The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 109

veye the NM'On of the wnrning contained in hitll. &l.ono. '.Ephraim being the <lomlnllllt the prec(>(ling; nnd that rca.011 is the punish- tribe, gnvo its na!'lle-to the nortllcl'n kingdolil. ment which ie to ovoltake Israel as the The idols were Ephraim'e folly, litld to t!Hlt con.equence of t.heir refractoriness. If thi• they wore wedded ; rtnd in coneeq uetl'Co ,·iew of the connection be correct, it will they l\re ,Jon. to their folly, and at the ~aille hl'lp totbe right undorstandingof a dilllOtllt time surrendered to their fate., 'Tlwy may P""sAge. The" booksli<ling," MCOrding to persist in their folly; they cannot be pre- the AuthorizL•cl Version, -is rather "stubborn- vonted. "Give hiln reilt," as the words ness," •• intro.otnblenees, 0 or O unnrn.nAge- litrrnlly mean, from exh'orlatione and e:t- nbleness." Keil renders it "ref'raetory." postnlrtLions, from remonslrance·s und re- 'l'his refractoriness was Israel's sin ; the proof~; ho will persist ·in his· folly, prepare peoplt would have their own way, and be- for his fate, and perish by his sin. 'fhis C8.lllerefractory, like an unme.nagea.hle heifer, abandonment of l<:J?hraim: p:to_ves the des- whic·h rebels upon being trained. Aben pcrato nature of hi~ case;" ,Left'to'liie ow'n Ezra explains :,~~b (which, by the way, ha.s recklessness, ho i~ rushing ·towards ruin . f>Me before the tone s)·llable) as follows: .Judah is warne,l' 'to stand i aloof from. the " •~ is he who turns aside from the way that oontagion, lest -by intel"ference lio' might is appointed him, so that he does not walk get implicakd in the sill and involved ill in it. And, behold, he compares Israel to a the i,unish11,ent of Ephraim. The Hebrew stubborn cow, "ith which a man ca.nnot oommentator4 express the word rendered plough." So also Kimchi: "Like a heifer "joiued to" in the Authorized Version which goes on a crooked way, and curVlli! (ver. 17) by words itnpo1-ting "yol!:ed •to,'' itself from under the yoke, that a m&n cannot "allied with." and "cleaving to." -Again, plough with it; eo lsre.el. are crooked under i1;cl;'}, imperative of n•~;:i. is explained :by their God, as they have taken upon them them as follows :-'-'Raehi: " Leave oft', 0 the yoke of the Law and of the command- prophet, and prophesy not'-to reprove him, ments which he commanded them, and -0urve for it is of no use." Aben Ezrin "Let him tlrnmselves under the yoke, and break ilrom alone till God sheill chastise h_i.m: perhaps off them the yoke of the commandments/' his eyes shall then ·open." Kii:richi :- "Je- hrnel rebelled age.inst instruction, waxed hovah says to the prophet, Oeilse to· reprove tatubborn audintractable. They would have him, for it is of no nse, . -,·· . As a man who their own way, and worehipped according to is angry with his fellow, beca.uee:h1:1 will not their own will, in indulging all the while hearken to him when· he reproves· him; a11d with a high hand in vilest lusts.. Now the says, Since thou hearkenest not to 'me, I will sea.son of pun:isbment ie arrived ; and as cease for ever to reprove thee." _ • tl,ey refused instruction and rebelled e.ga.inst Vera. 18, 19.-The first of these two verses Di ,·ine guide.nee, God, in jllBt judgment a.nd gives a picture :of the degeneracy of the <leservetl punishment, leaves them t.o them- times ; the second predicts the destruction selves. Ca.rried into capth'ity, they mny that would ensue.• Their drink •is sour worship what tl.Jey will, and Jive as they (margin, is gone):• they have oommitted list. In these ci.reumstances they will re- whoredom continually., If the· first olause Sclllble a lan.b taken away into a wilderness, he taken litera.lly; (I) it denotes- a che.rge a11d left there to range the wild and. live at of druukenness prefen·ed against E:pl1re.in:l. brge, but without provision and without To this vice the people of, the north.~r11 protection. Untended by the shepherd's kingdom, as is well known, were· addicte(l: watchful ea.re, unguarded from ravening the wine, from oft-repeated J>Otations, be- wolves or other beasts of prey, that lamb is came sour in the stomach and produced ill a lost and periah.ing condition. So shall it loatbsome eructa.tiohs, (2) Some, connecting Le with Israel Aben .Ezra gives as a.n alter- closely. the first and eli<Jond . -clauses, ·add native sense:" Now (JehovtLh will feed them translating as in the mnrgia, explain ·•the like a 1a.m b) alone in a wide pla.ce, and· it meaning to be that "when their intoxioa:- wanders to and fro." Kimchi cites as the tion is gone they commit whoredom." But opinion of others: ":&me say, Now will though drunkenness and debauchery •fre- Jehovah let them feed alone in a wide ple.ce, q uently go together, it is rather· during the like a larub which bles.ts an,! goes to and former tllan afterwards that the latter is in- fro, alld neither rests nor feed:!." Anothei dulged in. (:-J) The first clause had better rueaning Lill! been attached to the verse, 10 be unrlerstood figuratively, and the latter the effect that lemel. subdued by chaBtise- either literally or tiguratively,orboth. 'fhus ment, will.renounce their stnbbornness,and, the sense is the degeneraoy of prinoiple ri,ndertod tructable and ta.me, become like a among the people in general,' or 'ruther b.wb, wl1icl1, brought to feel its helple118ness amon~ the principal men of that day. By 011<1u n wihleruess, requires and receives the the f;ne4t wine becoming vapid, tho prophi,t t!,.,1,hcrd'o can,. \Ve lJlucu prcfor the former. represuuts the leading mer. of the nution, on ~ cl'. l'i,-EJ)hre.im ia joined to idol&: let whow so much dupeuded and from whom so  THE BOOK OF HOSEA~ 1(/1