The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 15

bring together Rgnin. Bnt Lo-~u.hammah, llllall be 1&i.d nnto \hem, Ye are the sons of Unpitied, or Uncomp888ionatcd, imports an- the living God. The pie.co where this great other and a still hel\\ier blow ; and, though ohange takes pince is either tho pl11ce where <lisp,•rsed fe.r an,l near, nnd though left in their rejeciio., WI\S foretold, or that where th .. places of their dispersion without pity its fulfilment beoe.me an accomplished foot. unJ without compassion, still there might The former wns, as is obvious, Pnlestine; lH· n good time coming in the near or in the the latter, the place of their exile, and so the <lisl:rnt future, when" favourable ch1mge in lands of their dispersion. Thus tile Clmldce, their circnrust&nees would be brou11;ht about adopting the latter, renders freely as follows; so that they would be both collected to- "And it shall come to pass in the ple.ce gether, or comforted and compassionatcd. where they lived in exile among the peoples, The n&llle Lo-ammi, however, puts an end when they trnnsgressed my Law cmd it WW! to hope, implying as it does a total rejection said to them, Ye are not my people, they und nn entire renunciation of the people of will turn and be magnified, and co.lied the lmiel nn the po.rt of the Almighty. The people of God." Once this change takes 11ationnJ covenant is annulled; God bas place, tlleir true mission sllall be attained c:ist off his people, who e.re thus left hope- and their relations to the living God shall less as lielples•, becanse of their sinful and be readjusted. The dumb, dead idols, to ungrateful departure from the Source of all which they bad bowed down in the days of mercy and the Fountain of all blessing. their apostasy and unbelief shall be oast The e;i;:pression of this is very touching; aside and away for ever. J ehovo.h the Living " Ye." says God, now addressing them One alone shall be the object of their Bdora- directly and personally, "are not-are no tion in that day. longer, my people; and I will not be yours." Ver. 11.-Then llhall the ohildren of ludah Such is the literal rendering of this now and the children of Israel be gathered to- 11&d but once tender expression-tender, un- gether, and appoint themselves one head, speakably tender, as long as applicable; sad, and they shall oome up out of the land. The inexpressibly sad, now that its enjoyment phraseology of the older Scriptures is here is for ever gone. followed. Thus we read in Exod. i. 10, in Ver. 10.-Yet the number of the ohildrenof the words of Pharaoh, the children of Israel Israel Bhall be u the sand of the sea, which "getting them up out of the land" (comp. oannot be meaaured nor numbered. The also Exod. xii. 38 and Numb. xxxii. 11); and division of the verses at this place is faulty age.in, on the report of the spies when the both in our common Hcbr1,w Bibles and in the people murmured against Moses e.nd Aaron, Authorized Version. The former connects "they said one to another, Let us make a vers. 10 and 11 with the second chapter, and ce.ptain [head], and let us return into tile latter closes the first chapter witll these Egypt." In this way the scenes of former verses, o.nd thus detaches them from the first days were in some sense to be repeated: an verse of the second chapter. The correct exodus of some sort was a.gain to take place; arrangement combines vers. 10 e.nd 11 of Egypt was to be abandoned and slavery left eh. i. with ver. 1 of eh. ii., and concludes behind; they might have a wilderness to the first chapter with these three verses. traverse, but here a.gain the prospect of a which are so closely joined together in sense. land of promise was to cheer them on their Here i,; the usual cycle of events-human journey and compensate them at its close ; sinfulness, deserved punishment, and Divine in fact, another or better Canaan was before mercy. Had the last element been wanting, them. Nay, more, the breach between Judah tile promise of a countless posterity made to and Israel would be healed, and the dis- Abraham, renewed to Isaac, e.nd confirmed ruption which had been so disastrous become to Ju.cob, might appear abolished. Yet, not- a thing of the past. Judah and Israel withstanding the rejection of Israel, the would again unite and rally together under Word of God remaineth sure. But who are one heo.d. But tlrn important inquiry re- the cllildren of Iara.cl, whose multitude, like mains as to the how or when this prediction sea-sand, defies numeration and measure- wo.s to have fulfilment. Even if we admit •ment? The whole posterity of Jacob or the return from the captivity of Babylon to •Israel might seem included, as the wordB of be a fulfilment, it would be but a very the promise made to tllat patriarch and those partial, though literal, fulfilment of such a of the present prediction so closely corre- grand prediction. That restoration was far spond ; and Israel is occasionally taken in too meagre in its dimensions to come up to this wide and general sense. The context the requirements of, much less exhaust, suoh is opposed to this; especially does the dis- a splendid prophecy. Some of Israel-a 1.inction so sharply marked in the succeeding mere fragment of the ten tribes-united with verse militate again.at this. And it 1hall oome Judah in the return from Babylon: this poor to paBB, tl,c.t in the plaoe where it wa1 eaid miniature fulfilment, if we may so say, can• unto th&m, Y~ arc not my people, thi,r" it uot be regul'dcd, except perhcips typically or CH, I. 1-11.] THE BOOK 0.1:t' HOSEA.