John Calvin Commentary Hosea 7:8

"Ephraim, he mixeth himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned." — Hosea 7:8 (ASV)

God now complains that Ephraim, whom He had chosen to be a peculiar possession to Himself, was no different from other nations. The children of Abraham, we know, had been adopted by God so that they might not be like the Gentiles, for the calling of God brings holiness with it.

And we should remember that memorable sentence, which often occurs, Be you holy, for I am holy. The Israelites then should have been mindful of their calling, and resolved to worship God purely, and not to pollute themselves with the defilements and filth of the Gentiles. But God says here that Ephraim was now no different from the uncircumcised nations.

He mingles himself, he says, with the peoples. And there is an emphasis to be noticed in the pronoun demonstrative, הוא, eva, Ephraim himself, he says: for surely this was unworthy and by no means to be endured, that Ephraim, on whom God had engraved the mark of His election, was now entangled in the superstitions of the Gentiles.

We now then see the meaning of the Prophet’s words, He, even Ephraim, mingles himself with the nations. If the condition of Israel and of all the nations had been alike and equal, the Prophet would not have spoken this way; but as God had designed Ephraim to be holy to Himself, the Prophet here amplifies his sin when he says that even Ephraim had mingled himself with the nations.

He then adds, Ephraim is like bread baked under the ashes, which is not turned. This metaphor very aptly suits the meaning of the Prophet and the circumstances of this passage, provided it is rightly understood. I think the Prophet simply meant this: that Ephraim was not at all steadfast, but was inconstant and changeable. As, when we in common language describe the changeableness of those who are not consistent with themselves, and in whom there is no sincerity, we say, Il n’est ne chair ne poisson, (It is neither flesh nor fish.) So also in this place the Prophet says that Ephraim was like a cake burnt on one side, and on the other doughy, or a crude and unbaked lump of paste.

For Ephraim, we know, boasted that they were a people sacred to God. Since circumcision distinguished that people from other nations, there seemed to be some difference. However, in the meantime, the worship of God was corrupted; all the sacrifices were adulterated, as we have already seen, and the whole of their religion was a confused mixture—indeed, a chaos composed of Gentile superstitions and of something that resembled true and legitimate worship. Therefore, when the Israelites were thus treacherously mocking God, they had no stability. Hence the Prophet compares them to a cake which, being placed on the hearth, is not turned, so that on one side it must be burnt, while on the other it remains unbaked.

The Prophet here anticipates what the Israelites might object, for hypocrites, we know, never lack excuses. The Israelites might then bring forward this defense: "You say that we are now entangled in the pollutions of the Gentiles; but the Gentiles have no circumcision. Among them, the God of Israel is despised; there is no altar on which the people can sacrifice to the true God. We, on the contrary, are the children of Abraham; we have the God who stretched out His hand to deliver us from Egypt, and the priesthood always remains with us."

Since the Israelites might have offered these excuses for their superstitions, the Prophet says, by anticipation, that they were like bread baked under the ashes, which, being thrown on the hearth, is not turned, so that the baking could be even; for then on one side it would receive heat, and on the other there would be no even heat. "You are," he says, "on one side burnt, but on the other raw; so that with you there is nothing but mere treachery." We now understand what the Prophet means.

But this analogy might also be referred to their punishment; for God had previously shown in many places that the Israelites were so perverse that they could not be subdued or brought to their senses by any afflictions; and He again repeats this complaint. The meaning of the words may then be this: that Ephraim was like a cake which was not turned on the hearth, because he had been sharply and severely chastised, but to no avail; being like reprobates, who, though the Lord may bruise them, yet continue obstinate in their hardness. They are then on one side burnt, because they are nearly consumed by their troubles; but on the other side they are wholly unbaked, because the Lord had not softened their perversity. But what I have presented in the first place is more suitable to the context.

So now we understand what the Prophet says: in the first point, God accuses Ephraim because he had made himself profane by receiving the rites and superstitions of Gentiles, so that there was, as I have said before, a confused mixture. In the second place, he answers the Israelites, if they pleaded in their favor the name of God, for it was usual for them to offer false excuses. He therefore says that they were in some things different from the uncircumcised nations, but that this difference was nothing before God, for they were like bread baked under the ashes, which is neither baked nor unbaked on either side; for on one side it is burnt, and on the other it remains unbaked.