1 O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2 Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
<html><b>Samaria shall be accounted guilty</b> From now on, her guilt will be revealed. <b>and their pregnant women</b> Heb. וְהָריּוֹתָיו. The pregnant women in its midst.</html>
<html><b>Return, O Israel</b> You, who are in the land of Judah, lest what happens to Samaria happens to you. Therefore, the topics are juxtaposed. This can be compared to a king against whom a province rebelled. The king sent a general and commanded him to destroy it. That general was expert and deliberate. He said to them, “Take for yourselves days (sic); otherwise, I will do to you as I have done to such-and-such a province and to its allies, and to such-and-such a prefecture and to its allies.” Therefore it says, “Samaria shall be accounted guilty,” and then Scripture says: “Return, O Israel.” As is found in Sifrei in the section commencing. (Num. 25:1), “And Israel abode in Shittim.” <b>to the Lord your God</b> One taught in the name of Rabbi Meir: Return, O Israel, while He is still יהוה, with the Divine Attribute of Mercy; otherwise, He is אֶלֹהֶיךָ with the Divine Attribute of Justice, before the defense becomes the prosecution. [from Pesikta d’Rav Kahana, p. 164a] <b>for you have stumbled in your iniquity</b> Obstacles have come to you because of your iniquity.</html>
<html><b>You shall forgive all iniquity</b> Heb. כָּל-תִּשָׂא עָוֹן. Forgive all our iniquities. <b>and teach [us the] good [way]</b> Heb. וְקַח-טוֹב. And teach us the good way. Another explanation: The few good deeds in our hands take in Your hand and judge us accordingly. And so does David say (Psalms 17:2): “Let my sentence come forth from before You, may Your eyes behold the right.” Another explanation: And accept good And accept confession from us, as it is said (Psalms 92:2): “It is good to confess to the Lord.” <b>and let us render [for] bulls</b> that we should have sacrificed before you, let us render them with the placation of the words of our lips.</html>
<html><b>Assyria shall not save us</b> Say this also before Him, “We no longer seek the aid of man, neither from Assyria nor from Egypt.” <b>we will not ride on horses</b> This is the aid from Egypt, who would send them horses, as they said to Isaiah (30:16), “No, but on horses will we flee… And on swift steeds will we ride.” <b>nor will we say any longer</b> to the work of our hands that they are our gods. <b>for in You</b> alone shall our hope be, You Who grant mercy to the orphans.</html>
<html><b>I will remedy their backsliding</b> Said the prophet: So has the Holy Spirit said to me. After they say this before Me, I will remedy their backsliding, and I will love them with My charitable spirit. Although they do not deserve the love, I will love them charitably since My wrath has turned away from them.</html>
<html><b>and it shall strike</b> I.e. the dew shall strike its roots and cause them to prosper <b>like the Lebanon</b> like the roots of the trees of the Lebanon, which are large.</html>
<html><b>Its branches shall go forth</b> Sons and daughters shall increase <b>and it shall be</b> Their beauty shall be like the beauty of the menorah of the Temple, and their fragrance like the fragrance of the incense. <b>like the Lebanon</b> Like the Temple.</html>
<html><b>Those who dwelt in its shade shall return</b> Those who already dwelt in the shade of the Lebanon, to which He compared Israel and the Temple, and now were exiled there from, shall return to it. <b>its fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon</b> Jonathan renders: Like the remembrance of the blasts of the trumpets over the old wine poured for libations in the Temple. For they would blow the trumpets over the libations when the Levites would recite the song.</html>
<html><b>Ephraim</b> will say, “What more do I need to follow the images?” And they will turn away from idolatry. <b>I will answer him</b> I will answer him from his trouble. <b>and I will look upon him</b> I will look upon his affliction. <b>I am like a leafy cypress tree</b> I will bend down for him to hold his hand on Me as the leafy cypress which is bent down to the ground, which a man holds by its branches; i.e., I will be accessible to him. <b>from Me your fruit is found</b> Am I not He? For all your good emanates from Me.</html>
<html><b>Who is wise and will understand these</b> Who among you is wise and will ponder to put his heart to all these and return to Me? <b>and the rebellious shall stumble on them</b> i.e., because of them, because they did not walk in them. Jonathan renders in this manner.</html>