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1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord.

2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.

4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?

5 Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

6 The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.

11 And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever.

13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord.

14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.

19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God.

22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.

23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.

24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.

<html><b>to say</b> I have to say that you are no longer fit for me, for so is the way of one who sends away his wife and she goes away, etc. <b>But you have played the harlot [with] many lovers</b> With many lovers. Nevertheless, return to Me. <b>yet return to me</b> Heb. ושוב, lit. and to return to me, like עשות, to do, and to return to Me, I long for you.</html>

<html><b>rivulets</b> rivulets of water. <b>you were not lain with</b> Heb. שלגת, an expression of a פילגש a concubine. <b>you sat for them</b> to be prepared to greet them. <b>like an Arab</b> A tent dweller, who is always found outside in the deserts, and because of this, he is called ערבי since he dwells in the ערבה, the plain.</html>

<html><b>and the latter rain</b> The rain that falls in Nissan on the ears (מלילות) and the straws (קשים). מלקוש is (tardif in O.F.).</html>

<html><b>Will you not from now</b> If only you repent of your evil and call me “My Father.” If you do so, will your Lord bear a grudge forever for what you have sinned? Will He keep it to eternity? He will not keep it.</html>

<html><b>Behold, you have spoken</b> with your mouth, “We will no longer come to You,” and that evil you will do, and you will not give any thought of returning. <b>and you were able</b> And you prevailed in rebelling with a victorious and irrefutable reply.</html>

<html><b>In the days of King Josiah</b> when He commanded me to bring back the Ten Tribes, “Have you seen what the backsliding Israel has done? משבה is the same as שובבה, (envejjsede in O.F). <b>Israel</b> The Ten Tribes. <b>she goes</b> i.e., when she was still on her land before she was exiled in the days of Hezekiah with Hoshea son of Elah. הלכה means, she would go on every lofty mountain. <b>and she played the harlot there</b> i.e., she played the harlot by worshipping idols. וַתִּזְנִי is the equivalent of וַתִּזֶן, the ‘yod’ being superfluous.</html>

<html><b>And I said</b> through My prophets, Amos and Hosea son of Beeri and the other prophets, “You shall return to Me.” <b>And her treacherous sister Judah saw it</b> i.e., saw all this. The appellation “treacherous” is harsher than “backsliding.” Israel, since they were the first to sin, and they did not see any retribution from which to learn and to repent, are called “backsliding.” Judah, who saw that these went in exile and did not receive correction, are called “treacherous.”</html>

<html><b>And I saw, because of all that backsliding Israel had committed adultery</b> The signs of the intonation of this verse teach us its explanation. ישראל is punctuated with a ‘zakef-katan,’ separated from שלחתיה, I sent her away. שלחתיה, I sent her away, is punctuated with a ‘zakef-gadol’ by itself. And this is its explanation: I saw; i.e., I contemplated her to exact punishment upon her. And why? Because of all that backsliding Israel had committed adultery. And what was My vengeance? I sent her away from before Me. And treacherous Judah did not fear when she saw the retribution of Samaria, to set her heart to repent.</html>

<html><b>and she committed adultery with the stones</b> Jonathan paraphrases: And she strayed with the worshippers of stones and wood. And Jonathan renders מִקֹל as an expression of lightness, since her idols were light in her eyes.</html>

<html><b>And yet for all this</b> that they saw the misfortune of the retribution of their companions. <b>but falsely</b> Josiah’s generation would show themselves as righteous although they were wicked. They would make forms of pagan deities on the inside of their doors, half on this door and half on this one, and when the destroyers of idols would inspect, the door would be open, and they would not notice it.</html>

<html><b>has proved herself more righteous</b> She has been cleared and she has freed herself from an unfavorable verdict, for she had no one to learn from.</html>

<html><b>Go and proclaim, etc.</b> Go, as the Targum renders, אזיל, the imperative form. Here he commanded him to go and bring back the Ten Tribes during the days of Josiah, as he states above that during the days of Josiah this prophecy was said to him and some of them returned in the eighteenth year of Josiah. <b>to the north</b> To the places where they were exiled there to Assyria. <b>My anger</b> My anger, so did Jonathan render it.</html>

<html><b>you have rebelled</b> Heb. פשעת. <b>and you have scattered your ways</b> This is an expression of harlotry, spreading the legs to the woman’s private parts.</html>

<html><b>backsliding children</b> (Envasec in O.F.) That you perverted your way because of much good, that you enjoyed tranquility and pleasure, as Scripture states: They hum snatches of song to the tune of the lute (Amos 6:5), those who drink from bowls of wine (v. 6). <b>for I possessed you</b> and you are called by My name, that I am your Master, and it is not honorable for Me to leave you in the hands of My enemies.</html>

<html><b>they will no longer say, “The ark of the Lord’s covenant”</b> For your entire assembly will be holy, and I will dwell therein as though it were an ark. <b>nor shall they remember it</b> Heb. יפקדו, like יזכרוּ, remember or mention. <b>nor shall it be done anymore</b> i.e., it shall not be done what was done with it already in Shiloh, that they brought it into the battle with the Philistines in the days of Eli.</html>

<html><b>shall gather</b> Heb. ונקוו, an expression of: מקוה מים, a gathering of water. <b>the idea of</b> an expression of seeing. Comp. אשורנו “I see him” (Num. 24:17).</html>

<html><b>the house of Judah will go with the house of Israel</b> They will join them and they will be added to them to be one kingdom.</html>

<html><b>And I said</b> to Myself, etc. and therefore, I caused your forefathers to inherit them. <b>How shall I place you among the sons?</b> i.e., how shall I place you, my congregation and My nation, among the other sons, mingled with the heathens. I, therefore, selected a handsome portion, and I gave you a desirable land. <b>the beauty of hosts of nations</b> The beauty of all the hosts of nations.</html>

<html><b>Truly</b> But you did not live up to My expectations [lit., do My thought], but like a woman who betrays her beloved because he cannot provide her sustenance, so did you betray Me, Who provides you with all good. So is the Midrash Aggadah (Tanhuma Mishpatim 17).</html>

<html><b>A voice on the rivulets is heard</b> It is likely to be heard.</html>

<html><b>Here we are, we have come to You</b> The prophet teaches them to confess and to say as follows, “Here we are, we have come to You… Truly, in vain… But the shameful thing has consumed, etc., Let us lie in our shame.” All this is the language of the prayer that the prophet teaches them to say. We have come אתנו.</html>

<html><b>Truly, in vain</b> we awaited from the hills and the multitude of mountains where we worshipped idols. <b>Truly</b> in truth.</html>

<html><b>But the shameful thing</b> The idolatry with which we occupied ourselves, as Scripture states. “And they turned aside to the shameful thing” (Hosea 9:10). <b>consumed the toil of our fathers</b> Because of the iniquity of its worship, our toil was pillaged.</html>