John Calvin Commentary Hosea 4:16

"For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place." — Hosea 4:16 (ASV)

The Prophet compares Israel here to an untamable heifer. Some render it, “A straying heifer,” and we may render it, “A wanton heifer.” But to others, a defection seems to have been more especially intended, because they had receded or departed from God; but this comparison is not so apposite. They render it, “As a backsliding,” or “receding heifer;” but I prefer to view the word as meaning one that is petulant or lascivious. And the punishment which is subjoined, The Lord will now feed them as a tender lamb in a spacious place, best agrees with this view, as we will immediately see.

It must, in the first place, be understood that Israel is compared to a heifer, and indeed to one that is wanton, which cannot remain quiet in the stall nor be accustomed to the yoke. Therefore, it is added, The Lord will now feed them as a lamb in a spacious place. The meaning of this clause may be twofold. The first is that the Lord would leave them in their luxuries to gorge themselves according to their lust, and to indulge themselves in their gluttony. And it is a dreadful punishment when the Lord does not restrain the intemperance of people, but allows them to live wantonly without any limits or moderation.

Therefore, some give this meaning to the passage, God will now feed them as a lamb, that is, like a sheep lacking understanding, and in a large place, even in a most fruitful field, capable of supplying food to satiety. But it seems to me that the Prophet meant another thing, even this: that the Lord would so scatter Israel that they would be as a lamb in a spacious place.

It is characteristic of sheep, as we know, that they remain under the shepherd’s care. A sheep, when driven into solitude, shows itself by its bleating to be timid and, as it were, seeking its shepherd and its flock. In short, a sheep is not a solitary animal. Indeed, for sheep and lambs, feeding together and also under the eye of their caretaker is almost as vital as their food.

Now there seems to be here a most striking change of figure. They are, says the Prophet, like untamable heifers, for they are so wanton that no field can satisfy their wantonness, as when a heifer would occupy the whole land. “Such then,” he says, “and so outrageous is the disobedience of this people, that they can no longer endure, unless a spacious place is given to each of them. I will therefore give them a spacious place, but for this purpose: that each of them may be like a lamb, who looks around and sees no flock to join.”

This happened when the land was stripped of its inhabitants, for then only a small number lived in it. Four tribes, as stated before, were first taken away; and then they began to be like lambs in a spacious place, for God terrified them with the dread of enemies. The rest of the people were afterwards either dispersed or led into exile. They were, when in exile, like lambs, and those in a wide place. For though they lived in cottages, and their condition was in every way confined, yet they were in a place like the desert; for one hardly dared look on another, and waste and solitude met their eyes wherever they looked. We see then what the Prophet meant by saying, They are like an untamable or a wanton heifer: “I will tame them, and make them like lambs; and when scattered, they will fear as in a wilderness, for there will be no flock to which they can come.” Let us proceed.