John Calvin Commentary Hosea 9:11-12

"As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird: there shall be no birth, and none with child, and no conception. Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, so that not a man shall be left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!" — Hosea 9:11-12 (ASV)

The Hebrews, we know, often have abrupt sentences, as in this place: Ephraim! their glory has fled. Ephraim is to be placed by itself. The speech seems striking when the Lord thus breaks off the sentence: Ephraim! He does not continue the sense but immediately adds, Like a bird their glory has fled.

When he speaks of Ephraim, he no doubt refers especially to his offspring. By mentioning a part for the whole, he includes whatever was then considered to be wealth, glory, or power. The Prophet, I say, speaks of offspring, for he immediately adds, from the birth, and the womb, and the conception. But they are mistaken who confine this sentence to offspring only, for it is, as I have said, a way of speaking by which a part is taken for the whole. According to the letter, he mentions children or offspring, but he generally includes the whole condition of the people.

Then, as a bird the glory of Ephraim fled away. In what respect? From the birth, from the womb, from the conception. The Prophet, no doubt, sets forth here the gradations of God’s vengeance, which was in part still near to the Israelites, and in part already evident by clear proofs. He says, from the birth, then from the womb, and lastly, from the conception. If, then, the glory of Ephraim had vanished at the beginning, the Prophet would not have spoken this way. But as the Lord showed signs of His wrath by degrees, so that vengeance might eventually reach the highest point, the Prophet first mentions birth, then the womb. It is as if he said, “The glory of Israel shall vanish from the birth; but if they still continue proud and seem not subdued by this punishment, I will slay them in the womb itself. Nay, if they do not repent, they shall be suffocated in the conception, as if in the womb itself.”

He then adds, Though they shall bring up children, I will yet exterminate them, so that they shall not be men, or, before they grow up, as some interpret the words. The meaning is that though Ephraim then flattered himself, a dreadful ruin was near which would extinguish their entire offspring, so that nothing would remain. But so that they would not think that all was over when the Lord had inflicted one punishment on them, He lays down three gradations: God would slay them first at birth, then extinguish them in the womb, and lastly, before conception. But if He spared them, so that they could raise children, it would still be to no advantage, since God would take away the young men in the flower of their age. Thus, he then threatens the entire destruction of the kingdom of Israel.

And lastly, he closes the verse with these words: And surely woe will be to them when I shall depart from them. By these words, the Prophet means that men become miserable and accursed when they alienate themselves from God and when God takes His favor away from them. After having especially mentioned the vengeance of God which was near, he says here that the cause and occasion of all evils would be God’s departure from them, since they had previously renounced their faith in Him.

But we must bear in mind the reason why the Prophet added this clause. It is because wicked men dream that even if God is displeased, things will still go on prosperously for them. For they neither ascribe adversities to the wrath of God nor acknowledge God’s free and paternal favor as the fountain of all blessings.

Since, then, profane men do not understand this truth, they care nothing even if God proclaims that He is an enemy to them and that He is armed to destroy them; instead, they promise themselves a prosperous fortune. Until they feel the hand of God and the signs of destruction appear, they still continue secure. This is the reason why the Prophet says that there is woe to men when God departs from them. Therefore, since Scripture teaches everywhere that every desirable thing comes and flows to us solely from the grace of God and His paternal favor, so the Prophet declares in this place that men are miserable and accursed when God is angry with them. But