Study

a Bible passage

Click a verse to see commentary

Select a resource above

10. Punishment for Israel

¹ Israel was a spreading vine;
   he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
   he built more altars;
as his land prospered,
   he adorned his sacred stones.
² Their heart is deceitful,
   and now they must bear their guilt.
The LORD will demolish their altars
   and destroy their sacred stones.

    ³ Then they will say, “We have no king
   because we did not revere the LORD.
But even if we had a king,
   what could he do for us?”
⁴ They make many promises,
   take false oaths
   and make agreements;
therefore lawsuits spring up
   like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
⁵ The people who live in Samaria fear
   for the calf-idol of Beth Aven. Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
Its people will mourn over it,
   and so will its idolatrous priests,
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
   because it is taken from them into exile.
⁶ It will be carried to Assyria
   as tribute for the great king.
Ephraim will be disgraced;
   Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances.
⁷ Samaria’s king will be destroyed,
   swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
⁸ The high places of wickedness Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see verse 5. will be destroyed—
   it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns and thistles will grow up
   and cover their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
   and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

    ⁹ “Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel,
   and there you have remained. Or there a stand was taken
Will not war again overtake
   the evildoers in Gibeah?
¹⁰ When I please, I will punish them;
   nations will be gathered against them
   to put them in bonds for their double sin.
¹¹ Ephraim is a trained heifer
   that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke
   on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
   Judah must plow,
   and Jacob must break up the ground.
¹² Sow righteousness for yourselves,
   reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
   for it is time to seek the LORD,
until he comes
   and showers his righteousness on you.
¹³ But you have planted wickedness,
   you have reaped evil,
   you have eaten the fruit of deception.
Because you have depended on your own strength
   and on your many warriors,
¹⁴ the roar of battle will rise against your people,
   so that all your fortresses will be devastated—
as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
   when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
¹⁵ So will it happen to you, Bethel,
   because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
   the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

The Prophet proceeds with the same subject, nor ought it to be deemed a useless prolixity. It would have indeed been sufficient by one word to threaten the Israelites, had they been pliable and obedient; but as they were stupid in their perverseness, it was necessary to stun their ears with continual threatening, that they might be at least less excusable before God. Hence the Prophet says now, that the king of Samaria shall be cut off like the foam: and he thus speaks of the king, because the Israelites thought their king, next to their idols, to be to them an invincible fortress. For thus ungodly men, as it has been mentioned before, always imagine their stronghold to be in the world and earthly things. Hence, the Lord denounces a just punishment, by saying that he would cut off the king; for the impious confidence, of which I have spoken, could not be otherwise corrected. Therefore “the king of Samaria shall be cut off” — in what manner? “Like a foam”. It is a most apt comparison; for the Prophet shows that the condition of the kingdom, which they imagined to be firm and perpetual, had nothing in it but an empty appearance, like the foam, which has nothing substantial. And further, he seems to me to point out another thing, that is, that the kingdom, though it showed itself to be above other kingdoms, was yet but an excrement. The foam floats above the waters of the sea, and by its height seems eminent; but what is the foam but the excrement of the water? for whatever is decayed in the waters passes into foam. So Israel thought, that as they were endued with power, and in every way excelled the tribe of Judah, they could ride, as it were, over their heads. The Prophet, on the contrary, says that they were foam, and also their king. “Your king,” he says, “though the king of Judah cannot be compared with him, is yet a foam. By his height he seems indeed wonderful, and hence has arisen your pride, for you are now become hardened against God; but the Lord will cut him off like a foam.” The Prophet then not only compares the king of Israel to a bubble or to foaming waters; but he says, that with respect to the king of Judah, he is an excrement. We now then understand the meaning of the Prophet.