ephod and teraphim*5. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and seek the Lord and his goodness, in the faturity of days.

r

*Without statue, ephod, and teraphim.] "After much consideration of the passage, and of much that has been written. upon it by expositors, I rest in the opinion strenuously main"tained by the learned Pocock; in which he agrees with many "that went before him, and has the concurrence of many that came after, Luther, Calvin, Vatablus, Drusius, Livelye, "Houbigant, and Abp. Newcome, with many others of inferior note: I rest, I say, after much consideration in the opinion, "that statue, ephod, and teraphim, are mentioned as principal implements of idolatrous rites. And the sum of the 4th verse "is this: that for many ages the Jews would not be their own 66 masters; would be deprived of the exercise of their own religion, in its most essential parts; not embracing the Christian, "they would have no share in the true, service; and yet "would be restrained from idolatry, to which their forefathers "had been so prone. It is to be observed, that this 4th verse "is the exposition of the type of the prophet's dealing with "his wife. If the restriction of the Jews from idolatry is not "mentioned, we have nothing in the exposition answering to "that article of the typical contract with the woman, Thou "shalt not play the wanton. And certainly the restriction from "idolatry is not mentioned in this 4th verse at all, if it be not represented by tarrying without statue, without ephod, and teruphim.". Bp. Horsley in loc.

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"Quæso

The exposition of Vitringa is to the same purpose.. "jam, respice sortem hujus gentis in præsenti exilio. Est per "divortium separata a Deo, nec tamen facta alteri viro. Non "transiit ad alias nuptias. Abstinet idololatria, et vult eti

amnum censeri populus Dei, expectans gratiam sibi foedere "condictam, ut clarissimè præcinerat Hoseas." Vitring. in Isa. 1. 2.

COMMENTARY.

God, having foretold by the mouth of Hosea the subversion of the two kingdoms of Judah aud Israel, declares, with reference to the first restoration from Babylon, that he will no more cherish with tenderness the house of Israel, but that the house of Judah he will cherish with tenderness. Afterwards, with reference to the second restoration, he promises that the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea; that the children of Judah shall be collected, and that the children of Israel shall be united with them; and that they shall appoint themselves one head, even Christ the Lord. For, although they shall continue many days without any independent polity, without availing themselves of the great mediatorial sacrifice, and yet without relapsing into the idolatry of their fathers; they shall, nevertheless, return at length from their captivity, and in future times seek the Lord their God and the mystical David their king.

PROPHECY XXVIII.

The captivity of Judah and Israel-The application of some of their members to the mystic Assyrian toto effect their restoration-Their distress-Their final political revival.

Hosea. v. 8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; sound an alarm at Bethaven. Look behind thee, O Benjamin. 9. Ephraim shall be given up to desolation, in the day of rebuke, among the tribes of Israel: I have declared what shall surely be. 10. The rulers of Judah have been as those that remove the bounds*. Upon them like a flood I will pour out my fury. 11. Ephraim is hard pressed, ruined in judgment; because he is self-willed, walking after a commandment 1.12. Therefore am I as a moth in

the

Those that remove the bounds.] "That is, they have confounded the distinctions of right and wrong. They have "turned upside down all political order, and all manner of religion. English Geneva." Bp. Horsley in loc.

✦ Ephraim is―ruined in judgment.] "That is, he has no "defence to set up against the accusation brought against him; "he has nothing to say for himself," Bp. Horsley in loc.

Self-willed, walking after a commandment.] "That is, al"though he has a commandment to walk after, namely the "divine law, yet he will take his own way; and this he does, "notwithstanding he pretends to acknowledge the authority of

"the

the garment to Ephraim, and as a worm in the flesh to the house of Judah. 13. When Ephraim perceives his holes, and Judah his corrupted sore, then Ephraim will betake him to the Assyrian, and send to the king who takes up all quarrels *. But he shall not be able to repair the damage for you, nor shall he make a cure of your corrupted 14. For, I will be as a lion unto Ephraim, and as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, I, will seize the prey, and be gone; I will carry off, and none shall rescue. 15. I will be gone, I will return unto my place; till what time they acknowledge

sore.

"the commandment. The tea tribes preténded to be wor"shippers of Jehovah; but they worshipped him in the calves "at Dan and Bethel; and they appointed a priesthood of their own, in prejudice of the prerogative of the sons of Levi." Bp. Horsley in loc.

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* The king who takes up all quarrels.] "This describes some powerful monarch, who took upon him to interfere in all quarrels between inferior powers; to arbitrate between them, "and compel them to make up their differences, upon such "terns as he thought proper to dictate whose alliance was "of course anxiously courted by weaker states. Such was "the Assyrian monarch in the times, to which the prophecy "relates" primarily; and such will be his antitype, the last head of the Roman Babylon, in the times, to which it relates secondarily and ultimately. Bp. Horsley in loc.

+ I will be gone, I will return unto my place.] “I will with"draw myself from them, till by a sincere humiliation they

implore my favour. The Chaldee paraphrase expresses the “sense thus, I will take away my majestic presence or Shechinah from among them, and will return into heaven" (Mr. Lowth

knowledge their guilt, and seek my face. When distress is upon them, they will rise early to seek

me..

vi. 1. Come, and let us return unto the Lord. For he hath torn, but he will make us whole: he hath inflicted the wound, but he will apply the bandage. 2. He will bring us to life after two days; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his presence. 3. Then we shall know, we shall pursue after the knowledge of the Lord. His coming forth is fixed as the morning; and he shall come upon us as the pouring shower, as the harvest rain, as the rain of seed-time upon the earth-10-I have seen a horrible thing: fornications in Ephraim! Israel polluted! 11. Moreover, O Judah, harvest-work is appointed for thee, when I bring back the captivity of my people.

COMMENTARY.

The prophet begins with foretelling the captivity of Judah and Israel; and declares, that in consequence of their sins, they shall be deprived of their former greatness and prosperity, Sensibly

in loc.). The passage seems to be exactly parallel with that declaration of our Lord to the unbelieving Jews, "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me until the time come when ye shall 12 say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Luke xiii. 35.

feeling