now--that is, "speedily."
shall return to Egypt--([Ho 9:3], ; ). The same threat as in [De 28:68]. They fled thither to escape from the Assyrians (compare as to Judah, Jr 42:1-44:30), when these latter had overthrown their nation. But see on [Ho 9:3].
14. forgotten ... Maker--([De 32:18]).
temples--to idols.
Judah ... fenced cities--Judah, though less idolatrous than Israel, betrayed lack of faith in Jehovah by trusting more to its fenced cities than to Him; instead of making peace with God, Judah multiplied human defenses ([Is 22:8]; [Jr 5:17]; [Mi 5:10], ).
I will send ... fire upon ... cities--Sennacherib burned all Judah's fenced cities except Jerusalem ([2Ki 18:13]).
palaces thereof--namely, of the land. Compare as to Jerusalem, [Jr 17:27].
Chapter 9
Ho 9:1-17. Warning against Israel's Joy at Partial Relief from Their Troubles: Their Crops Shall Fail, and the People Leave the Lord's Land for Egypt and Assyria, Where They Cannot, If So Inclined, Serve God According to the Ancient Ritual: Folly of Their False Prophets
1. Rejoice not ... for joy--literally, "to exultation." Thy exultation at the league with Pul, by which peace seems secured, is out of place: since thy idolatry will bring ruin on thee.
as other people--the Assyrians for instance, who, unlike thee, are in the height of prosperity.
loved a reward upon every corn floor--Thou hast desired, in reward for thy homage to idols, abundance of corn on every threshing-floor ([Ho 2:12]).
2. ([Ho 2:9], ).
fail--disappoint her expectation.
3. return to Egypt--(See on [Ho 8:13]). As in [Ho 11:5] it is said, "He shall not return into ... Egypt." Fairbairn thinks it is not the exact country that is meant, but the bondage state with which, from past experience, Egypt was identified in their minds. Assyria was to be a second Egypt to them. [De 28:68], though threatening a return to Egypt, speaks ([De 28:36]) of their being brought to a nation which neither they nor their fathers had known, showing that it is not the literal Egypt, but a second Egypt-like bondage that is threatened.
eat unclean things in Assyria--reduced by necessity to eat meats pronounced unclean by the Mosaic law ([Eze 4:13]). See [2Ki 17:6].
4. offer wine offerings--literally, "pour as a libation ([Ex 30:9]; [Le 23:13]).
neither shall they be pleasing unto him--as being offered on a profane soil.
sacrifices ... as the bread of mourners--which was unclean ([De 26:14]; [Jr 16:7]; [Eze 24:17]).
their bread for their soul--their offering for the expiation of their soul [Calvin], ([Le 17:11]). Rather, "their bread for their sustenance ('soul' being often used for the animal life, [Ge 14:21], Margin) shall not come into the Lord's house"; it shall only subserve their own uses, not My worship.
5. ([Ho 2:11]).
6. because of destruction--to escape from the devastation of their country.
Egypt shall gather them up--that is, into its sepulchres ([Jr 8:2]; [Eze 29:5]). Instead of returning to Palestine, they should die in Egypt.
Memphis--famed as a necropolis.
the pleasant places for their silver--that is, their desired treasuries for their money. Or, "whatever precious thing they have of silver" [Maurer].
nettles--the sign of desolation ([Is 34:13]).
7. visitation--vengeance: punishment ([Is 10:3]).
Israel shall know it--to her cost experimentally ([Is 9:9]).
the prophet is a fool--The false prophet who foretold prosperity to the nation shall be convicted of folly by the event.
the spiritual man--the man pretending to inspiration ([La 2:14]; [Eze 13:3]; [Mi 3:11]; [Zep 3:4]).
for the multitude of thine iniquity, &c.--Connect these words with, "the days of visitation ... are come"; "the prophet ... is mad," being parenthetical.
the great hatred--or, "the great provocation" [Henderson]; or, "(thy) great apostasy" [Maurer]. English Version means Israel's "hatred" of God's prophets and the law.
8. The watchman ... was with my God--The spiritual watchmen, the true prophets, formerly consulted my God ([Jr 31:6]; [Ha 2:1]); but their so-called prophet is a snare, entrapping Israel into idolatry.
hatred--rather, "(a cause of) apostasy" (see [Ho 9:7]) [Maurer].
house of his God--that is, the state of Ephraim, as in [Ho 8:1] [Maurer]. Or, "the house of his (false) god," the calves [Calvin]. Jehovah, "my God," seems contrasted with "his God." Calvin's view is therefore preferable.
9. as in the days of Gibeah--as in the day of the perpetration of the atrocity of Gibeah, narrated in [Jud 19:16-22], &c.
10. As the traveller in a wilderness is delighted at finding grapes to quench his thirst, or the early fig (esteemed a great delicacy in the East, [Is 28:4]; [Jr 24:2]; [Mi 7:1]); so it was My delight to choose your fathers as My peculiar people in Egypt ([Ho 2:15]).
at her first time--when the first-fruits of the tree become ripe.
went to Baal-peor--([Nu 25:3]): the Moabite idol, in whose worship young women prostituted themselves; the very sin Israel latterly was guilty of.
separated themselves--consecrated themselves.
unto that shame--to that shameful or foul idol ([Jr 11:13]).
their abominations were according as they loved--rather, as Vulgate, "they became abominable like the object of their love" ([De 7:26]; [Psa 115:8]). English Version gives good sense, "their abominable idols they followed after, according as their lusts prompted them" ([Am 4:5], Margin).
11. their glory shall fly away--fit retribution to those who "separated themselves unto that shame" ([Ho 9:10]). Children were accounted the glory of parents; sterility, a reproach. "Ephraim" means "fruitfulness" ([Ge 41:52]); this its name shall cease to be its characteristic.
from the birth ... womb ... conception--Ephraim's children shall perish in a threefold gradation; (1) From the time of birth. (2) From the time of pregnancy. (3) From the time of their first conception.
12. Even though they should rear their children, yet will I bereave them (the Ephraimites) of them ([Job 27:14]).