7:1 When I
would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the
wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and a
the thief cometh in, [and] the troop of robbers spoileth without.
(a) Meaning that there was no one type of vice
among them, but that they were subject to all wickedness, both secret and
open.
7:3 They make the b
king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
(b) They esteem their wicked king Jeroboam above
God, and seek how to flatter and please him.
7:4 They [are] all adulterers, as an c
oven heated by the baker, [who] ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the
dough, until it be leavened.
(c) He compares the rage of the people to a
burning oven which the baker heats, until his dough is leavened and raised.
7:5 In the d
day of our king the princes have made [him] sick with bottles of wine; he
stretched out his hand with scorners.
(d) They used all indulgence and excess in their
feasts and solemnities, by which their king was overcome with being fed too
much, and brought into diseases, and who delighted in flatteries.
7:7 They are all hot as an oven,
and have e devoured their judges; all
their kings are fallen: [there is] none among them that calleth unto me.
(e) By their doing God has deprived them of all
good rulers.
7:8 Ephraim, he hath f
mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.
(f) That is, he counterfeited the religion of the
Gentiles, yet is but as a cake baked on the one side, and raw on the other,
that is, neither thoroughly hot, nor thoroughly cold, but partly a Jew, and
partly a Gentile.
7:9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he
knoweth [it] not: yea, g gray hairs are
here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
(g) Which are a token of his manifold
afflictions.
7:11 Ephraim also is like a
silly dove without h heart: they call to
Egypt, they go to Assyria.
(h) That is, without all judgment, as those that
cannot tell whether it is better to cleave only to God, or to seek the help of
man.
7:12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon
them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them,
as their i congregation hath heard.
(i) According to my curses made to the whole
congregation of Israel.
7:13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me:
destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have k
redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
(k) That is, at different times redeemed them,
and delivered them from death.
7:14 And they have not cried unto me with their
heart, l when they howled upon their
beds: m they assemble themselves for
corn and wine, [and] they rebel against me.
(l) When they were in affliction, and cried out
in pain, they did not seek me for help.
(m) They only seek their own benefit and wealth,
and care not for me their God.
7:16 They return, [but] not to
the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the
sword for the rage n of their tongue:
this [shall be] their derision in the land of Egypt.
(n) Because they boast of their own strength, and
do not care what they speak against me and my servants; (Psalms
73:9).
Hosea 7 Bible Commentary
The Geneva Study Bible
(a) Meaning that there was no one type of vice among them, but that they were subject to all wickedness, both secret and open.
7:3 They make the b king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
(b) They esteem their wicked king Jeroboam above God, and seek how to flatter and please him.
7:4 They [are] all adulterers, as an c oven heated by the baker, [who] ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
(c) He compares the rage of the people to a burning oven which the baker heats, until his dough is leavened and raised.
7:5 In the d day of our king the princes have made [him] sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.
(d) They used all indulgence and excess in their feasts and solemnities, by which their king was overcome with being fed too much, and brought into diseases, and who delighted in flatteries.
7:7 They are all hot as an oven, and have e devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: [there is] none among them that calleth unto me.
(e) By their doing God has deprived them of all good rulers.
7:8 Ephraim, he hath f mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.
(f) That is, he counterfeited the religion of the Gentiles, yet is but as a cake baked on the one side, and raw on the other, that is, neither thoroughly hot, nor thoroughly cold, but partly a Jew, and partly a Gentile.
7:9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth [it] not: yea, g gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
(g) Which are a token of his manifold afflictions.
7:11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without h heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
(h) That is, without all judgment, as those that cannot tell whether it is better to cleave only to God, or to seek the help of man.
7:12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their i congregation hath heard.
(i) According to my curses made to the whole congregation of Israel.
7:13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have k redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
(k) That is, at different times redeemed them, and delivered them from death.
7:14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, l when they howled upon their beds: m they assemble themselves for corn and wine, [and] they rebel against me.
(l) When they were in affliction, and cried out in pain, they did not seek me for help.
(m) They only seek their own benefit and wealth, and care not for me their God.
7:16 They return, [but] not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage n of their tongue: this [shall be] their derision in the land of Egypt.
(n) Because they boast of their own strength, and do not care what they speak against me and my servants; (Psalms 73:9).