So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bore him a son.
Parallel Translations
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So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bore him a son.
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So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.
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So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bore him a son.
Cross-references (1)
Passages linked to Hosea 1:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 8:1-3 Yahweh said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For Maher Shalal Hash Baz’; and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Call his name ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain We said in yesterday’s Lecture, that God ordered his…
We said in yesterday’s Lecture, that God ordered his Prophet to take a wife of whoredoms, but that this was not actually done; for what other effect could it have had, but to render the Prophet contemptible to all? and thus his authority would have been reduced to nothing. But God only meant to show to the Israelites by such a representation, that they vaunted themselves without reason; for they had nothing worthy of praise, but were in every way ignominious. It is then said, Hosea went and took to himself Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim גמר, Gomer, means in Hebrew, to fail; and sometimes it signifies actively, to consume; and hence Gomer means consumption. But Diblaim are masses of figs, or dry figs reduced to a mass. The Greeks call them παλαθας. The Cabalists say here that the wife of Hosea was called by this name, because they who are much given to wantonness at length fall into death and corruption. So consumption is the daughter of figs, for by figs they understand the sweetness of lusts. But it will be more simple to say, that this representation was exhibited to the people, that the Prophet set before them, instead of a wife, consumption, the daughter of figs; that is, that he laid before them masses of figs or παλαθας, representing Gomer, which means consumption and that he adopted a similar manner with mathematicians, when they describe their figures, — “If this be so much, then that is so much.” We may then thus understand the passage, that the Prophet here named for his wife the corrupt masses of figs; so that she was consumption or putrefaction, born of figs, reduced into such masses. For I still persist in the opinion I expressed yesterday, that the Prophet did not enter a brothel to take a wife to himself: for otherwise he must have begotten bastards, and not legitimate children; for, as it was said yesterday, the case with the wife and the children was the same.
We now then understand the true meaning of this verse to be, that the Prophet did not marry a harlot, but only exhibited her before the eyes of the people as though she were corruption, born of putrified masses of figs.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Gomer signifieth a consumption or corruption, and Diblaim clusters…
Gomer signifieth a consumption or corruption, and Diblaim clusters of figs, declaring that they were all corrupt like rotten figs.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Hos 1:3 So he went and took Gomer the…
Hos 1:3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.
Ver. 3. So he went] He said not, "This is a hard saying, who can hear it?" Joh 6:60. Dura mihi praecipit, et paene terret. He doth not reason but run, dispute but despatch. God must be obeyed, though we see no sense for it.
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And took Gomer] which signifieth both consummation and consumption, to show that she was consummata meretrix, a complete whore, had all the tricks of a whore; and brings her paramours to final consumption, utter extermination.
The daughter of Diblaim] Not quasi de Belaim, a place so called, as Hugo dreameth: though there was a wilderness of this name, whereto some think the prophet here alludeth, to show the Church’s wretched beginning in its own nature: as Son 3:6 Eze 16:7. But Diblaim is by some taken for Gomer’s father: by more, for her mother, which is also held to be a harlot, according to that, Eze 16:44, "As is the mother, so is the daughter." Diblaim signifieth bunches of dried figs, that were the delicacies of those times. Gluttony is the gallery that lechery walketh through. Sine Cerere et Libero friget Venus. Concupiscence (as Plato saith) hath the lowest places, and is alligata ventri, as one would tie a horse or an ass to the manger. Jer 5:8 not unfitly compareth sensualists to fed horses, neighing after their neighbours’ wives. Saturity breeds security, which is the sure forerunner of destruction. Est ergo hic gnome, saith a Lapide, i.e. Here we have, then, an elegant sentence, Gomer is the daughter of Diblaim, that is, rottenness of sensuality: for as the worm that grows in the fruit, devoureth it; so doth grief, the pleasure of sin. This observation we have from the Cabalists.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain So he went and took Gomer; as commanded, so…
So he went and took Gomer; as commanded, so he did, whether you take it parabolically or literally. If you take it literally, this Gomer will be some known harlot, and perhaps she was famous for her beauty, and skill in the courtesan’s art, as her name may import. If you take it as a parable, we must take this name for a made name, assumed for its signification; both in the best sense Israel was perfect with the perfection which God did put upon her, Eze 16:14, he made her
Gomer; and in the worst sense she made herself Gomer, one who was drawing to her end, who had undone and consumed herself; thus the word, Psa 12:1; and so, in one word, God’s bounty and mercy, and Israel’s ingratitude and sin, is set forth, together with her punishment hastening upon her.
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The daughter of Diblaim: literally understood, this Diblaim must be either father or mother of this Gomer, or else the name of the place where she was born. Parabolically understood, Diblaim, bunches of dried figs, may imply the deliciousness of her provision made of God, such as was made for great feasts, 1Sa 25:18; so 1Ch 12:40; thus it will suit Hos 2:5,9, and the places where the fig is mentioned as fruit with which God had blessed Israel. All which abused to luxury and sin, will now make her a daughter of Diblaim, of wilderness, desolate.
Bare him a son: this seems to favour the literal acceptation of all this as really done, and not only as represented in vision, parable, or hieroglyphic. But while either way it will be well applied to the purpose in hand, I shall leave it to the choice of every judicious reader to interpret and apply as best likes him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain So he went and took Gomer the daughter of…
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim,.... In the course of prophesying he made mention of this person, who was a notorious common strumpet; and suggested hereby that they were just like her; or these were fictitious names he used to represent their case by Gomer signifies both "consummation" and "consumption" (l); and this harlot is so called, because of her consummate beauty, and her being completely mistress of all the tricks of one; or, being consummately wicked, a perfect whore, common to all; and because her ruin and destruction, persisting in such practices, were inevitable, and so a fit emblem of the present and future condition of Israel. Diblaim may be considered either as the name of a man, a word of the same form with Ephraim; or of a woman, the mother of Gomer; or else of a place, the wilderness of Diblath, Eze 6:14 and signifies "a cake of dried figs" (m); which, in that country, was reckoned delicious eating; and so denotes, either that both the sin and ruin of this people were owing to their luxury, or indulging themselves in carnal pleasures, through the great affluence they were possessed of; or that their original was from a wilderness, and for their sins should be reduced to a desolate state again:
which conceived and bare him a son; whose name, and what he was an emblem of, are declared in the following verse. The Targum is,
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"and he went and prophesied over them, that if they returned, it should be forgiven them: but, if not, as fig tree leaves drop off, so should they; but they added, and did evil works.''
(l) A rad. "perfecit, desiit", Gussetius. (m) Vox "significat massas ficuum compressarum et siccatarum", Rivetus, Tarnovius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. He went and took Gomer] All this…
Verse 3. He went and took Gomer] All this appears to be a real transaction, though having a typical meaning. If he took an Israelite, he must necessarily have taken an idolatress; one who had worshipped the calves of Jeroboam at Dan or at Bethel.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Hos 1:3. So he went and took Gomer, &c.…
Hos 1:3. So he went and took Gomer, &c. — The word Gomer signifies failing, or consuming, (see Psa 12:1,) so that the very name of the harlot, whom Hosea took, was symbolical, signifying that the kingdom of Israel would experience a great failing, consumption, or decrease of its people; which indeed it did, through the Assyrian kings’ carrying away vast numbers of them, from time to time, into captivity. The daughter of Diblaim — Diblaim signifies heaps of figs; this name, therefore, may be considered as expressing symbolically, that, as some figs are good, others bad, (see Jeremiah 24.,) so there were some good people, although the major part were bad, among the Israelites. Which conceived, and bare him a son — This, it seems, was a legitimate son born to the prophet.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain So he went - He did not demur, nor…
So he went - He did not demur, nor excuse himself, as did even Moses Exo 4:18, or Jeremiah Jer 1:6, or Peter Act 10:4, and were rebuked for it, although mercifully by the All-Merciful. Hosea, accustomed from childhood to obey God and every indication of the will of God, did at once, what he was bidden, however repulsive to natural feeling, and became, thereby, the more an image of the obedience of Christ Jesus, and a pattern to us, at once to believe and obey God’s commands, however little to our minds.
Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim - “Gomer” is completion; “Diblaim,” a double lump of figs; which are a figure of sweetness. These names may mean, that “the sweetness of sins is the parent of destruction;” or that Israel, or mankind had completely forsaken God, and were children of corrupting pleasure.
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Holy Scripture relates that all this was done, and tells us the births and names of the children, as real history. As such then, must we receive it. We must not imagine things to be unworthy of God, because they do not commend themselves to us. God does not dispense with the moral law, because the moral law has its source in the mind of God Himself. To dispense with it would be to contradict Himself. But God, who is the absolute Lord of all things which he made, may, at His Sovereign will, dispose of the lives or things which He created. Thus, as Sovereign Judge, He commanded the lives of the Canaanites to be taken away by Israel, as, in His ordinary providence, He has ordained that the magistrate should not bear the sword in vain, but has made him His “minister, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” Rom 13:4. So, again, He, whose are all things, willed to repay to the Israelites their hard and unjust servitude, by commanding them “to spoil the Egyptian” Exo 3:22.
He, who created marriage, commanded to Hosea, whom he should marry. The prophet was not defiled, by taking as his lawful wife, at God’s bidding, one defiled, however hard a thing this was. “He who remains good, is not defiled by coming in contact with one evil; but the evil, following his example, is turned into good.” But through his simple obedience, he foreshadowed Him, God the Word, who was called “the friend of publicans and sinners” Mat 11:19; who warned the Pharisees, that “the publicans and harlots should (enter unto the kingdom of God before them” Mat 21:31; and who now vouchsafes to espouse, dwell in, and unite Himself with, and so to hallow, our sinful souls. The acts which God enjoined to the prophets, and which to us seem strange, must have had an impressiveness to the people, in proportion to their strangeness. The life of the prophet became a sermon to the people. Sight impresses more than words. The prophet, being in his own person a mirror of obedience, did moreover, by his way of life, reflect to the people some likeness of the future and of things unseen. The expectation of the people was wound up, when they saw their prophets do things at God’s command, which they themselves could not have done. When Ezekiel was bidden to show no sign of mourning, on the sudden death of “the desire of his eyes” Eze 24:16-18, his wife; or when he dug through the wall of his house, and carried forth his household stuff in the twilight, with his face covered Eze 12:3-7; the people asked, “Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?” (Eze 24:19, add Eze 12:10). No words could so express a grief beyond all power of grieving, as Ezekiel’s mute grief for one who was known to be “the desire of his eyes,” yet for whom he was forbidden to show the natural expressions of grief, or to use the received tokens of mourning. God Himself declares the ground of such acts to have been, that, rebellious as the house of Israel was Eze 12:2, “with eyes which saw not, and ears which heard not,” they might yet consider such acts as these.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Gomer . . . daughter of Diblaim--symbolical names; literally,…
Gomer . . . daughter of Diblaim--symbolical names; literally, "completion, daughter of grape cakes"; the dual expressing the double layers in which these dainties were baked. So, one completely given up to sensuality. MAURER explains "Gomer" as literally, "a burning coal." Compare Pro 6:27, Pro 6:29, as to an adulteress; Job 31:9, Job 31:12.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. The prophet followed the command.
3. The prophet followed the command.
Gomer — Various efforts have been made to find a symbolic meaning in this name as well as in that of the father, Diblaim, but without success. Both are to be understood literally. In time a son was born; to him the prophet gave a name symbolic of one important truth he was commissioned to teach. In a similar manner Isaiah gave to his sons the symbolical names Shear-jashub and Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isa_7:3; Isa_8:3). There is no reason to suppose that this son was the offspring of adulterous intercourse and that Hosea recognized him as his son “for his mother’s sake.” It is probable that Hosea did not find out the true character of his wife, or at least the hopelessness of the case, until after the birth of the three children.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim] Various attempts have…
3. Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim] Various attempts have been made to extract a meaning from these names, which by its appropriateness to the circumstances of the Israelites might favour the view that the events related are fictitious and not real. Gomer may plausibly be interpreted ‘perfection’ (i.e. consummate in wickedness), and Diblaim ‘cakes of figs’ (i.e. the sweetness of sin). Rahmer has pointed out this view in the Talmud (see Frankel’s Monatsschrift, xiv. 216 foll.), so that St Jerome’s similar explanation must have come from his Jewish teacher. But the fact that the children of Hosea (like those of Isaiah) have names which are obviously symbolic does not justify us in forcing an allusion out of the name of the mother. It has been suggested, but the view is not borne out by usage, that Diblaim is the name of Gomer’s birthplace; Diblathaim was a Moabitish town (see Jer_48:22 and Moabite Stone l. 30). The termination is that of the dual.
bare him a son] i.e. bare a son, whom for the mother’s sake he recognized.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) Gomer the daughter of Diblaim.—Gomer means complete, or…
(3) Gomer the daughter of Diblaim.—Gomer means complete, or perfect, but whether in external beauty or in wickedness of character is not easy to determine.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain So he went and took Gomer the daughter of…
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. Kimchi conjectures that "Gomer was the name of a harlot well known at that time;" he also explains the name, according to his view of its symbolic import, as follows: "Gomer has the meaning of completion;" as if the prophet said, He will fully execute on them the punishment of their transgressions that he may forgive their iniquity." The names of the children born to the prophet are significant and symbolical; and their symbolic significance is explained. The names mentioned in this verse are also significant, though their significance is not expressly stated, as in the former case; the cause of the omission being the fact that these names were not, like the others, now received for the first time, but simply retained. Gomer denotes "completion" or" consummation," from a verbal root signifying "to perfect" or "come to an end; and Diblaim is the dual of deblelah, the plural being debhelim, from the verb dabhal, to press together into a mass, especially a round mass. The meaning of the word, then, is two cakes," that is, of dried figs pressed together in lumps. It may be observed, in passing, that the Greek palayh seems to come from the Aramaic form debhalta, by the omission of the initial daleth. But what is the mystic meaning which the prophet veils under the two names Consummation and Compressed fig-cakes (cakes of compressed figs)? The one may hint not obscurely consummation in sin and in the suffering which is the ultimate consequence of sin; while the other may imply the sweetness of sensual indulgences, especially such as idolatrous celebrants were prone to. If, then, the symbolical interpretation of these names be allowable, we may accept that given by Jerome. He says, Out of Israel is taken typically by Hosea a wife consummated in fornication, and a perfect daughter of pleasure which seems sweet and pleasant to those who enjoy it." There is, moreover, an obvious appropriateness in the names thus symbolically understood. The prophet, whose name signifies "salvation," marries a woman who was a daughter of plea. sure and a votary of sin; this alliance represents the relation into which Jehovah, with his saving power, had mercifully taken Israel; but that people, unmindful and unthankful for such mercy, and intent on the indulgence of a sinful course, went from bad to worse in apostasy and idolatry till God at length left them in their impenitence and abandoned them to their fate. The conception and birth of Gomer"s son to the prophet, though several authorities omit "him," give no countenance to the idea of the child being supposititious; and so far there seems to be some confirmation of the opinion of Keil referred to under ver. 2.
Vers. 3-9. Hosea"s children.
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Not only was the prophet"s marriage to be a sign; the children were to be for signs also. So, afterwards, were Isaiah"s sons in Judah. (Isa_7:3, 14 8:3) Hosea"s ill-starred children were cursed in the very names which they bore; and each of these was to be as a sermon to the nation. It may be that they personally walked for a time in their mother"s evil ways; but whether or not, the names which they received concentrate into a focus Hosea"s message of judgment.
I JEZREEL. (Vers. 3-5) "Jezreel" was the name of the great plain in the heart of the northern kingdom which was the glory of Palestine for its beauty and richness, and which has been in all ages a battle-field of nations. It was also the name of the fair city which stood near the eastern end of the plain, where Ahab had his ivory palace, and where Jezebel and he committed so many infamous murders. Now, Hosea"s firstborn was called "Jezreel:
1. To recall the blood spilt there, which was still crying for vengeance. (Ver. 4) This must mean the blood shed by Ahab and Jezebel the murder of Naboth and his sons, and the massacre of the Lord"s prophets. But it probably includes also the revolting cruelties of John, by which he exterminated the whole family of Ahab. Divine retribution may slumber for many generations; but it will awake some day, and do its dreadful work. Jehu had destroyed the house of Ahab in obedience to a Divine command, and God had commended him for it. (2Ki_10:30) But, while his act was in accordance with his commission, his motive was not. He had complied with the will of God only in so far as he judged that compliance would advance his own political ends. His "zeal for the Lord (2Ki_10:16) was only a thin veneer overlaying his zeal for Jehu. So, although he overturned the altar of Baal, he clave to the calves of Jeroboam. Calvin refers here to Henry VIII of England as having been a modern Jehu. Henry broke with the pope, not that he might repudiate the errors of the papacy, but because he was determined to divorce Queen Catherine. He suppressed the monasteries, not because they were dens of vice, but that he might deliver a blow at the papal power, and at the same time fill his own coffers with the treasures of the monks. But, again, Hosea"s firstborn was called "Jezreel:
2. To suggest that Israel was about to be scattered by God for its sins. (Vers. 4, 5) "Jezreel" in Hebrew sounds and spells like "Israel;" and the play of sound suggests the thought that the nation which had "seen God," and been a "prince that prevailed with God," was to become "Jezreel" in the sense of being God-scattered" among the heathen. The impending ruin of John"s dynasty was to be the beginning of the end. For although the northern kingdom continued for half a century afterwards, it was constantly distressed with civil war, or distracted with revolution and anarchy, until at last Assyria came and subverted it altogether. Not only so, but Israel was to lose its prowess and meet its overthrow "in the valley of Jezreel" itself, hitherto the theatre of its military glory. That smiling plain had been to Israel what Marathon was to Greece, or what Bannockburn is to Scotland. Deborah and Barak, Gideon, Saul, Ahab, had all gained great victories there. Yet "in the valley of Jezreel" "the bow of Israel," which still seemed so strong, was to be irreparably broken. Hosea himself lived to witness, at least in part, the fulfillment of this oracle. (Hos_10:14) And illustrations may be readily multiplied from history of how God can break the pride of an ungodly nation at the innermost shrine of its glory. He did so with Nineveh, with Babylon, with Tyro. He did so again and again at Jerusalem. He did so a few years ago in France, when the victorious German army entered Paris by the Arc de Triomphe, and when King William of Prussia was crowned the first Emperor of United Germany in the palace of Versailles.
II LO-RUHAMAH. (Vers. 6, 7) This second child of Hosea and Gomer was a daughter. Her name, meaning "Not-pitied," brought a still sadder message to the guilty nation than the name "Jezreel" did. To be unpitied by God is a worse calamity than even to be "God-scattered." Hitherto Jehovah had at least always compassionated his erring children. And does not the whole of revelation tell us that the heart of God yearns with infinite tenderness over frail, suffering humanity? "Can a woman forget her sucking child?... Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." Why, then, was Israel called "Lo-ruhamah"? Not because the Divine heart had changed, but simply because she herself insisted upon not being "his own." She persistently "would none of" him. And so, at last, there was nothing for it but to allow her to "eat of the fruit of her own way." Hosea"s daughter was to be a living witness by her name that the Divine patience was now at length exhausted. And the presage of this name would be fulfilled in the total and irremediable deportation of the ten tribes into Assyria. In case, moreover, the people should cling to any false hope, the opposite lot of the kingdom of Judah is referred to (ver. 7) by way of contrast. Judah was not so thoroughly and hopelessly dissolute as Israel. The southern kingdom had not deserted the temple and the sacrifices. When it was spiritually at the worst, it possessed at least "a very small remnant." So Judah would receive chastisement rather than judgment. And God would "save" Judah, although not "by bow, nor by sword." There would soon be the marvelous deliverance from Sennacherib. Then, after the seventy years" exile, the return from Babylon. And, last of all, in the fullness of the time, the spiritual salvation of Jesus Christ. But all the while, alas! the northern kingdom, as such, was to be unsaved. For Ephraim"s apostasy had been unanimous and universal. Not one of its kings was a godly man. And the people would not hearken to God"s prophets, but settled down in confirmed wickedness and impenitence. So now at length there was no refuge for Israel even in the compassion of God itself.
III Lo-AMMI (Vers. 8, 9) The name of this third child, meaning "Not-my-people" presaged still worse disaster than either of the preceding. The third installment of judgment would plunge the nation into the lowest depth of all. The withdrawal of the Divine favor could only lead to positive rejection. What though the Jews kept boasting that they were the Lord"s chosen people, when "by their works they denied him"! The life of the nation was such as at length to allow him no alternative but to declare that he would not be their God. Jehovah must dissolve his covenant relation to them. He is compelled to disown and disinherit them. Henceforth they are to be no longer a sacred people; they are to differ in nothing from the profane Gentiles. A dreadful doom! Yet still that nation is finally cut off, and that soul is lost for ever, to whom God says these withering, woeful words (ver. 9), "I will not be yours.
CONCLUSION. If we can conceive what a dreadful trial it must have been to Hosea to give his children these mystic names, so ominous of woe, we shall be enabled in some measure, as he was, to sympathize with the Lord"s sorrow for those in his human family who live and die in obdurate impenitence, and over whom his wailing, despairing lament is, "How often I would have gathered you together, but ye would not! C.J.
Vers. 3-9. "Children of whoredoms.
Hosea"s children, like Isaiah"s, were to be "for signs and wonders" in Israel. (Isa_8:18) Their names Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah, Lo-ammi were significant. A prophetic word was attached to each.
I JEZREEL. (Vers. 4, 5) This first name will scatter foretells Israel"s scattering. Through it judgment is denounced
(1) upon the house of the king a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu;" and
(2) upon the kingdom will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel." The lessons taught are:
1. The character of an action is determined by its motive. By the "blood of Jezreel" is meant the slaughter of the seed of Ahab. (2Ki 10) God had commanded the extermination of Ahab"s house. (2Ki_9:7) Jehu was his chosen instrument in executing the judgment. Yet God says, "I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu." The apparent contradiction is solved, by remembering the unsanctified spirit in which Jehu went about his work of bloodshed. He did what God commanded, but there was no purity of motive in what he did. His "zeal for the Lord" was mere pretence, covering the seeds of personal ambition. He served God only so far as he could thereby serve himself. The massacre of Ahab"s seed opened his own way to the throne. When, therefore, having extirpated Ahab"s house, Jehu and his successors showed themselves heirs to Ahab"s sins, the bloodshed of Jezreel was justly imputed to them as guilt. Actions formally right may yet become sin to us through the motives which prompt them.
2. Partners in guilt will be made partners also in punishment. The kingdom had followed in the steps of its guilty rulers. The doom of excision, therefore, which is denounced against them the same doom as had been denounced formerly against the house of Ahab will fall on it also. Judgment is impartial.
3. There is a law of symmetry in the Divine visitations. It was the "blood of Naboth," shed in Jezreel, which brought down on Ahab"s house the sentence of extermination. (1Ki_21:17-25) It was in Jezreel that the doom was inflicted on Ahab, (1Ki_21:19 1Ki_22:34-38) on Jezebel, (2Ki_9:30-37) and on Ahab"s sons. (2Ki_10:11) Jezreel was the head-quarters of the wickedness for which the whole nation was now to be punished. And now Jezreel is again chosen as the place of vengeance. I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel." A similar correspondence of sin and punishment may be traced in very many of God"s dispensations. God would "break the bow." When he smites, weapons of defense afford but small protection.
II LO-RUHAMAH. (Vers. 6, 7) The first name spoke of external judgment. The second, "Unpitied," lays bare the ground of the judgment in the withdrawal of the Divine pity. It tells that Israel has nothing to hope for from God"s mercy in the dire hour that was so rapidly approaching. "For I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel," etc. (ver. 6). The fact that mercy was no longer to be shown to Israel implied:
1. That mercy had been shown to Israel hitherto. This was the case. No attribute had been more conspicuously displayed in the history of God"s dealings with the nation. Mercy was to be shown to Judah still (ver. 7). God"s end was merciful, even in the threatened rejection.
2. That there are limits to the Divine mercy. Not, "indeed, to the mercy itself, but to the exercise or manifestation of it. Righteousness sets limits to mercy. There comes a time when, consistently with righteousness, punishment can no longer be postponed. Even love sets limits to mercy. Paradoxical as it may seem, there are times when the only mercy God can show us is to show no mercy. It is no kindness to the incorrigible transgressor to continue sheltering him from the results of his transgression. God"s very love for Israel compelled him to exchange kindness for a holy severity which would not spare. This was needful, as Hosea 2 shows, for Israel"s salvation. The experience of the bitter fruits of sin may be the only thing which will bring the wayward one to repentance. (Luk_15:11-32)
3. God would pity Judah while rejecting Israel. (Ver. 7) The distinction made was not arbitrary. Judah, too, had deeply sinned, but she had not yet filled up the cup of her iniquity. Mercy, therefore, was still to be extended to her. The ground of this mercy, however, was to be sought, not in Judah, but only in God. "I will save them by the Lord their God." There is indicated here
(1) the long-sufferingness of the Divine mercy;
(2) the sovereignty of the Divine mercy;
(3) the omnipotence of the Divine mercy. "Will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen." We read of many such signal deliverances granted to Judah. (Isa_7:7, 8 37:6)
III LO-AMMI (Vers. 8, 9) The third name, Not my people," is most significant of all. It bespeaks a present, though, as the sequel shows, only temporary, dissolution of the covenant bond subsisting between the people and Jehovah. Through this rejection Israel would cease to be God"s people would sink to the level of the Gentiles.
1. In declaring Israel to be not his people, God but ratified the choice of the people themselves. They had refused to be God"s people. They had resisted all attempts to bring them back to their allegiance. God at length ratifies their choice. It is the same with every sinner. He chooses his own position. He makes his choice, and God confirms it.
2. In declaring himself to be not their God, God took up the only attitude now possible to him. M any would gladly have God as their God, i.e. would retain the benefits of his favor, friendship, and protection, while refusing the counter-obligation of living as his people. This cannot be. If we refuse to be God"s people, he has no alternative but to refuse to be our God. J.O.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Hos_1:3. Gom.] The name of a nation (Gen_10:2-3); symbolically…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Hos_1:3. Gom.] The name of a nation (Gen_10:2-3); symbolically G. = completion; i.e. completely given up to whoredom. Dib.] = daughter of grape-cakes, indicating pleasure and sensuality. “The sweetness of sins is the parent of destruction” [Pusey].
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Hos_1:4. Jez.] = I will sow, scatter or disperse, like a seedsman, which happened by the Assyrians (2Ki_17:5-6). Avenge] Heb. visit. Jehu commanded to destroy the house of Ahab, externally obeyed, and rewarded in measure. He acted not from principle, or as he pretended out of zeal, but to serve his own political ends (2Ki_9:10; 2Ki_9:36; 2Ki_10:16). “And so the blood which was shed according to the righteous judgment of God, became sin to him who shed it, in order to fulfil, not the will of God, but his own” [Pusey]. Jez. symbol of past sins, intermediate punishment and final overthrow.
Hos_1:5. Bow] Might, military prowess (Gen_49:24; Jer_49:35).
Hos_1:6. Daughter] A symbol of a degenerate race, some; of the totality of men and women of the nation, others; seems to intensify Lo-ruh.] = not pitied, lit. I will not add any more to. The original expresses tender yearning towards one (Rom_9:25; 1Pe_2:10); but God would not continue to show compassion as he had done; Divine mercy exhausted and Israel was left in a defenceless state. I will utterly] Lit. taking away, I will take away everything they have. Marg. another sense, to take away, i.e. to forgive sin.
Hos_1:7. The Lord their God] More emphatic than “through me” (Gen_19:24). Judah worshipped God; Israel turned to idols. One a witness for God, the other apostates from God. Judah saved in marked contrast to Israel punished.
Hos_1:9. Lo-am.] = not my people; the covenant relation dissolved. Son may typify the revival of strength in the reign of Jeroboam II., but prosperity brought no revival of piety. They were not God’s people. Not be your God] Lit. I will not be to you or for you; “for you by providence, to you by love” [Pusey]. Deprivation of all that God can be to them. When God ceases to belong to men, to compassionate them, rejection follows.
HOMILETICS
THE THREE JUDGMENTS.—Hos_1:3-9
The names of the three children given by God himself were to be significant. The life of the prophet was to be a living sermon before the people. His marriage preached God’s mercy, and his children God’s judgment. If they refused his words, they should see his actions. In the first name we have a warning of terrible judgment, in the second its connection with the Divine nature, in the third the result. Destruction, cessation of mercy, and rejection, would be dreadful to any nation, but to Israel they involved the loss of special privileges and distinctions, their social, political, and theocratical position.
I. The destruction of the Royal Family. “Upon the house of Jehu.” J. anointed at God’s command to execute judgment upon the house of Ahab (2Ki_9:6-7); was rewarded in measure for his conduct, yet served his own ends, and in executing judgment upon others, brought it upon himself and family. God loves justice, and will punish those who administer it from wrong motives and feelings. Kings and men in authority must not fall short of duty, nor exceed it in any respect. “So awful a thing it is to be the instrument of God in punishing or reproving others if we do not by his grace keep our own hearts and hands pure from sin” [Pusey], that we may be rejected ourselves. The slaughter of the Gibeonites by Saul, the conduct of Amalek towards Israel, seemed to be forgotten, but punishment came at last. Jehu’s house is visited, his progeny extinguished in the fourth generation for his offences. If we judge others we should not do the same things ourselves.
II. The destruction of the Regal Sovereignty. “And will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.” The strength of the kingdom was paralyzed after the destruction of the house of Jehu. Of five kings that followed Zechariah, only one died a natural death, the others were murdered and dethroned. The kingdom was distracted and broken, and in about 50 years completely destroyed by the captivity of the ten tribes. Kingdoms are built up, extended, and established by God; but the immorality of the rulers and the idolatry of the people will sow the seeds of decay and death. When God has numbered their days, no power, no splendour can hold them up. Foreign invasion and civil revolution may overturn. That kingdom is the strongest, the most splendid and secure, which makes God its sovereign. The skill of parliaments, the valour of soldiers, and the power of wealth are no security against the judgment of God. “Put them in fear, O Lord; that the nations may know themselves to be but men.”
III. The destruction of Military Prowess. “I will break the bow of Israel.” The bow was the special pride of Jehu (2Ki_9:24); the military strength upon which Israel relied, and for which it was famous (Jer_49:35).
1. This strength shall be broken. When God blows with the blast of his anger, individual health, family prosperity, and national glory fade like a flower. The strength of body, the vigour of mind, and the power of numbers are weak before him. God can humble the pride of men and nations, and take from them whatever they make their strength and defence.
2. This strength shall be irreparably broken. All power and projects defeated. When God breaks none can piece; when man pieces God can break. “The shield, the sword, and the battle,” weapons offensive and defensive, God can dash in pieces. In the spiritual conflicts of this and every age, no weapon formed against his people and his purpose shall prosper.
IV. The destruction of National Prestige. “In the valley of Jezreel.” This valley was the very centre and security of the kingdom, their Marathon and their Waterloo. It was the scene of their exploits and skill; the place of Ahab’s wickedness and Jehu’s zeal. Here God had executed judgments against the enemies, and delivered his people from danger. In this very spot in which the nation’s history was localized the nation’s glory should fade away, and the nation’s guilt be punished. Places of carnal security often exposed to shame and destruction. “Thus it is ever; when retribution comes it seems to despise the very things in which its victim gloried. A noble lineage, great wealth, patrimonial possessions, elevated positions, brilliant genius, and distinguished abilities; these are the modern Jezreels of sinners. In these they boast. But what are these? God, when he comes to judgment, will strike them in those very places, he will break their bow in the valley of Jezreel” [The Homilist].
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Jehu’s conduct.
1. Service insincere. God’s will done half way, not fully. He killed the priests, but clave to the calves.
2. Service from wrong motives. He acted not, as he pretended, out of zeal for God, but served his own political ends, and did God’s will from selfish and base motives.
3. Service divested of real virtue. It had no principle in it, and of was no true worth in the sight of God. His piety gave way to policy, and policy stained his piety. “By the ends, and not by the works done, are virtues distinguished from vices. Two things make a good Christian, and declare him so—good actions and good aims. And although a good aim doth not make a bad action good (as in Uzziah), yet a bad aim makes a good action bad, as here in Jehu” [Trapp].
4. Service involving his house and kingdom in ruin. “The massacre therefore,” says Calvin, “was a crime so far as Jehu was concerned, but with God it was a righteous vengeance.” Even if he did not make God’s command a mere pretext, yet his conduct was an act of blood-guiltiness which called for vengeance upon posterity. Things done by God’s desire or command may become crimes in the performer, if he acts from evil and selfish designs, and not from love to God. Religion must never be a cloak for the lusts of an evil and ambitious heart. Retribution will swiftly follow. “Be sure your sins will find you out.”
Jehu’s character. J was one of those quick, ambitious men, whom God raises up to change the fate of empires and execute judgment upon the earth. His zeal was great so long as it squared with his own interests, but cooled wonderfully when directed against them. He was not a great or good man, but an agent for the accomplishment of great purposes. In his sudden elevation to the throne; in the ruthlessness with which he carried out his purposes; in the union of profound dissimulation with fanatic zeal, he is not without his likeness in modern times.
Jehu’s punishment. “I will visit,” &c.,
1. God’s government. God supreme, exalted above the heavens, and ruleth over the kings and nations of the earth.
2. God’s purpose. “I will visit.” This purpose not capricious and arbitrary; in harmony with fixed principles, and regards moral conduct and desert.
3. God’s providence. “I will visit.” The providence fulfils the purpose of God in the events of history and by the agencies of men.
(1.) It is active. “I will visit.” “My Father worketh.” “All things work together.”
(2.) It is just as well as benevolent.
4. God’s power. “I will avenge.” God omnipotent can easily destroy or punish. God’s providence and presence are sensibly felt among men. Hence the ruin of the wicked certain, irresistible, terrible, and complete.
The destruction of the kingdom.
1. God is the Creator and Destroyer of nations. Men build often upon weak foundations, with unsuitable materials, and for base designs. “Except the Lord build,” &c.,
2. When God determines to destroy nations no power can avail against him. “I will break the bow.” No bow can abide in strength without him. Seeming prosperity or outward grandeur of no account with him.
3. The destruction of nations is not always by outward force. God has many ways, and can work without means. Loss in battle, invaded borders, and mercantile panics may be recovered. But vital corruption and decay of religion reach the very heart of a nation. Nothing can preserve a people wholly given to whoredom and idolatry.
4. Destruction of national exigence. “If all the historians who recorded the ultimate extinction of nations were inspired of God to give the true reasons of their fall, we should often meet this testimony: “Perished of national pride, producing contempt of God and of fundamental morality!” [Cowles].
Yet a little while. Space for repentance in human life and national affliction. Men perish not without warning. Judgment lingers long, but falls heavily at last. God’s measurement of time disregarded and sinned away can never be given again. “I gave her space to repent of her fornication.”
HOMILETICS
JUDGMENT AND MERCY.—Hos_1:6-7
The second judgment, the punishment foretold in the name of the daughter, is greater than that of the first. God would scatter, now Israel will be unpitied. By reference to the opposite lot of Judah, all false hope in God’s mercy is taken away. Those who forsake God, forsake their own mercy, and may reckon upon nothing but judgment.
I. Judgment without Mercy. Israel owed its preservation and prosperity amid anarchy and prevailing idolatry entirely to God’s mercy. God long-suffering, but sinners may exhaust his patience.
1. Mercy may be withheld from men. When former mercies are received with ingratitude, or abused, God will add no more (Psa_59:5). Goodness and mercy should lead to repentance, but if despised, men will treasure up wrath for themselves against the day of wrath (Rom_2:4-5). Day by day, hour by hour, individuals may be heaping up this awful treasure. The cup may soon be filled, God’s forbearance withheld, and judgment without mercy.
2. Mercy withheld from men will lead to utter ruin. “I will utterly take them away.” The ten tribes never returned (except very few) from captivity. Judgment fell upon the Churches in Asia Minor, and now they are warnings to others. The long-suffering of God waited in vain in the days of Noah; the flood came and destroyed an ungodly world. Because sentence is not suddenly executed, men plunge into deep sin, ripen themselves for greater judgment, which comes in ten-fold vengeance and utterly takes them away.
3. Mercy withheld from us and given to others is a sad ingredient in the cup of sorrow. This life is often embittered by opposite lots. The sobriety of one condemns the drunkenness of another. The spendthrift sees in the happiness and prosperity of his neighbour what he might have been himself. There is a necessary and natural connection between conduct and reward here. So in the future; condition will result from character; the fruit will grow from the tree. “Say to the righteous, it shall be well with him. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him” (Isa_3:10-11). One thing is set against another to teach men righteousness.
II. Mercy in the midst of Judgment. “I will have mercy upon the house of Judah.” Mercy was wonderfully shown to Judah in her danger from Assyrians, in deliverance from Babylon, in her beaten and plundered condition at the present by. Israel (2Ki_14:12). This a type of God’s dealings now. None deserve mercy, all are alike guilty.
1. Mercy Divine in its source. Israel had no mercy upon Judah; men have no mercy upon one another, but God shows mercy. “I will have mercy.”
2. Mercy sovereign in its objects. Upon Judah, not Israel. God has mercy upon whom he will have mercy (Rom_9:15). Often sinners beyond all others, liars, thieves, and drunkards are chosen. Paul, Bunyan, and Newton become patterns of mercy unto others. In this there is no unrighteousness in God, nor injury to man.
3. Mercy without human merit. Man clings to means, and wants to be saved by works. Not by works of the law, lest man should boast, but entirely of grace, through faith. Human efforts, instrumentalities of men, the power of intellect, and the energy of will avail nothing. Not by bow nor by sword, not by horses and chariots, on which nations rely in battle. God needs no creature helps; exalted in power, he will magnify his grace. It is salvation complete, without sorrow, humiliation, and bloodshed. “By the Lord their God,” whom they worshipped when Israel committed whoredom.
This passage leads us to contemplate God’s mercy. Mercy is a modification of goodness. God is good to all, but is only merciful to the suffering sinner. Mercy not only implies suffering, but suffering arising from sin. If suffering were a necessity springing out of the constitution of things, its removal or mitigation would be an act of justice rather than mercy. Earth is a sphere where God shows his mercy, for here is suffering springing from sin. Here we have—
I. Mercy withheld from some. “For I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel,” &c. When mercy has been abused the time comes when it is withheld, and the subjects are left abandoned of God. When mercy is withheld from nations they perish, from churches they decay, from families they sink to corruption, from individuals they are lost. “My spirit shall not always strive with men.”
II. Mercy bestowed upon others. “I will have mercy upon the house of Judah.” This mercy was signally shown to Judah, when in one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand warriors were slain. Looking at the words in their spiritual application they suggest two remarks in relation to man’s deliverance. First, It is of mercy. The deliverance of man from the guilt, the power, and consequence of sin, is entirely of God’s mercy, free, sovereign, boundless mercy. Secondly, Man’s deliverance is: By moral means. “Will not save them by bow,” &c. No material force can deliver the soul from its spiritual difficulties and perils. Moral means alone can effect the object. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.” Conclusion: Use mercy rightly while you have it. Its grand design is to produce reformation of character, and meetness for the high service and lofty fellowship with the great God, here and yonder, now and for ever [The Homilist].
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hos_1:7. Mercy upon the house of Judah. When Divine justice is glorified in some, yet there are others in whom free grace is glorified. And though some through unbelief are broken off, yet God will have a Church in this world till the end of time. It aggravates the rejection of Israel that God will have mercy on Judah, and not on them, and magnifies God’s mercy to Judah, that though they also have done wickedly, yet God did not reject them as he rejected Israel [Matt. Henry].
The Lord their God. The antithesis is not merely to the false gods of the heathen, but to the conduct of Israel who cast off Jehovah. Hence God withheld mercy from Israel, but gave it to Judah, who owned him as theirs, and whom they outwardly worshipped in pursuance of the covenant with them. Notice the benefits of national worship. Even outward forms of worship and Sabbath observance remind us of the reality, tend to ameliorate the prejudices and intone the spirit of society. Men are in danger of sinking into animal life by the pressure of labour and materialism. Neglect of national worship would break down moral barriers, and flood the land with amusements and wickedness. The human race feel the necessity of a purer and better life. Hence whatever interferes with Sabbath observances, whatever hinders the worship of God and the moral culture of men, should be avoided. Without national worship—
1. Many would observe no worship at all.
2. Men would have no opportunities for moral and religious instruction at all.
3. Generous feelings would not be cherished, the mutual equality of men in the sight of God would be forgotten, the highest ranks would not be inspired with humility and condescension, nor the lowest with feelings of gratitude and love.
4. The people would have no regard for God; eventually cast off all fear and restraint; and judgment without mercy would strip us of our national prestige and position. When utterly taken away no bow could defend us, and no battle save us.
HOMILETICS
A CAST OFF PEOPLE.—Hos_1:8-9
The third judgment is the most severe of all. Lo-ammi, not my people. God ceases to compassionate the rebellious tribes, the state of rejection ensues, and they are no longer “my people,” Jehovah will not belong to them. “I will not be your God.” Notice the gradual steps to this result.
1. Fellowship with God is interrupted. God was the God of Israel, but they did not own him as such—did not worship him, but committed whoredom. The service of Jehovah was irksome. Idolatry weaned their hearts from him, and they neglected religious privileges and despised religious teaching. Neglect of public worship and private devotion, contempt for the ordinances of the gospel, any wilful interruptions of communion with God, are signs of declension and steps to utter abandonment of God.
II. The Covenant relation is dissolved. Israel would not have God, and God would have nothing to do with them; would not be to them what he had been, and what they vainly expected he would be. They deprived themselves of his love and mercy, of his providence and protection. Many despise God and contemn his laws. They despise the authority of the Father, the death of the Son, and the influence of the Spirit. They disregard every office they sustain, and dishonour every relation they bear to us. They break from their allegiance, and live alienated from God by wicked works. They are “without God in the world.” To be without food and shelter is sad enough; to be without friends and supporters is sadder still; but to be without God, the sublimest being, the greatest good, is the real and awful condition of those whom God disowns.
III. Utter rejection results. “Not my people.” Forget God, and you will depart from him. Cast off God, and he will forsake you for ever (2Ch_15:2). When God deserts in providence, and withholds his grace in Christ, men are doomed to be cut off from hope here, and eternal life hereafter. “I will not be your God,” describe their dreadful condition;
1. Disowned,
2. Disinherited, and
3. Cursed.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Not be your God.
1. In the exigencies of life; to supply your need.
2. In the providences of life; to guide your steps.
3. In the end of life; at the solemn hour of death. Continuance in sin after once smiting will bring greater judgment upon nations, churches, and individuals. No limits must be set to God’s mercy, yet it often happens when God contends with nations that they prove so obstinate in sin, so incessant in departing from God, that nothing but rejection ends it for a time. “The same is seen in individuals. God often first chastens them lightly, then more heavily, and brings them down in their iniquities; but if they still harden themselves, he withdraws both his chastisements and his grace, so that the sinner even prospers in this world, but, remaining finally impenitent, is cast off for ever” [Pusey].
The Three Judgments.
1. Three warnings to the impenitent.
2. Three opportunities of repentance.
3. Three degrees of chastisement—or, The Judgments of God.
1. Gradual in their manifestation.
2. Intenser in their degree.
3. Corrective in their design.
4. Suspended in their operations.
5. Certain in their event.
6. Destructive in their consequence.
A cast-off people.
1. Not a privileged people, do not belong to “the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise.”
2. Not a pitied people, destitute of mercy and grace to help, exposed to wrath, and in danger of perishing.
3. Not a people at all, lacking everything which makes a people, spiritually dead. God’s people the only real people, the only persons worthy to be called a people.
Hos_1:4-10 may be taken as A graphic picture of family life.
1. The mother’s life a life of apostasy from God.
2. The father’s life a life of service for God.
3. The children’s lives lives of judgments from God. What a difference in the moral character, spiritual condition, and future destiny in the same family.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Retribution, Hos_1:4-5. That God is revealed in nature as a God of retribution, the writings of the heathen abundantly show. The attribute of retributive justice they made a separate deity, whose conclusions and awards would be full and perfect only in the future world. They gathered this, first, from the admonitions of conscience within them; second, from those judgments of God, from time to time falling upon mortals, so extreme and awful, that even the most darkened minds were compelled to interpret them as God’s testimony, both of his wrath against sin, and his determination to punish it. But by far the most remarkable of these judgments are related in the Scriptures; and the sacred writer adds to the enumeration of them, that they happened as examples, and are to be regarded as proving this great truth, that God is reserving the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished. God’s judgments awaken men’s conscience and set it powerfully at work. They reveal a God who can and will punish sin [Cheever].
Judgment and Mercy, Hos_1:6-9. The changes of providence are not the tricks of fortune. Empires rise and fall at God’s bidding. A dungeon here, and there a throne, his will assigns. Assyria yields to Babylon, and Babylon to the Medes. Kings are but puppets in his hand; they serve his purpose when they rise and when they fall. A certain author [Timbs] has issued a work called “Historic Ninepins,” a fit name of scorn for all the great ones of the earth. God only is: all power belongs to him; all else is shadow, coming and going, unsubstantial, misty, dream-like [Spurgeon].
Here he exalts neglected worms
To sceptres and a crown;
Anon the following page he turns
And treads the monarch down.
Mercy. In the reign of the first Napoleon, there was an insurrection at Paris. One of the ring-leaders was brought before the Emperor; and as this was his second offence against the government, he was sentenced to be transported. The day after the trial, it was told Napoleon that the child of the convicted man was waiting to see him. “Bring her in,” said Napoleon; and a tearful, trembling little girl, on being led in, cast herself at his feet and implored him to have mercy on her father. “My child,” said the emperor, touched by her distress, “this is the second time your father has been guilty of treason; I cannot save him.” “Oh, sir!” said the kneeling child, “it is not justice we want, but mercy and pardon.” Napoleon, much moved, raised the girl to her feet, and said, “For your sake I will release your father.” We deserve judgment, but our great want from the Lord our God is mercy. “I will have mercy” [American Paper].
Free as the sun that shineth, and gilds the mountain’s brow, and makes glad the valleys, without fee or reward, so free is the mercy of God to every needy sinner. Free as the air which belts the earth, and penetrates the peasant’s cottage, as well as the royal palace, without purchase or premium, so free is the mercy of God in Christ. It tarrieth not for thee; it cometh to thee as thou art. It waylayeth thee in love: it meeteth thee in tenderness [Spurgeon].
Forsaken, Hos_1:8-9. To be forsaken of God implies utter loneliness, utter helplessness, utter friendlessness, utter hopelessness, and unutterable agony [Spurgeon].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Gomer ... Diblaim
Gomer ... Diblaim
These are names of people. (See: How to Translate Names)
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the house of Jehu
Here "house" means "family," including Jehu's descendants. (See: Metaphor)
the house of Israel
This expression refers to kingdom of Israel. (See: Metaphor)
the bow of Israel
Here "bow" refers to the power of the army. AT: "the military power of Israel" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Hosea
son
Yahweh
name
Jezreel
punish
house
Jehu
bloodshed
kingdom
Israel
bow and arrow
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.