, but the people were lost, and past all hope? This then is what the Prophet means here. It now follows —

Hosea 7:11-12

11. Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

11. Et fuit Ephraim tanquam columba credula (vel, quae fallitur, vel, declinans, ut alii vertunt) sine corde (id est, sine intelligentia; cor enim saepe est Hebraeis voluntas, sed interdum mentem et intelligentiam significat;) clamant Aegyptum, proficiscuntur in Assyriam.

12. When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.

12. Ubi autem profecti fuerunt (vel, quocunque profecti fuerunt) extendam super eos rete meum: tanquam avem coeli dejiciam eos; corrigam eos (vel, ligabo,) secundum auditionem coetus ipsorum. “As they hear it declared in their congregation.” — Bp. Horsley.

The Prophet here first blames Israel for foolish credulity, and compares them to a dove; for they had invited the Egyptians and sent to Assyria for help. Simplicity is indeed a commendable virtue, when joined to prudence. But as everything reasonable and judicious in men is turned into wickedness when there is no integrity; so when men are too credulous and void of all judgment and reason, it is then mere folly. But when he says that Israel is like a dove, he does not mean that the Israelites had sinned through mere ignorance, but that they were destitute of all judgment; and this folly is opposed to the knowledge which God had offered to them in his law: for God had never ceased to guide Israel by sound doctrine; he had ever exhibited before them the torch of his word; but when God thus gave them light, Israel was so credulous as to give heed to the delusions of Satan and of the world. We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet.

Some render פותה, pute, by “turning aside:” and its root פתה, pite, no doubt, means “to turn aside;” and it means also sometimes “to persuade:” hence some give this rendering, “a persuasible,” or, “a credulous dove.” But the Prophet, I doubt not, means, that they were enticed by flatteries, or deceived by allurements, which is the same thing. Israel then was like a dove, deceived by various lures.

How so? Because they ran to the Assyrians, they invited the Egyptians If Israel had attended to the law of God, they might have felt assured that they were not in danger of going astray; for the Lord keeps us not in suspense or doubt, that we may fluctuate, but makes our minds fixed and tranquil by his word, as it is also said in another place, ‘This is rest.’ It was then determined by the Israelites not to fix their feet as it were on solid ground; and they preferred to fly here and there like doves; and their credulity led them to many errors. How? Because they chose rather to give themselves up to be deceived by the Egyptians as well as by the Assyrians, when yet God was willing to guide them by sound knowledge. We now understand the design of this accusation of the Prophet to be, that Israel wilfully refused the way of safety offered to them, which they might have followed with confidence, and with a tranquil and composed mind; but in the meantime they flew up and down, and became wilfully erratic; for they suffered themselves to be deceived by various lures.

Now this place teaches us that men are not to be excused by the pretext of simplicity; for the Prophet here condemns this very weakness in the Israelites. We ought then to attend to the rule of Christ, ‘To be innocent as doves, and yet to be prudent as serpents.’ Matthew 10:16. — fj. But if we inconsiderately abandon ourselves, the excuse of ignorance will be frivolous; for the Lord shines upon us by his word and shows us the right way; and he has also in his power the spirit of prudence and judgment, which he never denies to those who ask. But when we despise the word, and neglect the Spirit of God, and follow our own vagrant imaginations, our sin is twofold; for we thus despise and quench the light of the word, and we also wilfully perish, when the Lord would save us.

But a denunciation of punishment afterwards follows, Wheresoever, he says, they shall go, I will expand over them my net, and will draw them down as the birds of heaven God shows that though the Israelites might turn about here and there, yet their end would be unhappy; for he would have his expanded net: and he follows up the simile he used in the last verse. He had said that they were like doves, which are carried by a sudden instinct to the bait, and consider not the expanded net. If then the dove sees only the lure, and at the same time shuns not the danger, it is a proof of foolish simplicity. Hence God says, I will expand my net; that is, I will cause all your endeavors and purposes to be disappointed, and all your hopes to be vain; for wheresoever they shall fly, my net shall be expanded.

This is a remarkable passage; for we hence learn, that the issue will always be unfortunate, if we attempt any thing contrary to the word of the Lord, and it we hold consultations over which his Spirit does not preside; as it is said by Isaiah 30:1,

‘Woe to them who weave a web, and draw not from my mouth! Woe to them who take counsel, and invoke not my Spirit!’

This passage wholly agrees with the words of Isaiah, though the form of speaking is different. It belongs then to God to bless our counsels, that they may have a prosperous and the desired success. But when God is not favorable, but even opposed to our designs, what end shall at last await us, but that whatever we may have attained shall at length be turned to our ruin? Let us then know, that whatever men do in this world is ruled by the hidden providence of God; and as God leads by his extended hand his own people, and gives his angels charge to guide them; so also he has his expanded net to catch all those who wander after their own erratic imaginations. Hence he says, Wheresoever they shall go, I will expand over them my net; and farther, I will draw them down as the birds of heaven

The Prophet seems to allude to the vain confidence, which he mentioned, when he said that Israel had bound wind in his wings. For when men presumptuously undertake any thing, they at the same time promise to themselves, that there will be nothing to prevent them from gaining their object. Inasmuch then as men, elated with this foolish confidence, gather more boldness, yea, at length furiously assail God, and seem as though they would break through the very clouds, the Prophet says, I will draw them down as the birds of heaven; that is, “I will allow them to be carried up for a time; but when they shall penetrate to the clouds, I will draw them down, I will make them to know that their flying will avail them nothing.” And we must notice from whence the Israelites had been drawn down. For who would not have thought that so much protection must have been found in the Assyrians or in the Egyptians, that they could not in vain expect deliverance? But the Lord laughs to scorn this vain power of the world; for whatever hope men may conceive when they alienate themselves from God, it will entirely vanish like smoke.

And he afterwards adds, I will chastise them, or, ‘I will bind them:’ for the verb יסר, isar, means both “to chastise” as well as “to bind;” so that either sense may be taken. If the word, “to bind,” be approved, it will well agree with the metaphor, as though he said, “I will hold you fast in my nets.” For as long as birds are allowed to fly, they think the whole heaven to be theirs; but when they fall into nets, they remain confined; they are then unable to fly, and cannot move their wings. So then this sense, “I will bind them”, is very suitable; which means, “They will not be able to break my net, but I will hold them there bound to the end.” But if one prefers the other sense, I will chastise them, I do not object; and as far as the meaning is concerned, we see that there is not much difference which sense we take, except that the word, “to bind,” as I have said, harmonizes better with the metaphor.

He says, According to the hearing of their assembly. Nearly all so render this, as if God had said that he would punish them as he had threatened by Moses, and as if it was also an indirect accusation of their carelessness, because they did not become wise after having been long admonished, but even despised those denunciations, which constantly resounded in their ears. For God had not only prescribed in his law the rule of a religious life, but also added heavy and severe threatening, by which he gave a sanction to the doctrine at the law. We know how dreadful are those curses of the law. Since then God had even from the beginning thus threatened the Israelites, ought they not to have walked more carefully before him? But they were not terrified by these denunciations. Hence God here indirectly reproves this great madness, that the Israelites did not sufficiently attend to his threatening, by which they might have been recalled to the right way; for Moses did by these put a restraint even on the furious passions of men, if only there remained in them a particle of sound understanding. Still further, the same admonitions had been often pressed on them by the Prophets; nor had God ever ceased to arouse them, until the ears of them all had become deaf to his voice. He therefore says, ‘I will hold them fast bound,’ or, ‘I will chastise them, according to the hearing of their assembly;’ that is, “The punishment which I shall inflict must have been long ago known to them, for I have openly commanded my law to be promulgated, that I might thus testify my people by severe threatening; I will now then execute the judgment, which they have not believed, because I have hitherto spared them.”

As I have already said, interpreters nearly all agree in this view, except that they do not consider the design of the Prophet; they do not perceive that the Israelites were upbraided for their hardness; but they only speak of punishment, without any intimation of the end or object for which God had promulgated maledictions in his law, and renewed the recollection of them by his Prophets. Jerome brings forward another meaning, even this, that God would punish the people according to the report of their assembly; that is, that as they had with one consent violated the worship of God, and transgressed his laws, so he would punish them all. I will at the same time add this view, that God would chastise them according to the clamour of their assembly, so that the Prophet points out, not only a conspiracy among the people of Israel, but also their violence in eliciting one another to sin. As, then, they had thus tumultuously risen up against God, so the Prophet in his turn declares, that God would punish them; as though he said, “Your tumult will not prevent me from quelling your fury. Ye do indeed with great noise oppose me, and think that you will be safe, though addicted to your sins; but this your violence will be no hindrance, for I have in my power the means of chastising you.”

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that since thou sees us to be so prone to all the allurements of Satan and the world, and at the same time so void of judgment, and carried away by mere levity, — O grant, that by thy Spirit leading us, we may proceed in the right course, on which we have already entered under thy guidance and directing hand, so that we may never go astray from thy word, nor by any means turn aside from pursuing towards the mark which thou hast set before us; and though Satan may attempt to draw us aside, may we yet continue steadfast in thy service, and thus proceed, until we arrive at that blessed rest which, after the warfare of the present life, thou hast promised to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Lecture Twentieth

Hosea 7:13

13. Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

13. Vae illis, quia recesserunt a me; vastitas illis, (vel, Direptio,) quia perfide egerunt in me: et ego redimam eos (potest etiam resolvi in tempus praeteritum, Redemi eos,) et loquuti sunt contra me mendacia.

Here the Prophet takes away from the Israelites the hope of pardon, and declares that it was all over with them, for God had now resolved to destroy them. For as God everywhere declares himself to be ready and inclined to pardon, hypocrites hope that God will be propitious to them; and entertaining this vain confidence, they despise his threatening and boldly rise up against him. Hence the Prophet here shows, that God would hereafter be inexorable to them, because they had too long pertinaciously abused his patience. Woe to them! he says, for they have withdrawn from me: desolation to them! for they have acted perfidiously towards me There is then no reason, says the Prophet, for them to delude themselves in future with vain confidence, as they have hitherto done; for this has been once for all determined by God — to indict on them his extreme vengeance, for their defection deserves this.

He then adds, I will redeem them, and they have spoken lies against me. They who render the first word in the future tense, think that the Prophet asks a question, “Shall I redeem them? for they have spoken lies against me:” and they think it to be an indefinite mode of speaking — “Should I redeem them, men of no faith; for what good should I do by such kindness?” Others give this expositions — “Though I wished to redeem them, yet I found that this would not be beneficial nor just, because they speak lies against me;” as though God did not express here what he had done, but what he had wished to do. But the past tense is not unsuitable to this place; and we know how common and familiar to the Hebrews was the change of tenses. The meaning, then, will be, “I have redeemed them, and they have spoken lies against me;” that is, “I have often delivered them from death, when they were in extreme peril; but they have not changed their disposition; nay, they have deprived me of the praise due for their deliverance, and they have lived in no way better after their deliverance. Since, then, I have hitherto conferred my benefits to no good purpose, nothing now remains but that I must destroy them.” And this seems to me to be the Prophet’s meaning.

He then declares, in the first clause, that they hoped for mercy in vain from God, because their ultimate destruction was decreed. Then follows the reason for this, because they had foolishly and impiously abused the favor of God, inasmuch as, having been redeemed by him, they yet went on in their own wickedness, and even acted perfidiously towards God, while yet they pretended to act differently. Since, then, there was no change for the better, God now shows that he would spend his favor no longer on men so impious. Now this place teaches how intolerable is our ingratitude, when, after having been redeemed by the Lord, we keep not the faith pledged to him, and which he requires from us; for God is our deliverer on this condition, that we be wholly devoted to him. For he who has been redeemed ought not so to live, as if he had a right to himself and to his own will; but he ought to be wholly dependent on his Redeemer. If, then, we thus act perfidiously towards God, after having been delivered by his grace, we shall be guilty of such impiety and perfidiousness as deserve a twofold vengeance: and this is what the Prophet here teaches.

We indeed know how mercifully God had spared the people of Israel: after they had fallen away into superstitious worship, and had also violated their faith to the posterity of David, the Lord did not yet cease to show to that people many favors, notwithstanding their unworthiness. We know also, that under Jeroboam prosperity had attended them beyond all human expectation. But they yet hardened themselves more and more in their wickedness, so far were they from returning to the right way. Let us now proceed —

Hosea 7:14

14. And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.

14. Et non clamaverunt ad me in corde suo: quia ulularunt super cubilibus suis; ad triticum et vinum congregabunt se, defecerunt (deficient, ad verbum) a me.

“And they cry not to me with their heart, Though they howl on their beds; For corn and wine they bestir themselves, They turn aside from me.”

The word I render “bestir,” whether we take the text as it is, or a similar word, יתגודדו, countenances by several MSS, and by the Septuagint, means nearly the same, signifying great agitation and anxiety. —Ed.

The Prophet here again reproves the Israelites for having not repented, after having been so often admonished; for, as it was said yesterday, all the chastisements which God by his own hand inflicts on us, have this as the object — to heal us of our vices. Now the Prophet says here that the Israelites had not cried to God, which is yet the chief thing in repentance. But this expression is to be noticed. They have not cried to me with their heart; that is sincerely. We indeed know that some worship of God had ever remained among them; though the Israelites devised for themselves many gods, yet the name of the true God had never been wholly obliterated among them; but they blended the worship of God with their own inventions; God, at the same time, could not endure these fictitious invocations. Hence he says, that they cried not from the heart. He accuses them, not that they performed no outward act, but that they did not bring a real desire of heart; nay, they only cried to God dissemblingly. We now perceive what the Prophet meant by saying, They have not cried to me with their heart As calling on God is the chief exercise of religion, and especially manifests our repentance, the Prophet expressly notices this defect in the Israelites — that they cried not to the Lord. But as they might object and say, that they had formally prayed, he adds, that they did not do so from the heart; for the outward act (ceremonia) without the exercise of the heart, is nothing else but a profanation of God’s name. In short, the Prophet shows here to the Israelites their hardness; for when they were smitten by God’s hand, they did not flee to him and supplicate pardon, at least they did not do this from the heart or sincerely.

He then adds, Because they howled on their beds Some explain the particle כי, ki, adversatively; as though the Prophet had said, “Though they howl on their beds, they do not yet direct their petitions to me.” But we may take it in its proper sense, and the sentence would thus run better: They howl then on their beds, that is, “They bring not their concerns to me; for like brute animals they utter their howlings:” and this we see to be the case with the unbelieving; for they fear the presence of God, and the very mention of him is dreaded by them; hence they howl, that is, they pour forth their impetuous feelings, but at the same time they shun every access to God as much as they can. The sense then is, “They cry not to me from the heart, for they only howl; but it is only by an animal effort without any reason.” If, however, any one prefers to take the particle כי, ki, adversatively, the sense would not be unsuitable, “Though they howl on their beds, they do not yet cry to me;” that is, “Though grief urges them to make great noises, they are yet mute as to any cry of prayer.” If any one more approves of this meaning, I say nothing against it: but as the particle כי, ki, is commonly taken as a causative, I prefer thus to explain it, “As they cry on their beds, they raise not up their voice to God.”

Then it follows, They assemble, or, will assemble themselves for corn and wine This place is explained in two ways. Some think that the Israelites are here in an indirect way reproved, inasmuch as when they found wine and corn in the market, having obtained their wishes, they went on heedlessly in their sins, and despised God, as if they had no more need of his help. They then ran together for wine and corn; that is, as soon as they heard of wine or corn, they provided themselves with provisions, and afterwards neglected God. But this sense seems too frigid and strained. The Prophet then, I doubt not, opposes the running together of which he speaks, to true and sincere attention to prayer; as though he said, “They are not touched with grief for having offended me, though they see by evident proofs that I am displeased with them; they regard not my favor or my displeasure, provided they enjoy plenty of wine and corn: this satisfies them, and it is all the same with them whether I am adverse or propitious to them.” This seems to be the genuine meaning of the Prophet.

But that this reproof may be more evident, we must observe what Christ teaches, that we ought first to seek the kingdom of God. Matthew 6:33; Luke 12:31. — fj. For men act strangely when they anxiously labour only for this life, and strive only to procure for themselves food, and what is needful for the wants of the flesh: we ever make a beginning here; and yet it is a most thoughtless anxiety, when we are so attentive to a frail life, and in the meantime neglect the kingdom of God. Inasmuch then as men by this perverted feeling derange the whole order of religion, the Prophet here shows that the Israelites did not truly and from the heart cry unto God, because they were only solicitous about wine and corn; for except when they were hungry, they despised God, and allowed him to rest quietly in heaven: hence penury and want constrained them. As brute beasts, when they are hungry, go to the stall, and seek not to be fed by the Lord; so also did the Israelites, when they were touched by some feeling of need; but at the same time they were contented with their wine and corn; nor had they any other God. Hence they so cried, that their voice did not come to God, as they did not indeed go really and directly to him. The Prophet then does here, by a particular instance, convict the Israelites of impious dissimulation, inasmuch as they did not seek God, but were only intent on food; and provided the stomach was well supplied, they neglected God, and desired not his favor, and only wished to have full barns and full cellars; for plenty of provisions, without the paternal favor of God, was their only desire. It is hence sufficiently evident that they did not cry to the Lord.

This place is worthy of being observed; for we here see that our prayers are faulty before God, if we begin with wine and bread, and seek not first the kingdom of God, that is, his glory; and if we apply not our minds to this — to live, so to have God propitious to us. When we go to Him, the fountain of divine blessing, God only desire to glut ourselves with the abundance of the good things which he has to bestow, then all our prayers are deservedly rejected by him. We see this to be the case with the Papists; when they present their supplications, they are wholly like animals. They indeed implore God for rain and for dry weather; but have they any desire of reconciling themselves to God? By no means; for they wish, as much as possible, to be at the farthest distance from him: but when want and famine constrain them, they then ask for rain, — for what purpose? only that they may abound in bread and wine. We ought then to preserve a legitimate order in our prayers. If the Lord shows to us proofs of his wrath, we must strive first to return into favor with him, and then his glory must be regarded by us, and he is to be sought with the real feeling of piety, that he may be a Father to us: and then may be added in their place the things which belong to the condition and preservation of the present life.

We must also notice what he adds, They have revolted from me The verb סור, sur, means, “to recede,” and also “to revolt;” and this second sense is the most suitable; for the Prophet said before that they had receded or departed from God; but now he seems to signify something more grievous, and that is, that they had revolted from God. Thus hypocrites, when they pretend to seek God in a circuitous course, betray their own revolt; for they are unwilling to be reconciled to him on the condition that they are to change for the better their life, to cast away the affections of the flesh, to renounce themselves and their depraved desires. These things they by no means seek. Hence then it becomes evident that they are witnesses to their own revolt, and also to dissimulation in their prayers, even when there is some appearance of piety. It follows —

Hosea 7:15

15. Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.

15. Et ego ligavi, eoboravi brachia ipsorum, et contra me cogitant malum.

God again reproaches the Israelites for having in a base manner abused his goodness and forbearance. Some consider the verb יסר, isar, as meaning, “to chastise,” because God had disciplined the Israelites; and, as I have said yesterday, it is often taken in this sense. But as it signifies sometimes “to bind,” it seems a fitter metaphor for this place. I have bound and strengthened their arms; as though God had said, that he had caused their arms not to be enervated. For we know that the strength of the arm depends on the structure of the nerves. Except the bones were bound together by the nerves, a dissolution would immediately follow. Hence God says, I have bound and strengthened their arms; which two things combine for the same end, and the notion of chastising seems not to me to be in any way suitable to the context. The meaning is, that the Israelites had hitherto continued, because God had sustained them by his power. As when one binds up and strengthens a weak or a loosened arm, so God here reminds Israel that he had preserved them in their position. And the Prophet, I have no doubt, alludes here to the many calamities by which the strength of Israel might have been broken, had not a timely remedy been applied by the Lord.

God then compares himself here to a physician or a surgeon, when he says that he had bound the arm of Israel and strengthened it, when it might have been otherwise broken: for they had been often as it were enervated, but the Lord restored them. We now understand the meaning of the Prophet to be, that God had not only by his power sustained the Israelites, but had also performed the office of a surgeon or a physician, when he saw their arms broken, when they were wasted by slaughters in wars, and by other adversities.

Now the Israelites were so far from being grateful to God and mindful of him, that they were even devising evil against him. For after having obtained victories, after having been restored and even replenished with fulness of all blessings, they the more boldly conspired against him; for under this pretence were superstitions established, and then followed the indulgence of all vices; for pride, and cruelty, and ambition, and frauds, prevailed more and more. Since then the Israelites had thus perverted the blessings of God, was not the hope of pardon and salvation justly cut off from them? Now we are reminded in this place, that whenever God heals our evils, and raises us up in adversity and succors us, we ought devoutly to acknowledge his favor, and not to meditate evil against him, when he so kindly extends his hand to us. Let us now proceed —

Hosea 7:16

16. They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

16. Revertentur non Deo: fuerunt tanquam arcus dolosus (vel, doli:) ceciderunt (vel, cadent) in gladio principes eorum a superbia (hoc est, propter superbiam) linguae eorum: hoc eorum ludibrium in terra Aegypti.

The Prophet again assails the perverse wickedness of Israel, and also their fraud and perfidiousness. Hence he says that they feigned some sort of repentance, but it was nothing else than false; for they returned not to God. They return, he says, but not to God. Some however think that על, ol, is a preposition, and that something is understood, as if it were an elliptical phrase: “They return, but not for anything;” that is, when they return, were any one to inquire what is in their minds, or what is their purpose, he would find it to be mere form and nothing real. But this exposition, as we see, is strained. Besides, the context requires that we should consider על, ol, to be for God, as it is also in other places; for this is nothing new. Then it is, They return not to God

The Prophet then declares here that the Israelites were wholly perverse, so that God could force out of them no repentance; that when they pretended something it was mere deceit, for they did not come in a direct way to God. For hypocrites, as it has been said before, when God’s hand presses hard on them, seem indeed to be different from what they were previously, but they always shun God. The Lord does not in vain exhort the people by Jeremiah to return to him,

‘If thou wilt return, O Israel,’ he says, ‘return unto me,’ (Jeremiah 4:1.)

For he knew that by devious windings men always go astray and keep not to the straight course. This is the meaning.

Then the Prophet adds, that they were like a deceitful bow This is an explanation of the last sentence; and hence we conclude that the word על, ol, cannot be otherwise taken than for God. The Prophet shows how the Israelites withdrew themselves from God, while they seemed to repent, for they were, he says, like a deceitful bow. Some expound it, the bow of darting or shooting; and no doubt רמה, reme, means to dart and to shoot; but this sense cannot be taken here, for we see that what the Prophet had in view was to show, that the Israelites put on a guise, and did nothing but deceive, when they made a show of repentance. To confirm this, he says, that they were like an oblique bow. For the archer, when he intends to shoot an arrow, first levels at a certain mark; then the arrow seems to be directed to that place which the archer fixes on by his eyes. Now if the bow is oblique, the arrow will fly elsewhere; or the bow may slip, so as to throw back the arrow to the archer himself. The like comparison is found in Psalm 78, Psalm 78:57. — fj. where it is said, that the Jews were turned back ‘like a deceitful bow;’ and in that passage this very word occurs. But there is here no ambiguity; for God accuses the people that they had turned back; that is, that they had turned backward their course, even like a deceitful bow. If one reads “the bow of darting,” or, “of shooting,” there will be no sense; nay, it will be vapid and absurd. It is then better to render the expression here, ‘a deceitful bow.’

And we must notice the import of the similitude, to which I have already referred, that is, that as archers aim the arrow to the mark, as they direct its flight by winking and leveling, and shoot; so hypocrites seem to strive with great effort, but, at the same time, they are deceitful bows; that is, their mind is driven back, and they fly away from God, and, by tortuous windings, go astray, so that they never come to God, but rather turn their backs on him.

He then adds, Their princes shall fall by the sword for the pride of their tongue The Prophet again denounces vengeance on the Israelites, that they might feel assured that the heavenly decree respecting their destruction could not be changed. For though hypocrites always dread, and cannot hope anything from God, yet they never cease to flatter themselves, and always to contrive some new hope. Inasmuch then as they are so bountiful in vain promising, the Prophet says that there was no reason for the Israelites to hope for any remedy in their distresses. Their princes then shall fall: and in saying ‘princes,’ he takes a part for the whole; for God does not thus threaten princes, or denounces ruin on them, as though he intended to except the common people; but he implies, that destruction would be common to all, which not even the princes themselves would escape. And we know that in battles, when a great slaughter is made, the common soldiers lie dead in great numbers, and but few of the chiefs. But God says here, “I will take away the whole flower of the people. And if none of the princes shall remain, what will become of the ignoble vulgar, who are deemed of no account?” The princes then shall fall by the sword

He then adds, For the pride of their tongue Some expound this phrase actively, as though the Prophet had said, that they had provoked God’s wrath by their blasphemies and profane speeches; but I rather take it for their high vaunting: For the pride of their tongue, he says, they shall fall; that is, because they haughtily boasted of their strength, and held in contempt all the prophecies, because they dared to vomit forth their blasphemies against God, and dared, also, no less obstinately than proudly, to defend their own impious and depraved forms of worship, I will revenge, he says, “this pride.” We hence see that “pride,” here, is to be taken for that disdain which the impious show by their high vaunting, as it is said elsewhere,

‘They raise to heaven their tongues,’ (Psalm 73:9.)

This will be their derision in the land of Egypt As the Israelites, then relying on the cursed treaty which they had made with the Egyptians, continued perverse against God, he says, “I will expose them to derision among their confederates: they boast of the power of Egypt: they think themselves beyond the reach of harm, as they can instantly call the Egyptians, to their aid, were any one to oppose them, or were any enemy to invade them. Since, then, their confidence so rests on Egypt, I will make,” he says, “the Egyptians to regard them with scorn; and they shall not only be counted ignominious by those who rival or envy them, but also by the friends in whom they glory. I will give them up to every kind of dishonor among their lovers.” He indeed compares, as we have before seen, the Egyptians as well as the Assyrians, to lovers, and compares his people to an unfaithful wife, who, having deserted her husband, prostitutes her own chastity. “Thou,” he says, “sellest thyself to thy lovers, and strives to please them, and faintest and adornest thyself to allure them: I will cover thee all over with everything disgraceful and ignominious, that thy lovers shall abhor thy very sight.” So also in this place, he says that the Israelites shall be for derision in the land of Egypt; that is, not enemies, whom they fear, shall have them in derision; but they shall be a laughing-stock to those who they think will be their defenders, and through whose arms they imagine that they shall be free from every disgrace. The eighth chapter follows.

Chapter 8

Hosea 8:1

1. Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.

1. Super palatum tuum tuba, tanquam aquila super domum Jehovae, “The cornet at thy mouth, be it like the eagle over the house of Jehovah.” — Horsley. It is in a note added, — “Let the sound of the cornet in thy mouth be shrill and terrible, as the ominous scream of the eagle hovering over the roof of the temple.” But the literal rendering of the words with admit more naturally another sense. I translate it thus: —

“To thy mouth the trumpet, Like the eagle over the house of Jehovah.”

That is, seize the trumpet as quickly as the eagle flies. He thereby denotes that judgment was to come without delay; or the distich may be thus rendered, —

“To thy mouth the trumpet, like an eagle, Against the house of Jehovah.”

That is, “Apply the trumpet quickly, imitate the quickness of the eagle, and use it to proclaim war against the house of Jehovah.” — Ed. quia transgressi sunt foedus meum, et contra legem meam impie egerunt (vel, perfide segesserunt.)

CHAPTER 7

Ho 7:1-16. Reproof of Israel.

Probably delivered in the interreign and civil war at Pekah's death; for Ho 7:7, "all their kings ... fallen," refers to the murder of Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, and Pekah. In Ho 7:8 the reference seems to be to Menahem's payment of tribute to Pul, in order to secure himself in the usurped throne, also to Pekah's league with Rezin of Syria, and to Hoshea's connection with Assyria during the interregnum at Pekah's death [Maurer].

1. I would have healed Israel--Israel's restoration of the two hundred thousand Jewish captives at God's command (2Ch 28:8-15) gave hope of Israel's reformation [Henderson]. Political, as well as moral, healing is meant. When I would have healed Israel in its calamitous state, then their iniquity was discovered to be so great as to preclude hope of recovery. Then he enumerates their wickedness: "The thief cometh in (indoors stealthily), and the troop of robbers spoileth without" (out-of-doors with open violence).

2. consider not in their hearts--literally, "say not to," &c. (Psa 14:1).

that I remember--and will punish.

their own doings have beset them about--as so many witnesses against them (Psa 9:16; Pr 5:22).

before my face--(Psa 90:8).

3. Their princes, instead of checking, "have pleasure in them that do" such crimes (Ro 1:32).

4. who ceaseth from raising--rather, "heating" it, from an Arabic root, "to be hot." So the Septuagint. Their adulterous and idolatrous lust is inflamed as the oven of a baker who has it at such a heat that he ceaseth from heating it only from the time that he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened; he only needs to omit feeding it during the short period of the fermentation of the bread. Compare 2Pe 2:14, "that cannot cease from sin" [Henderson].

5. the day of our king--his birthday or day of inauguration.

have made him sick--namely, the king. Maurer translates, "make themselves sick."

with bottles of wine--drinking not merely glasses, but bottles. Maurer translates, "Owing to the heat of wine."

he stretched out his hand with scorners--the gesture of revellers in holding out the cup and in drinking to one another's health. Scoffers were the king's boon companions.

6. they have made ready--rather, "they make their heart approach," namely their king, in going to drink with him.

like an oven--following out the image in Ho 7:4. As it conceals the lighted fire all night while the baker sleeps but in the morning burns as a flaming fire, so they brood mischief in their hearts while conscience is lulled asleep, and their wicked designs wait only for a fair occasion to break forth [Horsley]. Their heart is the oven, their baker the ringleader of the plot. In Ho 7:7 their plots appear, namely, the intestine disturbances and murders of one king after another, after Jeroboam II.

7. all hot--All burn with eagerness to cause universal disturbance (2Ki 15:1-38).

devoured their judges--magistrates; as the fire of the oven devours the fuel.

all their kings ... fallen--See on Ho 7:1.

none ... calleth unto me--Such is their perversity that amid all these national calamities, none seeks help from Me (Is 9:13; 64:7).

8. mixed ... among the people--by leagues with idolaters, and the adoption of their idolatrous practices (Ho 7:9, 11; Psa 106:35).

Ephraim ... cake not turned--a cake burnt on one side and unbaked on the other, and so uneatable; an image of the worthlessness of Ephraim. The Easterners bake their bread on the ground, covering it with embers (1Ki 19:6), and turning it every ten minutes, to bake it thoroughly without burning it.

9. Strangers--foreigners: the Syrians and Assyrians (2Ki 13:7; 15:19, 20; 17:3-6).

gray hairs--that is, symptoms of approaching national dissolution.

are here and there upon--literally, "are sprinkled on" him.

yet he knoweth not--Though old age ought to bring with it wisdom, he neither knows of his senile decay, nor has the true knowledge which leads to reformation.

10. Repetition of Ho 5:5.

not return to ... Lord ... for all this--notwithstanding all their calamities (Is 9:13).

11. like a silly dove--a bird proverbial for simplicity: easily deceived.

without heart--that is, understanding.

call to Egypt--Israel lying between the two great rival empires Egypt and Assyria, sought each by turns to help her against the other. As this prophecy was written in the reign of Hoshea, the allusion is probably to the alliance with So or Sabacho II (of which a record has been found on the clay cylindrical seals in Koyunjik), which ended in the overthrow of Hoshea and the deportation of Israel (2Ki 17:3-6). As the dove betrays its foolishness by fleeing in alarm from its nest only to fall into the net of the fowler, so Israel, though warned that foreign alliances would be their ruin, rushed into them.

12. When they shall go--to seek aid from this or that foreign state.

spread my net upon them--as on birds taken on the ground (Eze 12:13), as contrasted with "bringing them down" as the "fowls of the heavens," namely, by the use of missiles.

as their congregation hath heard--namely, by My prophets through whom I threatened "chastisement" (Ho 5:9; 2Ki 17:13-18).

13. fled--as birds from their nest (Pr 27:8; Is 16:2).

me--who both could and would have healed them (Ho 7:1), had they applied to Me.

redeemed them--from Egypt and their other enemies (Mi 6:4).

lies--(Psa 78:36; Jr 3:10). Pretending to be My worshippers, when they all the while worshipped idols (Ho 7:14; Ho 12:1); also defrauding Me of the glory of their deliverance, and ascribing it and their other blessings to idols [Calvin].

14. not cried unto me--but unto other gods [Maurer], (Job 35:9, 10). Or, they did indeed cry unto Me, but not "with their heart": answering to "lies," Ho 7:13 (see on Ho 7:13).

when they howled upon their beds--sleepless with anxiety; image of deep affliction. Their cry is termed "howling," as it is the cry of anguish, not the cry of repentance and faith.

assemble ... for corn, &c.--namely in the temples of their idols, to obtain from them a good harvest and vintage, instead of coming to Me, the true Giver of these (Ho 2:5, 8, 12), proving that their cry to God was "not with their heart."

rebel against me--literally, "withdraw themselves against Me," that is, not only withdraw from Me, but also rebel against Me.

15. I ... bound--when I saw their arms as it were relaxed with various disasters, I bound them so as to strengthen their sinews; image from surgery [Calvin]. Maurer translates, "I instructed them" to war (Psa 18:34; 144:1), namely, under Jeroboam II (2Ki 14:25). Grotius explains, "Whether I chastised them (Margin) or strengthened their arms, they imagined mischief against Me." English Version is best.

16. return, but not to the Most High--or, "to one who is not the Most High," one very different from Him, a stock or a stone. So the Septuagint.

deceitful bow--(Psa 78:57). A bow which, from its faulty construction, shoots wide of the mark. So Israel pretends to seek God, but turns aside to idols.

for the rage of their tongue--their boast of safety from Egyptian aid, and their "lies" (Ho 7:13), whereby they pretended to serve God, while worshipping idols; also their perverse defense for their idolatries and blasphemies against God and His prophets (Psa 73:9; 120:2, 3).

their derision in ... Egypt--Their "fall" shall be the subject of "derision" to Egypt, to whom they had applied for help (Ho 9:3, 6; 2Ki 17:4).

When I would have healed Israel - As soon as one wound was healed, another was discovered. Scarcely was one sin blotted out till another was committed.

The thief cometh in - Their own princes spoil them.

The troop of robbers spoileth without - The Assyrians, under different leaders, waste and plunder the country.

They consider not in their hearts - They do not consider that my eye is upon all their ways; they do not think that I record all their wickedness; and they know not their own evil doings are as a host of enemies encompassing them about.

They make the king glad - They pleased Jeroboam by coming readily into his measures, and heartily joining with him in his idolatry. And they professed to be perfectly happy in their change, and to be greatly advantaged by their new gods; and that the religion of the state now was better than that of Jehovah. Thus, they made all their rulers, "glad with their lies."

As an oven heated by the baker - Calmet's paraphrase on this and the following verses expresses pretty nearly the sense: Hosea makes a twofold comparison of the Israelites; to an oven, and to dough. Jeroboam set fire to his own oven - his kingdom - and put the leaven in his dough; and afterwards went to rest, that the fire might have time to heat his oven, and the leaven to raise his dough, that the false principles which he introduced might infect the whole population. This prince, purposing to make his subjects relinquish their ancient religion, put, in a certain sense, the fire to his own oven, and mixed his dough with leaven. At first he used no violence, but was satisfied with exhorting them, and proclaiming a feast. This fire spread very rapidly, and the dough was very soon impregnated by the leaven. All Israel was seen running to this feast, and partaking in these innovations. But what shall become of the oven - the kingdom; and the bread - the people? The oven shall be consumed by these flames; the king, the princes, and the people shall be enveloped in the burning, Hos 7:7. Israel was put under the ashes, as a loaf well kneaded and leavened; but not being carefully turned, it was burnt on one side before those who prepared it could eat of it; and enemies and strangers came and carried off the loaf. See Hos 7:8, Hos 7:9. Their lasting captivity was the consequence of their wickedness and their apostasy from the religion of their fathers. On this explication Hos 7:4-9, may be easily understood.

All their kings are fallen - There was a pitiful slaughter among the idolatrous kings of Israel; four of them had fallen in the time of this prophet. Zechariah was slain by Shallum; Shallum, by Menahem; Pekahiah, by Pekah; and Pekah, by Hoshea, 2 Kings 15. All were idolaters, and all came to an untimely death.

A cake not turned - In the East having heated the hearth, they sweep one corner, put the cake upon it, and cover it with embers; in a short time they turn it, cover it again, and continue this several times, till they find it sufficiently baked. All travelers into Asiatic countries have noted this.

Gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not - The kingdom is grown old in iniquity; the time of their captivity is at hand, and they are apprehensive of no danger. They are in the state of a silly old man, who through age and infirmities is become nearly bald, and the few remaining hairs on his head are quite gray. But he does not consider his latter end; is making no provision for that eternity on the brink of which he is constantly standing; does not apply to the sovereign Physician to heal his spiritual diseases; but calls in the doctors to cure him of old age and death! This miserable state and preposterous conduct we witness every day. O how fast does the human being cling to his native earth! Reader, hear the voice of an old man: -

O my coevals! remnants of yourselves,

Shall our pale withered hands be still stretched out?

Trembling at once with eagerness and age;

With avarice and ambition grasping-fast

Grasping at air! For what hath earth beside?

We want but little; nor That Little long.

The pride of Israel - The same words as at Hos 5:6 (note), where see the note.

Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart - A bird that has little understanding; that is easily snared and taken; that is careless about its own young, and seems to live without any kind of thought. It has been made, by those who, like itself, are without heart, the symbol of conjugal affection. Nothing worse could have been chosen, for the dove and its mate are continually quarrelling.

They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria - They strive to make these their allies and friends; but in this they showed that they were without heart, had not a sound understanding; for these were rival nations, and Israel could not attach itself to the one without incurring the jealousy and displeasure of the other. Thus, like the silly dove, they were constantly falling into snares; sometimes of the Egyptians, at others of the Assyrians. By the former they were betrayed; by the latter, ruined.

When they shall go - To those nations for help: -

I will spread my net upon them - I will cause them to be taken by those in whom they trusted.

I will bring them down - They shall no sooner set off to seek this foreign help, than my net shall bring them down to the earth. The allusion to the dove, and to the mode of taking the fowls of heaven, is still carried on.

As their congregation hath heard - As in their solemn assemblies they before have heard; in the reading of my law, and the denunciation of my wrath against idolaters.

Bishop Newcome translates: "I will chastise them when they hearken to their assembly." That is, when they take the counsel of their elders to go down to Egypt for help, and trust in the arm of the Assyrians for succor.

Wo unto them! - They shall have wo, because they have fled from me. They shall have destruction, because they have transgressed against me.

Though I have redeemed them - Out of Egypt; and given them the fullest proof of my love and power.

Yet they have spoken lies against me - They have represented me as rigorous and cruel; and my service as painful and unprofitable.

They have not cried unto me with their heart - They say they have sought me, but could not find me; that they have cried unto me, but I did not answer. I know they have cried, yea, howled; but could I hear them when all was forced and hypocritical, not one sigh coming from their heart?

They assemble themselves for corn and wine - In dearth and famine they call and howl: but they assemble themselves, not to seek Me, but to invoke their false gods for corn and wine.

Though I have bound and strengthened their arms - Whether I dealt with them in judgment or mercy, it was all one; in all circumstances they rebelled against me.

They return, but not to the Most High - They go to their idols.

They are like a deceitful bow - Which, when it is reflexed, in order to be strung, suddenly springs back into its quiescent curve; for the eastern bows stand in their quiescent state in a curve; and in order to be strung must be beaded back in the opposite direction. This bending of the bow requires both strength and skill; and if not properly done, it will fly back, and regain its former position; and in this recoil endanger the archer - may even break an arm. I have been in this danger myself in bending the Asiatic bow. For want of this knowledge not one commentator has hit the meaning of the passage.

Shall fall by the sword - Their tongue has been enraged against Me; the sword shall be enraged against them. They have mocked me, (Hos 7:5), and their fall is now a subject of derision in the land of Egypt. What they have sown, that do they now reap.

Of Ephraim - Of Ephraim the chief tribe of this revolting kingdom.

Own doings - The guilt and punishment of the works they have done; their own doings, not their fathers, as the incorrigible are ready to complain. Beset them - As an enemy invests a town on every side. Before my face - All their ways were under mine eye.

They - The courtiers in particular make it their work to invent pleasing wickedness, and to acquaint the king with it. With their lies - With false accusations against the innocent.

As an oven - This vice is grown raging hot among them, as the fire in an oven, when the baker having called up those that make the bread, to prepare all things ready, doth by continued supply of fuel, heat the oven, 'till the heat need be raised no higher.

In the day of our king - Probably the anniversary of his birth or coronation. Stretched out his hand - In these drunken feasts it seems the king forgat himself, and stretched out his hand, with those who deride religion, and with confusion to the professors of it.

They - Those luxurious and drinking princes. Like an oven - Hot with ambition, revenge, or covetousness. Lie in wait - Against the life or estate of some of their subjects. As the baker, having kindled a fire in his oven, goes to bed and sleeps all night, and in the morning finds his oven well heated and ready for his purpose; so these when they have laid some wicked plot, tho' they may seem to sleep for a while, yet the fire is glowing within, and flames out as soon as ever there is opportunity for it.

Devoured - As a fire destroys, so have these conspirators, destroyed their rulers. Their kings - All that have been since Jeroboam the second's reign, to the delivery of this prophecy, namely, Zechariah, Shallum, Pekahiah, Pekah, fell by the conspiracy of such hot princes. That telleth - Not one of all these either feared, trusted, or worshipped God.

Ephraim - The kingdom of Israel. Mixed himself - With the Heathens by leagues and commerce and by imitation of their manners. Not turned - Burnt on one side, and dough on the other, and so good for nothing on either: always in one extreme or the other.

Knoweth it not - He is not aware of the loss he hath sustained. Gray hairs - Of old age and declining strength are upon their kingdom.

Like a silly dove - Ephraim is now become like the dove in weakness and fear, as well as in imprudence and liableness to be deceived. Without heart - Without either discretion or courage. To Assyria - Instead of going to God, who alone can help.

Go - To seek aid of Egypt or Assyria. Bring them down - Though they attempt to fly, yet as fowls in the net they shall certainly fall. Hath heard - From the prophets whom I have sent unto them.

Spoken lies - They belied his corrections as if not deserved; they belied the good done, as if too little, or not done by God, but by their idol.

They assembled - In the houses of their idols.

Bound - As a surgeon binds up a weak member, or a broken one; so did God for Ephraim, when the Syrians and other enemies had broken their arms. Imagine mischief - They devise mischief against my prophets, and let loose the reins to all impieties.

Not to the most high - What shew soever of repentance was among them, yet they never throughly repented. A deceitful bow - Tho' they seemed bent for, and aiming at the mark, yet like a weak bow they carried not the arrow home, and like a false bow they never carried it strait toward the mark. The rage of their tongue - Against God, his prophets and providence. Their derision - They shall be upbraided with this.

1 WHen I would have healed Israel , then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered , and the wickedness of Samaria : for they commit falsehood : and the thief cometh in , and the troop of robbers spoileth without .

Whether this Chapter be a new Sermon, or a continuation of that begun chap. 6. we need not enquire, nor are there any particulars by which we can ghess at the time when this healing work was attempted, but so soon as 'twas endeavoured indefinitely 'tis spoken, and so to be interpreted

God doth assume the person of a Physitian or Chirurgion who compassionately endeavours to cure a people sick and wounded: Such was the house of Israel, the whole body of the people.

The hidden, old, and putrifying sores here called Iniquity, the impieties and injustice

Of Israel called Ephraim, or of Ephraim the chief Tribe of this revolting Kingdom, some would have it mean the Rulers, or principal men.

Broke out as many times in cures of old sores it happens, some deeper and more rooted Distemper unthought of by the Chyrurgion appears.

The great and many sins.

Samaria the Royal City of the Kingdom, where Citizens, Priests, Prophets and Courtiers as much outsin'd others as they exceeded them in wealth and ease.

Where lying and cousening each other is acted as if'twere a business they were bound to attend.

Secret thefts, or robbing others by subtle and undiscern'd methods.

And open violence by hands joyned to hands to spoil abroad. In a word, the strength and danger of their disease appears and increaseth more and more under endeavours to heal them.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 span]; Heb. [illegible: 1 span]

2 And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness : now their own doings have beset them about , they are before my face :

They who are thus greatly wicked, notorious sinners

Do not remember, nor will they once seriously ponder this.

That I see all they do, and remember all I see, and that with more than an idle unactive looking on, or retaining in memory, I look on, and remember to call them to account, and to punish for their sins. They wou'd flatter themselves into an opinion that I take no notice of their wickedness, and that I will never require it.

The guilt and punishment, the iniquity, and mischief of the works they have done, their own doings, not their Fathers as Hypocrites, and the incorrigible are ready to complain.

As Cords wrap one taken in them, or as an Enemy invests and besiegeth a Town on every side, so these profligate people, Courtiers, Priests, Prophets and Citizens are all held enclosed with their own sins.

What they have done I do see, and what they suffer I do see, and it is but just they should suffer what their sins deserve; they hoped for impunity, because they thought I did not regard, but now by a just punishment, by full measures of sorrows heapt upon them, they shall find all their wayes were under my eye, and that I weighed their doings.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 span]

3 They make the king glad with their wickedness , and the princes with their lies.

Either the Subjects in general, or rather the Courtiers in particular who were about the King.

The Kings of Israel every one of them, from first to last were addicted to vitious practices, and their minds were vitiated, deeply tainted with all kind of sins, and they it seems took pleasure in sins, both in their own and other mens, and here are a parcel of flagitious fellows that make it their work to invent pleasing wickedness, to acquaint their King with it, who is so far from doing his Duty in discountenancing it, that 'tis one of his delights to hear or see it.

Great men about the Court.

With false accusations brought in against the more Innocent, or by false reports made of their words and actions, representing them as ridiculous or foolish, drolling them into infamy.

4 They are all adulterers as an oven heated by the baker , who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough until it be leavened.

Both spiritually, and carnally, and this latter Adultery is that which here is charged on the Courtiers, and people of Israel.

This vice is grown raging hot among them as you see the fire in an Oven, when the Baker having called up those that make the bread, to prepare all things ready, and the whole Mass is leavened: He doth by continued supply of Fuel heat the Oven to the highest degree. So doth Adultery among this people grow by degrees to raging flames. The whole Mass of the people are leavened with this vice also, as well as the Court, and every one enflamed with this unclean fire, as the Oven heated by the Baker.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 word] will [illegible: 1 word]; Or, [illegible: 1 word]

5 In the day of our king , the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine , he stretched out his hand with scorners .

Whether this day were any occasional day, that the King of Israel took to feast his Nobles as Ahasuerus did his; or whether the Anniversary of his Birth or Coronation, both which were usually celebrated, among most Nations, the Birthday especially. So Pharaoh, Gen. 40.20. and Herod, Mat. 14.6. whether of these we enquire not curiously.

Who attended on the King to witness their joy in the remembrance of that day which made the publick glad, so great a blessing was bestowed upon them, and to wish many such dayes unto their King and the Kingdom.

In their excess of drinking healths no doubt; instead of a pious and thankful remembrance of God's Mercies, they run into monstrous impieties of luxury and drunkenness, and with Bottles of Wine drank off probably at one draught, enflam'd themselves, and their King, and drink him almost to Death while they drink and wish his life.

In these drunken Feasts it seems the King of Israel forgat himself, became too familiar a Companion▪ and used the formalities of these drinking Matches, stretcht out his hand,

Who deride Religion, and wish confusion to the Professors of it.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 span].

6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven , whiles they ly in wait : their baker sleepeth all the night, in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire .

Surely.

Those Luxurious and Drinking Princes, ver. 5.

Do keep close some fire of Ambition, Revenge, or Covetousness, like as a Baker keeps a hot fire within his Oven.

Either against the Life or Estate of some of their fellow Subjects, or it may be as appears ver. 7. against the Life which they seem'd in their Cups to pray for.

He who should watch and prevent mischief, is swallowed up in the day with Feasting and Drunkenness, and sleeps in security all the night, never suspecting the projects of Conspirators.

But when he awakes too late, he seeth all in flames, and past quenching. Sedition and Rebellion is among these a sin as hateful to God, as dangerous to the publick; yet frequently acted by the Usurpers of those dissolute times.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

7 They are all hot as an oven , and have devoured their judges : all their kings are fallen , there is none among them that calleth unto me .

See ver. 6. let. f.

In a larger, and more vulgar sense, the most, or almost all of them, few excepted.

See ver. 6. let. g.

As Fire destroys, so have these Conspirators, when successful, destroy'd.

Those that were Magistrates and Rulers, who having somewhat of Integrity, would not join with them, nor promote the Interest of Usurpers.

All that had been since Ieroboam the seconds Reign, to the delivery of this Prophecy, viz. Zechariah, Shallum, Pekahiah, Pekah; these four fell by the Conspiracy of such hot Princes, only Menahem died a Natural Death.

By Treason and Violence from such as would drink them sick with wishes of Health.

Not one of all these either fear'd, trusted, or worshipt God. By Profession all were Idolaters, in practice debauched, and by their Company they kept these latter Kings of Israel appear under a suspicion of men contemning God, and deriding Providence, but they are long since fallen, where they must lie for ever, under Gods Justice.

This verse is a Key to the former, and helps us to understand the true sense thereof.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

8 Ephraim he hath mixed himself among the people : Ephraim is a cake not turned .

The Kingdom of Israel.

By Leagues and Commerce, by Imitation of their manners, and by either entertaining their Gods, and Sacrificing to them, or at least worshipping Idols as the Nations about them did; directly contrary to the express Law of God, Deut. 7.2, 3, 4. and 12.2, 3. this was their sin, and the greater because Voluntary; the expression seems to represent it as a thing of their own seeking, they did mix themselves with the Heathen, whereas had the Heathen sought it, 'twou'd in likelyhood have been said that the Nations mixed themselves with Ephraim; but this is in other words the same with chap. 2.5, 7. or this passage may be (as some conceive) a threat that the Ephraimites should be scatter'd among the Nations, be Captives to them, and dispersed amongst them, with whom to ease their condition a little, they should endeavour to mix by Friendship and Alliances; if so, this is the punishment of their former sinful Confederacies.

Some interpret this of the Party-colour'd temper of Ephraim, by such a Proverb as ours, is neither Fish nor Flesh, neither Israelite, nor Heathen, but a Mungril; neither a Heathen Idolater, nor yet a worshipper of God, a hotch potch of different Religions and Policies, like them; 1 King. 18.21. and Zeph. 1.5. neither Bread, nor yet Dough, but partly both, as the unturned Cake on the coals is: But it better expresseth their danger and sudden ruine, whose hungry Enemies will eat them up quickly▪ as men do, who for haste will not stay the full baking of their Cake.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 6:35.

9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not : yea gray hairs are here and there upon him , yet he knoweth it not .

Forreigners, whose aid Ephraim sought as 2 Kings. 15.19, 20. When Menahem bought the Friendship of Pul King of Assyria for one thousand Talents of silver, and impoverisht the Land thereby.

Eat up, lived upon, as men live on Bread they eat.

The Riches, and Goods of the Kingdom of Israel, the Fruit of the Olive and Vine, the Fruit of the Earth, Corn; the increase of their flocks, and of their Herds; the most or best of all eaten up by Strangers; either Souldiers in Garrison among them, or else courted by Presents, and Rich Gifts sent to them.

Is not sensible either of the cause why, or the tendency of this hasty Consumption of all▪ still they are secure, and sin as much as ever.

The manifest Symptoms of approaching Death, undeniable tokens of old Age▪ and declining Strength never recoverable are upon their Kingdom, like grey-hairs that are here and there intermixt on the head of a man, what with Domestick Seditions, and Forreign Invasions, and the fears, cares, and griefs from both, Ephraim, is turned grey-headed, his vital Vigour and Strength decayeth, and this is a Fore-runner of his Death.

So secure and stupid, that no notice is taken of this, nor any course thought of for preventing the dismal effects of this declining Consumptive state; none turn from sin, none seek to God the only Physitian that can heal.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

10 And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face, , and they do not return to the LORD their God , nor seek him for all this .

Vid. cap. 5. ver. 5. let. a, b, c. Their proud contempt of God, and his Threats, of the Prophets, and their warnings is notorious;

They persist in sin without Repentance▪ run away from God rather than return to him; Of this phrase return see cap. 6. ver. 1. let. b.

Who was theirs of old, who still would be theirs on fair Terms, of whom they talk and boast,

See this phrase cap. 5.15. let. y, z. they pray not, repent not, nor rely on God.

Though so greatly, continually, and severely punisht, though almost eaten up.

11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove , without heart ; they call to Egypt , they go to Assyria .

Vid. ver. 8. let. t. and ver. 1. let. d.

A deceived dove seduced by false Prophets, and Idolatrous Priests, whose weak arguments are soon believed, and whose unseasonable advice is too soon followed: Ephraim is now become like the Dove in Weakness and Fear, as well as in Imprudence and liableness to be deceived.

This explains the former, whether heart here be judgment and discretion, as sometimes it is, or be resolution and courage as other while 'tis; This Dove, this Ephraim wants both.

They should in their perplexity call on God, who can help, but they do not, they call indeed, but not to their God, or to a Friend.

This Heshea did, 2 King. 17.4. and I remember not any mention of other application to Egypt since Iehu's time. It is probable Hosea a[illegible: 1 letter]ms at this Embassy. and private Confederacy of which, as of a thing in hand he speaketh. They do call to Egypt whose King is called so, and, judged to be Sabacon the Aethiopian, who had lately conquered Egypt: By this also may we ghess at the time of this Prophesie about some four years before Samaria was taken.

So did Menahem when on the Throne, so did Ho[illegible: 1 letter]hea, as is evident, 2 Kings. 15: 19, 20. with 2 Kings. 17.3. Thus both bewrayed the greatest Imprudence depending for help on professed, old inveterate Enemies. So silly were they! Vide chap. 5. ver. 13. and chap. 14. ver. 3.

12 When they shall go I will spread my net upon them , I will bring them down as the fowles of the heaven : I will chastise them as their congregation hath heard .

Whensoever they shall send their Embassadors to seek aid of Egypt or Assyria.

As Fowlers spread the net, watch the Birds, and cast it over them to catch them, so will God do to Ephraim: So he did with Israel when he accepted the Alliance of Salmaneser, and turn'd tributary; and again, when Israel sought by Egypts help to get out of the snares of their Vassalage to Salmaneser, who revenged the Conspiracy with a total Captivity; nor can there be likelyhood or possibility these Fugitives should escape when 'tis Gods Net, and he spreads it; his Almighty Power, his All-searching Wisdom, his Just Vengeance that follows them.

Though they attempt to fly, yet as Fowls in the Net they shall certainly fall, I will bring them down as he did when they were gathered into Samaria as a Net, and there made Prisoners, and thence carryed Captives.

Thus they shall be punisht

Both from the Law of Moses which they had with them, and as they had heard from my Prophets which I have sent unto them. I will saith God make good my word.

13 Wo unto them, for they have fled from me : destruction unto them , because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them , yet they have spoken lies against me .

It is the voice both of Menace and Lamentation, the Prophet doth at once foretel, and bewail their Miseries,

As if it were not enough that they did at first leave my Government, Temple, and Worship; they have gone farther from me, they have hastened herein, they flew from me a[illegible: 1 letter] Birds on Wing: Their sin is Apostacy.

This explains the Wo already mentioned, such Wo 'twill be as ends in destruction.

Rebelliously cast off my Law and Government, much in State, more in Church matters, oppressours in one, Idolaters in the other, and incorrigible in both.

Out of Egypt, but that's long since, and the Prophet speaks of deliverance nearer to the times he lived in, God redeemed them partly by [illegible: 1 letter]oash, 2 Kings 13. but more fully by Ieroboam the second, 2 Kings 15. and would have compleated this deliverance, but they by sins hinder it.

Practically they belye me, [illegible: 1 letter]lying to Idols, worshipping them, praying to them▪ as if I were not able or willing to help them; and ascribing praise of the good they enjoy to their Idols, chap. 2.5, 6, 7. they belyed his corrections as if not deserved, or severer then need; they belyed the good done, as if too little, or not done by God, but by their Idol.

Marginal references: Heb. spoil.

14 And they have not cryed unto me with their heart ▪ when they howled upon their beds : they assemble themselves for corn and wine , and they rebel against me .

Immersed in these troubles, taken in the net.

Either they cryed to their Idols, not to God; vid. verse 7. let. s. or else their tongues made noise, their hearts were silent, and that is in Gods account, no cry at all.

With affection, hope, humility and sincerity, but out of some trouble, and more fear, they cry'd out to be delivered out of their pain and fear,

'Tis therefore elegantly and properly called howling; Though they did thus howl, yet they pray'd not, they did not pour out a supplication to their God.

On their Couches, or in their Chambers.

In the houses of their Idols.

That they may have plenty of these to satisfie their appetite, to live luxuriously, and in jollity.

As in the use of these to excess, so in this manner of seeking these, they rebel against God, and give that honour to the Idol, is due only to God.

15 Though I have bound , and strengthned their armes , yet do they imagine mischief against me .

But as for me, or and I.

Or chastised, as the word will bear, or instructed, either notion will well suit the place. When I had chastized them for their sins, as in Iehoahaz his time, I strengthned them in Iehoash his time, and in Ieroboams time, and made them stronger then their enemies. Or I taught them, gave them wisdom and skill to handle their weapons, so David speaks, Psal. 18.34. who teacheth my hands to war, and Psalm 144.1. But the sense best suits with what he took upon him before, if we retain it as our version hath it, bound, as a Chirurgion binds up a weakned member, or having set a broken one, doth with swathes and bands bind it up; so did God for Ephraim, when the Syrians and other enemies had broken their arms.

As I took care to bind, so I did, what none else could, give strength to them, both courage of mind, and strength of body, and success added to both; so they subdued them that had formerly wasted and spoiled them; what successes Iehoash, had, or Ieroboam had, I gave, and they should have own'd it, and been thankful, but

they contrived, laid their heads together, and designed what evil they could against me, they imputed their successes to their Idols, to their way of worship and hardened themselves against all thoughts of Repentance, and returning to me; and devised mischief against my Prophets, and let loose the reins to all impieties. This is their requital for all my love!

Marginal references: Or, chas[illegible: 2 letters]ed.

16 They return , but not to the most High : they are like a deceitful bow : their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue : this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt .

They sometimes have given some signs of returning, as when Iehu destroyed Baal, or Hoshea gave liberty to Israel to go up to Ierusalem, (if it be true which some affirm of him) and if I were sure Hoshea did this, I should think the Prophet aim'd at it, in this they return.

Jehu fell off to the Calves, and Hoshea's Reign was wicked too too much, though the reigns of other Kings were more wicked, what shew soever of Repentance among them, yet they never throughly repented, never fully embraced the law of God.

All was done (as the similitude elegantly sets it forth) in meer hypocrisie, though they seem'd bent for, and aiming at the mark, yet like a weak bow they carried not the arrow home, and like a false bow they never carried it strait toward the mark.

The Royal Family, principal Nobles and Magistrates, their brave Commanders and Leaders.

Be slain by either sword of base, false and bloody Traytors at home, or by sword of Forreigners, as the Assyrian.

Against God, his Prophets and Providence, which to decry with scorners was their usual diversion, ver. 5.

This sad end

Shall be upbraided to them.

Among their Allies and seeming Friends.

Marginal references: Psal. 78.57.; Psal. 73.9.

Hos 7:1-3

In the first strophe (Hos 7:1-7) the exposure of the moral depravity of Israel is continued. Hos 7:1. “When I heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim, reveals itself, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they practise deceit; and the thief cometh, the troop of robbers plundereth without. Hos 7:2. And they say not in their heart, I should remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds have surrounded them, they have occurred before my face. Hos 7:3. They delight the king with their wickedness, and princes with their lies.” As the dangerous nature of a wound is often first brought out by the attempt to heal it, so was the corruption of Israel only brought truly to light by the effort to stem it. The first hemistich of Hos 7:1 is not to be referred to the future, nor is the healing to be understood as signifying punishment, as Hitzig supposes; but the allusion is to the attempts made by God to put a stop to the corruption, partly by the preaching of repentance and the reproofs of the prophets, and partly by chastisements designed to promote reformation. The words contain no threatening of punishment, but a picture of the moral corruption that had become incurable. Here again Ephraim is not the particular tribe, but is synonymous with Israel, the people or kingdom of the ten tribes; and Samaria is especially mentioned in connection with it, as the capital and principal seat of the corruption of morals, just as Judah and Jerusalem are frequently classed together by the prophets. The lamentation concerning the incurability of the kingdom is followed by an explanatory notice of the sins and crimes that are openly committed. Sheqer, lying, i.e., deception both in word and deed towards God and man, theft and highway robbery and not fear of the vengeance of God. “Accedit ad haec facinora securitas eorum ineffabilis” (Marck). They do not consider that God will remember their evil deeds, and punish them; they are surrounded by them on all sides, and perform them without shame or fear before the face of God Himself. These sins delight both king and prince. To such a depth have even the rulers of the nation, who ought to practise justice and righteousness, fallen, that they not only fail to punish the sins, but take pleasure in their being committed.

Hos 7:4-7

To this there is added the passion with which the people make themselves slave to idolatry, and their rulers give themselves up to debauchery (Hos 7:4-7). Hos 7:4. “They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by the baker, who leaves off stirring from the kneading of the dough until its leavening. Hos 7:5. In the day of our king the princes are made sick with the heat of wine: he has stretched out his hand with the scorners. Hos 7:6. For they have brought their heart into their ambush, as into the oven; the whole night their baker sleeps; in the morning it burns like flaming fire. Hos 7:7. They are all red-hot like the oven, and consume their judges: all their kings have fallen; none among them calls to me.” “All” (kullâm: Hos 7:4) does not refer to the king and princes, but to the whole nation. נאף is spiritual adultery, apostasy from the Lord; and literal adultery is only so far to be thought of, that the worship of Baal promoted licentiousness. In this passionate career the nation resembles a furnace which a baker heats in the evening, and leaves burning all night while the dough is leavening, and then causes to turn with a still brighter flame in the morning, when the dough is ready for baking. בּערה מאפה, burning from the baker, i.e., heated by the baker. בּערה is accentuated as milel, either because the Masoretes took offence at תּנּוּר being construed as a feminine (Ges. Lehrgeb. p. 546; Ewald, Gramm. p. 449, note 1), or because tiphchah could not occupy any other place in the short space between zakeph and athnach (Hitzig). העיר, excitare, here in the sense of stirring. On the use of the participle in the place of the infinitive, with verbs of beginning and ending, see Ewald, §298, b.

Hos 7:8-9

In the next strophe (Hos 7:8-16) the prophecy passes from the internal corruption of the kingdom of the ten tribes to its worthless foreign policy, and the injurious attitude which it had assumed towards the heathen nations, and unfolds the disastrous consequences of such connections. Hos 7:8. “Ephraim, it mixes itself among the nations; Ephraim has become a cake not turned. Hos 7:9. Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not; grey hair is also sprinkled upon him, and he knoweth it not.” יתבּולל, from בּלל, to mix or commingle, is not a future in the sense of “it will be dispersed among the Gentiles;” for, according to the context, the reference is not to the punishment of the dispersion of Israel among the nations, but to the state in which Israel then was. The Lord had separated Israel from the nations, that it might be holy to Him (Lev 20:24, Lev 20:26). As Balaam said of it, it was to be a people dwelling alone (Num 23:9). But in opposition to this object of its divine calling, the ten tribes had mingled with the nations, i.e., with the heathen, learned their works, and served their idols (cf. Psa 106:35-36). The mingling with the nations consisted in the adoption of heathen ways, not in the penetration of the heathen into Israelitish possessions (Hitzig), nor merely in the alliances which it formed with heathen nations. For these were simply the consequence of inward apostasy from its God, of that inward mixing with the nature of heathenism which had already taken place. Israel had thereby become a cake not turned. עגּה, a cake baked upon hot ashes or red-hot stones, which, if it be not turned, is burned at the bottom, and not baked at all above. The meaning of this figure is explained by Hos 7:9. As the fire will burn an ash-cake when it is left unturned, so have foreigners consumed the strength of Israel, partly by devastating wars, and partly by the heathenish nature which has penetrated into Israel in their train. “Greyness is also sprinkled upon it;” i.e., the body politic, represented as one person, is already covered with traces of hoary old age, and is ripening for destruction. The object to לא ידע may easily be supplied from the previous clauses, namely, that strangers devour its strength, and it is growing old. The rendering non sapit is precluded by the emphatic והוּא, and he knoweth it not, i.e., does not perceive the decay of his strength.

Hos 7:10 “And the pride of Israel beareth witness to his face, and they are not converted to Jehovah their God, and for all this they seek Him not.” The first clause is repeated from Hos 5:5. The testimony which the pride of Israel, i.e., Jehovah, bore to its face, consisted in the weakening and wasting away of the kingdom as described in Hos 7:9. But with all this, they do not turn to the Lord who could save them, but seek help from their natural foes.

Hos 7:11-12 “And Ephraim has become like a simple dove without understanding; they have called Egypt, they are gone to Asshur. Hos 7:12. As they go, I spread my net over them; I bring them down like fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, according to the tidings to their assembly.” The perfects in Hos 7:1 describe the conduct of Israel as an accomplished fact, and this is represented by ויהי as the necessary consequence of its obstinate impenitence. The point of comparison between Israel and the simple dove, is not that the dove misses its proper dwelling and resting-place, and therefore goes fluttering about (Ewald); nor that, in trying to escape from the hawk, it flies into the net of the bird-catcher (Hitzig); but that when flying about in search of food, it does not observe the net that is spread for it (Rosenmüller). אין לב is to be taken as a predicate to Ephraim in spite of the accents, and not to yōnâh phōthâh (a simple dove), since phōthâh does not require either strengthening or explaining. Thus does Ephraim seek help from Egypt and Assyria. These words do not refer to the fact that there were two parties in the nation - an Assyrian and an Egyptian. Nor do they mean that the whole nation applied at one time to Egypt to get rid of Asshur, and at another time to Asshur to escape from Egypt. “The situation is rather this: the people being sorely pressed by Asshur, at one time seek help from Egypt against Asshur; whilst at another they try to secure the friendship of the latter” (Hengstenberg, Christology, i. p. 164 transl.). For what threatened Israel was the burden of the “king of princes” (Hos 8:10), i.e., the king of Asshur. And this they tried to avert partly by their coquettish arts (Hos 8:9), and partly by appealing to the help of Egypt; and while doing so, they did not observe that they had fallen into the net of destruction, viz., the power of Assyria. In this net will the Lord entangle them as a punishment. As they go thither, God will spread His net over them like a bird-catcher, and bring them down to the earth like flying birds, i.e., bring them down from the open air, that is to say, from freedom, into the net of captivity, or exile. איסירם, a rare hiphil formation with Yod mobile, as in Pro 4:25 (see Ewald, §131, c). “According to the tidings (announcement) to their assembly:” i.e., in accordance with the threatening already contained in the law (Lev 26:14.; Deu 28:15.), and repeatedly uttered to the congregation by the prophets, of the judgments that should fall upon the rebellious, which threatening would now be fulfilled upon Ephraim.

Hos 7:13-14 “Woe to them! for they have flown from me; devastation to them! for they have fallen away from me. I would redeem them, but they speak lies concerning me. Hos 7:14. They did not cry to me in their heart, but howl upon their beds; they crowd together for corn and new wine, and depart against me.” The Lord, thinking of the chastisement, exclaims, Woe to them, because they have fled from Him! Nâdad, which is applied to the flying of birds, points back to the figures employed in Hos 7:11, Hos 7:12. Shōd, used as an exclamation, gives the literal explanation of 'ōi (woe). The imperfect 'ephdēm cannot be taken as referring to the redemption out of Egypt, because it does not stand for the preterite. It is rather voluntative or optative. “I would (should like to) redeem them (still); but they say I cannot and will not do it.” These are the lies which they utter concerning Jehovah, partly with their mouths and partly by their actions, namely, in the fact that they do not seek help from Him, as is explained in Hos 7:14. They cry to the Lord; yet it does not come from the heart, but (כּי after לא) they howl (יילילוּ, cf. Ges. §70, 2, note) upon their beds, in unbelieving despair at the distress that has come upon them. What follows points to this. Hithgōrēr, to assemble, to crowd together (Psa 56:7; Psa 59:4; Isa 54:15); here to gather in troops or crowd together for corn and new wine, because their only desire is to fill their belly. Thus they depart from God. The construction of סוּר with ב, instead of with מן or מאחרי, is a pregnant one: to depart and turn against God.

Hos 7:15-16

Yet Jehovah has done still more for Israel. Hos 7:15. “And I have instructed, have strengthened their arms, and they think evil against me. Hos 7:16. They turn, but not upwards: they have become like a false bow. Their princes will fall by the sword, for the defiance of their tongue: this is their derision in the land of Egypt.” יסּר here is not to chastise, but to instruct, so that זרועתם (their arms) is to be taken as the object to both verbs. Instructing the arms, according to the analogy of Psa 18:35, is equivalent to showing where and how strength is to be acquired. And the Lord has not contented Himself with merely instructing. He has also strengthened their arms, and given them power to fight, and victory over their foes (cf. 2Ki 14:25-26). And yet they think evil of Him; not by speaking lies (Hos 7:13), but by falling away from Him, by their idolatrous calf-worship, by which they rob the Lord of the glory due to Him alone, practically denying His true divinity. This attitude towards the Lord is summed up in two allegorical sentences in Hos 7:16, and the ruin of their princes is foretold. They turn, or turn round, but not upwards (על, an adverb, or a substantive signifying height, as in Hos 11:7; 2Sa 23:1, not “the Most High,” i.e., God, although turning upwards is actually turning to God). From the fact that with all their turning about they do not turn upwards, they have become like a treacherous bow, the string of which has lost its elasticity, so that the arrows do not hit the mark (cf. Psa 78:57). And thus Israel also fails to reach its destination. Therefore its princes shall fall. The princes are mentioned as the originators of the enmity against God, and all the misery into which they have plunged the people and kingdom. זעם, fury, here defiance or rage. Defiance of tongue the princes showed in the lies which they uttered concerning Jehovah (Hos 7:13), and with which they blasphemed in a daring manner the omnipotence and faithfulness of the Lord. זו stands, according to a dialectical difference in the mode of pronunciation, for זה, not for זאת (Ewald, §183, a). This, namely their falling by the sword, will be for a derision to them in the land of Egypt: not because they will fall in Egypt, or perish by the sword of the Egyptians; but because they put their trust in Egypt, the derision of Egypt will come upon them when they are overthrown (cf. Isa 30:3, Isa 30:5).

Charge Drawn up against Israel; The Crimes of the Princes. (b. c. 750.)

1 When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. 2 And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face. 3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. 4 They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened. 5 In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners. 6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire. 7 They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.

Some take away the last words of the foregoing chapter, and make them the beginning of this: "When I returned, or would have returned, the captivity of my people, when I was about to come towards them in ways of mercy, even when I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim (the country and common people) was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria, the court and the chief city." Now, in these verses, we may observe,

I. A general idea given of the present state of Israel, v. 1, 2. See how the case now stood with them.

1. God graciously designed to do well for them: I would have healed Israel. Israel were sick and wounded; their disease was dangerous and malignant, and likely to be fatal, Isa. i. 6. But God offered to be their physician, to undertake the cure, and there was balm in Gilead sufficient to recover the health of the daughter of his people; their case was bad, but it was not desperate, nay, it was hopeful, when God would have healed Israel. (1.) He would have reformed them, would have separated between them and their sins, would have purged out the corruptions that were among them, by his laws and prophets. (2.) He would have delivered them out of their troubles, and restored to them their peace and prosperity. Several healing attempts were made, and their declining state seemed sometimes to be in a hopeful way of recovery; but their own folly put them back again. Note, If sinful miserable souls be not healed and helped, but perish in their sin and misery, they cannot lay the blame on God, for he both could and would have healed them; he offered to take the ruin under his hand. And there are some special seasons when God manifests his readiness to heal a distempered church and nation, now and then a hopeful crisis, which, if carefully watched and improved, might, even when the case is very bad, turn the scale for life and health.

2. They stood in their own light and put a bar in their own door. When God would have healed them, when they bade fair for reformation and peace, then their iniquity was discovered and their wickedness, which stopped that current of God's favours, and undid all again. (1.) Then, when their case came to be examined and enquired into, in order to their cure, that wickedness which had been concealed and palliated was found out; not that it was ever hid from God, but he speaks after the manner of men; as a surgeon, when he probes a wound in order to the cure of it and finds that it touches the vitals and is incurable, goes no further in his endeavour to cure it, so, when God came down to see the case of Israel (as the expression is, Gen. xviii. 21), with kind intentions towards them, he found their wickedness so very flagrant, and them so hardened in it, so impudent and impenitent, that he could not in honour show them the favour he designed them. Note, Sinners are not healed because they would not be healed. Christ would have gathered them, and they would not. (2.) Then, when some endeavours were used to reform and reclaim them, that wickedness which had been restrained and kept under broke out; and from God's steps towards the healing of them they took occasion to be so much the more provoking. When endeavours were used to reform them vice grew more impetuous, more outrageous, and swelled so much the higher, as a stream when it is damned up. When they began to prosper they grew more proud, wanton, and secure, and so stopped the progress of their cure. Note, It is sin that turns away good things from us when they are coming towards us; and it is the folly and ruin of multitudes that, when God would do well for them, they do ill for themselves. And what was it that did them this mischief? In one word, they commit falsehood; they worship idols (so some), defraud one another (so others), or, rather, they dissemble with God in their professions of repentance and regard to him. They say that they are desirous to be healed by him, and, in order to that, willing to be ruled by him; but they lie unto him with their mouth and flatter him with their tongue.

3. A practical disbelief of God's omniscience and government was at the bottom of all their wickedness (v. 2): "They consider not in their hearts, they never say it to their own hearts, never think of this, that I remember all their wickedness." As if God could not see it, though he is all eye, or did not heed it, though his name is Jealous, or had forgotten it, though he is an eternal mind that can never be unmindful, or would not reckon for it, though he is the Judge of heaven and earth. This is the sinner's atheism; as good say that there is no God as say that he is either ignorant or forgetful, that there is none that judges in the earth as that he remembers not the things he is to give judgment upon. It is a high affront they put upon God; it is a damning cheat they put upon themselves; they say, The Lord shall not see, Ps. xciv. 7. They cannot but know that God remembers all their works; they have been told it many a time; nay, if you ask them, they cannot but own it, and yet they do not consider it; they do not think of it when they should, and with application to themselves and their own works, else they would not, they durst not, do as they do. But the time will come when those who thus deceive themselves shall be undeceived: "Now their own doings have beset them about, that is, they have come at length to such a pitch of wickedness that their sins appear on every side of them; all their neighbours see how bad they are, and can they think that God does not see it?" Or, rather, "The punishment of their doings besets them about; they are surrounded and embarrassed with troubles, so that they cannot get out, by which it appears that the sins they smart for are before my face, not only that I have seen them, but that I am displeased at them;" for, till God by pardoning our sins has cast them behind his back, they are still before his face. Note, Sooner or later, God will convince those who do not now consider it that he remembers all their works.

4. God had begun to contend with them by his judgments, in earnest of what was further coming: The thief comes in, and the troop of robbers spoils without. Some take this as an instance of their wickedness, that they robbed and spoiled one another. Nec hospes ab hospite tutus—The host and the guest stand in fear of each other. It seems rather to be a punishment of their sin; they were infested with secret thieves among themselves, that robbed their houses and shops and picked their pockets, and troops of robbers, foreign invaders, that with open violence spoiled abroad; so far was Israel from being healed that they had fresh wounds given them daily by robbers and spoilers; and all this the effect of sin, all to punish them for robbing God, Isa. xlii. 24; Mal. iii. 8, 11.

II. A particular account of the sins of the court, of the king and princes, and those about them, and the tokens of God's displeasure that they were under for them.

1. Their king and princes were pleased with the wickedness and profaneness of their subjects, who were emboldened thereby to be so much them ore wicked (v. 3): They make the king and princes glad with their wickedness. It pleased them to see the people conform to their wicked laws and examples, in the worship of their idols, and other instances of impiety and immorality, and to hear them flatter and applaud them in their wicked ways. When Herod saw that his wickedness pleased the people he proceeded further in it, much more will the people do so when they see that it pleases the prince, Acts xii. 3. Particularly, they made them glad with their lies, with the lying praises with which they crowned the favourites of the prince and the lying calumnies and censures with which they blackened those whom they knew the princes had a dislike to. Those who show themselves pleased with slanders and ill-natured stories shall never want those about them who will fill their ears with such stories. Prov. xxix. 12, If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked, and will make him glad with their lies.

2. Drunkenness and revelling abound much at the court, v. 5. The day of our king was a merry day with them, either his birth-day or his inauguration-day, of which it is probable that they had an anniversary observation, or perhaps it was some holiday of his appointing, which was therefore called his day; on that day the princes met to drink the king's health, and got him among them, to be merry, and made him sick with bottles of wine. It should seem the king did not ordinarily drink to excess, but he was not upon a high day brought to it by the artifices of the princes, tempted by the goodness of the wine, the gaiety of the company, or the healths they urged; and so little was he used to it that it made him sick; and it is justly charged as a crime, as crimen læsæ majestatis—treason, upon those who thus imposed upon him and made him sick; nor would it serve for an excuse that it was the day of their king, but was rather an aggravation of the crime, that, whey they pretended to do him honour, they dishonoured him to the highest degree. If it is a great affront and injury to a common person to make him drunk, and there is a woe to those that do it (Hab. ii. 15), much more to a crowned head; for the greater any man's dignity is the greater disgrace it is to him to be drunk. It is not for kings, O Lemuel! it is not for kings, to drink wine, Prov. xxxi. 4, 5. See what a prejudice the sin of drunkenness is to a man, to a king. (1.) In his health; it made him sick. It is a force upon nature; and strange it is by what charms men, otherwise rational enough, can be drawn to that which besides the offence it gives to God, and the damage it does to their spiritual and eternal welfare, is a present disorder and distemper to their own bodies. (2.) In his honour; for, when he was thus intoxicated, he stretched out his hand with scorners; then he that was entrusted with the government of a kingdom lost the government of himself, and so far forgot, [1.] The dignity of a king that he made himself familiar with players and buffoons, and those whose company was a scandal. [2.] The duty of a king that he joined in confederacy with atheists, and the profane scoffers at religion, whom he ought to have silenced and put to shame; he sat in the seat of the scornful, of those that had arrived at the highest pitch of impiety; he struck in with them, said as they said, did as they did, and exerted his power, and stretched forth the hand of his government, in concurrence with them. Goodness and good men are often made the song of the drunkards (Ps. lxix. 12; xxxv. 16); but woe unto thee, O land! when thy king is such a child as to stretch forth his hand with those that make them so, Eccl. x. 16.

3. Adultery and uncleanness prevailed much among the courtiers. This is spoken of v. 4, 6, 7, and the charge of drunkenness comes in in the midst of this article; for wine is oil to the fire of lust, Prov. xxiii. 33. Those that are inflamed with fleshly lusts, that are adulterers (v. 4), are here again and again compared to an oven heated by the baker (v. 4): They have made ready their heart like an oven (v. 6); they are all hot as an oven, v. 7. Note, (1.) An unclean heart is like an oven heated; and the unclean lusts and affections of it are as the fuel that makes it hot. It is an inward fire, it keeps the heat within itself; so adulterers and fornicators secretly burn in lust, as the expression is, Rom. i. 27. The heat of the oven is an intense heat, especially as it is here described; he that heats it stirs up the fire, and ceases not from raising it up, till the bread is ready to be put in, being kneaded and leavened, all which only signifies that they are like an oven when it is at the hottest; nay, when it is too hot for the baker (so the learned Dr. Pocock), when it is hotter than he would have it, so that the raiser up of the fire ceases as long as while the dough that is kneaded is in the fermenting, that the heat may abate a little. Thus fiery hot are the lusts of an unclean heart. (2.) The unclean wait for an opportunity to compass their wicked desires; having made ready their heart like an oven, they lie in wait to catch their prey. The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Job xxiv. 15. Their baker sleeps all the night, but in the morning it burns as a flaming fire. As the baker, having kindled a fire in his oven and laid sufficient fuel to it, goes to bed, and sleeps all night, and in the morning finds his oven well heated, and ready for his purpose, so these wicked people, when they have laid some wicked plot, and formed a design for the gratifying of some covetous, ambitious, revengeful, or unclean lusts, have their hearts so fully set in them to do evil that, though they may stifle them for a while, yet the fire of corrupt affections is still glowing within, and, as soon as ever there is an opportunity for it, their purposes which they have compassed and imagined break out into overt acts, as a fire flames out when it has vent given it. Thus they are all hot as an oven. Note, Lust in the heart is like fire in an oven, puts it into a heat; but the day is coming when those who thus make themselves like a fiery oven with their own vile affections, if that fire be not extinguished by divine grace, shall be made as a fiery oven by divine wrath (Ps. xxi. 9), when the day comes that shall burn as an oven, Mal. iv. 1.

4. They resist the proper methods of reformation and redress: They have devoured their judges, those few good judges that were among them, that would have put out these fires with which they were heated; they fell foul upon them, and would not suffer them to do justice, but were ready to stone them, and perhaps did so; or, as some think, they provoked God to deprive them of the blessing of magistracy and to leave all in confusion: All their kings have fallen one after another, and their families with them, which could not but put the kingdom into confusion, crumble it into contending parties, and occasion a great deal of bloodshed. There are heart-burnings among them; they are hot as an oven with rage and malice at one another, and this occasions the devouring of their judges, the falling of their kings. For the transgressions of a land many are the princes thereof, Prov. xxviii. 2. But in the midst of all this trouble and disorder there is none among them that calls unto God, that sees his hand stretched out against them in these judgments, and deprecates the strokes of it, none, or next to none, that stir up themselves to take hold on God, Isa. lxiv. 7. Note, Those are not only heated with sin, but hardened in sin, that continue to live without prayer even when they are in trouble and distress.

The Crimes of the People; Infatuation of Ephraim; Ephraim's Obstinate Rebellion; Ephraim's Hypocrisy. (b. c.  750.)

8 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned. 9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not. 10 And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this. 11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. 12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard. 13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me. 14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me. 15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me. 16 They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Having seen how vicious and corrupt the court was, we now come to enquire how it is with the country, and we find that to be no better; and no marvel if the distemper that has so seized the head affect the whole body, so that there is no soundness in it; the iniquity of Ephraim is discovered, as well as the sin of Samaria, of the people as well as the princes, of which here are divers instances.

I. They were not peculiar and entire for God, as they should have been, v. 8. 1. They did not distinguish themselves from the heathen, as God had distinguished them: Ephraim, he has mingled himself among the people, has associated with them, and conformed himself to them, and has in a manner confounded himself with them and lost his character among them. God had said, The people shall dwell alone; but they mingled themselves with the heathen and learned their works, Ps. xvi. 35. They went up and down among the heathen, to beg help of one of them against another (so some); whereas, if they had kept close to God, they would not have needed the help of any of them. 2. They were not entirely devoted to God: Ephraim is a cake not turned, and so is burnt on one side and dough on the other side, but good for nothing on either side. As in Ahab's time, so now, they halted between God and Baal; sometimes they seemed zealous for God, but at other times as hot for Baal. Note, It is sad to think how many, who, after a sort, profess religion, are made up of contraries and inconsistencies, as a cake not turned, a constant self-contradiction, and always in one extreme or the other.

II. They were strangely insensible of the judgments of God, which they were under, and which threatened their ruin, v. 9. Observe, 1. The condition they were in. God was not to them, in his judgments, as a moth and as rottenness; they were silently and slowly drawing towards the ruin of their state partly by the encroachments of foreigners upon them: Strangers have devoured his strength, and eaten him up; they have wasted his wealth and treasure, lessened his numbers, and consumed the fruits of the earth. Some devoured them by open wars (as 2 Kings xiii. 7, when the king of Syria made them like the dust by threshing), others by pretending treaties of peace and amity, in which they extorted abundance of wealth from them, and made them pay dearly for that which did them no good, but which afterwards they paid more dearly for, as 2 Kings xvi. 9. This Ephraim got by mingling with the heathen, and suffering them to mingle with him; they devoured that which he rested upon and supported himself with. Note, Those that make not God their strength (Ps. lii. 7) make that their strength which will soon be devoured by strangers. They were thus reduced partly by their own mal-administrations among themselves: Yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him (are sprinkled upon him, so the word is), that is, the sad symptoms of a decaying declining state, which is waxing old and ready to vanish away, and the effects of trouble and vexation. Cura facit canos—Care turns gray. The almond-tree does not as yet flourish, but it begins to turn colour, which speaks aloud to him that the evil days are coming, and the years of which he shall say, I have no pleasure in them, Eccl. xii. 1, 5. 2. Their regardlessness of these warnings: He knows it not; he is not aware of the hand of God gone out against him; it is lifted up, but he will not see, Isa. xxvi. 11. He does not know how near his ruin is, and takes no care to prevent it. Note, Stupidity under less judgments is a presage of greater coming.

III. They went on frowardly in their wicked ways, and were not reclaimed by the rebukes they were under (v. 10): The pride of Israel still testifies to his face, as it had done before (ch. v. 5); under humbling providences their hearts were still unhumbled, their lusts unmortified; and it is through the pride of their countenance that they will not seek after God (Ps. x. 4); they do not return to the Lord their God by repentance and reformation, nor do they seek him by faith and prayer for all this; though they suffer for going astray from him, though it can never be well with them till they come back to him, and though they have in vain sought to others for relief, yet they think not of applying to God.

IV. They were infatuated in their counsels, and took very wrong methods when they were in distress (v. 11, 12): Ephraim is like a silly dove without heart. To be harmless as a dove, without gall, and not to hurt or injure others, is commendable; but to be sottish as a dove, without heart, that knows not how to defend herself and provide for her own safety, is a shame.

1. The silliness of this dove is, (1.) That she laments not the loss of her young that are taken from her, but will make her nest again in the same place; so they have their people carried away by the enemy, and are not affected with it, but continue their dealings with those that deal barbarously with them. (2.) That she is easily enticed by the bait into the net, and has no heart, no understanding, to discern her danger, as many other fowls do, Prov. i. 17. She hastes to the snare, and knows not that it is for her life (Prov. vii. 23); so they were drawn into leagues with neighbouring nations that were their ruin. (3.) That, when she is frightened, she has not courage to stay in the dove-house, where she is safe, and under the careful protection of her owner, but flutters and hovers, seeking shelter first in one place, then in another, and thereby exposes herself so much the more; so this people, when they were in distress, sought not to God, did not fly like the doves to their windows where they might have been secured from all the birds of prey that struck at them, but threw themselves out of God's protection, and then called to Egypt to help them, and went in all haste to Assyria, to seek for that aid in vain which they might, by repentance and prayer, have found nearer home, in their God. Note, It is a silly senseless thing for those who have a God in heaven to trust to creatures for the refuge and relief which are to be had in him only; and those that do so are a people of no understanding, they are without heart. Now,

2. See what becomes of this silly dove (v. 12): When they shall go to Egypt and Assyria, I will spread my net upon them. Note, Those that will not abide by the mercy of God must expect to be pursued by the justice of God. Here, (1.) They are ensnared: "I will spread my net upon them, bring them into straits, that they may see their folly and think of returning." Note, It is common for those that go away from God to find snares where they expected shelters. (2.) They are humbled; they soar upward, proud of their foreign alliances and confiding in them; but I will bring them down, let them fly ever so high, as the fowls of heaven, that are shot flying. Note, God can and will bring those down that exalt themselves as the eagle, Obad. 3, 4. (3.) They are made to smart for their folly: I will chastise them. Note, The disappointments we meet with in the creature, when we put a confidence in it, are a necessary chastisement, or discipline, that we may learn to be wiser another time. (4.) In all this the scripture is fulfilled. It is as their congregation has heard; they have been many a time told by the word of God, read, and preached, and sung, in their religious assemblies, that "vain is the help of man, that in the son of man there is no help; they have heard both from the law and from the prophets what judgments God would bring upon them for their wickedness; and as they have heard now they shall see, they shall feel." Note, It concerns us to take notice of the word of God which we hear from time to time in the congregation, and to be governed by it, for we must shortly be judged by it; and it will justify God in the condemnation of sinners, and aggravate it to them, that they have had plain public warning given them of it; it is what their congregation has heard many a time, but they would not take warning. "Son, remember thou wast told what would come of it; and now thou seest they were not vain words." See Zech. i. 6.

V. They revolted from God and rebelled against him, notwithstanding the various methods he took to retain them in their allegiance, v. 13-15. Here observe,

1. How kindly and tenderly God had dealt with them, as a gracious sovereign towards a people dear unto him, and whose prosperity he had much at heart. He had redeemed them (v. 13), brought them, at first, out of the land of Egypt, and, since, delivered them out of many a distress. He had bound and strengthened their arms, v. 15. When their power was weakened, like an arm broken or out of joint, God set it again, and bound it, as a surgeon does a broken bone, to make it knit. God had given Israel victories over the Syrians (2 Kings xiii. 16, 17), had restored their coast (2 Kings xiv. 25, 26), had girded them with strength for battle. "Though I have chastened them" (so the margin reads it), "sometimes corrected them for their faults and thereby taught them, at other times strengthened their arms and relieved them, though I have used both fair means and foul to work upon them, it was all to no purpose; they were mercy-proof and judgment-proof."

2. How impudent their conduct had been towards him notwithstanding, which is described here for the conviction and humiliation of all those who have gone on in any way of wickedness, that they may see how exceedingly sinful their sin is, how heinous, how the God of heaven interprets it, how he resents it. (1.) He had courted them to him, and taken them into covenant with himself; but they fled from him, as if he had been their dangerous enemy who had always approved himself their faithful friend. They wandered from him, as the silly dove from her nest, for those who forsake God will find no rest nor settlement in the creature, but wander endlessly. They fled from God when they forsook the worship of him, and ran away from his service, and withdrew themselves from their allegiance to him. (2.) He had given them his laws, which were all holy, just, and good, by which he designed to keep them in the right way; but they transgressed against him; they sinned with a high hand and a stiff neck, wilfully and presumptuously (so the words signifies); they broke through the fence of the divine law, and therein thwarted the design of the divine love. (3.) He had made known his truths to them, and given them all possible proofs of the sincerity of his good-will to them; and yet they spoke lies against him. They set up false gods in competition with him; they denied his providence and power; thus they belied the Lord, Jer. v. 12. They rejected his messages sent them by his prophets, and said that they should have peace, though they went on in sin, directly against what he said. In their hypocritical professions of religion, shows of devotion, and promises of amendment, they lied to the Lord, which he took as lying against him. (4.) He was their rightful Lord and King, and had always ruled in Jacob with equity, and for the public good; and yet they rebelled against him, v. 14. They not only went off from him, but took up arms against him, would have deposed him if they could and set up another. (5.) He designed well for them, but they imagined mischief against him, v. 15. Sin is a mischievous thing; it is mischief against God, for it is treason against his crown and dignity; not that the sinners can do any thing to hurt their Creator (as one of the ancients observes on these words), but what they can they do; and it is so much the worse when it is not done by surprise, or through inadvertency, but designedly and with contrivance. The Jews have a saying, which Dr. Pocock quotes here, The thoughts of transgression are worse than the transgression. The designing of mischief is doing it, in God's account. Compassing and imagining the death of the king is treason by our law. Those that imagine an evil thing, though it prove a vain thing (Ps. ii. 1), will be reckoned with for the imagination.

3. How they shall be punished for this (v. 13): Woe unto them! for they have fled from me. Note, Those who flee from God have woes sent after them, and are, without doubt, in a woeful case. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against them; the word of God says, Woe to them! And observe what follows immediately, Destruction unto them! Note, The woes of God's word have real effects; destruction makes them good. The judgments of his hand shall verify the judgments of his mouth. Those whom he curses, and pronounces woeful, they are cursed, they are woeful indeed.

VI. Their shows of devotion and reformation were but shows, and in them they did but mock God.

1. They pretended devotion, but it was not sincere, v. 14. When the hand of God had gone forth against them they made some sort of application to him. When he slew them, then they sought him. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee. But it was all in hypocrisy. (1.) When they were under personal troubles, and called upon God in secret, they were not sincere in that: They have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds. When they were chastened with pain upon their beds, and the multitude of their bones with strong pains, perhaps ill of the wounds they received in war, they cried, and groaned, and complained in the forms of devotion, and, it may be, they used many good words, proper enough for the circumstances they were in; they cried, God help us, and, Lord, look upon us. But they did not cry with their heart, and therefore God reckons it as no crying to him. Moses is said to cry unto God when he spoke not a word, only his heart prayed with faith and fervency, Exod. xiv. 15. These made a great noise, and said a great deal, and yet did not cry to God, because their hearts were not right with him, not subjected to his will, devoted to his honour, nor employed in his service. To pray is to lift up the soul to God, this is the essence of prayer. If this be not done, words, though ever so well chosen, are but wind; but, if it be, it is an acceptable prayer, though the groanings cannot be uttered. Note, Those do not pray to God at all that do not pray in the spirit. Nay, God is so far from approving their prayer and accepting it that he calls it howling. Some think it intimates the noisiness of their prayers (they cried to God as they used to cry to Baal, when they thought he must be awakened), or the brutish violent passions which they vented in their prayers; they snarled at the stone, and howled under the whip, but regarded not the hand. Or it denotes that their hypocritical prayers were so far from being pleasing to God that they were offensive to him; he was angry at their prayers. The songs of the temple shall be howlings, Amos viii. 3. God will be so far from pitying them that he will justly laugh at their calamity, who have so often laughed at his authority. (2.) When they were under public troubles, and met together to implore God's favour, in that also they were hypocritical; they assembled themselves, for fashion-sake, because it was usual to call a solemn assembly in times of general mourning, Zeph. ii. 1. But it was only to pray for corn and wine that they came together, which were the things they wanted, and feared being deprived of by the want of rain, the judgment they now laboured under. They did not pray for the favour or grace of God, that God would give them repentance, pardon their sins, and turn away his wrath, but only that he would not take away from them their corn and wine. Note, Carnal hearts, in their prayers to God, covet temporal mercies only, and dread and deprecate no other but temporal judgments, for they have no sense of any other.

2. They pretended reformation, but neither was that sincere, v. 16. Here is, (1.) The sin of Israel: They return, that is, they make as if they would return; they pretend to repent and amend their doings, but they make nothing of it; they do not come home to God nor return to their allegiance, whereas God says (Jer. iv. 1), If thou wilt return, O Israel! return to me; do not only turn towards me, but return to me. This dissimulation of theirs makes them like a deceitful bow, which looks as if it were fit for business, and is bent and drawn accordingly, but, when strength comes to be laid to it, either the bow or the string breaks, and the arrow, instead of flying to the mark, drops at the archer's foot. Such were their essays towards repentance and reformation. (2.) The sin of the princes of Israel. That which is charged upon them is the rage of their tongue, quarrelling with God and his providence and with all about them when they are crossed. Princes think they may say what they will, and that it is their prerogative to huff and bluster, to curse and rail, and to call names at their pleasure, but let them know there is a God above them that will call them to an account for the rage of their tongues and make their own tongues to fall upon them. (3.) The punishment of Israel and their princes for their sin. As for the princes, they shall fall by the sword either of their enemies or of their own people, some by one and some by the other; and this shall be their derision, this is that for which they shall be derided in the land of Egypt, when they flee to the Egyptians for succour, v. 11. Their sin and punishment shall make them a laughing-stock to all about them. Note, Those that are treacherous and deceitful in their dealings with God, and passionate and outrageous in their conduct towards men, will justly be made a derision to their neighbours, for they make themselves ridiculous.

CHAP. VII.

Verſe 1. WHen I would have healed Iſrael, &c.] Whereas Iſrael, hearing of an happy harveſt promiſed to Judah, Chap. 6.11. and themſelves excluded,unus. might complain of hard dealing: God ſhews them here, that Crudelem medicum intemperans aeger facit, the fault was meerly in themſelves. God came with his healing medicines to have cured them, but they hated to be healed, and like mad-men, railed and raged againſt the Phyſician, ſpilt the potions, would none of thoſe ſlibber-ſauſes, as they accounted them: yea (as if on purpoſe to croſſe God.) then the iniquity of Ephraim was diſcovered, and the wickedneſſes (malitia multiplex) of Samaria,] Of ſo perverſe a ſpirit were they: and therefore (in Solomons judgement, Prov. 12.8.) worthy to have been deſpiſed and let alone to periſh in their corruptions. In Hippocrates his time, the Phyſicians were bound by oath, to leave ſuch under their wounds to periſh by them, as were unruly, and would not be ordered. We would have healed Babylon, (ſaith the Church) but ſhe would not be healed: forſake her therefore, ſaith God, Jer. 51.9. Let them alone, ſaith Chriſt, Matth. 15.14. That, that will die, let it die: A fearfull ſentence. Let them ſwelter and pine away in their iniquities, Levit. 26.39. In their ſilthineſſe is leudneſſe, their diſeaſe is complicate, it is the leproſie in the head, it breaketh forth in their forehead, and my people love to have it ſo:Jer. 5.31. but what will they do in the end thereof? Ephraim here diſcovereth a headſtrong wilfulneſſe that was uncounſellable, uncureable. He runs away after conviction, with the bit between his teeth, as it were: he runs, I ſay, upon the rock. Am. 6.12. where he firſt breaketh his hoofes, and then his neck. Some grow deſperately ſinfull, like thoſe Italian Senatours, that deſpairing of their lives, (when upon ſubmiſſion they had been promiſed their lives, yet) being conſcious of their villany, made a curious banquet; and at the end thereof every man drank up his glaſſe of poyſon, and killed himſelf. So men feeling ſuch horrible hard hearts, and privie to ſuch notorious ſins, they caſt away ſouls and all for luſt; and periſh wofully, becauſe they lived deſperately, and ſo ſecurely. It is a fearfull ſigne of reprobation, when Gods means and medicines do men no good, but hurt rather: when Phyſick which ſhould remove the diſeaſe, doth cooperate with it, then death comes with the more pain and ſpeed. The ſtronger the conviction of ſin is, the deeper will be the wrath againſt it, if it be not by repentance avoided.

for they commit falſehood,] They do not the truth, 1 Joh. 1.6. but deal falſely, Ier. 6.13. every one of them,Aſſuunt mendacium mendacio. from the Prophet, even to the Prieſt: they work a deceitfull work, Prov. 11.18. their bellies prepare deceit, Iob 15.35. they have an art in lying, in ſtitching one lie to another, as the word ſignifieth, Pſal. 119.69. Idolatry is a reall lie, as ſhe in the book of Martyrs anſwered the Doctour, that asked her, Doſt thou beleeve that the body of Chriſt is in the Sacrament of the Altar really and ſubſtantially? I beleeve ſaid ſhe, that ſo to hold, is a reall lie, and a ſubſtantiall lie. Theſe Idolaters having plaied falſe with God, and treacherouſly dealt with him, what wonder though they lie, deceive, rob, ſpoil, both within doors and without, in private negotiations, and publike tranſactions? but eſpecially forge lies againſt thoſe that withſtood their ſuperſtitious vanities, and prey upon their goods; as Heb. 10.34. Sublata pietate tollitur fides, is a truth irrefragable. Take away piety, and fidelity is gone: as we ſee in that unrighteous Judge, Luke 18.2. and as Abraham concluded of the men of Gerar, Gen. 20.11. and laſtly, as Conſtantinus Chlorus, the father of Conſtantine the Great, experimented in his own Councellours, and Courtiers: whence that famous Maxime of his, recorded by Euſebius: He cannot be faithfull to me, who is unfaithfull to God; religion being the ground of all true fidelity and loyalty.

Verſe 2. And they conſider not in their hearts,] Heb. They ſay not in their hearts: that is, they ſet not down themſelves with this conſideration, they commune not with their conſciences upon this moſt needfull, but much neglected matter. A good mans work lieth much within doors: he loves to be dealing with himſelf, and working good and wholſome conſiderations upon his own affections. He is never leſſe alone, then when hee is alone: for ſtill hee hath God and himſelf to talk to.

that I remember all their wickedneſſe,] i. e. Record and regiſter them, as in a book, with a pen of iron, and point of a Diamond, Ier. 17.1. that I ſeal them up in a bag, Job 14.17. as the Clark of Aſſizes ſeals up Inditements, and at the Aſſizes brings his bag, and produceth them. Is not this laid up in ſtore with me, and ſealed-up among my treaſures? Deut. 32.34. So little reaſon is there, that wicked men ſhould pleaſe themſelves in hope of impunity. And yet they do, Pſal. 94.7. they ſtrive to perſwade themſelves, that the Lord doth not ſee, neither doth the God of Jacob remember: They hide God from themſelves, and then think they have hid themſelves from Him. Herein they are alike fooliſh as the Struthiocamelus, Plin. lib. 10. cap. 1. a bird as big as a Camell, and taller then a man: When this Buſtard would hide her ſelfe, ſhe thruſts her head into a thicket, as conceiving that no body ſeeth her, becauſe ſhe ſeeth no body; and ſo becomes a prey to the hunter. Caveatur carnalis ſecuritas. Let us walk evermore in the ſenſe of Gods preſence, unleſſe we had rather be carnally ſecured, then ſoundly comforted.

now their own doings have beſet them about.] Their ſtudied wickedneſſe, their contrived iniquities, ſo Luther expounds the word doings: Studia corum Tigurin. for wicked men are great ſtudents, and break many a nights ſleep in pernicious ploddings, Prov. 4.16. But as the Blackbird is taken by birdlime made of his own excrements, ſo is the wicked beſet by his own devices; as by ſo many ſerjeants ſet on by God. Some think (and not without probable reaſon) that the Prophet in this phraſe of beſetting them about, alludeth to the future ſiege of Samaria: wherein theſe ſinners againſt their own ſouls were ſo ſtraitly beſet by the enemy, that they could not flee, or ſtir, without danger. And this he ſaith ſhall befall them. Now, that is, ſhortly, and ſooner then they think for: Indeed how ſhould it be otherwiſe, when as their doings are b[illegible: 2 letters]ore my face?] Eregione & velut adverſa ac deteſtata, Over-anent and in full view, as a continuall eye-ſore to me, Pſal. 57.5. & 90.8. ſo that though I could or would forget them, yet they will not ſuffer me to do ſo: ſuch is their impudency, and importunacy for vengeance. Lyra makes it a metaphor, from a thief taken in the act, with his back burden of ſtollen goods; and as it were beſet with them, and ſo brought before the Judge. His own iniquities ſhall take the wicked, ſaith Solomon, Prov. 5.22. For how can he eſcape the multitude of his ſins within him, and the variety of Gods heavie judgements without him, &c?

Verſe 3. They make the king glad with their wickedneſſe,] A ſad ſyncratiſmus ſurely of king and people, exhilarating themſelves and each other in wickedneſſe. Their kings were well apaid of the peoples compliances with their unlawfull Edicts: and the people no leſſe well-pleaſed to gratifie and flatter their kings, as the Romans did Tiberius and other Tyrants, who therefore ſaid of them, that they were ſervum pecus, ſervile ſoules, & homines ad ſervitutem parati, men made for ſlaves. Tyrants care not how wicked their ſubjects are: for then they know they will ſwallow down any command though never ſo impious, without ſcrupling, or conſcience-making. They like to have ſuch about them, as will down with any thing, diſgeſt iron for a need, with the Eſtrich; and ſay as that wretched man ſaid (when one complained he could not do ſuch a thing for his conſcience) I am maſter of my conſcience, I can do any thing for all that. Thus Balaam reſolved to curſe what ever came of it: he went not aſide as at other times, neither built he any more altars; but ſet his face toward the wilderneſſe, as fully bent to do it, and nothing ſhould hinder him now, Numb. 24.1, 2. (confer Luke 9.51.) He alſo gave wicked counſell to king Balak (and ſo made him glad at parting, though before he had angred him) to lay a ſtumbling-block before the children of Iſrael, viz. to ſet fair women to tempt them to corporall and ſpirituall fornication, that God might ſee ſin flagrant in Iacob, ſome tranſgreſſion in Iſrael, and ſo fall foul upon them with his plagues, Numb. 23.21. Paraſites propound to kings ſuavia potiùs quam ſana conſilia, pleaſing, but peſtilent counſell: they alſo act for them, and under them, as Doeg did for Saul, and ſo gratifie them, Leti[illegible: 1 letter]ie them, as here,Rev. 2 make them glad, but it proves to be no better then riſus Sardonius, ſuch a mirth as brings bitterneſs in the end: Wo to ſuch mirth-mongers and mirth-makers; for if they ſhall ſtill do thus wickedly, they ſhall be conſumed, both they and their king, I Sam. 12.25.

And the princes with their lies] with calumnies and falſe accuſations, wherewith they load Gods innocent ſervants, and that againſt their own conſciences. Thus Doeg dealt by David; the Prieſts and Prophets by Ieremy; the Perſian courtiers by Daniel and his companions; Amaziah by Amoz, Haman by the whole nation of the Iewes, Tertullus by Paul, the Heathen Idolaters by the primitive Chriſtians; which cauſed thoſe many Apologies made for them by Tertullian, Athenagoras, and others. If a Ruler hearken to lies (and that's a common fault among them,Prov. 29.12. as David tells Saul, 1 Sam. 24.9. all his ſervants will be wicked: he ſhall have his Aiones and Nigones that will ſay as he ſayes, and fit his humour to an hair; he ſhall have plenty of ſuch as will ſlander the Saints, and caſt an odium upon the conſciencious. I once ſaw (ſaith Melancthon) an old coyn, on the one ſide whereof was Zopyrus, on the other Zoilus; he adds, fuit imago aulae, comitantur calumniae bene merentes, It was a picture of Princes courts, where are ſtore of ſuch, as, by flattery, dawb white upon black, and, by calumny, ſprinkle black upon white.

Verſ. 4. [non-Latin text not transcribed] They are all adulterers,] Adulterio caleſcunt, ſo Pagnine, ſcalded in their baſe luſts as thoſe, Rom. 1.27. all (for the moſt part) were ſuch: but eſpecially the Courtiers, and clawback-Informers, as verſ. 3. God, in his juſt judgement, giving them up to thoſe vile affections or paſſions of diſhonour, and puniſhing their impieties with impurities: as He did alſo in thoſe Heathens, Rom. 1.24.

as an oven heated by the baker] An apt ſimilitude ſetting forth the intenſe heat of filthy luſt, (better marry then burn, 1 Cor. 7.9.) and of long continuance as the heat of an oven; yea, of Nebuchadnezzars oven, yea, of hell it ſelf, whence it was enkindled, and where it ſhall be perpetually puniſhed. The holy Angels at the laſt day will be moſt active againſt ſuch, to bring them to condign puniſhment, 2 Pet. 2.10. (But chiefly them that walk after the fleſh in the luſt of uncleanneſſe. Note the word chiefly, and conſider the example of the Sodomites) and God moſt ſevere againſt them, Heb. 13.4. How much they have lived deliciouſly, and drenched themſelves in fleſhly delights, ſo much torments and ſorrow ſhall they have proportionably, Rev. 18.7. As their hearts have ben as an hot oven or furnace, ſo they ſhall be bound up in bundles, and caſt into a furnace of fire (where ſhall be wailing and gnaſhing of teeth, Mat. 13.42.

Verſ. 5. In the day of our King,] Our good king, on whom they ſo doted, that they forgat God and his ſincerer ſervice. Quaecunque á regibus dicuntur aut fiunt, Gallis minificè ſolet placere, Epit. Hiſt. Gallor. 134. It is reported of the French by their own Chronicle[illegible: 1 letter], that they are wonderful well pleaſed with whatſoever is ſaid or done by their king: ſo that they affect to ſpeak like him, to be arraied like him, & to imitate him in every thing. Their ſong is Mihi placet quicquid Regi placet. But is not this to idolize the creature? and have not many (otherwiſe well-minded men) amongſt us been by this means miſcarried to their coſt in our late combuſtions? This day of their king was either his Birth-day (ſo Pagnine rendreth it here) or his Coronation-day (ſo the Chaldee Paraphraſt carrieth it) which alſo is the Birth-day of a king as he is king,Die natalis ejus. Sam. 13.1. unleſſe haply he have the happineſſe to be crowned (not in his cradle onely, as Europus king of Macedony and the late king James were, but) in his mothers womb, as Miſdatus king of Perſia was, the crown being ſet upon his mothers great belly before he was born. Now in this ſolemn day of the king, (when they ſhould have been better buſied) The princes have made him ſick, or, the princes were ſick, they drank themſelves ſick, drowning their bodies and ſouls (as Richard the third did his brother Clarence) in a Butt of Malmeſey. How many importunate and impudent drinkers are there, that by drinking other mens health, deſtroy their own? See Maſter Prinnes Healths-ſickneſſe, and accord him that ſaid, Ʋna ſalus ſanis, nullam potare ſalutem, Non eſt in pota vera ſalute ſalus. But what beaſtly bedlams or rather incarnate devils were thoſe three drunkards mentioned by Jo. Manlius in his common places,pag. 244. who drank ſo long till one of them fell down ſtark dead: and yet the other two nothing terrified with ſuch a dreadful example of divine vengeance, went on to drink, and powred the dead mans part into him as he lay by them? Oh horrible! Drunkenneſſe is a deteſtable vice in any, but eſpecially in men of place and power, Prov. 31.4. Wo be to thoſe drunken vicegods (as I may in the worſt ſenſe beſt call them) woe to the very crown of their Pride, in drinking down many, Eſay. 28.1. as Marcus Antonius wrote, or rather ſpued out a book concerning his own abilities to bear ſtrong drink; Darius alſo boaſted of the ſame faculty in his very Epitaph: a poor praiſe. Drunkenneſſe in a king is a capital ſin, and makes the land reel;Hence thoſe feaſt-dayes were called [non-Latin text not transcribed] they were like the Rom. Saturnalia. Hic pendet Amphorae. witneſſe Belſhazzar carowſing in the bowles of the Sanctuary to the honour of Shar his drunken god; Alexander the great drinking himſelf to death, and killing fourty one more with exceſſive drinking, to get that crown of one hundred eighty pound weight, which he had provided for him that drank moſt: Bonoſus the Emperour that beaſtly drunkard, called therefore a Tankard: and Tiberius ſirnamed Biberius for his tipling; like as Eraſmus called Eccius, Jeccius for the ſame cauſe: And well he might; for as he lived a ſhameful drunkard, ſo being nonpluſt at Ratisbon by Melanchthon in a publique diſputation, and drinking more then was fit that night at the Biſhop of Mundina's lodgings (who had of the beſt Italians wines) he fell into a fever, whereof he died.Jah. Manl. loc. com. p. 89. Drunkenneſſe is a flattering evil, a ſweet poiſon, a cunning Circe that beſots the ſoul, deſtroyes the body, dolores gignit in capite, in ſtomacho, in toto corpore acerrimos, Mercer in Prov. 23.32. grievous diſeaſes and dolours in the head, ſtomack, whole man. At the laſt, it biteth like a Serpent, and ſtingeth like an Adder, Prov. 23.32. The drunkard ſaith as the vine in Jothams parable, Non poſſum relinquere vinum meum, Take away my liquour, you take away my life. But it proves to him, in the iſſue, like that wine mentioned by Moſes, Deut. 32.33. Their wine is the poiſon of Dragons, and cruel venom of Aſpes, which makes the ſpirits warm, and the body ſick to death.

with bottles of wine] Or, with heat through wine, as Eſay. 5.11. and ſo Jarchi expoundeth it. The ſame word ſignifieth the poyſon of a Serpent, Pſal. 58.4. which inflameth and killeth: confer Prov. 23.32. and think of that cup of fire and brimſtone, Pſal. 11.6. to be one day turned down the wide gullets of intemperate drinkers; which will be much worſe to them then was that ladle-full of boyling lead, which the Turkiſh Baſhaw cauſed to be poured down the throat of a drunken wretch, without giving him any reſpite for the recovery of his loſt wits.The Grand. Sign. Serag. pag. 186.

he ſtretcht out his hand with ſcorners] He that is the king, forgetting his kingly dignity, authority and gravity, (for there is a decorum to be obſerved in every calling, [non-Latin text not transcribed] but by great ones eſpecially) ſtretcht out his hand, as a companion and copeſmate, as an hail-fellow-well-met, (as they ſay) proſtituting his regal authority to every ſcoundrel that would pledge him; or at leaſt, giving them his hand to kiſſe, which Job ſaith God will not do, Chap. 8.20.

with ſcorners] Thoſe worſt of men, Pſal. 1.1. thoſe Peſts, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. as the Septuagint here render it, thoſe incorrigible perſons as they tranſlate the word, Prov. 20.1. where alſo it is fitly ſaid, that wine is a mocker, becauſe it maketh men mockers. Hence that of David, with hypocriticall mockers at feaſts they gnaſhed upon me with their teeth, Pſal. 35.16. And that holy jealouſie of Job for his children, leſt (while they were feaſting and merry-making) they ſhould curſe God, or mock at men.Tarnou. Tales enim evadunt qui ſtrenuè helluantur. It is ordinary with ſuch as are full gorged with good chear, and throughly heated with wine, to ſet their mouths againſt heaven, and to licenſe their tongues to walk through the earth, Pſal. 73.9. they have a flout to fling, and a fooles bolt to ſhoot at their betters by many degrees: yea, though they be kings that do it, (as here) if they ſtretch out their hands with ſcorners, and jear at the power and profeſſion of Godlineſſe, they are no better then baſe fellowes, as great Antiochus is called, Dan. 11.21. and as Kimchi upon this text noteth from his Father, that thoſe that at the beginning of the feaſt or compotation were here called Princes, are afterwards when they fell to quaffing and flowting called (in contempt) ſcoffers & ſcorners. Polanus & others by ſtretching out the hand underſtand, ad aequales hauſtus potare, &c. a drinking ſhare and ſhare like with every baſe companion, till drunk; they became deſpicable. Nempe vbi, neque mens, neque pes ſuumfacit officium. The Greeks when they meet at feaſts or banquets, drink ſmall draughts at firſt, which by degrees they increaſe, till they come to the height of intemperancy. Hence Graecari, and as merry as a Greek. How much better thoſe Spartans, of whom the Poet, Quinetiam Spartae mos eſt laudabilis ille, Ʋt bibat arbitrio pocula quiſque ſuo? How much better the Perſians in Eſthers time, Chap. 1.8. the drinking was according to the law, none did compel, &c. And what a drunken beaſt was Domitius the father of Nero, Sueton. who ſlew Liberius an honeſt Roman, becauſe he refuſed to take up his cups, as he commanded him? The Carthag inians made a law, that none of their Magiſtrates during their office ſhould drink any wine. Romulus being invited to a feaſt would not drink much,Gell. lib. 11. cap. 14. quia poſtridie negotium haberet, becauſe he had publike buſineſſe to diſpatch on the morrow. Ahaſhueroſh drinking more freely on the firſt day of the feaſt,Eſth. 1.5, 10. became ſo frollick, that in his mirth he forgat what was convenient; and guided by his paſſions, ſent for Vaſthi.

Verſ. 6. For they have made ready their hearts like an oven.] As an oven red hot is ready to bake whatſoever is caſt into it, ſo are wicked mens hearts, heated from hell,Ad male cogitandum. Pagnin. ad peſſima facinora Tigur. prepared for any evil purpoſe or practiſe that the devil ſhall ſuggeſt: but eſpecially to lie in wait for blood, and to hunt every man his brother with a net, Mic. 7.2. David complains of ſome that lay in wait for his ſoul, Pſal. 59.3. that ſatanically hated him, Pſal. 38.20. and 7.13. and 109.4, 6, 20, 29. that ſought his ſoul to deſtroy it, not his life onely but his ſoul too; as that monſter of Millain did, that made his adverſary firſt forſwear Chriſt, (in hope of life) and then ſtabbing him to the heart ſaid,Bodin. de Rep. Now go thy wayes ſoul and body to the devil: and as the Papiſts dealt by John Huſſe, and Hierome of Prague, to whom they denied a confeſſour, which he required after the manner of thoſe times, to fit him for heaven; and for John Huſſe, Act. & Mon. after they had burnt him, how deſpitefully did they beat his heart (which was left untoucht by the fire) with their ſtaves: Beſides, that the Biſhops when they put the tripple crown of paper (painted with ugly devils on it) on his head, they ſaid, Now we commit thy ſoul to the devil. Did not theſe mens hearts burn like an oven with helliſh rage and cruelty?

their baker ſleepeth all the night,] Concoquens illa, ſcilicet corda, ſo Vatablus; He that concocteth or worketh their hearts, that is the devil (as ſome interpret it) or evil-concupiſcence, as others, Tota nocte protrahitur furor eorum, ſo the Chaldee; their rage is deferred or drawn out to the length all night long, till in the morning, i. e. at a convenient ſeaſon it break out and beſtirs it ſelf. A metaphor from a baker, who caſting fire into the oven with good ſtore of laſting fuel, lets it burn all night and ſleeps ſecurely; as knowing that he ſhall find it through hot in the morning. Thoſe ſcorners in the former verſe, by being over-familiar with their drunken king, come not onely to ſlight him for his baſe behaviours, but alſo to conſpire againſt him, and to plot his death; wherein their heart is the oven, ambition the fire, treaſon the flame of that fire, Satan that old manſlayer the baker; who, though he make as if he ſlept all night, yet by morning he hath ſet his agents the traitours awork (either by ſecret treacheries or open ſeditions) to do as in the next verſe, and as is to be ſeen, 2 Kin. 15.

Verſ. 7.Dedit hac contagio labem, Et dabit in plures, — Juven. Sat. 2. They are all hot as an oven,] That none might poſt it off to others, all are accuſed of this mad deſire to do miſchief; as all the Sodomites full and whole, young and old, came cluttering about Lots houſe, Gen. 19.4.

and have devoured their Judges; all their Kings are fallen, &c.] Scil. being ſlain with the ſword of thoſe that ſucceeded them in the throne, as may be read, 2 Kin. 15.8, 9, &c. and as it was in the Roman State, where all or moſt of the Ceſars, till Conſtantine, died unnatural deaths. Neither was it much better here in England, during the difference between the two houſes of York and Lancaſter; wherein were ſlain fourſcore Princes of the blood-royal,Dan. hiſt. 249. This is the fruit of ſin, Prov. 28.2. For the tranſgreſſion of a land many are the Princes thereof: either many at once (as once here in the heptarchy) or many ejecting and ſucceeding one another, to the great calamity and utter undoing of the people by their new Lords, new Lawes.

there is none among them that calleth unto me,] though in ſo great a confuſion, and under ſo heavy calamities: a ſtrange ſtupor, that there ſhould be none to ſet to his ſhoulder to ſhore up the falling State. None there were (to ſpeak of) in a conſiderable number of praying people to ſtand in the gap, and to divert the divine diſpleaſure. Their ſins cried loud for vengeance, their blood-guiltineſſe eſpecially. But had there been but a few voyces more of praying Saints, their prayers had haply out-cried them. A few birds of ſong are ſhriller then many crocitating birds of prey: ſtirre up your ſelves therefore, ye that are Gods remembrancers, to take hold of him, and give him no reſt. Lie night and day at the gate of his grace, knocking thereat by the hand of faith, and praying for the peace of our Jeruſalem. If Englands fears were greater, thy prayers might preſerve it, Jer. 5.1. as if our hopes were greater, thy ſin and ſecurity might undo it, Eccleſ. 9.18.

Verſ. 9. Ephraim, he hath mixed himſelf among the people,] viz. In confederacies, marriages, manners, ſuperſtitions. They were conformed to thoſe nations from whom God had ſeparated them with a wonderful ſeparation, Exod. 33.16. and put them up by themſelves from all the world in the promiſed land, as it were in an Iſland, Iſay. 20.6. And this they had done not once but often, as the conjugation importeth; and that wilfully without any neceſſity: yea, and that conſtantly, and of cuſtome, or deſperate obſtinacy, (Heb. he will mingle himſelf) ſo that there was little difference to be diſcerned betwixt Ephraim the profeſſed people of God, [non-Latin text not transcribed] and profane heathens. Hence that, Amos. 9.7. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Iſrael, ſaith the Lord? Hence Saul is called Cuſh, or an Ethiopian for his black and ill conditions, Pſal. 7. title, as the Chaldee interpreteth it. Caſt we may be upon bad company, but we muſt not mingle with them. The rivers of Peru, after they have run into the mam ſea, yea, ſome write twenty or thirty miles, they keep themſelves unmixt with the ſalt water: ſo that a very great way within the ſea, men may take up as freſh water as if they were neer the land. At Belgradi in Hungary, where the Danuby and Sava (two great rivers) meet,Abbats Geog. 331. their waters mingle no more then water and oyl; not that either flote above other, but joyn unmixed: ſo that neer the middle of the river I have gone in a boat,Sir Henry Blounts voyage into Levant. p. 10. (ſaith mine Authour) and taſted of the Danow as clear and pure as a well. Then putting mine hand not an inch further, I have taken of the Sava as troubled as a ſtreetchannel, taſting the gravel in my teeth. Thus they run ſixty miles together, and for a dayes journey I have been an eye-witneſſe of it. To come nearer home, the river Dee in Merionith-ſhire running thorough Pimbli-meeri remaines intire,Camden. and mingleth not her ſtreams with the water of the lake. Let not Ephraim mix himſelf among the people, but cry with David, Gather not my ſoul with ſinners, Pſal. 26.9. and verſ. 5. I have hated the congregation of evil-doers, and will not ſit with the wicked.

Ephraim is a cake not turned,] And ſo but half-baked, or dow-baked; neque crudus, neque coctus, neither hot nor cold, as Laodicea, Rev. 3.15. halting between two, as 1 Kin. 18.21. Mongrels, as thoſe 2 King. 17.33. Zeph. 1.5. Barnacles that are neither fiſh nor fleſh: Amphibians that will conform to the world, and yet ſeem to be for the Lord. But he likes no ſuch retainers, no ſuch holy-day-ſervants; he requireth to be ſerved truly that there be no halting: and totally, that there be no halving: he cannot away with dow-baked duties. Men muſt be fervent in ſpirit, ſerving the Lord, they muſt be zealous of good works, if they look to be accepted.Rom. 12.11. Tit. 2. The effectual fervent prayer, or the thorough-wrought prayer of a righteous man availeth much. A cake that is half-baked, half burnt pleaſeth not the palate: no more do cuſtomary, formal bedulling performances pleaſe the Lord. It is Gualthers note upon this text;Jam. 5.16. [non-Latin text not transcribed] as a cake, ſaith he, that is raw on the one ſide and ſcorcht on the other is caſt away; ſo Hypocrites that are hot in their ſuperſtitions, but cold in their devotions are rejected of God; Introrſum turpes, ſpecioſi pelle decorâ. I know the words are otherwiſe interpreted by Luther, Mercer, Polanus, and others, with reference to the following words, thus: that Ephraims adverſaries, even thoſe ſtrangers with whom he hath mixed himſelf, ſhall be ſo greedy to devour him, that they ſhall not ſtay till he be baked on both ſides, but ſhall eat him raw. But I like the former better.

Verſ. 9. Strangers have devoured his ſtrength, and he knoweth it not,] Strange ſtupidity, ſuch as was that of Sampſon, who had loſt his haire, and therewith his ſtrength, and wiſt not of it. Theſe ſtrangers were the Kings of Syria, but eſpecially of Aſſyria. See 2 King. 13.7. & Chap. 14. with 15.19, 30. & 17.6. Salmanaſar, as a deep gulf ſwallowed them up whole. Now that they ſhould not know how theſe ſtrangers had devoured their ſtrength, that is their wealth, and warlike power, this was very ſtrange. The Chaldee Paraphraſt helps us to the meaning of it: Non novit formidare à facie mea. He knew it not, that is, He knew not how to fear before me, to tremble at my judgements, and to flee to my mercies: this he knew not, that is, he cared not to do, as the old world knew not till the flood came, though fairly forewarned, Matt. 24.39. and as the Greeks would not know that the Turks had invaded their Empire, till they were got into the very bowels of it. So was it with Ephraim. A ſpirit of pride and of ſlumber had ſo ſurprized and ſeized him, that he took no knowledge of the enemies and evils that were upon him. Thus the ſpirituall ſleeper ſtirs not with Saul, though the water-pot and ſpear be taken from his bolſter. Like the fooliſh hen, which loſeth her chickens one by one, by the devouring kite; when one, or two, or three, are ſnatcht away ſhe ſtill continues to pick up what lies before her. It is our wiſeſt way to obſerve, and improve Gods dealings with us, to be ſenſible of his ſtroaks, and to return to him that ſmote us, and can as ſoon heal us, if we come to him for cure, Lev. 26.40. yea, gray-hairs are here and there upon him,] Heb. ſprinkled, ſparſi, non ſpiſſi. He began but to decline and decay, as a man doth when he grows toward fifty. And as gray hairs come the ſooner through cares and griefs, (Hiſtories tell us of a young man, who being for ſome capitall offence condemned to die, grew gray in one nights-ſpace, and was therefore pitied and ſpared) and are fore-runners and fore-warners of death. So the many and grievous miſeries inflicted upon this people, foreſhewed their utter deſtruction to be even at next door by. And this the rather, becauſe they knew it not, (as before) but (as it is ſaid of the Flemings) that the elder they grow, the fooliſher they are.Quòmagis ſeneſcunt eo magis ſtulteſcunt. Eraſin. Apopht. Cleanthes was wont ſometimes to chide himſelf: Ariſton wondering thereat, asked him, whom chideſt thou? Cleanthes laughed and anſwered. I chide an old fellow, qui canos quidem habet, ſed mentem non habet, who hath gray hairs indeed, but wants underſtanding, and prudence worthy of them. It was Chryſippus (I trow) that offered to the world that ſowre diſtribution and choice, Aut mentem, aut reſtim comparandam; Either get wit worthy of your years, or go out of the world by an halter.Bibl. Pat. That of Eleazer is very remarkable, who would not do any thing which migh ſeem to be evil, becauſe he would not ſpot his white head. Gray hairs ſhould be a ſtrong argument to move men to live blameleſſely (becauſe old age is a crown, Prov. 16.31. Gen. 25.8. when found in the way of righteouſneſſe, as it is ſaid of Abraham, that he went to his grave with a good gray head) and gray hairs in a State, that is, leſſer and lighter judgements, ſhould make men prepare to meet and prevent God: becauſe, as in an houſe, ſtillicidia praecedunt ruinam, and as in a man, gray hairs fore-ſignifie death, ſo do theſe, deſolation; if courſe be not timely taken.

Verſe 10. And the pride of Iſrael teſtifieth to his face,] Sept. the ignominy, or impudency of Iſrael: q. d. They think to brave it out in a ſtout and ſtomachfull way. Low they are, but not lowly; humbled, but not humble. God thruſt him downward, as it were with a thump on the back: but he ſtood ſtouting it out with him; and ſo diſcovered a great deal of arrogancy and folly. Plectimur, may ſuch ſay,Salvian. nec tamen flectimur: Corripimur ſed non corrigimur; We have been ſtricken, but not ſick; beaten, but not ſenſible, &c. the drunkards ditty, Prov. 23.35. When for all this, for all that God can do to tame them, and turn them again, they will on in their wicked wayes, and not accept of the puniſhment of their iniquities: not confeſſe and forſake their ſins, that they may have mercy: not ſeek him, that is, come unto him by faith, Heb. 11.6. and ſubject themſelves unto him by true obedience, 2 Chron. 7.14. this is ſuch a piece of pride as teſtifieth to mens faces, that they deſerve to be deſtroyed: this is wickedneſſe with a witneſſe: this is faſtus adco enormis atque notorius, ſaith Pareus, ſuch horrible and notorious inſolency, as is not to be endured. God complains of Iſrael for this with a ſigh, Ah ſinfull nation, &c. and reſolves upon revenge, verſe 24. See more of this in the Note on Chap. 5.5. Of turning to God. See Zech. 1.3. and of ſeeking God, ſee Hoſ. 5.15.

Verſe 11. Ephraim alſo is like a ſilly dove,] that may be drawn any way for want of wit (ſo the word ſignifieth) eaſily perſwaded, [non-Latin text not transcribed] enticed, deceived. The Septuagint render it [non-Latin text not transcribed], inſenſata, witleſſe, or wanting an heart, as the next words explain it; the heart being put for the underſtanding, as Jer. 5, 21.Prov. 6.32. & 11.12. & 10.13. and oft in the Proverbs. Lo ſuch a thing is Ephraim; and yet he holds himſelf wondrous wiſe, in calling to Egypt, and going to Aſſyria for help. Which was as wiſely done, as if ſheep ſhould commit themſelves to the Wolf for ſafeguard. The Egyptians were their ancient oppreſſours: the Aſſyrians ſhould be ſhortly their executioners. Betwixt theſe two, as betwixt two milſtones, they had been, and were to be ground to powder, as it were: and yet to theſe, they were ready to run for refuge. This was indeed to be like a ſilly dove, which flies from the clawes of the Hawk into the net of the fowler, who will ſoon make a breakfaſt of them: or that waits till the fowler be gone, that ſhe may fall upon the bait, never fearing the ſnare that is laid for her. See 2 King. 17.4. A ſerpents eye in a doves head is a ſingular ornament. Be ye wiſe as ſerpents, innocent as doves. The ſerpent, when charmed,Mat. 10 16 ſtoppeth his ears, by applying one to the earth, and covering the other with his tail. The dove is too credulous and perſwaſible, dulce canente fiſtulâ. She is alſo dull, and defends not her young ones, as other creatures do. She will ſit quiet in her columbary, and ſee her neſt deſtroyed, her young ones taken away, and killed before her eyes, and never offer to reſcue or revenge; which the hen and other fowls ſeem in ſome ſort to do. Lo ſuch was Ephraims ſtupidity. The Philiſtins were upon him, the enemies ſpoiled and made a prey of him, yet he knew it not, as it is verſe 9. he was not affected with it, nor driven to God by it: but either ſat ſtill, as the ſpoiled dove doth in her neſt, or upon her dove-coat, delighted in the beauty of her feathers, priding her ſelf in the clapping of her wings: or elſe ran a wrong way for refuge: flew to king Jareb, to humane helps, to carnall confederates, which never were true to thoſe that truſted them. See chap. 5.13. with the Note. Where you ſhall ſee that from the Aſſyrian they had pro praeſidio ludibrium: as likewiſe thoſe Chriſtians had that called in the Turk, or the like to help them. True it is that religion without policie is too ſimple to be ſafe: but it is no leſſe true, that policie without religion is too ſubtile to be good. As the dove without the ſerpent is eaſily caught: ſo the ſerpent without the dove ſtings deadly. Let that bee held and remembred, that there is no wiſdom, nor underſtanding, nor counſell againſt the Lord, Prov. 21.30. and that he takes it very ill, when we decline him, and knock at the creatures door for help, Ier. 2.13. ſhifting and ſharking in every by-corner for comfort. This is the devils policie to draw men from God the Rock of ages, Joſh. 8.5. (as Ioſhuah did the men of Ai out of their city, and as Briſtow counſelleth his fellows,Briſt. Mot. the Popes Janizares, to draw the Lutherans out of their ſtrong-hold of the Scriptures, into the open field of Councels and Fathers) that he may do what he will with them, and deſtroy them. For he knows, that be our hopes never ſo high, our helps from the creature never ſo likely, yet if God deny his concurrence, and influence, the arm of fleſh (as Ieroboams) ſhrinks up preſently; and the ſtrongeſt ſinew of it cracks, and becomes unuſefull.

Verſe 12. When they go,] Yea, flee (as the dove doth very ſwiftly, pleaſing her ſelf in the clapping of her wings, and cutting of the air) they cannot flee ſo high, but I ſhall eaſily reach them, Obad. 3.4. for in the thing wherein they deal proudly, I am above them, Exod. 18.11. I can over-top them, melt their waxen wings, and bring them down with a vengeance.Pſal. 94.11. He taketh the wiſe in their own craftineſſe. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wiſe that they are vain, 1 Cor. 3.19, 20. So ſaith the Apoſtle out of the Pſalmiſt; but with this difference. The Pſalmiſt ſaith, the thoughts of men, the Apoſtle, the thoughts of the wiſe, meaning the worlds wizards, the choiſeſt and moſt picked men, the greateſt politicians, the moſt nimble and Mercuriall wits, quorum praecordia ex meliore luto finxit Titan. Theſe God will take, ſaith Paul: he will lay hold upon them, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Fugientes in curſu deprehendit manu que injectâ captat, Eraſ. Annot. as they are running away, (ſo the word ſignifieth) as bruit beaſts made to be taken and deſtroyed, 2 Pet. 2.12. or as fiſhes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the ſnare: ſo are the ſons of men ſnared in an evil time, when it falleth ſuddenly upon them, Eccleſ. 9.12.

I will ſpread my net upon them,] as a skilfull fowler. By net, underſtand captivity, and other miſeries, compared to a net, Ezek. 12.13. & 17.20. & 19.8. Lam. 1.13. Pſal. 9.16. wherein being once caught, the more they ſtruggle, the faſter they ſtick: the more they ſeek to extricate themſelves, the more they are intangled: ſnares are round about them, and ſudden fear ſurprizeth them, Iob 22.10. the ſteps of their ſtrength ſhall be ſtraitned: and their own counſels ſhall bring them down, Iob 18.7.

I will bring them down as the fowles of the heaven,] Though they may think themſelves extra jactum, out of gun-ſhot, I will cauſe them to deſcend, as the Hebrew word ſignifieth: and though lifted up to heaven, as Capernaum, and neſted in the clouds; yea among the ſtars, as Edom, Obad. 4. yet ſhall they be brought down to the nethermoſt hell. God will meet with them in their out-ſtrayes, caſting his net over them: or bring them down with his bowe, whileſt (with the fooliſh bird) they are gazing at the bolt: hee hath wayes enough to hamper ſuch as go out of his way: to be for a gin, and for a ſnare unto them, Eſay 8.14. to ſhoot at them with an arrow, ſuddenly ſhall they be wounded, Pſal. 64.7. How are they brought into deſolation in a moment? they are utterly conſumed with terrour, Pſal. 73.19.

I will chaſtiſe them as their congregation hath heard.] Or, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Sept. Ligabo eos Kimchi. Judg. 8.16. I will binde them (as a bird is bound in a net that ſhe cannot ſtir forth) and, by binding, nurture them: as Gideon taught the men of Succoth, by tawing and tearing them with thorns and briars of the wilderneſſe. The hypocrites in heart, heap up wrath: thy cry not when God bindeth them, Iob 36.13. God expects men ſhould cry peccavi, when they are bound as Paul was, to be beaten with rods; and not be ſilent in darkneſſe, 1. Sam. 2.9. or, not make moan when he hath them under hand. Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. Ye muſt now do ſo, that would not hear the word ſounding in thei Congregations.

I will chaſtiſe them as their Congregation hath heard.] Crebrò & clarè, I have plainly and plentifully told them my minde: and foretold them by my Prophets, what would be the iſſue of their evil practiſes. Sed ſurdo fabulam, They would not hear Moſes and the Prophets. See 2 King. 17.13. 2 Chron. 24.18.19. They thought that my words were but wind, Jer. 5.13. and that all my threats were but in terrorem, to fright them a little, and not in good-earneſt. Therefore they ſhall finde that the juſt Lord is in the middeſt of them, he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgement to light, Zeph. 3.5. he faileth not: but the unjuſt knoweth no ſhame, feareth no colours, trembleth not at Gods word though it come never ſo cloſe to his conſcience, though it even daſh him in the mouth as it were, and make him ſpit blood. See Ier. 7.13.

Verſe 13.Na[illegible: 1 letter]edu, Wo unto them, for they have fled from me:] As Cain (the devils Patriarch) did when he went out from the preſence of the Lord, in his fathers family, into the land of Nod, Gen. 4.16. being himſelf a Nad, that is, a runnagate, verſe 12. of the ſame root, that is here made uſe of in the Text. Now as that land took name of Cain, and his wofull ſtate therein, ſo is every land and place a Nod to Apoſtates: and St. Iude throws a Wo after them, Wo unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, Iude 11. that is, they have wickedly departed from God, and his bleſſing, and gotten into the worlds warme ſunne: yea, they not onely go from God, but flee from him in hurry-haſt, as from an enemy; a metaphor from birds flying amain, Prov. 27.8. As a bird that wandreth from her neſt, (where God took order for her ſecurity, Deut. 22.6, 7.) ſo is a man that wandereth from his place (how much more from his God, that Infinite good?) expoſed to miſery and miſchief, to ruth and ruine. Wo to ſuch, yea double wo: Wo and alas: deſtruction to ſuch, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and devaſtation, as the word ſignifieth. Perdition and deſtruction, as the Apoſtle phraſeth it, 1 Tim. 6.9. whereby is meant, remedileſſe miſery, miſchief without meaſure, torments without end, and paſt imagination. This truth muſt be told, how ever it be taken; that wicked men may not periſh without warning. Toothleſſe truths, and ſilken words, would better pleaſe people who are moſt of them ſick of a Noli me tangere, and cry out againſt theſe fierce Preachers, that come with their Wo unto them, Deſtruction unto them, &c. This is the way, ſay they, to drive men into utter deſpair. We anſwer; Firſt, if it ſhould be ſo, yet that is not the proper effect of the Word ſo diſpenſed; but to a bate the pleaſure that reprobates take in ſin, and to reſtrain them from outrage: that they deſpair, it proceeds meerly from their own corruption and guiltineſſe. They reply, that it comes rather from the ſeverity of the Teachers, who ſet themſelves to preach damnation, and utter terrible things. Secondly, therefore we anſwer; that the mad world (ever beſide it ſelf in point of ſalvation) is herein very much miſtaken. Let them give us an inſtance of any one that was ever driven to deſpair by the ſincere preaching of the word: and yet for one bitter word given by us, the Prophets gave ten. This whole Prophecy of Hoſea is much more Comminatory then Conſolatory. God himſelf comes here with Wo unto them, Deſtruction to them. Indeed by this patheticall exclamation, he declareth his affection toward them whom he threatneth: and how little delight he takes, either in their deſtruction, or in ſuch denunciations thereof: And ſo muſt Gods Miniſters, &c.

Becauſe they have tranſgreſſed againſt me:] This is a new degree of their Apoſtaſie from God. Wicked men and deceivers grow worſe and worſe, and adde rebellion to ſin. As a ſtone will fall down to come to its center, though it break it ſelf in twenty pieces: ſo will Apoſtates, till they come to their own place with Judas: they ceaſe not till they become altogether filthy, Pſal. 53.3. as the dog at his vomit, or the ſow in her ſlow, 2 Pet. 2.22. It fareth with ſuch as in that caſe, Lev. 13.18, 19, 20. If a man had a bile healed, and it afterwards brak out, it proved the plague of leproſie.

Though I have redeemed them, yet they have ſpoken lies againſt me.] All was done againſt God, whence the word me, is ſo often inculcated in this and the next verſe. God is, as it were, a ſufferer in all the ſins of the ſonnes of men: and this is no ſmall aggravation of the evil of ſin, that it ſtrikes at Gods face, lifts at his throne, makes to his diſhonour Thou haſt made me to ſerve with thy ſinnes, and wearied me with thine iniquities, Eſay 43.23. And to ſhew this to be ſo, it was, that the offendour was confined to the city of refuge, during the High-prieſts life;Godw. Antiq. Heb. p. 98. as being the chief God on earth. Good David was very ſenſible of this, and much humbled, when he ſaid, Againſt thee, thee onely have I ſinned, Pſal. 51.14. The treſpaſſe was againſt Ʋriah, but the tranſgreſſion againſt God, ſo gracious a God; and there lay the pinch of his grief: viz. the unkindneſſe that was in his ſinne. Therefore alſo Moſes, in his ſwan-like-ſong, ſets on this humbling conſideration, Deut. 32.6. Do ye thus requite the Lord, O fooliſh people and unwiſe? Is not hee thy Father? and wilt thou kick againſt his naked bowels? haſt no where elſe to hit him but there? Again, Is not he thy Redeemer, that hath bought thee, and brought thee out of the iron furnace, where thou labouredſt in the very fire, and waſt wearied out with unſufferable ſervitude? More, hath he not made thee, and doſt thou rebell againſt thy Maker, thy Maſter? Or, hath he not made thee, that is, exalted thee: in which ſence, he is ſaid to have made Moſes and Aaron, 1 Sam. 12.6. that is, to have advanced them to that honour in his Church: and ſo we ſay, Such an one is made for ever. Laſtly, hath he not eſtabliſhed thee, that thou mighteſt abide in his grace, and remain unmoveable? And doſt thou yet evil requite him, &c. To render good for evil, is Divine; good for good, is humane; evil for evil, is brutiſh; but evil for good, is devilliſh. See how grievouſly God taketh it here. Though I have redeemed them, viz. out of the hands of their enemies in generall, (See an ample proof hereof, Nehem. 9. and the whole book of Judges thorowout) and in ſpeciall, as a late particular mercy to Ephraim, I have delivered and proſpered them in their warres, under Ieroboam the ſonne of Ioaſh, 2 King. 14.27. and therefore they ſhould have given me their good word at leaſt, and ſpoken good of my Name: yet They have ſpoken lies againſt me.] Aſcribing the glory of their deliverances to their Idols, or arrogating it to themſelves, or fathering their falſe worſhip upon me as the Authour, or at leaſt, Abbettour thereof, by my preſent proſpering of them. See Ier. 7.10.

Verſe 14. And they have not cried unto me with their heart,] Hitherto hath been ſaid what they had done: now what they had not done. Omiſſions are ſins as well as commiſſions. Not ſerving of God, not ſacrificing is condemned, Mal. 3.18. Eccleſ. 9.2. Not robbing onely, but the not relieving of the poor, was the rich mans ruine. Omiſſion of diet breeds diſeaſes, and makes work for hell,Luke. 16. or for the Phyſician of our ſouls. It is the character of a graceleſſe man, that he calleth not upon God: And wee have too many of that profane Earl of Weſtmorelands mind, who ſaid, that he needed not to pray at all,Camd. Eliſa. for he had Tenants enow to pray for him. Some wicked pray (ſo as it is: indeed they Cant, or Charme, rather then pray, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Eſay 26.16 they powred forth a charme when they chaſtening was upon them) but they pray not with their heart. Their hearts are exerciſed with covetouſneſſe, 2 Pet. 2.14. and inhabited by the devil, Acts 5.3. Simon Magus his heart was not right with the Lord, Acts 8.21. How could it be, when it was in the gall of bitterneſſe, and bond of perdition, 23. as every unregenerate heart is? Hence though God be neer in their mouthes, yet he is far from their reins, Jer. 12.2. and though they honour him a little with their lips, yet their heart is farre from him, Matth. 15.8. A little artificiall breath they can give God; and that's all. The breath that comes from life is warm, (as that from the body) whereas artificiall breath is cold, as that from bellows. The deeper and hallower the belly of the Lute or Violl is, the pleaſanter is the ſound: the fleeter, the more grating and harſh in our ears. The voice which is made in the mouth, is nothing ſo ſweet as that which comes from the depth of the breaſt, Epheſ. 6.6. Do the will of God from the heart: ſerve God in the ſpirit, Rom. 1.9. Lift up hands and hearts to God in the heavens, Lam. 3.41. Lip-labour is but loſt-labour, yea it is ſin, Prov. 15.8. Diſpleaſing ſervice is double diſhonour; as diſſembled ſanctity is double iniquity. Theſe men cried, vociferabantur, voce ſtentorea ſonum edebant. They did ſet up their note, yea they howled upon their beds,] whereupon they had caſt themſelves, being ſick, not of wantonneſſe, as once Ahab was, but of want: which made them howl as dogs do, when tied up from their meat and hunger-bit: but were no more regarded then a dog that howleth, or then the Cuckow in June. For why?Jejelilu. They howled indeed to ſome tune, (as they ſay) the Hebrew word hath a letter more then ordinary, to note as much. It was the Heathen faſhion to cry hideouſly to their gods: as alſo the Indians do at this day. So did theſe, becauſe kept ſhort, and held to ſtrait allowance. It is ſaid of the Ravens of Arabia, that when they are hungry, they ſcreech horribly. And a Parrot when he is beaten, utters an hoarſe and harſh voice.Eſay 66.3. The ſongs of the Temple ſhall be howlings in that day, Amos 8.3. Their ſacrifices as the cutting off a dogs neck, which is not done without much howling and yelling.

They aſſemble themſelves,] ſc. To make publike ſupplication in their Idoltemples; called beds before, (as ſome conceive) becauſe as corporall fornication is committed in beds, ſo is ſpirituall in thoſe places of ſuperſtition. Here therefore they met; not ad ruminandum, (as the vulgar Latine) to feed as beaſts, nor to cut and lance themſelves as Baals prieſts did, (as the Septuagint) and the Heathens in great afflictions, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Deut. 14.1. But to howl for wheat, for provender, for provant:Inops Senatus auxilij humani ad Deos populum & vota convertit: omnia delubra implent, &c. Liv. lib. 3. as now the Papiſts do in their ſacra Ambarvalia: and as of old the Pagans did in time of extream famine, or other publike calamity. But as the graſhopper hops not much above the earth: and as vapours exhaled and drawn up by the Sun, do ſoon fall down again: ſo do droſſie and earthy hearts in prayers, they ſeldom riſe above corn and wine in their deſires. Si ventri bene, ſi lateri, as Epicurus in Horace. If the belly may be filled, the back fitted, their own turns ſerved, it's enough to them, whoſe belly is their God, and who mind earthly things onely. Which when they have once got, then they rebell againſt me,] they conſume it upon their luſt, James 4.2. and ſo fight againſt God with his own weapons, as Jehu did againſt Jehoram with his own men; they abuſe their ſtore to his diſhonour, like cornfed cattell they kick againſt their maſter; or as the young Mulet, that when ſhee hath ſuckt her fill kicks her damme: or as the wild-aſſe, that ſnuffes up the wind, and cannot be taken. Or ſecondly, they rebell after they have aſſembled themſelves, and made a ſhew of no ſmall devotion:Jer. 2. when once the duty is over, they go to their old courſes again, and undo all their prayers, as Jerem. 5.3. as if now they had prayed, they had purchaſed a licenſe to live as they liſt. Whereas duties ſhould mightily ingage us againſt ſin; and deliverances command obedience.

Verſe 15. Though I have bound, and ſtrengthened their arms,] Quum ego erudivi, So Pagnine, Polanus, and others: when I taught them, or chaſtened them, as verſe 12. and ſtrengthened their arms: there is no and in the Originall; it is an Aſyndeton; to ſhew that God had done both for them, together and at once: he had acted the part both of an Inſtructour, and of a Chirurgion; (like as Rev. 3.18. he takes upon him the perſon both of a rich merchant, and a skilfull Phyſician) he had done all that could be done to do them good; teaching their hands to war, and their fingers to fight, Pſal. 144.1. binding up their broken armes (See Ezek. 30.24.) and ſtrengthning their feeble ſinewes, their hands that hung down, Heb. 12.12. After I have ſcourged them, I have re-eſtabliſhed them; but what thanks for my labour? what Minerval or pay for my pains? The worlds wages;Hoc ictu ceu didactro accepto Linus mortuus eſt. Buchol. ſuch as Hercules paid the Schoolmaſter Linus, whom he knockt on the head: or as Agricola's ſcholars in Germany killed their maſter with their pen-knives; or as Phyſitians and Surgeons are many times paid by their penurious patients, of whom the Poet wittily, Tres medicus facies habet, unam, quando rogatur; Angelicam, mox eſt, cum juvat, ipſe Deus.Owen: Epigr. Aſt ubi, curato, poſcit ſua munera; morbo, Horridus apparet terribiliſ que Satan.

yet do they imagine miſchief againſt me,] All goes againſt God (See the note on verſ. 13.) Here they imagine miſchief againſt him, as before they ſpake lies againſt him, verſ. 13. and acted rebellion againſt him, verſ. 14. Thus they ſpake and did evil things as they could, Jer. 3.5. and the reaſon of all was, they imagined miſchief, cogitabant quaſi coagitabant, they were men of wicked devices, Prov. 12.2. wholly made up of ſinful projects and purpoſes: they plotted and plowed miſchief, and that againſt God himſelf (which is horrible,) David thought much that his enemies ſhould machinate miſchief againſt him, though but duſt and aſhes; and threatneth them ſore for ſo doing, Pſal. 62.3. How long will ye imagine miſchief againſt a man? Ye ſhall be ſlain all of you; as a bowing wall ſhall ye be, and as a tottering fence: he meaneth, ye ſhall be ſurely and ſuddenly ruined. What then will become of thoſe Zamzummims that imagine miſchiefe againſt the Lord? and ſuch a Lord as hath bound and ſtrengthened their armes, that had been broken by the enemies, and ſought their good every way, puniendo, muniendo, malis & bonis afficiendo, &c. If they had ſlipt into ſome ſmall offence againſt him, of infirmity and at unawares, it had been nothing ſo grievous: but to buſie their braines, and bend their wits and ſtudies ſcientes, volentes, & deliberato conſilio to plot and practiſe miſchief, [non-Latin text not transcribed] or (as the Septuagint render it) miſchiefes againſt God, (for every tranſgreſſion and diſobedience is contrary to his moſt pure Nature, and ſacred Law, and ſhall therefore receive a juſt recompence of reward, Heb. 2.2.) ſo gracious a God, this is deteſtable ingratitude. This is, as if thoſe in the Goſpel ſhould have railed againſt Chriſt, for raiſing them from the dead: it is like the matchleſſe miſchievouſneſſe of that monſter Michael Balbus, who that night that his Prince pardoned and releaſed him;Zonaras in Annal. gat out and ſlew him. Omne peccatum eſt deicidium, for although wicked men cannot reach God, yet they reach at him; ſhooting up their darts againſt heaven, (as the Thracians did once in a ſtorm) and ſaying in effect as Caligula did to his Jupiter,Herodot. Homer. [non-Latin text not transcribed]! either kill me, or I will kill thee.

Verſ. 16. They return but not to the moſt High,] Gnal for Gnelion by contraction: as Jah for Jehovah, ſo afterwards, Chap. 11.7. and 2 Sam. 23.1. Return they do, or ſeem to do at leaſt (for it is their hypocriſie that is here deſcribed) but not to the moſt High: to whom then? to idols, or humane helps, or any thing rather, and ſooner, then to God. Jehu went farre in the work of Reformation, and made a great flaunt at firſt, as if he would have done as much that way, as ever Joſiah did: But he and his people came not up to the height, turned not to the moſt High God, honoured him not as a juſt and jealous God, that can endure no corrivals. They gave the half-turn, but returned not with all their hearts, Joel. 2.12. they turned from weſt to north, but not from weſt to eaſt, to the full counterpoint, ſetting their faces toward God, and having their backs towards their ſins. They had haply a kind of velleity, ſome ſhort-winded wiſhes and wamblings, as I may ſo ſay, but it boyled not up to the full height of a reſolution for God; they made beleeve they would caſt away their tranſgreſſions, but it was but as the mother makes her childe beleeve, that ſhe will caſt him to the puttock or into the water; when as ſhe holds him faſt enough, and means him no hurt at all. Theſe faint eſſayes of returning are not worthy of the moſt High; he delighteth not to be dallied with, but requireth the beſt of the beſt; and that we ſerve him like himſelf, that is, after a godly ſo[illegible: 1 letter]t, or worthy of God, [non-Latin text not transcribed] as Saint Iohn phraſeth it, 3 Ioh. 6. Thus if we do, we ſhall be drawn up to him, [non-Latin text not transcribed] and have cauſe to rejoyce in our ſublimity, or, in that we are exalted, Iam. 1.9. For indeed the moſt High ſtoopeth to the true convert (who conſidering his diſtance repents and abhors himſelf in duſt and aſhes) he dwelleth in the higheſt heavens and loweſt hearts,Job. 42.5. Eſa. 57.17.

They are like a deceitful bow] a rotten bow (though otherwiſe fair) when an arrow is drawn to the head, breaks and deceives the archer. Or thus, when a man ſhoots with a deceitful bow, though he level his eye and his arrow directly to the mark, and thinks with himſelf to hit it; yet indeed the arrow, by reaſon of his deceitfull bow goes a clean contrary way; yea, and ſometimes reflects upon the archer himſelf; ſemblably theſe falſe Iſraelites dealt with God. Their hearts were as the bow, their purpoſes and promiſes to return as arrows; the mark they aimed at converſion; to the which, they, in their afflictions looked with ſo accurate and intent an eye, as though they would repent indeed; but their hearts deceived them as being unſound: hence they ſtarted aſide like a deceitful bow, Pſal. 78.57. and the arrowes of their fair promiſes and pretences vaniſhed in the aire, as ſmoak. Some take the words in another ſenſe, as if puniſhment and diſappointment were here threatned: but I beſt like the former. Let us look to the ſecret warpings of our hearts, and, ſeeing we are Gods bow, Zach. 9.13. let us not be deceitful, &c.

Their princes ſhall fall by the ſword for the rage of their tongue,] and the people with them; for princes fall not alone, as we have ſeen in our late wars, wherein Lords and Loſels fel together not a few at Newbury-fight eſpecially [non-Latin text not transcribed], the ſword devoureth one as well as the other, 2 Sam. 11.25. God hangs up the heads of the people as it were in gibbets, Num. 25.4. their greatneſſe cannot bear them out,Thraſonicae aulicorum Dej erationes ronchi & blaſphemiae in Deum, & Prophetas. Rivet. Philip of Spain. Farneſius. Minerius. nor their life-guards defend them, for the deteſtation of their tongue (ſo ſome read this text) for the hatred that God beareth to them for their blaſphemies and great ſwelling words of vanity, uttered againſt him, his people, and his ordinances. With our tongue, ſay they, we will prevaile, our lips are our own: who is Lord over us? Lo this and worſe is the rage of their tongue: as his, that ſaid he would not leave one Lutheran in his dominions: another, that he would ride his horſe up to the ſaddle in the blood of the Lutherans: a third, that he would ſend them all to dine with the devil, &c. God will cut off the ſpirit of ſuch outragious Princes. They ſhall fall by the ſword, they ſhall be a portion for foxes, Pſal. 63.10. and a deriſion to the Egyptians.

this ſhall be their deriſion in the land of Egypt,] their confederates in whom they truſted; and upon whoſe help bearing themſelves over-bold, they had ſpoken loftily, ſetting their mouthes againſt heaven, and their tongues walked thorow the earth, Pſ. 73.9. Lo, theſe ſhould not onely faile them but jear them; not onely not ſuccour them, but ſcorn them; as the Monarch of Morocco did our King John, that ſent to him for help in the Barons wars. He grew into ſuch diſlike of our king (ſaith the ſtory) that ever after he abhorred the mention of him. Neither met he with better entertainment from the Pope, to whom he baſely ſubmitted and ſurrendred his kingdome. It is better to truſt in the Lord, then to put confidence in Princes. For, Deo confiſi nunquam confuſi, they that truſt in the Lord ſhall never be aſhamed.