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   Title: Commentary on Hosea
   Creator(s): Calvin, John (1509-1564)
   (Alternative)
   (Translator)
   Rights: Public Domain
   LC Call no: BS491
   LC Subjects:

   The Bible

   Works about the Bible
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   COMMENTARIES

   ON THE

   TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS


   BY JOHN CALVIN



   NOW FIRST TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN,

   BY THE REV. JOHN OWEN

   VICAR OF THRUSSINGTON, LEICESTERSHIRE



   VOLUME FIRST


   HOSEA



   CHRISTIAN CLASSICS ETHEREAL LIBRARY
   GRAND RAPIDS, MI

   [1]http://www.ccel.org
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   TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

   Prejudice has often deprived many of advantages which they might have
   otherwise derived: and this has been much the case with respect to The
   Works of Calvin; they have been almost entirely neglected for a long
   time, owing to impressions unfavorable to the Author. In his own and
   the succeeding age, the authority of Calvin as a Divine, and especially
   as an Expounder of Scripture, was very high, and higher than that of
   any of the Reformers. Though an eminent writer of the present day, Dr.
   D'Aubigne, has pronounced Melancthon "the Theologian of the
   Reformation," yet there is sufficient reason to ascribe that
   distinction to Calvin; and to him, no doubt, it more justly belongs,
   than to any other of the many illustrious men whom God raised up during
   that memorable period.

   It is not difficult to account for what happened to our Author. Various
   things combined to depreciate his repute. In this country his views on
   church government created in many a prejudice against him; and then the
   progress of a theological system, not more contrary to what he held
   than to what our own Reformers maintained, increased this prejudice;
   and where the former ground of difference and dislike did not exist,
   the latter prevailed: so that, generally in our Church, and among
   dissenting bodies, the revered name of Calvin has been regarded with no
   feelings of affection, or even of respect; no discrimination being
   exercised, and no distinction being made between his great excellencies
   as an Expounder of Scripture, and his peculiar views on Church
   discipline, and on the doctrine of Predestination.

   On the Continent other things operated against his reputation. Popery
   owed him a deep grudge; for no one of the Reformers probed the depths
   of its iniquities with so much discrimination, and with such an
   unsparing hand as he did. His remarkably acute mind enabled him to do
   this most effectually; and there is much on this subject in the present
   work, which renders it especially valuable at this period, when Popery
   makes such efforts to spread its errors and delusions. The two weapons
   which he commonly employed were Scripture and common sense, -- weapons
   ever dreaded by Popery; and to blunt their edge has at all times been
   its attempt, the first, by vain tradition, and the other, by implicit
   faith, not in God, or in God's word, but in a palpably degenerated
   Church. But these weapons Calvin wielded with no common skill
   dexterity, and power, being deeply versed in Scripture, and endued with
   no ordinary share of sound and penetrating judgment. In addition to
   this, his doctrinal views were diametrically opposed to those of
   Popery, and especially to the papal system, as modified by and
   concentrated in Jesuitism, which may be considered to be the most
   perfect form of Popery. For these reasons, the Writings of Calvin could
   not have been otherwise than extremely obnoxious to the adherents of
   the Church of Rome: and the consequence has been, that they spared no
   efforts to vilify his name, and to lessen his reputation.

   The first writer of eminence and acknowledged learning in this country,
   who has done any thing like justice to Calvin, was Bishop Horsley; and
   when we consider the very strong prejudice which at that time prevailed
   almost in all quarters against Calvin, to vindicate his character was
   no ordinary proof of moral courage. There were, no doubt, some points
   in which the two were very like. They both possessed minds of no common
   strength and vigor, and minds discriminating no less than vigorous. In
   clearness of perception, also, they had few equals; so that no one
   needs hardly ever read a passage in the writings of either twice over
   in order to understand its meaning. But probably the most striking
   point of likeness was their independence of mind. They thought for
   themselves, without being swayed by authority either ancient or modern,
   and acknowledged no rule and no authority in religion but that which is
   divine. The Bishop had more imagination, but the Pastor of Geneva had a
   sounder judgment. Hence the Bishop, notwithstanding his strong mind and
   great acuteness, was sometimes led away by what was plausible and
   novel; but Calvin was ever sober-minded and judicious, and whatever new
   view he gives to a passage, it is commonly well supported, and for the
   most part gains at once our approbation.

   But something must be said of the present work.

   It embraces the most difficult portion, in some respects, of The Old
   Testament, and of that portion, as acknowledged by all, the most
   difficult is The Book Of The Prophet Hosea. Probably no part of
   Scripture is commonly read with so little benefit as The Minor
   Prophets, owing, no doubt, to the obscurity in which some parts are
   involved. That there is much light thrown on many abstruse passages in
   this Work, and more than by any existing Comment in our language, is
   the full conviction of the writer. Acute, sagacious, and sometimes
   profound, the Author is at the same time remarkably simple, plain, and
   lucid, and ever practical and useful. The most learned may here gather
   instruction, and the most unlearned may understand almost every thing
   that is said. The whole object of the Author seems to be to explain,
   simplify, and illustrate the text, and he never turns aside to other
   matters. He is throughout an Expounder, keeps strictly to his office,
   and gives to every part its full and legitimate meaning according to
   the context, to which he ever especially attends.

   The style of Hosea is somewhat peculiar. Jerome has long ago
   characterized it as being commatic, sententious; and those links, the
   connective particles, by which different parts are joined together, are
   sometimes omitted. This is, indeed, in a measure the character of the
   style of all the Prophets, but more so with respect to Hosea than any
   other. What at the same time creates the greatest difficulty is the
   rapidity of his transitions, and the change of person, number, and
   gender. Persons are spoken to and spoken of sometimes in the same
   verse; and he passes from the singular to the plural number, and the
   reverse, and sometimes from the masculine to the feminine gender. To
   account for these transitions is not always easy.

   It has been thought by many critics, that the received Hebrew text of
   Hosea is in a more imperfect state than that of any other portion of
   Scripture; but Bishop Horsley denies this in a manner the most
   unhesitating; and those emendations which Archbishop Newcome introduced
   in his version, about 51 in number, the Bishop has swept away as
   unauthorized, and, indeed, as unnecessary, for most of them had been
   proposed to remedy the anomalies peculiar to the style of this Prophet;
   and some of those few emendations, which the Bishop himself introduced,
   founded on the authority of MSS., Calvin's exposition shows to be
   unnecessary. The fact is, that different readings, collected by the
   laborious Kennicott and others, have done chiefly this great good -- to
   show the extraordinary correctness of our received text. Throughout
   this Prophet, there is hardly an instance in which the collations of
   MSS. have supplied an improvement, and certainly no improvement of any
   material consequence.

   This Work of Calvin appears now for the first time in the English
   language. There is a French translation, but not made by the Author
   himself, as in the case of some other portions of his writings, and can
   therefore be of no authority. The following translation has been made
   from an edition printed at Geneva in 1567, three years after Calvin's
   death, compared with another, printed also at Geneva in 1610.

   It has been thought advisable to adopt our common version as the text,
   and to put Calvin's Latin version in a parallel column. His version is
   a literal rendering of the original, without any regard to idiom, and
   to translate it has been found impracticable, at least in such a way as
   to be understood by common readers. His practice evidently was to
   translate the Hebrew word for word, and to make this his text, and then
   in his Comment to modify the expressions so as to reduce them into
   readable Latin, and his version thus modified agrees in most instances
   with our authorized version. The agreement is so remarkable, that the
   only conclusion is, that this Work must have been much consulted by our
   Translators.

   In making quotations from Scripture, the Author seems to have followed
   no version, but to have made one of his own; and they are often given
   paraphrastically, the meaning rather than the words being regarded. The
   same is often done also with respect to the passages explained, the
   words being frequently varied. In these instances the Author has been
   strictly followed throughout in this Translation, and his quotations,
   and the text when paraphrased, are marked by a single inverted comma.

   The Hebrew words which occur in the Lectures are not accompanied with
   the points, and it has not been deemed necessary to add them. The words
   are given in corresponding English characters, with the insertion of
   such vowels only as are necessary to enunciate them, and these vowels,
   to distinguish them from the Hebrew vowels, are put in Roman
   characters. The Hebrew vowels are uniformly given the same, and not
   with that almost endless variety of sounds to which the points have
   reduced them. The W+ vau, is always represented by u, except when in
   sonic instances it is followed by a vowel, and then by v. The Hebrews
   have four vowels corresponding with a, e, u, i, and o, in English.

   This work is calculated to be of material help to those engaged in
   translations. Our Missionaries may derive from it no small assistance,
   as it gives as literal a version of the Hebrew as can well be made, and
   contains much valuable criticism, and develops, in a very lucid and
   satisfactory manner, the drift and meaning of many difficult passages.
   There is no existing Commentary in which the text is so minutely
   examined, and so clearly explained. There are also many of the most
   approved expositions given by others referred to and stated; and the
   Translator has added, on interesting and difficult passages, what has
   been suggested by learned critics since the time of the Author.

   If it be a right rule to judge of the impressions which the perusal of
   this volume, now presented to the public, may produce on others, by
   what one has himself experienced, the Editor will mention one thing in
   particular, and that is, that he fully expects that those who will
   carefully read this volume will be more impressed than ever with the
   extreme propensity of human nature to idolatry, and with the amazing
   power and blinding effects of superstition. The conduct of the
   Israelites, notwithstanding all the means employed to restore them to
   the true worship of God, is here described with no ordinary minuteness
   and specialty. Though God sent his Prophets to them to remind them of
   their sins, to reason and expostulate with them, to threaten and to
   exhort them, to draw and allure them with promises of pardon and
   acceptance; and though God chastised them in various ways, and then
   withheld his displeasure, and showed them indulgence, they yet
   continued obstinately attached to their idolatry and superstition, and
   all the while professed and boasted that they worshipped the true God,
   and perversely maintained that their mixed service, the worship of God,
   and the worship of idols, was right and lawful, and vastly superior to
   what the Prophets recommended.

   Having this case of the Israelites in view, we need not be surprised at
   the fascinating and blinding influence of Popery, whose idolatry and
   superstitions are exactly of the same character with those of the
   Israelites; no two cases can be more alike. Their identity is
   especially seen in this, -- that there is an union of two worships --
   of God and of images; and this union was the idolatry condemned in the
   Israelites, and is the very idolatry that now exists in the Church of
   Rome: and as among the Israelites, so among the Papists, though God is
   not excluded, but owned, yet the chief worship is given to false gods
   and their images. That the two systems are the same, no one can doubt,
   except those who are under the influence of strong delusion; and this
   is what is often referred to and amply proved in this work.

   It may be useful to subjoin here an account of the time in which THE
   TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS lived. The precise time cannot be ascertained:
   they flourished between the two dates which are here given. The names
   of the other four Prophets are also added.

   BEFORE THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

   Before Christ

   I. Jonah,... 856-784.
   II. Amos,... 810-785.
   III. Hosea,... 810-725.
   1 Isaiah,.... 810-698.
   IV. Joel,... 810-660.
   V. Micah,... 758-699.
   VI. Nahum,... 720-698.
   VII. Zephaniah,... 640-609.

   IMMEDIATELY PREVIOUS TO AND DURING THE CAPTIVITY

   2. Jeremiah,... 628-586.
   VIII. Habakkuk,... 612-598.
   3. Daniel,... 606-534.
   IX. Obadiah,... 588-583.
   4. Ezekiel,... 595-536.

   AFTER THE CAPTIVITY

   X. Haggai,... 520-518.
   XI. Zechariah,... 520-518.
   XII. Malachi,... 436-420.

   In the last Volume, the fourth, will be given the two Indices appended
   to the original work.

   J.O.
   THRUSSINGTON, September 1, 1816.

   POSTSCRIPT

   After the preceding Preface had gone through the press, it has been
   discovered that The Twelve Minor Prophets cannot be comprised in four
   volumes of the size generally published in the present Series of The
   Works Of John Calvin.

   The Translation, though it be as brief and concise as the idiom of the
   English language will well admit, takes up more space than the Editor
   at first anticipated. His first calculation was made from the Latin: he
   was not then fully aware of the great disparity in the two languages as
   to relative diffuseness of style. He has since found, by a minute
   comparison, that a work in Latin, comprised in five volumes, would
   require at least six of the same size and type in English: and in the
   present instance, what was calculated would be contained in four, must
   be extended to five volumes, on account of the respective Prefaces and
   Notes, &C. by the Editor, besides the Literal Translations Of each of
   the Books Of The Twelve Minor Prophets, which it has since been
   resolved shall be appended to each successive Commentary,

   The arrangement of this Work, now made with some degree of certainty,
   is as follows:

   The First Volume is to contain Hosea;
   The Second Volume, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah;
   The Third Volume, Jonah, Micah, and Nahum;
   The Fourth Volume, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Haggai; and
   The Fifth Volume, Zechariah and Malachi.

   On this account, the Volumes cannot be all of equal size, some being
   considerably above, and some below, the average extent of the present
   Series of Calvin's Works, being 500 pages on the average. To avoid such
   inequality, it would have been needful to divide some of the Books -- a
   thing by no means desirable in any case, and which has been studiously
   shunned in all the other Commentaries.

   In addition to what was originally contemplated, there will be given at
   the end of each Book a continuous Literal Translation Of Calvin's Latin
   Version, as modified by his Commentary; and the Editor is requested to
   state that a similar plan is to be observed in all the other
   Prophetical Books of the Old Testament.

   Editor.
   Thrussington, September 1846.
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   THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY

   JOHN CALVIN

   To The Most Serene And Most Mighty

   KING GUSTAVUS, [1]

   The King Of The Goths And Vandals.

   What I once said, most excellent king, when the Annotations On Hosea,
   taken from my Lectures, were published, I now again repeat, -- that I
   was not the author of that edition: for I am one who is not easily
   pleased with works I finish with more labor and care. Had it been in my
   power, I should have rather tried to prevent the wider circulation of
   that extemporaneous kind of teaching, intended for the particular
   benefit of my auditory, and with which benefit I was abundantly
   satisfied.

   But since that specimen, (The Commentary On Hosea,) published with
   better success than I expected, has kindled a desire in many to see
   that one Prophet followed by the other eleven Minor Prophets, I thought
   it not unseasonable to dedicate to your Majesty a work of suitable
   extent, and replete with important instructions, not only that it may
   be a pledge of my high regards, but also that the dedication to so
   celebrated a name might procure for it some favor. It is not, however,
   ambition that has led me to do this, for I have long ago learned not to
   court the applause of the world, and have become hardened to the
   ingratitude of the many; but I wished that some fruit might come to men
   of your station from the recesses of our mountains; and it has also
   been my legitimate endeavor, that many to whom I am unknown, being
   influenced by the sacred sanction of their king, might be made more
   impartial, and come better prepared to read the work.

   And this, I promise to myself, will be the case, as you enjoy so much
   veneration among all your subjects, provided you condescend to
   interpose your judgment, such as your singular wisdom may dictate; or,
   as age may possibly not bear the fatigue of reading, such as your
   Majesty's eldest son Heric, the heir to the throne, may suggest, whom
   you have taken care to be so instructed in the liberal sciences, that
   this office may be safely intrusted to him. And that I might have less
   doubt of your kindness, there are many heralds of your virtues, and
   even some judicious and wise men, who are entitled to be deemed
   competent witnesses. It is not, therefore, to be wondered, most noble
   king, that a present from so distant a region should be offered to your
   Majesty by a man as yet unknown to you, who, on account of the
   excellent and heroic endowments of mind and heart in which he has
   understood you to excel, thinks himself to be especially attached to
   you.

   But though the excellency of the Book may not, perhaps, be such as will
   procure much favor to myself, you will not yet despise the desire by
   which I have been led to manifest the high regards I entertain towards
   your Majesty, nor will you yet find this present now offered to you
   wholly unworthy, however much it may be below the elevated station of
   so great a king. If God has endued me with any aptness for the
   interpretation of Scripture, I am fully persuaded that I have
   faithfully and carefully endeavored to exclude from it all barren
   refinements, however plausible and fitted to please the ear, and to
   preserve genuine simplicity, adapted solidly to edify the children of
   God, who, being not content with the shell, wish to penetrate to the
   kernel. What I have really done it is not for me to say, except that
   pious and learned men persuade me that I have not labored without
   success. But these Commentaries may not, perhaps, answer the wishes and
   expectations of all; and I myself could have wished that I had been
   able to give something more excellent and more perfect, or at least
   what would have come nearer to the Prophetic Spirit. But this, I trust,
   will be the issue, -- that experience will prove to upright and
   impartial readers, and those endued with sound judgment, provided they
   read with well-disposed minds, and not fastidiously, what I have
   written for their benefit, that more light has been thrown on the
   Twelve Prophets than modesty will allow me to affirm.

   With the industry of others I compare not my own, (which would be
   unbecoming,) nor do I ask any thing else, but that intelligent and
   discreet Readers, profiting by my labors, should study to be of more
   extensive advantage to the public good of the Church; but as it has not
   been my care, nor even my desire, to adorn this Book with various
   attractives, this admonition is not unseasonable; for it may invite the
   more slothful to read, until, by making a trial, they may be able to
   judge whether it may be useful for them to proceed farther in their
   course of reading. Indeed, the fruit which my other attempts in the
   interpretation of Scripture have produced, and the hope which I
   entertain of the usefulness of this, please me so much, that I desire
   to spend the remainder of my life in this kind of labor, as far as my
   continued and multiplied employment's will allow me. For what may be
   expected from a man at leisure cannot be expected from me, who, in
   addition to the ordinary office of a pastor, have other duties, which
   hardly allow me the least relaxation: I shall not, however, deem my
   spare time in any other way better employed.

   I now return again to you, most valiant king. He who knows your
   prudence and equity in managing public affairs, your moral habits, your
   whole character and virtues, will not wonder that I have resolved to
   dedicate to you this work. But as it is not my design to write a long
   eulogy on what is praiseworthy in you, I shall only briefly touch on
   what is well known, both by report and public writings: -- God tried
   you in a wonderful manner before he raised you to the throne, for the
   purpose not only of exhibiting in you a singular proof of his
   providence, but also of setting forth to our age as well as to
   posterity, an illustrious example of a steady perseverance in a right
   course. You have, doubtless, been thus proved by both fortunes, that
   there might not be wanting a due trial of your temperance and
   moderation in prosperity, and of your patience in adversity, until it
   was given you from above to emerge at length, no less happily than in a
   praiseworthy manner, from so many dangers, perils, difficulties, and
   hindrances, that having set the kingdom in order, you might publicly
   and privately enjoy a cheerful tranquillity. And now, by the unanimous
   consent of all orders, you bear a burden more splendid and honorable to
   you than grievous, for all venerate your authority, and show their
   esteem by love as well as by commendations.

   In addition to these benefits of God comes this, the chief, which must
   not be omitted, -- that your eldest son, Heric, a successor chosen by
   you from your own blood, is not only of a generous disposition, but
   also adorned with mature virtues; and hardly any one more fit, had you
   no children, could the people have chosen for themselves. And this,
   among other things, is his rare commendation, that he has made so much
   progress in the liberal sciences, that he occupies a high station among
   the learned, and that he is not tired with diligent application to
   them, as far as he is allowed by those many cares and distractions in
   which the royal dignity is involved. At the same time, the principal
   thing with me is this, that he hath consecrated in his palace a
   sanctuary, not only to the heathen muses, but also to celestial
   philosophy. The more confidence therefore I have, that some place will
   be there found, and some favor shown to these Commentaries, which he
   will find to have been written according to the rule of true religion,
   and will perceive calculated to be of some small help to himself.

   May God, O most serene king! keep your Majesty long in prosperity, and
   continue to enrich you with all kinds of blessings. May He guide you by
   his Spirit, until, having finished your course, and migrating from
   earth to the celestial kingdom, you may leave alive behind you the most
   serene king Heric, your successor, and his most illustrious brothers,
   John Magnus and Charles: and may the same grace of God, after your
   death, appear eminent in them, as well as fraternal and unanimous
   concord.

   Geneva, January 26, 1559.
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   [1] Gustavus was the King of Sweden, the inhabitants of which were then
   called Goths and Vandals. He was the first king of that name in Sweden,
   and had the surname of Vasa. He was born in 1490, and was a descendant
   of the royal family of Sweden. He delivered the kingdom from the
   attempted usurpation of Christian II of Denmark, and was made king in
   1523, abolished Popery, and introduced Lutheranism in 1530, and died,
   at the age of seventy, in 1560, the year following the date of this
   Epistle. -- Ed.
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   JOHN CALVIN

   TO THE CHRISTIAN READER, HEALTH

   Since I can truly and justly say and prove by competent witnesses, that
   the writings, which I have hitherto sent forth to the public, and which
   might have been finished with more care and attention, have been almost
   extorted from me by importunity, it is evident that these Annotations,
   which I thought might bear a hearing, but were unworthy of being read,
   would have never through me been brought forth to the light. For if, by
   many watchings, I can hardly succeed in rendering even a small benefit
   to the Church by my meditations, how foolish were it in me to claim a
   place for my sermons among the works which are published? Besides, if,
   with regard to those compositions which I write or dictate privately at
   home, when there is more leisure for meditation, and when a finished
   brevity is attained by care and diligence, my industry is yet made a
   crime by the malignant and the envious, how can I escape the charge of
   presumption, if I now force upon the whole world the reading of those
   thoughts which I freely poured forth for the present edification of my
   hearers? But since to suppress them was not in my power, and their
   publication could not be otherwise prevented by me than by undertaking
   the labor (which my circumstances allowed not) of writing the whole
   anew, and many friends, thinking me to be too scrupulous a judge of my
   own labors, cried out, that I was doing an injury to the Church, I
   chose to allow this volume, as it is, taken from my lips, to go forth
   to the public, rather than by prohibition to impose on myself the
   necessity of writing; which I was forced to do as to The Psalms, before
   I found out, by that long and difficult work, how unequal I am to so
   much writing. [2]

   Let, then, these explanations on Hosea go forth, which it is not in my
   power to keep from the public. But how they have been taken down, it is
   needful to declare, not only that the diligence, industry, and skill of
   those who have performed this labor for the Church, may not be deprived
   of their commendation, but also that readers may be fully persuaded,
   that there are here no additions, and that the writers did not allow
   themselves to change a single word for a better one. How they assisted
   one another, one of their number, my best friend, and through his
   virtues, dear to all good men, Mr. John Budaeus, will, as I expect,
   more fully explain.

   But it would have been incredible to me, had I not clearly seen, when
   the day after they read the whole to me, that what they had written
   differed nothing from my discourse. It would have perhaps been better
   had more liberty been taken to cut off redundancies, to bring the
   arrangement into better order, and to use, in some instances, more
   distinct or graceful language: but I do not interpose my judgment; this
   only I wish to witness with my own hand, That they have taken down what
   they have heard from my lips with so much fidelity, that I perceive no
   change. Farewell, Christian reader, whoever thou be, who desirest with
   me to make progress in celestial truth.

   Geneva, February 13, 1557.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [2] He was at this time engaged in writing his Comments on The Psalms;
   and they were published the following July. -- Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   JOHN BUDAEUS

   TO CHRISTIAN READERS, HEALTH.

   When some years ago the most learned John Calvin, at the request and
   entreaty of his friends, undertook to explain in the School The Psalms
   Of David, some of us, his hearers, took notes from the beginning of a
   few things in our own way, for our own private meditation, according to
   our own judgment and discretion. But being at length admonished by our
   own experience, we began to think how great a loss would it be to many,
   and almost to the whole Church, that the benefit of such Lectures
   should be confined to a few hearers. Having therefore gathered courage,
   we fully thought that it was our duty to unite a care and concern for
   the public with our own private benefit, and this seemed possible, if,
   instead of following our usual practice, we tried, as far as we could,
   to take down the Lectures word for word. Without delay I joined myself
   as the third to two zealous brethren in this undertaking; and it so
   happened, through God's kindness, that a happy issue was not wholly
   wanting to our attempt: for when the labors of each of us were compared
   together, and the Lectures were immediately written out, we found that
   so few things had escaped us, that the gaps could easily be made up.
   And that this was the case as to the work in which was made the first
   trial of our capacities, Calvin himself is a witness to us; and that
   this has been far more fully the case with respect to the Lectures on
   Hosea, (as by long use and exercise we became more skillful) even all
   the hearers will readily acknowledge.

   But the design on this occasion was to induce him, if possible, to
   publish complete Commentaries on this Author; but it then happened to
   us otherwise than we expected: for all hope of obtaining this object he
   cut off from us from reverence to Bucer, who, in this case, as well as
   in all other things, had performed most faithful and most useful
   services, as the whole Church acknowledges, and as Calvin in particular
   has at all times most honorably declared to us and to all. It therefore
   remained that the Lectures, as taken down by us, should be published.
   And as all the most pious promised to themselves great benefit from our
   labor, we daily increased our exertions, that such a hope might not
   pass away into smoke. Being therefore stirred on by these desires, as
   well, doubtless, as by the prospect of benefiting the godly, we exerted
   ourselves so much, that all readily allowed that we exercised nothing
   short of the greatest diligence. The more wonderful it may seem, that
   he was afterwards induced to change his mind, so as to frustrate our
   hope and that of many of the godly; and that, on the other hand, he was
   constrained, however anxious to perform a most useful service to the
   Church, to incur the great envy and implacable hatred of many. But
   those who plead only the authority of Bucer in this affair are moved, I
   willingly acknowledge, by a reason not altogether unjust; yet they will
   seem to me too stiff and unbending, if they will not suffer themselves
   to be influenced by sufficient excuses, which I hope will be the case
   before long. But as to those who are carried away by the insane love of
   evil-speaking, and avail themselves of the least opportunity of strife,
   as they ought to be disregarded and detested as monsters by all the
   godly, so it is not needful to labor much to satisfy them, for the
   barking of dogs, provided it hurt not the Church, may without great
   danger be passed by and despised.

   We have, indeed, prefaced these things for the sake of those who have
   very often solicited us respecting the Lectures On The Psalms, that
   they may not think themselves to have been deceived by us with a vain
   expectation; for, let them know, that they shall sometimes have,
   through God's favor, correct and complete Commentaries on The Book of
   Psalms. But if this long desire does much distress them, let them
   remember that we also no less anxiously look for that great treasure.
   But it is right that we both should pardon a man who has constant and
   most burdensome occupations, and somewhat moderate our too prurient and
   premature wishes: and to indulge him seems right even on this one
   account, that he, the least of all, indulges himself, never taking any
   rest or relaxation of mind from his vast labors, so that it is a matter
   of doubt to none but that he drags a little body, not only through the
   divine kindness, but by a singular miracle, which cannot be told to
   posterity, -- a body, by nature weak, violently attacked by frequent
   diseases, and then exhausted by immense labors; and, lastly, pierced by
   the unceasing stings of the ungodly, and on all sides distressed and
   tormented by all kinds of reproaches.

   But as this is not the place for making complaints, I now come to you,
   Christian Readers, to whom it is our purpose to dedicate this work, The
   Lectures On The Prophet Hosea; and we dedicate it, not that we claim
   any thing as our own, except the diligence we employed in collecting
   it: but we hesitate not to make it, as it were, our own, for it would
   have never come to you except through our assistance. For though we
   judged the work altogether excellent, which is now offered to the
   Church, yet we could hardly at last convince the author of this; and he
   suffered himself to be overcome by our importunate entreaties only on
   this condition, that we were to be accountable for whatever judgment
   good men might form of the work: so unfit a judge he is of his own
   productions. But we, though he may modestly extenuate them more than
   what is right, yet dare to promise to ourselves, that not only the
   author's labor will be duly appreciated by you, but that we shall also
   secure to ourselves no common favor.

   These Lectures, we trust, will not be less acceptable to you, because
   the author, regarding the benefit of the school, (as it was right,) in
   some degree departed from the usual elegance of all his other works,
   and from embellishment of style. For, being oppressed with a vast
   quantity of business, he was constrained to leave home, after having
   had hardly, for the most part, half an hour to meditate on these
   Lectures: he preferred to advance the edification and benefit of his
   hearers by eliciting the true sense and making it plain, rather than by
   vain pomp of words to delight their ears, or to regard ostentation and
   his own glory. I would not, at the same time, deny, but that these
   Lectures were delivered more in the scholastic than in the oratorical
   style. If, however, this simple, though not rude, mode of speaking
   should offend any one, let him have recourse to the works of others, or
   of this author himself, especially those in which, being freed from the
   laws of the school, he appears no less the orator than the illustrious
   theologian: and this we declare without hesitation, and with no less
   modesty than with the full consent and approbation of the best and the
   most learned.

   We do not indeed thus speak as if we would, by a censorious
   superciliousness, claim for him alone the glory of an orator, or would
   not, by calling him a theologian, acknowledge many others as celebrated
   men. Far from us be such a folly. But an occasion such as this being
   offered of testifying our mind, we could hardly, even in any other way,
   excuse our neglect to the godly, to whom it is well known, that our
   silence concerning Calvin has not hitherto well pleased turbulent men;
   who are more willing to have their vanity expressly reprobated by us,
   than to suffer us by a tacit consent and modest silence either to
   approve of his doctrine, and to acknowledge in him an evidence, the
   most clear, of God's kindness towards us, or to cover by a fraternal
   dissimulation their madness; and thus each of us would have to mourn by
   himself in silence.

   But, as I have said, the language here is unadorned and simple, very
   like that which we know was ever wont to be used formerly in Lectures:
   not such as many of whom we have heard employ, who repeat to their
   hearers from a written paper what had been previously prepared at home;
   but such as could be formed and framed at the time, more adapted to
   teach and edify than to please the ear. Except, then, we are greatly
   mistaken, he so expresses almost to the life the mind of the Prophet,
   that no addition seems possible. For, after having carefully examined
   every sentence, he then briefly shows the use and application of the
   doctrine, so that no one, however ignorant, can mistake the meaning: in
   short, he so unfolds and opens the subjects and fountains of true
   theology, that it is easy for any one to draw from them what is needful
   to restore and refresh the soul; yea, the ministers of the word may
   hence advantageously derive ample streams, with which, as by a
   celestial dew, they may abundantly refresh the people of God, whether
   by exhortation, or consolation, or reproof, or edification. And of
   these things we clearly see some instances and examples in all his
   discourses, especially in those in which he so accommodates the
   doctrine of the Prophets to our own times, that it seems to suit their
   age no better than ours.

   But that we may at length make an end, it remains, Christian Readers,
   that we receive and embrace with suitable gratitude all the other
   innumerable gifts of God which he daily pours on us in great abundance,
   as well as this incomparable treasure of his goodness, and employ them
   for the purpose of leading a holy and godly life to the glory of his
   name, and to the edification of our brethren: and that this may be
   done, we must pray for the Spirit of God, that we may come to the
   reading of Scripture instructed by him, and bring a mind purified from
   the defilement's of the flesh, and a meek spirit capable of receiving
   celestial truth. And for this end much help may be given us by the
   short prayers which we have taken care to add at the close of every
   Lecture, as gathered by us with the same care and fidelity as the
   Lectures were: the minds of the pious may by these be refreshed, and
   may collect new vigor for the next Lecture; and the ignorant may also
   have in these a pattern, as it were, painted before them, by which they
   may form their prayers from the words of Scripture. For as at the
   beginning of the Lectures he ever used the same form of prayer, which
   we intend also to add, that his manner of teaching may be fully known
   to you; so he was wont ever to finish every Lecture by a new prayer
   formed at the time, as given him by the Spirit of God, and accommodated
   to the subject of the Lecture.

   If we shall understand that these Commentaries will be acceptable to
   you, though the work is the fruit of anothers labor, we shall yet
   engage, God favoring us, to do the same as to the remaining Prophets.
   When he shall undertake to lecture on them, it is our purpose to follow
   him with no less diligence, and take down what remains to the end. In
   the meantime, enjoy these. Farewell.

   Geneva, February 14, 1557.
     __________________________________________________________________

   JOHN CRISPIN

   TO CHRISTIAN READERS, HEALTH.

   As it may seem wonderful to some, and indeed incredible, that these
   Lectures were taken down with such fidelity and care, that Mr. John
   Calvin uttered not a word in delivering them, which was not immediately
   written down; it may be needful here shortly to remind pious readers of
   the plan they pursued who have transmitted them to us. And this is
   done, that their singular diligence and industry may stimulate others
   to do the same, and that the thing itself may not appear incredible.

   And, first, it must be remembered, that Calvin himself never dictated,
   as many do, any of his Lectures, nor gave any orders that any thing
   should be noted down while he was interpreting Scripture, much less
   after finishing the Lecture, or on the day after its delivery; but he
   occupied a whole hour in speaking, and was not wont to write in his
   book a single word to assist his memory. When, therefore, some years
   ago, Mr. John Budaeus and Charles Jonvill, with two other brethren,
   (whom Budaeus himself mentions in his preface, and that so it was many
   know,) found, in writing out The Exposition On The Psalms, that their
   common labor would not be wholly in vain, they were impelled by a
   stronger desire and alacrity of mind, so that they resolved to take
   down, with more diligence than before, if possible, the whole
   exposition on what are called The Twelve Minor Prophets. And, in
   copying, they followed this plan. Each had his paper prepared in a form
   the most convenient, and each took down by himself with the greatest
   speed. If a word had escaped one, (which sometimes happened,
   particularly on points of dispute and in those parts which were
   delivered with some warmth,) it was taken up by another; and when it so
   happened, it was easily set down again by the writer. Immediately at
   the close of the Lecture, Jonvill took with him the papers of the other
   two, placing them before him, and consulting his own, and collating
   them together, he dictated to some other person for the purpose of
   copying what they had hastily taken down. At last he read the whole
   over himself, that he might be able to recite it the following day
   before Mr. Calvin at home. When sometimes any little word was wanting,
   it was added in its place; or, if any thing seemed not sufficiently
   explained, it was readily made plainer.

   Thus it happened that these Lectures came forth to the light; and what
   great benefit they will derive from them, who will seriously read them,
   can by no means be told: for who, endued with a sound judgment, does
   not see that such was the way which this most illustrious man possessed
   in explaining Scripture, that he had it in common with very few? He
   everywhere so unfolds the design of the Holy Spirit, so gives his
   genuine meaning, and also so sets before our eyes every recondite
   doctrine, that you find nothing but what is openly explained; and this
   is what his many writings most abundantly testify, in which he has made
   every point of the Christian religion so plain, that all, except they
   be wholly blind to the sun, acknowledge him to be a most faithful
   interpreter.

   But that I may now say nothing of his many Commentaries, he has so
   surpassed himself in these Lectures, that one can hardly persuade
   himself that a style so elegant, and so perfect in all its parts, could
   have flowed extemporaneously, for he explains the weightiest sentiments
   in suitable words, clearly handles obscure things, clothes them with
   various ornaments, and so proceeds in his teaching, that the language
   he uses, spontaneously poured forth, seems to have been long and much
   labored. But of all these things I prefer that a judgment should be
   formed by a perusal, rather than that I should longer detain readers by
   a lengthened discussion of particulars. Then farewell all ye who hope
   for some benefit from these Lectures.

   Geneva, February 1, 1559.
     __________________________________________________________________

   The Commentaries of

   John Calvin

   on the Prophet

   Hosea

   The prayer which John Calvin was wont to use at the beginning of his
   lectures:

   May the Lord grant, that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries
   of his heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion, to his glory
   and to our edification. Amen.

   The Argument

   I have undertaken to expound The Twelve Minor Prophets. They have been
   long ago joined together, and their writings have been reduced to one
   volume; and for this reason, lest by being extant singly in our hands,
   they should, as it often happens, disappear in course of time on
   account of their brevity.

   Then the Twelve Minor Prophets form but one volume. The first of them
   is Hosea, who was specifically destined for the kingdom of Israel:
   Micah and Isaiah prophesied at the same time among the Jews. But it
   ought to be noticed, that this Prophet was a teacher in the kingdom of
   Israel, as Isaiah and Micah were in the kingdom of Judah. The Lord
   doubtless intended to employ him in that part; for had he prophesied
   among the Jews, he would not have complimented them; since the state of
   things was then very corrupt, not only in Judea, but also at Jerusalem,
   though the palace and sanctuary of God were there. We see how sharply
   and severely Isaiah and Micah reproved the people; and the style of our
   Prophet would have been the same had the Lord employed his service
   among the Jews: but he followed his own call. He knew what the Lord had
   intrusted to him; he faithfully discharged his own office. The same was
   the case with the Prophet Amos: for the Prophet Amos sharply inveighs
   against the Israelites, and seems to spare the Jews; and he taught at
   the same time with Hosea.

   We see, then, in what respect these four differ: Isaiah and Micah
   address their reproofs to the kingdom of Judah; and Hosea and Amos only
   assail the kingdom of Israel, and seem to spare the Jews. Each of them
   undertook what God had committed to his charge; and so each confined
   himself within the limits of his own call and office. For if we, who
   are called to instruct the Church, close our eyes to the sins which
   prevail in it, and neglect those whom the Lord has appointed to be
   taught by us, we confound all order; since they who are appointed to
   other places must attend to those to whom they have been sent by the
   Lord's call.

   We now, then, see to whom this whole book of Hosea belongs, -- that is,
   to the kingdom of Israel.

   But with regard to the Prophets, this is true of them all, as we have
   sometimes said, that they are interpreters of the law. And this is the
   sum of the law, that God designs to rule by his own authority the
   people whom he has adopted. But the law has two parts, -- a promise of
   salvation and eternal life, and a rule for a godly and holy living. To
   these is added a third part, -- that men, not responding to their call,
   are to be restored to the fear of God by threatening and reproofs. The
   Prophets do further teach what the law has commanded respecting the
   true and pure worship of God, respecting love; in short, they instruct
   the people in a holy and godly life, and then offer to them the favor
   of the Lord. And as there is no hope of reconciliation with God except
   through a Mediator, they ever set forth the Messiah, whom the Lord had
   long before promised.

   As to the third part, which includes threats and reproofs, it was
   peculiar to the Prophets; for they point out times, and denounce this
   or that judgement of God: "The Lord will punish you in this way, and
   will punish you at such a time." The Prophets, then, do not simply call
   men to God's tribunal, but specify also certain kinds of punishment,
   and also in the same way they declare prophecies respecting the Lord's
   grace and his redemption. But on this I only briefly touch; for it will
   be better to notice each point as we proceed.

   I now return to Hosea. I have said that his ministry belonged
   especially to the kingdom of Israel; for then the whole worship of God
   was there polluted, nor had corruption lately begun; but they were so
   obstinate in their superstitions, that there was no hope of repentance.
   We indeed know, that as soon as Jeroboam withdrew the ten tribes from
   their allegiance to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, fictitious worship
   was set up: and Jeroboam seemed to have wisely contrived that artifice,
   that the people might not return to the house of David; but at the same
   time he brought on himself and the whole people the vengeance of God.
   And those who came after him followed the same impiety. When such
   perverseness became intolerable, God resolved to put forth his power,
   and to give some signal proof of his displeasure, that the people might
   at length repent. Hence Jehu was by God's command anointed King of
   Israel, that he might destroy all the posterity of Ahab: but he also
   soon relapsed into the same idolatry. He executed God's judgement, he
   pretended great zeal; but his hypocrisy soon came to light, for he
   embraced false and perverted worship; and his followers were nothing
   better even down to Jeroboam, under whom Hosea prophesied; but of this
   we shall speak in considering the inscription of the book.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Chapter 1
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture first
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 1:1

   1. The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea-- the son of Beeri-- in
   the days of Uzziah-- Jotham-- Ahaz-- and Hezekiah-- kings of Judah--
   and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash-- king of Israel.

   1. Sermo Jehovae-- qui fuit ad Hoseam filium Beri-- diebus Uzia--
   Jotham-- Achaz-- Ezechiae-- regum Jehuda-- et diebus Jarobeam filii
   Joas regis Israel.


   This first verse shows the time in which Hosea prophesied. He names
   four kings of Judah, -- Uzziah, Jotham, Ahab, Hezekiah. Uzziah, called
   also Azariah, reigned fifty-two years; but after having been smitten
   with leprosy, he did not associate with men, and abdicated his royal
   dignity. Jotham, his son, succeeded him. The years of Jotham were about
   sixteen, and about as many were those of king Ahab, the father of
   Hezekiah; and it was under king Hezekiah that Hosea died. If we now
   wish to ascertain how long he discharged his office of teaching, we
   must take notice of what sacred history says, -- Uzziah began to reign
   in the twenty seventh year of Jeroboam, the son of Joash. By supposing
   that Hosea performed his duties as a teacher, excepting a few years
   during the reign of Jeroboam, that is, the sixteen years which passed
   from the beginning of Uzziah's reign to the death of Jeroboam, he must
   have prophesied thirty-six years under the reign of Uzziah. There is,
   however, no doubt but that he began to execute his office some years
   before the end of Jeroboam's reign.

   Here, then, there appear to be at least forty years. Jotham succeeded
   his father, and reigned sixteen years; and though it be a probable
   conjecture, that the beginning of his reign is to be counted from the
   time he undertook the government, after his father, being smitten with
   leprosy, was ejected from the society of men, it is yet probable that
   the remaining time to the death of his father ought to come to our
   reckoning. When however, we take for granted a few years, it must be
   that Hosea had prophesied more than forty-five years before Ahab began
   to reign. Add now the sixteen years in which Ahab reigned and the
   number will amount to sixty-one. There remain the years in which he
   prophesied under the reign of Hezekiah. It cannot, then, be otherwise
   but that he had followed his office more than sixty years, and probably
   continued beyond the seventieth year.

   It hence appears with how great and with how invincible courage and
   perseverance he was endued by the Holy Spirit. But when God employs our
   service for twenty or thirty years we think it very wearisome,
   especially when we have to contend with wicked men, and those who do
   not willingly undertake the yoke, but pertinaciously resist us; we then
   instantly desire to be set free, and wish to become like soldiers who
   have completed their time. When therefore, we see that this Prophet
   persevered for so long a time, let him be to us an example of patience
   so that we may not despond, though the Lord may not immediately free us
   from our burden.

   Thus much of the four kings whom he names. He must indeed have
   prophesied (as I have just shown) for nearly forty years under the king
   Uzziah or Azariah, and then for some years under the king Ahab, (to
   omit now the reign of Jotham, which was concurrent with that of his
   father,) and he continued to the time of Hezekiah: but why has he
   particularly mentioned Jeroboam the son of Joash, since he could not
   have prophesied under him except for a short time? His son Zachariah
   succeeded him; there arose afterward the conspiracy of Shallum, who was
   soon destroyed; then the kingdom became involved in great confusion;
   and at length the Assyrian, by means of Shalmanazar, led away captive
   the ten tribes, which became dispersed among the Medes. As this was the
   case, why does the Prophet here mention only one king of Israel? This
   seems strange; for he continued his office of teaching to the end of
   his reign and to his death. But an answer may be easily given: He
   wished distinctly to express, that he began to teach while the state
   was entire; for, had he prophesied after the death of Jeroboam, he
   might have seemed to conjecture some great calamity from the then
   present view of things: thus it would not have been prophecy, or, at
   least, this credit would have been much less. "He now, forsooth!
   divines what is, evident to the eyes of all." For Zachariah flourished
   but a short time; and the conspiracy alluded to before was a certain
   presage of an approaching destruction, and the kingdom became soon
   dissolved. Hence the Prophet testifies here in express words, that he
   had already threatened future vengeance to the people, even when the
   kingdom of Israel flourished in wealth and power, when Jeroboam was
   enjoying his triumphs, and when prosperity inebriated the whole land.

   This, then, was the reason why the Prophet mentioned only this one
   king; for under him the kingdom of Israel became strong, and was
   fortified by many strongholds and a large army, and abounded also in
   great riches. Indeed, sacred history tells us, that God had by Jeroboam
   delivered the kingdom of Israel, though he himself was unworthy, and
   that he had recovered many cities and a very wide extent of country.
   As, then, he had increased the kingdom, as he had become formidable to
   all his neighbours, as he had collected great riches, and as the people
   lived in ease and luxury, what the Prophet declared seemed incredible.
   "Ye are not," he said, "the people of the Lord; ye are adulterous
   children, ye are born of fornication." Such a reproof certainly seemed
   not seasonable. Then he said, "The kingdom shall be taken from you,
   destruction is nigh to you." "What, to us? and yet our king has now
   obtained so many victories, and has struck terror into other kings."
   The kingdom of Judah, which was a rival, being then nearly broken down,
   there was no one who could have ventured to suspect such an event.

   We now, then, perceive why the Prophet here says expressly that he had
   prophesied under Jeroboam. He indeed prophesied after his death, and
   followed his office even after the destruction of the kingdom of
   Israel, but he began to teach at a time when he was a sport to the
   ungodly, who exalted themselves against God, and boldly despised his
   threatening as long as he spared and bore with them; which is ever the
   case, as proved by the constant experience of all ages. We hence see
   more clearly with what power of the Spirit God had endued the Prophet,
   who dared to rise up against so powerful a king, and to reprove his
   wickedness, and also to summon his subjects to the same judgement.
   When, therefore, the Prophet conducted himself so boldly, at a time
   when the Israelites were not only sottish on account of their great
   success, but also wholly insane, it was certainly nothing short of a
   miracle; and this ought to avail much to establish his authority. We
   now then, see the design of the inscription contained in the first
   verse. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 1:2

   2. The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to
   Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of
   whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from
   the Lord

   2. Principiam quo loquutus est Jehova per Hoseam, (alii vertunt, cum
   Hosea; ad verbum est, in Hosea; est liters beth.) Dixit Jehova ad
   Hoseam, Vade, sume tibi uxorem scortationum et filios scortationem,
   quia scortando scortabitur terra, (hoc est, scortata est,) ne sequatur
   Jehovam..


   The Prophet shows here what charge was given him at the beginning, even
   to declare open war with the Israelites, and to be, as it were, very
   angry in the person of God, and to denounce destruction. He begins not
   with smooth things, nor does he gently exhort the people to repentance,
   nor adopt a circuitous course to soften the asperity of his doctrine.
   He shows that he had used nothing of this kind, but says, that he had
   been sent like heralds or messengers to proclaim war. The beginning,
   then, of what the Lord spake by Hosea was this, "This people are an
   adulterous race, all are born, as it were, of a harlot, the kingdom of
   Israel is the filthiest brothel; and I now repudiate and reject them, I
   no longer own them as my children." This was no common vehemence. We
   hence see that the word beginning was not set down without reason, but
   advisedly, that we may know that the Prophet, as soon as he undertook
   the office of teaching, was vehement and severe, and, as it were,
   fulminated against the kingdom of Israel.

   Now, if it be asked, why was God so greatly displeased? why did he not
   first recall the wretched men to himself, since the usual method seems
   to have been, that the Prophet tried, by a kind and paternal address,
   to restore those to a sound mind who had departed from the pure worship
   of God, -- why, then, did not God adopt this ordinary course? But we
   hence gather that the diseases of the people were incurable. The
   Prophet, no doubt, intimates here distinctly, that he was sent by God,
   when the state of things was almost past recovery. We indeed know that
   God is not wont to deal so severely with men, but when he has tried all
   other remedies; and this may doubtless be easily learned from the
   records of Scripture. The ten tribes, immediately after their revolt
   from the family of David, having renounced the worship of God, embraced
   idolatry and ungodly superstitions. They ought to have retained in
   their minds the recollection of this oracle,

   `The Lord has chosen mount Zion, where he has desired to be worshipped;
   this,' he said `is my rest forever; here will I dwell, for I have
   chosen it,' (Psalm 132:13,14.)

   And this prediction, we know, had not been once or ten times repeated,
   but a hundred times, that it might be more firmly fixed in the hearts
   of men. Since, then, they ought to have had this truth fully impressed
   on their hearts, that the Lord would have himself worshipped nowhere
   except on mount Zion, it was monstrous stupidity in them to erect a new
   temple and to make the calves. That the people, then, had so quickly
   fallen away from God was an instance of the most perverse madness. But,
   as I have said, they had reached the highest point of impiety. When God
   punished so great sins by Jehu, the people ought then to have returned
   to the pure worship of God, and there was some reformation in the land;
   but they ever reverted to their own nature, yea, the event proved that
   they only dissembled for a short time; so blinded they were by a
   diabolical perverseness, that they ever continued in their
   superstitions. It is not, then, to be wondered at, that the Lord made
   this beginning by Hosea, "Ye are all born of fornication, your kingdom
   is the filthiest brothel; ye are not my people, ye are not beloved."
   Who, then, will not allow, that God, by fulminating in so dreadful a
   manner against this people, dealt justly with them, and for the best
   reason? The contumacy of the people was so indomitable that it could be
   overcome in no other way. We now understand why the Prophet used this
   expression, The beginning of speaking which God made

   Then it follows, in Hosea. He had said in the first verse, The word of
   Jehovah which was to Hosea; he now says, N+H+W+ShE+, beusho, in Hosea;
   and he adds God spake and said to Hosea, repeating the preposition used
   in the first verse. The word of the Lord is said to have been to Hosea,
   not simply because God addressed the Prophet, but because he sent him
   forth with certain commissions, for in this sense is the word of God
   said to have been to the Prophets. God addresses his word also
   indiscriminately to others whomsoever he is pleased to teach by his
   word, but he speaks to and addresses his Prophets in a peculiar way,
   for he makes them the ministers and heralds of his word, and puts, as
   it were, into their mouth what they afterwards bring forth to the
   people. So Christ says, that the word of God came to kings, because he
   constitutes and appoints them to govern mankind. "If he calls them
   gods," he says, "to whom the word of God came;" and that psalm, we
   know, was written with a special reference to kings. We now perceive
   what this sentence in the first verse contains. The word of God came to
   Hosea; for the Lord did not simply address the Prophet in a common way,
   but furnished him with instructions, that he might afterwards teach the
   people, as it were, in the person of God himself.

   It is now added in the second verse, The beginning of speaking, such as
   the Lord made by Hosea. They who give this rendering, "with Hosea,"
   seem to explain the Prophet's meaning frigidly. The letter B+, beth, I
   know, has this sense often in Scripture; but the Prophet, no doubt, in
   this place represents himself as the instrument of the Holy Spirit. God
   then spake in Hosea, or by Hosea, for he brought forth nothing from his
   own brain, but God spake by him; this is a form of speaking with which
   we shall often meet. On this, indeed, depends the whole authority of
   God's servants that they give not themselves loose reins, but
   faithfully deliver, as it were, from hand to hand, what the Lord has
   commanded them, without adding any thing whatever of their own. God
   then spake in Hosea. It afterwards follows, The Lord said to Hosea. Now
   this, which is said the third time, or three times repeated, is nothing
   else than the commission in different forms. He first said in general,
   "The word of the Lord which was to Hosea;" now he says, The Lord spake
   thus, and he expresses distinctly what the word was which he referred
   to in the first verse.

   Go, he says, [2]take to thee a wife of wantonness, and the children of
   wantonness; and the reason is added, for by fornicating, or wantoning,
   has the land grown wanton. He doubtless speaks here of the vices which
   the Lord had long endured with inexpressible forbearance. By wantoning
   then has the land grown wanton, that it should not follow Jehovah.

   Here interpreters labour much, because it seems very strange that the
   Prophet should take a harlot for a wife. Some say that this was an
   extraordinary case. [3] Certainly such a license could not have been
   borne in a teacher. We see what Paul requires in a bishop, and no doubt
   the same was required formerly in the Prophets, that their families
   should be chaste and free from every stain and reproach. It would have
   then exposed the Prophet to the scorn of all, if he had entered a
   brothel and taken to himself a harlot; for he speaks not here of an
   unchaste woman only, but of a woman of wantonness, which means a common
   harlot, for a woman of wantonness is she called, who has long
   habituated herself to wantonness, who has exposed herself to all, to
   gratify the wish of all, who has prostituted herself, not once nor
   twice, nor to few men, but to all. That this was done by the Prophet
   seems very improbable. But some reply as I have said, that this ought
   not to be regarded as a common rule, for it was an extraordinary
   command of God. And yet it seems not consistent with reason, that the
   Lord should thus gratuitously render his Prophet contemptible; for how
   could he expect to be received on coming abroad before the public,
   after having brought on himself such a disgrace? If he had married a
   wife such as is here described, he ought to have concealed himself for
   life rather than to undertake the Prophetic office. Their opinion,
   therefore, is not probable, who think that the Prophet had taken such a
   wife as is here described.

   Then another reason, utterly unresolvable, militates against them; for
   the Prophet is not only bidden to take a wife of wantonness, but also
   children of wantonness, begotten by whoredom. It is, therefore, the
   same as if he himself had committed whoredom. [4] For if we say that he
   married a wife who had previously conducted herself with some indecency
   and want of chastity, (as Jerome at length argues in order to excuse
   the Prophet,) the excuse is frivolous, for he speaks not only of the
   wife, but also of the children, inasmuch as God would have the whole
   offspring to be adulterous, and this could not be the case in a lawful
   marriage. Hence almost all the Hebrews agree in this opinion, that the
   Prophet did not actually marry a wife, but that he was bidden to do
   this in a vision. And we shall see in the third chapter (Hosea 3:1)
   almost the same thing described; and yet what is narrated there could
   not have been actually done, for the Prophet is bidden to marry a wife
   who had violated her conjugal fidelity, and after having bought her, to
   retain her at home for a time. This, we know, was not done. It then
   follows that this was a representation exhibited to the people.

   Some object and say, that the whole passage, as given by the Prophet,
   cannot be understood as relating a vision. Why not? For the vision,
   they say, was given to him alone, and God had a regard to the whole
   people rather than to the Prophet. But it may be, and it is probable,
   that no vision was presented to the Prophet, but that God only ordered
   him to proclaim what had been given him in charge. When, therefore, the
   Prophet began to teach, he commenced somewhat in this way: "The Lord
   places me here as on a stage, to make known to you that I have married
   a wife, a wife habituated to adulteries and whoredoms, and that I have
   begotten children by her." The whole people knew that he had done no
   such thing; but the Prophet spake thus in order to set before their
   eyes a vivid representation. Such then, was the vision, a figurative
   exhibition, not that the Prophet knew this by a vision, but the Lord
   had bidden him to relate this parable, (so to speak,) or this
   similitude, that the people might see, as in a living portraiture,
   their turpitude and perfidiousness. It is, in short, an exhibition, in
   which the thing itself is not only set forth in words, but is also
   placed, as it were, before their eyes in a visible form. The reason is
   added, for by wantoning has the land grown wanton

   We now then see how the words of the Prophet ought to be understood;
   for he assumed a character, when going forth before the public, and in
   this character he said to the people, that God had bidden him to take a
   harlot for his wife, and to beget adulterous children by her. His
   ministry was not on this account made contemptible, for they all knew
   that he had ever lived virtuously and temperately; they all knew that
   his household was exempt from every reproach; but here he exhibited in
   his assumed character, as it were, a living image of the baseness of
   the people. This is the meaning, and I see nothing strained in this
   explanation; and we, at the same time, see the meaning of this clause,
   By wantoning has the land grown wanton. Hosea might have said this in
   one word, but he had to address the deaf, and we know how great and how
   stupid is the madness of those who delight themselves in their own
   superstitions, they cannot bear any reproof. The Prophet then would not
   have been attended to, unless he had exhibited, as in a mirror before
   their eyes, what he wished to be understood by them, as though he had
   said, "If none of you can so know himself as to own his public
   baseness, if ye are all so obstinate against God, at least know now by
   my assumed character, that you are all adulterous, and derive your
   origin from a filthy brothel, for God declares thus concerning you; and
   as you are not willing to receive such a declaration, it is now set
   before you in my assumed character."

   That it should not follow Jehovah, literally, From after Jehovah,
   M+#X+R+J+, meachri. We here see what is the spiritual chastity of God's
   people, and what also is the signification of the word wantoning. Then
   the spiritual chastity of God's people is to follow the Lord; and what
   else is this to follow, but to suffer ourselves to be ruled by his
   word, and willingly to obey him, to be ready and prepared for any work
   to which he may call us? When then the Lord goes before us with his
   instruction and shows the way, and we become teachable and obedient,
   and look up to him, and turn not aside, either to the right or to the
   left hand, but bring our whole life to the obedience of faith, -- this
   is really to follow the Lord; and it is a most beautiful definition of
   the spiritual chastity of God's people.

   And we may also, from the opposite of this, learn what it is to grow
   wanton; we do so when we depart from the word of the Lord, when we give
   ear to false doctrines, when we abandon ourselves to superstitions;
   when we, in short, wander after our own devices, and keep not our
   thoughts under the authority of the word of the Lord. But as to the
   word wantoning, more will be said in chapter 2; but I only wished now
   briefly to touch on what the Prophet means when he chides the
   Israelites for having all become wanton. Now follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [3] Much difference has prevailed on this subject. That is it was a
   real transaction, has been the opinion of not a few. Poole quotes
   Basil, Augustine, Jerome, and Theodoret, as entertaining this view.
   Bishop Horsley agrees with them; but he makes this wise remark, "This
   is in truth a question of little importance to the interpretation of
   the prophecy, for the act was equally emblematical, whether it was real
   or visionary only; and the significance of the emblem, whether the act
   were done in reality or in vision, will be the same." Henry seems to
   lean to the opinion that it was a parable; and Scott, that it was a
   real transaction. The notion of a parable is attended with the least
   difficulty, and corresponds with the mode of teaching often adopted
   both in the Old and New Testament. -- Ed.

   [4] This does not follow; for, as Bishop Horsley justly observes, "the
   children of wantonness" were those previously begotten. The Prophet was
   to take a woman who was a harlot, together with her spurious children.
   This is the evident message of the passage. --Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast once adopted us, and continues
   to confirm this thy favour by calling us unceasingly to thyself, and
   dost not only severely chastise us, but also gently and paternally
   invite us to thyself, and exhort us at the same time to repentance, --
   O grant that we may not be so hardened as to resist thy goodness, nor
   abuse this thine incredible forbearance, but submit ourselves in
   obedience to thee; that whenever thou mayest severely chastise us, we
   may bear thy corrections with genuine submission of faith, and not
   continue untameable and obstinate to the last, but return to thee the
   only fountain of life and salvation, that as thou has once begun in us
   a good work, so thou mayest perfect it to the day of our Lord. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Second
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 1:3, 4

   3. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived,
   and bare him a son.

   3. Et profectus est et accepit Gomer, filiam Diablaim: et concepit et
   peperit ei filium.

   4. And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little
   while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu,
   and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

   4. Et dixit Jehova ad eum, Voca nomen Jizreel, quia adhuc pauxillum, et
   visitabo sanguines Jizreel super domum Jehu, et cessare faciam (hoc
   est, abolebo) regnum domus Israel.


   We said in yesterday's Lecture, that God ordered his Prophet to take a
   wife of whoredoms, but that this was not actually done; for what other
   effect could it have had, but to render the Prophet contemptible to
   all? and thus his authority would have been reduced to nothing. But God
   only meant to show to the Israelites by such a representation, that
   they vaunted themselves without reason; for they had nothing worthy of
   praise, but were in every way ignominious. It is then said, Hosea went
   and took to himself Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim G+M+R+, Gomer, means
   in Hebrew, to fail; and sometimes it signifies actively, to consume;
   and hence Gomer means consumption. But Diblaim are masses of figs, or
   dry figs reduced to a mass. The Greeks call them palathas. The
   Cabalists say here that the wife of Hosea was called by this name,
   because they who are much given to wantonness at length fall into death
   and corruption. So consumption is the daughter of figs, for by figs
   they understand the sweetness of lusts. But it will be more simple to
   say, that this representation was exhibited to the people, that the
   Prophet set before them, instead of a wife, consumption, the daughter
   of figs; that is, that he laid before them masses of figs or palathas,
   representing Gomer, which means consumption and that he adopted a
   similar manner with mathematicians, when they describe their figures,
   -- "If this be so much, then that is so much." We may then thus
   understand the passage, that the Prophet here named for his wife the
   corrupt masses of figs; so that she was consumption or putrefaction,
   born of figs, reduced into such masses. For I still persist in the
   opinion I expressed yesterday, that the Prophet did not enter a brothel
   to take a wife to himself: for otherwise he must have begotten
   bastards, and not legitimate children; for, as it was said yesterday,
   the case with the wife and the children was the same.

   We now then understand the true meaning of this verse to be, that the
   Prophet did not marry a harlot, but only exhibited her before the eyes
   of the people as though she were corruption, born of putrified masses
   of figs.

   It now follows, the wife conceived, -- the imaginary one, the wife as
   represented and exhibited. She conceived, he says, and bare a son: then
   said Jehovah to him, Call his name Jezreel. Many render J+Z+R+E+#L+,
   Izroal, dispersion, and follow the Chaldean paraphraser. They also
   think that this ambiguous term contains some allusion; for as Z+R+E+,
   zaro is seed, they suppose that the Prophet indirectly glances at the
   vain boasting of the people; for they called themselves the chosen
   seed, because they had been planted by the Lord; hence the name
   Jezreel. But the Prophet here, according to these interpreters, exposes
   this folly to contempt; as though he said, "Ye are Israel; but in
   another respect, ye are dispersion: for as the seed is cast in various
   directions so the Lord will scatter you, and thus destroy and cast you
   away. You think yourselves to have been planted in this land, and to
   have a standing from which you can never be shaken or torn away; but
   the Lord will, with his own hand, lay hold on you to cast you away to
   the remotest regions of the world." This sense is what many
   interpreters give; nor do I deny but that the Prophet alludes to the
   words sowing and seed; with this I disagree not: only it seems to me
   that the Prophet looks farther, and intimates that they were wholly
   degenerate, not the true nor the genuine offspring of Abraham.

   There is, as we see, much affinity between the names Jezreel and
   Israel. How honourable is the name, Israel, it is evident from its
   etymology; and we also know that it was given from above to the holy
   father Jacob. God, then, the bestower of this name, procured by his own
   authority, that those called Israelites should be superior to others:
   and then we must remember the reason why Jacob was called Israel; for
   he had a contest with God, and overcame in the struggle, (Genesis
   32:28.) Hence the posterity of Abraham gloried that they were
   Israelites. And the prophet Isaiah also glances at this arrogance, when
   he says,

   `Come ye who are called by the name of Israel,'
   (Isaiah 48:1;)

   as though he said, "Ye are Israelites, but only as to the title, for
   the reality exists not in you."

   Let us now return to our Hosea. Call, he says his name Jezreel; [5] as
   though he said, "They call themselves Israelites; but I will show, by a
   little change in the word, that they are degenerate and spurious, for
   they are Jezreelites rather than Israelites." And it appears that
   Jezreel was the metropolis of the kingdom in the time of Ahab, and
   where also that great slaughter was made by Jehu, which is related in 2
   Kings 10 We now perceive the meaning of the Prophet to be, that the
   whole kingdom had degenerated from its first beginning, and could no
   longer be deemed as including the race of Abraham; for the people had,
   by their own perfidy, fallen from that honour, and lost their first
   name. God then, by way of contempt, calls them Jezreelites, and not
   Israelites.

   A reason afterwards follows which confines this view, For yet a little
   while, and I will visit the slaughters of Jezreel upon the house of
   Jehu. Here interpreters labour not a little, because it seems strange
   that God should visit the slaughter made by Jehu, which yet he had
   approved; nay, Jehu did nothing thoughtlessly, but knew that he was
   commanded to execute that vengeance. He was, therefore, God's
   legitimate minister; and why is what God commanded imputed to him now
   as a crime? This reasoning has driven some interpreters to take
   "bloods" here for wicked deeds in general: `I will avenge the sins of
   Jezreel upon the house of Jehu.' Some say, "I will avenge the slaughter
   of Naboth:" but this is wholly absurd, nor can it suit the place, for,
   "upon the house of Jehu," is distinctly expressed; and God did not
   visit the slaughter on the house of Jehu, but on the house of Ahab. But
   they who are thus embarrassed do not consider what the Prophet has in
   view. For God, when he wished Jehu with his drawn sword to destroy the
   whole house of Ahab, had this end as his object, -- that Jehu should
   restore pure worship, and cleanse the land from all defilements. Jehu
   then was stirred up by the Spirit of God, that he might re-establish
   God's pure worship. When a defender of religion, how did he act? He
   became contented with his prey. After having seized on the kingdom for
   himself, he confirmed idolatry and every abomination. He did not then
   spend his labour for God. Hence that slaughter with regard to Jehu was
   robbery; with regard to God it was a just revenge. this view ought to
   satisfy us as to the explanation of this passage; and I bring nothing
   but what the Holy Scripture contains. For after Jehu seemed to burn
   with zeal for God, he soon proved that there was nothing sincere in his
   heart; for he embraced all the superstitions which previously prevailed
   in the kingdom of Israel. In short, the reformation under Jehu was like
   that under Henry King of England; who, when he saw that he could not
   otherwise shake off the yoke of the Roman Antichrist than by some
   disguise, pretended great zeal for a time: he afterwards raged cruelly
   against all the godly, and doubled (duplicavit -- duplicated) the
   tyranny of the Roman Pontiff: and such was Jehu.

   When we duly consider what was done by Henry, it was indeed an heroic
   valour to deliver his kingdom from the hardest of tyrannies: but yet,
   with regard to him, he was certainly worse than all the other vassals
   of the Roman Antichrist; for they who continue under that bondage,
   retain at least some kind of religion; but he was restrained by no
   shame from men, and proved himself wholly void of every fear towards
   God. He was a monster, (homo belluinus -- a beastly man) and such was
   Jehu.

   Now, when the Prophet says, I will avenge the slaughters of Jezreel
   upon the house of Jehu, it is no matter of wonder. How so? For it was
   the highest honour to him, that God anointed him king, that he, who was
   of a low family, was chosen a king by the Lord. He ought then to have
   stretched every nerve to restore God's pure worship, and to destroy all
   superstitions. This he did not; on the contrary, he confirmed them. He
   was then a robber, and as to himself, no minister of God.

   The meaning of the whole then is this: "Ye are not Israelites, (there
   is here only an ambiguity as to the pronunciation of one letter,) but
   Jezreelites;" which means, "Ye are not the descendants of Jacob, but
   Jezreelites;" that is, "Ye are a degenerate people, and differ nothing
   from king Ahab. He was accursed, and under him the kingdom became
   accursed. Are ye changed? Is there any reformation? Since then ye are
   obstinate in your wickedness, though ye proudly claim the name of
   Jacob, ye are yet unworthy of such an honour. I therefore call you
   Jezreelites."

   And the reason is added, For yet a little while, and I will visit the
   slaughters upon the house of Jehu. God now shows that the people were
   destitute of all glory. But they thought that the memory of all sins
   had been buried since the time that the house of Ahab had been cut off.
   "Why? I will avenge these slaughters," saith the Lord. It is customary,
   we know, with hypocrites, after having punished one sin, to think that
   all things are lawful to them, and to wish to be thus discharged before
   God. A thief will punish a murder, but he himself will commit many
   murders. He thinks himself redeemed, because he has paid God the price
   in punishing one man; but he lets go others, who have been his
   accomplices, and he himself hesitates not to commit many unjust
   murders. Since, then, hypocrites thus mock God, the Prophet now justly
   shakes off such senselessness, and says, I will avenge these
   slaughters. "Do ye think it a deed worthy of praise in Jehu, to destroy
   and root out the house of Ahab? I indeed commanded it to be done but he
   turned the vengeance enjoined on him to another end." How so? Because
   he became a robber; for he did not punish the sins of Ahab, because he
   did the same himself to the end of life, and continued to do the same
   in his posterity, for Jeroboam was the fourth from him in the kingdom.
   "Since, then, Jehu did not change the condition of the country, and ye
   have ever been obstinate in your wickedness, I will avenge these
   slaughters."

   This is a remarkable passage; for it shows that it is not enough, nay,
   that it is of no moment, that a man should conduct himself honourably
   before men, except he possesses also an upright and sincere heart. He
   then who punishes evil deeds in others, ought himself to abstain from
   them, and to measure the same justice to himself as he does to others;
   for he who takes to himself a liberty to sin, and yet punishes others,
   provokes against himself the wrath of God.

   We now then perceive the true sense of this sentence, I will avenge the
   slaughters of Jezreel, to be this, that he would avenge the slaughters
   made in the valley of Jezreel on the house of Jehu. It is added and I
   will abolish the kingdom of the house of Israel. The house of Israel he
   calls that which had separated from the family of David, as though he
   said, "This is a separated house." God had indeed joined the whole
   people together, and they became one body. It was torn asunder under
   Jeroboam. This was God's dreadful judgement; for it was the same as if
   the people, like a torn body, had been cut into two parts. But God,
   however, had hitherto preserved these two parts, as though they were
   but one body, and would have become the Redeemer of both people, had
   not a base defection followed. And the Israelites having become, as it
   were, putrified, so as now to be no part of his chosen people, our
   Prophet, by way of contempt and reproach, rightly calls them the house
   of Israel. It now follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [5] The explanation given of this word by Horsley does not in the least
   correspond with the context, or with the reason afterwards assigned for
   it. He interprets in "the seed of God," meaning the servants of God,
   according to the supposed etymology of the word: but the first son of
   Hosea was called Jezreel, as stated expressly on account of what was to
   take place in the city, or in the valley of Jezreel. And to say that as
   the word is taken in its etymological sense in chapter 2 verse 22, it
   ought to be so taken here, is no valid reason. When a word, as in this
   case, has two meanings, it is the context that must be our guide, and
   not the sense of it in another chapter. --Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 1:5

   5. And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of
   Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

   5. Et erit in die illa et conteram arcum (vel-- confringum) Israel in
   valle Jizreel.


   This verse was intentionally added; for the Israelites were so inflated
   with their present good fortune, that they laughed at the judgement
   denounced. They indeed knew that they were well furnished with arms,
   and men, and money; in short, they thought themselves in every way
   unassailable. Hence the Prophet declares, that all this could not
   prevent God from punishing them. "Ye are," he says, "inflated with
   pride; ye set up your valour against God, thinking yourselves strong in
   arms and in power; and because ye are military men, ye think that God
   can do nothing; and yet your bows cannot restrain his hand from
   destroying you. But when he says, I will break the bow, he mentions a
   part for the whole; for under one sort he comprehends every kind of
   arms. But as to what the Prophet had in view, we see that his only
   object was to break down their false confidence; for the Israelites
   thought that they should not be exposed to the destruction which Hosea
   had predicted; for they were dazzled with their own power, and thought
   themselves beyond the reach of any danger, while they were so well
   fortified on every side. Hence the Prophet says, that all their
   fortresses would be nothing against God; for in that day, when the ripe
   time for vengeance shall come, the Lord will break all their bows, he
   will tear in pieces all their arms, and reduce to nothing their power.

   We are here warned ever to take heed, lest any thing should lead us to
   a torpid state when God threatens us. Though we may have strength,
   though fortune (so to speak) may smile on us, though, in a word, the
   whole world should combine to secure our safety, yet there is no reason
   why we should felicitate ourselves, when God declares himself opposed
   to and angry with us. Why so? Because, as he can preserve us when
   unarmed whenever he pleases, so he can spoil us of all our arms, and
   reduce our power to nothing. Let this verse then come to our minds
   whenever God terrifies us by his threatening; and what it teaches us
   is, that he can take away all the defences in which we vainly trust.

   Now, as Jezreel was the metropolis of the kingdom, the Prophet
   distinctly mentions the place, I will break in pieces the bow of Israel
   in the valley of Jezreel; that is, the Lord sees what sort of fortress
   there is in Samaria, in Jezreel; but he will make an end of you there,
   in the very midst of the land. Ye think that you have there a place of
   safety and a firm position; but the Lord will bring you to nothing even
   in the valley of Jezreel. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 1:6

   6. And she conceived again -- and bare a daughter. And God said unto
   him -- Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the
   house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.

   6. Et concepit adhuc (concepit rursum) et peperit filiam: et dixit ei--
   Voca nomen ejus Loruchama-- (hoc est-- non adepta misericordiam-- vel--
   non dilecta: sic enim Graeci verterunt-- et Paulus sequutus est illam
   receptam versionem capite-- ad Rom.) quia non adjiciam amplius ut
   misericordia persequar (vel-- ut diligam) domum Israel-- quia tollendo
   tollam eos.


   The Prophet shows in this verse that things were become worse and worse
   in the kingdom of Israel, that they sinned, keeping within no limits,
   that they rushed headlong into the extremes of impiety. He has already
   told us, by calling them Jezreelites, that they were from the beginning
   rejected and degenerate; as though he said, "Your origin has nothing
   commendable in it; ye think yourselves to be very eminent, because ye
   derive your descent from holy Jacob; but ye are spurious children, born
   of a harlot: a brothel is not the house of Abraham, nor is the house of
   Abraham a brothel. Ye are then the offspring of debauchery." But he now
   goes farther and says, that as time advanced, they had ever been
   falling into a worse state; for this word, Loruchamah, is a more
   disgraceful name than Jezreel: and the Lord also denounces here his
   vengeance more openly, when he says,

   I will no more add to pursue with mercy the house of Israel R+X+M%,
   rechem, means to pity, and also to love: but this second meaning is
   derived from the other; for R+X+M%, rechem, is not simply to love, but
   to show gratuitous favour. By calling the daughter, then, Lo-ruchamah,
   God intimates that his favour was now taken away from the people. We
   know, indeed, that the people had been freely chosen; for if the cause
   of adoption be inquired for, it must be said to have been the mere
   mercy and goodness of God. Now then God, in repudiating the people,
   says, "Ye are like a daughter whom her father casts away and disowns,
   because he deems her unworthy of his favour." We now, then, comprehend
   the design of the Prophet; for, after having shown the Israelites to
   have been from the beginning spurious, and not the true children of
   Abraham, he now adds, that, in course of time, they had become so
   corrupt, that God would now utterly disown them, and would no longer
   deem them as his house. He, therefore, charges them with something more
   grievous than before, by saying, `Call this daughter Lo-ruchamah;' for
   she was born after Jezreel. Here he describes by degrees the state of
   the people, that it continually degenerated. Though they were at the
   beginning depraved; but they were now, after the lapse of some time,
   utterly unworthy of God's favour.

   I will no more add, he says, to pursue with favour the house of Israel.
   God here shows what constant forbearance he had exercised towards this
   people. I will no more add, he says; as though the Lord had said, "I do
   not now sally forth at the first heat of wrath to take vengeance on
   you, as passionate men are wont to do, who seize the sword as soon as
   any affront is given; I become not so suddenly hot with anger. I have,
   therefore, hitherto borne with you; but now your obstinacy is
   intolerable; I will not then bear with you any more." The Prophet, as
   we see, evidently intimates that the Israelites had very long abused
   the Lord's mercy, while he spared them, so that now the ripe time of
   vengeance had come; for the Lord had, for many years showed his favour
   to them, though they never ceased at any time to seek destruction to
   themselves. Hence we learn, as stated yesterday, that the Prophet's
   vehemence was not hasty: for God had before given warnings, more than
   sufficient, to the Israelites; he had also forgiven them many sins; he
   had borne with them until the state of things proved that they were
   altogether incurable. Since, then, the forbearance of God produced no
   effect on them, it was necessary to come to this last remedy, that the
   Lord should, as it were, with a drawn sword, appear as a judge to take
   vengeance.

   He afterwards says, K+J+ N+ShW+# #Sh# L+H+M%, ki neshua asha lem. This
   sentence is variously explained. Some think that the verb is derived
   from the root N+ShH+, nesche, with a final H+, he; which means "to
   forget", as though it was said "By forgetting, I will forget them;" and
   the sense is not unsuitable. The Chaldean paraphraser wholly departs
   from this meaning, for he renders the clause, "By sparing, I will spare
   them." There is no reason for this; for God, as the context clearly
   shows, does not yet promise pardon to them; this meaning, then, cannot
   stand. They come nearer to the design of the Prophet who thus
   translate, "I will bring to them," that is, the enemy; for N+Sh#,
   nesha, signifies to take, and also to bring into the middle. But I
   prefer embracing their opinion who consider that L+H+M%, lem, is placed
   here for #W+T+M%, autem; for the servile letter L+, lamed, has often
   the same meaning with the particle #T+, at, which is prefixed to an
   objective case. Then the rendering is, literally given, "For, by taking
   away, I will take them away:" and the Hebrews often use this mode of
   speaking, and the sense is plainer, "By taking away, I will take them
   away." Some render the passage, "I will burn them;" but this
   explanation is rather harsh. I am satisfied with the meaning, to take,
   but I understand it in the sense of taking away. Then it is, [3]"By
   taking away, I will take them away." [6]

   And this is what the following verse confirms; for when the Prophet
   speaks of the house of Judah, the Lord says, "With mercy will I follow
   the house of Judah, and will save them." The Prophet sets "to save" and
   "to take away" in opposition the one to the other.

   We may then learn by the context what he meant by these words, and that
   is, that Israel had hitherto stood through the Lord's mercy; as though
   he said, "How has it happened that ye continue as yet alive? Do you
   think yourselves to be safe through your own valour? Nay, my mercy has
   hitherto preserved you. Now, then, when I shall withdraw my favour from
   you, your ruin will be inevitable; you must necessarily perish, and be
   brought to nothing: for as I have hitherto preserved you, so I will
   utterly tear you away and destroy you." A profitable lesson may be
   farther gathered from this passage, and that is, that hypocrites
   deceive themselves when they boast of the present favour of God, and,
   at the same time, exult without any fear against him; for as God for a
   time spares and tolerates them, so he can justly destroy and reduce
   them to nothing. But the next verse must be also joined.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [6] Though Newcome and others agree with Calvin in this sense, yet I
   still believe that the true rendering is that which is substantially
   given in the margin of our version. The verb here used, when followed
   by L+ does not mean to take away, but to pardon, to forgive, and the
   particle K+J+ is sometimes rendered, that, so that, ut. Then the two
   lines may be thus translated: -- "I will no more show mercy to the
   house of Israel,
   That by pardoning I should pardon them." The main drift of the passage
   is still the same with what is assigned to it by Calvin. The version of
   Bishop Horsley favors what I have offered: he renders the last line
   thus: -- "Insomuch as to be perpetually forgiving them."
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 1:7

   7. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by
   the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by
   battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

   7 Et domum Jehudah misericordia prosequar, (vel, favore; vel, diligam:
   diximus enim jam de hoc verbo,) et servabo eos in Jehova Deo ipsorum,
   et non servabo eos in arcu, neque in gladio, neque in prelio, neque in
   equis, neque in equitibus


   This verse sufficiently proves what I said yesterday, that the Prophet
   was specifically appointed to the kingdom of Israel; for he seems here
   to speak favourably of the Jews, who yet, we know, had been severely
   and deservedly reproved by their own teachers. For what does Isaiah
   say, after having spoken of the dreadful corruptions which then
   prevailed in the kingdom of Israel? `Come,' he says, `into the house of
   Judah, they at least continue as yet pure: there,' he says, `all the
   tables are full of vomiting; they are drunken; there reigns also the
   contempt of God and all impiety,' (Isaiah 28:8.) We see then that the
   Jews were not a virtuous people, of whom the Prophet has spoken so
   honourably. For though the exterior worship of God continued at
   Jerusalem, and the temple, at least under Uzziah and Jotham, was free
   from every superstition, and also under king Hezekiah; yet the morals
   of the people, we know, were very corrupt. Avarice, and cruelty, and
   every kind of fraud, reigned there, and also filthy lusts. The conduct,
   then, of that people was nothing better than that of the Israelites.
   Why, then, does the Prophet dignify them with so great an honour as to
   exempt them from God's vengeance? Because he had an eye to the people
   to whom he was appointed a Prophet. He therefore institutes a
   comparison. He interferes not with the Jews, for he knew that they had
   faithful pastors who reproved their sins; but he continued among his
   own hearers. But this comparison served, in an especial manner, to
   touch the hearts of the people of Israel; for the Prophet, we know,
   made this reference particularly for this end, to condemn fictitious
   worship. He now sets the worship at Jerusalem in opposition to all
   those superstitions which Jeroboam first introduced, which Ahab
   increased, and all their posterity followed. Hence he says, "I will
   show favour" to the house of Judah.

   That we may better understand the mind of the Prophet, it may be well
   to repeat what we said yesterday: -- The kingdom of Judah was then
   miserably wasted. The kingdom of Israel had ten tribes, the kingdom of
   Judah only one and a half, and it was also diminished by many
   slaughters; yea, the Israelites had spoiled the temple of the Lord, and
   had taken all the gold and silver they found there. The Jews, then, had
   been reduced to a very low state, they hardly dared to mutter; but the
   Israelites, as our Prophet will hereafter tell us, were like beasts
   well fed. Since, then, they despised the Jews, who seemed despicable in
   the eyes of the world, the Prophet beats down this vain confidence, and
   says, With mercy will I follow the house of Judah "The house of Judah
   seems now to be almost nothing, for they are few in number, nor are
   they very strong, and wealth abounds not among them as among you; but
   with them shall dwell my favour, and I will take it away from you."

   It afterwards follows, And I will save them by Jehovah their God.
   Salvation is here set in opposition to the destruction which the
   Prophet mentioned in the last verse. But Hosea shows that salvation
   depends not in the least either on arms or on any of the intervenients
   [7] , as they say, of this world; but has its foundation only on God's
   favour. I will save them, he says -- why? because my favour will I show
   them This connection ought to be carefully noticed. Where the Lord's
   favour is, there is life. `Thou art our God, then we shall never
   perish,' as it is written in the first chapter of Habakkuk. Hence the
   Prophet here connects salvation with God's gratuitous favour; for we
   cannot continue safe, but as long as God is propitious to us. He has,
   on the other hand, declared that it would be all over with the
   Israelites as soon as God would take away from them his favour.

   But he says, By Jehovah their God. An antithesis is to be understood
   here between the false gods and Jehovah, who was the God of the house
   of Judah. It is the same as though the Prophet said, "Ye indeed profess
   the name of God, but ye worship the devil and not God: for ye have
   nothing to do with Jehovah, with the God who is the creator and maker
   of heaven and earth; for he dwells in his own temple; he pledged his
   faith to David, when he commanded him to build a temple for him on
   mount Zion; he dwells there between the cherubim, as the Prophets
   invariably declare: but the true God is become exiled from you." We
   hence see how he condemns here all the worship which the Israelites
   then so highly valued. Why did he do so? Because it was not acceptable
   to God.

   And this passage deserves to be noticed, for we see how stupid men are
   in this respect. When once they are persuaded that they worship God,
   they are seized by some fascination of Satan so as to become delighted
   with all their own dotages, as we see to be the case at this day with
   the Papists, who are not only insane, but doubly frantic. If any one
   reproves them and says, that they worship not the true God, they are
   instantly on fire -- "What! does not God accept our worship?" But the
   Prophet here shows by one word that Jehovah is not in any place, except
   where he is rightly worshipped according to the rule of his word. I
   will save them, he says -- How? By Jehovah their God; and God himself
   speaks: He might have said, "I will save them by myself;" but it was
   not without reason that he used this circuitous mode of speaking; it
   was to show the Israelites that they had no reason to think that God
   would be propitious to them. How so? Because God had chosen an
   habitation for himself on mount Zion and in Jerusalem. A fuller
   declaration afterwards follows, I will save them neither by the bow,
   nor by the sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen But this
   clause, by God's favour, I will explain tomorrow.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [7] Mediis-media means. We use medium, but not media; and yet we have
   no word as a substitute. "Intervenients," perhaps, is the most
   intelligible word to the English reader. --Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that as we were from our beginning lost, when thou
   wert pleased to extend to us thy hand, and to restore us to salvation
   for the sake of thy Son; and that as we continue even daily to run
   headlong to our own ruin, -- O grant that we may not, by sinning so
   often, so provoke at length thy displeasure as to cause thee to take
   away from us the mercy which thou hast hitherto exercised towards us,
   and through which thou hast adopted us: but by thy Spirit destroy the
   wickedness of our heart, and restore us to a sound mind, that we may
   ever cleave to thee with a true and sincere heart, that being fortified
   by thy defence, we may continue safe even amidst all kinds of danger,
   until at length thou gatherest us into that blessed rest, which has
   been prepared for us in heaven by our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Third

   We have to explain first this clause, I will save the house of Judah
   neither by the bow, nor by the sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by
   horsemen. What the Prophet had touched upon before is here more clearly
   expressed, and that is, that God has no need of foreign aids, for he is
   content with his own power. But Hosea continues his contrast; for the
   people of Israel, as they possessed much carnal power, thought
   themselves, as they say, beyond the reach of darts: but the kingdom of
   Judah was exposed to all dangers, as it was not powerful in forces and
   arms. This folly the Prophet exposes to contempt, and says, that safety
   is dependent on God alone, that men in vain trust in their own valour,
   and that there is no reason why the needy and destitute should despair
   of their safety, as God alone is abundantly sufficient to preserve the
   faithful. The meaning then is, that though the destitute condition of
   the kingdom of Judah was an object of contempt to all, yet this would
   be no obstacle, that it should not be preserved through God's favour,
   though it obtained no aid from men. And let us learn from this place,
   that we are not so preserved by the Lord, that he never employs any
   natural means; and further, that when he has no recourse to them, he is
   abundantly sufficient to secure our safety. We ought then so to ascribe
   our safety to the Lord as not to think that any thing comes to us
   through ourselves, or through angels, or through men. Let us now
   proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 1:8-9

   8. Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.

   8. Et ablactavit Lo-ruchama, et concepit et peperit filiam.

   9. Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I
   will not be your God

   9. Et dixit, Voca nomen ejus, Non populus meus, (Lo-ammi:) quia vos non
   populus meus, et ego non ero vobis (hoc est, non ero vester.)


   The weaning the Prophet mentions here is by some understood
   allegorically; as though he said, that the people would for a time be
   deprived of prophecies, and of the priesthood, and of other spiritual
   gifts: but this is frigid. The Prophet here, I have no doubt, sets
   forth the patience of God towards that people. The Lord then, before he
   had utterly cast away the Israelites, waited patiently for their
   repentance, if, indeed, there was any hope for it; but when he found
   them to be ever like themselves, he then at length proceeded to the
   last punishment. Hence Hosea says, that the daughter, who was the
   second child, was weaned; as though he said, that the people of Israel
   had not been suddenly cast away, for God had with long patience borne
   with them, and thus suspended heavier judgement, until, having found
   their wickedness to be unhealable, he at length commenced what follows,
   Call the third child Lo-ammi.

   The reason is added For ye are not my people, and I will not hereafter
   be your God. This, as I have said, is the final disowning of them. They
   had been before called Jezreelites, and then by the name of the
   daughter God testified that he was alienated from them; but now the
   third name is still more grievous, Ye are not my people; for God here
   abolishes, in a manner, the covenant he made with the holy fathers, so
   that the people would cease to have any preeminence over other nations.
   So then the Israelites were reduced to a condition in which they
   differed nothing from the profane Gentiles; and thus God wholly
   disinherited them. The Prophet, doubtless, was not well received, when
   he denied them to be God's people, who had yet descended from Abraham
   according to the flesh, who had ever been so accounted, and who
   continued proudly to boast of their election.

   But let us hence learn, that those awfully mistake who are blind to
   their own vices, because God spares and indulges them. For we must ever
   remember what I have said before, that the kingdom of Israel was then
   opulent; and yet the Prophet denies them, who flourished in strength,
   and power, and riches, to be God's people. There is then no reason for
   hypocrites to felicitate themselves in prosperity; but they ought, on
   the contrary, to have regard to God's judgement. But though these, as
   we see to be the case, heedlessly despise God, yet this passage reminds
   us carefully to beware lest we abuse the present favours of God. It
   follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 1:10

   10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the
   sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass,
   that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people,
   there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

   10. Et erit numerus filiorum Israel tanquam arena maris, quae non
   mensuratur et non numeratur, (non mensurabitur nec numeratur, ad verbum
   sed significant haec verba actum continuum, et est indefinita etiam
   locutio;) et erit in loco ubi dicetur, (hoc est, ubi dictum fuerit
   eis,) Non populus meus vos; et dicetur (hoc est, illic dicetur) Filii
   Dei vivi.


   Now follows consolation, yet not unmixed. God seems here to meet the
   objections which we know hypocrites had in readiness, whenever the
   Prophets denounced destruction on them; for they accused God of being
   unfaithful if he did not save them. Arrogating to themselves the title
   of Church, they concluded that it would be impossible for them to
   perish for God would not be untrue in his promises. "Why! God has
   promised that his Church shall be for ever: we are his Church; then we
   are safe, for God cannot deny himself." In what they took as granted
   they were deceived; for though they usurped the title of Church, they
   were yet alienated from God. We see that the Papists swell with this
   pride at this day. To excuse all their errors they set up against us
   this shield, "Christ promised to be with his own to the end of the
   world. Can the spouse desert his Church? Can the Son of God, who is the
   eternal Truth of the Father, fail in his faithfulness?" The Papists
   magnificently extol the faithfulness of Christ, that they may bind him
   to themselves: but at the same time, they consider not that they are
   covenant breakers; they consider not that they are manifestly the
   enemies of God; they consider not that they have divorced themselves
   from him.

   The Prophet, therefore seeing that he had to do with proud men, who
   were wont to arraign the justice of God, says, The number of the
   children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea; that is, "When the
   Lord shall cut you off, still safe will remain this promise which was
   given to Abraham;

   `Look at the stars of heaven, number, if thou canst, the sand of the
   sea; so shall thy seed be,'" (Genesis 15:5.)

   We indeed know, that whenever the Prophets severely reproved the people
   and denounced destruction, this was ever opposed to them, "What! can it
   be that the Lord will destroy us? What would then become of this
   promise, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven and as the sand of
   the sea?" Hence the Prophet here checks this vain-confidence, by which
   hypocrites supported themselves against all threatening, "Though God
   may cut you off, he will yet continue true and faithful to the promise,
   that Abraham's seed shall be innumerable as the sand of the sea."

   I indeed admit that the Prophet here gave hope of salvation to the
   faithful; for it is certain that there were some remaining in the
   kingdom of Israel. Though the whole body had revolted, yet God, as it
   was said to Elijah, had preserved to himself some seed. The Prophet
   then was unwilling to leave the faithful, who remained among that lost
   people, without hope of salvation; but, at the same time, he had regard
   to hypocrites, as we have already stated. We now see the design of the
   Prophet, for he teaches that there would be such a vengeance as he had
   spoken of, though God would not yet be forgetful of his word; he
   teaches that there would be such a casting away of the people, though
   God's election would yet remain firm and unchangeable; in short, he
   teaches that the adoption by which God had chosen the offspring of
   Abraham as his people would not be void. This is the import of the
   whole. Then the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand
   of the sea, which is not to be measured nor numbered.

   He afterwards adds, And it shall be in the place where it had been said
   to them, (shall be said, literally,) Ye are not my people; there it
   shall be said, Ye are the sons of the living God It has been asked,
   whether this prophecy belongs to the posterity of those who had been
   dispersed. This, indeed, would be strange; for so long a time has
   passed away since their exile, and dejected and broken, they dwell at
   this day in mountains and in other desert places; at least many of them
   are in the mountains of Armenia, some are in Media and Chaldea; in
   short, throughout the whole of the East. And since there has been no
   restoration of this people, it is certain that this prophecy ought not
   to be restricted to seed according to the flesh. For there was a
   prescribed time for the Jews, when the Lord purposed to restore them to
   their country; and, at the end of seventy years, a free return was
   granted them by Cyrus. Then Hosea speaks not here of the kingdom of
   Israel, but of the Church, which was to be restored by a return,
   composed both of Jews and of Gentiles. So Paul, a fit interpreter of
   this passage, reminds us,

   `Whom he has called, not only of the Jews,
   but also of the Gentiles; as he says by Hosea,
   I will call a people, who were not mine, my people;
   and her beloved, who was not beloved: and it shall be,
   where it had been said to them, Ye are not my people;
   there shall they be called the sons of the living God,'
   (Romans 9:24, etc.)

   Paul applies this passage, and that rightly, to the whole body of the
   faithful, collected without any difference, from the Jews as well as
   from the Gentiles: for otherwise, as we have said, the correctness and
   truth of prophecy would not be evident: and this view also agrees best
   with the design of the Prophet which I have just explained. For, since
   hypocrites in a manner tie to themselves the power of God, the Prophet
   says, that God can, if he chooses, raise up in an instant a new Church,
   which would exceed in number the sand of the sea. How so? God will
   create a Church for himself. From what? From stones, from nothing: for,
   as Paul says elsewhere,

   `he calls those things which are not,
   as though they were,'
   (Romans 4:17.)

   At the same time, God, as it has been said, by his goodness contended
   with the wickedness of that people; for though they rejected his
   favour, yea, and obstinately thrust it away from themselves, yet such
   perverseness did not hinder the Lord from preserving a remnant for
   himself.

   Now, this passage teaches, that they are very perverted in their
   notions, who, by their own feelings, form a judgement of the state of
   the Church, and accuse God of being unfaithful, when its external
   appearance does not correspond with their opinion. So the Papists
   think; for except they see the splendour of great pomp, they conclude
   that no Church remains in the world. But God at one time so diminishes
   the Church, that it seems to be almost reduced to nothing; at another
   time, he increases and multiplies it beyond all hope, after having
   raised it, as it were, from death. Isaiah says in Isaiah 10:22,

   Were the number of the children of Israel as the sand of the sea, a
   remnant only shall be saved.

   The Prophet there designedly exposes to scorn the hypocrites, who
   falsely pleaded that prophecy, `Look on the stars of heaven, and on the
   sand of the sea, if thou can't number them; so shall thy seed be.'
   Since, then, Isaiah saw that hypocrites, relying on that prophecy, were
   rising so perversely against him, he said, "Be it so, be it so, that ye
   are as the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the sea; yet a remnant
   only shall be saved;" which means, "The Lord will at last cut you down,
   and reduce you to so small a number, that ye shall be extremely few."
   Now, on the other hand, Hosea says, That after the Israelites shall be
   reduced to a very small number, that nothing but waste and solitude
   will appear, then the Lord will restore the Church beyond all human
   thoughts and will prove that he had not in vain promised to Abraham
   that his seed would be as the sand of the sea. Since, then, the Lord
   wonderfully defends his Church, and preserves it in this world, so that
   at one time he seems to bury it, and then he raises it from death; at
   one time he cuts it down as to its outward appearance, and then
   afterwards he renews it; we ought to take heed, lest we measure
   according to our own judgement and carnal reason, what the Lord
   declares respecting the preservation of his Church. For its safety is
   often hid from the eyes of men. However the case may be, God does not
   bind himself here to human means, nor to the order of nature, but his
   purpose is to surpass by his incredible power whatever the minds of men
   can conceive.

   Thus then ought this passage, The number of the children of Israel
   shall be as the sand of the sea, to be expounded: God will gather his
   Church from all quarters, from the Gentiles as well as from the Jews
   when the whole world will think it to be extinct.

   And it shall be in the place where it had been said, Ye are not my
   people; there it shall be said, Ye are the sons of the living God The
   Prophet, in these words, amplifies by a comparison the grace of God; as
   though he said, "When God shall restore anew his Church, its state
   shall be more excellent than before." How so? "They shall not only," he
   says, "be the people of God, but also the sons of the living God;"
   which means, that God will more familiarly show himself a Father to
   those, whom he will thus suddenly gather into one body. I indeed allow
   that the ancients under the law were honoured with this title; but we
   ought to attend to the present passage; for the Prophet contrasts the
   two clauses, the one with the other: And it shall be in the place where
   it had been said, Ye are not my people; it shall be said there, Ye are
   the sons of the living God He might have said, "And it shall be in the
   place where it had been said, Ye are not my people; there it shall be
   said, Ye are not my people:" but he ascends higher; God will confer
   more honour on his new people, for he will more clearly manifest his
   favour to them by this title of adoption: and it belongs in common to
   all, to the Gentiles as well as to the Israelites. We ought not to
   apply this, as it is commonly done, exclusively to the Gentiles: for
   Hosea speaks not here only of the Church which God attained for himself
   from the Gentiles, but of the whole Israel of God, a part of whom is
   the seed of Abraham. Let us then know that God here offers his grace
   generally, to the Israelites as well as to the Gentiles, and testifies,
   that after having justly cast away this people, he would make all to
   know that he had not been unmindful of his covenant, for he would
   attain to himself a much larger Church -- from whom? From the children
   of Abraham, as it has been said, as well as from strangers.

   And there is an important meaning in the verb, `It shall be said:' It
   shall be where it had been said, Ye are not my people, there it shall
   be said, -- The Prophet means, that our salvation appears not, before
   the Lord has begun to testify to us of his good-will. Hence the
   beginning of our salvation is God's call, when he declares himself to
   be propitious to us: without his word, no hope shines on us. Hosea
   might have said, `It shall be in the place where it had been said, Ye
   are not my people, there they shall begin to be the sons of God:' but
   he expresses more, `It shall be where it had been said, Ye are not my
   people, there it shall be said, Ye are the sons of the living God.'

   As to the first clause, it must be referred to the threatenings which
   have been already explained; and in this way was also checked the
   contumacy of the people, who heedlessly despised all the Prophets.
   "What! God has bound himself to us: we are the race of Abraham; then we
   are a holy and elect nation." But the Prophet here claims authority to
   himself as a teacher: "I am a herald of God's vengeance, and seriously
   proclaim to you your rejection: there is then no reason why ye should
   now harden your hearts and close your ears; for now at length will
   follow the execution of that vengeance which I now declare to you." The
   Prophet then declares here that he had not rashly pronounced what we
   before noticed, that it was not an empty bug bear, but that he had
   spoken in the Lord's name; as Paul also says,

   `Vengeance is prepared by us against all them
   who extol themselves against Christ,' (2 Corinthians 10:6.)

   And we see also what was said to Ezekiel, `Go and besiege Jerusalem;
   turn thy face, and stand there until thou stormest it, until thou
   overthrowest it.' The prophet was not certainly furnished with an army,
   so that he could make an attack upon Jerusalem: but God means there
   that there is power enough in his word to destroy all the ungodly. So
   also Hosea signifies the same here: "When by the word alone the
   Israelites shall be cast away it shall be said, Ye are the sons of the
   living God." Let us then know, that God rises upon us with certain
   salvation, when we hear him speaking to us. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 1:11

   11. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be
   gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come
   up out of the land; for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

   11. Et congregabuntur filii Jehudah et filii Israel simul-- et ponent
   sibi caput unum-- et ascendent e terra; quia magnus dies Jizreel.



   The Prophet speaks here peculiarly of the children of Abraham; for
   though God would make no more account of them than of other nations, he
   yet wished it to be ascribed to his covenant, that they in honor
   excelled others; and the right of primogeniture, we know, is everywhere
   given to them. Then as Abraham's children were first-begotten in the
   Church, even after the coming of Christ, God here especially addresses
   them, Ascend together from the land shall the children of Israel and
   the children of Judah, and they shall assemble together, and appoint
   for themselves one head In the last verse, Hosea spoke of the universal
   gathering of the Church; but now he confines his address to the natural
   race of Abraham. Why? Because God commenced a restoration with that
   people, when he extended his hand to the miserable exiles to bring them
   back from the Babylonian captivity to their own country. As then this
   was the beginning of the gathering, the Prophet, not without reason,
   turns his address here to them, and thus sets them in higher honor, not
   that they were worthy, not that they could by any merit claim this
   dignity; but because God would not make void his covenant, and because
   he had chosen them that they might be the first-begotten, as it has
   been already stated, and as they are also elsewhere called, `My
   first-begotten is Ephraim,' (Jeremiah 31:9) We now then understand the
   order and arrangement of the Prophet, which is to be carefully noticed,
   and the more so, because interpreters confound all these things, and
   make no distinctions, when yet the Prophet has not here mingled
   together the children of Israel and the children of Judah with the
   Gentiles, except for a certain purpose.

   Let us now consider the words of the Prophet. Assembled together, he
   says, shall be the children of Israel and the children of Judah No
   doubt, the Prophet has in view the scattering, which had now lasted
   more than two hundred years, when Jeroboam had led away the ten tribes.
   Inasmuch as the body became then torn asunder, the Prophet says,
   Together shall be gathered the children of Judah and the children of
   Israel And designedly does he thus speak, lest the Israelites should
   felicitate themselves on their own power; since they were a mutilated
   body without a head; for the king of Israel, properly speaking, was not
   legitimate. The Lord had indeed anointed Jeroboam; and afterwards Jehu,
   I admit, had been anointed; but it was done for the sake of executing
   judgment. For when the Lord intended really to bless the people, he
   chose David to rule over them; and then he committed the government
   over all the children of Abraham to the posterity of David. There was
   therefore no legitimate head over the people of Israel. And the Prophet
   intended distinctly to express this by saying, Gathered together shall
   be the children of Judah and the children of Israel; which means this,
   "Ye are now secure, because fortune smiles on you; because ye are
   overflowing with money and all good things; because ye are terrible to
   your neighbors; because ye have cities well fortified; but your safety
   depends on another thing, even on this, that ye be one body under one
   head. For ye must be miserable except God rules over you; and the only
   way in which this can be is, that ye be under the government of David.
   Your separation, then, proves your state to be accursed; your earthly
   happiness, in which you felicitate yourselves, is unhappiness before
   God." The Prophet then reminded the people of Israel, that God would at
   last deal kindly with them by restoring them to their first unity. The
   import of the whole then is, that the children of Abraham shall then at
   length be blessed, when they shall unite again in one body, and when
   one head shall rule over them. They shall then be gathered together,
   and appoint one head. The Prophet shows here also what kind of
   assembling this will be which he mentions, which was to be this, they
   shall be gathered under the government of one king. For whenever God
   speaks of the restoration of the people, he ever calls the attention of
   the faithful to David: `David shall rule, there shall be one shepherd.'
   Then one king and one head shall be among them. We now perceive the
   design of the Prophet.

   But this passage clearly teaches, that the unity of men is of no
   account before God, except it originates from one head. Besides, it is
   well known that God set David over his ancient people until the coming
   of Christ. Now, then, the Church of the Lord is only rightly formed,
   when the true David rules over it; that is, when all with one consent
   obey Christ, and submit to his bidding, (pendebunt ab ejus nutu hang on
   his nod:) and how Christ designs to rule in his Church, we know; for
   the scepter of his kingdom is the gospel. Hence, when Christ is honored
   with the obedience of faith, all things are safe; and this is the happy
   state of the Church, of which the Prophet now speaks. It seems, indeed,
   strange, that what is peculiar to God should be transferred to men that
   is, to appoint a king. But the Prophet has, by this expression,
   characterized the obedience of faith; for it is not enough that Christ
   should be given as a king, and set over men, unless they also embrace
   him as their king, and with reverence receive him. We now learn, that
   when we believe the gospel we choose Christ for our king, as it were,
   by a voluntary consent.

   He afterwards subjoins, They shall ascend from the land. He expresses
   more than at the beginning of the verse; for he says, that God would
   restore them from exile to their own country. He then promises what was
   very necessary, that exile would be no hindrance to God to renew his
   Church; for it was the people's ruin to be removed far from their
   country, and consequently to be deprived of their promised inheritance
   during their dispersion among heathen nations. The Lord then takes away
   this difficulty, and distinctly declares, that though for a time they
   should be as wholly destroyed, they shall yet come again to their own
   land. They shall, therefore, ascend (this is said with regard to Judea,
   for it is higher than Chaldea) they shall, therefore, ascend from
   Chaldea and other places in which they had been dispersed. We now
   understand what the Prophet means by saying, Gathered together shall be
   the children of Israel and the children of Judah that is, into one
   body; and further, they shall appoint for themselves one head. This is
   the manner of the gathering; and it must be also added, that the Church
   then obeys God, when all, from the first to the last, consent to one
   head: for it is not enough to be constrained, unless all willingly
   offer themselves to Christ; as it is said in Psalm 110, "There shall be
   a willing people in the day in which the King will call his own.' Then
   the Prophet intended to express the obedience of faith, which the
   faithful will render to Christ, when the Lord shall restore them.

   And they shall ascend, he says, from the land; for great shall be the
   day of Jezreel. It may be asked, why does he here call the day of
   Jezreel great; for it seems contrary to prophecy? This passage may be
   explained in two ways. Great shall be the day of Jezreel, some say,
   because God will sow the people whom he had before scattered. So they
   think that the Prophet, as in a former instance, alludes to the word,
   Jezreel. But the sense seems to me to be another. I do not restrict
   this clause to the last, nor to the promise, but apply it to the
   slaughter which has been before mentioned; for they correspond with one
   another. They shall ascend from the land; for great shall be the day of
   Jezreel. The Israelites were as yet resting in their nests, and thought
   that they could not by any means be torn away; besides, the kingdom of
   Judah did not then fear a near destruction. The Prophet, therefore,
   intimates here, that there would be a need of some signal and
   extraordinary remedy; for it shall be the severe and dreadful slaughter
   in the day of Jezreel. We now perceive the real meaning of the Prophet,
   They shall ascend from the land; for [8] great shall be the day of
   Jezreel

   They might, indeed, have otherwise objected, and said, "Why dost thou
   thus prophesy to us about ascending? What is this ascending? Do we not
   rest quietly in the inheritance which God formerly promised to our
   fathers? What meanest thou, then, by this ascending?" The Prophet here
   rouses them, and reminds them that they had no reason to trust in their
   now quiet state, as wine settled on its lees; and this very similitude
   is even used in another place, (Jeremiah 48:11.) The Prophet here
   declares, that there would be a most dreadful slaughter, which would
   call for the signal mercy of God; for he would in a wonderful manner
   restore the people, and draw them out like the dead from their graves:
   for great then shall be the day of Jezreel; that is, "As the calamity
   which the Lord shall bring on you will be grievous and dreadful, I do
   not in vain promise to you this return and ascending." This seems to be
   really the meaning of the Prophet.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [8] If this were rendered `though,' as it is by some, the meaning would
   be more evident; that is, they shall ascend from the land,
   notwithstanding the greatness of the slaughter of Jezreel, when they
   should be led captive. --Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer.

   Grant, Almighty God, that as we have not only been redeemed from
   Babylonian exile, but have also emerged from hell itself; for when we
   were the children of wrath thou didst freely adopt us, and when we were
   aliens, thou didst in thine infinite goodness open to us the gate of
   thy kingdom, that we might be made thy heirs through the Son, O grant
   that we may walk circumspectly before thee, and submit ourselves wholly
   to thee and to thy Christ, and not feign to be his members, but really
   prove ourselves to be his body, and to be so governed by his Spirit,
   that thou mayest at last gather us together into thy celestial kingdom,
   to which thou daily invitest us by the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

   Chapter 2
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Fourth
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:1

   1. Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

   1. Dicite fratribus vestris-- Populus meus; et sororibus vestris--
   Dilecta.


   The Prophet having spoken of the people's restoration, and promised
   that God would some time receive into favour those whom he had before
   rejected, now exhorts the faithful mutually to stir up one another to
   receive this favour. He had previously mentioned a public proclamation;
   for it is not in the power of men to make themselves the children of
   God, but God himself freely adopts them. But now the mutual exhortation
   of which the Prophet speaks follows the proclamation; for God at the
   same time invites us to himself. After we are taught in common, it
   remains then that each one should extend his hand to his brethren, that
   we may thus with one consent be brought together to the Lord.

   This then is what the Prophet means by saying, Say ye to your brethren,
   E+M+J+ omi, and to your sisters R+W+X+M+H+ ruchamah; that is, since I
   have promised to be propitious to you, you can now safely testify this
   to one another. We then see that this discourse is addressed to each of
   the faithful, that they may mutually confirm themselves in the faith,
   after the Lord shall offer them favour and reconciliation. Let us now
   proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:2

   2. Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I
   her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight,
   and her adulteries from between her breasts;

   2. Litigate cum matre vestra-- litigate; quia ipsa non uxor mea-- et
   ego non maritus ejus: et tollat (hoc est-- tollat igitur) scortationes
   suas e facie sua-- et adulteria sua e medio uberum suorum.


   The Prophet seems in this verse to contradict himself; for he promised
   reconciliation, and now he speaks of a new repudiation. These things do
   not seem to agree well together that God should embrace, or be willing
   to embrace, again in his love those whom he had before rejected, -- and
   that he should at the same time send a bill of divorce, and renounce
   the bond of marriage. But if we weigh the design of the Prophet, we
   shall see that the passage is very consistent, and that there is in the
   words no contrariety. He has indeed promised that at a future time God
   would be propitious to the Israelites: but as they had not yet
   repented, it was needful to deal again more severely with them, that
   they might return to their God really and thoroughly subdued. So we see
   that in Scripture, promises and threatening are mingled together, and
   rightly too. For were the Lord to spend a whole month in reproving
   sinners they may in that time fall away a hundred times. Hence God,
   after showing to men their sins adds some consolation and moderates
   severity, lest they should despond: he afterwards returns again to
   threatening, and does so from necessity; for though men may be
   terrified with the fear of punishment, they do not yet really repent.
   It is then necessary for them to be reproved not only once and again,
   but very often.

   We now then perceive what the Prophet had in view: he had spoken of the
   people's defection; afterwards he proved that the people had been
   justly rejected by the Lord; and then he promised the hope of pardon.
   But now seeing that they still continued obstinate in their vices, he
   reproves again those who had need of such chastisement. He, in a word,
   has in view their present state.

   Almost all so expound this verse as if the Prophet addressed the
   faithful: and with greater refinement still do they expound, who say,
   that the Prophet addresses the faithful who had fallen away from the
   synagogue. They have and I have no doubt, been much deceived; for the
   Prophets on the contrary, shows here that God was justly punishing the
   Israelites, who were wont to excuse themselves in the same way as
   hypocrites are wont to do. When the Lord treated them otherwise than
   according to their wishes, they expostulated, and raised up contention
   -- "What does this mean?" So do we find them introduced as thus
   speaking, by Isaiah. [Isaiah 58:1-3.] There, indeed, they fiercely
   contend with God, as if the Lord dealt with them unjustly, for they
   seemed not conscious of having done any evil. Hence the Prophet, seeing
   the Israelites so senseless in their sins, says, Contend, contend with
   your mother. He speaks here in the person of God: and God, as it has
   been stated, uses the similitude of a marriage. Let us now see what is
   the import of the words.

   When a husband repudiates his wife, he fixes a mark of disgrace on the
   children born by that marriage: their mother has been divorced; then
   the children, on account of that divorce, are held in less esteem. When
   a husband repudiates his wife through waywardness, the children justly
   regard him with hatred. Why? "Because he loved not our mother as he
   ought to have done; he has not honoured the bond of marriage." It is
   therefore usually the case, that the children's affections are
   alienated from their father, when he treats their mother with too
   little humanity or with entire contempt. So the Israelites, when they
   saw themselves rejected, wished to throw the blame on God. For by the
   name, "mother", are the people here called; it is transferred to the
   whole body of the people, or the race of Abraham. God had espoused that
   people to himself, and wished them to be like a wife to him. Since then
   God was a husband to the people, the Israelites were as sons born by
   that marriage. But when they were repudiated, the Israelites said, that
   God dealt cruelly with them, for he has cast them away for no fault.
   The Prophet now undertakes the defence of God's cause, and speaks also
   in his person, Contend, contend, he says with your mother In a word,
   this passage agrees with what is said in the beginning of Isaiah 50:1,

   `Where is the bill of repudiation? Have I sold you to my creditors? But
   ye have been sold for your sins, and your mother has been repudiated
   for her iniquity.'

   Husbands were wont to give a bill of divorce to their wives, that they
   themselves might see it: for it freed them from every reproach,
   inasmuch as the husband bore a testimony to his wife: "I dismiss her,
   not that she has been unfaithful, not that she has violated the bond of
   marriage; but because her beauty does not please me, or because her
   manners are not agreeable to me." The law compelled the husband to give
   such a testimony as this. God now says by his Prophet, "Show me now the
   bill of repudiation: have I of my own accord cast away your mother? No,
   I have not done so. Ye cannot accuse me of cruelty, as though her
   beauty did not please me, and as though I had followed the common
   practice approved by you. I have not willingly rejected her, nor at my
   own pleasure, and I have not sold her to my creditors, as your fathers
   were sometimes wont to do, as to their children, when they were in
   debt." In short, the Lord shows there that the Jews were to be blamed,
   that they were rejected together with their mother. So he says also in
   this place, Contend, contend with your mother; which means, "Your
   dispute is not with me:" and by the repetition he shows how inveterate
   was their perverseness, for they never ceased to glamour against God.
   We now see the real meaning of the Prophet.

   In vain then do they philosophise, who say that the mother was to be
   condemned by her own children; because, when they shall be converted to
   their former faith, they ought then to condemn the synagogue. The
   Prophet meant no such thing; but, on the contrary, he brings this
   charge against the Israelites, that they had been repudiated for the
   flagitious conduct of their mother, and had ceased to be counted the
   children of God. For the comparison between husband and wife is here to
   be understood; and then the children are placed as it were in the
   middle. When the mother is dismissed, the children indignantly say that
   the father has been too inhuman if indeed he wilfully divorces his
   wife: but when a wife becomes unfaithful to her husband, or prostitutes
   herself to any shameful crime, the husband is then free from every
   blame; and there is no cause for the children to expostulate with him;
   for he ought thus to punish a shameless wife. God then shows that the
   Israelites were justly rejected, and that the blame of their rejection
   belonged to the whole race of Abraham; but that no blame could be
   imputed to him.

   And for a reason it is added, Let her then take away her fornication
   from her face, and her adulteries from the midst of her breasts The
   Prophet, by saying, "Let her then take away her fornications", (for the
   copulative W+, vau, ought to be regarded as an illative,) confirms what
   we have just now said; that is that God had stood to his pledged faith,
   but that the people had become perfidious; and that the cause of the
   divorce or separation was, that the Israelites persevered not, as they
   ought to have done, in the obedience of faith. Then God says, Let her
   take away her fornications. But the phrase, Let her take away from her
   face and from her breasts, seems singular; and what does it mean?
   because women commit fornication neither by the face nor by the
   breasts. It is evident the Prophet alludes to meretricious finery; for
   harlots, that they may entice men, sumptuously adorn themselves, and
   carefully paint their face and decorate their breasts. Wantonness then
   appears in the face as well as in the breasts. But interpreters do not
   touch on what the Prophet had in view. The Prophet, no doubt, sets
   forth here the shamelessness of the people; for they had now so
   hardened themselves in their contempt of God, in their ungodly
   superstitions, in all kinds of wickedness, that they were like harlots,
   who conceal not their baseness, but openly prostitute themselves, yea,
   and exhibit tokens of their shamelessness in their eyes as well as in
   every part of their bodies. We see then that the people are here
   accused of disgraceful impudence as they had grown so callous as to
   wish to be known to be such as they were. In the same way does Ezekiel
   set forth their reproachful conduct,

   `Spread has the harlot her feet,
   she called on all who passed by the way,'
   (Ezekiel 16:25.)

   We now then understand why the Prophet expressly said, Let her take
   away from her face her fornication, and from her breasts her
   adulteries: for he teaches that the vices of the people were not
   hidden, and that they did not now sin and cover their baseness as
   hypocrites do, but that they were so unrestrained in their contempt of
   God, that they were become like common harlots.

   Here is a remarkable passage; for we first see that men in vain
   complain when the Lord seems to deal with them in severity; for they
   will ever find the fault to be in themselves and in their parents: yea,
   when they look on all impartially, they will confess that all
   throughout the whole community are included in one and the same guilt.
   Let us hence learn, whenever the lord may chastise us, to come home to
   ourselves, and to confess that he is justly severe towards us; yea,
   were we apparently cast away, we ought yet to confess, that it is
   through our own fault, and not through God's immoderate severity. We
   also learn how frivolous is their pretext, who set up against God the
   authority of their fathers, as the Papists do: for they would, if they
   could, call or compel God to an account, because he forsakes them, and
   owns them not now as his Church. "What! has not God bound his faith to
   us? Is not the Church his spouse? Can he be unfaithful?" So say the
   Papists: but at the same time they consider not, that their mother has
   become utterly filthy through her many abominations; they consider not,
   that she has been repudiated, because the Lord could no longer bear her
   great wickedness. Let us then know, that it is in vain to bring against
   God the examples of men; for what is here said by the Prophet will ever
   stand true, that God has not given a bill of divorce to his Church;
   that is, that he has not of his own accord divorced her, as peevish and
   cruel husbands are wont to do, but that he has been constrained to do
   so, because he could no longer connive at so many abominations. It now
   follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:3

   3. Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born,
   and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her
   with thirst.

   3. Ne expoliem eam nudam-- (hoc est-- ne expoliando denudem--) et
   statuam eam secundam diem nativitatis suae-- et ponam eam quasi
   desertum-- ponam eam quasi terram siccitatis (hoc est-- terram aridam)
   et occidam eam siti-- (hoc est-- perire faciam: Je la feray mourir-- ad
   verbum.)


   Though the Prophet in this verse severely threatens the Israelites, yet
   it appears from a full view of the whole passage, that he mitigates the
   sentence we have explained: for by declaring what sort of vengeance was
   suspended over them, except they timely repented, he shows that there
   was some hope of pardon remaining, which, as we shall see, he expresses
   afterwards more clearly.

   He now begins by saying, Lest I strip her naked, and set her as on the
   day of her nativity This alone would have been dreadful; but we shall
   see in the passage, that God so denounces punishment, that he cuts not
   off altogether the hope of mercy: and at the same time he reminds them
   that the divorce, for which they were disposed to contend with God, was
   such, that God yet shows indulgence to the repudiated wife. For when a
   husband dismisses an adulteress, he strips her entirely, and rightly
   so: but God shows here, that though the Israelites had become wanton,
   and were like a shameless woman, he had yet so divorced them hitherto,
   that he had left them their dowry, their ornaments and marriage gifts.
   We then see that God had not used, as he might have done, his right;
   and hence he says, Lest I strip her naked; which means this, "I seem to
   you too rigid, because I have declared, that I am no longer a husband
   to your mother: and yet see how kindly I have spared her; for she
   remains as yet almost untouched: though she has lost the name of wife,
   I have not yet stripped her; she as yet lives in sufficient plenty.
   Whence is this but from my indulgence? for I did not wish to follow up
   my right, as husbands do. But except she learns to humble herself, I
   now gird up myself for the purpose of executing heavier punishments."
   We now comprehend the whole import of the passage.

   What the Prophet means by the day of nativity, we may readily learn
   from Ezekiel 16; for Ezekiel there treats the same subject with our
   Prophet, but much more at large. He says that the Israelites were then
   born, when God delivered them from the tyranny of Egypt. This then was
   the nativity of the people. And yet it was a miserable sight, when they
   fled away with fear and trembling, when they were exposed to their
   enemies: and after they entered the wilderness, being without bread and
   water, their condition was very wretched. The Prophet says now, Lest I
   set her as on the day of her nativity, and set her as the desert. Some
   regard the letter K+caph to be understood, as if it were written,
   K+B+M+D+B+R+ as in the desert; that is, I will set her as she was
   formerly in the desert; and this exposition is not unsuitable; for the
   day of nativity, the Prophet doubtless calls that time, when the people
   were brought out of Egypt: they immediately entered the desert, where
   there was the want of every thing. They might then have soon perished
   there, being consumed by famine and thirst, had not the Lord
   miraculously supported them. The sense then seems consistent by this
   rendering, Lest I set her as in the deserts and as in a dry land. But
   another exposition is more approved, Lest I set her like the desert and
   dry land

   With regard to what the Prophet had in view, it was necessary to remind
   the Israelites here of what they were at their beginning. For whence
   was their contempt of God, whence was their obstinate pride, but that
   they were inebriated with their pleasures? For when there flowed an
   abundance of all good things, they thought of themselves, that they had
   come as it were from the clouds; for men commonly forget what they
   formerly were, when the Lord has made them rich. As then the benefits
   of God for the most part blind us, and make us to think ourselves to be
   as it were half-gods, the Prophet here sets before the children of
   Abraham what their condition was when the Lord redeemed them. "I have
   redeemed you," he says, "from the greatest miseries and extreme
   degradation." Sons of kings are born kings, and are brought up in the
   midst of pomps and pleasures; nay, before they are born, great pomps,
   we know, are prepared for them, which they enjoy from their mother's
   womb. But when one is born of an ignoble and obscure mother, and
   begotten by a mean and poor father, and afterwards arises to a
   different condition, if he is proud of his splendour, and remembers not
   that he was once a plebeian and of no repute, this may be justly thrown
   in his face, "Who were you formerly? Why! do you not know that you were
   a cow-herd, or a mechanic, or one covered with filth? Fortune has
   smiled on you, or God has raised you to riches and honours; but you are
   so self-complacent as though your condition had ever been the same."

   This is the drift of what the Prophet says: I will set thy mother, he
   says, as she was at her first nativity. For who are you? A holy race, a
   chosen nation, a people sacred to me? Be it so: but free adoption has
   brought all this to you. Ye were exiles in Egypt, strangers in the land
   of Canaan, and were nothing better than other people. Besides, Pharaoh
   reduced you to a base servitude, ye were then the most abject of
   slaves. How magnificent, with regard to you, was your going forth! Did
   you not flee away tremblingly and in the night? And did you not
   afterwards live in a miraculous way for forty years in the desert, when
   I rained manna on you from the clouds? Since then your poverty and want
   has been so great, since there is nothing to make you to raise your
   crests, how is it that you show no more modesty? But if your present
   condition creates in you forgetfulness, I will set you as on the day of
   your nativity." It now follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:4-5

   4. And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the
   children of whoredoms.

   4. Et filiorum ejus non miserabor, quia filii adulterini sunt.

   5. For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them
   hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that
   give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my
   drink.

   5. Quia scortata est mater eorem, probriis foedata est quae concepit
   ipsos, (vel, genitrix ipsorum:) dixit enim, Ibo post amatores meos,
   datores panis mei (vel, qui dant panem meum) et aquas meas, lanam meam
   et linum meum, et oleum meum et potum meum.


   The Lord now comes close to each individual, after having spoken in
   general of the whole people: and thus we see that to be true which I
   have said, that it was far from the mind of the Prophet to suppose,
   that God here teaches the faithful who had already repented, that they
   ought to condemn their own mother. The Prophet meant nothing of the
   kind; but, on the contrary, he wished to check the waywardness of the
   people, who ceased not to contend with God, as though he had been more
   severe than just towards their race. Now then he reproves each of them;
   your children, he says, I will not pity; for they are spurious children
   He had indeed said before that they had been born by adultery; but he
   afterwards received them into favour. This is true; but what I have
   said must be remembered that the Prophet as yet continues in his
   reproofs; for though he has mingled some consolation, he yet saw that
   their hearts were not as yet contrite and sufficiently humbled. We must
   bear in mind the difference between their present state and their
   future favour. God before promised that he would be propitious to
   apostates who had departed from him: but now he shows that it was not
   yet the ripe time, for they had not ceased to sin. Hence he says, I
   will not pity your children

   Having spoken of the mother's divorce, he now says that the children,
   born of adultery, were not his: and certainly what the Prophet promised
   before was not immediately fulfilled; for the people, we know, had been
   disowned, and when deprived of the land of Canaan, were rejected, as it
   were, by the Lord. The Babylonian exile was a kind of death: and then
   when they returned from exile, a small portion only returned, not the
   whole people; and they were tossed, we know, by many calamities until
   Christ our Redeemer appeared. Since then the Prophet included the whole
   of this time, it is no wonder that he says that the children were to be
   repudiated by the Lord, because they were born of adultery: for until
   they returned from captivity, and Christ was at length revealed, this
   repudiation, of which the Prophet speaks, ever continued Thy children,
   he says, I will not pity. At first sight it seems very dreadful, that
   God takes away the hope of mercy; but we ought to confine this sentence
   to that time during which it pleased God to cast away his people. As
   long, then, as that temporary casting away lasted, God's favour was
   hid; and to this the Prophet now refers, I will not then pity her
   children, for they are born by adultery. At the same time, we must
   remember that this sentence specifically belonged to the reprobate, who
   boasted of being the children of Abraham, while they were profane and
   unholy, while they impiously perverted the whole worship of God, while
   they were wholly ungovernable. Then the Prophet justly pronounces such
   a severe judgement on obstinate men, who could be reformed by no
   admonitions.

   He afterwards declares how the children became spurious; their mother,
   who conceived or bare them, has been wanton; with shameful acts has she
   defiled herself B+W+Shbush, means, to be ashamed; but here the Prophet
   means not that the Israelites were touched with shame, for such a
   meaning would be inconsistent with the former sentence; but that they
   were like a shameless and infamous woman, touched with no shame for her
   baseness. Their mother, then, had been wanton, and she who bare them
   had become scandalous Here the Prophet strips the Israelites of their
   foolish confidence, who were wont to profess the name of God, while
   they were entirely alienated from him: for they had fallen away by
   their impiety from pure worship, they had rejected the law, yea, and
   every yoke. Since then they were wild beasts, it was extreme stupidity
   ever to set up for their shield the name of God, and ever to boast of
   the adoption of their father Abraham. But as the Jews were so
   perversely proud, the Prophet here answers them, "Your mother has been
   wanton, and with shameful acts has she defiled herself; I will not
   therefore count nor own you as my children, for ye were born by
   adultery."

   This passage confirms what I have shortly before explained, -- that it
   is not enough that God should choose any people for himself, except the
   people themselves persevere in the obedience of faith; for this is the
   spiritual chastity which the Lord requires from all his people. But
   when is a wife, whom God has bound to himself by a sacred marriage,
   said to become wanton? When she falls away, as we shall more clearly
   see hereafter, from pure and sound faith. Then it follows that the
   marriage between God and men so long endures at they who have been
   adopted continue in pure faith, and apostasy in a manner frees God from
   us, so that he may justly repudiate us. Since such apostasy prevails
   under the Papacy, and has for many ages prevailed, how senseless they
   are in their boasting, while they would be thought to be the holy
   Catholic Church, and the elect people of God? For they are all born by
   wantonness, they are all spurious children. The incorruptible seed is
   the word of God; but what sort of doctrine have they? It is a spurious
   seed. Then as to God all the Papists are bastards. In vain then they
   boast themselves to be the children of God, and that they have the holy
   Mother Church, for they are born by filthy wantonness.

   The Prophet pursues still the same subject: "She said, I will go after
   my lovers, the givers of my bread, of my waters, of my wool, and of my
   flax, and of my oil, and of my drink The Prophet here defines the
   whoredom of which he had spoken: this part is explanatory; the Prophet
   unfolds in several words what he had briefly touched when he said, your
   mother has been wanton. Now, if the Jews object and say, How has she
   become wanton? Because, "she said, I will go after my lovers, who give
   me my bread and my waters, etc. The Prophet here compares false gods to
   lovers, who seduce women from their conjugal fidelity; for he pursues
   the similitude which he had introduced. The Church, to whom God has
   pledged his faith, is represented as a wife; and as a woman does, when
   enticed by gifts, and as many women follow covetousness and become
   lascivious, that they may dress sumptuously, and live luxuriously, so
   the Prophet now points out this vice in the Israelitic Church, She
   said, I will go after my lovers Some understand by lovers either the
   Assyrians or the Egyptians; for when the Israelites formed connections
   with these heathen nations, they were drawn away, we know, from their
   God. But the Prophet inveighs especially against false and corrupt
   modes of worship, and all kinds of superstitions; for the pure worship
   of God, we know, is ever to have the first place, and that justly; for
   on this depend all the duties of life. I therefore doubt not, but that
   he includes all false gods, when he says, "I will go after my lovers".

   But by introducing the word, "said", he amplifies the shamelessness of
   the people, who deliberately forsook their God, who was to them as a
   legitimate husband. It indeed happens sometimes that a man is
   thoughtlessly drawn aside by a mistake or folly, but he soon repents;
   for we see many of the unexperienced deceived for a short time: but the
   Prophet here shows that the Israelites premeditated their
   unfaithfulness, so that they wilfully departed from God. Hence she
   said; and we know that this said means so much; and it is to be
   referred, not to the outward word as pronounced, but to the inward
   purpose. She therefore said, that is, she made this resolution; as
   though he said, "Let no one make this frivolous excuse, that they were
   deceived, that they did it in their simplicity: ye are, he says,
   avowedly perfidious, ye have with a premeditated purpose sought this
   divorce." He, however, ascribes this to their mother: for defection
   began at the root, when they were drawn away by Jeroboam into corrupt
   superstitions; and the promotion of this evil became as it were
   hereditary. He therefore intended to condemn here the whole community.
   Hence, "she said, I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and
   my waters". But I cannot finish today; I must therefore break off the
   sentence.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast not only of late adopted us as
   thy children, but before we were born, and as thou hast been pleased to
   sign us, as soon as we came forth from our mother's womb, with the
   symbol of that holy redemption, which has been obtained for us by the
   blood of thy only begotten Son, though we have by our ingratitude
   renounced so great a benefit, -- O grant, that being mindful of our
   defection and unfaithfulness, of which eve are all guilty, and for
   which thou hast justly rejected us, we may now with true humility and
   obedience of faith embrace the grace of thy gospel now again offered to
   us, by which thou reconciles thyself to us; and grant that we may
   steadfastly persevere in pure faith, so as never to turn aside from the
   true obedience of faith, but to advance more and more in the knowledge
   of thy mercy, that having strong and deep roots, and being firmly
   grounded in the confidence of sure faith, we may never fall away from
   the true worship of thee, until thou at length receives us in to that
   eternal kingdom, which has been procured for us by the blood of thy
   only Son. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Fifth

   It remains for us to explain what the Prophet declares concerning the
   Israelites, that they boasted of their abundance of wine and oil, and
   all good things as having come to them through their superstitions.
   What, then, they ought to have ascribed to God alone, they absurdly
   transferred to their idols. Of this ingratitude the Prophet here
   accuses them in the person of God himself, and at the same time shows
   that the ungodly are so deluded by prosperity, that they harden
   themselves more and more in their superstitions; and this is not the
   case only at one time, but almost universally in the world. We see how
   full of pride the Papists are at this day, because they bear rule in
   the world, and possess riches and honours. They think their services
   acceptable to God, because he shows not himself openly opposed to and
   angry with them; and so it has been from the beginning.

   But the Prophet here condemns this foolish presumption, that we may
   learn not to judge at all times of God's love by the prosperous issue
   of events. There are then two things to be observed here, -- that the
   superstitious falsely ascribe to their idols what comes from God alone;
   -- and further, that they conclude that they are loved by God, whenever
   he does not immediately take vengeance on them. The Sodomites, we find,
   became obstinate in their sins for the same reason; when all kinds of
   pleasures abounded, they thought themselves to be approved of God. Let
   us now proceed to what follows.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:6

   6. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a
   wall, that she shall not find her paths.

   6. Propterea ecce ego concludo viam tuam spius, et circumdo
   (circumdabo) sepem (ad verbum, sepire sepem; sed tamen sensus clarus
   est, circumdabo sepem, vel maceriem) et semitam suam non reperiet.


   The Prophet here pursues the subject we touched upon yesterday; for he
   shows how necessary chastisement is, when people felicitate themselves
   in their vices. And God, when he sees that men confess not immediately
   their sins, defends as it were his own cause, as one pleading before a
   judge. In a word, God here shows that he could not do otherwise than
   punish so great an obstinacy in the people, as there appeared no other
   remedy.

   Therefore, he says, behold I -- There is a special meaning in these
   words; for God testifies that he becomes the avenger of impieties, when
   people are brought into straits; as though he said, "Though the
   Israelites are not ready to confess that they suffer justly, yet I now
   declare that to punish them will be my work, when they shall be
   deprived of their pleasures, and when the occasion of their pride shall
   be removed from them." And he intimates by the metaphorical words he
   uses, that he would so deal with them, as to keep the people from
   wandering, as they had done hitherto, after their idols; but he retains
   the similitude of a harlot. Now when an unchaste wife goes after her
   paramours, the husband must either connive at her, or be not aware of
   her base conduct. However this may be, wives cannot thus violate the
   marriage-vow, except they are set at liberty by their husbands. But
   when a husband understands that his wife plays the wanton, he watches
   her more closely, notices all her ways day and night. God now takes up
   this comparison, I will close up, he says, her way with thorns, and
   surround her with a mound, that there may be no way of access open to
   adulterers.

   But by this simile the Prophet means that the people would be reduced
   to such straits, that they might not lasciviate, as they had done, in
   their superstitions; for while the Israelites enjoyed prosperity, they
   thought everything lawful for them; hence their security, and hence
   their contempt of the word of the Lord. By hedge, then, and by thorns,
   God means those adversities by which he restrains the ungodly, so that
   they may cease to flatter themselves, and may not thoughtlessly follow,
   as they were before wont to do, their own superstitions. She shall not
   then find her ways; that is, "I will constrain them so to groan under
   the burden of evils, that they shall no longer, as they have hitherto
   done, allow loose reins to themselves." It afterwards follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:7

   7. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake
   them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she
   say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better
   with me than now.

   7. Et persequentur amatores suos-- et non apprehendet eos; et quaeret
   eos-- et non inveniet: tunc dicet-- Ibo et revertar as maritum meum
   priorem-- quia melius mihi tunc fuit quam nunc.


   God now shows what takes place when he chastises hardened and
   rebellious people with heavy punishment. In the first clause he shows
   that perverseness will cleave so completely to their hearts, that they
   will not immediately return to a sound mind. She will follow her
   lovers, he says, and seek them. Here the Prophet tells us, that though
   the Israelites should be chastised by frequent punishments, they would
   yet continue in their obstinacy. It hence appears how hard a neck they
   had, and how uncircumcised in heart they were; and such did the
   Prophets, as well as Moses, represent them to be. And we hence learn,
   that had they been only moderately corrected, it would not have been
   sufficient for their amendment. Amazing, indeed, was their obstinacy;
   for God had divorced them, and then led them into great straits; and
   yet they went on in their course, as though they were utterly stupid
   and destitute of every feeling. Is it not a prodigious madness, when
   men run on so obstinately, even when God sets his hand so strongly
   against them? Such, however, is represented to have been the obstinacy
   of the Israelites.

   The meaning then is, that when they were subdued, God would not
   immediately soften their hearts. Then God, though he bruised, did not
   yet reform them; for their hardness was so great, that they could not
   be turned immediately to a docile state of mind; but, on the contrary,
   they followed their lovers. By the word, follow, is expressed that mad
   zeal which possesses idolaters; for as we see, they are like men who
   are frantic. As then the superstitious know no bounds, nor any
   moderation, but a mad zeal at times lays hold on them, the Prophet says
   She will follow her lovers and shall not overtake them. What does the
   latter clause mean? That God will frustrate the hope of the ungodly,
   that they may know that they in vain worship false gods and follow with
   avidity absurd superstitions. They will seek them, he says, and shall
   not find them. He ever speaks of the people under the character of a
   shameless and unfaithful wife.

   We then see what the Prophet intended to do, -- to vindicate God from
   every blame, that men might not raise a clamour, as though he dealt
   unkindly with them. He shows that God, even when so rigid, produces
   hardly any effect; for the ungodly in their perverseness struggle
   against his scourges, and suffer not themselves to be brought
   immediately into due order.

   But in the second clause the Prophet adds, that some benefit would at
   length arise, that though idolaters abused God's goodness, and even
   hardened themselves against his rods, yet this would not be perpetually
   the case; for the Lord would grant better success. Hence it follows,
   She will then say, I will go and return to my former husband. Here the
   Prophet shows more clearly a hope of pardon, inasmuch as he speaks of
   the people's repentance; for men, we know, repent not without benefit,
   as God is ever ready to receive them when they return to him in genuine
   sorrow. Then the Prophet here avowedly speaks of the repentance of the
   people, that the Israelites might hence know, that corrections, which
   men naturally ever dislike, would be profitable to them. It is our wish
   that God should always favour us, and that we should be nourished
   kindly and tenderly in his bosom; but in the meantime, he cannot allure
   us to himself, by whatever means he may try to do so: and hence it is,
   that chastisements are bitter to us, and our flesh immediately murmurs.
   When the Lord raises his finger, before he strikes us, we instantly
   groan and become angry, and even roar against him: in short, men can
   never be brought willingly to offer themselves to be chastised by God.
   Hence the Prophet now shows, that the severity of God is profitable to
   us; for it drives us at length to repentance: in a word, he commends
   the favour of God in his very severity, that we may know that he
   furthers our salvation, even when he seems to treat us most unkindly.
   She will then say, I will go and return to my former husband.

   But we must observe, that when men really repent, they do so through
   the special influence of the Spirit; for they would otherwise
   perpetually remain in that perverseness of which we have spoken. Were
   God for a hundred years continually to chastise perverse men, they
   would not yet change their disposition; and true is that common saying,
   "The wicked are sooner broken than reformed." But when men, after many
   admonitions, begin to be wise, this change comes through the Spirit of
   God. We may also learn from this passage what true repentance is; that
   is, when he who has sinned not only confesses himself to be guilty, and
   owns himself worthy of punishment, but is also displeased with himself,
   and then with sincere desire turns to God. Many, we see, are ready
   enough, and disposed, to confess their sins, and yet go on in the same
   course. But the Prophet shows here that true repentance is something
   very different, "I will go and return", he says. Repentance then
   consists (as they say) in the act itself; that is, repentance produces
   a reforming change in man, so that he reconciles himself to God, whom
   he had forsaken.

   I will then go and return to my former husband. Why? Because better was
   it with me then than now. The Prophet again confirms what I lately
   said, -- that the faithful are not made wise, except they are well
   chastised; for the Prophet speaks not here of the reprobate, but of the
   remnant seed. The people of Israel were to be exterminated; but the
   Prophet now declares that there would be some remaining who would at
   last receive benefit from God's chastisements. Since then we must
   understand the Prophet as speaking of the elect, we may hence readily
   conclude, that chastisements are necessary for us; for we grow torpid
   in our vices, as long as God spares us. Unless, then it appears that
   God is really displeased with us, it will never come to our minds, that
   we ought to repent. Let us now proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:8

   8. For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and
   multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

   8. Et ipsa non cognovit quod ego dederim ei triticum et vinum
   (T+J+R+W+Sh significat propice mustum,) et oleum, et argentum
   multiplicaverim ei, et aurum aptarunt ipsi Baal.

   9. Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof,
   and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax
   given to cover her nakedness.

   9. Propterea revertar et tollam triticum meum tempore suo, et mustum
   meum suo statuto tempore, et linum meum ad tegendum turpitudinem ejus
   (vel, nuditatem; hoc est, quibus texit suam nuditatem.)


   God here amplifies the ingratitude of the people, that they understood
   not whence came such abundance of good things. She understood not, he
   says, that I gave to her corn and wine. The superstitious sin twice, or
   in two ways; -- first, they ascribe to their idols what rightly belongs
   to God alone; and then they deprive God himself of his own honour, for
   they understand not that he is the only giver of all things, but think
   their labour lost were they to worship the true God. Hence the Prophet
   now complains of this ingratitude, She understood not that I gave to
   her corn and wine and oil. And this was an inexcusable stupidity in the
   Israelites, since they had been abundantly instructed, that the
   abundance of all good things, and every thing that supports man, flow
   from God's bounty. Of this they had the clear testimony of Moses; and
   then the land of Canaan itself was a living representation of the
   Divine favour. It was then a prodigious madness in the people, that
   they who had been taught by word and by fact, that God alone is the
   Giver of all things, should yet not consider this truth. The Prophet,
   therefore, condemns this outrageous folly of the people, that neither
   experience nor the teaching of the law availed anything, She knew not,
   he says. There is stress to be laid on the pronoun, she; for the people
   ought to have been familiarly acquainted with God, inasmuch as they had
   been brought up in his household, as a wife, who is her husband's
   companion. It was then incapable of any excuse, that the people should
   thus turn their minds and all their thoughts away from God.

   She knew not then that I had given to her corn and wine and oil, that I
   had multiplied to her the silver, and also the gold she has prepared
   for Baal The verb E+ShH+ means specifically, to make: but here to
   appropriate to a certain purpose. They have, therefore, prepared gold
   for Baal; when they ought to have dedicated to me the first-fruits of
   all good things, in obedience to me and to the honour of my name, they
   have appropriated to Baal whatever blessings I have bestowed on them.
   We then see that in this verse two evils are condemned, -- that the
   people deprived God of his just honour, -- and that they transferred to
   their own idols what they ought to have given to God only. But he
   touched upon the last wickedness in the fifth verse, where he said in
   the person of the people, I will go after my lovers, who give my bread
   and my waters, my wool and my wine, etc. Here again he repeats, that
   they had prepared gold for Baal.

   As to the word Baal, no doubt the superstitious included under this
   name all those whom they called inferior gods. No such madness had
   indeed possessed the Israelites, that they had forgotten that there is
   but one Maker of heaven and earth. They therefore maintained the truth,
   that there is some supreme God; but they added their patrons; and this,
   by common consent, was the practice of all nations. They did not then
   think that God was altogether robbed of his own glory, when they joined
   with him patrons or inferior gods. And they called them by a common
   name, Baalim, or, as it were, patrons. Baal of every kind was a patron.
   Some render it, husband. But foolish men, I doubt not, have ever had
   this superstitious notion, that inferior gods come nearer to men, and
   are, as it were, mediators between this world and the supreme God. It
   is the same with the Papists of the present day; they have their
   Baalim; not that they regard their patrons in the place of God: but as
   they dread every access to God, and understand not that Christ is a
   mediator, they retake themselves here and there to various Baalim, that
   they may procure favour to themselves; and at the same time, whatever
   honour they show to stones, or wood, or bones of dead men, or to any of
   their own inventions, they call it the worship of God. Whatever then,
   is worshipped by the Papists is Baal: but they have, at the same time,
   their patrons for their Baalim. We now then perceive the meaning of the
   Prophet in this verse.

   It now follows Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in its
   time, and my new wine in its stated time. Here, again, the Prophet
   shows that God was, by extreme necessity, constrained to take vengeance
   on an ungodly and irreclaimable people. He makes known how great was
   the hardness of the people, and then adds, "What now remains, but to
   deprive those who have been so ungrateful to me of all their
   blessings?" It is, indeed, more than base for men to enjoy the gifts of
   God and to despise the giver; yea, to exalt his creatures to his place,
   and to reduce, as it were, all his authority to nothing. This the
   superstitious indeed do, for they thrust God from his pre-eminence, and
   insult his glory. Will God, in the meantime, so throw away his
   blessings as to suffer them to be profaned by the ungodly, and himself
   to be thus mocked with impunity? We now then see the object of the
   Prophet; for God here shows that there was no other remedy, but to
   deprive the Israelites of all their gifts: he had indeed enriched them,
   but they had abused all their abundance. It was therefore necessary to
   reduce them to extreme want, that they might no longer pollute God's
   gifts which ought to be held sacred by us.

   And he uses a very suitable word; for N+ZJL+ natsal means properly, to
   pluck away, to set free. I will by force take away, he says, my wool
   and my flax. It seems, indeed, to denote an unjust possession, as when
   one takes away by force from the hand of a robber what he unjustly
   possesses, or as when any one rescues wretched men from the power of a
   tyrant. So God now speaks, `I will pluck away my gifts from these men
   who basely and unjustly pollute them.'

   And he adds, to cover her nakedness E+R+W+H+, orue, properly, though
   not simply, means nakedness: it is the nakedness of the uncomely parts.
   Moses calls any indecorous part of the body E+R+W+H+, orue, and so it
   means what is uncomely. This word we ought carefully to notice; for God
   here shows, that except he denudes idolaters, they will ever continue
   obstinate. How so? Because they use coverings for their baseness. While
   the ungodly enjoy their triumphs in the world, they regard them as
   veils drawn over them, so that nothing base or disgraceful can be seen
   in them. The same is the case with great kings and monarchs; they think
   that the eyes of all are dazzled by their splendour; and hence it is,
   that they are so audaciously dissolute. They think their own filth to
   be fine odour: such is the arrogance of the world. It is even so with
   the superstitious; when God is indulgent to them, they think that they
   have coverings. When, therefore, they abandon themselves to any kind of
   wickedness, they regard it as if it were a holy thing. How so? Because,
   whatever obscene thing is in them, it is covered by prosperity. When
   God observes such madness as this in men, can he do otherwise than
   pluck away his blessings, that such a pollution may not continually
   prevail? For it is an abuse extremely gross, that when God's blessings
   are so many images of his glory, and when his paternal goodness shines
   forth even towards the ungodly, the world should convert them to a
   purpose wholly contrary, and make them as coverings for themselves,
   that they may conceal their own baseness, and more freely sin and carry
   on war against God himself. Hence he says, "That they may no longer
   cover their baseness, I will pluck away whatever I have bestowed on
   them."

   When he says, I will take away the corn and wine in its time, and in
   its stated time, he alludes, I have no doubt, to the time of harvest
   and vintage; as though he said, "The harvest will come, the vintage
   will come: there has been hitherto great fruitfulness; but I will show
   that the earth and all its fruits are subject to my will. Though, then,
   the Israelites are now full, and have their storehouses well furnished,
   they shall know that I rule over the harvest and the vintage, when the
   stated time shall come." Now, the Spirit of God denounced this
   punishment early, that the Israelites, if reclaimable, might return to
   a right course. But as their blindness was so great that they despised
   all that had been said to them, no excuse remained for them. It now
   follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:10-12

   10. And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers,
   and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.

   10. Et nunc retegam flagitium ejus in oculis amatorum ejus, et nullus
   eripiet eam e manu mea.

   11. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new
   moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

   11. Et cessare faciam omne gaudium ejus, festivitatem ejus (alii
   vertunt, tripudium,) novilunium ejus, sabbathum ejus et omnem diem ejus
   festum.

   12. And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath
   said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will
   make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

   12. Et destruam (vel, in solitudinem redigam) vineam ejus et ficum
   ejus, de quibus dixit, Merces haec sunt mihi, quam dederunt mihi
   amatores mei: et ponam eas (vel, redigam, nempe vineas et ficus) in
   sylvam, et comedat (vel, depascet) eas fera campestris.


   He pursues the same subject; and the Prophet explains at large, and
   even divides what he had briefly said before, into many clauses or
   particulars. He says firsts I will uncover her baseness. How was this
   done? By God, when he took away the coverings by which the Israelites
   kept themselves hid: for, as we have said hypocrites felicitate
   themselves on account of God's gifts, and thus hide themselves as
   thieves do in caverns; and they think that they can mock God with
   impunity; for, through the fatness of their eyes, as it is said in
   Psalm 73:7, they have but a very dim sight. Now then God declares, that
   the filthiness of the people would be made to appear, when he deprived
   them of those gifts with which he had for a time enriched them.

   Now, he says, will I uncover her baseness before the eyes of her lovers
   By this sentence he intimates a change, of which the people were not
   apprehensive; for, as long as the wicked feel not the strokes, they
   laugh at all threatening. Hence God, that he might rouse them from such
   an indifference, says, Now will I uncover her before the eyes of her
   lovers. The Prophet, no doubt, speaks of false gods, and of all those
   devices by which the Israelites corrupted the pure worship of God: for
   I cannot be persuaded to explain this either of the Assyrians or of the
   Egyptians. I indeed know, as I mentioned briefly yesterday, that the
   treaties into which the Jews, as well as the Israelites, entered with
   idolaters, were the tenter-hooks of Satan: this I allow; but at the
   same time, I look on what the Prophet especially treats of; for he
   directly inveighs here against absurd and vicious modes of worship.
   What then does he mean by saying, that God will uncover the baseness of
   the people before their lovers? He alludes to shameless women, who
   dare, by terror, to check their husbands, that they may not exercise
   their own right. "What! do you treat me ill? there is one who will
   resent this conduct." Even when husbands indignantly bear their own
   reproach, they often attempt not to assert their own right, because
   they see that fear is in the way. But God says, "Nothing will hinder me
   from chastising thee as thou deserves (for he addresses the people
   under the character of a wife;) before thy lovers then will I uncover
   thy baseness."

   And no man shall rescue thee from my hand. The word man is put here for
   idols; for it is a word of general import among the Hebrews. Sometimes
   when brute animals are spoken of, this word, man, is used; and it is
   also applied to the fragments of a carcass. For when Moses describes
   the sacrifice made by Abraham, `Man,' he says, `was laid to his
   fellow;' that is, Abraham joined together the different parts of the
   sacrifice, as we say in French, Il n'y a piece God then speaks here of
   idols: No one, he says, shall rescue them from my hand. We now
   comprehend the meaning of the Prophet.

   We must, at the same time, see what he had in view. The Israelites
   indeed thought, that as long as their corrupt modes of worship
   prevailed, they were safe and secure: it seemed impossible to them that
   any adversity should happen to them while idolatry continued. As, then,
   they imagined their false gods to be to them like an invincible
   rampart, "Thy idols," he says, "shall remain, and yet thou shalt fall:
   for I will before thy lovers uncover thy baseness, and not one of them
   shall deliver thee from my hand."

   The Prophet now descends to particulars; and, in the first place, he
   says, that the people would be deprived of their sacrifices and
   feast-days, and of that whole external pomp, which was with them the
   guise of religion. He then adds, that they would be spoiled of their
   food, and all their abundance. He has hitherto been speaking of their
   nakedness; but he now describes what this nakedness would be: and he
   specially mentions, that sacrifices would cease, that feast days,
   new-moons, and whatever belonged to external worship, would cease. I
   will make to cease, he says, all her joy. He speaks doubtless, of
   sacred joys; and this may be easily collected from the context. He
   adds, her every festal-day As they were wont to dance on their
   festal-days, this word may be referred to that practice. He afterwards
   adds, "her sabbath", and all feast-days. Then the first kind of
   nakedness was, that God would take away from the Israelites that
   fallacious and empty form of religion in which they foolishly
   delighted. The second kind of nakedness was, that they were to be
   stripped of all earthly riches, and be reduced to misery and extreme
   want. But I cannot finish to-day.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that inasmuch as we are so dull and slothful, that
   though often admonished, we yet consider not our sins, yea, though
   chastised by thy hand, we yet return not immediately to a right mind,
   -- O grant, that we may hereafter profit more under thy rod, and not he
   refractory and untractable; but as soon as thou raises thy hand, may
   each of us mourn, know our own evils, and then, with one consent,
   surrender ourselves to be ruled by thee; and may we, in the meantime,
   patiently and calmly endure thy chastisements, and never murmur against
   thee, but ever aspire to the attainment of true repentance, until,
   having at length put off all the vices and corruptions of our flesh, we
   attain to the fulness of righteousness, and to that true and blessed
   glory which has been prepared for us in heaven by Jesus Christ. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Sixth

   We began yesterday to explain the verse in which the Lord speaks of the
   intermission of the Sabbath, and of the new-moon, and of external
   worship. The people of Israel, as we have stated, were to be deprived
   of these excellent gifts with which they had been favoured. And God, we
   know, is in two respects bountiful to men. There is his common bounty
   as to foods and other earthly benefits: but he is especially bountiful
   to his people in those gifts which are called supernatural. Hence the
   Prophet says in the first place, I will make to cease the sabbath, and
   [4]the new-moon, and the festal-days They indeed thought themselves,
   blessed when they celebrated the festal-days, when they offered
   sacrifices, and in a word, when the external pomp of God's worship
   shone forth among them: yet we know that they worshipped God neither in
   a lawful place nor in a right manner, as he had commanded in the law;
   for they mingled many superstitions; nay, the whole of religion among
   them was polluted; and yet they thought that their worship pleased God.
   We now see that the object of their punishment was this, -- that the
   people of Israel might now cease to felicitate themselves on account of
   their external form of religion, when deprived of their temple, and
   sacrifices, and all outward worship: and all this happened when the
   Israelites were driven away into exile. We indeed know that they did
   not leave off their superstitions until they were deprived of their
   country and driven into banishment.

   I now come to the second kind of nakedness: the Prophet says, I will
   waste or destroy her vine and her fig-tree, of which she has said,
   Reward are these to me; that is, These things are wages to me, which my
   lovers have given to me: and I will make them a forest, and feed on
   them shall the beast of the field. The second part of the spoiling, as
   we have said, is, that the Israelites would be reduced to miserable
   want, who, before, had not only great abundance of good things, but
   also luxury, as we shall hereafter see more fully in other passages. As
   then they were swollen with pride on account of their prosperity, the
   Prophet now announces their future nakedness, I will take away, he
   says, the vine and the fig-tree. It is a mode of speaking by which a
   part is to be taken for the whole; for under the vine and the fig-tree
   the Prophet intended to comprehend every variety of temporal blessings.
   Whatever then belongs to man's support, the Prophet here includes in
   these two words: and he repeats what he had said before, that the
   Israelites falsely thought, that it was a reward paid them for their
   superstitions, while they worshipped false gods.

   She said, These are my reward. The word is derived from the verb T+N+H+
   tene: some have rendered it gift, but not rightly. I indeed allow that
   N+T+N+W+"natnu", which means to give, follows shortly after; from which
   some derive this word. But we know that in many parts of Scripture
   #T+N+H+, atne, is strictly taken for reward; and is sometimes applied
   to hired soldiers: but the Prophets often use this word when they speak
   of harlots. Hence the Prophet here introduces the people of Israel
   under the character of a harlot; These are my reward, or, These things
   are my reward, which to me have my lovers given.

   Since then the Israelites had so hardened themselves in their
   superstitions, that this false persuasion could not be driven out of
   them, until they were deprived of all their blessings, he announces to
   them this punishment, -- that God would take away whatever they thought
   had come to them from their idols or false gods: I will turn, he says,
   all these into a forest, that is, "I will reduce to a waste, both the
   vineyards and all the well cultivated parts; so that they will produce
   nothing, as is usually the case with desert places." We now understand
   the whole meaning of the Prophet. Let us proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:13

   13. And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned
   incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her
   jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.

   13. Et visitabo super eam dies Baalim, quibus incensum (vel, suffitum)
   illis obtulit (vel, adolevit illis,) et ornata fuit inaure sua et
   monili (vel, torque) suo, et profecta est post amatores suos, et mei
   oblita est, dixit Dominus.


   He confirms what he taught last. We have said before, that this
   admonition is very necessary, that whenever God deals severely with
   men, he thus visits their sins, and inflicts a just punishment. For
   though men may consider themselves to be chastised by the Lord, they
   yet do not thoroughly search and examine themselves as they ought.
   Hence the Prophet repeats what we have before met with, and that is,
   that this chastisement would be just; and at the same time, he shows us
   as by the finger what chiefly displeased God in the Israelites, which
   was, that religion was corrupted by them: for there is nothing more
   necessary to be known than that in order that men may ever habituate
   themselves to worship God in a pure manner, this should be testified to
   them, that all superstitions are such an abomination to God that he
   cannot bear them.

   He therefore says, I will visit upon her the days of Baalim; that is,
   when the Israelites shall find themselves to be without a temple,
   deprived of sacrifices and new-moons, and having no more any external
   form of worship, let them know that they are thus punished, because
   they worshipped Baalim instead of the only true God. The Prophet, at
   the same time, alludes again to harlots, who more finely adorn
   themselves and with greater care, when they look for their lovers, that
   they may captivate them with their charms. She decked herself, he says,
   with her ear-ring and her jewel This the superstitious usually do, when
   they celebrate their fast-days; for they think that a great part of
   holiness consists in the splendour of vestments; and we see that this
   stupidity prevails at this day among those under the Papacy: for they
   would think themselves to be doing great dishonour to God, or rather to
   their idols, were they not to adorn themselves when going to perform
   sacred duties. This, no doubt, was then a common error and custom. But
   in order to show more clearly that God abominated each gross
   superstitions, the Prophet says that they were like harlots. For as a
   strumpet, in order to allure men, paints herself, and also dresses
   splendidly, puts on her ornaments, and decks herself with jewels and
   gold; even so, he says, the Israelites did; they played the wanton, and
   bore the tokens of their lewdness. This then is the allusion, when the
   Prophet says, that she decked herself with jewels and an ear-ring, and
   went after her lovers.

   But most grievous is what he adds at the end of the verse, Me, he says,
   has she forgotten God here complains that the fellowship of marriage
   availed nothing: though he had lived with the people a long time, and
   treated them bountifully and kindly, yet the memory of this was buried,
   Me, he says, has she forgotten. There is then here an implied
   comparison between the Israelites whom God had joined to himself, and
   other nations who had known nothing of true religion, nor understood
   who the true God was. It was indeed no wonder for the Gentiles to be
   deceived by the impostures of Satan: but it was a monstrous ingratitude
   for the Israelites, who had been rightly taught and long habituated to
   the pure worship of God, to cast away the recollection of him. It was
   like the bestial depravity of a wife, who, having for a time lived with
   her husband, and having been kindly treated by him, afterwards
   prostitutes herself to adulterers, and no more cherishes or retains in
   her heart any love for her husband. We now see for what end it was
   added, that the Israelites had forgotten God. It was indeed a grave and
   severe reproof to say, that they, after having long worshipped the true
   God, had been led away into such madness as to worship false gods, the
   figments of their own brains: for they had before learnt who the true
   and the only God was.

   The Prophet, in a word, confirms in this verse (as I have before
   reminded you) the truth, that the punishment which God was about to
   inflict on this ungodly people would not only be just, but also
   necessary; and he proves at the same time, how basely they had violated
   their marriage-vow, since the recollection of God did not prevail among
   them, after they had become the followers of idols, and of the figments
   of their own hearts. Let us now go on --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:14

   14. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the
   wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

   14. Propterea ecce ego inclino illam (vel, persuadeo illi: dicemus
   postea de hoc verbo) et proficisci eam faciam (hoc est, deducam eam) in
   desertum, et loquar super cor ejus (hoc est, luquar quod gratum est.)


   Here the Lord more clearly expresses, that after having long, and in
   various ways, afflicted the people, he would at length be propitious to
   them; and not only so, but that he would also make all their
   punishments to be conducive to their salvation, and to be medicines to
   heal their diseases. But there is an inversion in the words, Behold, I
   will incline her, and I will make her to go into the wilderness; and so
   they ought to be explained thus, "Behold, I will incline her, or,
   persuade her, after I shall have drawn her into the desert; then, I
   will speak to her heart." P+T+H+, pete is often taken in a bad sense,
   to deceive, or, to persuade by falsehoods or, to use a vulgar word, to
   wheedle: but it means in this place, to speak kindly; so that God
   persuades a rebellious and obstinate people as to what is right: and
   then he declares that this would take place, when he led the people
   into the wilderness. This is connected with the former sentence, where
   it is said, `I will set her as on the day of her nativity:' for God
   alludes to the first redemption of the people, which was like their
   birth; for it was the same as though the people had emerged from their
   grave; they obtained a new life when they were freed from the tyranny
   of Egypt. God therefore begot them a people for himself.

   But the Prophet adds, After having led her into the wilderness, I will
   incline her; that is, render her pliable to myself. He intimates by
   these words, that there would be no hope of repentance until the people
   were led to extreme evils; for had their punishment been moderate,
   their perverseness would not have been corrected. Then God shows in
   this verse, that there would be no end or lessening of evils until the
   people were drawn into the wilderness, that is, until they were
   deprived of their country and sacrifices, and all their wealth; yea,
   until they were deprived of their ordinary food, and cast into a
   wilderness and solitude, where the want of all things would press upon
   them, and extreme necessity would threaten them with death. If then the
   people had been visited with light punishment, nothing would have been
   effected; for their hardness was greater than could have been softened
   by slight or common remedies.

   But this declaration was full of great comfort. The faithful might have
   otherwise wholly desponded, when they found themselves led into exile,
   and the sight of the land, which was, as it were, the mirror of the
   divine adoption, was taken from them, when they saw themselves
   scattered into various parts, and that there was now no community, no
   seed of Abraham. The Lord, therefore, that despair might not swallow up
   the faithful, intended in this way to ease their sorrow; assuring them,
   that though they were drawn again into the wilderness, God, who first
   redeemed them, was still the same, and endued with the same strength
   and power which he put forth in behalf of their fathers. We now
   apprehend the design of the Prophet. Calamity might have shaken their
   hearts with so much terror, as to take away every confidence in God's
   favour, and make them to think themselves wholly lost: but God sets the
   desert before them, "What! have I not once drawn you out of the desert?
   Has my power diminished since that tithe? I indeed continue to be the
   same God as your fathers found me to be: I will again draw you out of
   the wilderness." But at the same time, God reminded them that their
   diseases would be unhealable, until they were led into the wilderness,
   until they were deprived of their country and all the tokens of his
   favour, that they might no more delude themselves with vain confidence.

   He therefore says, After I shall draw her into the wilderness, then I
   will persuade, or, turn her. I prefer the word, turning or inclining,
   though the word, persuading, is by no means unsuitable. But there seems
   to be an implied comparison between the present contumacy of the
   people, and the obedience they would render to their God after having
   been subdued by various afflictions. "The people," he says, "will be
   then pliable, when they shall be drawn into the wilderness."

   And I will speak then to her heart. What is the import of this
   expression we know from Isaiah 40. To speak to the heart is to bring
   comfort, to soothe grief by a kind word, to offer kindness, and to hold
   forth some hope, that he who had previously been worn out with sorrow
   may breathe freely, gather courage, and entertain hope of a better
   condition. And this kind of speaking ought to be carefully observed;
   for God means, that there was now no place for his promises, because
   the Israelites were so refractory. Paul did not say in vain to the
   Corinthians

   `Open ye my mouth, [9] O Corinthians; for I am not narrow towards you;
   but ye are narrow in your own bowels,'
   (2 Corinthians 6:11,12.)

   The Corinthians, when alienated from Paul, had obstructed, as it were,
   the passage of his doctrine, that he could not address them in a
   paternal manner. So also in this place, the Lord testifies that the
   floor was closed against his promises; for if he gave to the Israelites
   the hope of pardon, it would have been slighted; if he had invited them
   kindly to himself, they would have scornfully refused, yea, spurned the
   offer with contempt, so great was their ferocity; if he had wished to
   be reconciled to them, they would have despised him, or refused, or
   proceeded in abusing his kindness as before. He then shows, that it was
   their fault that he could not deal kindly and friendly with them.
   Hence, After I shall draw her into the wilderness, I will address her
   heart.

   Let us then know, that whenever we are deprived of the sense of God's
   favour, the way has been closed up through our fault; for God would
   ever be disposed willingly to show kindness, except our contumacy and
   hardness stood in the way. But when he sees us so subdued as to be
   pliable and ready to obey, then he is ready in his turn, to speak to
   our heart; that is, he is ready to show himself just as he is, full of
   grace and kindness.

   We hence see how well the context of the Prophet harmonises. There are,
   in short, two parts, -- the first is, that God takes not away wholly
   the hope of pardon from the Israelites, provided there were any
   healable among them, but shows that though the chastisement would be
   severe, it would yet be useful, as it would appear from its fruit; this
   is one clause; -- and the other is, that they might not be too hasty in
   inquiring why God would not sooner mitigate his severity, he answers
   that the time was not as yet ripe; for they would not be capable of
   receiving his kindness, until they were by degrees subdued and humbled
   by heavier punishment. Let us now proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [9] As there is no different reading that favors this view of the text,
   it is difficult to know how Calvin came to give this paraphrase, as it
   is the reverse of the meaning of the passage. It is literally rendered
   in our version, "Our mouth is opened unto you." Though the text is not
   correctly given, yet what is here taught is true and important. --Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:15

   15. And I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor
   for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her
   youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

   15. Et dabo ei vineas suas illinc (ab eo loco) et vallem Achor in
   apertionem (vel, januam) spei: et canet illic sicuti diebus
   adolescentiae (vel, pueritiae) suae, et sicut in die quo ascendit e
   terra Aegypti.


   The Prophet now plainly declares, that God's favour would be evident,
   not only by words, but also by the effects and by experience, when the
   people were bent to obedience. The Prophet said in the last verse, `I
   will speak to her heart;' now he adds, `I will bring a sure and clear
   evidence of my favour, that they may feel assured that I am reconciled
   to them.' He therefore says that he would give them vines. He said
   before, `I will destroy her vines and fig-trees;' but now he mentions
   only vineyards: but as we have said, the Prophet, under one kind,
   comprehends all other things; and he has chosen vines, because in vines
   the bounty of God especially appears. For bread is necessary to support
   life, wine abounds, and to it is ascribed the property of exhilarating
   the heart, Psalm 104: `Bread strengthens,' or, `supports man's heart;
   wine gladdens man's heart.' As then vines are usually planted not only
   for necessary purposes, but also for a more bountiful supply, the
   Prophet says, that the Lord, when reconciled to the people, will give
   them their vineyards from that place.

   And I will give, he says, the valley of Achor, etc. He alludes to their
   situation in the wilderness: as soon as the Israelites came out of the
   wilderness, they entered the plain of Achor, which was fruitful,
   pleasant, and vine-bearing. Some think that the Prophet alludes to the
   punishment inflicted on the people for the sacrilege of Achan, but in
   my judgement they are mistaken; for the Prophet here means nothing else
   than that there would be a sudden change in the condition of the
   people, such as happened when they came out of the wilderness. For in
   the wilderness there was not even a grain of wheat or of barley, nor a
   bunch of grapes; in short, there was in the wilderness nothing but
   penury, accompanied with thousand deaths; but as soon as the people
   came out, they descended into the plain of Achor, which was most
   pleasant, and very fertile. The Prophet meant simply this, that when
   the people repented, there would be no delay on God's part, but that he
   would free them from all evils, and restore a blessed abundance of all
   things, as was the case, when the people formerly descended into the
   plain of Achor. He therefore brings to the recollection of the
   Israelites what had happened to their fathers, Her vines, then, will I
   give her from that place, that is, "As soon as I shall by word testify
   my love to them, they shall effectually know and find that I am really
   and from the heart reconciled to them, and shall understand how
   inclined I am to show kindness; for I shall not long hold the people in
   suspense."

   And he adds, For an opening, or a door of hope He signifies here, that
   their restoration would be as from death into life. For though the
   people daily saw with their eyes that God took care of their life, for
   he rained manna from heaven and made water to flow from a rock; yet
   there was at the same time before their eyes the appearance of death.
   As long, then, as they sojourned in the wilderness, God did ever set
   before them the terrors of death: in short, their dwelling in the
   wilderness, as we have said, was their grave. But when the people
   descended into the plain of Achor, they then began to draw vital air;
   and they felt also that they at length lived, for they had obtained
   their wishes: they had now indeed come in sight of the inheritance
   promised to them. As then the valley of Achor was the beginning, and as
   it were the door of good hope to their fathers, so the Prophet, now
   alluding to that redemption, says, that God would immediately deal with
   so much kindness with the Israelites as to open for them a door of hope
   and salvation, as he had done formerly to their fathers in the valley
   of Achor.

   And she shall sing there. We may easily learn from the context that
   those interpreters mistake who refinedly philosophise about the valley
   of Achor. It is indeed true that the root of the word is the verb
   E+K+R+, ocar, which means, to confound or to destroy, and that this
   name was given to the place on account of what had occurred there: but
   the Prophet referred to no such thing, as it appears clearly from the
   second clause; for he says, "She shall sing there as in the days of her
   youth", and as in the day in which she ascended from the land of Egypt.
   For then at length the people of God openly celebrated his praises,
   when they beheld with their eyes the promised land, when they saw an
   end to God's severe vengeance, which continued for forty years. Hence
   the people then poured forth their hearts and employed their tongues in
   praises to God. The Prophet, therefore, teaches here, that their
   restoration would be such, that the people would really sing praises to
   God and offer him no ordinary thanks; not as they are wont to do who
   are relieved from a common evil, but as those who have been brought
   from death into life. She shall sing then as in the days of her
   childhood, as in that day when she ascended from the land of Egypt

   Thus we see that a hope of deliverance is here given, that the faithful
   might sustain their minds in exile, and cherish the hope of future
   favour; that though the face of God would for a time be turned away
   from them, they might yet look for a future deliverance, nor doubt but
   that God would be propitious to them, after they had endured just
   punishment, and had been thus reformed: for as we have said, a moderate
   chastisement could not have been sufficient to subdue their
   perverseness. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:16

   16. And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call
   me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

   16. Et erit in die illo, dicit Jehova, vocabis me, vir meus (vel,
   marite mi,) et non vocabis me amplius Baal meus, (alii vetunt, non
   vocabi me amplius, Dominus meus; sed retinendum est nomen Baal, sicuti
   mox dicam.)


   The Prophet now expands his subject, and shows that when the people
   repented, the fruits of repentance would openly appear. One fruit he
   records, and that is, that they would then begin to worship God purely,
   all superstitions being abolished. It shall be, he says, in that day
   that thou shalt call me, My husband; and he mentions the word, husband,
   to show to the people, that after having been corrected, they would be
   mindful of the covenant which God had made with them; and in that
   covenant, as stated before, there was the condition of a mutual
   engagement.

   We hence see what the Prophet means: he tells us that the people would
   then be no more given to superstitions as before, but on the contrary
   would be mindful of God's covenant, and would continue sincere and true
   to their conjugal vow. Hence, thou shalt call me, My husband; that is,
   "Thou shalt know what I am to thee, that I am joined to thee by a
   sacred and inviolable marriage." And thou shalt not call me, My Baal;
   that is, "Thou shalt not give me a false and heathenish name:" for the
   word, Baal, as I have said before, was everywhere in every one's mouth.
   But the next verse must be added --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:17

   17. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they
   shall no more be remembered by their name.

   17. Et auferam nomina Baalim ex ore ejus, et non recordabitur amplius
   nominis ipsorum (Baalim scilicet.)


   In this verse the Prophet more clearly unfolds what he said before,
   that there would be a new mind in the people, so that they would
   worship God purely, though they were before entangled in their
   superstitions. The meaning then is, that religion will then return to
   its true state, for the names of Baalim shall cease. We have already
   stated whence this name had arisen. Not even the heathens wished to
   thrust the only true God from his celestial throne, by forming for
   themselves many gods: but while they allowed some Supreme Being, they
   wished to have patrons, whom they employed in conciliating his favour
   and good-will. That this was for the most part the common doctrine, may
   be easily learnt from Plato: and the Jews also, no doubt, thought of
   becoming wise by following the common judgement of others; they hence
   had their Baalim. But though they called their patrons Baalim, they yet
   gave this name to God: "Let us worship Baalim." The Papists do the
   same; when they enter their temples, they immediately turn to the image
   of Mary or of some saint, and dare not come to God. At the same time
   they worship God, that is, pretend to worship God, and they call
   superstition God's worship. So it was among the Israelites; though the
   majesty of the Supreme God was not denied, yet that happened which the
   Papists also say, "That Christ is not distinguished from his Apostles;"
   all things were with them mixed together and confused. He therefore
   says, I will take away Baalim from her mouth, and she will no more
   remember the name of Baalim; which means, "They will be content with
   the profession of pure faith, and will celebrate the name of the only
   true God; they will no more mix their own glosses with the doctrine of
   the law, and thus vitiate the pure and holy worship of God;" We now
   understand the meaning of the Prophet.

   Now we learn from this place, that the Church cannot be rightly
   reformed except it be trained to obedience by the frequent scourges of
   God; for the Lord thereby creates a new people for himself. We see at
   this day what great stupidity possesses their minds, who have not been
   well prepared for the worship of God. They indeed laugh at the
   superstitions of the Papacy; but, at the same time, they are a sort of
   Cyclops: [10] we see that there is nothing but barbarous ignorance in
   their hearts. The Prophet then says, not in vain, that the state of
   religion would then be right, when the Lord had wholly subdued his
   people. Hence "in that day", which refers to the heavy punishment which
   God would inflict on the Israelites -- In that day, then, saith the
   Lord, thou wilt no more call me, Baal; but thou wilt call me, Husband
   How so? Because "I will take away" the names of Baalim from thy mouth;
   that is, I will make the people to cast away their own devices, and to
   be content with the pure doctrine of my law.

   We ought also to remember that a confession of faith is here commended
   by the Prophet. It is no doubt the fruit of true penitence, when we
   testify by the mouth and tongue that the only true God is our God, and
   when we are not ashamed to confess his name before the world, though it
   may rage madly against us.

   We are further reminded by these words, that too much diligence and
   care cannot be taken to cleanse ourselves wholly from all sorts of
   pollutions; for as long as any relics of superstition continue among
   us, they will ever entangle us, and thus we shall stumble, or, at least
   not run so briskly as we ought. Since, then whatever men retain of
   their own corrupt devices is a hindrance to them in obtaining a direct
   access to God, it is meet for us to labour that the names of Baalim
   should cease, and be abolished among us; and for this end, that nothing
   may hinder and retard us in the true worship of God. Now follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [10] Fabled giants with one eye. These referred to had an eye to see
   the absurdities of Popery; but they had no eye to see the beauty and
   glory of the Gospel. --Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that as we set up against thee so many obstacles
   through the depravity of our flesh and natural disposition, that we
   seem as it were to be designedly striving to close up the door against
   thy goodness and paternal favour, O grant, that our hearts may be so
   softened by thy Spirit, and the hardness which has hitherto prevailed
   may be so corrected, that we may submit ourselves to thee with genuine
   docility, especially as thou dost so kindly and tenderly invite us to
   thyself, that being allured by thy sweet invitation, we may run, and so
   run as not to be weary in our course, until Christ shall at length
   bring us together to thee, and, at the same time, lead us to thee for
   that eternal life, which he has obtained for us by his own blood. Amen.

     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Seventh
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:18

   18. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of
   the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things
   of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle
   out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

   18. Et percutiam illis foedus in die illa cum bestia agri et cum
   volucre coeli et cum reptili terrae: et arcum et gladium et proelium
   confringam e terra et quiescere eos faciam ad fiduciam, (hoc est,
   confidenter.)


   The Prophet shows here that the people would be in every way happy
   after their return to God's favour: and, at the same time, he reminds
   us that the cause of all evils is, that men provoke God's wrath. Hence,
   when God is angry, all things must necessarily be adverse to us; for as
   God has all creatures at his will, and in his hand, he can arm them in
   vengeance against us whenever he pleases: but when he is propitious to
   us, he can make all things in heaven and earth to be conducive to our
   safety. As then he often threatens in the Law, that when he purposed to
   punish the people, he would make brute animals, and the birds of
   heaven, and all kinds of reptiles, to execute his judgement, so in this
   place he declares that there would be peace to men when he received
   them into favour.

   I will make a covenant, he says, in that day with the beast of the
   field We know what is said in another place,

   `If thou shuttest thyself up at home, a serpent shall there bite thee;
   but if thou goest out of thy house, either a bear or a lion shall meet
   thee in the way,' (Amos 5:19;)

   by which words God shows that we cannot escape his vengeance when he is
   angry with us; for he will arm against us lions and bears as well as
   serpents, both at home and abroad. But he says here, `I will make a
   covenant for them with the beasts;' so that they may perform their duty
   towards us: for they were all created, we know, for this end, -- to be
   subject to men. Since, then, they were destined for our benefit, they
   ought, according to their nature, to be in subjection to us: and we
   know that Adam caused this, -- that wild beasts rise up so rebelliously
   against us; for otherwise they would have willingly and gently obeyed
   us. Now since there is this horrible disorder, that brute beasts, which
   ought to own men as their masters, rage against them, the Lord recalls
   us here to the first order of nature, I will make a covenant for them,
   he says, with the beast of the field, which means, "I will make brute
   animals to know for what end they were formed, that is, to be subject
   to the dominion of men, and to show no rebelliousness any more."

   We now then perceive the intention of the Prophet: he reminds the
   Israelites that all things were adverse to their safety as long as they
   were alienated from God; but that when they returned into favour with
   him, this disorder, which had for a time appeared, would be no longer;
   for the regular order of nature would prevail, and brute animals would
   suffer themselves to be brought to obedience. This is the covenant of
   which the Prophet now speaks when he says, I will make a covenant for
   them, that is, in their name, with the beast of the field, and with the
   bird of heaven, and with the reptile of the earth

   It follows, I will shatter the bow, and the sword, and the battle, that
   is, every warlike instrument; for under the word M+L+X+M+H+"milchamah",
   the Prophet includes every thing adapted for war. Hence, "I will
   shatter" every kind of weapons "in that day, and make them dwell
   securely". In the last clause he expresses the end for which the
   weapons and swords were to be shattered, -- that the Israelites before
   disquieted by various fears, might dwell in peace, and no more fear any
   danger. This is the meaning.

   But it is meet for us to call to mind what we have before said, that
   the Prophet so speaks of the people's restoration, that he extends his
   predictions to the kingdom of Christ, as we may learn from Paul's
   testimony already cited. We then see that God's favor, of which the
   Prophet now speaks, is not restricted to a short time or to a few years
   but extends to Christ's kingdom, and is what we have in common with the
   ancient people. Let us therefore know, that if we provoke not God
   against us by our sins, all things will be subservient to the promotion
   of our safety, and that it is our fault when creatures do not render us
   obedience: for when we mutiny against God, it is no wonder that brute
   animals should become ferocious and rage against us; for what peace can
   there be, when we carry on war against God himself? Hence were men, as
   they ought, to submit to God's authority, there would be no
   rebelliousness in brute animals; nay, all who are turbulent would
   gently rest under the protection of God. But as we are insolent against
   God, he justly punishes us by stirring up against us various
   contentions and various tumults. Hence, then swords, hence bows, are
   prepared against us, and hence wars are stirred up against us: all this
   is because we continue to fight against God.

   It must, at the same time, be further noticed, that it is a singular
   benefit for a people to dwell in security; for we know that though we
   may possess all other things, yet miserable is our condition, unless we
   live in peace: hence the Prophet mentions this as the summit of a happy
   life. It now follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:19-20

   19. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee
   unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and
   in mercies.

   19. Et desponsabo te mihi in perpetuum, et desponsabo te mihi in
   justicia, et in judicio, et in clementia, (vel, bonitate,) et in
   misericordiis.

   20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt
   know the Lord.

   20. Et desponsabo te mihi in fide, (vel, veritate:) et cognosces
   Jehovam.


   The Prophet here again makes known the manner in which God would
   receive into favor his people. As though the people had not violated
   the marriage vow, God promises to be to them like a bridegroom, who
   marries a virgin, young and pure. We have before spoken of the people's
   defection; but as God had repudiated them, it was no common favor for
   the people to be received again by God, and received with pardon. When
   a woman returns to her husband, it is a great thing in the husband to
   forgive her, and not to upbraid her with her former base conduct: but
   God goes farther than this; for he espouses to himself a people
   infamous through many disgraceful acts; and having abolished their
   sins, he contracts, as it were, a new marriage, and joins them again to
   himself. Hence he says, I will espouse thee to me. We now perceive the
   import of the word, espouse: for God thereby means, that he would not
   remember the unfaithfulness for which he had before cast away his
   people, but would blot out all their infamy. It was indeed an honorable
   reception into favor, when God offered a new marriage, as though the
   people had not been like an adulterous woman.

   And he says, I will espouse thee to me for ever. There is here an
   implied contrast between the marriage of which the Prophet had hitherto
   spoken, and this which God now contracts. For God, having redeemed the
   people, had before entered, as we have said, into marriage with them:
   but the people had departed from their vow; hence followed alienation
   and divorce. That marriage was then not only temporary, but also weak
   and soon broken; for the people did not continue long in obedience: but
   of this new marriage the Prophet declares, that it will continue fast
   and for ever; and thus he sets its durable state in contrast with the
   falling away which had soon alienated the people from God. Hence he
   says, I will espouse thee to me for ever.

   He then declares by what means he would do this, even in righteousness
   and judgment, and then in kindness and mercies, and thirdly, in
   faithfulness. God had indeed from the beginning covenanted with the
   Israelites in righteousness and judgment; there was nothing disguised
   or false in his covenant: as then God had in sincerity adopted the
   people, to what vices does he oppose righteousness and judgment? I
   answer, These words must be applied to both the contracting parties:
   then, by righteousness God means not only his own, but that also which
   is, as they say, mutual and reciprocal; and by righteousness and
   judgment is meant rectitude, in which nothing is wanting. We now then
   perceive what the Prophet had in view.

   But he adds, secondly, In kindness and mercies: by which words he
   intimates, that though the people were unworthy, yet, this would be no
   impediment in their way, to prevent them to return into favor with God;
   for in this reconciliation God would regard his own goodness, rather
   than the merits of his people.

   In the third place, he adds, In faithfulness: and this confirms what we
   have before briefly referred to, -- the fixed and unchangeable duration
   of this marriage.

   The words, righteousness and judgment, are, I know, more refinedly
   explained by some. They say that righteousness is what is conferred on
   us by God through gratuitous imputation; and they take judgment for
   that defense which he affords against the violence and the assaults of
   our enemies. But here the Prophet, I doubt not, intimates in a general
   way, that this covenant would stand firm, because there would be truth
   and rectitude on both sides. That this may be more clearly understood,
   let us take a passage from the 31^st chapter of Jeremiah [Jeremiah
   31:31-34] where God complains, that the covenant he had made with the
   ancient people had not been firm; for they had forsaken it. `My
   covenant,' he says, `with your fathers has not continued.' -- Why?
   `Because they departed from my commandments.' God indeed in perfect
   sincerity adopted the people, and no righteousness was wanting in him;
   but as there was no constancy and faithfulness in the people, the
   covenant came to nothing: hence God afterwards adds, `I will hereafter
   make a new covenant with you; for I will engrave my laws on your
   hearts,' etc. We now then see what the Prophet means by righteousness
   and judgment, even this, that God would cause the marriage vow to be
   kept on both sides; for the people, restored from exile, would no more
   violate their pledged faith nor act unfaithfully.

   But we must notice what is added, In goodness and mercies. And this
   part Jeremiah does not omit, for he adds, `Their iniquities I will not
   remember.' As then the Israelites, conscious of evils might tremble
   through fear, the Prophet seasonably anticipates their diffidence, by
   promising that the marriage which God was prepared anew to contract,
   would be in kindness and mercies. There is then no reason why their own
   unworthiness should frighten away the people; for God here unfolds his
   own immense goodness and unparalleled mercies. The Prophet might indeed
   have expressed this in one word, but he adds mercies to goodness. The
   people had indeed sunk into a deep abyss, that restoration could have
   been hardly hoped: hence the word, kindness, or goodness, would have
   been hardly sufficient to raise up their minds, had not the word,
   mercies, been added for the sake of confirmation.

   Now he adds, in faithfulness; and by faithfulness is to be understood,
   I doubt not, that stability of which I have spoken; for what some
   philosophize on this expression is too refined, who give this
   explanation, `I will espouse thee in faith,' that is by the gospel; for
   we embrace God's free promises, and thus the covenant the Lord makes
   with us is ratified. I simply interpret the word as denoting stability.

   And the Prophet shows afterwards that this covenant would be confirmed,
   because faithfulness would be reciprocal, they shall know, he says,
   Jehovah. Jeremiah, I doubt not, borrowed from this place what is
   written in the 31^st chapter; for there he also adds, `No one shall
   hereafter teach his neighbor, for all, from the least to the greatest
   shall know me, saith Jehovah.' Our Prophet says here in one sentence,
   they shall know Jehovah Hence then is the stability of the covenant,
   because God by his light shall guide the hearts of those who had before
   strayed in darkness and wandered after their own superstitions. Since
   then a horrible darkness prevailed among the Israelitic people, Hosea
   promises the light of true knowledge; and this knowledge of God is
   such, that the people fall not away from the Lord, nor are they seduced
   by the fallacies of Satan. Hence God's covenant stands firm. We now
   understand the import of the words.

   Jerome thinks that the Prophet promises espousals thrice, because the
   Lord once espoused the people to himself in Abraham, then when he led
   them out of Egypt, and, thirdly, when once he reconciled the whole
   world in Christ: but this is too refined, and even frivolous. I take a
   simpler meaning, -- that the Prophet proclaims an espousal thrice,
   because it was difficult to restore the people from fear and despair,
   for they well understood how grievously and in how many ways they had
   alienated themselves from God: it was hence necessary to apply many
   consolations, which might serve to confirm their faith. This is the
   reason why the Lord does not say once, I will espouse thee to myself,
   but repeats it thrice. The Prophet indeed seemed then to speak of a
   thing incredible: for what sort of an example is this, that the Lord
   should take for his wife an abominable harlot? Nay, that he should
   contract a new marriage with an unclean adulteress, immersed in
   debauchery? This was like something monstrous. Hence the Prophet, that
   nothing might hinder souls from recumbing on the promise, says, "Doubt
   not, for the Lord very often assures you, that this is certain."

   Now, since we have this promise in common with them, we see by the
   words of the Prophet what is the beginning of our salvation: God
   espoused the Israelites to himself, when restored from exile through
   his goodness and mercies. What fellowship have we with God, when we are
   born and come out of the womb, except he graciously adopts us? for we
   bring nothing, we know, with us but a curse; this is the heritage of
   all mankind. Since it is so, all our salvation must necessarily have
   its foundation in the goodness and mercies of God. But there is also
   another reason in our case, when God receives us into favor; for we
   were covenant-breakers under the Papacy; there was not one of us who
   had not departed from the pledge of his baptism; and so we could not
   have returned into favor with God, except he had freely united us to
   himself: and God not only forgave us, but contracted also a new
   marriage with us, so that we can now, as on the day of our youth, as it
   has been previously said, openly give thanks to him.

   But we must notice this short clause, They shall know Jehovah. We
   indeed see that we are in confusion as soon as we turn aside from the
   right and pure knowledge of God, nay, that we are wholly lost. Since
   then our salvation consists in the light of faith, our minds ought ever
   to be directed to God, that our union with him, which he has formed by
   the gospel, may abide firm and permanent. But as this is not in the
   power or will of man, we draw this evident conclusion, that God not
   only offers his grace in the outward preaching, but at the same time in
   the renewing of our hearts. Except God then recreates us a new people
   to himself, there is no more stability in the covenant he makes now
   with us than in the old which he made formerly with the fathers under
   the Law; for when we compare ourselves with the Israelites, we find
   that we are nothing better. It is, therefore, necessary that God should
   work inwardly and efficaciously on our hearts, that his covenant may
   stand firm: nay, since the knowledge of him is the special gift of the
   Spirit, we may with certainty conclude, that what is said here refers
   not only to outward preaching, but that the grace of the Spirit is also
   joined, by which God renews us after his own image, as we have already
   proved from a passage in Jeremiah: but that we may not seem to borrow
   from another place, we may say that it appears evident from the words
   of the Prophet, that there is no other bond of stability, by which the
   covenant of God can be strengthened and preserved, but the knowledge he
   conveys to us of himself; and this he conveys not only by outward
   teaching, but also by the illumination of our minds by his Spirit, yea,
   by the renewing of our hearts. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:21-22

   21. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD,
   I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

   21. Et erit in die illa, exaudiam, dicit Dominus, exaudiam coelos,
   etaudient terram:

   22. And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and
   they shall hear Jezreel.

   22. Et terra exaudiet frumentum et mustum et oleum, et ipsa exaudient
   Jezreel.


   The Lord promises again that he will not be wanting to the people, when
   they shall be reconciled to him. We must, indeed, in the first place,
   seek that God may be propitious to us; for they are very foolish who
   desire to live well and happily, and in the meantime care nothing for
   God's favor. The Prophet shows when the happiness of men begins; it
   begins when God adopts them for his people, and when, having abolished
   their sins, he espouses them to himself. It is therefore necessary, in
   the first place, to seek this; for as we have said, the desire of being
   happy is preposterous, when we first seek the blessings of an earthly
   life, when we first seek ease, abundance of good things, health of
   body, and similar things. Hence the Prophet now shows, that we are then
   only happy when the Lord is reconciled to us, and not only so, but when
   he in his love embraces us, and contracts a holy marriage with us, and
   on this condition, that he will be a father and preserver to us, and
   that we shall be safe and secure under his protection and defense.

   But at the same time he comes down to things of the second rank. Our
   happiness is, indeed, as we have said, in the enjoyment of God's love;
   but there are accessions which afterwards follow; for the Lord provides
   for us, and exercises a care over us, so that he supplies whatever is
   needful for the support of life. Of this later part the Prophet now
   treats: he says, In that day. We see that he reminds us of the
   covenant, lest we be content with worldly abundance; for as it has been
   said, men are commonly devoted to their present advantages. Hence the
   Prophet sets here before our eyes the Lord's covenant; he afterwards
   adds, that God's favor would reach to the corn, and to the wine, and
   the oil.

   But we must notice the Prophet's words, I will hear, he says, or I will
   answer, (E+N+H+, one, means to answer, but it is here equivalent to
   hear,) I will hear then, I will hear the heavens, and they will hear
   the earth. The repetition is not superfluous; for the Israelites had
   been for some time consumed by famine, before they were led away into
   exile; as though the heavens were iron, no drop of rain came down. They
   might hence have thought that there was now no hope; but God here
   raises them up, I will hear, I will hear, he says; as though he said,
   "There is no reason for the miserable condition in which I have
   suffered you long to languish as your sins deserved, to discourage you;
   for I will hereafter hear the heavens." As the Prophet before reminded
   them that when the beasts were cruel to them, it was a token of God's
   wrath; so also he teaches by these words that the heavens are not dry
   through any hidden influence; but that when God withholds his favor,
   there is no rain by which the heavens irrigate the earth. Then God here
   plainly shows that the whole order of nature, as they say, is in his
   hand, that no drop of rain descends from heaven except by his bidding,
   nor can the earth produce any grass; in short, that all nature would be
   barren were he not to fructify it by his blessing. And this is the
   reason why he says, I will hear the heavens and they will hear the
   earth, and the earth will hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and
   all these will hear Jezreel

   The Prophet used the word, Jezreel, before in a bad sense; for his
   purpose was to reproach the Israelites with their unfaithfulness: when
   they boasted of being the seed of Abraham, and always claimed that
   honorable and noble distinction, the Lord said, `Ye are Jezreel, and
   not Israel.' It may be that the Prophet wished to show again what they
   deserved; but he teaches, at the same time, that God would by no means
   be prevented from showing kindness to the unworthy when reconciled to
   him. Though, then, they were rather Jezreelites than Israelites, yet
   their unworthiness would be no impediment, that God should not deal
   bountifully with them. There may also be an allusion here to a new
   people; for it follows in the next verse, W+Z+R+E+T+J+H+, usarotie, and
   I will sow her; and the word, Jezreel, has an affinity to this verb, it
   is indeed derived from Z+R+E+, saro, which is to sow: and as the
   Prophet presently adds, that Jezreel is, as it were, the seed of God, I
   do not disapprove of this supposed allusion. But yet the Prophet seems
   here to commend the grace of God, when he declares that they were
   Jezreelites with whom God would deal so kindly as to fructify the earth
   for their sake.

   Let us now again repeat the substance of the whole, The corn, and the
   wine, and the oil, will hear Jezreel The Israelites were famished, and
   as it is usual with those in want of food, they cried out, `Who will
   give us bread, and wine, and oil?' For the stomach, as it is said, has
   no ears; nor has it reason and judgment: when there is extreme want,
   men, as if they were distracted, will call for bread, and wine, and
   oil. God then has regard for these blind instincts of men, which only
   crave what will gratify them: hence he says, The corn, and wine, and
   oil, will hear Jezreel, -- but when? Even when the earth will supply
   trees with sap and moisture, and extend to the seed its strength; it is
   then that the earth will hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil: for
   these grow not of themselves, but derive supplies from the earth; and
   hence the earth is said to hear them. But cannot the earth of itself
   hear the corn, or the wine, or the oil? By no means, except rain
   descends from heaven. Since, then, the earth itself draws moisture and
   wetness from heaven, we see that men in vain cry out in famine, except
   they look up to heaven: and heaven is ruled by the will of God. Let
   men, therefore, learn to ascend up to God, that they may seek from him
   their daily bread.

   We now, then, see how suitable is this gradation employed by the
   Prophet, by which God, on account of the rude and weak comprehension of
   men, leads them up at last to himself. For they turn their thoughts to
   bread, and wine, and oil; from these they seek food: they are in this
   matter very stupid. Be it so; God is indulgent to their simplicity and
   ignorance; for by degrees he proceeds from corn, and wine, and oil, to
   the earth, and then from the earth to heaven; and he afterwards shows
   that heaven cannot pour down rain except at his will. It follows at
   last --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 2:23

   23. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon
   her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not
   my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

   23. Et seminabo eam mihi in terra (vel, in terram) et miserabor ejus
   quae non erat adapta misericordiam, et dicam, L+L+#-E+M+J+, (hoc est,
   qui non erat populus meus,) Tu populus meus; et ipse dicet, Deus mi.


   The Prophet here takes the occasion to speak of the increase of the
   people. He had promised a fruitful and large increase of corn, and
   wine, and oil; but for what end would this be, except the land had
   numerous inhabitants? It was hence needful to make this addition.
   Besides, the Prophet had said before, `Though ye be immense in number,
   yet a remnant only shall be preserved.' He now sets God's new favor in
   opposition to his vengeance, and says, that God will again sow the
   people.

   From this sentence we learn that the allusion in the word, Jezreel, has
   not been improperly noticed by some, that is, that they, who had been
   before a degenerate people and not true Israelites shall then be the
   seed of God: yet the words admit of two senses; for Z+R+E+ saro,
   applies to the earth as well as to seed. The Hebrews say, `The earth is
   sown,' and also, `The wheat is sown,' or any other grain. If then the
   Prophet compares the people to the earth, the sense will be, I will sow
   the people as I do the earth; that is, I will make them fruitful as the
   earth when it is productive. It must then be thus rendered, I will sow
   her for me as the earth, that is, as though she were my earth. Or it
   may be rendered thus, I will sow her for myself in the earth, and for
   this end, that the earth, which was for a time waste and desolate,
   might have many inhabitants, as we know was the case. But the relative
   pronoun in the feminine gender ought not to embarrass us, for the
   Prophet ever speaks as of a woman: the people, we know, have been as
   yet described to us under the person of a woman.

   And he afterwards adds, L+#-R+W+X+M+H+, La-ruchamae. He speaks here
   either of La-ruchamae, an adulterous daughter, or an adulterous woman,
   whom a husband takes to himself. As to the matter itself, it is easy to
   learn what the Prophet means, which is, that God would diffuse an
   offspring far and wide, when the people had been brought not only to a
   small number, but almost to nothing: for how little short of entire
   ruin was the desolation of the people when scattered into banishment?
   They were then, as it has been stated, like a body torn asunder: the
   land in the meantime enjoyed its Sabbaths; God had disburdened it of
   its inhabitants.

   We then understand the meaning of the Prophet to be, that God would
   multiply the people, that the small remnant would increase to a great
   and almost innumerable offspring. I will then sow her in the earth,
   that is, throughout the whole land; and I will have mercy on
   La-ruchamae, that is, I will in mercy embrace her, who had not obtained
   mercy; and I will say to the no-people, Ye are now my people We see
   that the Prophet insists on this, -- That the people would not only
   seek the outward advantages of the present life, but would make a
   beginning at the very fountain, by regaining the favor of God, and
   knowing him as their propitious Father: for this is the meaning of the
   Prophet, of which something more will be said to-morrow.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that as we are in this life subject to so many
   miseries, and in the meantime grow insensible in our sins, -- O grant
   that we may learn to search ourselves and consider one sins, that we
   may be really humbled before thee, and ascribe to ourselves the blame
   of all our evils, that we may be thus led to a genuine feeling of
   repentance, and so strive to be reconciled to thee in Christ, that we
   may wholly depend on thy paternal love, and thus ever aspire to the
   fulness of eternal felicity, through thy goodness and that immeasurable
   kindness which thou testifies is ready and offered to all those, who
   with a sincere heart worship thee, call upon thee, and flee to thee,
   through Christ our Lord. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

   Chapter 3
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Eighth

   We said in our lecture yesterday, that the Prophet does not in vain
   bear a testimony again to God's paternal favor to his people; for it is
   our chief happiness, when God acknowledges us as his own, and when we
   also can come to his presence with sure confidence. Hence the order of
   the Prophet's words ought to be noticed: I will have mercy, he says, on
   Lo-ruchama; which means, I will be propitious to the Israelites whom I
   have hitherto deprived of my favor: "and I will say to the no-people,
   My people are you: then it follows and they will say to me, Thou art
   our God [11]

   The Prophet, indeed, means that God anticipates us with his favor; for
   we are otherwise restrained from access to him. Then God of his own
   good-will precedes, and extends his band to us, and then follows the
   consent of our faith. Hence God first speaks to the Israelites, that
   they might know that they are now counted his people: and then, after
   God has testified of his favor, they answer, `Thou beginnest now to be
   from henceforth our God.' We hence see that the beginning of all good
   is from God, when he makes of aliens friends, and adopts as his sons
   those who were before his enemies.

   The third chapter follows.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [11] The original is `he' and `my,' as in our version, but this is to
   disregard the Hebrew idiom. Pronouns in that language referring to
   `people,' a noun in the singular number, are also put in the singular
   number, but no so in our language. `They' and `our' ought doubtless to
   be used here. --Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 3:1

   1. Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her
   friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the
   children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.

   1. Et dixit jehova ad me, Adhuc vade, ama mulierem dilectum a marito
   (ad verbum, a proximo, vel, socio: sed intelligit comparem) et quae
   adultera est (sed copula debet resolvi in adversativam, quae tamen
   adultera est,) secundum amorem Jehovae erga filios Israel: et ipsi (hoc
   est, quitamen) respiciunt ad deos alienos, et amant lagenas (vel,
   cados) uvarum.


   The substance of this chapter is, that it was God's purpose to keep in
   firm hope the minds of the faithful during the exile, lest being
   overwhelmed with despair they should wholly faint. The Prophet had
   before spoken of God's reconciliation with his people; and he
   magnificently extolled that favor when he said, `Ye shall be as in the
   valley of Achor, I will restore to you the abundance of all blessings;
   in a word, ye shall be in all respects happy.' But, in the meantime,
   the daily misery of the people continued. God had indeed determined to
   remove them into Babylon. They might, therefore, have despaired under
   that calamity, as though every hope of deliverance were wholly taken
   from them. Hence the Prophet now shows that God would so restore the
   people to favor, as not immediately to blot out every remembrance of
   his wrath, but that his purpose was to continue for a time some measure
   of his severity.

   We hence see that this prediction occupies a middle place between the
   denunciation the Prophet previously pronounced and the promise of
   pardon. It was a dreadful thing, that God should divorce his people and
   cast away the Israelites as spurious children: but a consolation was
   afterwards added. But lest the Israelites should think that God would
   immediately, as on the first day, be so propitious to them as to visit
   them with no chastisement, it was the Prophet's design expressly to
   correct this mistake, as though he said, `God will indeed receive you
   again, but in the meantime a chastisement is prepared for you, which by
   its intenseness would break down your spirits were it not that this
   comfort will ease you, and that is, that God, though he punishes you
   for your sins, yet continues to provide for your salvation, and to be
   as it were your husband.' We now perceive the intention of the Prophet.
   But I shall first run over the words, and then return to the subject

   Jehovah said to me, Go yet and love a woman. There is no doubt but that
   God describes here the favor he promises to the Israelites in a type or
   vision: for they are too gross in their notions, who think that the
   Prophet married a woman who had been a harlot. It was then only a
   vision, as though God had set a picture before the eyes of the people,
   in which they might see their own conduct. And when he says, "yet", he
   refers to the vision, mentioned in the first chapter. But he bids a
   woman to be loved before he took her to be the partner of his conjugal
   bed; which ought to be noticed: for God intends here to make a
   distinction between the people's restoration and his hidden favor. God
   then before he restored the people from exile, loved them as it were in
   their widowhood. We now understand why the Prophet does not say, `Take
   to thee a wife,' but, `love a woman.' The meaning is this: God
   intimates, that though exile would be sad and bitter, yet the people,
   whom he treated with sharpness and severity, were still dear to him.
   Hence, Love a woman, who had been loved by a husband

   The word R+E+, ro, is here to be taken for a husband, as it is in the
   second chapter of Jeremiah, [Jeremiah 3:20] where it is said,
   `Perfidiously have the children of Israel dealt with me, as though a
   woman had departed from her husband, M+R+E+H+, meroe,', or, `from her
   partner.' And there is an aggravation of the crime implied in this
   word: for women, when they prostitute themselves, often complain that
   they have done so through too much severity, because they were not
   treated with sufficient kindness by their husbands; but when a husband
   behaves kindly towards his wife, and performs his duty as a husband,
   there is then less excuse for a wife, in case she fixes her affections
   on others. To increase then the sin of the people, this circumstance is
   stated that the woman had been loved by her friend or partner, and yet
   that this kindness of her husband had not preserved her mind in
   chastity.

   He afterwards says, According to the love of Jehovah towards the
   children of Israel; that is, As God loved the people of Israel, who yet
   ceased not to look to other gods. This metaphor occurs often in
   Scripture, that is, when the verb P+N+H+"panah", which means in Hebrew,
   to look to, is used to express hope or desire: so that when men's minds
   are intent on any thing, or their affections fixed on it, they are said
   to look to that. Since then the Israelites boiled with insane ardor for
   their superstitions, they are said to look to other gods.

   It then follows, And they love flagons of grapes. The Prophet, I doubt
   not, compares this rage to drunkenness: and he mentions flagons of
   grapes rather than of wine, because idolaters are like drunkards, who
   sometimes so gorge themselves, that they have no longer a taste for
   wine; yea, the very smell of wine offends them, and produces nausea
   through excessive drinking; but they try new arts by which they may
   regain their fondness for wine. And such is the desire of novelty that
   prevails in the superstitious. At one time they go after this, at
   another time after that, and their minds are continually tossed to and
   fro, because they cannot acquiesce in the only true God. We now then
   perceive what this metaphor means, when the Prophet reproaches the
   Israelites, because they loved flagons of grapes.

   I now return to what the Prophet, or rather God, had in view. God here
   comforts the hearts of the faithful, that they might surely conclude
   that they were loved, even when they were chastised. It was indeed
   necessary that this difference should have been well impressed on the
   Israelites, that they might in exile entertain hope and patiently bear
   God's chastisement, and rise that this hope might mitigate the
   bitterness of sorrow. God therefore says that though he shows not
   himself as yet reconciled to them, but appears as yet severe, at the
   same time he is not without love. And hence we learn how useful this
   doctrine is, and how widely it opens; for it affords a consolation of
   which we all in common have need. When God humbles us by adversities,
   when he shows to us some tokens of severity or wrath, we cannot but
   instantly fail, were not this thought to occur to us, that God loves
   us, even when he is severe towards us, and that though he seems to cast
   us away, we are not yet altogether aliens, for he retains some
   affection even in the midst of his wrath; so that he is to us as a
   husband, though he admits us not immediately into conjugal honor, nor
   restores us to our former rank. We now then see how the doctrine is to
   be applied to ourselves.

   We must at the same time notice the reproachful conduct of which I have
   spoken, -- That though the woman was loved yet she could not be
   preserved in chastity, and that she was loved, though an adulteress.
   Here is pointed out the most shameful ingratitude of the people, and
   contrasted with it is God's infinite mercy and goodness. It was the
   summit of wickedness in the people to forsake their God, when he had
   treated them with so much benignity and kindness. But wonderful was the
   patience of God, when he ceased not to love a people, whom he had found
   to be so perverse, that they could not be turned by any acts of
   kindness nor retained by any favors.

   With regard to the flagons of grapes we may observe, that this strange
   disposition is ever dominant in the superstitious, and that is, that
   they wander here and there after their own devices, and have nothing
   fixed in them. Lest, then, such charms deceive us, let us learn to
   cleave firmly and constantly to the word of the Lord. Indeed the
   Papists of this day boast of their ancientness, when they would create
   an ill-will towards us; as though the religion we follow were new and
   lately invented: but we see how modern their superstitions are; for a
   passion for them bubbles up continually and they have nothing that
   remains constant: and no wonder, because the eternal truth of God is
   regarded by them as of no value. If, then, we desire to restrain this
   depraved lust, which the Prophet condemns in the Israelites, let us so
   adhere to the word of the Lord, that no novelty may captivate us and
   lead us astray. It now follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 3:2-5

   2. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer
   of barley, and an half homer of barley:

   2. Et acquisivi eam mihi quindecim argenteis et uno homer (vertunt,
   corum, Graeci interpretes; uno coro) hordei et dimidio coro hordei.

   3. And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt
   not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I
   also be for thee.

   3. Et dixi ad eam, Diebus multis sedebis mihi, non scortaberis et non
   eris viro (hoc est, manebis vidua vel coelebs) et ego etiam ad te
   (nempe, respiciam; vel, tibi spondeo me fore maritum, ubi expertus
   fuero tuam resipiscentiam: alii vertunt, Et ego ad te non accedam; sed
   videtur hoc esse nimis coactum: ideo magis arridet Hieronymi
   interpretatio, Ego te expectabo.)

   4. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and
   without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and
   without an ephod, and without teraphim:

   4. Quia diebus multis sedebunt filii Israel sine rege, et sine
   principe, et sine sacrificio, et sine statua, et sine ephod, et sine
   theraphim.

   5. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord
   their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his
   goodness in the latter days.

   5. Postea convertentur (vel, redibunt) filii Israel et quaerent Jehovam
   Deum suum, et David regem suum, et timebunt ad Jehovam et ad bonitatem
   ejus in extermitate dierum.


   These verses have been read together, for in these four the Prophet
   explains the vision presented to him. He says, first, that he had done
   what had been enjoined him by God; which was conveyed to him by a
   vision, or in a typical form, that by such an exhibition he might
   impress the minds of the people: I bought, he says, a wife for fifteen
   silverings, and for a corus of barley and half a corus; that is, for a
   corus [12] and a half. He tells us in this verse that he had bought the
   wife whom he was to take for a small price. By the fifteen silverings
   and the corus and half of barley is set forth, I have no doubt, her
   abject and mean condition. Servants, we know, were valued at thirty
   shekels of silver when hurt by an ox, (Exodus 21:32.) But the Prophet
   gives her for his wife fifteen silvering; which seemed a contemptible
   gift. But then the Lord shows, that though he would but scantily
   support his people in exile, they would still be dear to him, as when a
   husband loves his wife though he does not indulge her, when that would
   be inexpedient: overmuch indulgence, as it is well known, has indeed
   often corrupted those who have gone astray. When a husband immediately
   pardons an adulterous wife, and receives her with a smiling
   countenance, and fawningly humbles himself by laying aside his own
   right and authority, he acts foolishly, and by his levity ruins his
   wife: but when a husband forgives his wife, and yet strictly confines
   her within the range of duty, and restrains his own feelings, such a
   moderate course is very beneficial and shows no common prudence in the
   husband; who, though he is not cruel, is yet not carried away by
   foolish love. This, then is what the Prophet means, when he says, that
   he had given for his wife fifteen silverings and a corus and half of
   barley. Respectable women did not, indeed, live on barley. The Prophets
   then, gave to his wife, not wheat-flour, nor the fine flour of wheat,
   but black bread and coarse food; yea, he gave her barley as her
   allowance, and in a small quantity, that his wife might have but a
   scanty living. We now then understand the Prophet's meaning.

   Some elicit a contrary sense, that the Lord would splendidly and
   sumptuously support the wife who had been an adulteress; but this view
   by no means harmonizes with the Prophet's design, as we have already
   seen. Besides, the words themselves lead us another way. Jerome, as his
   practice is, refines in allegorizing. He says, that the people were
   bought for fifteen silverings, because they came out of Egypt on the
   fifteenth day of the month; and then he says, that as the Hebrew homer
   contains thirty bushels, they were bought for a corus and half, which
   is forty-five bushels. because the law was promulgated forty-five days
   after. But these are puerile trifles. Let then the simple view which I
   have given be sufficient for us, -- that God, though he favored her,
   not immediately with the honor of a wife and liberal support, yet
   ceased not to love her. Thus we see the minds of the faithful were
   sustained to bear patiently their calamities; for it is an untold
   consolation to know that God loves us. If a testimony respecting his
   love moderates not our sorrows, we are very ill-natured and ungrateful.

   The Prophet then more clearly proves in these words, that God loved his
   people, though he seemed to be alienated from them. He might have
   wholly destroyed them: he yet supplied them with food in their exile.
   The people indeed lived in the greatest straits; and all delicacies
   were no doubt taken from them, and their fare was very sordid and very
   scanty: but the Prophet forbids them to measure God's favor by the
   smallness of what was given them; for though God would not immediately
   receive into favor a wife who had been an adulteress, yet he wished her
   to continue his wife.

   Hence he adds, I said to her, For many days shalt thou tarry for me,
   and thou shalt not become wanton, and thou shalt not be for any man,
   that is, `Thou shalt remain a widow; for it is for this reason that I
   still retain thee, to find out whether thou wilt sincerely repent. I
   would not indeed be too easy towards thee, lest I should by indulgence
   corrupt thee: I shall see what thy conduct will be: you must in the
   meantime continue a widow.' This, then was God's small favor which
   remained for the people, even a sort of widowhood. God might, indeed,
   as we have said, have utterly destroyed his people: but he mitigated
   his wrath and only punished them with exile, and in the meantime,
   proved that he was not forgetful of his banished people. Though then he
   only bestowed some scanty allowance, he yet did not wholly deprive them
   of food, nor suffer them to perish through want. This treatment then in
   reality is set forth by this representation, that the Prophet had
   bidden his wife to remain single.

   He says, And I also shall be for thee: why does he say, I also? A wife,
   already joined to her husband, has no right to pledge her faith to
   another. Then the Prophet shows that Israel was held bound by the Lord,
   that they might not seek another connection, for his faith was pledged
   to them. Hence he says, I also shall be for thee; that is, `I pledge my
   faith to thee, or, I subscribe myself as thy husband: but another time
   must be looked for; I yet defer my favor, and suspend it until thou
   givest proof of true repentance.' "I also", he says, "shall be for
   thee"; that is, `Thou shalt not be a widow in vain, if thou complainest
   that wrong is done to thee, because I forbid thee to marry any one
   else, I also bind myself in turn to thee.' Now then is evident the
   mutual compact between God and his people, so that the people, though a
   state of widowhood be full of sorrows ought not yet to succumb to
   grief, but to keep themselves exclusively for God, till the time of
   their full and complete deliverance, because he says, that he will
   remain true to his pledge. "I will then be thine: though at present, I
   admit thee not into the honor of wives, I will not yet wholly repudiate
   thee."

   But how does this view harmonize with the first prediction, according
   to which God seems to have divorced his people? Their concurrence may
   be easily explained. The Prophet indeed said, that the body of the
   people would be alienated from God: but here he addresses the faithful
   only. Lest then the minds of those who were healable should despond,
   the Prophet sets before them this comfort which I have mentioned, --
   that though they were to continue, as it were, single, yet the Lord
   would remain, as it were, bound to them, so as not to adopt another
   people and reject them. But we shall presently see that this prediction
   regards in common the Gentiles as well as the Jews and Israelites.

   He afterwards adds, For many days shall the children of Israel abide He
   says, for many days, that they might prepare themselves for long
   endurance, and be not dispirited through weariness, though the Lord
   should not soon free them from their calamities. "Though then your
   exile should be long, still cherish," he says, "strong hope in your
   hearts; for so long a trial must necessarily be made of your
   repentance; as you have very often pretended to return to the Lord, and
   soon after your hypocrisy was discovered; and then ye became hardened
   in your wilful obstinacy: it is therefore necessary that the Lord
   should subdue you by a long chastisement." Hence he says, The children
   of Israel shall abide without a king and without a prince

   But it may still be further asked, What is the number of the days of
   which the Prophet speaks, for the definite number is not stated here;
   and we know that the exile appointed for the Jews was seventy years?
   (Jeremiah 29:10.) But the Prophet seems here to extend his prediction
   farther, even to the time of Christ. To this I answer, that here he
   refers simply to the seventy years; though, at the same time, we must
   remember that those who returned not from exile were supported by this
   promise, and hoped in the promised Mediator: but the Prophet goes not
   beyond that number, afterwards prefixed by Jeremiah. It is not to be
   wondered at, that the Prophet had not computed the years and days; for
   the time of the captivity, that is, of the last captivity, was not yet
   come. Shortly after, indeed, four tribes were led away, and then the
   ten, and the whole kingdom of Israel was destroyed: but the last ruin
   of the whole people was not yet so near. It was therefore not necessary
   to compute then the years; but he speaks of a long time indefinitely,
   and speaks of the children of Israel and says, They shall abide without
   a king and without a prince: and inasmuch as they placed their trust in
   their king, and thought themselves happy in having this one
   distinction, a powerful king, he says, They shall abide without a king,
   without a prince. He now explains their widowhood without similitudes:
   hence he says, They shall be without a king and a prince, that is,
   there shall be among them no kind of civil government; they shall be
   like a mutilated body without a head; and so it happened to them in
   their miserable dispersion.

   And without a sacrifice, he says, and [5]without a statue. The Hebrews
   take M+ZJB+H+, metsabe, often in a bad sense, though it means generally
   a statue, as a monument over a grave is called M+ZJB+H+, metsabe,: but
   the Prophet seems to speak here of idols, for he afterwards adds,
   T+R+P+J+M%"teraphim"; and teraphim were no doubt images, (Genesis
   31:19-30,) which the superstitious used while worshipping their
   fictitious gods, as we read in many places. The king of Babylon is said
   to have consulted the teraphim; and it is said that Rachel stole the
   teraphim, and shortly after Laban calls the teraphim his gods. But the
   Hebrews talk idly when they say that these images were made of a
   constellation, and that they afterwards uttered words: but all this has
   been invented, and we know what liberty they take in devising fables.
   The meaning is, that God would take away from the people of Israel all
   civil order, and then all sacred rites and ceremonies, that they might
   abide as a widow, and at the same time know, that they were not utterly
   rejected by God without hope of reconciliation.

   It is asked, why "ephod" is mentioned; for the priesthood continued
   among the tribe of Judah, and the ephod, it is well known, was a part
   of the sacerdotal dress. To this I answer, that when Jeroboam
   introduced false worship, he employed this artifice -- to make religion
   among the Israelites nearly like true religion in its outward form: for
   it seems to have been his purpose that it should vary as little as
   possible from the legitimate worship of God: hence he said,

   `It is grievous and troublesome to you to go up to Jerusalem; then let
   us worship God here,' (1 Kings 12:28.)

   But he pretended to change nothing; he would not appear to be an
   apostate, departing from the only true God. What then? "God may be
   worshipped without trouble by us here; for I will build temples in
   several places, and also erect altars: what hinders that sacrifices
   should not be offered to God in many places?" There is therefore no
   doubt but that he made his altars according to the form of the true
   altar, and also added the ephod and various ceremonies, that the
   Israelites might think that they still continued in the true worship of
   God.

   But it follows, Afterwards shall the children of Israel return and seek
   Jehovah their God, and David their king. Here the Prophet shows by the
   fruit of their chastisement, that the Israelites had no reason to
   murmur or clamour against God, as though he treated them with too much
   severity; for if he had stretched out his hand to them immediately,
   there would have been in them no repentance: but when thoroughly
   cleansed by long correction, they would then truly and sincerely
   confess their God. We then see that this comfort is set forth as
   arising from the fruit of chastisement, that the Israelites might
   patiently bear the temporary wrath of God. Afterwards, he says, they
   shall return; as though he said, "They are now led away headlong into
   their impiety, and they can by no means be restrained except by this
   long endurance of evils."

   They shall therefore return, and then will they seek Jehovah their God.
   The name of the only true God is set here in opposition, as before, to
   all Baalim. The Israelites, indeed, professed to worship God; but
   Baalim, we know, were at the same time in high esteem among them, who
   were so many gods, and had crept into the place of God, and
   extinguished his pure worship: hence the Prophet says not simply, They
   shall seek God, but they shall "seek Jehovah their God". And there is
   here an implied reproof in the word #L+H+J+M%"Elohehem"; for it
   intimates that they were drawn aside into ungodly superstitions, that
   they were without the true God, that no knowledge of him existed among
   them; though God had offered himself to them, yea, had familiarly held
   intercourse with them, and brought them up as it were in his bosom, as
   a father his own children. Hence the Prophet indirectly upbraids them
   for this great wickedness when he says, They shall seek their God. And
   who is this God? He is even Jehovah. They had hitherto formed for
   themselves vain gods: and though, he says, they had been deluded by
   their own devices, they shall now know the only true God, who from the
   beginning revealed himself to them even as their God. He afterwards
   adds a second clause respecting King David: but I cannot now finish the
   subject.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [12] A Hebrew measure, containing 30 bushels, the load of a camel.
   --Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that as thou often dost justly hide thy face from
   us, so that on every side we see nothing but evidences of thy dreadful
   judgment, -- O grant, that we, with minds raised above the scene of
   this world, may at the same time cherish the hope which thou constantly
   settest before us, so that we may feel fully persuaded that we are
   loved by thee, however severely thou mayest chastise us and may this
   consolation so support and sustain our souls, that patiently enduring
   whatever chastisements thou mayest lay upon us, we may ever hold fast
   the reconciliation which thou hast promised to us in Christ thy Son.
   Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Ninth

   We have now to consider the second clause, respecting King David. The
   Prophet tells us, that when the Israelites shall be moved with the
   desire of seeking God, they shall also seek David their king. They had,
   as it is well known, departed from their allegiance to him; though God
   had set David over the whole people for this end, -- that they might
   all be happy under his power and dominion, and remain safe and secure,
   as though they beheld God with their own eyes; for David was, as it
   were, the angel of God. Then the revolt of the people, or of the ten
   tribes, was like a renunciation of the living God. The Lord said to
   Samuel,

   `Thee have they not despised, but rather me,'
   (1 Samuel 8:7:)

   this must have been much more the case with regard to David, whom
   Samuel, by God's command, had anointed, and whom the Lord had honored
   with so many bright commendations; they could not have cast away his
   yoke, without openly rejecting, as it were, God himself. Hence Hosea,
   speaking of the people's repentance, does not, without reasons
   distinctly mention this, that they shall return to David their king:
   for they could not sincerely and from the heart seek God, without
   subjecting themselves to that lawful authority to which they had been
   bound, not by men, nor by chance, but by God's command.

   It is indeed true that David was then dead; but Hosea sets forth here,
   in the person of one man, that everlasting kingdom, which the Jews knew
   would endure as the sun and moon: for well known to them all was this
   remarkable promise,

   `As long as the sun and moon shall shine in heaven, they shall be
   faithful witnesses to me, that the throne of David shall continue,'
   (Psalm 72:5,18.)

   Hence, after the death of David, the Prophet shows here that his
   kingdom would be forever, for he survived in his children; and, as it
   evidently appears, they commonly called their Messiah the son of David.
   We must now of necessity come to Christ: for Israel could not seek
   their king, David, who had been long dead; but were to seek that King
   whom God had promised from the posterity of David. This prophecy, then,
   no doubt extends to Christ: and it is evident that the only hope of the
   people being gathered was this, that God had testified that he would
   give a Redeemer.

   We now then see what the Prophet had in view: the Israelites had become
   degenerate; and, by their perfidy, they ceased to be the true and
   genuine people of God, as long as they continued alienated from the
   family of David. The Prophet, speaking of their full restoration, now
   joins David with God; for they could not be restored to the body of the
   Church, without uniting with the Jews in honoring one and the same
   head. But we must, at the same time, remember, that the king, whom the
   Prophet mentions, is not David, who had been long dead, but his son, to
   whom the perpetuity of his kingdom had been promised.

   This doctrine is especially useful to us; for it shows that God is not
   to be sought except in Christ the mediator. Whosoever, then, forsakes
   Christ, forsakes God himself; for as John says,

   `He who has not the Son, has not the Father,'
   (1 John 2:23.)

   And the thing itself proves this; for God dwells in light inaccessible;
   how great, then is the distance between us and him? Except Christ,
   then, presents himself to us as a middle person, how can we come to
   God? But then only we begin really to seek God, when we turn our eyes
   to Christ, who willingly offers himself to us. This is the only way of
   seeking God aright.

   Some, with more refinement, contend, that Christ is Jehovah, because
   the Prophet says, that he is to be sought not otherwise than as God is.
   By the word, seeking, the Prophet indeed means, that the Israelites had
   no other way of being safe and secure than by fleeing under the
   guardianship and protection of their legitimate king, whom they knew to
   have been divinely ordained for them. This, then, would not be
   sufficient to confute the Jews. I take the passage in a simpler way, as
   meaning, that they would seek their God in the person of the king,
   whose hand and efforts God intended to employ in the preservation of
   the people.

   It further follows, And they shall fear Jehovah and his goodness in the
   last day". The verb P+X+D+, peched, means sometimes; to dread, to be
   frightened as they are who are so terrified as to lose all courage. But
   in this place it is to be taken in a good sense, to fear, as it appears
   evident from the context. Then he says, They shall fear God and his
   goodness. The Israelites had before shaken off the yoke of God: for it
   was a proof of wanton contempt in them to build a new temple; to
   devise, at their own will, a new religion; and, in a word, to allow
   themselves an unbridled licentiousness. Hence he says, They shall
   hereafter begin to fear God, and shall continue in his service.

   And he adds, and his goodness; by which he means that God would not be
   dreaded by them, but that he would sweetly allure them to himself, that
   they might obey him spontaneously and freely, and even joyfully: and
   doubtless God does then only make us really to fear him, when he gives
   us a taste of his goodness. For God's majesty strikes terror into us;
   and we, in the meantime, seek hiding places; and were it possible for
   us to withdraw from him, each of us would do so gladly; but it is not
   to worship God with due honor, when we flee away from him. It is then a
   sense of his goodness that leads us reverentially to fear him. `With
   thee,' says David, `is forgiveness, that thou mayest be feared,' (Psalm
   130:4:) for except men know God to be ready to be at peace with them,
   and feel assured that he will be propitious to them, no one will seek
   him, no one will fear him, for without knowing this, we could not but
   wish his glory to be abolished and extinguished, and that he should be
   without authority, lest he should become our judge. But every one who
   has tasted of God's goodness, so orders himself as to obey God.

   What the Prophet then means when he says, They shall then fear God, is
   this, that they shall understand that they were miserable as long as
   they were alienated from him, and that true happiness is to submit to
   his authority.

   But further, this goodness is to be referred to Christ. Some take
   TjW+B+W+ thubu, for glory, as in Exodus 33 [Ex 32:19]; but the
   connection of this passage requires the word to be taken in its proper
   sense. And God's goodness, we know, is so exhibited to us in Christ,
   that not a particle of it is to be sought for anywhere else: for from
   this fountain must we draw whatever refers to our salvation and
   happiness of life. Let us then know that God cannot from the heart be
   worshipped by us, except when we behold him in the person of his Son,
   and know him to be a kind Father to us: hence John says,

   `He who honors not the Son, honors not the Father,'
   (John 5:23.)

   Lastly, he adds, In the extremity of days; for the Prophet wished again
   to remind the Israelites of what he had said before, -- that they had
   need of long affliction, by which God would by degrees reform them. He
   then shows that their perverseness was such, that they would not soon
   be brought into a right mind; but that this would be in the extremity
   of days. At the same time he relieves the minds of the godly, that they
   might not, through weariness, grow faint: for though they were not at
   first to taste of God's goodness, the Prophet reminds them that there
   was no reason to despair, because the Lord would manifest his goodness
   in the extremity of days. We may add, that this extremity of days had
   its beginning at the return of the people. When liberty was granted to
   the Jews to return to their own country, it was the extremity or
   fulness of days, of which the Prophet speaks. But a continued series
   from the people's return to the coming of Christ, must at the same time
   be understood; for the Lord then performed more fully what he declares
   here by his Prophet. Hence everywhere in Scripture, especially in the
   New Testament, the manifestation of Christ is placed in the last times.
   This chapter is now explained. The fourth now follows.
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

   Chapter 4
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:1-2

   1. Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath
   a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no
   truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

   1. Audite verbum Jehova, filii Israel, quia lis Jehovae cum incolis
   terrae; quia nulla fides, (aut, veritas, nulla fidelitas,) et nulla
   beneficientia, etnulla cognito Dei in terra.

   2. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing
   adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

   2. Maledicere, et mentiri, et occidere, et furari, et adulterium
   committere perruperunt, et sanguines sanguinibus fuerunt continui.


   This is a new discourse by the Prophet, separate from his former
   discourses. We must bear in mind that the Prophets did not literally
   write what they delivered to the people, nor did they treat only once
   of those things which are now extant with us; but we have in their
   books collected summaries and heads of those matters which they were
   wont to address to the people. Hosea, no doubt, very often descanted on
   the exile and the restoration of the people, forasmuch as he dwelt much
   on all the things which we have hitherto noticed. Indeed, the slowness
   and dullness of the people were such, that the same things were
   repeated daily. But it was enough for the Prophets to make and to write
   down a brief summary of what they taught in their discourses.

   Hosea now relates how vehemently he reproved the people, because every
   kind of corruption so commonly prevailed, that there was no sound part
   in the whole community. We hence see what the Prophet treats of now;
   and this ought to be observed, for hypocrites wish ever to be
   flattered; and when the mercy of God is offered to them, they seek to
   be freed from every fear. It is therefore a bitter thing to them, when
   threatening are mingled, when God sharply chides them. "What! we heard
   yesterday a discourse on God's mercy, and now he fulminates against us.
   He is then changeable; if he were consistent, would not his manner of
   teaching be alike and the same today?" But men must be often awakened,
   for forgetfulness of God often creeps over them; they indulge
   themselves, and nothing is more difficult than to lead them to God;
   nay, when they have made some advances, they soon turn aside to some
   other course.

   We hence see that men cannot be taught, except God reproves their sins
   by his word; and then, lest they despond, gives them a hope of mercy;
   and except he again returns to reproofs and threatening. This is the
   mode of address which we find in all the Prophets.

   I now come to the Prophet's words: Hear, he says, the word of Jehovah,
   ye children of Israel, the Lord has a dispute, etc. The Prophet, by
   saying that the Lord had a dispute with the inhabitants of the land,
   intimates that men in vain flatter themselves, when they have God
   against them, and that they shall soon find him to be their Judge,
   except they in time anticipate his vengeance. But he also reminds the
   Israelites that God had a dispute with them, that they might not have
   to feel the severity of justice, but reconcile themselves to God, while
   a seasonable opportunity was given them. Then the Prophet's
   introduction had this object in view -- to make the Israelites to know
   that God would be adverse to them, except they sought, without delay,
   to regain his favor. The Lord then, since he declared that he would
   contend with them, shows that he was not willing to do so. for had God
   determined to punish the people, what need was there of this warning?
   Could he not instantly execute judgment on them? Since, then, the
   Prophet was sent to the children of Israel to warn them of a great and
   fatal danger, God had still a regard for their safety: and doubtless
   this warning prevailed with many; for those who were alarmed by this
   denunciation humbled themselves before God, and hardened not themselves
   in wickedness: and the reprobate, though not amended, were yet rendered
   twice less excusable.

   The same is the case among us, whenever God threatens us with judgment:
   they who are not altogether intractable or unhealable, confess their
   guilt, and deprecate God's wrath; and others, though they harden their
   hearts in wickedness, cannot yet quench the power of truth; for the
   Lord takes from them every pretext for ignorance, and conscience wounds
   them more deeply, after they have been thus warned

   We now then understand what the Prophet meant by saying, that God had a
   dispute with the inhabitants of the land. But that the Prophet's
   intention may be more clear to us, we must bear in mind, that he and
   other faithful teachers were wearied with crying, and that in the
   meantime no fruit appeared. He saw that his warnings were heedlessly
   despised, and that hence his last resort was to summon men to God's
   tribunal. We also are constrained, when we prevail nothing, to follow
   the same course: "God will judge you; for no one will bear to be judged
   by his word: whatever we announce to you in his name, is counted a
   matter of sport: he himself at length will show that he has to do with
   you." In a similar strain does Zechariah speak,

   `They shall look on him whom they have pierced,'
   (Zechariah 12:10:)

   and to the same purpose does Isaiah say, that the Spirit of the Lord
   was made sad.

   `Is it not enough,' he says, `that ye should be vexatious to men,
   except ye be so also to my God?' (Isaiah 7:13.)

   The Prophet joined himself with God; for the ungodly king Ahab, by
   tempting God, did at the same time trifle with his Prophets.

   There is then here an implied contrast between the dispute which God
   announces respecting the Israelites, and the daily strifes he had with
   them by his Prophets. For this reason also the Lord said,

   `My Spirit shall no more strive with man, for he is flesh,'
   (Genesis 6:3.)

   God indeed says there, that he had waited in vain for men to return to
   the right way; for they were refractory beyond any hope of repentance:
   he therefore declared, that he would presently punish them. So also in
   this place, `"The Lord has a trial at law"; he will now himself plead
   his own cause: he has hitherto long exercised his Prophets in
   contending with you; yea, he has wearied them with much and continual
   labour; ye remain ever like yourselves; he will therefore begin now to
   plead effectually his own cause with you: he will no more speak to you
   by the mouth, but by his power, show himself a judge.' The Prophet,
   however, designedly laid down the word, dispute, that the Israelites
   might know that God would severely treat them, not without cause, nor
   unjustly, as though he said, "God will so punish you as to show at the
   same time that he will do so for the best reason: ye elude all
   threatenings; ye think that you can make yourselves safe by your
   shifts: there are no evasions by which you can possibly hope to attain
   any thing; for God will at length uncover all your wickedness." In
   short, the Prophet here joins punishment with God's justice, or he
   points out by one word, a real (so to speak) or an effectual
   contention, by which the Lord not only reproves men in words, but also
   visits with judgment their sins.

   It follows, Because there is no truth, no kindness, no knowledge of
   God. The dispute, he said, was to be with the inhabitants of the land:
   by the inhabitants of the land, he means the whole body of the people;
   as though he said, "Not a few men have become corrupt, but all kinds of
   wickedness prevail everywhere." And for the same reason he adds, that
   there was no truth", etc. in the land; as though he said, "They who sin
   hide not themselves now in lurking-places; they seek no recesses, like
   those who are ashamed; but so much licentiousness is everywhere
   dominant, that the whole land is filled with the contempt of God and
   with crimes." This was a severe reproof to proud men. How much the
   Israelites flattered themselves, we know; it was therefore necessary
   for the Prophet to speak thus sharply to a refractory people; for a
   gentle and kind warning proves effectual only to the meek and
   teachable. When the world grows hardened against God, such a rigorous
   treatment as the words of the Prophet disclose must be used. Let those
   then, to whom is intrusted the charge of teaching, see that they do not
   gently warn men, when hardened in their vices; but let them follow this
   vehemence of the Prophet.

   We said at the beginning, that the Prophet had a good reason for being
   so warm in his indignation: he was not at the moment foolishly carried
   away by the heat of zeal; but he knew that he had to do with men so
   perverse, that they could not be handled in any other way. The Prophet
   now reproves not only one kind of evil, but brings together every sort
   of crimes; as though he said, that the Israelites were in every way
   corrupt and perverted. He says first, that there was among them no
   faithfulness, and no kindness. He speaks here of their contempt of the
   second table of the law; for by this the impiety of men is sooner found
   out, that is, when an examination is made of their life: for hypocrites
   vauntingly profess the name of God, and confidently (plenis buccis --
   with full cheeks) arrogate faith to themselves; and then they cover
   their vices with the external show of divine worship, and frigid acts
   of devotion: nay, the very thing mentioned by Jeremiah is too commonly
   the case, that

   `the house of God is made a den of thieves,'
   (Jeremiah 7:11.)

   Hence the Prophets, that they might drag the ungodly to the light,
   examine their conduct according to the duties of love: "Ye are right
   worshipers of God, ye are most holy; but in the meantime, where is
   truth, where is mutual faithfulness, where is kindness? If ye are not
   men, how can ye be angels? Ye are given to avarice, ye are perfidious,
   ye are cruel: what more can be said of you, except that each of you
   condemns all the rest before God, and that your life is also condemned
   by all?'

   By saying that truth or faithfulness was extinct, he makes them to be
   like foxes, who are ever deceitful: by saying that there was no
   kindness, he accuses them of cruelty, as though he said, that they were
   like lions and wild beasts. But the fountain of all these vices he
   points out in the third clause, when he says, that they had no
   knowledge of God: and the knowledge of God he takes for the fear of God
   which proceeds from the knowledge of him; as though he said, "In a
   word, men go on as licentiously, as if they did not think that there is
   a God in heaven, as if all religion was effaced from their hearts." For
   as long as any knowledge of God remains in us, it is like a bridle to
   restrain us: but when men become wanton, and allow themselves every
   liberty, it is certain that they have forgotten God, and that there is
   in them now no knowledge of God. Hence the complaints in the Psalms,

   `The ungodly have said in their heart, There is no God,'
   (Psalm 14:1:)

   `Impiety speaks in my heart, There is no God.' Men cannot run headlong
   into brutal stupidity, while a spark of the true knowledge of God
   shines or twinkles in their minds. We now then perceive the real
   meaning of the Prophet.

   But after having said that they were full of perfidiousness and
   cruelty, he adds, By cursing, and lying, and killing, etc., #L+H+, ale,
   means to swear: some explain it in this place as signifying to
   forswear; and others read the two together, #L+H+ W+K+X+Sh, ale
   ucachesh, to swear and lie, that is to deceive by swearing. But as
   #L+H+"alah" means often to curse, the Prophet here, I doubt not,
   condemns the practice of cursing, which was become frequent and common
   among the people.

   But he enumerates particulars in order more effectually to check the
   fierceness of the people; for the wicked, we know, do not easily bend
   their neck: they first murmur, then they clamour against wholesome
   instruction, and at last they rage with open fury, and break out into
   violence, when they cannot otherwise stop the progress of sound
   doctrine. How ever this may be, we see that they are not easily led to
   own their sins. This is the reason why the Prophet shows here, by
   stating particulars, in how many ways they provoked God's wrath: `Lo,'
   he says `cursings, lyings, murder, thefts, adulteries, abound among
   you.' And the Prophet seems here to allude to the precepts of the law;
   as though he said, "If any one compares your life with the law of God,
   he will find that you avowedly and designedly lead such a life, as
   proves that you fight against God, that you violate every part of his
   law."

   But it must be here observed, that he speaks not of such thieves or
   murderers as are led in our day to the gallows, or are otherwise
   punished. On the contrary, he calls them thieves and murderers and
   adulterers, who were in high esteem, and eminent in honor and wealth,
   and who, in short, were alone illustrious among the people of Israel:
   such did the Prophet brand with these disgraceful names, calling them
   murderers and thieves. So also does Isaiah speak of them, `Thy princes
   are robbers and companions of thieves,' (Isaiah 1:23.) And we already
   reminded you, that the Prophet addresses not his discourses to few men,
   but to the whole people; for all, from the least to the greatest, had
   fallen away.

   He afterwards says, They have broken out. The expression no doubt is to
   be taken metaphorically, as though he said, "There are now no bonds, no
   barriers." For the people so raged against God, that no modesty, no
   shame on account of the law, no religion, no fear, prevailed among
   them, or checked their intractable spirit. Hence they broke out. By the
   word, breaking out, the Prophet sets forth the furious wantonness seen
   in the reprobate; when freed from the fear of God, they abandon
   themselves to what is sinful, without any moderation, without any
   restraint.

   And to the same purpose he subjoins, Bloods are contiguous to bloods.
   By bloods he means all the worst crimes: and he says that bloods were
   close to bloods, because they joined crimes together, and as Isaiah
   says, that iniquity was as it were a train; so our Prophet says here,
   that such was the common liberty they took to sin, that wherever he
   turned his eyes, he could see no part free from wickedness. Then bloods
   are contiguous to bloods, that is, everywhere is seen the horrible
   spectacle of crimes. This is the meaning. It now follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:3

   3. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein
   shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of
   heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

   3. Propterea Ingebit (vel, succidetur; E+M+L+ enim utrunque significat)
   omnis habitans in ea, in bestia agri, in volucre coeli atque etaim
   piscibus maris collingentur omnes, vel, tollentur e medio.)


   The Prophet now expresses more clearly the dispute which he mentions in
   the first verse; and it now evidently appears, that it was not a
   judgment expressed in words, for God had in vain tried to bring the
   people to the right way by threats and reproofs: he had contended
   enough with then; they remained refractory; hence he adds, "Now mourn
   shall the whole land"; that is, God has now resolved to execute his
   judgment: there is therefore no use for you any more to contrive any
   evasion, as you have been hitherto wont to do; for God stretches forth
   his hand for your ultimate destruction. Mourn, therefore, shall the
   land, and cut off shall be every one that dwells in it, as I prefer to
   render it; unless the Prophet, it may be, means, that though God should
   for a time suspend the last judgment, yet the Israelites would gain
   nothing, seeing that they would, by continual languor, pine away. But
   as he mentions mourning in the first place, the former meaning, that
   God would destroy all the inhabitants, seems more appropriate. He adds,
   gathered shall they be all, or destroyed, (for either may suit the
   place,) from the beast of the field, and the bird of heaven, to the
   fishes of the sea. The Prophet here enlarges on the greatness of God's
   wrath; for he includes even the innocent beasts and the birds of
   heaven, yea, the fishes of the sea. When Godly vengeance extends to
   brute animals, what will become of men?

   But some one may here object and say, that it is unworthy of God to be
   angry with miserable creatures, which deserve no such treatment: for
   why should God be angry with fishes and beasts? But an answer may be
   easily given: As beasts, and birds, and fishes, and, in a word, all
   other things, have been created for the use of men, it is no wonder
   that God should extend the tokens of his curse to all creatures, above
   and below, when his purpose is to punish men. We seek, indeed, for the
   most part, some vain comforts to delight us, or to moderate our sorrows
   when God shows himself angry with us: but when God curses innocent
   animals for our sake, we then dread the more, except, indeed, we be
   under the influence of extreme stupor.

   We now then understand why God here denounces destruction on brute
   animals as well as on birds and fishes of the sea; it is, that men may
   know themselves to be deprived of all his gifts; as when a person, in
   order to expose a wicked man to shame, pulls down his house and burns
   his whole furniture: so also does God do, who has adorned the world
   with so much and such varied wealth for our sake, when he reduces all
   things to a waste: He thereby shows how grievously offended he is with
   us, and thus constrains us to become humble. This then is the Prophet's
   meaning.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that since we are at this day as guilty before
   thee as the Israelites of old were, who were so rebellious against thy
   Prophets, and that as thou hast often tried sweetly to allure us to
   thyself without any success, and as we have not hitherto ceased, by our
   continual obstinacy, to provoke thy wrath, -- O grant, that being moved
   at least by the warnings thou givest us, we may prostrate ourselves
   before thy face, and not wait until thou puttest forth thy hand to
   destroy us, but, on the contrary, strive to anticipate thy judgment;
   and that being at the same time surely convinced that thou art ready to
   be reconciled to us in Christ, we may flee to Him as our Mediator; and
   that relying on his intercession, we may not doubt but that thou art
   ready to give us pardon, until having at length put away all sins, we
   come to that blessed state of glory which has been obtained for us by
   the blood of thy Son. Amen.

     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Tenth
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:4

   4. Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as
   they that strive with the priest.

   4. Caeterum, vir no objurget et non corripiat virum: quia populus tuus
   tanquam objurgatores sacerdotis. [13]


   The Prophet here deplores the extreme wickedness of the people, that
   they would bear no admonitions, like those who, being past hope, reject
   every advice, admit no physicians, and dislike all remedies: and it is
   a proof of irreclaimable wickedness, when men close their ears and
   harden their hearts against all salutary counsels. Hence the Prophet
   intimates, that, together with their great and many corruptions, there
   was such waywardness, that no one dared to reprove the public vices.

   He adds this reason, For the people are as chiders of the priest, or,
   they really contend with the priest: for some take K+, caph, in this
   place, not as expressive of likeness, but as explaining and affirming
   what is said, `They altogether strive with the priest.' But I prefer
   the former sense, which is, that the Prophet calls all the people the
   censors of their pastors: and we see that froward men become thus
   insolent when they are reproved; for instantly such an objection as
   this is made by them, "Am I to be treated like a child? Have I not
   attained sufficient knowledge to understand how I ought to live?" We
   daily meet with many such men, who proudly boast of their knowledge, as
   though they were superior to all Prophets and teachers. And no doubt
   the ungodly make a show of wit and acuteness in opposing sound
   doctrine: and then it appears that they have learnt more than what one
   would have thought, -- for what end? only that they may contend with
   God.

   Let us now return to the Prophet's words. But, he says: #K%, ak is not
   to be taken here as in many places for "verily:" but it denotes
   exception, "In the meantime". But, or, in the meantime, let no one
   chide and reprove another. In a word, the Prophet complains, that while
   all kinds of wickedness abounded among the people, there was no liberty
   to teach and to admonish, but that all were so refractory, that they
   would not bear to hear the word; and that as soon as any one touched
   their vices, there were great doctors, as they say, ready to reply.

   And he enlarges on the subject by saying, that they were as chiders of
   the priest; for he declares, that they who, with impunity, conducted
   themselves so wantonly against God, were not yet content in being so
   wayward as to repel all reproofs, but also willfully rose up against
   their own teachers: and, as I have already said, common observation
   sufficiently proves, that all profane despisers of God are inflated
   with such confidence, that they dare to attack others. Some conjecture,
   in this instance, that the priest was so base, as to become liable to
   universal reprobation; but this conjecture is of no weight, and frigid:
   for the Prophet here did not draw his pen against a single individual,
   but, on the contrary, sharply reproved, as we have said, the
   perverseness of the people, that no one would hearken to a reprover.
   Let us then know that their diseases were then incurable, when the
   people became hardened against salutary counsels, and could not bear to
   be any more reproved. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [13] Amidst the variety of expositions given of this clause, the one
   adopted by Calvin, and substantially in our own version, is evidently
   the best. Newcome's version seems wide of the mark. Horsley's rendering
   agrees materially with our own: -- `For thy people are exactly like
   this: who will contend with the priest.'
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:5

   5. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall
   fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.

   5. Et corrues interdin et corruet etiam Propheta tecum nocte, et
   abolebo matrem tuam.


   The copulative is to be taken here for an illative, Fall, therefore,
   shalt thou. Here God denounces vengeance on refractory men; as though
   he said, "As ye pay no regard to my authority, when by words I reprove
   you, I will not now deal with you in this way; but I will visit you for
   this contempt of my word." And thus God is wont to do: he first tries
   men, or he makes the trial, whether they can be brought to repentance;
   he severely reproves them, and expostulates with them: but having tried
   all means by words, he then comes to the last remedy, by exercising his
   power; for, as it has been said, he deigns no longer to contend with
   men. Hence the Lord, when he saw that his Prophets were despised, and
   that their whole teaching was a matter of sport, determined, as it
   appears from this passage, that the people should shortly be destroyed.

   Some render H+J+W+M%, eium, to-day, and think that a short time is
   denoted: but as the Prophet immediately subjoins, And fall together
   shall the Prophet with thee", L+J+L+H+, lile, in the night, I explain
   it thus, -- that the people would be destroyed together, and then that
   the Prophets, even those who, in a great measure, brought such
   vengeance on the people, would be drawn also into the same ruin. Fall
   shalt thou then in the day, and fall in the night shall the Prophet,
   that is, "The same destruction shall at the same time include all: but
   if ruin should not immediately take away the Prophets, they shall not
   yet escape my hand; they shall follow in their turn." Hence the Prophet
   joins day and night together in a continued order; as though he said,
   "I will destroy them all from the first to the last, and no one shall
   rescue himself from punishment; and if they think that those shall be
   unpunished who shall be later led to vengeance, they are mistaken; for
   as the night follows the day, so also some will draw others after them
   into the same ruin." Yet at the same time the Prophet, I doubt not,
   means by this metaphor, the day, that tranquil and joyous time during
   which the people indulged their pride. He then means that the
   punishment he predicted would be sudden: for except the ungodly see the
   hand of God near, they ever, as it has been observed before, laugh to
   scorn all threatening. God then says that he would punish the people in
   the day, even at mid-day, while the sun was shining; and that when the
   dusk should come, the Prophets would also follow in their turn.

   It is evident enough that Hosea speaks not here of God's true and
   faithful ministers, but of impostors, who deceived the people by their
   blandishments, as it is usually the case: for as soon as any Prophet
   sincerely wished to discharge his office for God, there came forth
   flatterers before the public, -- "This man is too rigid, and makes a
   wrong use of God's name, by denouncing so grievous a punishment; we are
   God's people." Such, then, were the Prophets, we must remember, who are
   here referred to; for few were those who then faithfully discharged
   their office; and there was a great number of those who were indulgent
   to the people and to their vices.

   It is afterwards added, I will also consume thy mother. The term,
   mother, is to be taken here for the Church, on account of which the
   Israelites, we know, were wont to exult against God; as the Papists do
   at this day, who boast of their mother church, which, as they say, is
   their shield of Ajax. When any one points out their corruptions, they
   instantly flee to this protection, -- "What! Are we not the Church of
   God?" Hence when the Prophet saw that the Israelites made a wrong use
   of this falsely-assumed title, he said, `I will also destroy your
   mother,' that is, "This your boasting, and the dignity of Abraham's
   race, and the sacred name of Church, will not prevent God from taking
   dreadful vengeance on you all; for he will tear from the roots and
   abolish the very name of your mother; he will disperse that smoke of
   which you boast, inasmuch as you hide your crimes under the title of
   Church." It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:6

   6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast
   rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no
   priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will
   also forget thy children.

   6. Preriit (perierunt ad verbum: sed quia E+M% estnomen collectivum,
   ideo promiscuoe conjungitur utrique numero, populus meus absque
   scientia: quia tu scientiam repulisti, etiam rplellam te: ne sacerdotio
   fungaris mihi: et quia oblitus es legis Dei tui, obliviscar filiorum
   tuorum ego quoque.


   Here the Prophet distinctly touches on the idleness of the priests,
   whom the Lord, as it is well known, had set over the people. For though
   it could not have availed to excuse the people, or to extenuate their
   fault, that the priests were idle; yet the Prophet justly inveighs
   against them for not having performed the duty allotted to them by God.
   But what is said applies not to the priests only; for God, at the same
   time, indirectly blames the voluntary blindness of the people. For how
   came it, that pure instruction prevailed not among the Israelites,
   except that the people especially wished that it should not? Their
   ignorance, then, as they say, was gross; as is the case with many
   ungodly men at this day, who not only love darkness, but also draw it
   around them on every side, that they may have some excuse for their
   ignorance.

   God then does here, in the first place, attack the priests, but he
   includes also the whole people; for teaching prevailed not, as it ought
   to have done, among them. The Lord also reproaches the Israelites for
   their ingratitude; for he had kindled among them the light of celestial
   wisdom; inasmuch as the law, as it is well known, must have been
   sufficient to direct men in the right way. It was then as though God
   himself did shine forth from heaven, when he gave them his law. How,
   then, did the Israelites perish through ignorance? Even because they
   closed their eyes against the celestial light, because they deigned not
   to become teachable, so as to learn the wisdom of the eternal Father.
   We hence see that the guilt of the people, as it has been said, is not
   here extenuated, but that God, on the contrary, complains, that they
   had malignantly suppressed the teaching of the law: for the law was fit
   to guide them. The people perished without knowledge, because they
   would perish.

   But the Prophet denounces vengeance on the priests, as well as on the
   whole people, Because knowledge hast thou rejected, he says, I also
   will thee reject, so that the priesthood thou shalt not discharge for
   me. This is specifically addressed to the priests: the Lord accuses
   them of having rejected knowledge. But knowledge, as Malachi says, was
   to be sought from their lips, (Malachi 2:7) and Moses also touches on
   the same point in Deuteronomy 33:10. It was then an extreme wickedness
   in the priests, as though they wished to subvert God's sacred order,
   when they sought the honor and the dignity of the office without the
   office itself: and such is the case with the Papists of the present
   day; they are satisfied with its dignity and its wealth. Mitred bishops
   are prelates, are chief priests; they vauntingly boast that they are
   the heads of the Church, and would be deemed equal with the Apostles:
   at the same time, who of them attends to his office? nay, they think
   that it would be in a manner a disgrace to give attention to their
   office and to God's call.

   We now then see what the Prophet meant by saying, Because thou hast
   knowledge rejected, I also will thee reject, so that thou shalt not
   discharge for me the priesthood. In a word, he shows that the divorce,
   which the priests attempted to make, was absurd, and contrary to the
   nature of things, that it was monstrous, and in short impossible. Why?
   Because they wished to retain the title and its wealth, they wished to
   be deemed prelates of the Church, without knowledge: God allows not
   things joined together by a sacred knot to be thus torn asunder. "Dost
   thou then," he says, "take to thyself the office without knowledge?
   Nay, as thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also take to myself the
   honor of the priesthood, which I previously conferred on thee."

   This is a remarkable passage, and by it we can check the furious
   boasting of the Papists, when they haughtily force upon us their
   hierarchy and the order, as they call it, of their clergy, that is, of
   their corrupt dregs: for God declares by his word, that it is
   impossible that there should be any priest without knowledge. And
   further, he would not have priests to be endued with knowledge only,
   and to be as it were mute; for he would have the treasure deposited
   with them to be communicated to the whole Church. God then, in speaking
   of sacerdotal knowledge, includes also preaching. Though one indeed be
   a literate, as there have been some in our age among the bishops and
   cardinals, -- though then there be such he is not yet to be classed
   among the learned; for, as it has been said, sacerdotal learning is the
   treasure of the whole Church. When therefore a boast is made of the
   priesthood, with no regard to the ministration of the word, it is a
   mere mockery; for teacher and priest are, as they say, almost
   convertible terms. We now perceive the meaning of the first clause.

   It then follows, Because thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will
   also forget thy children. Some confine this latter clause to the
   priests, and think that it forms a part of the same context: but when
   any one weighs more fully the Prophet's words, he will find that this
   refers to the body of the people.

   This Prophet is in his sentences often concise, and so his transitions
   are various and obscure: now he speaks in his own person, then he
   assumes the person of God; now he turns his discourse to the people,
   then he speaks in the third person; now he reproves the priests, then
   immediately he addresses the whole people. There seemed to be first a
   common denunciation, `Thou shalt fall in the day, the Prophet in the
   night shall follow, and your mother shall perish.' The Prophet now, I
   doubt not, confirms the same judgment in other words: and, in the first
   place, he advances this proposition, that the priests were idle, and
   that the people quenched the light of celestial instruction; afterwards
   he denounces on the priests the judgment they deserved, `I will cast
   thee away,' he says, `from the priesthood;' now he comes to all the
   Israelites, and says, Thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will
   also forget thy children. Now this fault was doubtless what belonged to
   the whole people; there was no one exempt from this sin; and this
   forgetfulness was fitly ascribed to the whole people. For how it
   happened, that the priests had carelessly shaken off from their
   shoulders the burden of teaching the people? Even because the people
   were unwilling to have their ears annoyed: for the ungodly complain
   that God's servants are troublesome, when they daily cry against their
   vices. Hence the people gladly entered into a truce with their
   teachers, that they might not perform their office: thus the oblivion
   of God's law crept in.

   As then the Prophet had denounced on the priests their punishment, so
   he now assures the whole people that God would bring a dreadful
   judgment on them all, that he would even blot out the whole race of
   Abraham, I will forget, he says, thy children. Why was this? The Lord
   had made a covenant with Abraham, which was to continue, and to be
   confirmed to his posterity: they departed from the true faith, they
   became spurious children; then God rightly testifies here, that he had
   a just cause why he should no longer count this degenerate people among
   the children of Abraham. How so? "For ye have forgotten my law," he
   says: "had you remembered the law, I would also have kept my covenant
   with you: but I will no more remember my covenant, for you have
   violated it. Your children, therefore, deserve not to be under finch a
   covenant, inasmuch as ye are such a people." It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:7

   7. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I
   change their glory into shame.

   7. Secundum multiplicari eorum, sic peccaverunt mihi: gloriam eorum in
   ignominiam mutabo.


   Here the Prophet amplifies the wickedness and impiety of the people, by
   adding this circumstance, that they the more perversely wantoned
   against God, the more bountiful he was to them, yea, when he poured
   upon them riches in full exuberance. Such a complaint we have before
   noticed: but the Prophets, we know, did not speak only once of the same
   thing; when they saw that they effected nothing, that the contempt of
   God still prevailed, they found it necessary to repeat often what they
   had previously said. Here then the Prophet accuses the Israelites of
   having shamefully abused the indulgence of God, of having allowed
   themselves greater liberty in sinning, when God so kindly and liberally
   dealt with them.

   Some confine this to the priests, and think the meaning to be, that
   they sinned more against God since he increased the Levitical tribe and
   added to their wealth: but the Prophet, I doubt not, meant to include
   the whole people. He, indeed, in the last verse, separated the crimes
   of the priests from those of the people, though in the beginning he
   advanced a general propositions: he now returns to that statement,
   which is, that all, from the highest to the lowest, acted impiously and
   wickedly against God. Now we know that the Israelites had increased in
   number as well as in wealth; for they were prosperous, as it has been
   stated, under the second Jeroboam; and thought themselves then
   extremely happy, because they were filled with every abundance. Hence
   God shows now that they had become worse and less excusable, for they
   were grown thus wanton, like a horse well-fed, when he kicks against
   his own master, -- a comparison which even Moses uses in his song,
   (Deuteronomy 32:15.) We now see what the Prophet means. Hence, when he
   says K+R+W+B+M%, carubem, according to their multiplying, I explain
   this not simply of men nor of wealth, but of every kind of blessing:
   for the Lord here, in a word, accuses the people of ingratitude,
   because the more kind and liberal he was to them, the more obstinately
   bent they were on sinning.

   He afterwards subjoins, Their glory will I turn to shame. He here
   denounces God's judgment on proud men, which they feared not: for men,
   we know, are blinded by prosperity. And it is the worst kind of
   drunkenness, when we seem to ourselves to be happy; for then we allow
   ourselves every thing that is contrary to God, and are deaf to all
   instruction, and are, in short, wholly intractable. But the Prophet
   says, I will commute this glory into shame, which means, "There is no
   reason for them to trust in themselves, and foolishly to impose on
   themselves, by fixing their eyes on their present splendor; for it is
   in my power," the Lord says, "to change their glory." We then see that
   the Prophet meant here to shake off from the Israelites their vain
   confidence; for they were wont to set up against God their riches,
   their glory, their power, their horses and chariots. "This is your
   glorying; but in my hand and power is adversity and prosperity; yea,"
   the Lord says, "on me alone depends the changing of glory into shame."
   But at the same time, the Prophet intimates, that it could not be that
   God would thus prostitute his blessings to unworthy men as to swine:
   for it is a kind of profanation, when men are thus proud against God,
   while he bears with them, while he spares them. This combination then
   applies to all who abuse God's kindness; for the Lord intends not that
   his favor should be thus profaned. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:8

   8. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their
   iniquity.

   8. Peccatum populi mei comedent et ad iniquitatem eorum tollent animam
   ejus, (ad verbum, levabunt animam ejus.)


   This verse has given occasion to many interpreters to think that all
   the particulars we have noticed ought to be restricted to the priests
   alone: but there is no sufficient reason for this. We have already
   said, that the Prophet is wont frequently to pass from the people to
   the priests: but as a heavier guilt belonged to the priests, he very
   often inveighs against them, as he does in this place, They eat, he
   says, the sin of my people, and lift up to their iniquity his soul,
   that is, `every one lifts up his own soul,' or, `they lift up the soul
   of the sinner by iniquity;' for the pronoun applies to the priests as
   well as to the people. The number is changed: for he says,J+#K+L+W+,
   iacalu and J+Sh#W+ ishau, [14] in the plural number, They will eat the
   sin, and will lift up, etc., in the third person; and then his soul it
   may be, their own; it is, however, a pronoun in the singular number:
   hence a change of number is necessary. We are then at liberty to choose
   [15] , whether the Prophet says this of the people or of the priests:
   and as we have said, it may apply to both, but in a different sense.

   We may understand him as saying, that the priests lifted up their souls
   to the iniquity of the people, because they anxiously wished the people
   to be given to many vices, for they hoped thereby to gain much prey, as
   the case is, when any one expects a reward from robbers: he is glad to
   hear that they become rich, for he considers their riches to be for his
   gain. So it was with the priests, who gaped for lucre; they thought
   that they were going on well, when the people brought many sacrifices.
   And this is usually the case, when the doctrine of the law is
   adulterated, and when the ungodly think that this alone remains for
   them, -- to satisfy God with sacrifices, and similar expiations. Then,
   if we apply the passage to the priests, the lifting up of the soul is
   the lust for gain. But if we prefer to apply the words to sinners
   themselves, the sense is, `Upon their iniquity they lift up their
   soul,' that is, the guilty raise up themselves by false comforts, and
   extenuate their vices; or, by their own flatteries, bury and entirely
   smother every remnant of God's fear. Then, according to this second
   sense, to lift up the soul is to deceive, and to take away all doubts
   by vain comforts, or to remove every sorrow, and to erase every guilt
   by a false notion.

   I come now to the meaning of the whole. Though the Prophet here accuses
   the priests, yet he involves, no doubt, the whole people, and
   deservedly, in the same guilt: for how was it that the priests expected
   gain from sacrifices? Even because the doctrine of the law was
   subverted. God had instituted sacrifices for this end, that whosoever
   sinned, being reminded of his guilt, might mourn for his sin, and
   further, that by witnessing that sad spectacle, his conscience might be
   more wounded: when he saw the innocent animal slain at the altar, he
   ought to have dreaded God's judgment. Besides, God also intended to
   exercise the faith of all, in order that they might flee to the
   expiation which was to be made by the promised Mediator. And at the
   same time, the penalty which God then laid on sinners, ought to have
   been as a bridle to restrain them. In a word, the sacrifices had, in
   every way, this as their object, -- to keep the people from being so
   ready or so prone to sin. But what did the ungodly do? They even mocked
   God, and thought that they had fully done their duty, when they offered
   an ox or a lamb; and afterwards they freely indulged themselves in
   their sins.

   So gross a folly has been even laughed to scorn by heathen writers.
   Even Plato has so spoken of such sacrifices, as to show that those who
   would by such trifles make a bargain with God, are altogether ungodly:
   and certainly he so speaks in his second book on the Commonwealth, as
   though he meant to describe the Papacy. For he speaks of purgatory, he
   speaks of satisfactions; and every thing the Papists of this day bring
   forward, Plato in that book distinctly sets forth as being altogether
   sottish and absurd. But yet in all ages this assurance has prevailed,
   that men have thought themselves delivered from God's hand, when they
   offered some sacrifice: it is, as they imagine, a compensation.

   Hence the Prophet now complains of this perversion, They eat, he says,
   (for he speaks of a continued act,) the sins of my people, and [6]to
   iniquity they lift up the heart of each; that is, When all sin, one
   after the other, each one is readily absolved, because he brings a gift
   to the priests. It is the same thing as though the Prophet said, "There
   is a collusion between them, between the priests and the people." How
   so? Because the priests were the associates of robbers, and gladly
   seized on what was brought: and so they carried on no war, as they
   ought to have done, with vices, but on the contrary urged only the
   necessity of sacrifices: and it was enough, if men brought things
   plentifully to the temple. The people also themselves showed their
   contempt of God; for they imagined, that provided they made
   satisfaction by their ceremonial performances, they would be exempt
   from punishment. Thus then there was an ungodly compact between the
   priests and the people: the Lord was mocked in the midst of them. We
   now then understand the real meaning of the Prophet: and thus I prefer
   the latter exposition as to `the lifting up of the soul,' which is,
   that the priests lifted up the soul of each, by relieving their
   consciences, by soothing words of flattery, and by promising life, as
   Ezekiel says, to souls doomed to die, (Ezekiel 13:19.) It now follows
   --

     __________________________________________________________________

   [14] These verbs are in the future tense; but the future in Hebrew is
   often used, as Calvin says in another place, to express a continued
   act, or an habitual practice.

   [15] This choice can hardly be conceded. `People,' in Hebrew, is in the
   singular number, and the pronouns referring to people are commonly put
   in the same number; but not so in our language. `His' here evidently
   belongs to the people, and not to the priests, and ought to be rendered
   `their,' as in our version. The verse literally translated is as
   follows, only the future is taken for the present tense: -- `The sin of
   my people they eat,
   And to their (own) iniquity they raise up their heart.' To render
   `sin,' as Newcome and Horsley do, `sin-offerings,' is to destroy the
   whole force of the passage, that through the superstition of the people
   they gained their living. And `iniquity' means, no doubt, idolatry, to
   which the priests raised up the people's heart, or attached them. --Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:9-10

   9. And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them
   for their ways, and reward them their doings.

   9. Et erit, sicut populus sic erit sacerdos: et visitabo super eum vias
   ejus et opera ejus rependam ci.

   10. For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit
   whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take
   heed to the LORD.

   10. Comedent enim et non saturabuntur, scortabuntur et non augescent
   (vel, crescent, id est,


   The Prophet here again denounces on both a common punishment, as
   neither was free from guilt. As the people, he says, so shall be the
   priest; that is "I will spare neither the one nor the other; for the
   priest has abused the honor conferred on him; for though divinely
   appointed over the Church for this purpose, to preserve the people in
   piety and holy life, he has yet broken through and violated every right
   principle: and then the people themselves wished to have such teachers,
   that is, such as were mute. I will therefore now" the Lord says,
   "inflict punishment on them all alike. As the people then, so shall the
   priest be."

   Some go farther, and say, that it means that God would rob the priests
   of their honor, that they might differ nothing from the people; which
   is indeed true: but then they think that the Prophet threatens not
   others as well as the priests; which is not true. For though God, when
   he punishes the priests and the people for the contempt of his law,
   blots out the honor of the priesthood, and so abolishes it as to
   produce an equality between the great and the despised; yet the Prophet
   declares here, no doubt, that God would become the vindicator of his
   law against other sinners as well as against the priests. This subject
   expands wider than what they mean. The rest we must defer till
   to-morrow.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that, since thou hast hitherto so kindly invited
   us to thyself, and daily invites us, and often interposes also thy
   threatening to rouse our inattention, and since we have been
   inattentive to thy reproofs, as well as to thy paternal kindness, -- O
   grant, that we may not, to the last, proceed in this our wickedness,
   and thus provoke the vengeance thou here denounces on men past
   recovery; but that we may anticipate thy wrath by true repentance, and
   be humbled under thy hand, yea, be thy word, that thou mayest receive
   us into favor, and nourish us in thy paternal bosom, through Christ our
   Lord. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Eleventh

   One thing escaped me in yesterday's lecture, on which I shall now
   briefly touch. It may be asked why the Prophet says, that the priest
   was to be robbed of his honour, who was not a true nor a legitimate
   priest; for there was among the Israelites, we know, no temple in which
   God was rightly worshipped. For though it was customary with them to
   profess the name of the true God, yet we are aware that all their
   pretenses were vain. Since the lord had chosen one sanctuary only at
   Jerusalem, it hence follows, that all the priests among the people of
   Israel were false. It could not then be that God had taken from them
   their honor. But it is nothing new for God to punish the ungodly, by
   taking from them what they seem to possess.

   The case is the same this day as to the Papacy; for they who vaunt
   themselves as being clergy and priests are mere apes: (merae larvae)
   as, however, they retain the title, what the Prophet threatened to the
   false priests of his age may be justly said to them, that their shame
   shall be made manifest, so that they shall cease to boast of their
   dignity, by which they now deceive the simple and ignorant.

   We now then understand the Prophet's meaning: his meaning is the same
   as when he said before, "I will draw thee to the desert, and then the
   ephod shall cease, and the seraphim shall cease." There was, we know,
   no ephod which the Lord approved, except that alone which the
   legitimate priest did wear: but as there was emulation between the
   Israelites and the Jews, and as they who had departed from the true and
   pure worship of God, did yet boast that they worshipped the God of
   Abraham, the Lord here declares, that he would not suffer them to lurk
   under such masks.

   I now return to that passage of the Prophet, in which he says, They
   shall eat and shall not be satisfied, and again, They shall play the
   wanton and shall not increase; because Jehovah have they left off to
   attend to. The Prophet here again proclaims the judgment which was nigh
   the Israelites. And first, he says, They shall eat and shall not be
   satisfied; in which he alludes to the last verse. For the priests gaped
   for gain, and their only care was to satisfy their appetites. Since
   then their cupidity was insatiable, which was also the cause why they
   conceded sinful liberty to the people, he now says, They shall eat and
   shall not be satisfied. The Prophet intimates further by these words,
   that men are not sustained by plenty or abundance of provisions, but
   rather by the blessing of God: for a person may devour much, yet the
   quantity, however large, may not satisfy him; and this we find to be
   often the case as to a voracious appetite; for in such an instance, the
   staff of bread is broken, that is, the Lord takes away support from
   bread, so that much eating does not satisfy. And this is the Prophet's
   meaning, when he says, They shall eat and shall not be satisfied The
   priests thought it a happy time with them, when they gathered great
   booty from every quarter; God on the contrary declares, that it would
   be empty and useless to them; for no satisfying effect would follow:
   however much they might greedily swallow up, they would not yet be
   satisfied.

   He afterwards adds, They shall play the wanton and shall not increase;
   that is, "However much they might give the reins to promiscuous lusts,
   I will not yet suffer them to propagate: so far shall they be from
   increasing or generating an offspring by lawful marriages, that were
   they everywhere to indulge in illicit intercourse, they would still
   continue barren." The Prophet here, in a word, testifies that the
   ungodly are deceived, when they think that they can obtain their wishes
   by wicked and unlawful means; for the Lord will frustrate their
   desires. The avaricious think, when they have much, that they are
   sufficiently defended against all want; and when penury presses on all
   others, they think themselves beyond the reach of danger. But the Lord
   derides this folly: "Gather, gather great heaps; but I will blow on
   your riches, that they may vanish, or at least yield you no advantage.
   So also strive to beget children; though one may marry ten wives, or
   everywhere play the wanton, he shall still remain childless." Thus we
   see that a just punishment is inflicted on profane men, when they
   indulge their own lusts: they indeed promise to themselves a happy
   issue; but God, on the other hand, pronounces upon them his curse.

   He then adds, They have left Jehovah to attend, that is that they may
   not attend or serve him. Here the Prophet points out the source and the
   chief cause of all evils, and that is, because the Israelites had
   forsaken the true God and his worship. Though they indeed retained the
   name of God, and were wont, even boldly, to set up this plea against
   the Prophets, that they were the children of Abraham, and the chosen of
   the supreme God, he yet says that they were apostates. How so? Because
   whosoever keeps faith with God, keeps himself also under the tuition of
   his word, and wanders not after his own inventions; but the Israelites
   indulged themselves in any thing they pleased. Since then it is certain
   that they had shaken off the yoke of the law, it is no wonder that the
   Prophet says, that they had departed from the Lord. But we ought to
   notice the confirmation of this truth, that no one can continue to keep
   faith with God, except he observes his word and remains under its
   tuition. Let us now proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:11

   11. Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

   11. Scortatio et vinum et mustum auterent cor (alli verunt, occupant
   cor.)


   The verb L+Q+X+ lakech, means to take away; and this sense is also
   admissible that wine and wantonness take possession of the heart; but I
   take its simpler meaning, to take away. But it is not a general truth
   as most imagine, who regard it a proverbial saying, that wantonness and
   wine deprive men of their right mind and understanding: on the
   contrary, it is to be restricted, I doubt not, to the Israelites; as
   though the Prophet had said, that they were without a right mind, and
   like brute animals, because drunkenness and fornication had infatuated
   or fascinated them. But we may take both in a metaphorical sense; as
   fornication may be superstition, and so also drunkenness: yet it seems
   more suitable to the context to consider, that the Prophet here
   reproaches the Israelites for having petulantly cast aside every
   instruction through being too much given to their pleasures and too
   much cloyed. Since then the Israelites had been enriched with great
   plenty, God had given way to abominable indulgences, the Prophet says,
   that they were without sense: and this is commonly the case with such
   men. I will not therefore treat here more at large of drunkenness and
   fornication.

   It is indeed true, that when any one becomes addicted to wantonness, he
   loses both modesty and a right mind, and also that wine is as it were
   poisonous, for it is, as one has said, a mixed poison: and the earth,
   when it sees its own blood drank up intemperately, takes its revenge on
   men. These things are true; but let us see what the Prophet meant.

   Now, as I have said, he simply directs his discourse to the Israelites,
   and says, that they were sottish and senseless, because the Lord had
   dealt too liberally with them. For, as I have said, the kingdom of
   Israel was then very opulent, and full of all kinds of luxury. The
   Prophet then touches now distinctly on this very thing: "How comes it
   that ye are now so senseless, that there is not a particle of right
   understanding among you? Even because ye are given to excesses, because
   there is among you too large an abundance of all good things: hence it
   is, that all indulge their own lusts; and these take away your heart."
   In short, God means here that the Israelites abused his blessings, and
   that excesses blinded them. This is the meaning. Let us now go on --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:12

   12. My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth
   unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and
   they have gone a whoring from under their God.

   12. Populus meus in ligno suo interrogat (vel, lignum suum sonsulit) et
   baculus ejus respondit ei (ad verbum, respondebit; sed significat actum
   continuum:)quia spiritus fornicationum decepit, et fornicati sunt a Deo
   suo (a subtus Deo suo, hoc est, ne amplius subjecti sint Deo vel
   pareant.)


   The Prophet calls here the Israelites the people of God, not to honor
   them, but rather to increase their sin; for the more heinous was the
   perfidy of the people, that having been chosen, they had afterwards
   forsaken their heavenly Father. Hence My people: there is here an
   implied comparison between all other nations and the seed of Abraham,
   whom God had adopted; "This is, forsooth! the people whom I designed to
   be sacred to myself, whom of all nations in the world I have taken to
   myself: they are my heritage. Now this people, who ought to be mine,
   consult their own wood, and their staff answers them!" We hence see
   that it was a grievous and severe reprobation when the Lord reminded
   them of the invaluable kindness with which he had favored the children
   of Abraham.

   So at this day our guilt will be more grievous, if we continue not in
   the pure worship of God, since God has called us to himself and
   designed us to be his peculiar flock. The same thing that the Prophet
   brought against the Israelites may be also brought against the Papists;
   for as soon as infants are born among them, the Lord signs them with
   the sacred symbol of baptism; they are therefore in some sense (aliqua
   ex parte) the people of God. We see, at the same time, how gross and
   abominable are the superstitions which prevail among them: there are
   none more stupid than they are. Even the Turks and the Saracenes are
   wise when compared with them. How great, then, and how shameful is this
   baseness, that the Papists, who boast themselves to be the people of
   God, should go astray after their own mad follies!

   But the Prophet says the Israelites "consulted" their own wood, or
   inquired of wood. He no doubt accuses them here of having transferred
   the glory of the only true God to their own idols, or fictitious gods.
   They consult, he says, their own wood, and the staff answers them. He
   seems, in the second clauses to allude to the blind: as when a blind
   man asks his staff, so he says the Israelites asked counsel of their
   wood and staff. Some think that superstitions then practiced are here
   pointed out. The augurs we know used a staff; and it is probable that
   diviners in the East employed also a staff, or some such thing, in
   performing their incantations. [16] Others explain these words
   allegorically, as though wood was false religion, and staff the ungodly
   prophets. But I am inclined to hold to simplicity. It then seems to me
   more probable, that the Israelites, as I have already stated, are here
   condemned for consulting wood or dead idols, instead of the only true
   God; and that it was the same thing as if a blind man was to ask
   counsel of his staff, though the staff be without any reason or sense.
   A staff is indeed useful, but for a different purpose. And thus the
   Prophet not only contemptuously, but also ironically, exposes to scorn
   the folly of those who consult their gods of wood and stone; for to do
   so will no more avail them than if one had a staff for his counselor.

   He then subjoins, for the spirit of fornication has deceived them Here
   again the Prophet aggravates their guilt, inasmuch as no common blame
   was to be ascribed to the Israelites; for they were, he says, wholly
   given to fornication The spirit, then, of fornication deceived them: it
   was the same as if one inflamed with lust ran headlong into evil; as we
   see to be the case with brutal men when carried away by a blind and
   shameful passion; for then every distinction between right and wrong
   disappears from their eyes -- no choice is made, no shame is felt. As
   then such heat of lust is wont sometimes to seize men, that they
   distinguish nothing, so the Prophet says with the view of shaming the
   people the more, that they were like those given to fornication, who no
   longer exercise any judgment, who are restrained by no shame. The
   spirit, then, of fornication has deceived them: but as this similitude
   often meets us, I shall not dwell upon it.

   They have played the wanton, he says, that they may not obey the Lord.
   He does not say simply, `from their God,' but `from under' M+T+X+T+,
   metachet, They have then played the wanton, that they might no more
   obey God, or continue under his government. We may hence learn what is
   our spiritual chastity, even when God rules us by his word, when we go
   not here and there and rashly follow our own superstitions. When we
   abide then under the government of our God, and with fixed eyes look on
   him, then we chastely preserve our faithfulness to him. But when we
   follow idols, we then play the wanton and depart from God. Let us now
   proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [16] This was probably similar to divination by arrows, mentioned in
   Ezekiel 21:21. There is a practice of this kind still among the Arabs,
   as Adam Clarke mentions in his comment on this verse. They take three
   arrows without head, and write onone, Command me, Lord; on the other,
   Forbid me, Lord; and the third is left a blank. These are put in a bag,
   and one is drawn. If the first is drawn, they do what they intend; if
   the second, they abstain for a year; if the third, they draw again. --
   Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:13-14

   13. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense
   upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow
   thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and
   your spouses shall commit adultery.

   13. Super capita montium sacrificabunt (id est, sacrificant) et super
   colles adolent suffitum, sub quercu et sub plantano et sub tilia (alii
   #L+H+ vertunt, Terebinthum: sed eho non laboro,) quia bona umbra ejus:
   propterea filiae vestrae scortabuntur, et nurus vestra adulterae erunt.

   14. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor
   your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated
   with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that
   doth not understand shall fall.

   14. Non visitabo super filias vestras, quia scortatae sint, et super
   nurus vestra, quia adulteria commiserint: nam ipsi cum meretricibus
   dividunt se (separant se cum meretricibus,) et cum scortis sacrificant:
   et populus non intelligens (non intelligit, ad verbum; sed debet verti,
   Populus qui non intelligit) corruet (alii vertunt, erit perversus,
   L+B+Tj.)


   The Prophet shows here more clearly what was the fornication for which
   he had before condemned the people, -- that they worshipped God under
   trees and on high places. This then is explanatory, for the Prophet
   defines what he before understood by the word, fornication; and this
   explanation was especially useful, nay, necessary. For men, we know,
   will not easily give way, particularly when they can adduce some color
   for their sins, as is the case with the superstitious: when the Lord
   condemns their perverted and vicious modes of worship, they instantly
   cry out, and boldly contend and say, "What! is this to be counted
   fornication, when we worship God?" For whatever they do from
   inconsiderate zeal is, they think, free from every blame. So the
   Papists of this day fix it as a matter beyond dispute that all their
   modes of worship are approved by God: for though nothing is grounded on
   his word, yet good intention (as they say) is to them more than a
   sufficient excuse. Hence they dare proudly to clamour against God,
   whenever he condemns their corruptions and abuses. Such presumption has
   doubtless prevailed from the beginning.

   The Prophet, therefore, deemed it needful openly and distinctly to show
   to the Israelites, that though they thought themselves to be
   worshipping God with pious zeal and good intention, they were yet
   committing fornication. "It is fornication," he says, "when ye
   sacrifice under trees." "What! has it not ever been a commendable
   service to offer sacrifices and to burn incense to God?" Such being the
   design of the Israelites, what was the reason that God was so angry
   with them? We may suppose them to have fallen into a mistake; yet why
   did not God bear with this foolish intention, when it was covered, as
   it has been stated, with honest and specious zeal? But God here sharply
   reproves the Israelites, however much they pretended a great zeal, and
   however much they covered their superstitions with the false title of
   God's worship: "It is nothing else," he says, "but fornication."

   On tops of mountains, he says, they sacrifice, and on hills they burn
   incense, under the oak and the poplar and the teil-tree, etc. It seemed
   apparently a laudable thing in the Israelites to build altars in many
   places; for frequent attendance at the temples might have stirred them
   up the more in God's worship. Such is the plea of the Papists for
   filling their temples with pictures; they say, "We are everywhere
   reminded of God wherever we turn our eyes; and this is very
   profitable." So also it might have seemed to the Israelites a pious
   work, to set up God's worship on hills and on tops of mountains and
   under every tall tree. But God repudiated the whole; he would not be in
   this manner worshipped: nay, we see that he was grievously displeased.
   He says, that the faith pledged to him was thus violated; he says, that
   the people basely committed fornication. Though the Prophet's doctrine
   is at this day by no means plausible in the world, so that hardly one
   in ten embraces it; we shall yet contend in vain with the Spirit of
   God: nothing then is better than to hear our judge; and he pronounces
   all fictitious modes of worship, however much adorned by a specious
   guise, to be adulteries and whoredoms.

   And we hence learn that good intention, with which the Papists so much
   please themselves, is the mother of all wantonness and of all
   filthiness. How so? Because it is a high offense against heaven to
   depart from the word of the Lord: for God had commanded sacrifices and
   incense to be nowhere offered to him but at Jerusalem. The Israelites
   transgressed this command. But obedience to God, as it is said in 1
   Samuel 15, [17] is of more value with him than all sacrifices.

   The Prophet also distinctly excludes a device in which the ungodly and
   hypocrites take great delight: good, he says, was its shade; that is,
   they pleased themselves with such devices. So Paul says that there is a
   show of wisdom in the inventions and ordinances of men, (Colossians
   2:23.) Hence, when men undertake voluntary acts of worship, -- which
   the Greeks call ethelothreskeias superstitions, being nothing else than
   will-worship, -- when men undertake this or that to do honor to God,
   there appears to them a show of wisdom, but before God it is
   abomination only. At this practice the Prophet evidently glances, when
   he says that the shade of the poplar, or of the oak, or of teil-tree,
   was good; for the ungodly and the hypocrites imagined their worship to
   be approved of God, and that they surpassed the Jews, who worshipped
   God only in one place: "Our land is full of altars, and memorials of
   God present themselves everywhere." But when they thought that they had
   gained the highest glory by their many altars, the Prophet says, that
   the shade indeed was good, but that it only pleased wantons, who would
   not acknowledge their baseness.

   He afterwards adds, Therefore your daughters shall play the wanton, and
   your daughters-in-law shall become adulteresses: I will not visit your
   daughters and daughters-in-law Some explain this passage as though the
   Prophet said, "While the parents were absent, their daughters and
   daughters-in-law played the wanton." The case is the same at this day;
   for there is no greater liberty in licentiousness than what prevails
   during vowed pilgrimages: for when any one wishes to indulge freely in
   wantonness, she makes a vow to undertake a pilgrimage: an adulterer is
   ready at hand who offers himself a companion. And again, when the
   husband is so foolish as to run here and there, he at the same time
   gives to his wife the opportunity of being licentious. And we know
   further, that when many women meet at unusual hours in churches, and
   have their private masses, there are there hidden corners, where they
   perpetrate all kinds of licentiousness. We know, indeed, that this is
   very common. But the Prophet's meaning is another: for God here
   denounces the punishment of which Paul speaks in the Romans [18] when
   he says, `As men have transferred the glory of God to dead things, so
   God also gave them up to a reprobate mind,' that they might discern
   nothing, and abandon themselves to every thing shameful, and even
   prostitute their own bodies.

   Let us then know, that when just and due honor is not rendered to God,
   this vengeance deservedly follows, that men become covered with infamy.
   Why so? Because nothing is more equitable than that God should
   vindicate his own glory, when men corrupt and adulterate it: for why
   should then any honor remain to them? And why, on the contrary, should
   not God sink them at once in some extreme baseness? Let us then know,
   that this is a just punishment, when adulteries prevail, and when
   vagrant lusts promiscuously follow.

   He then who worships not God, shall have at home an adulterous wife,
   and filthy strumpets as his daughters, boldly playing the wanton, and
   he shall have also adulterous daughters-in-law: not that the Prophet
   speaks only of what would take place; but he shows that such would be
   the vengeance that God would take: `Your daughters therefore shall play
   the wanton, and your daughters-in-law shall be adulteresses;' and I
   will not punish your daughters and your daughters-in-law; that is, "I
   will not correct them for their scandalous conduct; for I wish them to
   be exposed to infamy." For this truth must ever stand firm,

   `Him who honors me, I will honor: and him who despises my name, I will
   make contemptible and ignominious,'
   (1 Samuel 2:30.)

   God then declares that he will not visit these crimes, because he
   designed in this way to punish the ungodly, by whom his own worship had
   been corrupted.

   He says, Because they with strumpets separate themselves. Some explain
   this verb P+D+R+, pered, as meaning, "They divide husbands from their
   wives:" but the Prophet, no doubt, means, that they separated
   themselves from God, in the same manner as a wife does, when she leaves
   her husband and gives herself up to an adulterer. The Prophet then uses
   the word allegorically, or at least metaphorically: and a reason is
   given, which they do not understand who take this passage as referring
   literally to adulteries; and their mistake is sufficiently proved to be
   so by the next clause, `and with strumpets they sacrifice.' The
   separation then of which he speaks is this, that they sacrificed with
   strumpets; which they could not do without violating their faith
   pledged to God. We now apprehend the Prophet's real meaning: `I will
   not punish,' he says, `wantonness and adulteries in your families.'
   Why? "Because I would have you to be made infamous, for ye have first
   played the wanton."

   But there is a change of person; and this ought to be observed: for he
   ought to have carried on his discourse throughout in the second person,
   and to have said, "Because ye have separated with strumpets, and
   accompany harlots;" this is the way in which he ought to have spoken:
   but through excess, as it were, of indignation, he makes a change in
   his address, `They,' he says, `have played the wanton,' as though he
   deemed them unworthy of being spoken to. They have then played the
   wanton with strumpets. By "strumpets", he doubtless understands the
   corruptions by which God's worship had been perverted, even through
   wantonness: "they sacrifice", he says, "with strumpets", that is, they
   forsake the true God, and resort to whatever pollutions they please;
   and this is to play the wanton, as when a husband, leaving his wife, or
   when a wife, leaving her husband, abandon themselves to filthy lust.
   But it is nothing strange or unwonted for sins to be punished by other
   sins. What Paul teaches ought especially to be borne in mind, that God,
   as the avenger of his own glory, gives men up to a reprobate mind, and
   suffers them to be covered with many most disgraceful things; for he
   cannot bear with them, when they turn his glory to shame and his truth
   to a lie.

   He afterwards adds, And the people, not understanding, shall stumble.
   They who take the verb L+B+Tj, labeth, as meaning, "to be perverted,"
   understand it here in the sense of being "perplexed:" nor is this sense
   inappropriate. The people then shall not understand and be perplexed;
   that is, They shall not know the right way. But the word means also "to
   stumble," and still oftener "to fall;" and since this is the more
   received sense, I am disposed to embrace it: The people then, not
   understanding, shall stumble

   The Prophet here teaches, that the pretence of ignorance is of no
   weight before God, though hypocrites are wont to flee to this at last.
   When they find themselves without any excuse they run to this asylum,
   -- "But I thought that I was doing right; I am deceived: but be it so,
   it is a pardonable mistake." The Prophet here declares these excuses to
   be vain and fallacious; for the people, who understand not, shall
   stumble and that deservedly: for how came this ignorance to be in the
   people of Israel, but that they, as it has been before said, willfully
   closed their eyes against the light? When, therefore, men thus
   willfully determine to be blind, it is no wonder that the Lord delivers
   them up to final destruction. But if they now flatter themselves by
   pretending, as I have already said, a mistake, the Lord will shake off
   this false confidence, and does now shake it off by his word. What then
   ought we to do? To learn knowledge from his word; for this is our
   wisdom and our understanding, as Moses says, in the fourth chapter of
   Deuteronomy. [19]
     __________________________________________________________________

   [17] 1 Samuel 15:22. -- fj.

   [18] Romans 1:28. -- fj.

   [19] Deuteronomy 4:6. -- fj.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that inasmuch as we are so disposed and inclined
   to all kinds of errors, to so many and so various forms of
   superstitions, and as Satan also ceases not to lay in wait for us, and
   spreads before us his many snares, -- O grant, that we may be so
   preserved in obedience to thee by the teaching of thy word, that we may
   never turn here and there, either to the right hand or to the left, but
   continue in that pure worship, which thou hast prescribed, so that we
   may plainly testify that thou art indeed our Father by continuing under
   the protection of thy only-begotten Son, whom thou hast given to be our
   pastor and ruler to the end. Amen.

     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Twelfth
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:15

   15. Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and
   come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The
   Lord liveth.

   15. Si scortaris tu Israel, ne offendat Jehudah; ne veniatis in Gilgal,
   et me ascendatis Beth-aven, et ne juretis, Vivit Jehova.


   The Prophet here complains that Judah also was infected with
   superstitions, though the Lord had hitherto wonderfully kept them from
   pollutions of this kind. He compares Israel with Judah, as though he
   said, "It is no wonder that Israel plays the wanton; they had for a
   long time shaken off the yoke; their defection is well known: but it is
   not to be endured, that Judah also should begin to fall away into the
   same abominations." We now then perceive the object of the comparison.
   From the time that Jeroboam led after him the ten tribes, the worship
   of God, we know, was corrupted; for the Israelites were forbidden to
   ascend to Jerusalem, and to offer sacrifices there to God according to
   the law. Altars were at the same time built, which were nothing but
   perversions of divine worship. This state of things had now continued
   for many years. The Prophet therefore says, that Israel was like a
   filthy strumpet, void of all shame; nor was this to be wondered at, for
   they had cast away the fear of God: but that Judah also should forsake
   God's pure worship as well as Israel, -- this the Prophet deplores, If
   then thou Israel playest the wanton, let not Judah at least offend

   We here see first, how difficult it is for those to continue untouched
   without any stain, who come in contact with pollutions and defilements.
   This is the case with any one that is living among Papists; he can
   hardly keep himself entire for the Lord; for vicinity, as we find,
   brings contagion. The Israelites were separated from the Jews, and yet
   we see that the Jews were corrupted by their diseases and vices. There
   is, indeed, nothing we are so disposed to do as to forsake true
   religion; inasmuch as there is naturally in us a perverse lust for
   mixing with it some false and ungodly forms of worship; and every one
   in this respect is a teacher to himself: what then is likely to take
   place, when Satan on the other hand stimulates us? Let all then who are
   neighbors to idolaters beware, lest they contract any of their
   pollutions.

   We further see, that the guilt of those who have been rightly taught is
   not to be extenuated when they associate with the blind and the
   unbelieving. Though the Israelites boasted of the name of God, they
   were yet then alienated from pure doctrine, and had been long sunk in
   the darkness of errors. There was no religion among them; nay, they had
   hardly a single pure spark of divine light. The Prophet now brings this
   charge against the Jews, that they differed not from the Israelites,
   and yet God had to that time carried before them the torch of light;
   for he suffered not sound doctrine to be extinguished at Jerusalem, nor
   throughout the whole of Judea. The Jews, by not profiting through this
   singular kindness of God, were doubly guilty. This is the reason why
   the Prophet now says, Though Israel is become wanton, yet let not Judah
   offend

   Come ye not to Gilgal, he says, and ascend not into Beth- aven. Here
   again he points out the superstitions by which the Israelites had
   vitiated the pure worship of God; they had built altars for themselves
   in Bethel and Gilgal, where they pretended to worship God.

   Gilgal, we know, was a celebrated place; for after passing through
   Jordan, they built there a pillar as a memorial of that miracle; and
   the people no doubt ever remembered so remarkable an instance of divine
   favor: and the place itself retained among the people its fame and
   honorable distinction. This in itself deserved no blame: but as men
   commonly pervert by abuse every good thing, so Jeroboam, or one of his
   successors, built a temple in Gilgal; for the minds almost of all were
   already possessed with some reverence for the place. Had there been no
   distinction belonging to the place, he could not have so easily
   inveigled the minds of the people; but as a notion already prevailed
   among them that the place was holy on account of the miraculous passing
   over of the people, Jeroboam found it easier to introduce there his
   perverted worship: for when one imagines that the place itself pleases
   God, he is already captivated by his own deceptions. The same also must
   be said of Bethel: its name was given it, we know, by the holy father
   Jacob, because God appeared there to him.

   `Terrible,' he said, `is this place; it is the gate of heaven,'
   (Genesis 28:17.)

   He hence called it Bethel, which means the house of God. Since Jacob
   sacrificed there to God, posterity thought this still allowable: for
   hypocrites weigh not what God enjoins, but catch only at the Fathers'
   examples, and follow as their rule whatever they hear to have been done
   by the Fathers.

   As then foolish men are content with bare examples, and attend not to
   what God requires, so the Prophet distinctly inveighs here against both
   places, even Bethel and Gilgal. "Come not", he says, to Gilgal, and
   ascend not into Beth-aven But we must observe the change of name made
   by the Prophet; for he calls not the place by its honorable name,
   Bethel, but calls it the house of iniquity. It is indeed true that God
   revealed himself there to his servant Jacob; but he intended not the
   place to be permanently fixed for himself, he intended not that there
   should be a perpetual altar there: the vision was only for a time. Had
   the people been confirmed in their faith, whenever the name of the
   place was heard, it would have been a commendable thing; but they
   departed from the true faith, for they despised the sure command of
   God, and preferred what had been done by an individual, and were indeed
   influenced by a foolish zeal. It is no wonder then that the Prophet
   turns praise into blame, and allows not the place to be, as formerly,
   the House of God, but the house of iniquity. We now see the Prophet's
   real meaning.

   I return to the reproof he gives to the Jews: he condemns them for
   leaving the legitimate altar and running to profane places, and
   coveting those strange modes of worship which had been invented by the
   will or fancy of men. "What have you to do," he says, "with Gilgal or
   Bethel? Has not God appointed a sanctuary for you at Jerusalem? Why do
   ye not worship there, where he himself invites you?" We hence see that
   a comparison is to be understood here between Gilgal and Bethel on the
   one hand, and the temple, built by God's command on mount Zion, in
   Jerusalem, on the other. Moreover, this reproof applies to many in our
   day. So to those who sagaciously consider the state of things in our
   age, the Papists appear to be like the Israelites; for their apostasy
   is notorious enough: there is nothing sound among them; the whole of
   their religion is rotten; every thing is depraved. But as the Lord has
   chosen us peculiarly to himself, we must beware, lest they should draw
   us to themselves, and entangle us: for, as we have said, we must ever
   fear contagion; inasmuch as nothing is more easy than to become
   infected with their vices, since our nature is to vices ever inclined.

   We are further reminded how foolish and frivolous is the excuse of
   those who, being satisfied with the examples of the Fathers, pass by
   the word of God, and think themselves released from every command, when
   they follow the holy Fathers. Jacob was indeed, among others, worthy of
   imitation; and yet we learn from this place, that the pretence that his
   posterity made for worshipping God in Bethel was of no avail. Let us
   then know that we cannot be certain of being right, except when we obey
   the Lord's command, and attempt nothing according to men's fancy, but
   follow only what he bids. It must also be observed, that a fault is not
   extenuated when things, now perverted, have proceeded-from a good and
   approved origin. As for instance the Papists, when their superstitions
   are condemned, ever set up this shield, "O! this has arisen from a good
   source." But what sort of thing is it? If indeed we judge of it by what
   it is now, we clearly see it to be an impious abomination, which they
   excuse by the plea that it had a good and holy beginning.

   Thus in baptism we see how various and how many deprivations they have
   mixed together. Baptism has indeed its origin in the institution of
   Christ: but no permission has been given to men to deface it by so many
   additions. The origin then of baptism affords the Papists no excuse,
   but on the contrary renders double their sin; for they have, by a
   profane audacity, contaminated what the Son of God has appointed. But
   there is in their mass a much greater abomination: for the mass, as we
   know, is in no respect the same with the holy supper of our Lord. There
   are at least some things remaining in baptism; but the mass is in
   nothing like Christ's holy supper: and yet the Papists boast that the
   mass is the supper. Be it so, that it had crept in, and that through
   the craft of Satan, and also through the wickedness or depravity of
   men: but whatever may have been its beginning, it does not wipe away
   the extreme infamy that belongs to the mass: for, as it is well known,
   they abolish by it the only true sacrifice of Christ; they ascribe to
   their own devices the expiation which was made by the death of the Son
   of God. And here we have not only to contend with the Papists, but also
   with those wicked triflers, who proudly call themselves Nicodemians.
   For these indeed deny that they come to the mass, because they have any
   regard for the Papistic figment; but because they say that there is set
   forth a commemoration of Christ's supper and of his death. Since Bethel
   was formerly turned into Beth-aven, what else at this day is the mass?
   Let us then ever take heed, that whatever the Lord has instituted may
   remain in its own purity, and not degenerate; otherwise we shall be
   guilty, as it has been said, of the impious audacity of those who have
   changed the truth into a lie. We now understand the design of what the
   Prophet teaches, and to what purposes it may be applied.

   He at last subjoins, And swear not, Jehovah liveth The Prophet seems
   here to condemn what in itself was right: for to swear is to profess
   religion, and to testify our profession of it; particularly when men
   swear honestly. But as this formula, which the Prophet mentions, was
   faultless, why did God forbid to swear by his name, and even in a holy
   manner? Because he would reign alone, and could not bear to be
   connected with idols; for

   "what concord,' says Paul, `has Christ with Belial? How can light agree
   with darkness?' (2 Corinthians 6:15:)

   so God would allow of no concord with idols. This is expressed more
   fully by another Prophet, Zephaniah, when he says,

   `I will destroy those who swear by the living God,
   and swear by their king,' (Zephaniah 1:5.)

   God indeed expressly commands the faithful to swear by his name alone
   in Deuteronomy 6 [20] and in other places: and further, when the true
   profession of religion is referred to, this formula is laid down,

   `They shall swear, The Lord liveth,' (Jeremiah 4:2.)

   But when men associated the name of God with their own perverted
   devices, it was by no means to be endured. The Prophet then now
   condemns this perfidy, Swear not, Jehovah liveth; as though he said,
   "How dare these men take God's name, when they abandon themselves to
   idols? for God allows his name only to his own people." The faithful
   indeed take God's name in oaths as it were by his leave. Except the
   Lord had granted this right, it would have certainly been a sacrilege.
   But we borrow God's name by his permission: and it is right to do so,
   when we keep faith with him, when we continue in his service; but when
   we worship false gods, then we have nothing to do with him, and he
   takes away the privilege which he has given us. Then he says, `Ye shall
   not henceforth blend the name of the only true God with idols.' For
   this he cannot endure, as he declares also in Ezekial,

   Go ye, serve your idols; I reject all your worship.'
   [Eze 20:39]

   The Lord was thus grievously offended, even when sacrifices were
   offered to him. Why so? Because it was a kind of pollution, when the
   Jews professed to worship him, and then went after their ungodly
   superstitions. We now then perceive the meaning of this verse. It
   follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [20] Deuteronomy 6:13. -- fj.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:16

   16. For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the Lord will
   feed them as a lamb in a large place.

   16. Quia sicut juvenca indomita, indomitus Israel: nunc pascet Jehova
   quasi agnum tenerum (nam K+B+Sh proprie significat, Agnum tenerum; hoc
   est, qui adhuc est anniculus: #J+L+ autem vocant arietem qui annum unum
   excessit) in loco spatioso.


   The Prophet compares Israel here to an untamable heifer. Some render
   it, "A straying heifer", and we may render it, "A wanton heifer." But
   to others a defection seems to have been more especially intended,
   because they had receded or departed from God: but this comparison is
   not so apposite. They render it, "As a backsliding," or "receding
   heifer:" but I prefer to view the word as meaning, one that is petulant
   or lascivious: and the punishment which is subjoined, The Lord will now
   feed them as a tender lamb in a spacious place, best agrees with this
   view, as we shall immediately see.

   It must, in the first place, be understood, that Israel is compared to
   a heifer, and indeed to one that is wanton, which cannot remain quiet
   in the stall nor be accustomed to the yoke: it is hence subjoined, The
   Lord will now feed them as a lamb in a spacious place The meaning of
   this clause may be twofold; the first is, that the Lord would leave
   them in their luxuries to gorge themselves according to their lust, and
   to indulge themselves in their gormandizing; and it is a dreadful
   punishment, when the Lord allays not the intemperateness of men, but
   suffers them to wanton without any limits or moderation. Hence some
   give this meaning to the passage, God will now feed them as a lamb,
   that is, like a sheep void of understanding, and in a large place, even
   in a most fruitful field, capable of supplying food to satiety. But it
   seems to me that the Prophet meant another thing, even this, that the
   Lord would so scatter Israel, that they might be as a lamb in a
   spacious place. It is what is peculiar to sheep, we know, that they
   continue under the shepherd's care: and a sheep, when driven into
   solitude, shows itself, by its bleating, to be timid, and to be as it
   were seeking its shepherd and its flock. In short, a sheep is not a
   solitary animal; and it is almost a part of their food to sheep and
   lambs to feed together, and also under the eye of him under whose care
   they are. Now there seems to be here a most striking change of figure:
   They are, says the Prophet, like unnamable heifers, for they are so
   wanton that no field can satisfy their wantonness, as when a heifer
   would occupy the whole land. "Such then," he says, "and so outrageous
   is the disobedience of this people, that they can no longer endure,
   except a spacious place be given to each of them. I will therefore give
   them a spacious place: but for this end, that each of them may be like
   a lamb, who looks around and sees no flock to which it may join
   itself."

   This happened when the land was stripped of its inhabitants; for then a
   small number only dwelt in it. Four tribes, as stated before, were
   first drawn away; and then they began to be like lambs in a spacious
   place; for God terrified them with the dread of enemies. The remaining
   part of the people was afterwards either dispersed or led into exile.
   They were, when in exile, like lambs, and those in a wide place. For
   though they lived in cottages, and their condition was in every way
   confined, yet they were in a place like the desert; for one hardly
   dared look on another, and waste and solitude met their eyes wherever
   they turned them. We see then what the Prophet meant by saying, They
   are like an untamable or a wanton heifer: "I will tame them, and make
   them like lambs; and when scattered, they will fear as in a wilderness,
   for there will be no flock to which they can come." Let us proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:17

   17. Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.

   17. Adjunxit se (vel, associavit) idolis Ephraim: dimitte eum.


   As if wearied, God here bids his Prophet to rest; as though he said,
   "Since I prevail nothing with this people, they must be given up; cease
   from thy work." God had set Hosea over the Israelites for this end, to
   lead them to repentance, if they could by any means be reformed: the
   duty of the Prophet, enjoined by God, was, to bring back miserable and
   straying men from their error, and to restore them again to the
   obedience of pure faith. He now saw that the Prophet's labour was in
   vain, without any success. Hence he was, as I have said, wearied, and
   bids the Prophet to desist: Leave them, he says; that is, "There is no
   use for thee to weary thyself any more; I dismiss thee from thy labour,
   and will not have thee to take any more trouble; for they are wholly
   incurable." For by saying that they had joined themselves to idols, he
   means, that they could not be drawn from that perverseness in which
   they had grown hardened; as though he said, "This is an alliance that
   cannot be broken." And he alludes to the marriage which he had before
   mentioned: for the Israelites, we know, had been joined to God, for he
   had adopted them to be a holy people to himself; they afterwards
   adopted impious forms of worship. But yet there was a hope of recovery,
   until they became wholly attached to their idols, and clave so fast to
   them, that they could not be drawn away. This alliance the Prophet
   points out when he says, They are joined to idols

   But he mentions the tribe of Ephraim, for the kings, (I mean, of
   Israel,) we know, sprang from that tribe; and at the same time he
   reproaches that tribe for having abused God's blessing. We know that
   Ephraim was blessed by holy Jacob in preference to his elder brother;
   and yet there was no reason why Jacob put aside the first-born and
   preferred the younger, except that God in this case manifested his own
   good pleasure. The ingratitude of Ephraim was therefore less excusable,
   when he not only fell away from the pure worship of God, but polluted
   also the whole land; for it was Jeroboam who introduced ungodly
   superstitions; he therefore was the source of all the evil. This is the
   reason why the Prophet now expressly mentions Ephraim: though it is a
   form of speaking, commonly used by all the Prophets, to designate
   Israel, by taking a part for the whole, by the name of Ephraim.

   But this passage is worthy of being noticed, that we may attend to
   God's reproofs, and not remain torpid when he rouses us; for we ought
   ever to fear, lest he should suddenly reject us, when he is wearied
   with our perverseness, or when he conceives such a displeasure as not
   to deign to speak to us any more. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:18

   18. Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her
   rulers with shame do love, Give ye.

   18. Putruit potus eorum; scortando scortati sunt: dilexerunt, Afferte,
   turpiter (vel, ignominiam Q+L+W+N%) principes ejus.


   The Prophet, using a metaphor, says here first, that their drink had
   become putrid; which means, that they had so intemperately given
   themselves up to every kind of wickedness, that all things among them
   had become fetid. And the Prophet alludes to shameful and beastly
   excess: for the drunken are so addicted to wine, that they emit a
   disgusting smell, and are never satisfied with drinking, until by
   spewing, they throw up the excessive draughts they have taken. The
   Prophet then had this in view. He speaks not, however, of the drinking
   of wine, this is certain: but by drunkenness, on the contrary, he means
   that unbridled licentiousness, which then prevailed among the people.
   Since then they allowed themselves every thing they pleased without
   shame, they seemed like drunken men, insatiable, who, when wholly given
   to wine, think it their highest delight ever to have wine on the
   palate, or to fill copiously the throat, or to glut their stomach: when
   drunken men do these things, then they send forth the offensive smell
   of wine. This then is what the Prophet means, when he says, [7]Putrid
   has become their drink; that is, the people observe no moderation in
   sinning; they offend not God now, in the common and usual manner, but
   are wholly like beastly men, who are nothing ashamed, constantly to
   belch and to spew, so that they offend by their fetid smell all who
   meet them. Such are this people.

   He afterwards adds, By wantoning they have become wanton This is
   another comparison. The Prophet, we know, has hitherto been speaking of
   wantonness in a metaphorical sense, signifying thereby, that Israel
   perfidiously abandoned themselves to idols, and thus violated their
   faith pledged to the true God. He now follows the same metaphor here,
   `By wantoning they have become wanton.' Hence he reproaches and
   represents them as infamous on two accounts, -- because they cast aside
   every shame, like the drunken who are so delighted with wine, that
   through excess they send forth its offensive smell, -- and because they
   were like wantons.

   At last he says, Her princes have shamefully loved, Bring ye Here, in a
   peculiar way, the Prophet shows that the great sinned with extreme
   licentiousness; for they were given to bribery: and the eyes of the
   wise, we know, are blinded, and the hearts of the just are perverted,
   by gifts. But the Prophet designedly made this addition, that we might
   know that there were then none among the people who attempted to apply
   a remedy to the many prevailing vices; for even the rulers coveted
   gain; no one remembered for what purpose he had been called. Hence it
   happened that every one indulged himself with impunity in whatever
   pleased him. How so? Because there were no censors of public morals.
   Here we see in what a wretched state the people are, when there are
   none to exercise discipline, when even the judges gape for gain, and
   care for nothing but for gifts and riches; for then what the Prophet
   describes here as to the people of Israel must happen. Her princes,
   then, have loved, Bring ye.

   Respecting the word Q+L+W+N%, kolun, we must shortly say, that Hosea
   does not simply allude to any kinds of gifts, but to such gifts as
   proved that there was a public sale of justice; as though he said, "Now
   the judges, when they say, Bring ye, when they love, Bring ye, make no
   distinction whatever between right and wrong, and think all this
   lawful; for the people are become insensible to such a disgraceful
   conduct: hence they basely and shamefully seek gain."
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that since thou hast at this time deigned in thy
   mercy to gather us to thy Church, and to enclose us within the
   boundaries of thy word, by which thou preserves us in the true and
   right worship of thy majesty, -- O grant, that we may continue
   contented in this obedience to thee: and though Satan may, in many
   ways, attempt to draw us here and there, and we be also ourselves, by
   nature, inclined to evil, O grant, that being confirmed in faith, and
   united to thee by that sacred bond, we may yet constantly abide under
   the guidance of thy word, and thus cleave to Christ thy only-begotten
   Son, who has joined us for ever to himself, that we may never by any
   means turn aside from thee, but be, on the contrary, confirmed in the
   faith of his gospel, until at length he will receive us all into his
   kingdom. Amen.

     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Thirteenth
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 4:19

   19. The wind hath bound her up in her wings, [21] and they shall be
   ashamed because of their sacrifices.

   19. Ligavit ventus eam in alis suis, et pudefient a sacrificiis suis
   (vel, ligavit ventum in alis suis: ambigua enim est locutio apud
   Hebraeos: atque utrobis modolegas, genus verbi relativis non convenit,
   quae foeminina sunt; sed frequenter occurrunt ejusmodi exempla: libera
   igitur erit optio.)


   If this rendering be approved, The wind hath bound her in its wings,
   the meaning is, that a sudden storm would sweep away the people, and
   thus would they be made ashamed of their sacrifices. So the past tense
   is to be taken for the future. We may indeed read the words in the past
   tense, as though the Prophet was speaking of what had already taken
   place. The wind, then, has already swept away the people; by which he
   intimates, that they seemed to have struck long and deep roots in their
   superstitions, but that the Lord had already given them up to the wind,
   that it might hold them tied in its wings. And wings, we know, is
   elsewhere ascribed to the wind, Psalm 104:3. And thus the verse will be
   throughout a denunciation of vengeance.

   The other similitude or metaphor is the most appropriate, and
   harmonizes better with the subject; for were not men to support their
   minds with vain confidence, they could never with so much audacity
   despise God's word. Hence they are said to tie the wind in their wings;
   being unmindful of their own condition, they attempt as by means of the
   wind to fly; but when they proudly raise up themselves, they have no
   support but the wind. Let us now proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [21] Newcome's version of this sentence is far-fetched, -- `A wind
   shall distress her in her borders. Horsley's is the same with ours,
   only expressed in the present tense, -- `The wind binds her up in its
   wings.'
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

   Chapter 5
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:1

   1. Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give
   ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye
   have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

   1. Audite hoc sacerdotes, et attendite domus, et domus regis
   auscultate, quia vobis judicam (hoc est, judicium in vos dirigitur) nam
   laqueus fuistis (hoc est, tanquam laqueus, sabaudienda est K+, nota
   similitudinis et addenda ad nomen P+X+, fuistis ergo tanquam laques) in
   Mizpah, et rete expansum super Tabor.


   The Prophet here again preaches against the whole people: but he mainly
   directs his discourse to the priests and the rulers; for they were the
   source of the prevailing evils: the priests, intent on gain, neglected
   the worship of God; and the chief men, as we have seen, were become in
   every way corrupt. Hence the Prophet here especially inveighs against
   these orders, and at the same time, records some vices which then
   prevailed among the people, and that through the fault of the priests
   and rulers. But before I pursue farther the subject of the Prophets
   something must be said of the words.

   When he says, To you is judgment, some explain it, "It is your duty to
   do judgment," to maintain government, that every one may discharge his
   own office; for judgment is taken for rectitude; the word M+ShP+Tj,
   mesgepheth, means a right order of things. Hence they think that the
   priests and rulers are here condemned for discharging so badly their
   office, because they had no care for what was right. But this sense is
   too strained. The Prophet, therefore, I doubt not, summons here the
   priests and the king's counselors to God's tribunal, that they might
   give an answer there; for the contempt of God, we know, prevailed among
   the great; they were secure, as though exempt from judgment, as though
   released from laws and all order. To you, then is judgment; that is,
   God addresses you by name, and declares that he will be your avenger,
   though ye heedlessly despise his judgment.

   Some again take M+ZJP+H+, metsephe, for a beacon, and thus translate,
   "Ye have been a snare instead of a beacon." But this mistake is refuted
   by the second clause, for the Prophet adds immediately, [8]a net
   expanded over Tabor: and it is well known that Mizpah and Tabor were
   high mountains, and for their height celebrated and renowned; we also
   know that hunting was common on these mountains. The Prophet, then, no
   doubt means here, that both the priests and the king's counselors were
   like snares and nets: "As fowlers and hunters were wont to spread their
   nets and snares on mount Mizpah and on Tabor; so the people also have
   been ensnared by you." This is the plain meaning of the words. Some
   conjecture, that robbers were there located by the kings of Israel to
   intercept the Israelites, when they found any ascending into Jerusalem,
   as we now see everywhere persons lying in wait, that no one from the
   Papacy may come over to us. But this conjecture is too far fetched. I
   have already explained the Prophet's meaning: he makes use, as we have
   said, of a similitude.

   Let us now return to what he teaches: Hear this, he says, ye Priests,
   and attend, ye house of Israel, and give ear, ye house of the king The
   Prophet, indeed, includes the whole people in the second clause, but
   turns his discourse expressly to the priests and the king's counselors;
   which ought to be specially noticed; for it is indeed, as we shall
   hereafter see, the general subject of this chapter. He did not without
   reason attack the princes, because the main fault was in them; nor the
   priests, because they were dumb dogs, and had also led away the people
   from God's pure worship into false superstitions; and so great was
   their avidity for filthy lucre that they perverted the law and every
   thing that was before pure among the people. It is no wonder then that
   the Prophet, while treating a general subject, suitable to all orders
   indiscriminately, should yet denounce judgment on the priests and the
   king's counselors. With regard to these counselors, they, in order to
   confirm the kingdom, had also approved of false and spurious forms of
   worship, as it has been before stated; and they had also followed other
   vices; for the Prophet, I doubt not, condemns here other corruptions
   besides superstitions, and those which we know everywhere prevailed
   among the people, and of which something has been already said.

   And to show his earnestness, he uses three sentences: Ye priests, hear
   this; then, house of Israel, attend; and in the third place, house of
   the king, give ear; as though he said, "In vain do they seek
   subterfuges, for the Lord will execute on them the judgment he now
   declares:" and yet he gives them opportunity and time for repentance,
   inasmuch as he bids them to attend to this denunciation.

   Now this passage teaches, that even kings are not exempted from the
   duty of learning what is commonly taught, if they wish to be counted
   members of the Church; for the Lord would have all, without exception,
   to be ruled by his word; and he takes this as a proof of men's
   obedience, their submission to his word. And as kings think themselves
   separated from the general class of men, the Prophet here shows that he
   was sent to the king and his counselors. The same reason holds good as
   to priests; for as the dignity of their order is the highest, so this
   impiety has prevailed in all ages, that the priests think themselves at
   liberty to do what they please. The Prophet therefore shows, that they
   are not raised up so much on high, but that the Lord shines eminently
   above their heads with his word. Let us know, lastly, that in the
   Church the word of God so possesses the highest rank, that neither
   priests, nor kings, nor their counselors, can claim a privilege to
   themselves, as though their conduct was not to be subject to God's
   word.

   This then is a remarkable passage for establishing the word of God: and
   thus we see how abominable is the boast of the Papal clergy of this
   day; for they spread before us the mask of the priesthood, when the
   word of God is brought forward, as though they would outshine by the
   splendor of their dignity the whole Law, all the Prophets, and the very
   Gospel. But the Lord here upholds his word against all degrees of men,
   and shows that both kings and priests must be brought down from their
   eminence, that they may obey the word. Yea, we must bear in mind what I
   have before said, that though the whole people had sinned, yet kings
   and priests are here in a special manner reproved, because they
   deserved a heavier punishment, inasmuch as by their depraved examples
   they had corrupted the whole people.

   When he compares them to snares and nets, I do not then confine this to
   one thing; but as the contagion among the whole people had proceeded
   from the priests and the king's counselors, and also from the king
   himself, the Prophet compares them, not without reason, to snares; not
   only because they were the authors of superstitions, but also because
   they perverted judgment and all equity. Let us go on --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:2

   2. And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been
   a rebuker of them all.

   2. Et jugulando declinantes profundaverunt: [22] ego autem correctio
   illis omnibus.


   The verb ShX+Tj, shecheth, means, to kill, to sacrifice; and this place
   is usually explained of sacrifices; and this opinion I do not reject.
   But though the Prophet spake of sacrifices, he no doubt called
   sacrificing, in contempt, killing: as though one should call the
   temple, the shambles, and the killing of victims, slaughtering, so also
   the Prophet says, In sacrificing and killing, they, having turned
   aside, have become deeply fixed; that is, By turning aside to their own
   sacrificing, they have completely hardened their hearts, so that their
   depravity is incurable. For by saying that they had gone deep, the
   meaning is, that they were so addicted to their own superstitions, that
   they could not be restored to a sound mind, however often admonished by
   the Prophets. Yet this verb has another meaning in Scripture, even
   this, that men flatter themselves with their own counsels, and think
   that by twining together reasons of their own, they can deceive God:
   and this metaphor the Prophets employ with regard to profane despisers
   of God, whom they call L+ZJJ+M%, latism, mockers: for these, while they
   deceive men, think that they have nothing to do with God. The same we
   see at this day: courtiers and proud men of the same character, flatter
   themselves with their own deceptions, and complacently laugh at our
   simplicity; because they think that wisdom was born with them, and that
   it is enclosed as it were within their brains. But I know not whether
   this idea is suitable to this passage. That simpler meaning which I
   have already stated, I prefer, and that is, that the Israelites were so
   obstinate in their superstitions, that they perversely despised all
   counsels, all admonitions, yea, that they petulantly resisted every
   instruction.

   But each word must be noticed: turning aside in sacrificing, he says,
   "they became deep". By saying, that they had turned aside in
   sacrificing, he no doubt makes a distinction between false and strange
   forms of worship and the true worship of God, prescribed in the law.
   The frequency of sacrificing could not indeed have been condemned in
   itself either as to the Israelites or the Jews; but they turned aside,
   that is, departed from what the law prescribes. Hence the more
   zealously they engaged in sacrificing, and the more victims they
   offered to God, the more they provoked God's vengeance against
   themselves. We then see that the Prophet points out here as by the
   finger the sin he reproved in the people of Israel, and that was, --
   they sacrificed not according to God's command and according to the
   ritual of the law, but turned aside and followed their own devices.
   Hence it is, that in contempt and in scorn he calls their sacrificing,
   killing, or cutting the throat: "they are," he says "executioners," or,
   "they are butchers. What is it to me, that they bring their victims
   with great pomp and show? That they use so many ceremonies? I
   repudiate," the Lord says, "the whole of this; it is profane
   butchering; these slaughterings have nothing in common with the worship
   which I approve."

   That our sacrifices then may please God, they must be according to the
   rule of his word; for `obedience,' as it has been said already, `is
   better than all sacrifices,' (1 Samuel 15:22.) But when men retake
   themselves to false forms of worship or such as are invented, nothing
   then is holy or acceptable to God, but an abominable filth. And
   further, the Prophet, as I have said, not only accuses the people of
   having turned aside to perverted forms of worship, but also of having
   become obstinately fixed in them. They have become deep, he says, in
   their superstitions: as he said before, that they were fast joined to
   their idols, that they could not be torn away from them; so also he
   says now, that they were deeply rooted in their iniquity.

   It follows, And I have been, or will be, a correction to them all Some
   think that the Prophet in the person of God threatens the Israelites,
   that God declares that he himself would become the avenger, because the
   people had so stubbornly followed wicked superstitions, -- "I sit as a
   judge in heaven, nor will I suffer you to fall away with impunity,
   since you are become so hardened in your wickedness." But they are more
   correct who think that their sin was more increased by this
   circumstance, that God by his Prophets had not ceased to recall the
   Israelites to a sound mind, since they might not have been wholly
   irreclaimable: I have been to them a correction; that is, "They cannot
   excuse themselves and say, that they had fallen through error and
   ignorance; for there has been in them a wilful obstinacy, as I have not
   ceased to show them the right way by my Prophets. I have, then, been a
   correction to them; but I could not bend them, so indomitable has been
   that stubbornness, or rather madness, with which they were inflamed
   towards their idols." It is now seen which of the two views I deem the
   most correct.

   But I will adduce a third: God may be thought to be here complaining
   that he had been an object of dislike to the Israelites, as though he
   said, "When I sent my Prophets, they could not bear to be admonished,
   because my word was too bitter for them." Reproofs are not easily
   endured by men. We indeed know, that those who are ill at ease with
   themselves, are yet not willing to hear any reproof: every one who
   deceives himself, wishes to be deceived by others. As then the ears of
   men are so tender and delicate, that they will patiently receive no
   reproof, this meaning seems not inappropriate, I have been to them all
   a correction, that is, "My doctrine has been by them rejected because
   it had in it too much asperity." But the other explanation, which I
   have mentioned as the second, has been more approved: I was, however,
   unwilling to omit what seems to me to be no less suitable.

   We may now choose or receive either of these two expositions, -- either
   that the Lord here takes away from the Israelites the excuse of error,
   because he had continued to reprove their vices by his Prophets, -- or
   that he expostulates with the Israelites for having rejected his word
   on the ground that it was too rigid and severe: yet this main thing
   will still remain the same, that the people of Israel were not only
   apostates, having fallen away from the lawful worship of God into their
   own superstitions but were also contumacious and refractory in their
   wickedness, so that they would receive no instruction, no salutary
   counsels. Let us proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [22] Respecting this clause, Poole says, locus obscurissimus -- a most
   obscure place. But of all the explanations given, the one offered by
   Calvin seems the best. Horsley's version seems fanciful, -- `Prickers
   have made deep slaughter.' By `Prickers' he means attendants on the
   chase. Newcome's version seems more probable, -- `And the revolters
   have made deep the slaughter of victims;' that is, multiplied their
   sacrifices; but this comports not well with the clause which follows.
   --Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:3

   3. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim,
   thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

   3. Ego cognovi Ephraim, et Israel non esta absconditus a me: quia tu
   scortatus es Ephraim, pollutus est Israel.


   God shows here that he is not pacified by the vain excuses which
   hypocrites allege, and by which they think that the judgment of God
   himself can be turned away. We see what great dullness there is in
   many, when God reproves them, and brings to light their vices; for they
   defend themselves with vain and frivolous excuses, and think that they
   thus put a restraint on God, so that he dares not urge them any more.
   In this way hypocrites elude every truth. But God here testifies, that
   men are greatly deceived when they thus judge, by their own perception,
   of that celestial tribunal to which they are summoned; I, he says, know
   Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me There is to be understood an
   implied contrast, as though he said, that they were ignorant of
   themselves; for they covered their vices, as I have said, with
   frivolous excuses. God testifies that his eyes were not dazzled with
   such fine pretenses. "How much soever, then, Ephraim and Israel may
   excuse themselves, they shall not escape my judgment: vain and absurd
   are these shifts which they use; I indeed am not ignorant."

   Let us then learn not to belie, by our own notions, the judgment of
   God; and when he reproves us by his word, let us not delude ourselves
   by our own fancies; for they who harden themselves in such a state of
   security gain nothing. God sees more keenly than men. Let use then,
   beware of spreading a veil over our sins, for God's eyes penetrate
   through all such excuses.

   That he names Ephraim particularly, was not done, we know, without
   reason. From that tribe sprang the first Jeroboam: it was therefore by
   way of honor that the name of Ephraim was given to the ten tribes. But
   the Prophet names Ephraim here, who thought themselves superior to the
   other tribes, by way of reproach: I know them, and Israel is not hid
   from me He afterwards expresses what he knew of the people, which was,
   that Ephraim was wanton, and that Israel was polluted; as though he
   said "Contend as you please; but you will do so without profit: I have
   indeed my ears stunned by your lies; but after you have adduced
   everything, after you have sedulously pleaded your own cause, and have
   omitted nothing which may serve for an excuse, the fact still will be,
   that you are wantons and polluted." In short, the Prophet confirms in
   this second clause what I have before stated, that men, when they
   flatter themselves, deceive themselves; for God in the meantime
   condemns them, and allows no disguise of this kind. Israel and Ephraim
   gloried, then, in their superstitions, as though they held God bound to
   them: "This is wantonness," he says, "This is pollution." The Prophet
   indeed does here cut off the handle from all those self-deceptions
   which men use as reasons, when they defend fictitious forms of worship;
   for God from on high proclaims, that all are polluted who turn aside
   from his word.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:4

   4. They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the
   spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known
   the Lord

   4. Non adjicient studia sua, ut convertanur ad Deum suum: quia spiritus
   fornicationum in medio ipsorum, et Jehovam non noverunt.


   Some translate thus, "their inclinations allow them not to turn
   themselves;" and this meaning is probable, that is, that they were so
   much given to their own superstitions, that they were not now free, or
   at liberty, to return to the right way; as though the Prophet said,
   "They are entirely enslaved by their own diabolical inventions, that
   their inclinations will not allow them to repent." But the former
   meaning (it is also more generally approved) seems more adapted to the
   context. They will not apply, he says, their endeavors to turn to their
   God Here God declares that it was all over with the people, and that no
   hope whatever remained: as he said before, "Leave them, why shouldest
   thou do anything more? for they will not receive wholesome instruction;
   as they are entirely given up to destruction, there is now no reason
   for thee to be solicitous about their salvation, for that would be
   useless;" -- so also he says in this place, They will not apply their
   endeavors to turn to their God

   If the Prophet speaks here in his own person, the meaning is, "Why do I
   weary myself? God has indeed commanded me to reprove this people; but I
   find that my labour is in vain; for I have to do with brute animals, or
   with stones rather than with men; there is in them no reason, no
   discernment; for the devil has fascinated their minds: never, then,
   will they apply their endeavors to turn to their God." If we prefer to
   view the sentence as spoken in the person of God, still the doctrine
   will remain nearly the same: God here declares that the people were
   incurable. Never, then, will they apply their endeavors. How so? For
   they are sunk, as it were, into a deep gulf, and their obstinacy is
   like the abyss. Inasmuch, then, as they are thus fixed in their
   superstitions, they will never apply their endeavors to turn to their
   God

   But God in the meantime not only shows here, that there was no more any
   remedy for the diseases of the people; but he also gravely and severely
   reprobates their iniquity, because they thought not of seeking
   reconciliation with their God; as though he said, "What, then, do I
   require of these wretched men, but to return to their God? This they
   ought to have done of their own accord; but now, when they are
   admonished, they care not; on the contrary, they fiercely resist
   wholesome instruction. Is not this a strange and monstrous madness?" We
   hence see that there is an important meaning in the words, They will
   not apply their endeavors to return to their God; for the Prophet might
   have simply said, "to return to Jehovah," or "to God;" but he says, to
   their God, and he says so, because God had made himself familiarly
   known to them, nay, brought them up in his own bosom, as though they
   were his children and he their Father: they had forsaken him and had
   become apostates; and when the Lord would now reprove this perfidy, was
   it not strange that the people should close their ears and harden their
   hearts against every instruction? We hence see how sharp this reproof
   is.

   And he says, Because the spirit of wantonness is in the midst of them;
   that is, they are so pleased with their own filthiness, that there is
   no shame, no fear. But the reason of this comparison, which I have
   before explained, must be borne in mind. As a wife, though not faithful
   to her husband, yet retains still some modesty, as long as she
   continues at home, and while she is in any place classed with faithful
   and chaste women; but when she once enters a brothel, and openly
   prostitutes herself to all, when she knows that her baseness is
   universally known, she then throws off every shame, and entirely
   forgets her own character: so also the Prophet says, that the spirit of
   wantonness was in the midst of the people of Israel; as though he said,
   "The Israelites are so imbrued with their superstitions, that they
   cannot now be touched or moved by any reverence for God; they cannot be
   restored to the right way, for the devil has demented them, and having
   cast off every shame, they are like abominable strumpets."

   And he afterwards adds, Jehovah they have not known By this sentence
   the Prophet extenuates not the sin of the people, but, on the contrary,
   amplifies their ingratitude, because they had forgotten their God, who
   had so indulgently treated them. As they had been redeemed by God's
   hand, as the teaching of the law had continued among them, as they had
   been preserved to that day through God's constant kindness, it was
   truly an evidence of monstrous ignorance, that they could in an instant
   adopt ungodly forms of worship, and embrace those corruptions which
   they knew were condemned in the law. It was surely an inexcusable
   wickedness in the people thus to withdraw themselves from their God.
   This is the reason why the Prophet now says, that they knew not
   Jehovah. But if they were asked the cause, they could not have said
   that they had no light; for God had made known to them the way of
   salvation. Hence, that they knew not Jehovah, was to be imputed to
   their perverseness; for, closing their eyes, they knowingly and
   willfully ran headlong after those wicked devices, which they knew, as
   it had been stated before, to be condemned by God.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that since thou continues daily to exhort us, and
   though thou sees us often turning aside from the right course, thou yet
   ceases not to stretch forth thy hand to us, and also to rouse us by
   reproofs, that we may repent, -- O grant, that we may not be permitted
   to reject thy word with such perverseness as thou condemnest here in
   thine ancient people by the mouth of thy Prophet; but rule us by thy
   Spirit, that we may meekly and obediently submit to thee, and with such
   teachableness, that if we have not hitherto been willing to become
   wise, we may not at least be incurable, but suffer thee to heal our
   diseases, so that we may truly repent, and be so wholly given to obey
   thee, as never to attempt any thing beyond the rule of thy word, and
   without that wisdom which thou hast revealed to us, not only by Moses
   and thy Prophets, but also by thy only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus
   Christ. Amen.

     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Fourteenth
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:5

   5. And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall
   Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with
   them.

   5. Et respondebit (vel, testificabitur superbia Israel ad faciem ejus:
   Israel ergo et Ephraim concident in sua iniquitate; concidet etiam
   Jehudah cum ipsis.


   The Prophet having condemned the Israelites on two accounts -- for
   having departed from the true God -- and for having obstinately refused
   every instruction, now adds, that God's vengeance was nigh at hand.
   "Testify then shall the pride of Israel in his face"; that is, Israel
   shall find what it is thus to resist God and his Prophets. The Prophet
   no doubt applies the word, pride, to their contempt of instruction,
   because they were so swollen with vain confidence, as to think that
   wrong was done them whenever the Prophets reproved them. It must at the
   same time be observed, that they were thus refractory, because they
   were like persons inebriated with their own pleasures; for we know that
   while men enjoy prosperity, they are more insolent, according to that
   old proverb, "Satiety begets ferocity."

   Some think that the verb E+N+H+, one, means here "to be humbled;" and
   this sense is not unsuitable: "The pride of Israel shall then be
   humbled before his face." But another exposition has been most
   approved; I am therefore inclined to embrace it, and that is, that God
   needed no other witness to convict Israel than their own pride; and we
   know that when any one becomes hardened, he thinks that there is to be
   no judgment, and has no thought of rendering an account to God, for his
   pride takes away every fear. For this reason the Prophet says, "God
   will convict you, because ye have been hitherto so proud, that he could
   effect nothing by his warnings."

   But he adds, Israel and Ephraim shall fall in their iniquity He pursues
   the same subject, which is, that they in vain promised impunity to
   themselves, for the Lord had now resolved to punish them. He adds,
   Judah also shall fall with them The Prophet may seem to contradict
   himself; for when he before threatened the people of Israel, he spoke
   of the safety of Judah, -- `Judah shall be saved by his God, not by the
   sword, nor by the bow.' Since then the Prophet had before distinguished
   or made a difference between the ten tribes and the kingdom of Judah,
   how is it that he now puts them all together without any distinction?
   To this I answer, that the Prophet speaks here not of those Jews who
   continued in true and pure religion, but of those who had with the
   Israelites alienated themselves from the only true God, and joined in
   their superstitions. He then refers here to the degenerate and not to
   the faithful Jews; for to all who worshipped God aright, salvation had
   been already promised. But as many as had abandoned themselves to the
   common superstitions, he declares that a common punishment was nigh
   them all. The Jews then shall fall together, that is, "As many of the
   Jews as have followed impious forms of worship and other deprivations,
   shall not escape God's judgment." We now then perceive the true meaning
   of the Prophet. It now follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:6

   6. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the
   Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

   6. Cum ovibus suis et cum armentis suis ibunt ad quaerendum Jehovam, et
   non invenient: subduxit se ab illis.


   The Prophet here laughs to scorn the hypocrisy of the people, because
   they thought they had ready at hand a way of dealing with God, which
   was, to pacify him with their sacrifices. He therefore shows that
   neither the Israelites nor the Jews would gain any thing by
   accumulating burnt-offerings, for they could not in this way return
   into favor with God. He thereby intimates that God requires true
   repentance, and that he will not be reconciled to men, except from the
   heart they seek him and consecrate themselves to his service; and not
   because they offer brute beasts. The faithful, no doubt, expiated their
   sins at that time by sacrifices, but only typically: for they knew for
   what end and purpose God had made the law concerning sacrifices, and
   that was, that the sinner, being reminded by the sight of the victim,
   might confess himself to be worthy of eternal death, and thus flee to
   God's mercy and look to Christ and his sacrifice; for in him, and
   nowhere else, is to be found true and effectual expiation. For this end
   then had God instituted sacrifices: so the faithful, while offering
   sacrifices, did not suppose any satisfaction to be done by the external
   work, nor even imagined it to be the price of redemption; but they
   exercised themselves in these rites in faith and repentance.

   The Prophet now, by implication, sets oxen, and rams, and lambs, in
   opposition to spiritual sacrifices; for a contrast is to be understood
   in the words, They shall come with their sheep, etc. What bring they to
   God's presence? They bring, he says, only their rams, they bring oxen;
   but God commands what is far different: he commands men to consecrate
   themselves to him, and that in a spiritual manner, and as to external
   rites, to refer them to Christ, and to the true expiation, which was
   yet hid in hope. Since then the Israelites brought only their oxen and
   lambs to God, they in vain expected him to be propitious to them; for
   he is not pacified by such trifles; inasmuch as every one who separates
   the outward sacrifice from its design, brings nothing but what is
   profane. Indeed, the true and lawful consecration is by the word; and
   by the word we are guided to faith in Christ, we are guided to
   repentance: when these are neglected and disregarded, and men securely
   trust in their sacrifices, they do nothing but mock God. We hence see
   that the Prophet exposes not here without reason this folly of the
   Israelites, that they sought God with their flocks and their herds

   And he says, They shall come, or shall go, to seek God By this sentence
   he intimates that hypocrites sedulously labour to reconcile God to
   themselves; and we even see with what zeal they weary themselves; and
   of this there is a remarkable instance at this day in the Papists; for
   they spare no diligence, when they seek to pacify God. But the Prophet
   says that this labour is vain and foolish. "Let them go," he says, that
   is, "Let them weary themselves; but they shall do so without profit,
   for they shall not find God." But when he says, that they would come to
   seek Jehovah, he is not to be understood as saying, that they would
   really do so; for hypocrites turn aside from God by circuitous courses
   and windings, rather than seek access to him. But yet they propose it
   as their final intention, as they speak, to seek God: they do not
   indeed come afterwards to him; nay, they dread his face, and shun it as
   much as they can; and yet when one asks them what they intend by
   sacrificing and by performing other rites, the answer is ready on their
   lips, "We worship God," that is, "We desire to worship him." Since then
   hypocrites are wont to boast of this, the Prophet speaks by way of
   concession, and says, They shall come to seek God, but shall not find
   him

   The Papists of this day pursue a similar course, when they go round
   their altars, when they gad away to perform vowed pilgrimages, when
   they whisper their prayers, when they hear and buy masses; for to what
   purpose are all these things, but by interposing these veils to escape
   God's judgment? They know themselves to be exposed to his judgment;
   their conscience forces them to pacify God: but what do they in the
   meantime? "I will find out a way in which God will not pursue me: let
   this then be the price of redemption, let this be a compensation." In a
   word, we see that the Papists mock God with their ceremonies, that they
   have nothing else in view but to seek hiding-places: and hence the Lord
   by his Prophet complains, that his temple was like a den of robbers,
   (Jeremiah 7:11:) for men securely sin, when they publicly offer such
   expiations. Nay, the Papists, when they mutter their prayers, say that
   the final intention is pleasing to God, though they may wander in their
   thoughts: for if, when they begin to pray, it should come to their
   minds, that God is prayed to, though they may not attend to their
   prayers, though they may pollute themselves with many depraved lusts
   yet, if with the mouth they utter prayers, they maintain that the final
   intention pleases God. -- Why? Because their design is to seek God.
   This is, indeed, extremely sottish and puerile: but, as I have already
   said, the Prophet does not press this point, but concedes to the
   Israelites what they pretended, "Ye seek God; but yet ye run not in the
   right way; and these circuitous courses will not lead you to God." How
   so? "For ye recede farther from him." So Isaiah says, `She will greatly
   weary herself in her ways:' but in the meantime she followed not the
   right way, but, on the contrary, turned aside after various errors, and
   thus receded from the Lord, and came not to him.

   By saying, that God had removed or separated himself from them, he
   intimates that he is not propitious but to the faithful, who think not
   so grossly of him, as to seek to feed him with the flesh of oxen or
   other sacrifices, or to pacify him with disagreeable odour; but who
   seek him spiritually and from the heart, who bring true repentance. It
   now follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:7

   7. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord: for they have
   begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their
   portions.

   7. Contra Jehovam (vel, cum Jehova) perfide egerunt: quia filios
   alienos genuerunt: nunc vorabit eos mensis cum portionibus suis.


   He says that they had acted perfidiously with God, for they had
   violated his covenant. We must bear in mind what I have said before of
   the mutual faith which God stipulates with us, when he binds himself to
   us. God then covenants with us on this condition, that he will be our
   Father and Husband; but he requires from us such obedience as a son
   ought to render to his father; he requires from us that chastity which
   a wife owes to her husband. The Prophet now charges the people with
   unfaithfulness, because they had despised the true God, and prostituted
   themselves to idols.

   And he also aggravates this crime by saying, that they had begotten
   strange children: for he intimates, that their condition had become so
   vitiated, that there remained no better hope as to their posterity.
   Some explain the words, that they had begotten strange children, in
   this way, -- that they had taken wives from heathen nations, contrary
   to the law. But this sense is very frigid. Others understand, that they
   had begotten spurious children, because they brought up their children
   badly, having, from their infancy, attached them to depraved
   superstitions. This is indeed true, but the prophet, as I have already
   said, looked further; he meant that the Israelites had not only become
   alienated from God, but had also taken away every hope as to the
   future. It may indeed be, and it sometimes happens, that men for a time
   abandon themselves to many vices, and afterwards return to the right
   way; but when corruption has so prevailed that the children are
   infected with the same vices, and impiety itself takes full possession
   of them, then the state of things is past recovery. We now then see
   that the Prophet means, that the Israelites were not only
   covenant-breakers with respect to God, but that they had also led their
   children into the same perfidy, so that there was no hope of
   repentance.

   He therefore subjoins the punishment, Devour them shall a month
   together with their portions [23] Some restrict the word, month, to the
   times of the new moon, or to the new moons; and these days, we know,
   were festivals among the Jews: but this seems too far-fetched and
   strained. The Prophet therefore, I doubt not, takes here a month for a
   short time; and so the Hebrew scholars explain it, and yet they do not
   sufficiently unfold this form of speaking. Now, the Prophets are wont
   to use various figures, when they intend to mark out a short time.
   Isaiah says, `Yet for three years, as the time of a hireling:' for
   hirelings were wont to hire themselves for three years; hence he says,
   This is the time fixed by the Lord as the appointed day. Contracts,
   also, we know, were then monthly, as they are at this day yearly, both
   with reference to the interest of money and other exchanges. Since,
   then, they usually made agreements for single months, the Prophet here,
   I have no doubt, takes a month metaphorically for a certain and fixed
   time. I do not therefore agree with the Hebrew scholars, who say that
   only a short time is expressed by the Prophet, but he expresses not
   only a short, but also a fixed time; and he did this that the
   Israelites might not vainly look for any deferring or respite, for
   hypocrites ever procrastinate and extend time by vain delusions. The
   Prophet therefore says here, A month shall devour them, which means,
   "Vengeance is now suspended over their heads, and this they shall not
   escape."

   And he says, "with their portions". He intimates here, no doubt, that
   though they then overflowed with abundance, yet nothing would be a help
   to them to keep them from being destroyed, for the hand of God was
   against them. We indeed know, that as long as men are well furnished
   with provisions and protection, they are not very solicitous about
   their state, but heedlessly despise whatever dangers there may be in
   the world: therefore the Prophet says, that though they were opulent
   and well supplied, though they possessed every kind of defense, yet
   nothing would avail for their safety, but a month should devour them,
   together with all their wealth. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [23] "With their portions," i.e., their allotments: they shall be
   totally dispossessed of their country; and the boundaries of the
   separate allotments of the several tribes shall be confounded and
   obliterated. --Bp. Horsley
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:8

   8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at
   Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.

   8. Clangite cornu in Gibeah, canite tuba in Ramah, buccinate etiam in
   Beth-aven, post te Benjamin.


   The Prophet speaks here more emphatically, and there is in these words
   a certain lively representation; for the Prophet assumes here the
   character of a herald, or he introduces heralds who declare and
   proclaim war. The truth itself ought indeed to storm not only our ears,
   but also our hearts, and be more powerful than any trumpet: but we yet
   see how unconcerned we are. Hence the Lord is constrained here to
   clothe his servant with the character of a herald, or at least he bids
   his servant to send forth heralds to proclaim war everywhere throughout
   the whole kingdom of Israel. This was not, properly speaking, the
   office of a Prophet; but we see that Ezekiel was ordered by the Lord to
   besiege Jerusalem for a time, -- and why? Because his whole teaching,
   after the Jews had been a thousand times threatened, became frigid: God
   then added visions, which more effectually roused torpid men. So also
   does Hosea in this place, Shout with the trumpet in Gibeah, blow the
   cornet in Ramah, and sound the horn in Beth-aven; for God, as we have
   said, is pursuing Israel, and will not suffer them to rest; so that the
   Israelites might know that God threatens not in vain, that his reproofs
   are not bugbears, but that he deals in earnest when he reproves the
   ungodly, and that execution, as they say, will follow what he teaches.
   In the same manner does Paul also say,

   `Vengeance is prepared by us, and is in readiness against all those who
   extol themselves against the greatness of Christ, how great soever they
   may be,'
   (2 Corinthians 10:5,6.)

   As, then, the ungodly are wont to make this objection, that the
   Prophets preach nothing but words, Hosea here testifies that he did not
   in vain terrify men, but that the effect, as they say, would
   immediately follow, unless they reconciled themselves to God.

   Now, as we perceive the Prophet's purpose, let us take care to receive
   by faith that peace which the Lord daily proclaims to us by his
   messengers. For what is the Gospel but what Paul declares it to be?

   `We discharge the office of ambassadors,' he says, `for Christ, that ye
   may be reconciled to God, and in Christ's name we exhort you to return
   into favor with God,'
   (2 Corinthians 5:20.)

   We then see that all the ministers of the Gospel are God's heralds, who
   invite us to peace, and promise that God is ready to grant us pardon,
   if with the heart we seek him. But if we receive not this message and
   this embassy, there will remain for us the dreadful judgment, of which
   the Prophet now speaks, and our impiety will procure for us this awful
   doom. As though God then were now declaring war against all the ungodly
   and the despisers of his grace, the Prophet says that they shall find
   that God is armed for vengeance.

   Moreover, the Prophet doubtless has here mentioned Gibeah, Ramah, and
   "Beth-aven", because in these places great assemblies usually met; and
   it may be also that they were strong fortresses. Since then the
   Israelites thought themselves unconquerable, because they had
   invincible strongholds against their enemies, the Prophet here
   expressly declares war against them. Everywhere then sound ye the
   trumpet, or blow the horn, or blow the cornet, especially in the chief
   places of the kingdom.

   After thee, O Benjamin. Benjamin is here to be taken, by a figure of
   speech, for the whole of Israel, because he was a brother of Joseph by
   the same mother: the tribe of Benjamin is therefore everywhere joined
   with Ephraim. It is at the same time certain, that the Prophet confines
   not here his address to one tribe, but includes, under one tribe or one
   part, the whole kingdom of Israel. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:9

   9. Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of
   Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

   9. Ephraim in vastitatem erit in die correctionis: in tribibus Israel
   docui veritatem (intelligere feci, ad verbum.)


   Here the Prophet asserts, without any figure, that their chastisement
   would not be slight or paternal, but that God would punish the
   Israelites as they deserved, that he would reduce them to nothing. God,
   we know, sometimes spares the ungodly, while he chastises them: signs
   of his wrath daily appear through the whole world; but at the same time
   they are moderate punishments which God inflicts on men; and he in a
   manner invites them to repentance, when he thus mercifully chastises
   their sins. But the Prophet says here, that God would no longer act in
   this manner; for he would destroy and wholly blot out the whole kingdom
   of Israel. They had been already often warned, not only in words, but
   also in deeds and had often felt the wrath of God; but they still
   persisted in their course. And now, as God saw that they were wholly
   stupid, he says, Now, in the day of correction, Ephraim shall be for
   desolation; as though he said, "I will not correct Israel as
   heretofore, for they have been before in various ways chastised, but
   have not repented; I will therefore now lay aside those paternal
   corrections which I have hitherto used, for I have in vain applied such
   remedies: I will then henceforth so correct Israel, that they shall be
   entirely destroyed." We now comprehend the Prophet's meaning.

   But this is a remarkable passage; for men are always slow and dilatory;
   even when God pricks them, as it were, with goads, they remain slothful
   in their sins. God adds corrections, one after the other; and when he
   sees men continuing as it were out of their senses, he then testifies
   that it is no time for reproof, but that final destruction is at hand.
   We hence see that every hope is here cut off from the Israelites, that
   they might not think that they would be punished in the usual way for
   their sins; for as soon as the Lord would begin to reprehend them, he
   would destroy and blot out their names: Israel then shall be for
   desolation in the day of correction

   He then adds, through the tribes of Israel I have made known the truth.
   Some regard this sentence as spoken in the person of God, and refer it
   to the first covenant which God made with the whole people; and so
   consider this to be the sense, "I do not now of a sudden proceed to
   take vengeance on the Israelites; for I have begotten this people,
   nourished them, brought them up to manhood. Since this is the case,
   there is now no reason for them to complain, that I am too precipitant
   in taking vengeance." This is one meaning: but I rather incline to
   their opinion, who regard this as spoken in the person of the Prophet;
   I do not yet follow altogether their opinion, for they suppose that the
   fault of the people in being unteachable is alone set forth: I have
   made known the truth through the tribes of Israel, as though the
   Prophet had said, "This people is unworthy that God should chastise
   them in a paternal manner, for they have hardened themselves in their
   wickedness; and though they have been more than sufficiently taught
   their duty, they have yet openly despised God, and have done this, not
   through ignorance, but through perverseness: since then the people of
   Israel have blinded and demented themselves, as it were, willfully,
   what now remains, but that God will bring them to desolation?" So they
   expound this place. But it seems to me that a protestation is what
   suits this passage: I have made known the truth through the tribes of
   Israel, as though he said, "This is fixed and ratified, which I now
   declare, and it shall certainly be; let then no one seek any escape for
   himself, for God threatens not now, as often before, for the purpose of
   recalling men to repentance, but declares what he will do."

   That this may be better understood, the mode of speaking in familiar
   use among all the Prophets is to be noticed: they often threaten, and
   then give hope of pardon, and promise salvation, so that they seem to
   exhibit some sort of contradiction: for after having fulminated against
   the people, they come at once to preach grace, they offer salvation,
   they testify that God will be propitious. At first sight the Prophets
   seem not to be consistent with themselves. But the solution is easy,
   for they threatened vengeance to men under condition; afterwards, when
   they saw some fruit, they then set forth the mercy of God, and began to
   be heralds of peace, to reconcile men to God, and make an agreement
   between them. Thus our Prophet often threatened the Israelites; and had
   they repented, the hope of salvation would not have been cut off from
   them. But after he had found them to be so obstinate that they would
   not receive any instruction, he then said, I have announced the truth
   through the tribes of Israel, that is, God does not now say, "Except ye
   repent, you are lost;" but he speaks positively; because he sees that
   the well known doctrine has been despised: this then is the truth. It
   is the same as if he said, "This is the last denunciation, which shall
   be fixed and unalterable."

   And Jeremiah also speaks in the same manner: his book is full of
   various threatenings; and yet they are conditional threatening. But
   after God had taken the matter in hand, he began to act in a different
   way: "I now call you no more to repentance, I contend not with you, I
   do not now set forth God as a judge, that ye may flee to him for mercy;
   all these things are come to an end; what remains now", he says, "is
   the last command, to show that you are now past hope." This is the true
   and real meaning of the Prophet here; and whosoever will consider the
   whole context, will easily perceive that this was the Prophet's
   intention. He had said before, "Ephraim shall be for desolation in the
   day of correction," that is, "The Lord will no longer reprove Ephraim
   as heretofore, but will entirely destroy him:" then he adds, I have
   promulgated or published the truth through the tribes of Israel: "Now,"
   he says, "know ye that vengeance will come shortly, and that it is
   ratified before God; know also that I speak authoritatively, as if the
   hand of God were now stretched forth before your eyes." Now follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that as we are already by nature the children of
   wrath, and yet thou hast deigned to receive us into favour, and hast
   set before us a sacred pledge of thy favor in thine only-begotten Son,
   and that as we have not yet ceased often to provoke thy wrath against
   us, and also to fall away by shameful perfidy from the covenant thou
   hast made with us, -- O grant, that being at least touched by thy
   admonitions, we may not harden our hearts in wickedness, but be pliant
   and teachable, and thus endeavor to return unto favor with thee, that
   through the interceding sacrifice of thy Son, we may find thee a
   propitious Father, and be for the future so wholly devoted to thee,
   that those who shall follow and survive us may be confirmed in the
   worship of thy majesty, and in true religion, through the same Jesus
   Christ our Lord. Amen.

     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Fifteenth
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:10

   10. The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound:
   therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

   10. Fuerunt principes Jehudah, quasi transferentes terminum (vel potest
   omitti K+, nota similitudinis, et saepe etiam ita sumitur; Fuerunt
   igitur principes Jehudah transferentes terminum:) super eos effundam
   quasi aquas furorem meum (vel, indignationis meae.)


   Here the Prophet transfers the blame of all the evils which then
   reigned in the tribe of Judah to their princes. He says, that the
   people had fallen away and departed from God through their fault, and
   he uses a most fit similitude. We know that there is nothing certain in
   the possessions of men, except the boundaries of fields be fixed; for
   no one can otherwise keep his own. But by the metaphor of boundaries in
   fields, the Prophet refers to the whole political order. The meaning
   is, that all things were now in a state of disorder and confusion among
   the Jews; because their leaders who ought to have ruled the people and
   kept them in obedience, had destroyed the whole order of things. We now
   then understand what the Prophet had really in view.

   But it must be observed that the tribe of Judah had been hitherto kept
   separate, as it were by limits, as God's heritage; for Israel had
   become alienated. The possession of God had been diminished by the
   defection of Jeroboam; and he retained only one tribe and a half in his
   service. The Prophet says now, that the Jews had mixed with the
   Israelites, and had thus become themselves alienated from the Lord; for
   the princes themselves had taken away the boundaries, that is, they
   had, through indolence and other vices, destroyed all reverence for
   God, all care for religion, and also every concern for what was just
   and right: he therefore severely threatens them, "I will pour out", he
   says, "my wrath upon them like waters".

   By this metaphor, he means that God would deal much more severely with
   them than with the common people: "I," he says, "will with full force
   pour forth upon them my fury, as if it were the deluge of antiquity."
   The meaning is, "I will overwhelm them in my vengeance, because they
   have done more evil by their bad examples, than if they had been
   private individuals." We hence see that the corruption of the people is
   imputed to the princes, and therefore God's more dreadful vengeance is
   denounced on them.

   But we must bear in mind what I have before said, that the Prophet
   gives here metaphorically the name of boundaries to the lawful worship
   of God, and to whatever he had enjoined on the people, that they might
   be his certain possession, as fields among men are usually separated by
   bounds that every one may keep his own. It follows. --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:11

   11. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly
   walked after the commandment.

   11. Praedae expositus est Ephrain (vel, direptus est; E+ShQ+ significat
   diripere et praedari,) fractus judicio: quia volens ambulavit post
   mandata.


   Here again the Prophet shows that the vengeance of God would be just
   against Israel, because they willingly followed the impious edicts of
   their king. The people might indeed have appeared to be excusable,
   since religion had not been changed by their voice, or by public
   consent, or by any contrivance of the many, but by the tyrannical will
   of the king alone: Jeroboam was not induced by superstition, but by
   subtile wickedness, to erect altars elsewhere, and not at Jerusalem.
   The people then might have appeared to be without blame; for the king
   alone devised this artifices to secure himself from danger. But the
   Prophet shows that all were implicated in the same guilt before God,
   because the people adopted with alacrity the impious forms of worship
   which the king had commanded. He therefore says, that Ephraim is
   exposed to plunder, that he is broken by judgment, (or, "shall be
   broken," for the words may be rendered in the future tense.) That the
   people then were thus torn, and were also to bear in future far more
   grievous things, was not, as he says, because they had to suffer all
   these things undeservedly, for they were not innocent. -- How so?
   Because they willingly followed the commands of their king; for the
   king did not force them to forsake the doctrine of the law, but every
   one went voluntarily after impious superstitions. Since then they
   willingly obeyed their king, they could not now excuse themselves, they
   could not object that this was done by one man, and that they were not
   admitted to consult with him. Their promptitude proved them to be
   perfidious.

   Some render H+W+#J+L+, evail, to begin," and J+#L+, ial, is often taken
   in this sense: but as it oftener signifies, "to be willing," the
   Prophet no doubt means here, that the Israelites had not been compelled
   by force and fear to go astray after superstitions; but that they were
   prompt and ready to obey, for there was in them no fear of God, no
   religion. If any one should now ask, whether they are excusable, who
   are tyrannically drawn away into superstitions, as we see to be done
   under the Papacy, the answer is ready, that those are not here absolved
   who regarded men more than God: nor is terror, as we know, a sufficient
   excuse, when we prefer our own life to the glory of God, and when,
   anxious to provide for ourselves and to avoid the cross, we deny God,
   or turn aside from making a confession of the right and pure faith: but
   the fault is rendered double, when men easily comply with any thing
   commanded by tyrants; for they show, that they were already fully
   inclined to despise God and to deny true religion. Hence the impiety of
   Jeroboam discovered the common ungodliness and wickedness of the whole
   people; for as soon as he raised his finger and bid them to worship God
   corruptly, all joyfully followed the impious edict. There was an
   occasion then offered to them; but the evil dwelt before in their
   hearts; for they were not so inclined and prompt to obey God. We now
   then see what the Prophet had in view.

   He says that God would justly punish all the Israelites, yea, even all
   the common people; for though Jeroboam alone had commanded them to
   worship God corruptly, yet all of them willingly embraced what he
   wished to be done: and thus it became manifest that they had in them no
   fear of God. We now see how vain is the excuse of those who say that
   they ought to obey kings, and at the same time forsake the word of God:
   for what does the Prophet reprove here, but that the Israelites had
   been too submissive to their king? "But this in itself was worthy of
   praise." True, when the king commanded nothing contrary to God's word;
   but when he perverted God's worship, when he set up corrupt
   superstitions, then the people ought to have firmly resisted him: but
   as they were too pliant, nay, willingly allowed themselves to be drawn
   away from the true worship of God, the Prophet says here, that they had
   no reason to complain, that they were too sharply and too severely
   chastised by the Lord. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:12

   12. Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of
   Judah as rottenness.

   12. Et ego tanquam tinea ipsi Ephraim, et tanquam putredo (vel, caries;
   quanquam alii vertunt, Teredinem, qui est etiam vermiculus, qui
   nascitur in lignis) domui Jehudah.


   God now denounces punishment in common on the two kingdoms; but he
   speaks not as before, he says not that his fury would be like a deluge,
   to overwhelm and drown the people. What then? He compares himself to
   little worms which gnaw wood and consume cloths; or he compares himself
   to rottenness; for, as we have said, the second word is to be so taken,
   as R+Q+B+, rekob, is properly rottenness, and is derived from R+Q+B+,
   rekab, to rot;" it is then rottenness or putrescence. But as I have
   said, some would render it, "a grub;" and there is a probable reason
   for this, because he first mentioned moth; and these two, moth and grub
   [24] , would be more suitable to each other, than moth and rottenness.
   However, the meaning of the Prophet is by no means obscure, and that
   is, that the Lord would by a slow corrosion consume both the people;
   that though he would not by one onset destroy them, yet they would pine
   away until they became wholly rotten. This is the meaning.

   But we must observe why the Prophet used this metaphor. It was, that
   the Israelites and the Jews might understand, that though the Lord
   would in some measure withhold his hand from resting heavily upon them,
   and that though he would spare them, yet they would not be safe,
   because they would by little and little feel a slow decay, that would
   consume them. And the Lord meant in this way to turn the people to
   repentance; but he effected nothing: for such was their hardness, that
   they felt not this slow decay; as those who are stupid are not moved,
   except they feel a most grievous pain; they think that they are doing
   well, and they struggle against their own disease: many such we see.
   Hence the Prophet here reminds them, that though the Lord should not
   openly fulminate against the Israelites and the Jews, they yet in vain
   flattered themselves, because the Lord would be to them a moth and a
   worm; that is, that however gradually he might consume them, they would
   yet be greatly deceived, if they did not perceive that they had to do
   with him.

   The chief instruction is, that God does not always punish men in the
   same way; for he deals with them differently, either to promote their
   salvation, or to render them in this way more inexcusable. Hence God
   sometimes pours forth his severity, and at another time he slowly
   chastises us. But whatever may be the way, we are reminded that we
   ought not to sleep, whenever the Lord awakens us; nor should we wait
   until he appears as a lion or a bear, until he devours us, until he
   rages against us in dreadful fury. We are then reminded that there is
   no reason why we should wait for this; but that when God consumes us by
   degrees, it ought instantly to occur to us, that though the moth and
   the worm are but very small insects, hardly seen by the eyes, yet a
   hard and firm tree is consumed by these little worms, or by its own
   cariousness; and that cloths are consumed with putridity, when once the
   moth enters into them; we see valuable furniture perishing. Since it is
   so, there is no reason for men to be secure when God shows any sign of
   his wrath, though he pours not forth his horrible vengeance, but is as
   a hidden putrefaction. We now perceive what Hosea means in this verse.
   It now follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [24] "That it signifies some kind of worm or maggot I have no doubt,
   because the rule of the parallelism demands some gnawing insect, that
   may correspond with E+Sh, the moth." -- By. Horsley
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:13

   13. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went
   Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal
   you, nor cure you of your wound.

   13. Et vidit Ephraim dolorem suum (morbum suum potius,) et Jehudah
   vulnus suum: profectus wst Ephraim ad Assur, et misit ad regem Jareb:
   ipse tamen non potuit mederi vobis, et non sanabit a vobis vulnus
   (dicunt Hebraei, sanare ab aliquo vulnus pro auferre vulnus: potius
   Latine dicendum est, non sanabit vos a plaga.)


   Here the Lord complains that he had in vain chastised the Israelites by
   the usual means, for they thought that they had remedies ready for
   themselves, and turned their minds to vain hopes. This is usually done
   by most men; for when the Lord deals mildly with us, we perceive not
   his hand, but think that what evils happen to us come by chance. Then,
   as if we had nothing to do with God, we seek remedies, and turn our
   minds and thoughts to other quarters. This then is what God now
   reproves in the Jews and the Israelites: Ephraim, he says, saw his
   disease, and Judah his wound What then did he do? Ephraim went to
   Assyria, he says, and sent to king Jareb, that is, "They returned not
   to me, but thought that they had remedies in their own hand; and thus
   vain became the labour which I have taken to correct them." This is the
   meaning.

   He says that Ephraim had seen his disease, and Judah his wound: but it
   is not right so to take this, as if they well considered the causes of
   these; for the ungodly are blind to the causes of evils, and only
   attend to their present grief. They are like intemperate men, who, when
   disease seizes them, feel heat, feel pain in the head, and other
   symptoms, at the same time there is no concern for the disease, neither
   do they inquire how they procured these pains for themselves, that they
   might seek fit remedies.

   So Ephraim knew his disease, but at the same time overlooked the cause
   of his disease, and was only affected by his present pain. So also
   Judah knew his wound; but he understood not that he was struck and
   wounded by the hand of God; but was only affected with his pain, like
   brute beasts who feel the stroke and sigh, while they have, in the
   meantime, neither reason nor judgment to understand whence, or for what
   cause the evil has come to them. In a word, the Prophet here condemns
   this brutish stupidity in both people; for they did not so far profit
   under God's rod as to return to him, but, on the contrary, they sought
   other remedies; because stupor had taken such hold on their minds, that
   they did not consider that they were chastised by God, and that this
   was done for just reasons. As then no such thing came to their mind,
   but they only felt themselves ill and grieved as brutes do, they went
   to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb.

   The Prophet seems here to inveigh only against the ten tribes; but
   though he expressly speaks of the kingdom of Israel, there is no doubt
   but that he accused also the Jews in common with them. Why then does he
   name only Ephraim? [25] Even because the beginning of this evil
   commenced in the kingdom of Israel: for they were the first who went to
   the king of Assur, that they might, by his help, resist their
   neighbors, the Syrians: the Jews afterwards followed their example.
   Since then the Israelites afforded a precedent to the Jews to send for
   aids of this kind, the Prophet expressly confines his discourse to
   them. But there is no doubt, as I have already said, but that the
   accusation was common.

   We now perceive what the Prophet meant: Ephraim, he says, saw his
   disease, and Judah his wound; that is, "Though I have, like a moth and
   a worm, consumed the kingdom of Israel as well as the kingdom of Judah,
   and they have felt themselves to be, as it were, decaying, and though
   their disease ought to have led them to repentance, they have yet
   turned their thoughts elsewhere; they have even supposed that they
   could be made whole by seeking a remedy either from the Assyrians or
   some others: thus it happened that they hastened to Assyria, and sought
   help from king Jareb." We then see, in short, that the stupidity and
   hardness of the people are here reproved, because they were not turned
   by these evils to repentance.

   Some think Jareb to have been a city in Assyria; but there is no ground
   for this conjecture. Others suppose that Jareb was a neighboring king
   to the Assyrian, and was sent to when the Assyrian, from a friend and a
   confederate, became an enemy, and invaded the kingdom of Israel; but
   this conjecture also has no solid grounds. It may have been the proper
   name of a man, and I prefer so to take it. For it seemed not necessary
   for the Prophet to speak here of many auxiliaries; but after the manner
   of the Hebrews, he repeats the same thing twice. Some render it, "to
   revenge;" because they sent for that king, even the Assyrian, as a
   revenger. But this exposition also is forced. More simple appears to me
   what I have already said, that they sent for the Assyrian, that is, for
   king Jareb.

   Then it follows, Yet could he not heal you, nor will he cure you of
   your wound Here God declares that whatever the Israelites might seek
   would be in vain. "Ye think," he says, "that you can escape my hand by
   these remedies; but your folly will at length betray itself, for he
   will avail you nothing; that is, king Jareb will not heal you." In this
   clause the Prophet shows, that unless we immediately return to God,
   when he warns us by his scourges, it will be in vain for us to look
   here and there for remedies: for in this world many allurements come in
   our way; but when we hope for any relief, the Lord will at length show
   that we have been deluded. There is, then, but one remedy, -- to go
   directly to God; and this is what the Prophet means, and this is the
   application of the present doctrine. He had said before that Ephraim
   had felt his disease and Judah his wounds; that is, "I have led them
   thus far, that they have acknowledged themselves to be ill; but they
   have not gone on as they ought to have done, so as to return to me: on
   the contrary, they have turned aside to king Jareb and to other
   delusions." Then it follows, "But these remedies have turned ant rather
   for harm to you; they certainly have not profited you." A confirmation
   of this sentence follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [25] Horsley thought that there is a word left out before "sent," and
   supposed it to be "Judah," that the two parts of the verse might
   correspond, as Judah as well as Ephraim is mentioned in the former part
   of the verse. Had he well weighed the reason here given by Calvin, he
   would not have thought such an addition necessary. Conjectural
   emendations for the most part arise from the same cause, -- from not
   understanding the design and purpose of the sacred writer. -- Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:14

   14. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the
   house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and
   none shall rescue him

   14. Quia ego tanquam leo ipsi Ephraim, et tanquam leunculus domui
   Jehudah: ego, ego rapiam, et abibo; tollam et nemo eripiet.


   As I have said, the Prophet confirms this truth, that Israel had
   recourse in vain to false physicians, when they left God. How so?
   Because the whole world, were it to favor us, could not yet help us,
   against the will of God and his opposing power. But God here declares
   that he would be adverse to the Israelites; as though he said, "Provide
   human aids as much as you please; but will the Assyrian be superior to
   me in power? Can he hinder me from pursuing you as I have determined?"
   Thus God shows that he would deal in a new and different manner with
   the Israelites and the Jews: "I will not," he says, "be any longer like
   a moth and a worm; I shall come like a lion to you, with an open mouth
   to devour you: now let the Assyrian king come forth, when I shall thus
   go armed against you; can he put any hindrance in my way, that I should
   not execute my vengeance, as it shall seem good to me?" We now then
   perceive the design of the Prophet.

   He had said, that God would punish the Israelites and the Jews, by
   consuming them by degrees, that there might be more time for
   repentance: but he says that this would be useless, for they would not
   think that it was done seriously. They would therefore deceive
   themselves with vain fallacies. What would then at last remain? Even
   this, "I will," he says, "put on a new form and go to battle: I will be
   to you as a lion and a young lion; I will rage against you as a fierce
   wild beast: your grievance shall not now be from moths and worms; but
   you shall have an open and dreadful contest with the lion and the young
   lion. What then will the Assyrian king avail you?" And this place
   teaches, that men, when they attempt to oppose vain helps to the wrath
   of God, gain only this, that they more and more provoke and inflame his
   wrath against themselves. After God has first gnawed, he will at length
   devour; after he has pricked, he will deeply wound; after he has
   struck, he will wholly destroy. All this we bring on ourselves by our
   perverse attempts, when we try to seek escapes for ourselves. Except,
   then, we would willingly kindle God's displeasure, that he may appear
   as a lion and rage against us with the whole force of his wrath, let us
   take heed, that we deceive not ourselves by vain reliefs.

   He therefore says, I, I will take away, or, "tear," or, "tear in
   pieces;" for ShR+P%, shereph, properly means this, and it agrees better
   with the rest of the context. "I will then, as lions and young lions
   are wont to do, tear in pieces, limb from limb, the whole people." Then
   he says, I will go away as a lion, who, after he has enjoyed his prey,
   departs a conqueror with more courage being not put to flight, for he
   is moved by no fear. So also the Prophet says, "Let the Assyrian king
   come, he will not constrain me to retreat, nor will he rescue the spoil
   from me: and when I shall be satiated with your destruction, I shall
   not then have any fear on account of the Assyrian king, that I should
   stealthily flee away, as foxes are wont to do; I will not craftily
   contend; but I will go forth openly, my violence will be sufficient to
   put him to flight: I will thus depart of my own accord; for your
   subsidies will occasion me no fear. I will take away, he says, and none
   shall rescue." We now comprehend the whole meaning of the Prophet.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 5:15

   15. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their
   offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

   15. Ibo, revertar ad locum meum, donex agnoscant se peccasse (ad verbum
   est, peccare,) et quaerant faciem meam: ubi fuerit ipsis afflictio,
   properabunt ad me (vel, me quaerent.)


   The word ShX+R+, shicker, signifies the morning: hence the verb means,
   "to seek early," or, "to rise early," as men do when they apply
   themselves diligently to anything: but in many places of Scripture it
   is taken simply in the sense of seeking; and this simple meaning seems
   most suitable to this place, They will seek me in their tribulation God
   here declares, that after having been dreadfully fierce against both
   the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, he would for a time rest quietly and
   wait from heaven what they would do. He then adds, "They will at length
   return to a sane mind: when they shall perceive the finishing part,
   they will then, having lost their perverseness, acknowledge their sins
   and be truly humbled." This is the meaning.

   The mode of speaking seems apparently strange, when God says, that he
   will go away; for he neither so hides himself in heaven, that he
   neglects human affairs, nor withdraws his hand, but that he sustains
   the world by the continued exercise of his power, nor even takes away
   his Spirit from men, especially when he would lead them to repentance;
   for men never of their own accord turn themselves to God, but by his
   hidden influence. What then does he mean by this, I will go and return
   to my place? Why, indeed, he speaks here of the external state of the
   people: then the meaning is, "After the two kingdoms shall be cut off,
   I will then for a time hide my face from both the people; and they will
   think that I care not for their salvation; they will think that they
   are far removed from me." We hence see that the Prophet here only
   refers to what would be the external condition of the people; and then
   we also see, that these forms of speech are accommodated to the
   perceptions of men. So God also himself speaks in Isaiah 18, [26]
   though for a different purpose; yet the Prophet expresses there in
   reality the same thing; `I will rest,' he says, `and I will wait in my
   tabernacle.' What was that rest of God, and what was his tabernacle?
   Why, when God exercised his judgments, we are then constrained to feel
   his presence, and when he kindly favors us and exhibits the kindness of
   a Father, he then really shows himself propitious to us: but when he
   neither visits us for our sins, nor gives us tokens of his favor, he
   seems to withdraw himself from us, and to show no regard for our life.
   We now then understand that the Prophet speaks of the time of exile; as
   though he said, "After God shall execute against you his extreme
   judgment, and ye shall be liken away into exile, God will then forsake
   you, as if he in no way regarded you, but were unmindful of you; for he
   will leave you there to rest, even in Chaldea and Assyria; and then he
   will not send forth any light of salvation. God therefore will be as it
   were idle in heaven." This is one thing.

   But the Prophet shows at the same time the final issue, that is, that
   they will afterwards return to the Lord; and that this is also the
   purpose of God he affirms, Till they acknowledge, he says, that they
   have sinned For it is the beginning of healing, when men consider the
   cause of their disease. He had said before that Israel saw his disease,
   but not in a right way; for the origin of the disease was hid from him,
   and continued as yet hid. But now the Prophet distinctly shows that it
   is to seek God, when people acknowledge and confess their sins. This
   word continually occurs in Scripture when sacrifices are spoken of.
   Hence men are said then to sin, when they go forth before God, making a
   true confession, when they acknowledge their guilt and pray for pardon.
   So also in this place he says, Until they confess that they have sinned
   I will for a time hide myself And he adds, "They will seek my face".
   This is the second thing in attaining salvation -- to seek the face of
   God: for we are reconciled to God, we know, by repentance and faith;
   not that repentance procures pardon for us, but because it is
   necessarily required; it is a cause, as they say, which is
   indispensable.

   The first step then towards healing, as we have already said, is to be
   touched with grief, when we perceive that we have provoked the wrath of
   God, and when thus our sins displease us. But he who is thus become in
   himself a sinner, that is, who begins to be his own judge, ought
   afterwards to add this second thing -- to seek the face of God, that
   is, to present himself a suppliant before God, and to ask for pardon;
   and this arises from faith. It is then to repentance that the word
   #ShM%, ahsim, belongs, which is to "acknowledge sin:" and to "seek the
   face of God," properly belongs to faith.

   Now let us see what is the application of this doctrine as to both
   people. When the Israelites and the Jews lived in exile, it was of
   great benefit for them to have this testified, that God was hiding his
   face for a time, that he might afford them time to repent; this is one
   thing. Now when men considerately attend to this, that they are to seek
   God, that they may repent, they are encouraged; and this is the
   sharpest goad to rouse men, that they may no longer be torpid in their
   vices: and this is what the Prophet meant. When the Lord shall banish
   into exile both the Jews and the Israelites, let them not think that
   though for a time he will seem to cast them away they are wholly
   deserted; for as yet a convenient time for repentance will be given
   them. He afterwards describes the way of reconciliations that is, that
   they shall acknowledge that they have sinned, and then that they shall
   seek the face of God.

   And at the same time he makes known the fruit of affliction, and says,
   When affliction shall be to them, then they will seek me The Prophet
   here shows, that exile, though very bitter to Israel, would yet be
   useful; as when a physician gives a bitter draughts or is compelled to
   use strong medicine to cure an inveterate disease; so the Prophet shows
   that this punishment would be useful to the people, and even pleasant,
   however bitter it might be for a time. How so? For they will return to
   the Lord; and he says distinctly, "They will seek me". He includes in
   this expression both faith and repentance; for he separates not the two
   clauses as before, but shows generally that the end of affliction would
   be, that the people would turn themselves to God. With respect to the
   expression, "to seek early," I have said already that I do not approve
   of that meaning; for neither the Israelites nor the Jews, sought God
   early, but were with difficulty at lasts after a long period, and a
   long series of seventy years, led to repentance. What sort of seeking
   early was this? I do not then approve of rendering the word, `They
   shall seek me early;' but, as I have said the simple idea of "seeking"
   is more suitable.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [26] Isaiah 18:4. -- fj.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that as we continue to kindle often thy wrath
   against us by our innumerable sins, -- O grant, that when thou warnest
   and wouldest restore us to the right way, we may at least be pliant,
   and without delay attend to the scourges of thy hand, and not wait for
   extreme severity, but timely repent; and that we may truly and from the
   heart seek thee, let us not put on false repentance, but strive to
   devote ourselves wholly to thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

   Chapter 6
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Sixteenth
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 6:1

   1. Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will
   heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

   1. Venite et convertamur ad Jehovam, quia ipse rapuit et sanabit nos;
   percussit et alligabit plagas nostras.


   In the last chapter the Prophet said, that the Israelites, after having
   been subdued by chastisements and judgments, would again turn back from
   following error to seek God. But as terror drives men away from
   approaching God, he now adds, that the measure of afflictions would not
   be such as would discourage their minds and produce despair; but rather
   inspire them with the assurance, that God would be propitious to them:
   and that he might set this forth the better, he introduces them as
   saying, Come, let us go to the Lord: and this mode of speaking is very
   emphatical.

   But we must know that the reason here given, why the Israelites could
   return safely and with sure confidence to God, is, that they would
   acknowledge it as his office to heal after he has smitten, and to bring
   a remedy for the wounds which he has inflicted. The Prophet means by
   these words, that God does not so punish men as to pour forth his wrath
   upon them for their destruction; but that he intends, on the contrary,
   to promote their salvation, when he is severe in punishing their sins.
   We must then remember, as we have before observed, that the beginning
   of repentance is a sense of God's mercy; that is, when men are
   persuaded that God is ready to give pardon, they then begin to gather
   courage to repent; otherwise perverseness will ever increase in them;
   how much soever their sin may frighten them, they will yet never return
   to the Lord. And for this purpose I have [9]elsewhere quoted that
   remarkable passage in Psalm 130, `With thee is mercy, that thou mayest
   be feared;' for it cannot be, that men will obey God with true and
   sincere heart, except a taste of his goodness allures them, and they
   can certainly determine, that they shall not return to him in vain, but
   that he will be ready, as we have said, to pardon them. This is the
   meaning of the words, when he says, Come, and let us turn to the Lord;
   for he has torn and he will heal us; that is, God has not inflicted on
   us deadly wounds; but he has smitten, that he might heal.

   At the same time, something more is expressed in the Prophet's words,
   and it is this, that God never so rigidly deals with men, but that he
   ever leaves room for his grace. For by the word, torn, the Prophet
   alludes to that heavy judgment of which he had before spoken in the
   person of God: the Lord then made himself to be like a cruel wild
   beast, "I will be as a lion, I will devour, I will tear, and no one
   shall take away the prey which I have once seized." God wished then to
   show that his vengeance would be dreadful against the Israelites. Now,
   though God should deal very sharply with them, they were not yet to
   despair of pardon. However, then, we may find God to be for a time like
   a lion or a bear, yet, as his proper office is to heal after he has
   torn, to bind the wounds he has inflicted, there is no reason why we
   should shun his presence. We see that the design of the Prophet's words
   was to show, that no chastisement is so severe that it ought to break
   down our spirits, but that we ought, by entertaining hope, to stir up
   ourselves to repentance. This is the drift of the passage.

   It is further needful to observe, that the faithful do here, in the
   first place, encourage themselves, that they may afterwards lead others
   with them; for so the words mean. He does not say, "Go, return to
   Jehovah;" but, Come, let us return unto Jehovah We then see that each
   one begins with himself; and then that they mutually exhort one
   another; and this is what ought to be done by us: when any one sends
   his brethren to God, he does not consult his own good, since he ought
   rather to show the way. Let every one, then, learn to stimulate
   himself; and then, let him stretch out his hand to others, that they
   may follow. We are at the same time reminded that we ought to undertake
   the care of our brethren; for it would be a shame for any one to be
   content with his own salvation, and so to neglect his brethren. It is
   then necessary to join together these two things, -- To stir up
   ourselves to repentance, -- and then to try to lead others with us. Let
   us now proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 6:2

   2. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us
   up, and we shall live in his sight.

   2. Vivificabit nos post biduum, die tertio suscitabit nos, et vivemus
   in conspectu ejus (vel, coram facie ejus.)


   This place the Hebrew writers pervert, for they think that they are yet
   to be redeemed by the coming of the Messiah; and they imagine that this
   will be the third day: for God once drew them out of Egypt, this was
   their first life; then, secondly, he restored them to life when he
   brought them back from the Babylonish captivity; and when God shall, by
   the hand of the Messiah, gather them from their dispersion, this, they
   say, will be the third resurrection. But these are frivolous notions.
   Not withstanding, this place is usually referred to Christ, as
   declaring, that God would, after two days, and on the third, raise up
   his Church; for Christ, we know, did not rise privately for himself,
   but for his members, inasmuch as he is the first-fruits of them who
   shall rise. This sense does not seem then unsuitable, that is, that the
   Prophet here encourages the faithful to entertain hope of salvation,
   because God would raise up his only-begotten Son, whose resurrection
   would be the common life of the whole Church.

   Yet this sense seems to me rather too refined. We must always mind
   this, that we fly not in the air. Subtle speculations please at first
   sight, but afterwards vanish. Let every one, then, who desires to make
   proficiency in the Scriptures always keep to this rule -- to gather
   from the Prophets and apostles only what is solid.

   Let us now see what the Prophet meant. He here adds, I doubt not, a
   second source of consolation, that is, that if God should not
   immediately revive his people, there would be no reason for delay to
   cause weariness, as it is wont to do; for we see that when God suffers
   us to languish long, our spirits fail; and those who at first seem
   cheerful and courageous enough, in process of time become faint. As,
   then, patience is a rare virtue, Hosea here exhorts us patiently to
   bear delay, when the Lord does not immediately revive us. Thus then did
   the Israelites say, After two days will God revive us; on the third day
   he will raise us up to life

   What did they understand by two days? Even their long affliction; as
   though they said, "Though the Lord may not deliver us from our miseries
   the first day, but defer longer our redemption, our hope ought not yet
   to fail; for God can raise up dead bodies from their graves no less
   than restore life in a moment." When Daniel meant to show that the
   affliction of the people would be long, he says,

   `After a time, times, and half time,' (Daniel 7:25.)

   That mode of speaking is different, but then as to sense it is the
   same. He says, `after a time,' that is, after a year; that would be
   tolerable: but it follows, `and times,' that is, many years: God
   afterwards shortens that period, and brings redemption at a time when
   least expected. Hosea mentions here two years, because God would not
   afflict his people for one day, but, as we have before seen, subdue
   them by degrees; for the perverseness of the people had so prevailed,
   that they could not be soon healed. As when diseases have been striking
   roots for a long time, they cannot be immediately cured, but there is
   need of slow and various remedies; and were a physician to attempt
   immediately to remove a disease which had taken full possession of a
   man, he certainly would not cure him, but take away his life: so also,
   when the Israelites, through their long obstinacy, had become nearly
   incurable, it was necessary to lead them to repentance by slow
   punishments. They therefore said, After two days God will revive us;
   and thus they confirmed themselves in the hope of salvation, though it
   did not immediately appear: though they long remained in darkness, and
   the exile was long which they had to endure, they yet did not cease to
   hope: "Well, let the two days pass, and the Lord will revive us."

   We see that a consolation is here opposed to the temptations, which
   take from us the hope of salvation, when God suspends his favor longer
   than our flesh desires. Martha said to Christ, `He is now putrid, it is
   the fourth day.' [27] She thought it absurd to remove the stone from
   the sepulchre, because now the body of Lazarus was putrified. But
   Christ in this instance designed to show his own incredible power by
   restoring a putrid body to life. So the faithful say here, The Lord
   will raise us up after two days: "Though exile seems to be like the
   sepulchre, where putridity awaits us, yet the Lord will, by his
   ineffable power, overcome whatever may seem to obstruct our
   restoration." We now perceive, as I think, the simple and genuine sense
   of this passage.

   But at the same time I do not deny but that God has exhibited a
   remarkable and a memorable instance of what is here said in his
   only-begotten Son. As often then as delay begets weariness in us, and
   when God seems to have thrown aside every care of us, let us flee to
   Christ; for, as it has been said, His resurrection is a mirror of our
   life; for we see in that how God is wont to deal with his own people:
   the Father did not restore life to Christ as soon as he was taken down
   from the cross; he was deposited in the sepulchre, and he lay there to
   the third day. When God then intends that we should languish for a
   time, let us know that we are thus represented in Christ our head, and
   hence let us gather materials of confidence. We have then in Christ an
   illustrious proof of this prophecy. But in the first place, let us lay
   hold on what we have said, that the faithful here obtain hope for
   themselves, though God extends not immediately his hand to them, but
   defers for a time his grace of redemption.

   Then he adds, We shall live in his sight, or before him. Here again the
   faithful strengthen themselves, for God would favor them with his
   paternal countenance, after he had long turned his back on them, We
   shall live before his face For as long as God cares not for us, a sure
   destruction awaits us; but as soon as he turns his eyes to us, he
   inspires life by his look alone. Then the faithful promise this good to
   themselves that God's face will shine again after long darkness: hence
   also they gather the hope of life, and at the same time withdraw
   themselves from all those obstacles which obscure the light of life;
   for while we run and wander here and there, we cannot lay hold on the
   life which God promises to us, as the charms of this world are so many
   veils, which prevent our eyes to see the paternal face of God. We must
   then remember that this sentence is added, that the faithful, when it
   pleases God to turn his back on them, may not doubt but that he will
   again look on them. Let us now go on --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [27] John 11:39. -- fj.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 6:3

   3. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going
   forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the
   rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

   3. Et cognoscemus et persequemur ad cognitionem Jehovae: sicut aurora
   dispositus est egressus ejus, et veniet tanquam pluvia nobis, tanquam
   pluvia serotina pluvia terrae. [28]


   In this verse the faithful pursue what we have before considered,
   making the hope of salvation sure to themselves: nor is it a matter of
   wonder that the Prophet dwells more fully on this subject; for we know
   how prone we are to entertain doubt. There is nothing more difficult,
   especially when God shows to us signs of his wrath, than to recover us,
   so that we may be really persuaded that he is our physician, when he
   seems to visit us for our sins. We must then, in this case, earnestly
   strive, for it cannot be done without labour. Hence the faithful now
   say, We shall know, and we shall pursue to know Jehovah. They show then
   by these words that they distrust not, but that light would arise after
   darkness; for this is the meaning of the words: We shall then know,
   they say; that is, "Though there is now on every side horrible
   darkness, yet the Lord will manifest his goodness to us, even though it
   may not immediately appear." They therefore add, And we shall pursue
   after the knowledge of Jehovah. We now perceive the purport of the
   words.

   Now this passage teaches us, that when God hides his face, we act
   foolishly if we cherish our unbelief; for we ought, on the contrary, as
   I have already said, to contend with this destructive disease, inasmuch
   as Satan seeks nothing else but to sink us in despair. This his device
   then ought to be understood by us, as Paul reminds us, (2 Corinthians
   2:11;) and the Holy Spirit supplies us here with weapons, by which we
   may repel this temptation of Satan, "What? Thou seest that God is angry
   with thee; nor is it of any use to thee to attempt to come to him, for
   every access is shut up." This is what Satan suggests to us, when we
   are sensible of our sins. What is to be done? The Prophet here
   propounds a remedy, We shall know; "Though now we are sunk in thick
   darkness, though there never shines on us, no, not even a spark of
   light, yet we shall know (as Isaiah says, `I will hope in the Lord, who
   hides his face from Jacob') [29] that this is the true exercise of our
   faith, when we lift up our eyes to the light which seems to be
   extinguished, and when in the darkness of death we yet continue to
   promise to ourselves life, as we are here taught: We shall then know;
   further, We shall pursue after the knowledge of Jehovah; though God
   withdraws his face, and, as it were designedly, doubles the darkness,
   and all knowledge of his grace be, as it were, extinct, we shall yet
   pursue after this knowledge; that is, no obstacle shall keep us from
   striving, and our efforts will at length make their way to that grace
   which seems to be wholly excluded from us."

   Some give this rendering, We shall know, and shall pursue on to know
   Jehovah, and explain the passage thus, -- that the Israelites had
   derived no such benefit from the law of Moses, but that they still
   expected the fuller doctrine, which Christ brought at his coming. They
   then think that this is a prophecy respecting that doctrine, which is
   now by the Gospel set forth to us in its full brightness, because God
   has manifested himself in his Son as in a living image. But this is too
   refined an exposition; and it is enough for us to keep close to the
   design of the Prophet. He indeed introduces the godly thus speaking for
   this reason -- because there was need of great and strong effort, that
   they might rise up to the hope of salvation; for it was not to be the
   exile of one day, but of seventy years. When therefore so heavy a trial
   awaited the godly, the Prophet here wished to prepare them for the
   laborious warfare: We shall then know, and follow on to know Jehovah

   Then he says, As the morning shall come to us his going forth, -- a
   similitude the most appropriate; for here the faithful call to mind the
   continued succession of days and nights. No wonder that God bids us to
   hope for his grace, the sight of which is yet hid from us; for except
   we had learnt by long experience, who could hope for sudden light when
   the darkness of night prevails? Should we not think that the earth is
   wholly deprived of light? But seeing that the dawn suddenly shines, and
   puts an end to the darkness of night, and dispels it, what wonder is it
   that the Lord should shine forth beyond our expectation? His going
   forth then shall be like the morning.

   He here calls a new manifestation the going forth of God, that is, when
   God shows that he regards his people with favor, when he shows that he
   is mindful of the covenant which he made with Abraham; for as long as
   the people were exiled from their country, God seemed not, as we have
   said, to look on them any more; nay, the judgment of the flesh only
   suggested this, that God was far distant from his people. He then calls
   it the going forth of God, when God should show himself propitious to
   the captives, and should wholly restore them; then the going forth of
   God shall come, and shall be like the morning We now then see that he
   confirms them by the order of nature, as Paul does, when he chides the
   unbelief of those to whom a future resurrection seemed incredible,
   because it surpasses the thoughts of the flesh; "O fool!" he says,
   "does thou not see that what thou sowest first decays and then
   germinates? God now sets before thee in a decaying seed an emblem of
   the future resurrection." So also in this place, since light daily
   rises to us, and the morning shines after the darkness of night, what
   then will not the Lord effect by himself, who works so powerfully by
   material things? When he will put forth his full power, what, think we,
   will he do? Will he not much more surpass all the thoughts of our
   flesh? We now then see why this similitude was added.

   He afterwards describes to us the effect of this manifestation, He
   shall come, he says, as the rain to us, as the late rain, a rain to the
   earth This comparison shows, that as soon as God will deign to look on
   his people, his countenance will be like the rain, which irrigates the
   earth. When the earth is dry after long heat and long drought, it seems
   to be incapable of producing fruit; but rain restores to it its
   moisture and vigor. Thus then the Prophet, in the person of the
   faithful, does here strengthen the hope of a full restoration. He shall
   come to us as the rain, as the late rain

   The Hebrews call the late rain M+L+Q+W+M%, melakush, by which the corn
   was ripened. And it seems that the Prophet meant the vernal rain by the
   word G+ShM%, geshem, But the sense is clearly this, that though the
   Israelites had become so dry that they had no longer any vigor, there
   would yet be no less virtue in God's grace than in the rain, which
   fructifies the earth when it seems to be barren. But when at the end he
   adds, a rain to the earth, I doubt not but that he meant seasonable
   rain, which is pleasant and acceptable to the earth, or which the earth
   really wants; for a violent shower cannot be called properly a rain to
   the earth, because it is destructive and hurtful. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [28] The last clause, word for word, is the following: -- "And he shall
   come as a shower to us, as the crop-rain, irrigating the earth." The
   reference here seems to be only to "the crop-rain," the rain which
   ripened the crop. The only difficulty is about the word rendered
   "irrigating." Its leading idea is, to guide, direct, regulate: and
   doubtless what regulates and determines the produce of the earth is the
   rain. It may be rendered "regulating," that is, the fruitfulness of the
   earth. There is no other construction that suits the place, without
   supposing something left out, as the preposition L+ before "earth."
   "Which watereth the earth," is the version of Newcome. --Ed.

   [29] Isaiah 8:17. -- fj.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 6:4

   4. O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto
   thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it
   goeth away.

   4. Quid faciam tibi Ephraim? quid faciam tibi Jehudah? Nam bonitas
   vestra est quasi ros matutinus, quasi nebula mane transiens.


   Some so expound this passage as that God would not once irrigate his
   people, but would continue this favor; as though he said, "He is
   deceived, who thinks that the redemption, which I bid you to hope from
   me, will be momentary, for I will, by a continued progress, lead my
   people to a full fruition of salvation." But this sense is altogether
   foreign. The Prophet then, no doubt, introduces God here as speaking
   thus, "What shall I do to you? because ye cannot receive my favor, so
   great is your depravity." The context seems indeed to be in this way
   broken off; but we must remember this canon, that whenever the Prophets
   make known the grace of God, they at the same time add an exception,
   lest hypocrites falsely apply to themselves what is offered to the
   faithful alone. The Prophets, we know, never threatened ruin to the
   people, but that they added some promise, lest the faithful should
   despair, which must have been the case, except some mitigation had been
   made known to them. Hence the Prophets do this in common, -- they
   moderate their threatening and severity by adding a hope of God's
   favor. But at the same time, as hypocrites ever draw to themselves what
   belongs only to the faithful, and thus heedlessly deride God, the
   Prophets add another exception, by which they signify, that God's
   promise of being gracious and merciful to his people is not to be
   deemed universal, and as appertaining to all indiscriminately.

   I will more fully repeat this again: The Prophets had to do with the
   whole people; they had to do with the few faithful, for there was a
   small number of godly people among the Israelites as well as among the
   Jews. When therefore the Prophets reproved the people, they addressed
   the whole body: but at the same time, as there was some remnant seed,
   they mingled, as I have said, consolations, and mingled them, that the
   elect of God might ever recumb on his mercy, and thus patiently submit
   to his rod, and continue in his fear, knowing that there is in him a
   sure salvation. Hence the promises which we see inserted by the
   Prophets among threats and chidings, ought not to be referred in common
   to all, or indiscriminately to the people, but only, as we have said,
   to the faithful, who were then but few in number. This then is the
   reason why the prophets shook off self-complacencies from the wicked
   despisers of God, when they added, "Ye ought not to hope any salvation
   from the promise I set forth to God's children; for God throws not to
   dogs the bread which he has destined for his children alone." In the
   same strain we find another Prophet speaking,

   `To what end is the day of the Lord to you? It is a day of darkness,
   and not of light, a day of death, and not of life,' (Amos 5:18.)

   For as often as they heard of the covenant which God made with Abraham,
   that it would not be void, they thus vaunted, "We are now indeed
   severely treated, but in a little while God will rescue us from our
   evils; for he is our Father, he has not in vain adopted us, he has not
   in vain redeemed and chosen our race, we are his peculiar possession
   and heritage." Thus then the presumptuous flatter themselves; and this
   indeed they seem to have in common with the faithful; for the faithful
   also, though in the deepest abyss of death, yet behold the light of
   life; for by faith, as we have said, they penetrate beyond this world.
   But at the same time they approach God in real penitence, while the
   ungodly remain in their perverseness, and vainly flatter themselves,
   thinking that whatever God promises belongs to them.

   Let us now then return to our Prophet. He had said, "In their
   tribulation they will seek me:" he had afterwards, in the words used by
   the people, explained how the faithful would turn themselves to God,
   and what true repentance would bring with it. It now follows, What
   shall I do to thee, Ephraim? what shall I do to thee, Judah? that is,
   "What shall I do to all of you?" The people was now divided into two
   kingdoms: the kingdom of Judah had its own name; the ten tribes had, as
   it has been said, the common name of Israel. Then after the Prophet
   gave hope of pardon to the children of God, he turns himself to the
   whole body of the people, which was corrupt, and says, "What shall I do
   now to you, both Jews and Israelites?" Now God, by these words,
   intimates that he had tried all remedies, and found them useless: "What
   more then," he says, "shall I do to you? Ye are wholly incurable, ye
   are inexcusable, and altogether past hope; for no means have been
   omitted by me, by which I could promote your salvation; but I have lost
   all my labour; as I have effected nothing by punishments and
   chastisements, as my favor also has had no account among you, what now
   remains, but that I must wholly cast you away?"

   We now then see how varied is the mode of speaking adopted by the
   Prophets; for they had to do, not with one class of men, but with the
   children of God, and also with the wicked, who continued obstinately in
   their vices. Hence then it was, that they changed their language, and
   so necessarily. Alike is the complaint we read in Isaiah chapter 1,
   [30] except that there mention is only made of punishments, `Why should
   I strike you more? for I have hitherto effected nothing: from the sole
   of the foot to the top of the head there is no soundness; and yet ye
   remain like yourselves.' In chapter 5 [31] he speaks of God's favors,
   `What could have been done more to my vineyard than what I have done?'
   In these two places the Prophet shows that the people were so lost,
   that they could not be brought into a sane mind; for God had in various
   ways tried to heal them, and their diseases remained incurable.

   Let us now return to the words of Hosea, What shall I do to thee,
   Ephraim? What shall I do to thee Judah? "I indeed offer pardon to all,
   but ye still continue obstinately in your sins; nay, my favor is by you
   scorned: I do not therefore now contend with you; but declare to you
   that the door of salvation is closed." Why? "Because I have hitherto in
   various ways tried in vain to heal you."

   He afterwards says that their goodness was like the morning dew, Your
   goodness, he says, is as the dew of the morning." Some take X+S+D+,
   chesad, for the kindness which God had exercised towards both the
   Israelites and the Jews. Then it is, "Your kindness," that is, the
   mercy which I have hitherto exhibited to you, is as the morning dew, as
   the cloud which passes away early in the morning, that is, "Ye
   immediately dry up my favor;" and this seems not unsuitable, for we see
   that the unbelieving by their wickedness absorb the mercy of God, so
   that it produces no good, as when rain flows over a rock or a stone,
   while the stone within, on account of its hardness, remains dry. As
   then the moisture of rain does not penetrate into stones, so also the
   grace of God is spent in vain and without advantage on the unbelieving.

   But the Prophet speaks rather of their goodness, that they made a show
   of feigned excellency, which vanished like the morning dew; for as soon
   as the sun rises, it draws the dew upwards, so that it appears no more;
   the clouds also pass away. The Prophet says that the Jews and the
   Israelites were like the morning clouds and the dew, because there was
   in them no solid or inward goodness, but it was only of an evanescent
   kind; they had, as they say, only the appearance of goodness.

   We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet, that God here
   complains that he had to do with hypocrites. Faith, we know, is
   regarded by him; there is nothing that pleases God more than sincerity
   of heart. We know further, that doctrine is spread in vain, except it
   be received in a serious manner. Then, as hypocrites transform
   themselves in various ways, and make a display of some guises of
   goodness, while they have nothing solid in them, God complains that he
   loses all his labour: and he says at length that he will no longer
   spend labour in vain on hypocritical men, who have nothing but
   falsehood and dissimulation; and this is what he means, when he
   intimates that he should do nothing more to the Israelites and the
   Jews.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [30] Isaiah 1:5. -- fj.

   [31] Isaiah 5:4. -- fj.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that as we do not, by due gratitude, respond to
   thy favors, and after having tasted of thy mercy, have willingly sought
   ruin to ourselves, -- O grant, that we, being renewed by thy Spirit,
   may not only remain constant in the fear of thy name, but also advance
   more and more and be established; that being thus armed with thy
   invincible power, we may strenuously fight against all the wiles and
   assaults of Satan, and thus pursue our warfare to the end, -- and that
   being thus sustained by thy mercy, we may ever aspire to that life
   which is hid for us in heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Seventeenth
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 6:5

   5. Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by
   the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth
   forth.

   5. Propterea secui (vel, excidi) in Prophetis meis, occidi eos in
   verbis oris mei, et judicia tua [32] lux quae egreditur.


   God shows here, by his Prophet, that he was constrained by urgent
   necessity to deal sharply and roughly with the people. Nothing, we
   know, is more pleasing to God than to treat us kindly; for there is not
   found a father in the world who cherishes his children as tenderly: but
   we, being perverse, suffer him not to follow the inclination of his
   nature. He is therefore constrained to put on, as it were, a new
   character, and to chide us severely, according to the way in which he
   here says, he had treated the Israelites; I have cut them, he says, by
   my prophets, and killed them by the words of my mouth

   Some render the words otherwise, as though God had killed the Prophets,
   meaning thereby the impostors, who corrupted the pure worship of God by
   their errors. But this view seems not to me in any way suitable; and we
   know that it was a common mode of speaking among the Hebrews, to
   express the same thing in two ways. So the Prophet speaks here, I have
   cut or hewed them by my Prophets, I have killed them by the cords of my
   mouth. In the second clause he repeats, I doubt not, what we have
   already briefly explained, namely, that God had cut or hewed them by
   his Prophets.

   But we must see for what purpose God declares here that he had
   commanded his Prophets to treat the people roughly. Hypocrites we
   indeed know, however much in various ways they mock God, are yet
   tender, and cannot bear any rebuke. Their sins are gross, except when
   they disguise themselves; but at the same time, when God begins to
   reprove, they expostulate and say, "What does this mean? God everywhere
   declares that he is kind and merciful; but he fulminates now against
   us: this seems not consistent with his nature." Thus then hypocrites
   would have God to be their batterer. He now answers, that he had been
   constrained, not only for a just cause, but also necessarily, to kill
   them, and to make his word by the Prophets like a hammer or an ax. This
   is the reason, he says, why my Prophets have not endeavored mildly and
   gently to allure the people. For God kindly and sweetly draws or
   invites to himself those whom he sees to be teachable; but when he sees
   so great a perverseness in men, that he cannot bend them by his
   goodness, he then begins, as we have said, to put on a new character.
   We now then under stand God's design: that hypocrites might not
   complain that they had been otherwise treated than what is consistent
   with God's nature, the Prophet here answers in God's name, "Ye have
   forced me to this severity; for there was need of a hard wedge, as they
   say, for a hard knot: I have therefore hewed you by my Prophets, I have
   hewed you by the words of my mouth; that is, I have used my word as an
   ax: for ye were like knotty and tough wood; it was therefore necessary
   that my word should be to you like an ax: and I have killed you by the
   words of my mouth; that is my word has not been sweet food to you, as
   it is wont to be to meek men; but it has been like a two-edged sword;
   it was therefore necessary to slay you, as ye would not bear me to be a
   Father to you."

   It then follows [10]Thy judgments are light that goes forth Some
   understand by "judgments" prosperity as if God were here reproaching
   the Israelites, that it was not his fault that he did not win them: "I
   have not neglected to treat you kindly, and under my protection to
   defend you; but ye are ungrateful." But this is a strained exposition.
   The greater part of interpreters explain the passage thus, "That thy
   judgments might be a light going forth." But I do not see why we should
   change any thing in the Prophet's words. God then simply intimates
   here, that he had made known to the Israelites the rule of a religious
   and holy life, so that they could not pretend ignorance; for the
   Hebrews often understand "judgments" in the sense of rectitude. I refer
   this to the instruction given them: Thy judgments then, that is, the
   way of living religiously, was like light; which means this, "I have so
   warned you, that you have sinned knowingly and willfully. Hence, that
   you have been so disobedient to me, must be imputed to your
   perverseness; for when ye were pliant, I certainly did not conceal from
   you what was right: for as the sun daily shines on the earth, so my
   teaching, has been to you as the light, to show to you the way of
   salvation; but it has been with no profit." We now then understand what
   the Prophet meant by these words. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [32] There is no authority, as Horsley says, for "my," instead of "thy
   judgments," in our version; for there as no readings in the Hebrew MSS,
   which favors the change. The Bishop refers to Calvin, and expressly
   approves of his exposition of this passage. His own version is the
   following: -- "And the precepts given thee were as the onward-going
   light."
     __________________________________________________________________

   Hosea 6:6-7

   6. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God
   more than burnt offerings.

   6. Quia misericordiam volo (vel, quia humanitas placet mihi) et non
   sacrificuim; et cognitio Dei (placet mihi, subaudiendum est) prae
   holocaustis.

   7. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they
   dealt treacherously against me.

   7. Et ipsi tanquam homines ransgressi sunt pactum; [33] illic perfide
   egerunt in me (vel, Tanquam hominis pactum transgressi sunt, ut postea
   videbimus.)


   God in this place declares that he desires mercy, and not sacrifices;
   and he does so to prevent an objections and to anticipate all frivolous
   pretenses. There is never wanting to hypocrites, we well know, a cover
   for themselves; and so great is their assurance, that they hesitate not
   sometimes to contend with God. It is indeed their common practice to
   maintain that they worship God, provided they offer sacrifices to him,
   provided they toil in ceremonies, and accumulate many rites. They think
   then that God is made bound to them, and that they have fully performed
   their duty. This evil has been common in all ages. The Prophet
   therefore anticipates this evasion, and says, Mercy I desire, and not
   sacrifice; as though he said, "I know what you are ready to allege, and
   that you will say, that you offer sacrifices to me, that you perform
   all the ceremonies; but this excuse is deemed by me frivolous and of no
   moment." Why? "Because I desire not sacrifices, but mercy and faith."
   We now understand the main object of this verse.

   It is a remarkable passage; the Son of God has twice quoted it. The
   Pharisees reproached him for his intercourse with men of bad and
   abandoned life, and he said to them in Matthew [34] `Mercy I desire,
   and not sacrifice:' he shows, by this defense, that God is not
   worshipped by external ceremonies, but when men forgive and bear with
   one another, and are not above measure rigid. Again, in the Matthew 12,
   [35] when the Pharisees blamed the disciples for gathering ears of
   corn, he said `But rather go and learn what this is, Mercy I desire,
   and not sacrifice.' Inasmuch as they were so severe against his
   disciples, Christ shows that those who make holiness to consist in
   ceremonies are foolish worshipers of God; and that they also blamed
   their brethren without a cause, and made a crime of what was not in
   itself sinful, and what could be easily defended by any wise and calm
   expounder.

   But that we may more fully understand this sentence of the Prophet, it
   must be observed, firsts that the outward worship of God, and all legal
   ceremonies, are included under the name of sacrifice and
   burnt-offerings. These words then comprise a part for the whole. The
   same may be said of the word X+S+D+, chesad, which means, mercy or
   kindness; for the Prophet here, no doubt, sets faith or piety towards
   God, and love towards neighbors, in opposition to all external
   ceremonies. "I desire," he says, "mercy;" or, "mercy pleases me more
   than sacrifice, and the knowledge of God pleases me more than
   burnt-offerings." The knowledge of God here is doubtless to be taken
   for faith or piety, because hypocrites suppose that God is rightly
   worshipped when they use many ceremonies. The Prophet derides all such
   pomp and empty show, and says, that the worshipping of God is far
   different; it being only done when he is known. The chief point is,
   that God desires to be worshipped otherwise than sensual men dream; for
   they only display their rites, and neglect the spiritual worship of
   God, which stands in faith and love.

   These two clauses ought then to be read conjointly -- that kindness
   pleases God -- and that faith pleases God. Faith by itself cannot
   please God, since it cannot even exist without love to our neighbor;
   and then, human kindness is not sufficient; for were any one to abstain
   from doing any injury, and from hurting his brethren in any thing, he
   might be still a profane man, and a despiser of God; and certainly his
   kindness would be then of no avail to him. We hence see that these two
   sentences cannot be separated, and that what the Prophet says is
   equally the same as if he had connected piety with love. The meaning
   is, that God values faith and kindness much more than sacrifices and
   all ceremonies. But when the Prophet says that sacrifice does not
   please God, he speaks, no doubt, comparatively; for God does not
   positively repudiate sacrifices enjoined in his own law; but he prefers
   faith and love to them; as we more clearly learn from the particle M+,
   mem, when he says, M+E+W+L+W+T+, meoulut, than burnt-offerings." It
   then appears that God is not inconsistent with himself, as though he
   rejected sacrifices which he himself had appointed; but that he
   condemns the preposterous abuse of them, in which hypocrites gloried.

   And here two things are to be noticed: God requires not external
   ceremonies, as if they availed any thing of themselves, but for a
   different end. Faith of itself pleases God, as also does love; for they
   are, as they say, of the class of good works: but sacrifices are to be
   regarded differently; for to kill an ox, or a calf, or a lamb, what is
   it but to do what the butcher does in his shambles? God then cannot be
   delighted with the slaughter of beasts; hence sacrifices, as we have
   said, are of themselves of no account. Faith and love are different.
   Hence the Lord says, in Jeremiah,

   `Have I commanded your fathers, when I brought them out of Egypt,
   to offer sacrifices to me?'
   [Jeremiah 7:22]

   no such thing; `I never commanded them,' he says, `but only to hear my
   voice.' But what does the law in great measure contain except commands
   about ceremonies? The answer to this is easy, and that is, that
   sacrifices never pleased God through their own or intrinsic value, as
   if they had any worth in them. What then? Even this, that faith and
   piety are approved, and have ever been the legitimate spiritual worship
   of God. This is one thing. It is further to be noticed, that when the
   Prophets reprove hypocrites, they regard what is suitable to them, and
   do not specifically explain the matters which they handle. Isaiah says
   in one place, `He who kills an ox does the same as if he had killed a
   dog,' and a dog was the highest abomination;

   `nay, they who offer sacrifices do the same
   as if they had killed men,' (Isaiah 66:3.)

   What! to compare sacrifices with murders! This seems very strange; but
   the Prophet directed his discourse to the ungodly, who then abused the
   whole outward worship prescribed by the law: no wonder then that he
   thus spake of sacrifices. In the same manner also ought many other
   passages to be explained, which frequently occur in the Prophets. We
   now then see that God does not simply reject sacrifices, as far as he
   has enjoined them, but only condemns the abuse of them. And hence what
   I have already said ought to be remembered, that the Prophet here sets
   external rites in opposition to piety and faith, because hypocrites
   tear asunder things which are, as it were, inseparable: it is an
   impious divorce, when any one only obtrudes ceremonies on God, while he
   himself is void of piety. But as this disease commonly prevails among
   men, the Prophet adds a contrast between this fictitious worship and
   true religion. It is also worthy of being observed, that he calls faith
   the knowledge of God. We then see that faith is not some cold and empty
   imagination, but that it extends much farther; for it is then that we
   have faith, when the will of God is made known to us, and we embrace
   it, so that we worship him as our Father. Hence the knowledge of God is
   required as necessary to faith. The Papists then talk very childishly
   about implicit faith: when a man understands nothing, and has not even
   the least acquaintance with God, they yet say that he is endued with
   implicit faith. This is a romance more than foolish; for where there is
   no knowledge of God, there is no religion, piety is extinct and faith
   is destroyed, as it appears evident from this passage.

   God then subjoins a complaint, -- But they like men have transgressed
   the covenant; there have they dealt treacherously against me. Here God
   shows that the Israelites boasted in vain of their sacrifices and of
   all the pomps of their external worship, for God did not regard these
   external things, but only wished to exercise the faithful in spiritual
   worship. Then the import of the whole is this, "My design was, when I
   appointed the sacrifices and the whole legal worship, to lead you so to
   myself, that there might be nothing carnal or earthly in your
   sacrificing; but ye have corrupted the whole law; you have been
   perverse interpreters; for sacrifices have been nothing else among you
   but mockery as if it were a satisfaction to me to have an ox or a ram
   killed. You have then transgressed my covenant; and it is nothing that
   the people say to me, that they have diligently performed the outward
   ceremonies, for such a worship is not in the least valued by me."

   And he proceeds still farther and says, There have they dealt
   treacherously against me. He had said before, `They have transgressed
   the covenant;' as though he said, "If they wished to keep my covenant,
   this was the first thing, -- to worship m