CHAP. XIII. V. 1, 2. When Ephraim was little in his own estimation, and spake in a humble, diffident manner; when he feared the Lord, "trembled at his word," or lest he should offend him and forfeit his protection; he then grew considerable in Israel. Joshua, the conqueror of Canaan, descended from Ephraim; and from his time, that tribe gained the ascendency in the northern parts of the land, and preserved it, till Jeroboam, an Ephraimite, became king of Israelt and then the kingdom of the ten tribes was frequently called Ephraim, and was in many things prosperous. But
3 Therefore they shall be as the morn-||lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe
ing-cloud, and as the early dew that passeth them . away, k as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: m for there is no savior beside
me.
when Ahab and the succeeding kings set up the worship of Baal, this prosperity declined; and the kingdom in general, and the tribe in particular, became like a criminal condemned to die, or a man languishing under a mortal disease. ( Marg . Ref . a-d.-- Notes , 1 Kings 12:16:30-33.) Yet nothing could induce the people to renounce idolatry. When Jehu had destroyed Baal, they adhered to the golden calves, and lavished their treasures, and employed their ingenuity in framing other idols: and when these were taken from them, they made others in their stead. ( Marg .
Ref . e-g. -Notes, 2:8,9. 8:2-6. 11:2. 2 Kings 10:29-31. 17:7-14.) The kings and priests, and other zealous worshippers, required those, who brought sacrifices, to "kiss the calves." By a peculiar arrangement, the word for men is, in the original, next to that for calves . "The sacrificers, man, the calves let them kiss." That ( Adam ,) whom "God made in his image and likeness," nay, man favored with the oracles of God, should degrade himself by kissing, as an act of adoration and love, the lifeless image of a mean brute, is a wonderful proof of stupidity and depravity.
Thus Cicero describes a statue of Hercules, as having its mouth and chin worn something smoother, because the worshippers used not only to
81 will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps , and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
[Practical Observations.]
9TO Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; " but in me is thine help.
10 * I will be thy King: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.
s 2 Sam. 17:8. Prov. 17:12. Am. 9:1-3.
Heb. beast of the field. Ps. 80:13. Is. 5:29. 56:9. Jer. 12:9. t 14:1. 2 Kings 17:7-17. Prov. 6:32. 8:36. Is. 3:9,11. Jer. 2: 17,19. 4:18. 5:25.
u 4. Deut. 33:26. Ps. 33:20. 46:1. 121:1,2. 146:5. Eph. 1: 3-5. Tit. 3:3-7.
Heb. in thy help.
x Ps. 10:16. 44:4. 47:6,7. 74:12.
89:18. 149:2. Is. 33:22. 43:15. Jer. 8:19. Zech.14:9.John 1:49. y 4. 10:3. Deut. 32:37-39. Jer.
2:28.
the Lord had done for Israel, from their deliverance out of Egypt, they ought to have acknowledged and worshipped no other god, but him alone; for none but he was, or could be, a Savior, or deliverer of his people, from temporal or eternal ruin. ( Marg . Ref . 1, m.- Notes , Is . 43:8-13, vv . 17-13. 45:20-22.)-This verse may be understood as a prophecy of what the Lord will do for Israel in future times. (Notes, 9-14:14. Rom . 11: 25-32 . )
V.5-8. God had acknowledged, regarded, and provided for Israel in the wilderness; when otherwise they must have perished by thirst, because it was a land of great drought. ( Marg . and Marg . Ref . n, o.- Notes , Deut . 8:2, 3. 32:10. Jer. 2:6.) Yet when they entered Canaan, and were like cattle placed in a good pasture; they gratified their appetites to exThis caused them to forget God and their obcess, and their hearts were lifted up in pride. ligations to him, and so they apostatized to gross idolatry. ( Marg . Ref.p -r.- Note , Deut . 32:15.) Therefore he would meet them in vengeance, with the fierceness of a leopard, that watches by the way to seize upon the travellers; with the fury of a savage bear, enraged by the loss of her young; with the force of a lion, or as the most terrible beast that inhab
ited their forests. ( Marg . and Marg . Ref . r, s.)
adore it, with prayers and thanksgivings, but-They never venture to fire on a young bear, also to kiss it! (Notes, 1 Sam. 10:1. 1 Kings 19: 855: 'when the mother is near: for if the cub drop, 18. Ps . 2:10-12, v. 12. Rom . 11:1-6, v. 4.)- 'she becomes enraged to a degree little short
Some render it, "Let the sacrifices of men, kiss the calves." Marg . But it does not appear,
that human sacrifices were offered in the worship of the calves.
Trembling. )1( רתת The word occurs in no other place. Some interpret the clause of Jeroboam, a descendant of Ephraim, speaking words suited to excite horror , when he commanded the worship of the golden calves, in order to his own exaltation in Israel, and that of his family.
V 3, 4. To punish these abominable idolatries, the prosperity of Ephraim, like his goodness, ( Note , 6:4,5.) would be "as the morningcloud, the early dew, the chaff before the whirlwind, or the smoke out of the chimney;" i. e. violently and speedily made to vanish and disappear. ( Marg . Ref . k.) For, after all that
of madness; and if she get sight of the enemy, 'will only quit her revenge with her life." Cooke's Voyage .
V.9. "One hath destroyed thee, O Israel," that is, "Thou art destroyed."-Thou shouldest have trusted in me for thy help; but, having forsaken me, thou art destroyed.-- Israel did not trust in God for help, and Sennacherib triumphed over them: Hezekiah and Judah did trust in God for help, and were delivered from him. This seems the construction and sense of this verse; and the meaning is nearly the same as in our translation.-Israel need not blame others for his ruin; for he had destroyed himself: but he could not save himself, his help was in and from God alone. ( Marg . and Marg . Ref .-- Note , 4,5.)
V. 10, 11. The Lord had all along under
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.
13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is dan unwise son; • for he should not stay *long in the place of the breaking forth of children.
14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues: O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
b Deut. 32:34,35. Job 14:17. 21:19. Rom. 2:5.
c Ps. 48:6. Is. 13:38. 21:3. Jer. 4:31. 13:21. 22:23. 30:6,7. 49: 24. Mic. 4:9,10. 1 Thes. 5.3. d Prov. 22:3. Acts 24:25.
e 2 Kings 19:3. Is. 26:17,18. 37: 3. 66:8,9. Acts 16:29-34.2 Cor. 6:2. Heb. 3:7,8.
Heb. a time.
f 6:2. Job 19:25-27.33:24. Ps.
16:10. 30:3. 49:15. 71:20. 36:
13. Is. 25:8. Ez. 37:11-14. Rom. 11:15.
taken to be Israel's King and Protector: and the judges, whom he raised up, delivered the people, by his authority and immediate help. But where was there any who could save them in all their cities; or of all their rulers, whom they had set up for themselves? ( Marg . Ref. x, y.- Preface to Judges. Note, Judg . 8:22,23.) In the time of Samuel they would have a king; and God in anger granted their rebellious request, and gave thein Saul, who, both during his life and at his death, was the occasion of great calamities to them. ( Marg . Ref . z, a.Notes, 1 Sam . 8:1--5, v . 5,6-9,19-22. 12:8-19.31:2-6.) And the case had been similar with the kings of Israel, from Jeroboam's revolt, to the ruin of the kingdom of the ten tribes by the death of Hoshea their last king. This last event seems especially alluded to. "I will give thee a king in mine anger, and take him away in my wrath." ( Notes , 1 Kings 12:--16: 2 Kings 17:1--6.)
V. 12, 13. The nation had accumulated wickedness from age to age, which was, as it were, bound up in bags, and laid by in a secure place to be produced against the day of account. ( Marg . Ref . b.- Notes , Deut . 32:34, 35. Job 14:16-22, v . 17. Rom . 2:4-6.) The affairs of the nation were coming to a crisis; as the hour of travail approaches to the pregnant woman, and her sorrows can in no wise be avoided. But the event would be that of a woman, who dies without being delivered; for the people would make no more efforts to rescue themselves from their difficulties, than a dead child could do.
They were so foolish, that they continued in a situation which must certainly end in ruin, without attempting any reformation or repentance: so that the souls of individuals, and the political existence of the nation, would perish together, like the mother and child in the case alluded to. They ought indeed to use endeavors most earnestly, without delay to extricate themselves, before it was too late; but they foolishly neglected or postponed every means! ( Marg . and Marg . Ref . c-e.) The old translation reads it in a
V. 14. The predictions of the ruin of Israel, as a nation , were connected with intimations of a merciful and powerful interposition of God, to save a remnant of them, as from death and the grave: ( Notes , Ez . 37:1-14.) yet this was only a shadow of the ransom of the true Israel, by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, from the wrath of God, the death of sin, the power of Satan, and finally from death and the grave itself at the last day.
When Christ died, and was buried, and rose again, be, as it were, disquieted the dominions of death, and was the plague of that king of terrors; and at length he will be the destruction of both death and the grave. This was absolutely determined, and would certainly be асcomplished, notwithstanding Israel's sins and miseries. (Marg. Ref. f, g. -Notes , Job 19:2327. Ps . 16:8-11. Is . 25:6-8. 26:19. John 5:28, 29.1 Cor . 15:20-28,50-58. 2 Cor . 5:1-4.
Rev. 20:11-15.) The Lord would not repent of this his purpose and promise: he would even hide repentance from his eyes, as determined not to look at it.-Πε ἡ δικη σε θανατε; πε το κεντρον σε, άδη; "Where is thy vengeance, O death? Where is thy sting, O grave?" or "O hell?" Sept. The apostle seems to have referred to the words, as thus translated, though he does not quote them. (1 Cor . 15:55.) The word, translated I will be , is rendered in many versions, Where , both here and in the tenth verse.
"Where is thy king:" and only the transposition of a single letter is requisite to authorize this construction.
V. 15, 16. Ephraim (whose name signifies fruitfulness , Gen. 41:52.) had been very fruitful in respect of the numbers descended from him; yet he would certainly be destroyed by the Assyrians, whom the Lord would send against him: as the east wind from the wilderness blights the spreading tree; or as when the springs from beneath dry up, and it withers for lack of moisture. (Marg. Ref . i, 1.- Notes , 9:11-14.) Thus his fountain would be dried up; and his treasures, and choice vessels of precious metal and rich furniture, would
'plainer sense, "Else he would not stand still be spoiled. For when the land had previous
like a still-born child." As a child, if it could 'be supposed to have understanding, would de'liver itself out of the straits of the womb, and 'not tarry there to the manifest danger of it'self and the mother: ... so if Ephraim, or Is'rael, had acted wisely, they would have pre'vented the approaching destruction by a 'speedy reformation.' Lowth . (Notes, 2 Kings 19:3. Is . 26:12-18, υυ . 17,18.)
ly been ravaged, Samaria would be desolated, by the most inhuman murder even of the women with child, and the sucking infants, among the other inhabitants. ( Marg . and Marg . Ref . m, n. See on Note , 10:14,15.) PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS.
Encouraging calls to repentance, and counsels respecting it, 1-3. worthy of particular attention, 9.
ISRAEL, à return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2 Take with you words, and turn to
a 6:1. 12:6. 1 Sam. 7:5,4. 2b 13:9. Jer. 2:19. Lam. 5:16. Chr. 30:6-9. Is. 55:6,7 Jer. Ez. 28:14-16. 3:12-14. 4:1. Joel 2-12,13. c Job 34:31,32. Joel 2:17. Matt. Zech. 1:3,4. Acts 26:18-20. 6:9-13. Luke 11:2-4. 18:13.
d 2 Sam. 12:13. 24:10. Job 7: 21. Ps. 51:2-10. Is. 6:7. Ez. 36:25,26. Mic. 7:19. Zech. 3: 4. John 1:29. Rom. 11:27. Tit. 2:14. Heb. 10:4. 1 John 1:7. 3:5.
e Eph. 1:6,7. 2:7,8. 2 Tim. 1:9. *Or, give good. Matt. 7:11.
we will
Luke 11.13. 15:21-24.
f Ps. 69:30,31. Heb. 13:15. 1 Pet . 2:5,9,
g 5:13. 7:11. 8:9. 12-1. 2 Chr. 16:7. Ps. 146:3.
h Deut. 17:16. Ps. 20:7,8. 33: 17. Is. 30:2,16. 31:3. 36:8.
tations free and unencumbered, his promises
form the grand requisite for honor and advancement, in the service of Israel's God and || exceedingly great and precious; his wisdom,
King. But they who exalt themselves shall be abased; and such as forsake God, to follow idols and iniquities, give a fatal wound to their own prosperity, and are the murderers of their own souls. The way of transgression is down hill; and they who begin to descend, often "sin on more and more," till they come into the pit of destruction. Many would spare no expense in religion, provided it might be regulated "according to their own understanding," to suit their own inclinations, and not according to the word of God.
In this case they would adore the work of the craftsman, or the creature of their own imagination, with abundant reverence, devotion, and affection; and with as much stupidity, as the Israelites prostrated themselves before, and kissed, the dead image of a calf! But every fleeting objeet in nature might preach to such men the vanity of their religion, and the transient continuance of their prosperity.
Surely, no one, who has read the Bible, should acknowledge any other God, than him from whom "cometh salvation!" And those who have experienced the power of converting grace, and have walked with God in the liberty of the Gospel, will be effectually preserved from such delusions: for none can be entitled to our worship, who cannot save us from all enemies and evils: and there is no other Savior, but the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, into whose name Christians are baptized.
He takes care of his people, in their lowest estate, and preserves them in every barren desert and land of drought, through which they pass.--But when sinners under terror of conscience, or in difficult circumstances, obtain ease or prosperity, and then run into excess, are lifted up in pride, or lulled into carnal security, and so forget God, they may expect to be punished with marked severity. This ingratitude, so natural to fallen man, excites his heaviest indignation, and turns his kindness into jealousy, which burns most fiercely against the objects of it.
He can torture the inmost soul, and as
power, and truth are concerned to accomplish them to every believer: he will be the King, the Protector, and Ruler, of all who believe, and he will save them completely and for ever: ( Note , Is . 33:20-22, τ. 22.) but all other devices, for obtaining safety, and eternal life and salvation, are as vain as Israel's hope in their kings and judges; whom they rebelliously set up, when they rejected the Lord and "would not have him to reign over them."-What we inordinately desire, will perhaps be given us in anger: and whether granted, or withheld, or taken from us, it will be the occasion of wrath and tribulation to our souls.
The sins of unbelievers, with all their aggravations, are laid up in the omniscience of God, as if "hid among his treasures:" and who can conceive what a long and heavy account there stands out against each person! Except therefore sinners repent, and believe the gospel, anguish will soon come upon them, as the sorrows of a travailing woman, from which there will be no deliverance. He is then most unwise, who does not make haste to flee from the wrath to come.
For, however men may be alarmed and affected; unless they "enter in at the strait gate," and become penitent believers, "new created in Christ Jesus unto good works;" they will as surely perish, as the child does whose mother's womb becomes its grave. But the great Redeemer is able and willing to extricate those who call upon him, out of this and every difficulty.
He has paid the ransom of our souls with his blood, and begun his triumphs by his resurrection froin the dead: and all, who accept his salvation and bring forth the fruits of it, may be assured, that he will also "ransom them from the power of the grave and redeem them from death;" till he has forced the devouring monster to disgorge his prey, and till he has become the destruction of the grave, and "mortality be swallowed up of life." Then will the millions of the redeemed rejoice, and praise the Lord, for having destroyed the last enemy, and for hav
it were, "rend the caul of the heart," of his re-ing restored them, in body and soul, to a glo
bellious and apostate worshippers: nor can words describe, or similitudes illustrate, the anguish which he is able, whenever he sees good, to excite in the heart and conscience: for "who knoweth the power of his wrath?" ( Note , Ps . 90:11.) V. 9-16.
rious immortality. "These are true and faithful sayings:" for God has promised, and "repentance will be hid from his eyes." But without fruitfulness in good works, springing from the Spirit of Christ; all other fruitfulness will be found as empty, as the uncertain riches of the world: the wrath of God will wither its We have all destroyed ourselves, and ought branches; the springs that watered it will benever so to speak concerning the purposes of come dry, and it shall be spoiled, and come to God, or Satan's temptations, temptations, or any other sub-nothing. In short, "tribulation and anguish"
ject, as to forget, that our own wilful apostacy and rebellion have exposed us to that deserved wrath, which must have terminated in eternal ruin had not mercy intervened. Nor can we have any help but from the Lord: and, blessed be his name, in him is effectual help; and for us , if we are willing to accept of it. "All things are ready," the mercies of God are infinite, his redemption all-sufficient, his invi
belong to those, who have rebelled against God, and are fixed immoveably on all who impenitently persist in rebellion; and their woes will be far more terrible, than any, that are experienced in that cruelty and carnage, which sometimes attend the storming of populous cities. From such miseries and murders and from sin the fruitful parent of all sorrow 'Good Lord, we beseech thee to deliver us!'
smell as Lebanon.
not ride upon horses; neither will we say || beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and this any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall * revive as the corn,
4 I will heal their backsliding, my and grow as the vine: the scent thereof will love them freely: " for mine anger is turned away from him.
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: Phe shall * grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
6 His branches shall + spread, and his
i 8. 2:17. Is. 1:29. 2:20. 27:9. Ez. 36:25, 37:23. 43:7-9. Mic. 5:10-14. Zech. 13:2.
k Ex. 22:22-24. Ps. 10:14.68: 5. 146:9. Prov. 23:10,11. John 14:18. marg.
1 11:7. Ex. 15:26. Is. 57:18. Jer. 3:22. 5:6, 8:22. 14-7. 17: 14. 33:6. Matt. 9:12,13.
Zeph. 3:17. Rom. 3:24. Eph. 1:6,7. 2:49. 2 Tim. 1:9. Tit. 3:4-7.
n Num. 25:4,11. Ps. 78:38. Is.
12:1. 2 Cor. 5:19-21.
29:19. Ps. 72:6. Prov. 19:12. Is. 18:4. 26:19. 44.3. Mic. 5:7. p Cant. 2:1,2,16. 4:5. Matt. 6: 28,29. Luke 12:27.
* Or, blossom .
q Ps. 72:16. 92:12. Is 35:2. Heb. strike. 2 Kings 19:30. ls. 27:6. Ez. 17:22-24. Eph.
3:17.
shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim shall say , "What have I to do any more with idols? a I have heard him , and observed him: I am like a green fir-tree. From me is thy fruit found.
9 Who is dwise, and he shall under
t Gen. 27:27. Cant. 4:11-15. 2 Cor. 2:14,15. Phil. 4:18.
u Ps. 91:1. Cant. 2:3. Is. 32: 1,2.
x 6:2. Ps. 85:6. 138:7. Is. 61: 11. John 11:25. 12:24. 1 Cor. 15:36-38.
r Ps. 30:9-11. Ez. 17:5-8. 31: 3-10. Dan. 4:10-15. Matt. y Cant. 6:11. Zech. 8:12. 13:31,32. John 15:1, &c. Rom.
11:16-24.
Heb.go.
o Deut. 32:2. 2 Sam. 23:4. Job s Ps. 52:8. 128:3.
Or, blossom . 5. marg. Or, memorial .
z 2,3. Job 34:32. Acts 19:18
20. 1 Thes. 1:9. 1 Pet. 1:14 -16. 4:3,4.
a Job 33:27. Jer. 31:18-20. Luke 15:20. John 1:47,48. b Is. 41:19. 55:13. 60:13, c John 1:16. 15:1-8. Gal. 5: 22,23. Eph. 5:9. Phil. 1:11. 2:13. 4:13. Jam. 1:17.
d Ps. 107:43. Prov. 1:5,6. 4:18. Jer. 9:12. Dan. 12:10. Matt. 13:11,12. John 8:47. 18:37.
NOTES.