Commentary on the Old Testament Volume 2-4, Biblical commentary 7 · minor prophets · Hosea · Chapter 9
CHAP. IX.
THou hast loved a reward upon every corn floore: Here again Israel is reproved V. 1.and threatned for doing like an harlot, when as she hath an husband. For in the former words Israel is challenged for going a whoring, now it is laid open how basely minded this spirituall harlot was, she took rewards of corn from the floore for consenting to this foul wickednesse: Hebr. it is, the floore of the wheat, and so Calvin renders it. The meaning is, as a woman that beareth an whorish mind, will prostitute her self to another man for gifts, although she hath an husband ready enough to supply her with all things for necessity and pleasure, which is a thing most abominable: so the Church of Israel having God to her husband, who was ready to supply her abundantly with corn and wine and al things, yet out of a most corrupt and base mind, debased her self to serve Idols, hoping from them to have these things, as they are brought in speaking, as beleeving they had Jer. 44. 17. whereas this may seem to be contradictory to ch. 9. 8. Ephraim hath hired Lovers, to take rewards and to give rewards. It is easily answered, she gave to the Assyrians to help her against her enemies, and to idols brought peace-offerings, for the women of Israel are said to have made cakes for the Queen of heaven. But when they did thus, they sought withall a reward, to have the more plentifull crops of corn Jer. 44.and aboundance of all fruits, although most vainly, as hath beene already shewed: Like unto them doe the Papists, who have many particular Saints Note. in severall cases that they seek unto, and not to God onelyonly, ah that they would herein consider, how they shake hands with whorish Israel, who was thus threatned therefore; Jerome expounds it, thou hast thought the floore Hieron.and wine-presse to be the reward of thy whoredome, as if for serving idols thou wert supplyed. But that is so full, which I have said out out of Calvin before, that there is no more to be said.
The floore and the winepresse shall not feed thee, &c. that is, in stead of getting V. 2.corn and wine by thy whorish doings, thou shalt be put from all, and driven to wander and begge in Egypt and Assyria, as followeth, vers. 3. For to Egypt, as it is to be conceived some of them fled to avoid the Assyrians rage, when they were for the most part carryed away into Assyria, as was touched before, chap. 8. 13.
And they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. This may seem to be a thing of V. 3. Calvin.small moment to be spoken of, to aggravate their judgement in being carryed captive into Assyria, but it is as much in effect as if he had said, that he would reject them from being his peculiar people, of which refraining from meats uncleane was a signe, so that thenceforth they should not differ from other prophane people of the world, which was a greater judgement then their captivity it self.
They shall not offer wine-offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing to him. Some hereby think it is meant, that now they being still in their owne land V. 4.should doe no duties to be accepted of, because they were so wicked, as is further declared, Esai. 1. and Esai. 66. so Calvin holding this to be further confirmed by the next words, Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mournners, all that eat thereof shall be polluted; for amongst the Assyrians they would not sacrifice, seeing there was one place onelyonly for sacrifice. But others understand these words, as a continued relation of the Lords rejecting them, they should not onelyonly be as other prophane nations eating unclean meats, but without the service of God also, and if they should there offer Sacrifice, the Lord would not be pleased therewith, but much more offended, their Sacrifices being no better accounted of then the bread of mourners for the bread, that is, unclean and polluting all such, as eat thereof, because all things in the house, where the dead be, were by the Law of Moses uncleane, so Lyra, and thus it is determined, Numb. 19. that all things in the house, where a dead corps was should be counted unclean. As for wine-offerings, of which he here speaketh, see Numb. 15. they were added to their Sacrifices. Whereas it is argued from the place, that there could be no sacrificing there, no more could there be in the land of the ten Tribes, and therefore it may be conceived, that they passed not for transgressing the Law by sacrificing in Bethel or Dan, would not, if they thought good, forbear to doe the like in an heathen country also, for their bread for their soule shall not come into the house of the Lord, Vulg. Their bread in for their soule, it shall not come into the house of the Lord, the Hebrew will bear either reading, the meaning, saith Lyra, is, the bread of their Lyra.meat-offerings is to feed themselves, there being no other end in their sacrificing, but to feast and pamper their bodies, therefore it is not accounted as a sacrifice that cometh into the Lords house, any whit available before the Lord to procure his favour unto them. And this is the rather to be approved, because their soule, Heb. is often put for themselves, see also the like before chap. 8. 13. Calvin; the sacrifices which they offer shall not be available for the Calvin.good of their soul, because an atonement shall not be made hereby, as the end of sacrificing was, let the reader take it which way he pleaseth.
What will ye doe in the festivall day of the Lord? R. Solomon when the Lord V. 5. R. Solomon. Gualter followeth R. Solomon.makes a feast with your dead carcasses for the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air; but this seemeth to be far fetcht, it is rather an addition to that which was said before, seeing ye can offer no pleasing sacrifice to God for the expiation of your sins, what will yee doe, when the time of sacrificing cometh? surely ye may even sit still, and bring no more sacrifices in vain. For although ye doe, ye shall not escape Gods judgement, so far shall ye be from coming into his favour hereby. And therefore vers. 6. he saith, They are gone V. 6.because of destruction, Egypt shall gather them, Memphis shall bury them, that is, in fleeing destruction by the Assyrians many shall flee into Egypt and dye there, as was partly touched before cha. 8. 13. and Memphis is particularly named because a chief City in Egypt, to which the most resorted, the desirable place for their silver, the nettles shall possesse or inherit, that is, by reason of their treasure hidden Lyra.there, the ground upon which the most set their hearts they shall leave, and it shall long lye desolate, which is implyed by saying, the nettles shall inherit it, &c. arguing no short, but a long time of desolation. Gualter will have it Gualter.called the desireable for silver, because their costliest buildings were hereby meant, which stood them in much money.
The Prophet is a fool, the spirituall man madde, Vulg. Israel know thee a fool, the V. 7.Prophet madde, but in the Hebrew it is, Israel shall know, for in the former words he said, the day of recompence is come, now he saith Israel shall know it, and when it is so, it will appear, that the false Prophet who flattered with them, and promised them peace was a fool, and that the spirit of which he boasted, whereby he spake to harden them in their evill wayes, was nothing else but madnesse, as in one rapt by an evill spirit or possessed, that uttereth things, of which no good sense can be made: And such are all Prophets, that to please the people, or the higher powers, regard not so much to speak what the Lord hath said in his Word, but what may most ingratiate them with these, a fault too common in these times. But look not at them as they are Note. commonly reputed, godly zealous Ministers, but as mad and foolish, so likewise Popish Priests and Jesuites going under the name of learned men, are fools and mad men with all their mitred Bishops and Cardinals, and Popes glittering so by the glory of supposed extraordinary holinesse. For thy great iniquity and much hatred: for which thou art left to the seducement of these foolish and mad Prophets. For sin and hatred of good, and of those that seek to perswade hereunto is the cause, why a people is given over to be lead by such Prophets to their destruction, as 2 Thes. 2. 11. For this cause God giveth Note. them over to strong delusions, to beleeve lies, so that they, that would not come under this judgement ought readily to bearken to such as teach the truth, and at their teaching to amend their lives.
The Watchman of Ephraim was with my God, but the Prophet a snare of a Fowler. According V. 8. Calvin.to this reading Calvin saith, that some make this exposition; The Prophets of old cleaved close to God, and his Word in all their Prophesyings, venting nothing else but what he commanded them, but now contrariwise they speak of their own heads, thus insnaring their hearers as a fowler the silly birds. But he rather preferreth another, saying that this agreeth not so well to the words, and that is, as the Hebrew word for word, The Watchman of Ephraim with my good, the Prophet a snare of the fowler, the Watchman and Prophet here spoken of are not two divers from each other, but both one, and so it is, as if he had said, the Watchman who is the Prophet of Ephraim is become a snare; for a Prophet is by God set to be a Watchman, Ezek. 3. and therefore said to be a Watchman with God, or Gods Watchman; but becoming a snare he is an hatred in the house of the Lord, that is, one whom the Lord hateth, although he be bold even to come into the House of God, and there publickly, and not in corners to seek to insnare mens soules: and he maketh the service done there to be hatefull and abominable, and this is best. For the conjecture of Lyra here, because the house of the Lord is spoken of, that it is spoken to Judah, it is nothing solid, for I conceive, that this is spoken of all together both Judah and Israel, in either of which such wicked Prophets were an hatred, and for Israel it is manifest, that he is spoken to because Ephraim is here named.
They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the dayes of Gibeah. This is spoken in alluding to the foul sinfulnesse of the men of Gibeah in Benjamin, Judg: 19. V. 9.wherein they equalled the Sodomites, and therefore were terribly destroyed both men and women.
I found Israel as grapes in the wildernesse, I saw your Father as the first ripe in V. 10.the fig-tree at her first time. Here to make the sin of Israel the more odious, hee sheweth how dearly God had loved them, as one that findeth grapes in the wildernesse, where he never looked for any, because it is a barren place, and as first ripe figs, which be most acceptable to him that espyeth them. But this is not spoken of them, as though they were such of themselves, whereby God was moved to seek and finde them, or to looke after them; but hereby is meant, that he out of his meer grace, when they were in the wildernesse and might there have perished for want, lookt after them, and had a tender care over them, as a man hath of his Vine laden with grapes, or his fig-tree with figs of the best sort. But they requited him ill for this, going to Baal-Peor, that is, committing spirituall whoredome with that idol, as the Hebrews use the phrase of going in, to set forth the wickednesse of a man committed with an whore: of this read Numb. 25.
Their glory shall flee away as a bird, from the birth, &c. Ephraim gloryed in this V. 11.that he was full of people, but this glory of his at the coming of the Assyrians shall soon be gone, some of his children being slain so soon as born, others, in the very time of coming forth, and others being yet in the womb, their mothers being slain, thus Vatablus; others expound their glory of their Vatablus.multitudes of people at their first separating from Israel, for herein they gloryed that they were so many from the very beginning of that kingdome; but he threatneth, that this glory whereupon they did bear themselves from the birth and conception, as it were, of the Kingdome should soon vanish, Hieron. Calvin.thus Jerome. But Calvin will have not onelyonly children here meant, but all other things of worth, wherein they abounded and placed their glory; but because of children there be three degrees he proceedeth hereby in setting this forth, meaning that he would bring them down by degrees and not all at once first taking away children born, and if for this they repented not, then those in the womb ready to be born, and if this moved them not, then such as were but even in the conception, lastly, if any have in the taking away of these escaped, and be grown past babes, yet they shall not be suffered to live to be men, which I also prefer.
Ephraim, as I have seen Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place, Heb. Ephraim, as I have seen in Tyrus, a plant in a cottage, that is, Ephraim is as a plant in a house in Tyrus, V. 13.kept within in time of winter most tenderly, as they use to doe that are flowerists by some most pretious plant which they highly esteem of. For Tyre was a rich city standing in the Sea, and having but little ground, of which they made fair gardens, they were curious about the flowers growing therein, and the better to defend them from the cold in winter, they set them in pots into houses, as we may guesse, by that which is now by some done. For even as some are tender over plants, which they esteem of, so God in saying, thus sheweth that he was over Israel, but they should be brought out of the place wherein hee had housed them as it were, and be destroyed without any pity.
Give them (O Lord) what wilt thou give them? a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. Seeing they abuse their numerosity to pride & presumption, to go on in sin against V. 14.al admonitions and threatnings, lay this judgment upon them, that they may not increase any more, so Jerome but there is a better exposition of Calvin, the Hieron. Calvin.Prophet here propounds himself as an intercessor for them, and studying what to ask for them, seeing so great a judgment should come to the cutting off of their children, as v. 11. both the grown, the new born, and unborn, whilest they were yet in the womb, he begs this as a mercy in this case, that their women might not be fruitfull any more, but barren; rather then to conceive and bring forth to destruction by the cruell enemy. For in the like case, blessed, saith our Lord, is the womb that bare not, and the paps that gave no suck. Ver. 15. V. 15.All their wickednesse is in Gilgal, there I hated them for their wicked doings: of Gilgel, see before chap. 4. 15. but the Prophet seemeth besides the wickednesse of idolatry now practised there, of which see chap. 12. 11. to point at their first great wickednesse in making Saul King in that place, because then God began first to shew his greatest displeasure against them, saying, that they had rejected him, as here it is said, I hated them there. And having entred into this way of wickednesse they fell to it againe in setting Jeroboam over them, who began a course of idolatry to his successours and all the people wherein they followed to the end, generation after generation, as hath been before shewed, chap. 8. 4. I will cast them out of my house, that is, as they have left my house at Jerusalem and sacrificed in Gilgal, so I will cast them off, that they shall not be as any of the house of Abraham, and consequently not of my house or family any more, but as strangers unto me like other Nations; see the like speech, Ephes. 2. 12. it is an elegant paranomasie whereby he expresseth it. Vers. 16. Their root is dryrd up, they shall bear no fruit, as vers. 14. he prayed V. 16.that there might be barrennesse amongst them, and abortivenesse, so here he threatneth them to the same effect by a metaphor of a tree the root being dead and dryed up, or rather prophesieth, that it shall be so. Vers. 17. is nothing but a repetition of that which was before said, the Lord will cast them away, as V. 17.vers. 15. and they shall be wanderers amongst the Nations, as vers. 36.