John Calvin Commentary Hosea 11:7

"And my people are bent on backsliding from me: though they call them to [him that is] on high, none at all will exalt [him]." — Hosea 11:7 (ASV)

This verse is rendered in various ways. Some explain the word תלואים, teluaim, as meaning “perplexed;” as though the Prophet had said that the people would suffer a just punishment by being anxious and looking around them, yet finding no comfort. For this would be the reward of their defection or apostasy.

Therefore, he says, My people are in suspense; that is, it is no wonder that the Israelites are now tormented with great anxiety and find no end to their evils, for those who have rebelled against the Lord deserve to be bound fast by Him in this way. It is the fruit of their defection that they are now so full of sorrow and despair. This is one interpretation. Others say that God here complains of the wickedness of the people, as those who deliberated whether they should repent. They then take suspense to mean doubt: My people are in suspense; that is, they debate on the subject as if it were a doubtful matter when I exhort them to repent. They cannot decide at once what to do but alternate between diverse opinions, inclining now to one thing and then to another, as if the subject itself truly made it necessary for them to deliberate. Doubtless, what is right is in no way hidden from them. But because they are unwilling, they seek excuses for doubting by using evasions, for the Prophets cry to them, and no one praises them. This is the second interpretation.

It must also be observed that the word משובת, meshubat, is taken in various ways; for the first group renders it “turning away,” and the “jod” that is affixed must then be interpreted passively, meaning their turning away from God, because the Israelites had fallen away from Him. For example, in Isaiah 56, He calls that the house of His prayer in which the people were accustomed to pray. Then, according to them, the turning away from God is to be understood passively, because the people were alienated from Him. Others render it “conversion.” But the Hebrew scholars maintain that this word is always to be taken in a negative sense, affirming that there is no instance where it signifies anything but rebellion or apostasy. Since this is the case, I am inclined to consider it as “turning away.” Thus, the second interpretation—that the people deliberated whether they should hear the admonitions of the Prophets—will not stand.

The Prophet also seems to me to mean something different from what I referred to first, which was the opinion of those who say, My people are in suspense; that is, they anxiously torment themselves on account of their defection because I punish them for their apostasy, through which it has happened that, forsaking Me, they have wandered after their own inventions.

But I interpret the passage differently. As I have already said, My people are fastened; that is, My people have not only departed from Me once, but they are, so to speak, fastened in their defection. He says that they were fastened, not meaning that they were sorrowful, endured great tortures, and found their affairs perplexed, but that they were fastened because they remained obstinate—just as one says that a man is fastened to a thing when he cannot be moved. This “being fastened” is indeed nothing other than the obstinacy of the people. They were then fastened to defection.

He afterwards adds, To him on high they call them; none at all rises up. We stated yesterday what an indefinite sentence signifies. The Prophet means that instruction had been given to the people and that many witnesses or preachers had been sent by the Lord, but that all this had been entirely useless.

Therefore, he says, They call them to him on high, no one raises himself up. Some indeed consider the word “God” to be understood, and this is the commonly received opinion. But in my judgment, they are mistaken, for the Prophet, speaking of the Israelites, doubtless means that they remained in the same state and were not moved by any instruction to make any progress or to show any sign of repentance.

Therefore, no one rises up. He uses the singular number and includes the particle יחד, ichad, as though he said, “There is no one, from the first to the last, who is touched with grief, for they continue obstinate in their wickedness.” And when he says, No one raises himself up, he seems to allude to the word fastened. They are then fastened to their defection. When the Prophets cry out and diligently exhort them to repent, they do not rise up; that is, they do not aspire to God. Indeed, they neglect this with one consent, as if they all alike blindly united in one and the same wickedness.

In this verse, then, the Prophet brings the sins of the people to view again, so that it might more fully appear that God threatened them so dreadfully not without cause. For those who were so perversely rebellious against God deserved the most grievous punishment. This is the sum of the whole matter.