Hosea 13:4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hosea 13:1-4

Idolatry was the sin that did most easily beset the Jewish nation till after the captivity; the ten tribes from the first were guilty of it, but especially after the days of Ahab; and this is the sin which, in these verses, they are charged with. Observe, I. The provision that God made to prevent their falling into idolatry. This we have, Hos. 14:4. God did what was fit to be done to keep them close to himself; what could have been done more? 1. He made known himself to them as the Lord their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hosea 13:4

Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt ,.... Which brought thee out from thence, as the Targum; and ever since, from that time to this, had shown a regard unto them, as the Lord their God, both in the wilderness, as later mentioned, and in the land of Canaan, where they had been continued, and followed with instances of goodness to that day, and yet find sinned in so gross a manner; which argued great ingratitude in them, and forgetfulness of the Lord, and his mercies: and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 13:4

I am the Lord thy God - This was the first discovery I made of myself to you, and the first commandment I gave; and I showed you that besides me there was no Savior. There is a remarkable addition in the Septuagint here: "But I am Jehovah thy God, who stretched out the heavens and created the earth. And I showed them not to thee, that thou shouldest walk after them. And I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," etc. This might have been once in the Hebrew text. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 13:4

Verse 4 The Prophet now repeats the sentence which we have noticed in the last chapter for the sake of amplifying the sin of the people. For had they never known sound doctrine, had they never been brought up in the law, there would have been some colour for alleviating their fault; because they might have excused themselves by saying, that as they had never known true religion, they had gone astray according to the common practice of men; but as they had from infancy been taught sound... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 13:1-4

Baal-exaltation. The first clause is better read, "When Ephraim spake, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel." The contrast is between what Ephraim once was, and what his offending in Baal had now brought him to. Once he was great in Israel. He had authority, influence, power to inspire terror. Now he was but the wreck of his former self. He would be swept away like chaff before the whirlwind. I. THE FIRST FALSE STEP . ( Hosea 13:1 ) It is the first false step in sin... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 13:1-8

Justification of the ways of God to man. Israel had been the cause of their own calamities—another proof that sin is the procuring cause of all human suffering and sorrow. God's character is seen to be everlastingly the same—long-suffering and merciful, ever gracious to penitents, abounding in goodness and truth to all, but by no means clearing the guilty. I. THE SECRET OF SUCCESS . Most men are fond of power, all men value prosperity; yet few men know the right road, and fewer... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 13:1-8

Ephraim, living and dead. This passage portrays anew the dreadful prevalence of apostasy and idolatry throughout the nation. "The same strings, though generally unpleasing ones, are harped upon in this chapter that were in those before" (Matthew Henry). Much of the imagery continues to be anthropopathic; the prophet exhibits an apparent tumult of contending passions in the Divine mind towards unfilial and rebellious Ephraim. I. EPHRAIM WAS ONCE ALIVE . He had been so, both... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 13:4

Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt . The prophet here commences a recital of God's favors to Israel from ancient times, all which they forgot, ungratefully and impiously turning aside from the worship of Jehovah. Jehovah had been Israel's God long before, but never before had the evidence of his power and love to his people been so signal and conspicuous as at the period of the Exodus and onward. And thou shalt know no god but me. The use of תֵדָע in the imperfect is to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 13:4

The only Savior. The prophets were in the habit of appealing to the past history of Israel as a nation when they would urge the people to repent of present sin, and would encourage them to seek Divine favor and acceptance. Certainly the records of the past proved that only in returning and in rest had the people ever been saved, and that when they had turned elsewhere than to Jehovah they had only met with disappointment and misery. I. THE VANITY AND INSUFFICIENCY OF ALL ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 13:4-5

These verses make it evident that the punishment inflicted on Israel could not reasonably be accounted too severe; such had been the goodness of Jehovah and the gross ingratitude of Israel. read more

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