John Trapp on Hosea 9:1

CHAP. IX.

Verſ. 1. REjoyce not, O Iſrael, for joy as other people,] Not as good people, for they have reaſon to rejoyce, and are called to it in both Teſtaments: joy is the juſt mans portion, but thou art naught all over, thou haſt gone a whoring from thy God; who will ſhortly meet thee as a bear robbed of her whelpes, or as the jealous hu band doth his adultereſſe, Again, not as other bad people, for they may revel (rejoyce indeed they cannot) and be merry, after a ſort: rejoyce they may in the face, as the Apoſtle phraſeth it, and from the teeth outward: ſome kind of frothy and flaſhy mirth they may have (and let them make them merry with it, 'tis all they are like to have) but ſo mayeſt not thou; becauſe thou haſt had warning ſufficient, and haſt known thy maſters will, but not done it: yea, thou haſt done that abominable thing that other nations never yet did, Jer. 2.11.12. thou haſt changed thy God for thoſe that are no gods; thou haſt forſaken the fountain, and run to the ciſtern, &c. which is ſuch a prodigious wickedneſſe, as the very heavens are aſtoniſhed at, and are horribly afraid, [non-Latin text not transcribed] in Grac. [non-Latin text not transcribed], to dance a galliard. yea, deſolate; mourning, and as it were melting at this horrid act. Shall the heavens mourn, and wilt thou rejoyce? yea, fetch a frisk, or dance a galliard for joy, as the word ſignifies: what if other nations do ſo, when they have got the better of their enemies, or gathered in their harveſt, Eſ. 9.4. or otherwiſe have all things go well with them? yet revolted Iſrael had no ſuch cauſe, unleſſe they were upon better tearms with God. Say that this were the time when Joaſh beat Benhadad thrice over, and recovered the cities of Iſrael, 2 Kin. 13.15. Or ſay it was, when he took Amaziah, and brought all the ſpoyle of Jeruſalem to Samaria, Chap. 14.13.2 Chron. 28. or elſe when Pekah ſlew in Judah an hundred and twenty thouſand in one day, and carried captive two hundred thouſand, with much ſpoyle: theſe were times of great mirth and Jollity, 'tis confeſſed. But, are there not with you even with you ſins againſt the Lord your God (as the prophet Oded there beſpeaks them) and ſhould not thoſe ſins be bewailed? Beſides, are they not your brethren whom you have ſlaughtered and captivated? and can you have any joy of ſuch a conqueſt, of civil wars that are — nullos habitura triumphos, that are ſuch a miſery as all words (how wide ſoever) want compaſſe to expreſſe? Hear what the prophe[illegible: 1 letter]t mos (who was Hoſea's contemporary) ſaith to this, Ye which rejoyce in a thing of nought, (ſo he calleth their victories preſent proſperity, pomp and pride) which ſay, have we not taken to us horns by our own ſtrength? Behold, I will raiſe up againſt you a nation, O houſe of Iſrael, that ſhall tame you, and take you a link lower (as they ſay) ſo that your laughter ſhall be turned into mourning, and your joy into heavineſſe. There is ever a ſnare (or a cord) in the ſin of the wicked, Jam. 4.9. viz. to ſtrangle their joy with; but the righteous ſing and rejoyce, Prov. 29.6.

For thou haſt gone a whoring from thy God.] That's a foul buſineſſe, and may well damp thy joy. Sins are the ſnuffes that dimme our candleſtick, the leaven that ſowreth our paſſe overs, the Sanies of a plague-ſore that threatneth our very life. And, whereas the ſinnes of others are but rebellions againſt God, the ſins of his profeſſed people are treacheries: they go a whoring from their God, deſuper Deo ſuo, velomiſſo Deo ſuo, from under their God, or laying aſide their God; caſting him, as it were, into a by-corner. Hence thoſe pathetical compaints in Jeremy, Chap. 18.13. Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard ſuch things? the virgin of Iſrael hath done a very horrible thing; filthineſs in a ſtewes is nothing ſo odious as filthineſs in a Virgin. And again, Chap. 32.30. The children of Iſrael, and the children of Judah have onely done evil from their youth. God takes evil ſo hainouſly from them, as if they had never done him any good ſervice all their dayes; or as if they were the onely ſinners upon earth: they were ſo much worſe, becauſe they ought to have been better then other nations. Now God expects our ſorrows ſhould be proportionable to our ſins; Rejoyce not therefore, but (by a Liptote) weep and houl for the miſeries that ſhall come upon you.

Thou haſt loved a reward (or a harlots hire) upon every corn-floor,] i. e. Thou haſt proſtituted thy ſelf to a looſe Idolatry;Mercedem meretriciam. like to a common whore that goeth a whoring up and down the threſhing floors. Hence Boaz his fear leſt it ſhould be noiſed that Ruth had lain at his feet, and that a woman came into the floor, Ruth. 3.14. Or elſe he meaneth (ſaith Diodate) ſome particular kind of idolatry uſed in the time of harveſt and threſhing; as if they would have acknowledged their increaſe to come by their idols goodneſſe. Such was that of the Metapontines, of whom Strabo ſtorieth, that when they had had a good harveſt, and were grown rich thereby, they dedicated to Apollo at Delphos [non-Latin text not transcribed] an harveſt of gold. See more of this Chap. 2. with the Notes.