Hosea 5:13 Kommentar

The scope of this chapter is the same with that of the foregoing chapter, to discover the sin both of Israel and Judah, and to denounce the judgments of God against them. I. They are called to hearken to the charge (Hos 5:1, Hos 5:8). II. They are accused of many sins, which are here aggravated. 1. Persecution (Hos 5:1, Hos 5:2). 2. Spiritual whoredom (Hos 5:3, Hos 5:4). 3. Pride (Hos 5:5). 4. Apostasy from God (Hos 5:7). 5. The tyranny of the princes, and the tameness of the people in submitting to it (Hos 5:10, Hos 5:11). III. They are threatened with God's displeasure for their sins; he knows all their wickedness (Hos 5:3) and makes known his wrath against them for it (Hos 5:9). 1. They shall fall in their iniquity (Hos 5:5). 2. God will forsake them (Hos 5:6). 3. Their portions shall be devoured (Hos 5:7). 4. God will rebuke them, and pour out his wrath upon them (Hos 5:9, Hos 5:10). 5. They shall be oppressed (Hos 5:11). 6. God will be as a moth to them in secret judgments (Hos 5:12) and as a lion in public judgments (Hos 5:14). IV. They are blamed for the wrong course they took under their afflictions (Hos 5:13). V. It is intimated that they shall at length take a right course (Hos 5:15). The more generally these things are expressed of so much the more general use they are for our learning, and particularly for our admonition.

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 5 The design of this chapter is to expose the sins of Israel and of Judah, and to declare the judgment of God upon them for them. Men of all ranks in Israel are summoned to attend to the charge brought against then, and the sentence on them, Hos 5:1. The charge exhibited is, that they were guilty of in, hating men to the slaughter of idolatrous sacrifices, though they had been sufficiently rebuked and corrected, Hos 5:1; of both corporeal and spiritual adultery, whereby they were defiled, and which was well known to the Lord, Hos 5:3; of obstinate persistence in impenitence, owing to the efficacy of an unclean spirit in them, and their want of the knowledge of God, Hos 5:4; of open pride, which stared them in the face, and for which they fell into calamities, and Judah with them, and should not be able with all their sacrifices to find favour with God, who had withdrawn himself from them, Hos 5:5; also of treacherous dealing with the Lord by their spiritual adultery, and begetting strange children, Hos 5:7; next their punishment is denounced, of which notice was to be given them by the sound of the trumpet, as an alarm of war, or as calling for mourning, Hos 5:8; since Ephraim would become desolate, of which notification had been made among the tribes, Hos 5:9; and wrath would be poured out in great abundance on the princes of Judah, who were very wicked men, Hos 5:10; and Ephraim would be oppressed and broken by the judgment of God, who would be as a moth unto them, and also rottenness to Judah, because they followed the commandments of men, Hos 5:11; and, what was still more provoking, when they were sensible of their calamities and distresses, they sought not help from the Lord, but from men that could do them no good; and therefore he threatens to be as a devouring lion to them, Hos 5:13; and yet the chapter concludes with a promise of the conversion of these people, after the Lord had dealt with them in an angry manner, Hos 5:15.

When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound,.... That their civil state were in a sickly condition, very languid, weak, feeble, and tottering, just upon the brink of ruin; see Isa 1:6; then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to King Jareb; that is, the ten tribes, or the king of them, went and met the Assyrian king; and Judah the two tribes, or the king of them, sent ambassadors to King Jareb; which sense the order of the words, in connection with the preceding clause, seems to require: by the Assyrian and King Jareb we are to understand one and the same, as appears from the following words, "yet could he not heal &c.", whereas, if they were different, it would have been expressed, "yet could they not heal &c.", and the king of Assyria is meant, who: also is called King Jareb, or rather king of Jareb (n); see Hos 10:6; for this does not seem to be the name of the king of Assyria himself; though it may be that Pul, or Tiglathpileser, or Shalmaneser, might have more names than one, whoever is meant; but rather it is the name of some place in Assyria, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, from which the country may be here denominated; though the Targum takes it to be, not the proper name of a man or place, but an appellative, paraphrasing it, "and sent to the king that shall come to avenge them;'' and so other interpreters (o) understand it, rendering it, either the king that should defend, as Tremellius; or the king the adversary, or litigator, as Cocceius, Hillerus (p), and Gussetius (q); a court adversary, that litigates a point, contends with one, and is an advocate for another; or, as Hiller elsewhere (r) renders it, the king that lies in wait: this was fulfilled with respect to Ephraim, when Menahem king of Israel, or the ten tribes, often meant by Ephraim, went and met Pul king of Assyria, and gave him a thousand talents to depart out of his land; perceiving his own weakness to withstand him, and in order to strengthen and confirm the kingdom in his hand, Kg2 15:19; or when Hoshea king of Israel gave presents to Shalmaneser king of Assyria, and became a servant to him, till he could get stronger, and shake off his yoke, Kg2 17:3; and with respect to Judah it had its accomplishment when Ahaz king of Judah sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria to come and help him against the kings of Syria and Israel, finding he was not strong enough to oppose them himself, Kg2 16:7; now all this was highly provoking to the Lord, that when both Israel and Judah found themselves in a weak condition, and unable to resist their enemies, instead of seeking to him for help they applied to a foreign prince, and which proved unsuccessful to them: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound; but, on the contrary, afflicted them, hurt and destroyed them; there being a "meiosis" in the words, which expresses less than is designed; for though, with respect to Ephraim or Israel, Pul king of Assyria desisted from doing any damage to Israel, yet a successor of his, TiglathPileser, came and took several places of Israel, and carried the inhabitants captive; and at last came Shalmaneser, and took Samaria, the metropolis of the land, and carried all the ten tribes captive, Kg2 15:29; and so, with respect to Judah, Tiglathpileser, whom Ahaz sent unto for help, not only did not help and strengthen him, but afflicted him, Ch2 28:20; thus when sensible sinners see their spiritual maladies, and feel the smart of their wounds, and make a wrong application for relief, to their tears, repentance, and humiliation, and to works of: righteousness, or to anything or person short of Christ the great Physician, they meet with no success, find no relief until better directed. (n) "ad regem", Jarchi, Zanchius, Liveleus, Drusius; so Luther in Tarnovius. (o) "altorem", V. L. "qui eum vindicaret", Tigurine version; "propugnaturum", Junius & Tremellius; "qui litigaret", Piscator. (p) Onomast. Sacr. p. 219. (q) Ebr. Comment. p. 780. (r) Onomast. Sacr. p. 430.

"And Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his band: and Ephraim went to the Assyrian, and sent to the avenging king: and he shall not be able to heal you, neither shall he be able to take off the band from you." LXX: "And Ephraim saw his weakness, and Judah his pain, and Ephraim went to the Assyrians, and sent ambassadors to king Jareb, and he will not be able to free you, nor will he make an end of your pain." Embassies are not held in Hebrew. And where the Septuagint place "Jarib," we translate it as "avenger" according to Symmachus; for Aquila and Theodotion translated it as "judge." And this name "Jarib," signifying "avenger" and "judge," is shown by the name of Gideon who, when the worshippers of Baal sought him for punishment, because he had overthrown the grove of Baal and its altars, answered his father, "Let Baal therefore plead against him" or "avenge" himself, and he was afterward called "Jerubbaal," that is to say, "Let Baal plead against him." Therefore, understanding their own weakness, Ephraim sought not aid from Him who could loose them, but from the King of the Assyrians, to whom they were in sinfulness bound together with the ten tribes. We read that under King Manahen, who ruled over ten tribes (IV Kings XV), Israel sent gifts to the Assyrians; and Judah under King Ahaz, sought aid from Tiglath-pileser king of the Assyrians, who was unable to deliver them from those who opposed God, nor could he loosen the bonds of captivity. We can refer to those bonds, for which it is written in Hebrew as Mezur, and which Aquila interpreted as ἐπίδεσιν or συνδεσμὸν, that is, "binding" or "conspiracy," and to that time when Rezin and Pekah son of Remaliah devastated many thousands of men from the tribe of Judah (Ibid. XVI), and Judah pleaded in vain for help against not two, but the aid of the kings of Assyria. Some people, according to the trope of Ephraim and Judah, refer both to heretics and to men of the church, because both they and Judas, the sinners, are bound with the chains of sins, according to what is written: “With the cords of his sins every one is bound” (Prov. 5:22). They have sent to Assyria and to the avenging king, that is, to the devil, of whom we read: “That thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger” (Ps. 8:3). And because they did not beseech the true helper or judge; therefore He has made them abide in the pain of sickness and the chains of their own offenses. I have read in the commentaries of someone that the King "Jarib" is interpreted as Christ. And because it follows: "He will not be able to heal you," this argument is used, that Christ cannot heal heretics or sinning Christians at the time of judgment, where there is no mercy, according to what is written: "But in hell, who shall confess to thee?" (Ps. VI). And that he cannot heal or free, not because of his weakness, but because of their merit, who have sought help too late. How our Lord was said to have been unable to work miracles in his own country, and the reason why he was unable, he explains: 'Because,' he says, 'they did not believe in him.' He said these things: we will interpret the king unfavorably. Because we explained 'Jarib,' which means 'avenger:' others read Jarim with the letter Mem, which is transferred to 'woods:' hence Cariath Jarim, interpreted as 'the village of woods.'

This chapter begins with threatening the Israelites for ensnaring the people to idolatry by their sacrifices and other rites on Mizpah and Tabor, Hos 5:1-5. Their sacrifices, however costly, are declared to be unacceptable, Hos 5:6; and their substance is devoted to the locust, Hos 5:7. Nor is judgment to stop here. The cities of Judah are called upon, in a very animated manner, to prepare for the approach of enemies. Benjamin is to be pursued; Ephraim is to be desolate; and all this is intimated to Israel, that they may by repentance avert the judgment, Hos 5:8, Hos 5:9. The following verses contain farther denunciations, Hos 5:10-13, expressed in terms equally terrible and sublime, Hos 5:14. The Lord afflicts not willingly the children of men; he visits them with temporal calamities that he may heal their spiritual malady, Hos 5:15.

When Ephraim saw his sickness - When both Israel and Judah felt their own weakness to resist their enemies, instead of calling upon and trusting in me, they sought sinful alliances, and trusted in their idols. King Jareb - This name occurs nowhere in Scripture but here and in Hos 10:6. The Vulgate and Targum render ירב yareb, an avenger, a person whom they thought able to save them from their enemies. It is well known that Menahem, king of Israel, sought alliance with Pul and Tiglath-pileser, kings of Assyria, and Ahaz, king of Judah. These were the protectors that Ephraim sought after. See 2 Kings 15 and 16. But far from healing them by making them tributary, the Assyrians made their wound more dangerous.

GOD'S JUDGMENTS ON THE PRIESTS, PEOPLE, AND PRINCES OF ISRAEL FOR THEIR SINS. (Hos 5:1-5) Judah, too, being guilty shall be punished; nor shall Assyria, whose aid they both sought, save them; judgments shall at last lead them to repentance. the king--probably Pekah; the contemporary of Ahaz, king of Judah, under whom idolatry was first carried so far in Judah as to call for the judgment of the joint Syrian and Israelite invasion, as also that of Assyria. judgment is towards you--that is, threatens you from God. ye have been a snare on Mizpah . . . net . . . upon Tabor--As hunters spread their net and snares on the hills, Mizpah and Tabor, so ye have snared the people into idolatry and made them your prey by injustice. As Mizpah and Tabor mean a "watch tower," and a "lofty place," a fit scene for hunters, playing on the words, the prophet implies, in the lofty place in which I have set you, whereas ye ought to have been the watchers of the people, guarding them from evil, ye have been as hunters entrapping them into it [JEROME]. These two places are specified, Mizpah in the east and Tabor in the west, to include the high places throughout the whole kingdom, in which Israel's rulers set up idolatrous altars.

wound--literally, "bandage"; hence a bandaged wound (Isa 1:6; Jer 30:12). "Saw," that is, felt its weakened state politically, and the dangers that threatened it. It aggravates their perversity, that, though aware of their unsound and calamitous state, they did not inquire into the cause or seek a right remedy. went . . . to the Assyrian--First, Menahem (Kg2 15:19) applied to Pul; again, Hoshea to Shalmaneser (Kg2 17:3). sent to King Jareb--Understand Judah as the nominative to "sent." Thus, as "Ephraim saw his sickness" (the first clause) answers in the parallelism to "Ephraim went to the Assyrian" (the third clause), so "Judah saw his wound" (the second clause) answers to (Judah) "sent to King Jareb" (the fourth clause). Jareb ought rather to be translated, "their defender," literally, "avenger" [JEROME]. The Assyrian "king," ever ready, for his own aggrandizement, to mix himself up with the affairs of neighboring states, professed to undertake Israel's and Judah's cause; in Jdg 6:32, Jerub, in Jerub-baal is so used, namely, "plead one's cause." Judah, under Ahaz, applied to Tiglath-pileser for aid against Syria and Israel (Kg2 16:7-8; Ch2 28:16-21); the Assyrian "distressed him, but strengthened him not," fulfiling the prophecy here, "he could not heal your, nor cure you of your wound.

The two kingdoms could not defend themselves against this chastisement by the help of any earthly power. Hos 5:13. "And Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his abscess; and Ephraim went to Asshur, and sent to king Jareb (striver): but he cannot cure you, nor drive the abscess away from you." By the imperfects, with Vav rel., ויּלך, ויּרא, the attempts of Ephraim and Judah to save themselves from destruction are represented as the consequence of the coming of God to punish, referred to in Hos 5:12. Inasmuch as this is to be seen, so far as the historical fulfilment is concerned, not in the present, but in the past and future, the attempts to obtain a cure for the injuries also belong to the present (? past) and future. Mâzōr does not mean a bandage or the cure of injuries (Ges., Dietr.), but is derived from זוּר, to squeeze out (see Del. on Isa 1:6), and signifies literally that which is pressed out, i.e., a festering wound, an abscess. It has this meaning not only here, but also in Jer 30:13, from which the meaning bandage has been derived. On the figure employed, viz., the disease of the body politic, see Delitzsch on Isa 1:5-6. That this disease is not to be sought for specially in anarchy and civil war (Hitzig), is evident from the simple fact, that Judah, which was saved from these evils, is described as being just as sick as Ephraim. The real disease of the two kingdoms was apostasy from the Lord, or idolatry with its train of moral corruption, injustice, crimes, and vices of every kind, which destroyed the vital energy and vital marrow of the two kingdoms, and generated civil war and anarchy in the kingdom of Israel. Ephraim sought for help from the Assyrians, viz., from king Jareb, but without obtaining it. The name Jareb, i.e., warrior, which occurs here and at Hos 10:6, is an epithet formed by the prophet himself, and applied to the king of Assyria, not of Egypt, as Theodoret supposes. The omission of the article from מלך may be explained from the fact that Jârēbh is, strictly speaking, an appellative, as in למוּאל מלך in Pro 31:1. We must not supply Yehūdâh as the subject to vayyishlach. The omission of any reference to Judah in the second half of the verse, may be accounted for from the fact that the prophecy had primarily and principally to do with Ephraim, and that Judah was only cursorily mentioned. The ἅπ. λεγ. יגהה from גּהה, in Syriac to by shy, to flee, is used with min in the tropical sense of removing or driving away.