The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 208

ite ne~t e.nd resting-plaoe, and then help• go. God threatens to 11pread a net over them, l088ly flnttoring about, e.ooording to Ewl\ld; from whieh there can .be no eacapo. The nor b~- its falling into the net of the bird- ohief aim of Hebrew sovereigns e.nd rulers oat:(lbcr in its effort t.o eeoape from the hawk, was to defend themselves from E~ypt by th!l according to Hilzi~; nor by its neither help of Assyria, or from Assyria by tho aid grieving nor searching for its young when of Egypt; in either case God threatens to it is rol,hed of them, according to Jerome; spread over them the net of destructiou na nor by its becoming dejected or cle'l"oid of the bird-eatcher. 'l'he application to ouo or consi,kraiion when it has lost its young, other of these powers God forbade, but when nccor.!ing to the Targnm; but by its flying they go to either for relief, the result is s1,1re righ( in lo the net of the bird-catcher, v.ith- to prove fatal. The image of a net is fre- out suspecting or obser,ing it, in its seareh quent in Ezekiel; so in Job, ho "hath. com- for food, Recording to Rosenmiiller. Thus passed me with his net." I will bring them Kimchi e:i.:plRins it: "The prophet compares down e.s the fowls of the hea.ven. The com- Ephraim to n. do,-e whfrh gets caught in a parison with birds nnd bird-eRtchiog con- net owing to its simpl,city, because it has no tinues. Though their sunwl\rd soaring flight sense to perC'efre tliat, when it goes to gnther be high as the eagle's, or rapid e.s the soft grains of corn, a net is spread there to ca.teh swift wing of the clove, they cannot outspeed it.. So Ephraim, when they went and asked or eseape the hand of God, but shall be help from Assy-rie, or from Egypt, (did not brought down to earth. Or the idea may perceive) that they went to their hurt, when be that, swiftly as a bird of prey swoops 1hey sought help from the foreign nations down out of the free e.ir of heaven upon its and not from God-blessed be he I-in whose qua.rry on the low-lying earth, JehoVll.h will hnn,l all is. And he mentions the dove, bring Israel down out of the air of freedom though it is the manner of other birds, into the net of captivity. Thus in Obe.d. 4 because the do,-e bas no bitterness, as if it we read, "Though thou exalt thyself as the went in simplieity and without apprehension eagle, aud though thou set thy nest among of the e'l"il t11at would come upon it." They the stars, thence will I bring thee down, call to Egypt. they go to Assyria. The saith the Lord; " likewise in Amos ix. 2, position of Palestine exposed its inhabitants " Though they dig into hell, thence shall to ttttacks from the two great rival powers of mine ha.nd take them; though they climb Egypt and Assyria., or Babylon. "It stood up to heaven, thenee will ·1 bring them midwe.v," savs Stanlev, "between the two down." I will chastise them as their con- great seau of ancient empire, Babylon and gregation hath hee.rd. The word CJ'C?'.~ is Egypt. It was on the high-road from one e.n anomalous Hiph. instead of c:i'-1;,,~. to tl.ie other of these mighty powers, the the.t is, yod mobile instead of yod quies- prize for which they conttndecl, the battle- cent or dipht bonge.l zere. 'l'he literal render- field on which they fought, the lofty bridge ing makes the meaning more obvious; it is: over whicli thev ascended and deseende<l "I will ehastise them 11ceording to the tid- respectirnly into the deep basins of the Nile , ings [or,' announeement '] to their congrega- and Euphrates." Accordingly the rulers of ; tion." In the Law and by the prophets it the people sought help, now from Egypt to was repeatedly deelared that judgments strengthen themagainst the-oppr,·ssiouuf As- would fall upo11 the disobedient e.nd rebel- syria; at another time they sought 10 secure lious. As speeimena of such announcements, the support of Assyria. The most powerful we may refer tv Lev. xxvi 14-39; Deut. enemy of the northern kingdom was Assyria, =viii 15-68; and Deut. xxxii. 15.,.,..-35. which distressed that kingdom more and The prophet now assures Ephraim that the more, until at last they made an end of it. judgment~ so frequently and foreibly an- "But." says Kimchi, "while they think to nounced to the congregution of the children obtain l,elp by them (Egypt and Assyria), of Israel in the wilderness, and repeated in t,,e. fall into the net of the Almighty- subsequent times by the prophets, would be bless0d be he !-and this is what he says executed on the rebellious rigorously, and in (in the following verse), As they go I spread exact accordance with those many previous my net over them." denunciations. Kimclii ha.a the following Veril2.-When they 11he.ll go, I will spread comment: "I will assemble them through my net over them. Threats of punishment the chastisement of the peoples, as I an- are contained in this and the following nounced to their assembly in the wil<lerneso vero{:s. He lx·gins by the application of the words of chastisement, whieh are written in corui,arison of Epl,raim to a dove. Exe.ctly the Law, if they will l)ot hearken to tho as a dnn, in ito silliness falls into the net words of the Law." The LXX. may _have set by the fowler, so Israel l'llllll into the net read cni:r, as their rendering is iv -r'(i ?,.,rof, of dcstru,,ti•Jn in seeking help from Egypt -r,is 611.l,j,,wr aurli,v, equi1•11,lent to "I will u:,,, . s>}r1a. The literal rendering i8, ac- chasten them tDiih the r1411101w of thcfr curJ ,,, 'J u.. they !JO, or, whatsoe~e,-iroy they •hall (r-0miug) ajfti-Oti<m,." OH, VII, 1-16,] THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 207