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Hosea Chapter
Three
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 3
In
this chapter is an order to the prophet to love an adulterous woman beloved of
her friend, and by this parable to express the love of God to Israel, and their
ingratitude to him, Hosea 3:1, the
prophet's execution of that order, making a purchase of her, and a covenant
with her, which set forth the captive, servile, mean, and abject state of that
people, Hosea 3:2, which is
explained of their being deprived for a long time of civil and ecclesiastic
government, Hosea 3:4, and the
chapter is concluded with a prophecy and promise of their conversion to Christ
in the latter day, Hosea 3:5.
Hosea 3:1 Then the Lord said to me,
“Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover[a] and is
committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the
children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of
the pagans.”
YLT 1And Jehovah saith unto me:
`Again, go, love a woman, loved of a friend, and an adulteress, like the loved
of Jehovah, the sons of Israel, and they are turning unto other gods, and are
lovers of grape-cakes.'
Then said the Lord unto me,.... Or, as the Targum,
"the
Lord said unto me again';
for
the word yet or again is to be joined to this, and not the following clause;
and shows that this is a new vision, prophecy, or parable, though respecting
the same persons and things:
go, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress; not the
prophet's wife, not Gomer, but some other feigned person; beloved either of her
own husband, as the Targum and Jarchi, notwithstanding her unchastity and unfaithfulness
to him; or of another man, as Aben Ezra, who had a very great respect for her,
courted her, and perhaps had betrothed her, but had not yet consummated the
marriage; and, though a harlot, loved her dearly, and could not get off his
affections from her, but hankered after her; or of the prophet, as Kimchi, who
paraphrases it,
"thou
shall love her, and be to her a friend;'
to
protect and defend her, as harlots used to have one in particular they called
their friend, by whose name they were called, and was a cover to them. The
sense is, that the prophet was to go to the people of Israel, and deliver this
parable to them, setting forth their state and condition, and their behaviour
towards God, and his great love to them, notwithstanding all their baseness and
ingratitude; it was as if a woman that was either married or betrothed, or that
either had a husband or a suitor that so dearly loved her, that though she was
guilty of uncleanness, and continued in it, yet would not leave her; and which
is thus expressed by the Targum,
"go,
deliver a prophecy against the house of Israel, who are like a woman dear to
her husband; and though she commits fornication against him, yet he so loves
her that he will not put her away:'
according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel; or such is
the love of the Lord to them; for though they were guilty of idolatry,
intemperance, and other immoralities, yet still he loved them, and formed
designs of grace and goodness for them. And thus, though God does not love
sinners as such; yet he loves them, though they are sinners, and when and while
they are such; as appears by his choice of them, and covenant with them, by
Christ's dying for them while sinners, and by his quickening them when dead in
trespasses and sins:
who look to other gods; or "though they
look to other gods"F3והם פנים "quamvis respiciant", Piscator. ; look to
them and worship them, pray unto them, put their trust in them, and expect good
things from them:
and love flagons of wine, or "tubs of
grapes"F4אשישי ענבים
"dolia uvarum", Pagninus, Montanus, Zanchius; "soa", some
in Drusius. ; or of wine made of them; or lumps of raisins, cakes or junkets
made of them and other things, as the Septuagint; and may respect either the
drunkenness and intemperance of the ten tribes; see Isaiah 28:1, they
loved, as Kimchi says, the delights of the world, and not the law and
commandments of God; or the feasts that were made in the temples of their idols
they loved good eating and drinking, and that made them like idolatry the
better for the sake of those things; see Exodus 32:6, for
the Heathens used to eat and drink to excess at their sacrifices: hence
DiogenesF5Laertius in Vit. Diogenis, p. 382. the philosopher was
very angry with those who sacrificed to the gods for their health, yet in their
sacrifices feasted to the prejudice of their health.
Hosea 3:2 2 So
I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and
one-half homers of barley.
YLT 2And I buy her to me for
fifteen silverlings, and a homer and a letech of barley;
So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver,.... Or,
"fifteen shekels", which was about one pound seventeen shillings and
six pence of our money, reckoning a shekel at two shillings and six pence;
though some make it to be but two shillings and four pence; this was but half
the price of a servant, Exodus 21:32, and
alludes to the dowry which men used to give to women at their marriage; see 1 Samuel 18:25. The
word here used has the signification of digging; hence the Vulgate Latin
version renders it, "I dug her"; and the abettors and defenders of it
think it refers to the digging, or boring the ears of a servant that chose to
continue with his master, Exodus 21:6, but
the word is used in the sense of buying, Genesis 1:5, and so
Jarchi says it has the sense of merchandise or bargaining; and in the sea
coasts he observes, that they call מכירה, a purchase,
כירה. Perhaps the word is better rendered by the
Septuagint and Arabic versions, "hired"; and "cara" in the
Arabic language signifies "to hire"; so it is used in Acts 28:30. So with
the Turks, as Monsieur ThevenotF6Travels, part 2. B. 1. ch. 3. p.
11. observes, a letter out of beasts to hire is called "moucre" or
"moukir", which comes from the Arabic word "kira", he says,
which signifies to let or hire; and is here fitly used of a harlot. The Jews
have many whims and fancies about these fifteen pieces of silver. The Targum,
and Pesikta in Jarchi, take them to respect the fifteenth day of Nisan, on
which the Israelites were redeemed out of Egypt; according to Aben Ezra, they
design the fifteen kings of Judah, from Rehoboam to the captivity, reckoning
the sons of Josiah as one, being brethren; according to others, in Kimchi,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve tribes; and, according to Abarbinel,
the fifteen prophets that prophesied of the redemption:
and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley; a
"homer" held ten "ephahs", and a "lethec", or
"half homer", five "ephahs", or so many bushels, these
making the number fifteen: again, according to Saadiah, they design Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam, and the twelve tribes; and, according to Aben Ezra, the
number of the high priests in the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, a homer
making thirty seahs, and a half homer fifteen, in all forty five; but according
to others, in Kimchi, these design the forty five days between the coming of
the Israelites out of Egypt and their receiving the law: but, leaving these
fancies, as the number of shekels given for her was but a low price, and shows
what an estimate was made of her; and barley being the coarsest of grain, and
bread made of it, that of the worst sort, which the poorer people eat; may be
expressive of the captive, servile, mean, and abject state of the people of
Israel, from the time of their captivity to their conversion to Christ, as is
after more fully explained.
Hosea 3:3 3 And
I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the
harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.”
YLT 3and I say unto her, `Many
days thou dost remain for Me, thou dost not go a-whoring, nor become any one's;
and I also [am] for thee.'
And I said unto her,.... Having bought or
hired her; this was the covenant or agreement he made with her,
thou shall abide for me many days; dwell alone in some
solitary and separate place, and have no conversation with any, especially with
men; live like a widow that has lost her husband, and so wait for a long time
till the prophet should think fit to take her to his house and bed:
thou shall not play the harlot, and thou shall not be for another
man; neither prostitute herself, as she had done to her lovers; nor
marry another, but keep herself chaste and single:
so will I also be for thee; wait for thee, and not
take another wife; or will be thy husband, after having made proper trial and
full proof of thy conduct and behaviour: the Targum paraphrases it thus;
"say,
O prophet, to her, O congregation of Israel, your sins are the cause that you
are carried captive many days; ye shall give yourselves to my worship and not
err, nor serve idols, and even I will have mercy on you.'
The
whole is explained in the following words:
Hosea 3:4 4 For
the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without
sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.
YLT 4For many days remain do the
sons of Israel without a king, and there is no prince, and there is no
sacrifice, and there is no standing pillar, and there is no ephod and teraphim.
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king,
and without a prince,.... Without any form of civil government, either regal or
without any civil magistrate, either superior or subordinate, of their own;
being subject to the kings and princes of other nations, as the ten tribes were
from their captivity by Shalmaneser, to the coming of Christ, which was about
seven hundred years; and from that time the tribes of Judah and Benjamin have
had no kings and princes among them, for the space of nineteen hundred years,
which may very well be called "many days". This answers to the
harlot's abiding for the prophet many days, in the parable:
and without a sacrifice; the daily sacrifice,
which has ceased as long as before observed; and any other sacrifice of slain
beasts, as the passover lamb, &c.; the Jews not thinking it lawful to offer
sacrifice in a strange land, or any where but upon the altar in Jerusalem; and
to this day have no such sacrifices among them, though they have no notion of
the abrogation of them, as the Christians have; but so it is ordered in
Providence, that they should be without them, being kept out of their own land,
that this and other prophecies might be fulfilled:
and without an image, or "statue":
such as were made for Baal, or as were the calves at Dan and Bethel; and though
the people of Israel were very subject to idolatry, and set up images and
statues for worship before their captivities, yet since have nothing of image
worship among them, but strictly observe the command.
And without an ephod; a linen garment wore by
the high priests under the law, to which the breastplate was fastened, which
had in it the Urim and Thummim; and which were wanting in the second temple,
and have been ever since; so that these people have been so long without this
way and means of inquiry of God about future things, see Ezra 2:63, this may
be put for the whole priesthood, now ceased in a proper sense; and so the
Septuagint render it, "without a priesthood"; so that the Jews are
without any form of government, civil or ecclesiastical; they have neither
princely nor priestly power: "and without teraphim"; which some
understand to be the same with the Urim and Thummim; and so the Septuagint
render it, "without manifestations"; by which they are thought to
mean the Urim, which according to them so signifies: but the word is generally
thought to design some little images or idols, like the penates or household
gods of the Romans, which were consulted about future things; and so the Jews
commonly understand it, and some describe them thusF7Pirke Eliezer,
c. 36. fol. 40. 1. ,
"what
are the "teraphim?" they slay the firstborn of a man, cut off his
head, and pickle it with salt and oil, and inscribe on a plate of gold the name
of an unclean spirit, and put that under his tongue; then they place it in a
wall, and light candles before it, and pray unto it, and it talks with them.'
But
now, according to this prophecy, the Jews in their captivity should have no way
and means of knowing future things, either in a lawful or unlawful manner; see Psalm 74:9. How the
whole of this prophecy is now fulfilled in them, hear what they themselves say,
particularly Kimchi;
"these
are the days of the captivity in which we now are at this day; we have no king
nor prince out of Israel; for we are in the power of the nations, and of their
kings and princes; and have no sacrifice for God, nor image for idols; no
"ephod" for God, that declares future things; and no
"teraphim" for idolatry, which show things to come, according to the
mind of those that believe in them;'
and
so Jarchi
"without
a sacrifice in the sanctuary in Judah; without an image of Baal in Samaria, for
the kings of Israel; without an ephod of Urim and Thummim, that declares hidden
things; and "teraphim" made for a time to speak of, and show things
that are secret;'
and
to the same purpose Aben Ezra. The Targum is,
"without
a king of the house of David, and without a ruler over Israel; without
sacrifice for acceptance in Jerusalem; and without a high place in Samaria; and
without an ephod, and him that shows;'
i.e.
what shall come to pass. The Syriac version renders the last clause,
"without one that offers incense"; and the Arabic version,
"without one that teaches".
Hosea 3:5 5 Afterward
the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and
David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the
latter days.
YLT 5Afterwards turned back have
the sons of Israel, and sought Jehovah their God, and David their king, and
have hastened unto Jehovah, and unto His goodness, in the latter end of the
days.
Afterward shall the children of Israel return,.... The ten
tribes of Israel, and also the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which are
included in the name of Israel, as Aben Ezra interprets it; and these are
joined together in parallel places; see Jeremiah 30:3 for
though they did not go into captivity together, yet their return and conversion
will be at the same time; and they are all spoken of under the name of Israel
by the Apostle Paul, when he foretells their conversion and salvation, Romans 11:26. The
"return" of them, here prophesied of, does not barely mean their
return to their own land, which will be at this time; see Jeremiah 30:3, but
their return to the Lord by repentance; when they shall repent of, and turn
from, their sinful course of life, and particularly of their unbelief and
rejection of the true Messiah, and embrace him; and of their traditions and
false ways of worship, which they shall discard; and of their own righteousness
they shall now renounce; and shall turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe
in him for righteousness, life, and salvation:
and seek the Lord their God, and David their King; these may be
considered either as two distinct persons, Jehovah the Father, and the Messiah,
as in Ezekiel 34:23 and
so the Targum,
"and
seek the worship of the Lord their God, and obey Messiah the Son of David their
King;'
who
will be both equally sought after, and unto, by them; and which is a proof of
the divinity of the Messiah, and of his equality with God his Father; as well
as points out the right way in which Jehovah is to be sought, namely, with
Christ, or in him, in whom he is a God gracious and merciful; and to seek and
know both the one and the other is eternal life, John 17:3 or else
all this is to be understood of the Messiah, rendering the words, "and
seek the Lord their God, even David their King" as also Jeremiah 30:9, may
be rendered; and so these are all epithets, titles, and characters of him: he
is Jehovah, the everlasting I AM; the true God, and eternal life; Immanuel, God
with us; God in our nature, manifest in the flesh; the Son of David, and his
antitype, often called David in Scripture. Psalm 89:3, King of
kings, King of the saints, of his church, and will be owned as such by the Jews
at the time of their conversion, though they have rejected him; but now they
will receive him, and be subject to him; they will seek to him for salvation,
for the pardon of their sins, for righteousness, for rest, for food, for
protection and safety, and to serve and obey him: and this seeking will not be
out of curiosity, or in a carnal way, or for selfish ends; nor hypocritically;
but with their whole hearts, and diligently, and in earnest. Not only the
Targum interprets this of Messiah the Son of David, but Aben Ezra on the place
says, this is the Messiah; and it is applied to him, and his times, by other
Jewish writers, both ancient and modern. In an ancient bookF8Zohar
in Exod. fol. 93. 3. of theirs, speaking of David, it is said, the holy blessed
God is well pleased with him in this world, and in the world to come; in this
world, as it is written, "and I will defend this city for mine own sake,
and for my servant David's sake", 2 Kings 20:6, and
in the world to come, as it is written,
they shall seek the Lord their God, and David their King, &c.;
David was King in this world, and David shall be King in the time to come. And
in both Talmuds the words are applied to the Messiah; in one of themF9T.
Hieros. Beracot, fol. 5. 1. , after quoting this text, it is added, the Rabbins
say this is the King Messiah; if of the living, David is his name; if of the
dead, David is his name. And in the otherF11T. Bab Megillah, fol.
18. 1. , it is said, when Jerusalem is built, David comes; that is, the Son of
David, the Messiah; which is proved by this passage, "afterwards the
children of Israel shall return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their
King"; that is, as the gloss interprets it, after they shall return to the
house of the sanctuary, or the temple: so Abarbinel, both in his commentary
upon this place, and elsewhereF12Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 55. 4. , as
he interprets the "one head" in Hosea 1:11, of
Messiah ben Ephraim, whom he, with the rest of his tribe, feign shall perish in
war; so he observes, that then Israel shall seek David their King, the rod out
of the root of Jesse, whom the Lord shall choose, and cause to reign over them.
And another of their later writersF13R. Isaac Chizzuk Emunah, par.
1. p. 44. interprets the passage of the Messiah, and produces it to prove
against the Christians that he should come in the end of days, or in the latter
days; as it is plain and certain that our Jesus, the true Messiah, came at the
end of the Jewish world, in the last days of their civil and church state; see Hebrews 1:1,
and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter day; not man, but
the Lord; not his wrath and vengeance, but his goodness; not with a servile,
but with a godly filial fear; a fear influenced by the blessings of goodness
they shall now be partakers of, particularly pardoning grace and mercy, Psalm 130:3, they
shall fear the Lord, who is good, and goodness itself, and Christ, in whom the
goodness of God is displayed, and who is prevented with the blessings of
goodness for his people: it may be rendered, they "shall fear", or
"come fearing to the Lord, and his goodness"F14ופחדו אל יהוה
ואל טובו "pavebunt ad
Dominum", Montanus; "providi accedent ad Jehovam, et ad bonitatem
ejus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius; "et cum timore
venient ad Jehovam, et ad bonum ejus", Schmidt; so Ben Melech interprets
it, "they shall fear, and be afraid of him, flow to him, and to his goodness";
and which, he says, Saadiah explains of his glory, agreeably to Exod. xxxiii.
19. , being sensible of their sin, danger, and misery; they shall flee to the
Lord as to their city of refuge, and to the blessings of his goodness they see
their need of; and this they shall do in haste, as Aben Ezra interprets it,
comparing it with Hosea 11:11. The
Septuagint version is, "they shall be amazed at the Lord, and his good
things"; the Syriac version, "they shall know the Lord, and his
goodness": the Arabic version, they shall confess the Lord, and his
benefits; the Targum,
"they
shall give themselves to the service of the Lord, and his goodness shall be
multiplied, which shall come to them in the end of days;'
or,
as Aben Ezra, in the end of the prophecy of the prophets, in future time, in
the times of the Messiah; which, as Kimchi serves, are always meant by the last
days; and here it signifies the latter day of the last days, or of the Gospel
dispensation.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
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