The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 306

but thBt, this deeire being te.ken for gr11nted, train~d. The work she was taught to no wns there ehn.11 be no let nor hindrance; nothing ~eo.dmg ont the corn; by training and habit cn.n et11y his hn.nd. 'fhen the mode and 1t had become II second nature so that she men.ne of choetiecment are indicnterl- took delight in it. The conn'ecting vowel pcoplcs, foreign inva.ders, eha.11 be gathered i occui:~ se~dom, and mually with 11n anti'}UO ngn.inst thorn, The verb ibtt ie future Qal ?oionr~ng m prose, a.coording to Ewald; it of iD' irrogularly, a.e if coming from iDl, the 1s poetical bes1rles, 11ntl used in the concr,urse c!Bghesh in samech compenH11ting for the of words somewhat closely connected, but n.bsorbed yod. When they shall bind them- not in the strict construct state. Thus is selves in their two furrows; ma.rgin, When '!'1~,:Jk accounted for. Tbis work was probably I shall bind them for their two l;ransgressionB, easier, at all events pleasanter, tha.n plough- or, in their two habitations. (1) Gese,nius, ing or harrowing. In tren.rling out cum Ewa.Id, n.nd others, a.biding by the Kethir or oxen were not yoked together, but worked textua.l rca.ding of the original, translate, singly, treading it with their feet or "Jehovah will chastise them before with drawing a threshing-sledge, or iron-a;med thoir eyes," tha.t is, not in secret, but openly cylinder,over it; they were unmnzzletl also, before the world. They thus refer the word so that they were free to snatch an occasional to 1:l/, eye, but n\i;v, is "fountains," not mouthful of the grain, and frequently fat- "eyes." (2) The Hebrew commenta.tors, tened by such indulgence. Such had been Aben Ezra and Kimchi, explain the word in the position of Ephraim in easy employ- the sense of " two furrows" as in Authorized ment, comfortable circumstances like the Version ; and refer them to Judah and heifer threshing and allowed to eat a.t plea- Ephraim. Thus Kimcbi says, "The pro- ~nre, pleasantly sitna.ted, prosperous, self- phet compares Judah and Ephraim to two mdulgcnt, and luxurious. The victories of ploughing oxen. I thought they would Ephraim-threshing and treading down- plough well, but they have ploughed ill, may perhaps be also hinted at. Bnt I passed since they have bound themselves together over nponher fair neck(margin, the beautyoJ one with the other and have 11llied them- her neck): I will make Ephraim to ride; Juda.I:. eel ves the one with the other to do evil in shall plough, and Jacob shall break his clods the eyes of Jehovah." Similarly Rosen- Times have changed, os is here indicated . miiller: " To be bound to two furrows is a yoke, that of Assyria, is placed on the f, 1r ea.id of oxen ploughing when they are neck, a rider is set on the sleek back. 11'.1 Jre bound together in a common yoke, so that onerous and less pleasant labonr is now im- in two adjacent furrows they walk together posed. J ndah too is to share the toil. ' eing and with equal pace." (3) The Septuagint put to the heavier work of ploughing· while rendering, based on the Qeri and followed Jacob-the ten tribes, or the twelve ,nclud- by the Syriac and Arabic, gives a better and ing both Judah and Isra.el-shr ,.1 cross- cle11rer eenee than the preceding. It is, 'Ev plough ; and thus both alike sba.ll oe henc&, -ra.is avuiv douda.« a.,hwv, and is followed by forth employed in the heaviest Jar ,urs of th& Jerome in Super duas iniquitates suas, os also field and the severest toils of .gricultnre. by the most judicious expositors of ancient Once victorious, J<.:phraim is now to be sub- and modern times. Yet there is great variety dued ; once free and intractable. it must as to .what those iniquities are. Some, like now receive the yoke and engage in iaborio~ Jerome, refer to the double idolatry-that of service. The expression i:tJ7, followed by 'J7, Micah and that of Jeroboam; others, like is gener11lly used in a bad sense; "to pass - Dathe, to the two golden calves set up at ove:r," says Jerome, "especially when it is Dan and Bethel ; Cyril nnd Theodoret to Baid of God, always signifies inflictions a.nd the 1tpostl\sy of fame! from Jehovah, and troubles." The fatness of the neck is the devotion to idols ; De W ette and Keil to the ox's ornament or bennty. That is now to double unfaithfulness of Israel to Jehovah be assaulted or invaded gently it may be, nnd the royal house of David. The exnct and softly, as men are wont to appror.ch a rendering would, according to auy of these young untamed animal in order to put the views, be, "When I bind them to their two yoke upon it. This passing over, however trnnsgressions," or, " When I allow the tender, fixes the yoke on Ephra.im's neck all foreigners to bind them on account of their the same. A more difficult word is ::i•::i;~, , two transgressions;" that is to connect or which Ewald (1) renders, "I will set o. yoke them to their two transgressions by the rider" on Ephraim, of course to subdue and punishment, so that they, like beasts of tame; (2) Jerome bas, "I will mount or burden, must drag them after them, whut- ride," thus representing Jehovah himself as ever be the view we take of the nnture of the mediate rider on Ephraim. The first those tre.nsgrossions. sense has a. parallel in Ps. lvi. 12, "Thou Ver, 11.-And Ephraim is as an heifer hast made men to ride over our head," and that is t11ught, and loveth to tread out the thus ruling them a.t plea.sure. Unwilling to corn, Ephra.im is compared to a heifer bear the easy yoke of their Divine Rnler, Jl08EA, X 300 THE BOOK OF HOSEA. [011, x. 1-15,