John Trapp on Hosea 7:5

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.