Hosea 10:7

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hosea 10:1-8

Observe, I. What the sins are which are here laid to Israel's charge, the national sins which bring down national judgment. The prophet deals plainly with them; for what good would it do them to be flattered? 1. They were not fruitful in the fruits of righteousness to the glory of God. Here all their other wickedness began (Hos. 10:1): Israel is an empty vine. The church of God is fitly compared to a vine, weak, and of an unpromising outside, yet spreading and fruitful; believers are branches... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hosea 10:7

As for Samaria ,.... The metropolis of the ten tribes of Israel, and here put for the whole kingdom: her king is cut off ; which some understand of Pekah, who was killed by Hoshea; others of several of their kings cut off one after another, very suddenly and quickly, as the metaphor after used shows; or rather Hoshea the last king is meant, who was cut off by the king of Assyria; the present tense is used for the future, to denote the certainty of it. Aben Ezra thinks the verb "cut... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 10:7

Her king is cut off as the foam - As lightly as a puff of wind blows off the foam that is formed below by a fall of water, so shall the kings of Israel be cut off. We have already seen that not less than four of them died by assassination in a very short time. See on Hosea 7:7 ; (note). read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 10:7

Verse 7 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,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 10:1-8

The calves and the kings. The "burden" is still the same—Israel's guilt and punishment. But in the verses before us these are dealt with mainly in their external and national aspects. The most prominent thought of the passage centers in the calves and the kings. I. THE NATIONAL SIN . Although the prophet handles his theme in this strophe for the most part on its external side, yet in one or two expressions he refers to the root of the evil in the hearts of the people. "We feared... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 10:4-8

Israel's sin, sorrow, shame, and suffering. These verses exhibit them with marvelous conciseness and great impressiveness. I. ISRAEL 'S SIN OF UNFAITHFULNESS . Israel's unfaithfulness at the period of which the prophet speaks was of the most reckless kind. It took the form By their idolatry they renounced the covenant of their God, which had the seal of circumcision; their promises of reformation, when they made such, were falsified; the vows wrung from them in distress or... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 10:4-8

The end of calf-worship. The people were preparing the way for their own punishment by their false dealing with Assyria. Vengeance would overtake them. The calf in which they trusted would be carried away captive. The kingdom would be overthrown. Their altars would grow up with thorns and thistles. They would be glad of death to relieve them of their misery. "Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel." I. A SOWING OF JUDGMENT . ( Hosea 10:4 )... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 10:7

As for Samaria, her king is out off as the foam upon the water (face of the waters). Instead of the throne of Samaria being established, or the kingdom consolidated by the idolatrous measures which Jeroboam had adopted for the purpose, the king himself was cut off as foam upon the surface of the waters, or as a chip carried off by the current, and the kingdom ingloriously ruined. Though the sense is sufficiently plain, the sentence has been variously constructed. Thus (a) an asyndeton;... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 10:7

Foam upon the water. A graphic and picturesque image is this, aptly setting forth the emptiness and transitoriness of that monarchy which was established at Samaria, in defiance of God's will; and which was continued by vacillating or by wholly idolatrous kings, with no regard to God's honor, to God's ordinances, to God's prophets and messengers. I. THE PRINCIPLE FIGURATIVELY ENUNCIATED . All persons and systems and principles which are opposed to God are doomed to perish. As the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Hosea 10:7

Her king is cut off like foam - (Or, more probably, “a straw) on the” (literally, “face of the) water.” A bubble, or one of those little shreds which float in countless numbers on the surface of the water, give the same image of lightness, emptiness, worthlessness, a thing too light to sink, but driven impetuously, and unresistingly, here and there, at the impulse of the torrent which hurries it along. Such was the king, whom Israel had set in the highest place, in whom it had trusted, instead... read more

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