John Wesley (NT Notes)

“Mercy - Shew kindness to all who need it. Judgment - Wrong none; but with justice in dealings, in judicatures; and public offices, render to every one their due. Wait on thy God - In public worship and private duties serve and trust God alone: let not idols ha…”

“I am rich - Whatever is said, yet I get what I aim at. They shall find - Yet he hugs himself in the apprehension of close carriage of his affairs, so that no great crime can be found in him: none, that is sin, that is any great enormity.”

“By this the prophet minds the Ephraimites what they must expect, and doth it in this pungent question, Is there iniquity in Gilead? Be it, Gilead was all iniquity; They - They that come up to Gilgal to sacrifice, are idolaters.”

“His blood - He shall bear the punishment of all his blood; his murders of the innocent, and his own guilt too. His reproach - Which Ephraim hath cast upon the prophets, the worshippers of God, and on God; preferring idols before him. His Lord - God who is Lord…”

“Exalted himself - The kingdom flourished. When he offended - So soon as they sinned, taking Baal to be their God. He died - They lost their power and glory.”

“Thy king - I would have been thy king to govern and save thee, but thou refusedst me in both: yet I will be thy king to punish thee. Thy Judges - Where are they now?”

“Is bound up - As sins unpardoned; for to loose sins is to forgive, and to bind sins is to charge them upon the sinner, Matt. xvi, 19. Hid - Not from God, but laid up with God against the day of recompense.”

“The sorrows - The punishment of his sins will overtake him suddenly, with great anguish. An unwise son - A foolish son, who endangers himself and his mother. He should not stay - As a child that sticks in the birth, so is Ephraim, one while will, another while…”

“I will pull down those prison- walls, and bring out all that are confined therein, the bad of whom I will remove into other prisons, the good I will restore to glorious liberty. Repentance shall be hid - I will never, as a man that repenteths, change my word a…”

“His brethren -- either the rest of the tribes, or the nations who by league are become as his brethren. An east- wind - An enemy as pernicious to his estate as the east-wind is to fruits. Of the Lord - A mighty enemy, called here the wind of the Lord, the usua…”

“The fatherless - All that are destitute of strength in themselves, and destitute of help from others; all that being sensible of their own helpless condition, look for it from God, who hath power, mercy, and wisdom to help. Mercy - Both the fountain and stream…”

“As the dew - I will refresh and comfort, and make fruitful in good works, such as return to me. As Lebanon - As the cedars in Lebanon, so shall the true Israel, converted backsliders, be blessed of God: so flourishing and happy shall the church be under Christ…”

“His branches - His branches which are new sprung out, shall gather strength, and shall multiply in number. The olive-tree - Which retains its verdure all the winter and is rich in fruit; so the true Israel of God shall flourish not in fruitless beauty, but in …”

“Return - Revive and recover strength. As the corn - Which dies ere it lives to bring forth fruit. As the vine - Which in winter seems dead, but yet life, sap, and a fructifying virtue is in it.”

“I have heard him - A gracious promise from God of hearing prayers. A green fir-tree - As a weary traveler finds rest and safety under a thick tree, so there is safety and refreshment under the protection of the Lord.”

“And the ways wherein God walks towards us, in afflicting or comforting are all righteous and equal. Shall walk in them - Will approve them all, justifying the righteousness of God's displeasure, and confessing he remembereth mercy in the midst of judgment.”