The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 49

of CLn indifferent ha.rvost o,nd of e. be.d were the three onnunl festivals of PMBQve,r, vlntogo for weeks previously might he.ve Pentecost, and Te.bema.clee. "Her nr,w propored them in some sort for the disaster. moons" were the monthly celebrotione at the But whon the time of he.rvest has olreacly commencement of ea.eh month. "Her eab- come and tho season of vintage juet arrived, baths"were the weekly solemnities of one day by somo sudden, unexpected ce.le.mity, in seven,dedicated to the Lord. Then there whether tempest or lhostile invasion, the is a general summing up of the whole by the bread-corn perishes e.nd the wine-gre.pee addition of" all her solemn feaate,"-all her are destroyed. The food ie thus snatched, festal days e.nd seasons, including, besides as it were, from their mouth, and the cup those named, the beginning of the years, dashed from their lips; the sadness of the the solemn assembly or holy convocation on catastrophe is immensely increased by the the seventh day of the Passover and on the sudden rudeness of the stroke by which it eighth day of Tabernacles. Preceding the comes. Nor ie thie all. In the case of the enumeration is the general characteristir, of raiment, or rather the material, the wool all Israel's festivities. They were times of and the fle.x out of which it is formed, its joy, a.ewe read in Numb. x. 10," In the day removal reduces the intended wearer to of your gladness, and in your solemn days, perfect nudity, or, if we understand it a.a and in the beginnings of your months, ye figure, to abject poverty and absolute penury. shall blow with the trumpets ; " and in Aben Ezra. attributes this diSBster (ver. 9) Deut. xii. 12 it is expressly declared, "Ye to hostile invasion: "At its sea.son when I shall rejoice before the Lord ... ye, and your shall bring the enemies, to take away the sons, and your daughters, and your menser- corn and the wine;" Kimchi, on the other vants, and your maidservants, and the Le- band, sees in it a miegrowth : " I will vite that is within your gates." All this return and take away my corn in its sea.son, was to cease; the coming captivity would and my wine in its appointed time, because render all snch celebrations impossible. I will sond a curse upon them in the time Kimchi remarks on this (ver. 11): "For in of harvest and a.t the season of vintage, the distress there is no new moon and no instead of the blessing I used to send upon sabbath; and the beginnings of months and them. And eo on all the ,work of their sabbaths on which offerings were presented hands I shall send e. curse, and all their were days of joy. And eo with respect to gain shall be put into e. bag with holes ; and the feast days and solemn assemblies, which they shall not have bread to eat nor raiment were days of rest and quiet joy, they 8hall to wear." not have in them any joy in consequence of Ver. 10.-And now will I discover her the greatness of their dis tresses." He sub- lewdneee in the eight of her lovers, and none sequently adds, "There is a chag which is shall deliver her out of mine hand. Depri- not a moed, but joy wherewith men rejoice vation is followed by disgrace, dispossession and eat and drink; e.nd it is ea.lied chag," by dishonour. The figure of a faithless refening to Solomon's feast of dedication; female being continued, the calomities of "and there is also e. moed which is not a Israel are pictured in the extreme deplor- chag, a.a for signs and for seasons (moedim), ableness of her condition. The word navluth and at the appointed time I will return does not elsewhere occur, but its meaning is unto thee" (moed, from ip•, to appoint as not difficult to ascerte.in. It denotes lite- time and place). rally, " slackness," "laxness," or a withered Ver. 12.-And I will destroy (rnak6 del!O- state, from navel, to be withered, and may late) her vines and her fig trees, whereof be translated either "her ehume" or "her she said, These a.re my rewards that my lovers turpitude." The LXX. has a1<aOap11l,w, have given me. God bad already three.tenerl while Jerome renders it stultitiam. Thus to deprive Israel of the means of support- she is exposed to the derision and disgust the corn, wine, wool, and flax ; he now of her former admirers and paramours ; threatens the removal of the very sources while deliverance is out of the question. whence that support was derived. The vine Her lovers a.re the idols, or, according to and fig tree a.re usually conjoined, and by o Kimchi," Egypt and Aeeyl'ia, which cannot common synecdoche convey the idea of all deliver her." She who once was the object those sources that combine to support life of delight is become the objer,t of disdain and supply its luxuries. When the united and contempt; nor is there any of her kingdom of Judah o,nd Israel, before the quondam lovers desirous of or able to de- disruption, had obtained the zenith of pros- liver her out of the hand of him who admi- perity in the reign of Solomon, it is thus nisters the justly deserved punishment. expressed: "Judah and Israel dwelt safely, Ver. 11.-I will also oause all her mirth every mau under his vine aud ullller his to oee.se, her feast days, her new moons, and fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba., oil her sa.bbntha, a.nd 1111 her solemn feasts. 'l'he the days of Solomon." Yet Ismel knew not enumorntion is complete. "Her foost days'' the tiine of her mc'rciful visitat.iun, e.nd nol  46 'l'HE BOOK OF HOSEA. [OH, II, 1-23,