Bible Commentary

Hosea 13:1-8

Matthew Henry on Hosea 13:1-8

Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · Matthew Henry · CC0 1.0 Universal

While Ephraim kept up a holy fear of God, and worshipped Him in that fear, so long he was very considerable. When Ephraim forsook God, and followed idolatry, he sunk. Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves, in token of their adoration of them, affection for them, and obedience to them; but the Lord will not give his glory to another, and therefore all that worship images shall be confounded.

No solid, lasting comfort, is to be expected any where but in God. God not only took care of the Israelites in the wilderness, he put them in possession of Canaan, a good land; but worldly prosperity, when it feeds men's pride, makes them forgetful of God.

Therefore the Lord would meet them in just vengeance, as the most terrible beast that inhabited their forests. Abused goodness calls for greater severity.

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commentaryReproofs and Threatenings. (b. c. 722.)REPROOFS AND THREATENINGS. (B. C. 722.) Idolatry was the sin that did most easily beset the Jewish nation till after the captivity; the ten tribes from the first were guilty of it, but especially after the days of Ahab;…Matthew HenrycommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Hosea 13:1-8Ephraim, living and dead. This passage portrays anew the dreadful prevalence of apostasy and idolatry throughout the nation. "The same strings, though generally unpleasing ones, are harped upon in this chapter that were…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Hosea 13:1-8Justification of the ways of God to man. Israel had been the cause of their own calamities—another proof that sin is the procuring cause of all human suffering and sorrow. God's character is seen to be everlastingly the…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Hosea 13:1-4Baal-exaltation. The first clause is better read, "When Ephraim spake, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel." The contrast is between what Ephraim once was, and what his offending in Baal had now brought him to…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Hosea 13:1-16EXPOSITION The first eight verses of this chapter form the premises from which the prophet, in the ninth verse, draws the conclusion that the conduct of Israel had been suicidal; that they had brought on themselves the…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Hosea 13:1When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel. This rendering of the Authorized VersionJoseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Hosea 13:2And now they sin more and more (margin, add to sin), and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen. This part of the verse declares…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Hosea 13:2They sin more and more. The tribe of Ephraim was especially upbraided by the prophet on account of their addictedness to idol-worship. Separating themselves from the religious observances which were proper to the descen…Joseph S. Exell and contributors