Hosea 11:8

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hosea 11:8-12

In these verses we have, I. God's wonderful backwardness to destroy Israel (Hos. 11:8, 9): How shall I give thee up? Here observe, 1. God's gracious debate within himself concerning Israel's case, a debate between justice and mercy, in which victory plainly inclines to mercy's side. Be astonished, O heavens! at this, and wonder, O earth! at the glory of God's goodness. Not that there are any such struggles in God as there are in us, or that he is ever fluctuating or unresolved; no, he is in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hosea 11:8

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee , Israel ?.... That is, as usually interpreted, into the hand of the enemy, or unto wrath, ruin, and destruction; for, notwithstanding all the sins of this people before observed, and the punishment threatened to be inflicted on them, the Lord is pleased here, and in the following verses, to give some intimations of his goodness, grace, and mercy to them; not to the whole body of them, for they as such were given and delivered... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 11:8

How shall I give thee up - See the notes on Hosea 6:4 , where we have similar words from similar feeling. Mine heart is turned within me - Justice demands thy punishment; Mercy pleads for thy life. As thou changest, Justice resolves to destroy, or Mercy to save. My heart is oppressed, and I am weary with repenting - with so frequently changing my purpose. All this, though spoken after the manner of men, shows how merciful, compassionate, and loath to punish the God of heaven is. What... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 11:8

Verse 8 Here God consults what he would do with the people: and first, indeed, he shows that it was his purpose to execute vengeance, such as the Israelites deserved, even wholly to destroy them: but yet he assumes the character of one deliberating, that none might think that he hastily fell into anger, or that, being soon excited by excessive fury, he devoted to ruin those who had lightly sinned, or were guilty of no great crimes. That no one then might assign to God an anger too fervid, he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 11:5-12

The ingratitude of Israel and its punishment. Both are remarkably manifested in these verses. After all God's loving-kindness they refuse to turn to God. I. THEIR PERVERSENESS . History repeats itself. This is true ecclesiastically as well as civilly, under the Jewish economy as in the Christian dispensation. Once before, at an early period in Hebrew history and on a remarkable occasion, the Israelites, discouraged by the teachings of the spies, debased by previous servitude,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 11:8

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? This verse paves the way for transition to promise. Although the Israelites on account of such conduct had merited complete annihilation, yet Jehovah, for his love and mercy's sake, substitutes grace for justice, and will not destroy them from off the face of the earth. One rendering (1) gives the clause the turn of an exclamation rather than of an... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 11:8

God's yearning over rebels. Our text tells the old story of man's rebellion and God's love. The subject has its human and its Divine aspect, which we will consider in turn. I. MAN 'S REBELLION is implied in the text and described graphically in other parts of the prophecy. 1. Its signs, as they are illustrated in the moral condition of Israel. 2. Its consequences . II. GOD 'S COMPASSION . 1. It is described by the prophet . He represents God as saying,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 11:8

How shall I give thee up? It was an idolatrous and rebellious generation to which Hosea prophesied. Sundered from Jerusalem, Israel had lapsed from the worship and service of Jehovah. The prophet was not satisfied merely to discover in forcible language the sin of the people, merely to threaten with deserved punishment. He was touched with the spectacle of apostasy. He expressed the mind of the Lord in mingling expostulations and promises with denunciations and threats. The most pathetic... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 11:8-9

Justice and mercy in the heart of God. "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy' Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city." The Bible is pre-eminently an anthropomorphitic book, that is, a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 11:8-11

Mercy seasons justice. Jehovah's love for Israel had been conspicuous during the infancy of the nation ( Hosea 11:1-4 ); but it seems even more wonderful now, in the time el Ephraim's moral decrepitude and premature decay. There is no more exquisitely pathetic passage in Holy Scripture than the one before us. It is of a piece with Jeremiah's prophecy respecting the restoration of the ten tribes ( Jeremiah 31:20 ). The denunciation of punishment contained in verses 5-7 suddenly dissolves... read more

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