The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 103

itee, will nppcaT t.o most ae foT-f<'tobed. that of Deck, viz. ''~'?~~ •~~), cquivnlent to (I) The usual acoopt11tion is both simplaT "and my people aru lika their priests." nnd more sntisfe.ot•ry. It tBkas the expres- Snob oonjectural emendation is needless aa sion to denote snob contumacy as is reproved useless. in Dent. xvii. 12, "The mRn tb11t will do Ver. 5.-The pamllolism of this verse ia 11r,·sumptuouely, and will not bel\rken unto marked by the peculinrity of dividing be- 1 l1P ]'ri,·st that etnncl.cth to minister there tween the two members what belongs to the hcfnr,- thP Lorn thv God, or unto the judge, sentence as one whole. Instead of saying ewn that mRn sb1til cl.ie : and thou shalt put that the people would fall (literally, Btumbw) 11wn,· the enl from Israel." The oontuma- in the day, and the prophet with them In ciousnese of Israel is t.bus compared to that the night, the meaning of the aentenoe, of persons who were so obstinate and pre- divested of its peoulie.r form of parallelism, sumptuous as neither to obey nor reverenoE", is tlmt people and prophet alike would foll to- hut rather rebel ngainst. the true priast.s of gether, at all times, both by day and by night, .Tehornh, who, in his Divine Name and by that is to eay, there would be no time free Didne authority, instructed or reproved. from the coming calamities; o.nd there would Such person~ neither feared God nor re- be uo possibility of esoape, either for the garded man. It was the refractoriness of sinful people or the~ unfaithful priests; the pupils acting in opposition to tbeiT teacher, darkness of the night would not hide them, or of a people rising in rebellion against the light of the day would not aid them ; their spiritual instructors. Thus the Chaldee destruction was the doom of priests and understands it : "And thy people contend people, inevitable and e.t all times. And I [quarrel] with tlieir teachers." The last will destroy thy mother. Their mother we.e clause of 'l"er. 4 is fairly well explained by the whole nation as suoh-tbe kingdom of Kimchi ( except that he explains kaphof cer-- Ierael. The expression is somewhat con- tninty and not similitude) as follows: "The temptuous, as though he said of the indi- prophet says, The priest should have taught, vidual members that they were truly their striven with, and reproved the people; but mother's children-resembling her erewhile at this time the people strive with the priest; in sin and soon in sorrow. (1) Though the for it is not enough that they do not receive verb .io, is seldom used in Qnl to denote hie reproof, but they strive with and re- "likeness," Abarbanel, as quoted by Rosen- prove him, after the way they say.' A gene- miiller, translates, "I have been like thy ration that judges its judges.' Or the mother," and explains of the people ad- exple.ne.tion is, ' The priest is as wicked e.s dressing priest and prophet as a mother they, and if he reproves them so e.lso they reproving her petulant children in order reprove him.'" (2) The LXX. has ws t.o improve them. Besides the fo.r-fetche\l cl..,.-, 7'.~oJL•vos i•peus, a.s a priest spoken natnre of suoh a rendering, there is the for- age.inst. The text being thus somewhat midable grammatical objection that, in the doubtfnl, Michaelis made e. very slight sense of "similitude," this verb requires to change in the pointing, putting e. patach be constructed with l• or el, so that it should instead of tsere in the word for "contend ; " be l• immeka or eZ immeka. " This word, thus : •::i-,,i:,:i instead of •::i.,o:i, so that the when derived from'demuth, likewise has eZ translation :,,..ould be, " A~d' 'thy people are with seghol after it; but without el, it has as my adversaries (those who contend with the meaning of destroy," is the statement of me), 0 priest." The people that should Aben Ezra.. The LXX., assigning to the have lee.rot the Law from the lips of the verb the sense of '' similarity," renders the prie,,--t would not even submit to reproof phrase by ,.,rc.-1 oµolu,rra. .-¾,11 p.1JTEpa. rrou, "I from the Most High himself. The expres- have compared thy mother to night." (2) sion, "priest-disputers" or "priest-gain- Jerome, counecting the verb with 01, or cP,?7, sayers," is admittedly e.n unusual one, and understands it in the sense of" silence : " "I given a.s e. specimen of the peculiarities of have me.de thy mother silent in the night; this prophet's style, to which, however, there that is, " Israel is delivered up in the dark is e. parallel in "boundary-movers" ( cf. eh. night of captivity, sorrow, e.nd overwhelming v. 10). Still, we see no real advantage distress." The Syriac likewise has: "And gained by the conjecture.I emendation of thy mother has become silent" (if ehathketh Michaelie, though some are disposed to be read). The Che.ldee, though more para- accept it on the ground that the representa- phrastic, brings out nearly the same sense: tion of the incorrigibleness of a people by '' I will overspread your assembly with gainsaying opposition to the priest appears stupefaction." To the same purport is the incongruous with the immediately suc- exposition of Rashi: "My people shall be ceeding denunciation of the priesthood. stupefied ns e. man who sits and is over- The objection is obviated by understanding, whelmed with stupor, ao that no a.newer is e.s above, opposition to the true priest& of heard from his mouth." The meaning the Lord. Another conjectural reading is "destroy" is well supported by the oognate OIL IV. 1-19.] THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 101