Table of Contents
Hosea 9
Hosea 9
1 Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.
2 The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.
3 They shall not dwell in the Lord's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord.
5 What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.
7 The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.
8 The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.
10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
14 Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.
16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
Notes
Cross Reference
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 1
<html><b>Rejoice not, O Israel</b> like the other peoples, for they did not receive a Torah, and they did not come to My lot, but you strayed from Me and lost many benefits. <b>you love</b> to be like a harlot, to receive a harlot’s hire. <b>on all threshing floors of corn</b> In the manner of the harlot to whom they give corn on the threshing floor for her hire. [after Gen. Rabbah 57:4]</html>
Verse 3
<html><b>They shall not stay in the land of the Lord</b> Heb. יֵשְׁבוּ, they shall not stay in their land.</html>
Verse 4
<html><b>They shall not pour libations</b> Heb. יִסְּכוּ, an expression of נֶסֶךְ, libation. <b>they will not please Him</b> Their offering will not be pleasant to Him. <b>like bread of mourners</b> Heb. אוֹנִים, like bread of robbery that comes through strength and might. <b>for their bread is for themselves</b> It is fit for them for food, but not to come into the house of the Lord. Another explanation is: אוֹנִים, like bread of mourners, which is contaminated, and the end of the verse proves it: all those who partake thereof become contaminated.</html>
Verse 5
<html><b>for the appointed day</b> For the day of the set time for the enemy to be appointed to come upon you. <b>the Lord’s massacre</b> Heb. חַג, a slaughter, the killing which I have in you.</html>
Verse 6
<html><b>For behold, they have gone away</b> from their place because of the many plunderers who will come upon them with Nebuchadnezzar. <b>Moph shall bury them</b> It is of the land of Egypt. <b>the treasurehouses for their silver</b> The houses of the precious treasures of their silver. <b>thistles etc. briers</b> Heb. קִימוֹשׁ חוֹחַ. Jonathan renders these terms as species of beasts.</html>
Verse 7
<html><b>the visitation</b> When your sins will be visited. <b>recompense</b> the payment of sins. <b>the prophet shall be a fool</b> Even some of their true prophets will be fools, e.g. Hananiah son of Azzur, who was originally a true prophet. <b>and the hatred is great</b> which the Holy One, blessed be He, hates your deeds.</html>
Verse 8
<html><b>Ephraim is a prophet with my God</b> They set up for themselves their prophets, who attract them toward their idolatry. <b>[for the] prophet [they lay] a fowler’s snare on all his ways</b> And for the true prophet they conceal snares to trap them. <b>[causing] hatred in the house of his God</b> In the Temple they assassinated Zechariah (II Chron. 24:21), and they sought to assassinate Jeremiah, according to the matter that is stated: (Jer. 26: 11) “This man is liable to death etc.”</html>
Verse 9
<html><b>as in the days of Gibeah</b> Some say that this is Gibeah of Benjamin in the case of the concubine (Jud. 19), and some say that this is Gibeah of Saul, where they asked for a king and rebelled against the words of the prophet (I Sam. 15).</html>
Verse 10
<html><b>Like grapes in the desert</b> Like grapes, which are precious in the desert, so did I love Israel. <b>like a ripe fig</b> Heb. כְּבִכּוּרָה, like a ripe fig. <b>on a fig tree</b> Heb. בִתְאֵנָהּ. <b>in its beginning</b> In the beginning of the ripening of the figs. <b>I saw your forefathers</b> So did your forefathers appear in My eyes to love them. <b>and they separated themselves</b> Heb. וַיִנָּזְרוּ. Nowhere is נְזִירָה anything but an expression of separation. <b>to a shameful thing</b> To the deity, Baal-peor, which is their shame. <b>and they became detestable</b> before Me. <b>when they loved</b> the daughters of Moab.</html>
Verse 11
<html><b>As for Ephraimtheir honor shall fly away like a bird etc.</b> Said the prophet: If only they would be like a bird that wanders from its nest and ceases to multiply, so should they be bereft of their seed, either at the time of birth, or that it should disintegrate and they should miscarry, or at the time of conception that they should not conceive, for what use is it that they raise their children, since, if they raise them, I will bereave them before they become men.</html>
Verse 12
<html><b>for woe… also</b> Woe to the fathers. <b>when I turn away from them</b> Heb. בְּשוּרִי, like בְּסוּרִי, when I turn away from them. This is one of the words listed in the Masorah, which are spelled with a “sin” but read with a “sammech.” Another explanation: <b>their honor shall fly away like a bird etc.</b> Like this bird which flies away and is no more, so will their honor fly away and flee, all that they toiled with their children in birth, [in the womb,] and in conception. <b>From birth</b> This refers to the birth pangs. <b>and from the womb</b> This refers to the days of pregnancy. <b>and from conception</b> At the time of coitus. All this toil of theirs will end. How so? For, when they raise their children, I will bereave them.</html>
Verse 13
<html><b>Ephraim, as I saw Tyre</b> in its tranquility, enjoying royalty and wealth more than all the provinces, so did I see Ephraim, planted in a dwelling place. But Ephraimwhat recompense did he recompense Me? He occupied himself with taking his children out to the slayer, to slaughter them in worship of the idols. So did Jonathan translate.</html>
Verse 14
<html><b>Give them, O Lord, what You will give</b> The prophet prays that they should die when young, for the mourning for a child is not as bad as the mourning for an adult. Therefore, if it is impossible that they die from birth, from the womb, or from conception, for it was already decreed from the Creation of the world, (Gen. 3: l6) “And to your husband shall be your longing,” give them quickly in their childhood what you say to give to them after a time, for You said, “For, if they raise their children. I will bereave them.” [from Pesikta Rabbathi 45:3] <b>give them a bereaving womb</b> When they emerge into the world (lit. the air of the world), let them die or let their mother’s breasts dry up so that they will have no milk to nurse them.</html>
Verse 15
<html><b>All their evil is in Gilgal</b> There they worshipped idols to a great extent (on high placesabsent in mss.). Since the mishkan was there first, the prophets of Baal would tell them that was a choice site, and it belonged to the kings of Israel. <b>I will not continue to love them</b> Heb. לֹא אוֹסֵף אַהֲבָתָם, lit. I will not continue their love.</html>
Verse 16
<html><b>they shall not produce fruit</b> It is not good for them to multiply, for, even if they bear children, I will slay the precious ones of their womb.</html>
Verse 17
<html><b>My God shall reject them</b> This is not a curse but a report. He is destined to reject them.</html>