5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast [thee] off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will they be incapable of purity? 6 For from Israel is this also:—a workman made it, and itis no God: for the calf of Samaria shall be [broken in] pieces. 7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; should it sprout, it would yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up: now are they become among the nations as a vessel wherein is no pleasure. 9 For they are gone up [to] Assyria [as] a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers. 10 Although they hire among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall begin to be straitened under the burden of the king of princes.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Hosea 8:5-10
Commentary on Hosea 8:5-10
(Read Hosea 8:5-10)
They promised themselves plenty, peace, and victory, by worshipping idols, but their expectations came to nothing. What they sow has no stalk, no blade, or, if it have, the bud shall yield no fruit, there was nothing in them. The works of darkness are unfruitful; nay, the end of those things is death. The hopes of sinners will deceive them, and their gains will be snares. In times of danger, especially in the day of judgment, all carnal devices will fail. They take a course by themselves, and like a wild ass by himself, they will be the easier and surer prey for the lion. Man is in nothing more like the wild ass's colt, than in seeking for that succour and that satisfaction in the creature, which are to be had in God only. Though men may sorrow a little, yet if it is not after a godly sort, they will be brought to sorrow everlastingly.