Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“As they called them--"they," namely, monitors sent by Me. "Called," in Ho 11:1, suggests the idea of the many subsequent calls by the prophets. went from them--turned away in contempt (Jer 2:27).”

“Ac 13:18, which probably refers to this passage of Hosea; He took them by the arms, to guide them that they might not stray, and to hold them up that they might not stumble. knew not that I healed them--that is, that My design was to restore them spiritually…”

“In a figurative sense, "he shall return to Egypt" (Ho 9:3), that is, to Egypt-like bondage; also many Jewish fugitives were literally to return to Egypt, when the Holy Land was to be in Assyrian and Chaldean hands.”

“So the phrase is used of a new turn given to the feeling (Ps 105:25). repentings--God speaks according to human modes of thought (Nu 23:19). God's seeming change is in accordance with His secret everlasting purpose of love to His people, to magnify His grac…”

“But as this verse praises Judah, whereas Ho 12:2 censures him, it must belong rather to the eleventh chapter and a new prophecy begins at the twelfth chapter. To avoid this, MAURER translates this verse as a censure, "Judah wanders with God," that is, though…”

“Israel follows not only things vain, but things pernicious (compare Job 15:2). increaseth lies--accumulates lie upon lie, that is, impostures wherewith they deceive themselves, forsaking the truth of God. desolation--violent oppressions practised by Israel …”

“Judah, under Ahaz, had fallen into idolatry (2Ki 16:3, &c.). Jacob--that is, the ten tribes. If Judah, the favored portion of the nation, shall not be spared, much less degenerate Israel.”

“As the promised Canaan had to be gained forcibly by Israel, so heaven by the faithful (Re 3:21; compare Lu 13:24). "Strive," literally, "as in the agony of a contest." So the Canaanitess (Mt 15:22). his strength--which lay in his conscious weakness, whenc…”

“What a sad contrast, that in this same Beth-el now Israel worships the golden calves! there he spake with us--"with us," as being in the loins of our progenitor Jacob (compare Ps 66:6, "They . . . we;" Heb 7:9, 10). What God there spoke to Jacob appertains…”

“And--rather, "And yet." Though Israel deserves to be cast off for ever, yet I am still what I have been from the time of My delivering them out of Egypt, their covenant God; therefore, "I will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles," that is, to keep the feast …”

“Is there iniquity in Gilead?--He asks the question, not as if the answer was doubtful, but to strengthen the affirmation: "Surely they are vanity"; or as MAURER translates, "They are nothing but iniquity." Iniquity, especially idolatry, in Scripture is often t…”

“Ye, though delivered from Egypt (Ho 12:13), and loaded with My favors, are yet unwilling to return to Me. country of Syria--the champaign region of Syria, the portion lying between the Tigris and Euphrates, hence called Mesopotamia. Padan-aram means the sam…”

“In proportion as I fed them to the full, they were so satiated that "their heart was exalted"; a sad contrast to the time when, by God's blessing, Ephraim truly "exalted himself in Israel" (Ho 13:1). therefore have they forgotten me--the very reason why men …”

“Leopards lurk in thickets and thence spring on their victims. observe--that is, lie in wait for them. Several manuscripts, the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic read, by a slight change of the Hebrew vowel pointing, "by the way of Assyria," a region abo…”

“"Writers on the natures of beasts say that none is more savage than a she bear, when bereaved of her whelps" [JEROME]. caul of . . . heart--the membrane enclosing it: the pericardium. there--"by the way" (Ho 13:7).”

“I will be thy king; where--rather, as the Margin and the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, "Where now is thy king?" [MAURER]. English Version is, however, favored both by the Hebrew, by the antithesis between Israel's self-chosen and perishing kings, and God, Israe…”

“I gave . . . king in . . . anger . . . took . . . away in . . . wrath--true both of Saul (1Sa 15:22, 23; 16:1) and of Jeroboam's line (2Ki 15:30). Pekah was taken away through Hoshea, as he himself took away Pekahiah; and as Hoshea was soon to be taken away…”

“Thus the exile, wherein the temple service ceased, prepared the way for the gospel time when the types of the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament being realized in Christ's perfect sacrifice once for all, "the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is …”

“Three besetting sins of Israel are here renounced, trust in Assyria, application to Egypt for its cavalry (forbidden, De 17:16; compare Ho 7:11; 31:1), and idolatry. fatherless--descriptive of the destitute state of Israel, when severed from God, their tr…”

“God's gracious reply to their self-condemning prayer. backsliding--apostasy: not merely occasional backslidings. God can heal the most desperate sinfulness [CALVIN]. freely--with a gratuitous, unmerited, and abundant love (Eze 16:60-63).”

“The common lily is white, consisting of six leaves opening like bells. The royal lily grows to the height of three or four feet; Mt 6:29 alludes to the beauty of its flowers. roots as Lebanon--that is, as the trees of Lebanon (especially the cedars), which c…”

“The lily depicts its lovely growth; but as it wants duration and firmness, the deeply rooted cedars of Lebanon are added; these, however, are fruitless, therefore the fruitful, peace-bearing, fragrant, ever green olive is added. smell as Lebanon--which exhale…”

“Compare Ho 14:6, "His smell as Lebanon"; So 1:3: "Thy name is as ointment poured forth." The Septuagint favors the Margin, "memorial." as the wine of Lebanon--which was most celebrated for its aroma, flavor, and medicinal restorative properties.”