The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 368

"The 11enee of 1M ta, 'God hM Mt givC'n me P,11ch lnbonr, no one cou\,1 show t,hnt lhoee the wealth, but I by myl!Clf [i.e. my own richo~ hl\ll been unjuelly nc<Juircd by him, unRided e1Tnrt.,] have bc-enme rich, fnr l nm or that there WJ\11 1in c.-011trnctcd In tholr nn1 AR the CanAnnitc>.' that i,, the merchant, acquisition. Thus Klmchl: "Ho (the pro. R• 'There Rhnll he nn mnrc the Cnnnnnitc' phct) mentions nnother vice, Hying thnt ho (Z<'rh. xh-. 21);" he thon procood1 to ehow (F.phraim) opprce■ea, and IM!aerl.8 thnt, in 1.hr: ronm·clion, "Anil the moaning faccoril- nil he hM laboured for and gnthurcd to- i,_1,; 1,., tli<> ronlext] iR, • Why drws 110 BllY, gether, they shall not ho able to find (a) h""P mr•rc~· Anil jm1g-mcnt.. ann he not an any riches of Iniquity Bnd ■in. •n 'H 11 the npprcsanr like the CRnaanitc [nnr am I]? 81\mo e.e ini<Juity and sin, nnd thua (Eccles. Y"~ all is my own hnnrn!t <'nrning; nnnc of v. IR) 'it i• good Bnd comely' (a.iiher hor11 the P<>nR of' mc>n sh11.JI lln,t 1.h11.t I have also for mu). Or the explanation of it ie: Pinnerl'" The intcrpretati .. n of' Kimchi ii (b) They shBll not find with me iniquity, Pirnilnr, hut Mmcwhat simpler, thus: "The n~r _e.ny matter in whic~ there ia sin pcr- wnrilR, 'I nm hcl'.ome rich,' are 1he npposite tammg to me. And 1n 1e less than ,p, ini- nf' Wait nn thy God continun.lly.' But ho quity, for sin comes sometimes by reason of (Ephraim,\ dOOB not we.it on God the blcesro, error. Or the explanation of • iniquity e.ud he docs not acJ..<10'1\·led,;e that he ge.ve which were sin' is: (c) Iniquity in whicll him strength to acquire wealth, hut aays, there was sin to me; ae if ho said, wit" •My own power and the strength of my regard to which l had einned; for if riches he.nde have made for me this wee.Ith,' e.nd oame into my hand through iniquity nnd he forgetteth God the bleaeer:l, who gave robbery, it was not with my knowledge; ho him power to work, as it is written in tho means: so that I sinned in relation to it, Law (Dent. viii. 14), • And thon forget the and took it by iniquity with my knowledge; Lord thy God.' Thie is what he (the pro- and in this we.y (Lev. xxii. 16) 'they Jade phet) means by • I have become rich; he themselves with the iniquity of treepe.es,' mem,R to aav, • I have become rich from 'I' being in construct state, the.t is to aay, myself,'" i.e:by my own labour. The word iniquity with regard to which they tres- jil'< denotes both physic.a.I or bodily strength, passed." "? signifies "belonging to me;" and also, like ~~ riches, Latin opu, prob- while tton is read, not as a noun, but as e. ably as procored thereby. The flourishing verb in the Septuagint, a, &,,_..p,,..,,, (2) The state of the kingdom during the reigns of Che.ldee, which is explained by Re.ehi, gives Joash and Jeroboam II. may have induced an explanation identical, though only par- their overweening self-«infidenee and their tially so, with the marginal rendering of the amazing forgetfnhless of God, and e.t the Authorized Version, namely, "It were good 11&m~ time this Sllrprising ignorance of their for thee if thou consideredst with thyself: real condition. (2) The Septuagint render- all my riches do not snfflce me, in order to ing is ,;;p-r,,ca a.v11,j,vx11v i ,,_..,,,,.,;, "I have expiate the iuiqnity which I have com- found refreshment for myself," and Jerome, mitted." This, and the marginal ree.ding- hoth where they coincide and where they "ln1'eni mihi iclolnm,'' u if Ptt had been ree.d diverge-we must unhesitatingly reject as instead of jiH. In all my laboon thq llhall far-fetched, artificial, and having no real 1lnd IIDD.e iniquity in me that were lin; basis in the text. To their other sins Israel mar,;in, all my labour, IJ'IJ,ffece me flOt : he added this protestation of innocence, which l!hall Lave puniBl.merd of iniquity in whom we.e the solemn protestation of e. falsehood. i.B ,in. Here two modes of construction are 'l'he clause (3) me.y admit another sense; p088ible, and each has had its advucates; thUB: If in my gains by labour iniquity thWi. •~~'. may be (a) the ,ubject of the should be found, the.t indeed would be sin; verb, as fo tlie LXX., which is, "None of but such ia not the case. Thus, like the his laLours 1Wall be found available for him l'harisees of a Je.t.er age, did they jW!tir.Y on accr,uut of the sins Le has committed." themselves before men; but God lwew their 'l'hi• is the rendering followed and inter- hollow-hearted hyprocriay, preted by Cyril and 'l'heodoret. (b) The Ver. 9.-And I tho.t am the Lord thy Ood word£ in question, instead of being taken as from the land of Egypt will yet make thee the subject to the verli, may be eruployed to dwell in tabernacle1, u in the day• ot the ab•olutdy or with the ellipsi• of a preposi- 10lemn feut. This verse consillte of two tion, as in tl,e Authorized Ver•ion ; tlius: parte which in the original e.re co-orclinated; '' A• to my labour•, or the fruits of my but in the Authorized Version the one is labour•," for •;• is used in both sen•cs, The subr,rdina.ted to the other by supplying an meaning of the pai!~age then is (1) that, awkward and unnecessary ellipsis. It is Leoid!:f! the •ins of fraud ancl oppreHion, betlc,r, therefore, to translate thus: .And I EpJ.raim did not shrink thzough shame am the Lord thv God, from the land of to viudica:.e his conduct and to maintain Egypt : I 'I.Dill vet ma,lu thu "1 dwell in that. in all the riches he had acqnired with 14bernadu, a, in the dav• of the ,okmn  c:n. xn. 1-14.) '!'HE HOOK OF HOSEA. 869