"The significant couple returns for a new reference" (_Rückert_).
First, in vers. 1-3, the symbolical action is reported. At the command
of the Lord, the prophet takes a wife, who, notwithstanding his
affectionate and faithful love, lives in continued adultery. He does
not entirely reject her; but, in order that she may come to recovery
and repentance, he puts her into a position where she must abstain
from her lovers. The interpretation of the symbol is given in ver.
4: Israel, forsaken by the world, shall spend a long time in sad
seclusion. A glance into the more distant future, without any
symbolical imagery, forms the conclusion. The punishment will at length
produce conversion. Israel returns to the Lord his God, and to David
his king.
* * * * *
Ver. 1. "_Then said the Lord unto me, Go again, love a_ [Pg 274]_woman
beloved of her friend, and an adulteress, as the Lord loveth the sons
of Israel, and they turn to other gods and love grape-cakes._"
The right point of view for the interpretation of this verse has been
already, in many important respects, established; compare p. 183 sqq.
We here take for granted the results there obtained. It is of great
importance, for an insight into the whole passage, to remark, that the
symbolical action in this section, just as in that to which chap. i.
belongs, embraces the entire relation of the Lord to the people of
Israel, and not, as some interpreters assume, one portion only, viz.,
the time from the beginning of the captivity. This false view--of which
the futility was first completely exposed by _Manger_--has arisen from
the circumstance, that the prophet, in narrating the execution of the
divine commission, omits very important events. In the expectation that
every one would supply them, partly from the commission itself, and
partly from the preceding portions, where they had been treated of with
peculiar copiousness, he rather at once passes from the first
conclusion of the marriage, to that point which, in this passage, forms
his main subject, namely, the disciplinary punishment to which he
subjects his wife,--the Lord, Israel. The prophet's aim and purpose is
to afford to the people a right view of the captivity so near at hand;
to lead them to consider it neither as a merely accidental event,
having, no connection at all with their sins; nor as a pure effect of
divine anger, aiming at their entire destruction; but rather as being
at the same time a work of punitive justice, and of corrective love.
Between the second verse, "I purchased her to me," etc., and the third,
"Then I said unto her," etc., we must supply. And I took her in
marriage and loved her; but she committed adultery. That this is the
sound view, appears clearly from ver. 2. According to the right
exposition (compare p. 195 sqq.), this verse can be referred only to
the first beginning of the relation betwixt the Lord and the people of
Israel--to that only by which He acquired the right of property in this
people, on delivering them from Egypt. This is confirmed, moreover, by
the second half of the verse under consideration: "As the Lord loveth,"
etc. Here the love of the Lord to Israel in its widest extent is spoken
of. Every limitation of it to a single manifestation--be it a [Pg
275]renewal of love after the apostasy, or the corrective discipline
inflicted from love--is quite arbitrary; and the more so, because, by
the addition, "And they turned," etc., the love of God is represented
as running parallel with the apostasy of the people. The same result is
obtained from a consideration of the first half. For what entitles us
to explain "love" by "love again," or even by "_restitue amoris signa_"
as is done by those who hold the opinion, already refuted, that the
woman is _Gomer_? The word "love" corresponds exactly with "as the Lord
loveth." If the latter must be understood of the love of the Lord in
its whole extent,--if it does not designate merely the manifestation of
love, but love itself,--how can a more limited view be taken of the
former "love?" How could we explain, as is done by those who defend the
reference to a new marriage, the words, "Beloved of her friend, and an
adulteress," as referring to a former marriage of the wife, and as
tantamount to--who was beloved by her former husband, and yet committed
adultery? In that case, there would be the greatest dissimilarity
betwixt the type and the antitype. Who, in that case, is to be the type
of the Lord? Is it to be the former husband, or the prophet? If the
figure is at all to correspond with the reality,--the first member with
the second, the רֵעַ can be none other than the prophet himself.--Let us
now proceed to particulars, אהב, "love," is stronger than קח, "take,"
in chap. i. 2. There, marriage only was spoken of; here, marriage from
love and in love. This is still more emphatically pointed out by the
subsequent words אהבת רע, and contrasted with the conduct of the
wife, which is indicated by מנאפת, so that the sense is this: "In
love take a wife who, although she is beloved by thee, her friend,
commits adultery, and with whom--I tell it to thee beforehand--thou
wilt live in a constant antagonism of love, and of ingratitude, the
grossest violation of love." The word "_love_" has a reference to the
love preceding and effecting the marriage; the word "_beloved_,"
to the love uninterruptedly continuing during the marriage, and
notwithstanding the continued adultery, unless we should say--and it is
quite admissible--that "love" implies, at the same time, "to take out
of love," and "to love constantly." Instead of "beloved by _thee_" it
is said, "beloved by her _friend_." Many have been thereby misled; but
it only serves to make the contrast more [Pg 276]prominent.[1] רֵעַ has
only one signification--that of _friend_. It never, by itself, means
"fellow-man," never "fellow-Jew," never "one with whom we have
intercourse." The Pharisees were quite correct in understanding it as
the opposite of enemy. In their gloss, Matt. v. 43, καὶ μισήσεις τὸν
ἐχθρόν σου, there was one thing only objectionable--the most important,
it is true--that by the friend, they understood only him whom their
heart, void of love, loved indeed; not him whom they ought to have
loved, because God had united him to them by the sacred ties of
friendship and love. Thus, what ought to have awakened them to love,
just served them as a palliation for their hatred. Now this
signification, which alone is the settled one, is here also very
suitable. He whom the wife criminally forsakes, is not a severe
husband, but her loving friend, whom she herself formerly acknowledged
as such, and who always remains the same. Entirely parallel is Jer.
iii. 20: "As a wife is faithless towards her _friend_, so have ye been
faithless to Me;" compare ver. 4: "Hast thou not formerly called me. My
father, _friend_ of my youth art thou?" Compare also Song of Sol. v.
16. The correct meaning was long ago seen by _Calvin_: "There is," says
he, "an expressiveness in this word. For often, when women prostitute
themselves, they complain that they have done it on account of the too
great severity of their husbands, and that they are not treated by
their husbands with sufficient kindness. But if a husband delight in
having his wife with him, if he treat her kindly and perform the duties
of a husband, she is then less excusable. Hence, it is this most
heinous ingratitude of the people that is here expressed, and set in
opposition to the infinite mercy and kindness of the Lord." For a still
better insight into the meaning of the first half of this verse, we
subjoin the _paraphrasis_ by _Manger_: "Seek thee a wife in whom thou
art to have thy delight, and whom thou art to treat with such love,
that, even if she, by her unfaithfulness, violate the sacred rights of
matrimony, and thou, for that reason, canst no longer live with her,
[Pg 277]she shall still remain dear to thee, and shall be willingly
received again into thy favour, as soon as she shall have reformed her
life."--In the second half of the verse, there is a verbal agreement
with passages of the Pentateuch, so close that it cannot certainly be
accidental. Compare on כאהבת יהוה את־בני ישראל, Deut. vii. 8, מאהבת
יהוה אתכם,--an agreement which undoubtedly deserves so much more
attention, that we have already established the relationship of the
passage with ver. 2. On פנים אל אלהים אחרים, compare Deut. xxxi. 18: "I
will hide My face in that day for all the evil they are doing, for they
turn to other gods," אשישי ענבים--.פנה אל אלהים אחרים, "grape-cakes,"
has, as to its substance, been already explained, p. 194 sqq. It is the
result of an entire misunderstanding, that some interpreters should
here think of the love of feasting and banqueting. Others (as
_Gesenius_) are anxious to prove that such cakes were used at the
sacrifices which were offered to idols. The grape-cakes are rather
idolatry itself; but the expression, "They love grape-cakes," adds an
essential feature to the words, "They turn to other gods." It points,
namely, to the sinful origin of idolatry. Earnest and strict religion
is substantial and wholesome food; but idolatry is soft food, which is
sought only by the dainty and squeamish. That which is true of
idolatry, is true also of the service of sin, and of the world in
general, which, in Job xx. 12, appears under the image of meat which
is, in the mouth, as sweet as honey from the comb, but which is, in the
belly, changed into the gall of asps. In the symbolism of the law,
honey signified the _lust_ of the world; compare my work _Die Opfer
der Heil. Schrift_, S. 44. It is only the derivation of אשישיט, the
signification of which is sufficiently established by parallel
passages, which requires investigation. We have no hesitation in
deriving it from אֵשׁ, "fire;" hence it means properly, "that which has
been subjected to fire (compare אִשֶּׁה) = that which has been baked,"
"cakes." The derivation from אשש, "to found," has of late become
current; but the objections to it are:--partly, that the transition
from "founding," to "cake," is by no means an easy one; partly and
mainly, that there is not the slightest trace of this root elsewhere in
Hebrew. It is asserted, indeed, that אשישים itself is found in Is. xvi.
7, with a signification which renders necessary the derivation from the
verb אשש. But, even in that passage, the signification of [Pg 278]
"cakes" must be retained. The following reasons are in favour of it,
and against the signification "ruins," adopted by _Gesenius_, _Winer_,
and _Hitzig_. 1. The signification "cakes" deserves, _ceteris paribus_,
a decided preference, because it is established by the other passages.
It is only for reasons the most cogent that we can grant that one and
the same word has two meanings, and these not at all connected with
each other. 2. The transition from the meaning "foundation," which
alone can be derived from the verb אשש, to that of "_ruins_," is by no
means so easy as those critics would represent it. With respect to a
rebuilding, for which the ruins' afford the foundation, they might, it
is true, be called foundations, compare Is. lviii. 12, but not where
destruction only is concerned. Who would speak of howling over
foundations, instead of howling over ruins? 3. The context is quite
decisive. If we translate אשישים by "ruins," the subsequent כי is quite
inexplicable. This little word, upon which so much depends, performs
also the office of a guide: "For this reason Moab howls, for Moab
altogether does he howl, for the cakes of Kirhareseth you do sigh,
wholly afflicted; _for_ the vineyards of Heshbon are withered, the vine
of Sibmah, the grapes of which intoxicated the lord of the nations,"
etc. Then, ver. 9, "Therefore I weep with Jaeser for the vine of
Sibmah." If there be no more grapes, neither are there any more
grape-cakes. The destruction of the vineyards is therefore the cause of
the howling for the cakes. That such cakes, moreover, were prepared in
many places in Moab, sufficiently appears from the name of the place
Dibhlathaim, _i.e._, town of cakes. It may be remarked further, that we
are not entitled to assume a sing. אשיש as given by lexicographers
along with דבלה ;אשישה likewise forms the plural דבלים.
Ver. 2. "_And I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and a
homer of barley, and a lethech of barley._" Compare the explanation of
this verse, p. 195 sqq.
Ver. 3. "_And I said unto her. Thou art to sit for me many days: thou
art not to whore, and thou art not to belong to a man; and so I also to
thee._"
The sitting has the accessory idea of being forsaken and solitary,
which may be explained from the circumstance, that he who is not
invited to go with us is left to sit. Thus, _e.g._, Gen. xxxviii. 11:
"Sit as a widow in thy fathers house, until Shelah [Pg 279]my son be
grown;" Is. xlvii. 8, where Babylon says, "I shall not _sit_ as a
widow," etc. The Fut. in this and the following verses must not be
taken in an imperative sense, as meaning, thou shalt sit for me, thou
shalt not whore; the explanation given in ver. 4, and in the parallel
passage in chap. ii. 8, 9, are alike opposed to it. The husband will
not subject his wife to a moral probation, but he will lock her up, so
that she must _ sit_ solitary, and _cannot_ whore. With reference to
this. _Manger_ strikingly remarks: "There is, in that very severity,
the beginning of leniency; 'sit for me,' _i.e._, I who have been so
unworthily treated by thee, and who yet am thy most affectionate
husband, and who, though now at a distance from thee, will not
altogether forget thee." The לי indicates that the sitting of the wife
must have reference to the prophet. Quite similar is Exod. xxiv. 14:
"And he said unto the elders, שבו לנו, Sit ye here for us until we
return to you." The phrase itself, which must not be explained by "to
sit in expectation of some one," does not indicate in what way the
sitting has reference to him. The issue of the whole proceeding,
described in ver. 5, clearly shows, however, that it is not inflicted
by him as a merited punishment, as an effect of his just indignation,
but rather that we must think chiefly of his compassionate love, which
makes use of these means in order to render the reunion possible.--The
distinction between "to whore," and "to belong to a man," is obvious:
the former denotes _vagos et promiscuus amores_; the other, connubial
connection with a single individual; compare, _e.g._, Ezek. xvi. 8;
Lev. xxi. 3. But the question is,--Who is to be understood by the
"_man?_" Several refer it to the prophet exclusively. Thus _Jerome_
says, "Thou shalt not shamefully prostitute thyself with other lovers,
nor be legally connected with me, the man to whom thou art married."
Others admit, at least, a co-reference to the prophet = the Lord. By
the words, "Thou art not to whore," they say that the intercourse with
the lovers is excluded; but, by, "Thou art not to belong to a man," the
intercourse with the husband also; so that the sense would be, "Thou
shalt not have connubial intercourse either with me, or with any other
man." But the correct view is to refer both to the intercourse with the
lovers; and so, indeed, that the former designates the giving of
herself up, now to one, then to another; while the latter points to her
entering [Pg 280]into a firm relation to a single individual; just as,
in point of fact, the relation of Israel to the idols hitherto was a
whoring. According as it suited their inclination, they made, now this,
and then that, god of the neighbouring nations an object of their
worship; whilst a marriage connection would have been formed, if they
had entered with any one of them into a permanent and exclusive
connection, similar to that which had heretofore existed between them
and the Lord. This explanation is required by the words, "And so I also
to thee," at the close of the verse. If the words, "Thou shalt not
belong to any man," referred to the prophet, then "thou shalt not have
any intercourse with me" would imply, "I shall not have any intercourse
with thee;" and did not require any new mention to be made.--The
questions, however, now arise:--By what means was the state of things
corresponding to the figure to be brought about? By what is adulterous
Israel to be prevented from whoring, and from belonging to any man? By
what means is idolatry to be extirpated from among the people? The
answer has been already given in our remarks on chap. ii. 8, 9. The
idols manifest themselves to Israel in their supposed gifts. If these
were taken from them,--if they were entirely stripped, and plunged into
want and misery, they could not fail to recognise the vanity of all
their previous efforts, along with the vanity of the object of their
worship, while their love to him could not but vanish. The absolute
inability of the idols to afford consolation and help to the people in
their sufferings must have put an end to their showing them
allegiance.--The last words, "And I also to thee," are explained by the
greater number of interpreters to mean, "I also will be thine."
_Manger_ explains them thus: "I will not altogether break the tie of
our love, nor marry another wife; but I will remain thine, will at last
receive thee again into my favour, and restore thee to the position of
my wife." _De Wette_ interprets them thus: "But then I will come to
thee;" _Umbreit_: "And I also only to thee;" _Ewald_: "And yet I am
full of love towards thee." But the words, "And I also to thee," are
rather tantamount to--"I will conduct myself in a similar manner
towards thee." Now two things may constitute this equality of conduct.
_Either_ it is conceived thus:--that the prophet is placed in
parallelism with the wife. The latter has lost all claims upon the
prophet; she has violated connubial [Pg 281]fidelity, and, hence, has
no title to demand that he should observe it. But that which she cannot
demand from him, he does, from the necessity of his nature. He promises
to her that, during the proceeding which has commenced against her, he
would not enter into any new connection; and by holding out to her the
hope of her returning, at some future period, to her old relation to
him, he makes it more easy for her to break off the sinful connections
which have destroyed it. Without a figure: The Lord, from His
forbearance and mercy, waits for the reformation of those who hitherto
were His people; does not drive them to despair by receiving another
people in their place. _Or_, The prophet is placed in parallelism with
the other man. As the wife does not enter into any relation with that
man, so the prophet also abstains from any nearer intercourse with her.
The latter explanation (adopted by _Simson_ and _Hitzig_) is to be
preferred. The exclusiveness cannot in the same sense be applicable to
the prophet, representing the Lord, as to the wife, representing the
people. So early as in Deut. xxxii. 21, we read: "They have moved Me to
jealousy with that which is not God, they have provoked Me to anger
with their vanities; and I will move them to jealousy with those which
are not a people, I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,"
After all that had, in the Song of Solomon, been predicted regarding
the reception of the Gentile nations into the kingdom of God and
Christ, and about the receiving again into it of Israel, to be effected
by their instrumentality (compare my _Comment. on Song of Sol._, S.
239), the thought suggested by the former view would be quite
incomprehensible. Quite decisive, however, is ver. 4, in which the
thought, which is here in a symbolical garb, is expressed in plain
language. There, however, not only the intercourse with the idols, but
the connection with Jehovah also, appears to be intermitted. The reason
why the prophet does not enter into a closer connection with the wife
is, that her repentance is more of a negative, than of a positive
character. By want and isolation, her hard heart is to be broken, true
repentance to be called forth, and the flame of cordial conversion and
love to her husband, whose faithful love she had so ill requited, to be
enkindled in her. In favour of the explanation given by us, and in
opposition to that first mentioned, the גם is decisive. Against this,
that other explanation, [Pg 282]in its various modifications, tries its
strength in vain. "I also will be thine, or will adhere to thee," would
require in the preceding context, "Thou shalt be mine, or adhere to
me;" but of this, there is no trace. It is only in ver. 5 that, with
an _after_, the conversion is reported. In favour of that false
interpretation it is said, and with some plausibility, that the
explanation would otherwise be more extended than the symbol: The
latter would contain the outward dealing only; while the former, in
ver. 5, would contain at the same time its salutary effect. But, even
according to this explanation, the words would not correspond with ver.
5. _Here_, the showing of mercy would be announced without the mention,
even by a word, of the sincere return to the husband--and this,
altogether apart from the גם, would be quite unsuitable, and would,
moreover, be opposed by the analogy of chap. ii. 9--while, in ver. 5,
not the showing of mercy, but only the reformation, would form the
subject. In that case, it ought not to have been said, "They shall
return to the Lord," but rather, "The Lord shall return to them." But
this plausible reason falls to the ground, along with the unfounded
supposition that the two last verses contain the explanation. The
correct view is, that the explanation is limited to ver. 4. Ver. 5 must
be considered as an appendix, in which, without any figurative
covering, the effect is described which will be produced upon the
nation by these outward dealings. The symbol and its explanation extend
only as far as the main object of the prophet in the section under
review,--that object being to present the impending captivity in its
true light, and thereby to secure against levity and despair when it
should appear.
Ver. 4. "_For many days the children of Israel shall sit without a
king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without a
pillar, and without an Ephod and Teraphim._"
כי is used because the reason of the performance of the symbolical
action lies in its signification. Concerning ישב, see the remarks on
ver. 3; compare, moreover. Lament, i. 1: "How does the city sit
solitary that was full of people! she has become as a widow."--The
question is, whether, by the religious objects here mentioned, such
only are to be understood as belonged to the worship of the idols, or
such also as belonged to the worship of Jehovah. The following
furnishes the reply. The מצבה only [Pg 283]can be considered as
belonging exclusively to the idolatrous worship. Such pillars always
occur only as being consecrated to the idols--especially to Baal. It
cannot be proved in any way that, contrary to the express command in
Lev. xxvi. 1, Deut. xvi. 22, they were, in the kingdom of Israel,
consecrated to the Lord also; compare 2 Kings iii. 2, xvii. 10, x.
26-28. On the other hand, among the objects mentioned, there is also
one, the אפוד, the mantle for the shoulders of the high priest, on
which the Urim and Thummim were placed, which must be considered as
belonging exclusively to the worship of Jehovah; at least there is not
the smallest trace to be found that it was part of any idolatrous
worship. It is true that _Gesenius_, in the _Thesaurus_, p. 135, gives
_s. v._ אפוד, under 2, the signification _statua_, _simulacrum idoli_,
and, besides the passages under consideration, refers to Jud. viii. 27,
xvii. 5, xviii. 14, 17. But one requires only to examine these passages
a little more minutely, to be convinced that the metamorphosis of
Jehovah into an idol is as little justified as the changing of the
mantle into a statue. From the personal character of Gideon, who was so
zealous for the Lord against the idols, we cannot at all think of
idolatry in Jud. viii. 27. In the _Dissertations on the Genuineness of
the Pentateuch_, vol. ii. p. 80, it has been proved that the Ephod of
Gideon was a precious imitation of that of the high priest. In chap.
xvii. 5, we need only to consider these words: "And the man Micah had
an house of God, and made an Ephod and Teraphim, and consecrated one of
his sons, and he became a priest to him." Afterwards, Micah took a
_Levite_ for a priest. But for what reason should he have been better
suited for that purpose than any other man? The answer is given in ver.
13: "Then said Micah, Now I know that Jehovah will do me good, for the
Levite has become a priest to me." The ignorant man knows after all
thus much, that the Levites alone are the only legitimate servants of
Jehovah, and he rejoices, therefore, that he had now remedied the
former irregularity. Jud. xviii. 14 does not require any particular
illustration, for it is the same Ephod which is spoken of in that
passage; but we must still direct attention to vers. 5 and 6 of that
chapter. "Then they (the Danites) said unto him (the Levite), Ask God,
we pray thee, in order that we may know whether our way in which we go
shall be prosperous. And the priest said unto them, Go in [Pg
284]peace, before _Jehovah_ is the way wherein ye go." Here, then, we
have a revelation given to the priest, as is alleged, by means of Ephod
and Teraphim; and this revelation is not ascribed to the idols, but to
Jehovah, whom alone the Levite wished to serve. From this it appeal's
that the graven image and the molten image--which, besides Ephod and
Teraphim, according to ver. 14, exist in the house of Micah--must be
considered as representations of Jehovah, similar to the calves in the
kingdom of the ten tribes. In vol. ii. pp. 78, 79, of my _Dissertations
on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, it has been demonstrated that
the Ephod of Micah was, along with the Teraphim, an apeing of the
high-priestly Ephod with the Urim and Thummim. The four objects
mentioned in Judges xvii. and xviii. are such as were separable
although connected, and connected although separable. The _molten work_
is the pedestal under the image; the image is clothed with the Ephod,
and in the Ephod were the Teraphim, from whom information and good
counsel for the future were expected. For, that this is the object of
the whole contrivance, is plain from chap. xviii. 5, 6, where the
priest asks counsel of God for the Danites.--With regard to the other
two objects mentioned in the verse before us, viz., the sacrifice and
Teraphim, a reference, at least exclusive, to idolatrous worship,
cannot be by any means maintained. As sacrifices are mentioned in the
widest generality, without any limitation in the preceding context,
there is certainly nothing which could in the least entitle us to
exclude the sacrifices which were offered to Jehovah. The Teraphim are
intermediate deities, by means of which the future is to be disclosed
(compare the remarks on Zech. x. 2); they might be brought into
connection with every religious system, but are found only once in
connection with any other religion than that of Jehovah,--and this in a
case where a non-Israelite is spoken of. It is true, however, that, in
substance, the Teraphim belong to the side of idolatry; for, wherever
they occur within the religion of Jehovah, they belong to a degenerate
condition of it only, which is on a par with idolatry. It would appear
that they are here contrasted with the Ephod, as the illegal means for
ascertaining the future, in opposition to the legal means. That the
Ephod was used for discovering the divine will, is seen from 1 Sam.
xxiii. 9, xxx. 7. The Teraphim, in like manner, served to explore [Pg
285]the future. A closer connection of the two seems to be indicated by
the circumstance that אין is omitted before תרפים.--But how can we
account for this strange intermingling of what belonged to the idols
with what belonged to Jehovah, since it cannot but be done
intentionally? It points to the dark mixture which at that time existed
among the people, and is a kind of ironical reflection upon it.--The
Lord makes them disgusted with idolatry, and all that belongs to it,
through His visitations, in which they seek in vain the help of the
idols, and become thoroughly acquainted with their vanity; compare
remarks in ver. 3. At the same time, however, all the pledges of His
grace are taken from them, so that they get into an altogether isolated
position. He withdraws from them their independent government, the
altar and priesthood--the former as a just punishment for their
rebellion against the dynasty ordained by God (compare chap. viii. 4),
of which, first Israel, and then Judah, had made themselves guilty.--As
regards the historical reference of this prophecy, interpreters are
divided, and refer it either to the Assyrian, the Babylonish, or the
Romish exile. The greater number of them, however, refer it exclusively
to the last. This is especially the case with the Jewish interpreters;
_e.g._, _Kimchi_, who says: "These are the days of the exile, in which
we are now; we have neither an Israelitish king nor an Israelitish
prince, but are under the dominion of the Gentiles and their kings."
The principal defenders of a direct reference to the Assyrian
captivity, are _Venema_ (_Dissert._ p. 232) and _Manger_. The decision
depends chiefly upon what we are to understand by "the children of
Israel." If these are the whole people, it is arbitrary to assign any
narrower limits to the _Word_ of God, than to His _deed_. The prophecy
must, in that case, comprehend everything in which the idea is
realized; and this so much the more, as the spiritual eye of the
prophet, directed to the idea only, does not generally regard the
intervals which, in the fulfilment, lie between the various
realizations of the _idea_. But now, ver. 5 would seem to lead us to
entertain the opinion, that, in the first instance, the prophet has in
view the children of Israel in the more limited sense only. The words,
"They shall return and seek David their king," imply a reference to the
then existing apostasy of the ten tribes from the dynasty of David. But
the future apostasy of the sons of Judah also from [Pg 286]David their
king may be as well _presupposed_ here, as, in chapter ii. 2, their
being carried away; and this so much the rather, as in chap. ii. 2, the
words, "They appoint themselves a king," suggest that the sons of Judah
also, no less than the sons of Israel, are without a head, and hence
have apostatized from David the king. And it is so much the more
natural to adopt such a supposition, as the Song of Solomon had already
described so minutely the rebellion of the whole people against the
glorious descendant of David--the heavenly Solomon--to which the
apostasy of the ten tribes from the house of David was only a prelude.
Considering the whole relation in which Hosea stands to the Song of
Solomon, we could scarcely imagine that, in this respect, he should not
have alluded to, and resumed its contents. _In the whole third chapter
there is nothing which refers exclusively to the ten tribes._ Chap.
iii. 2 has reference to all Israel. Throughout the whole Book of Hosea
also, as well as by the second Israelitish prophet Amos (compare the
remarks on Amos, chap ix.), Judah and Israel are viewed together, both
as regards apostasy and punishment (v. 5, 12, viii. 14, x. 11, etc.),
and as regards salvation, vi. 1-4, etc. Of special importance is the
comparison of the remarkable prophecy of Azariah in 2 Chron. xv. 2-4,
which was uttered at the time of Asa, king of Judah, and which so
nearly coincides with the one before us, that the idea suggests itself
of an allusion to it by Hosea: "Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and
Benjamin: The Lord will be with you, if you are with Him; and if ye
seek Him, He will be found of you; and if ye forsake Him, He will
forsake you. And many days will be to Israel when there is no true
God,[2] and no teaching priest,[3] and no law. Then they return in
their trouble unto Jehovah the God of Israel, and they seek Him, and He
is found of them." If the fundamental prophecy refer to all Israel, the
same must be the case with the prophecy under consideration. The
condition in which the Jews are, up to the present day, is described in
both of these prophecies with remarkable clearness; and hence we may
most confidently entertain [Pg 287]the hope, that there shall be a
fulfilment also of that which, in them as well as in the Song of
Solomon, has been foretold regarding the glorious issue of these
dealings of God.
Ver. 5. "_Afterwards shall the children of Israel return and seek the
Lord their God, and David their king, and shall tremble to the Lord and
to His goodness in the end of the days._"
יָשֻׁבוּ must not by any means be regarded as modifying בקשו, so that both
the verbs would constitute only one verbal idea. This must be objected
to, not only from the arguments already stated in the remarks on chap.
ii. 11, but, most decidedly, on account of the parallel passage, chap.
ii. 9, "I will go and return to my first husband." Compare chap. vi. 1:
"Come and let us return unto the Lord;" v. 15, where the Lord says, "I
will go and return to My place until they become guilty and seek My
face; in their affliction they will seek Me;" Jer. l. 4: "In those
days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall
_come_, they and the children of Judah together, weeping will they
come, and seek the Lord their God,"--a passage which, like Jer. xxx. 9,
points to the one before us in a manner not to be mistaken; Is. x. 21:
"The remnant shall _return_, the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty
God." The text, and the parallel passages, most clearly indicate what
is to be considered as the object of their return, namely, the Lord
their God, and David their king, from whom they had so shamefully
apostatized; so that those interpreters who here think of a return to
Canaan do not deserve a refutation. The words, "Jehovah their God," at
the same time lay open the delusion of the Israelites (who imagined
that they could still possess the true God, in the idol which they
called Jehovah), and rebuke their ingratitude. _Calvin_ says, "God had
offered Himself to them, yea. He had had familiar intercourse with
them,--He had, as it were, brought them up on His bosom just as a
father does his sons. The prophet, therefore, indirectly rebukes, in
these words, their stupendous wickedness." The God of the Israelites,
as well as the God of the Jews after they had rejected Christ, stood to
the God of Israel in the same relation as does the God of the Deists
and Rationalists to the God of the Christians. The question here
arises. Who is to be understood here by "David their king?" Some
interpreters refer it, after the example of _Theodoret_ (t. ii. p. 2,
p. 1326), to [Pg 288]Zerubbabel: but by far the greater number of them,
following the Chaldee ("And they shall obey the Messiah, the son of
David their king"), understand, thereby, the Messiah. It is true that
the latter exposition is quite correct as to its substance, but not as
to the form in which it is commonly expressed. From the words, "They
shall return and seek," it is evident that the Messiah is here not
called David as an individual, as is done in other passages, _e.g._,
Jer. xxx. 9. For the return presupposes their having been there
formerly, and their having departed; just as the seeking implies
neglecting. The expression, "their king," also requires special
attention. In contrast to the "king" in ver. 4 (compare viii. 4, "They
have made a king, and not by Me, a prince, and I knew it not"), it
shows that the subject of discourse is not by any means a new king to
be elected, but such an one as the Israelites ought to obey, even now,
as the king ordained for them by God. The sound view is this: By the
"king David" the whole Davidic house is to be understood, which is here
to be considered as an unity, in the same manner as is done in 2 Sam.
vii., and in a whole series of Psalms which celebrate the mercies
shown, and to be shown, to David and his house.[4] These mercies are
most fully concentrated in Christ, in whose appearance and everlasting
dominion the promises given to David were first to be fully realized.
The prophet mentions the whole--the Davidic family--because it was only
thus that the contrast between the apostasy and the return could be
fully brought out; but that, in so doing, he has Christ especially in
view--that he expected a return of the children of Israel to David in
Christ, is shown by the term באחרית הימים, which, in the prophets,
never occurs in any other sense than the times of the Messiah.
(Compare, regarding this expression, the remarks on Amos ix. 1.) This
reason is alone sufficient to refute the reference to Zerubbabel;
although so much must indeed be conceded, that the circumstance of part
of the citizens of the kingdom of the ten tribes adhering to him, the
descendant of the house of David, may be considered as a prelude of
that general return. The close connection betwixt the seeking of
Jehovah their God and David their king, likewise claims our attention.
David and his family had been elected by God to be the mediator
between Him and the [Pg 289] people--the channel through which all His
blessings flowed clown upon the people--the visible image of the
invisible King, who, at the end of the days, was, in Christ, most
perfectly to reflect His glory. The Israelites, in turning away from
David their king, turned away, at the same time, from Jehovah their
God,--as was but too soon manifested by the other signs of apostasy
from Him, by the introduction of the worship of calves, etc. He who
refuses to acknowledge God in that which He has Himself declared to be
His visible image (from Christ down to every relation which represents
Him in any respect, _e.g._, that of the father to the son, of the king
to the subject), will soon cease to acknowledge Himself. But as, first,
the ten tribes, and afterwards, the entire people, apostatized from
God, by apostatizing from David, so, by their apostasy from him, they
excluded themselves from all participation in the privileges of the
people of God, which could flow to them only through him. It is only
when they return to David by returning to Christ, that, from their
self-made God, they come to the true God, and within the sphere of His
blessings. That the same thing is repeated among ourselves in the case
of those who have forsaken Christ their King, and yet imagine still to
possess God, and that it is only by their returning to the brightness
of His glory that they can attain to a true union with the Lord their
God, and to a participation in the blessings which He bestows,--all
this is so obvious as to require nothing beyond a simple suggestion. A
perfectly sound interpretation of this passage is to be found in
_Calvin_, who remarks: "David was, as it were, a messenger of the Lord,
and, hence, that defection of the ten tribes was tantamount to a
rejection of the living God. The Lord had, on a former occasion, said
to Samuel (1 Sam. viii. 7), 'They have not rejected thee, but they have
rejected Me.' But how much more was this applicable in the case of
David, whom Samuel had anointed at the command of God, and whom the
Lord had adorned with so many glorious attributes, that they could not
reject his rule without, at the same time, publicly rejecting, to a
certain extent, the Lord Himself! It is true, indeed, that David was
then dead; but Hosea here represents, in his person, his everlasting
dominion, which the Jews knew would last as long as the sun and moon."
The expression, [Pg 290] "They tremble to the Lord," graphically
describes the disposition of heart in him, who, trembling with terror
and anxiety on account of the surrounding danger and distress, flees to
Him who can alone afford help and deliverance. That we must thus
explain it,--that we cannot entertain the idea of any trembling which
proceeds from the inconceivable greatness of the blessing--a
disposition of heart so graphically described by _Claudian_ in the
words,
"Horret adhuc animus, manifestaque gaudia differt
Dum stupet et tanto cunctatur credere voto,"--
and that we can as little think of a fearing or trembling which is the
consequence of the knowledge of deep sinfulness and unworthiness, is
shown by the parallel passage in chap. xi. 11: "They tremble as a bird
out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria." The bird and
the dove are here an emblem of helplessness. Substantially parallel is
also chap. v. 15: "In their affliction they will seek Me." Their
trembling is not voluntary; it is forced upon them by the Lord. But
that they tremble _to the Lord_--that, through fear, they suffer
themselves to be led to the Lord--is their free act, although possible
only by the assistance of grace. The manner in which the words, "and to
His goodness," are to be understood, is most plainly shown by the
words, "I will return to my first husband, for it was _better_ with me
then than now," chap. ii. 9. Along with the Lord, they have lost His
goodness also, and the gifts flowing from it. But distress again drives
them to seek the Lord, and His goodness, which is inseparable from
Himself. This explanation is confirmed by other parallel passages also;
_e.g._, Jer. xxxi. 12: "And they come and exult on the height of Zion,
and flow together to the goodness of the Lord (טוב יהוה), to corn, and
must, and oil, and lambs, and cattle;" ver. 14: "My people shall be
satisfied with My goodness." Compare also Ps. xxvii. 13, xxxi. 20;
Zech. ix. 17. We would therefore object to the opinion of several
interpreters, who would explain טוב יהוה as being equivalent to כבוד
יהוה, to His manifestation in the Angel of the Lord, the Λόγος, by whom
His glory and goodness are made known.
Footnote 1: It is quite impossible to refer רֵעַ to the adulterers, and
for this reason:--that it is always Israel's love to the idols that is
spoken of, but never the love of the idols to Israel. In the
explanation given in the words immediately following, it is not the
idols that take the initiative; it is Israel who turns to other gods.
Footnote 2: _J. D. Michaelis_ remarks: "In the present captivity they
do not, indeed, worship idols, but nevertheless they do not know, nor
worship, the true God, since they reject the Son, without whom the
Father will not be worshipped, John xvii. 3; 1 John ii. 23; 2 John 9."
Footnote 3: The "priest" here corresponds with the "Ephod" in Hosea.
Footnote 4: In 1 Kings xii. 16, also, David stands for the Davidic
dynasty.
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