Charles Ellicott Commentary Hosea 5:13

"When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah [saw] his wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound." — Hosea 5:13 (ASV)

EXCURSUS A: ON JAREB (Hosea 5:13).

Schrader, in his “Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament,” has the following note: “King Combat, or Contention (Jareb), is not a proper name, as no such name is found in the Assyrian lists. In the prevailing uncertainty regarding biblical chronology, it is hard to determine which Assyrian monarch is meant by this appellative. If we are to understand Shalmaneser III (781-772 BC) as the king in Hosea 10:14, under the name Salman, the allusion here may be to Assur-dan-ilu (771-754 BC), who conducted a series of expeditions to the West.”

However, when we turn to Schrader’s commentary on Hosea 10:14, we find that he abandons the theory that Salman is Shalmaneser III (see his commentary ad loc. [at that place]).

On the other hand, Tiglath-Pileser (whom Schrader and Sir H. Rawlinson identify with Pul in Scripture) was a warrior of great prowess. Such a designation as “King Combat” from Hosea and his contemporaries would admirably apply to him.

The verse might then be taken to refer to the events of Menahem’s reign (2 Kings 15:19; see also the Introduction).

However, this explanation, probable as it is, is complicated by questions of biblical chronology (see the Introduction).

To the Assyrian.— Their adversity leads Ephraim to seek protection from their formidable foe instead of turning to the Lord. (On “Jareb,” see Excursus.)