John Gill Commentary Hosea 13

When Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel,
&c.] Or, with trembling, as Jarchi: so Jeroboam, who was of the tribe of Ephraim, spoke before Solomon, a great king, as he observes. R. Moses the priest interprets it of Jeroboam; but it may be understood of the tribe in general, and especially of the heads of it, at anytime before it fell into idolatry; when they spoke with submission and humility, they were attended to by the other tribes in all consultations and debates, and great deference was paid unto them; and they were find in great esteem, and highly honoured, agreeably to that common saving of our Lord, "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted", (Luke 14:11) ; or, "when [he] spoke [there was] trembling" ^F17 ; either the neighbouring nations, when he threatened them with war: or among the other tribes of Israel, when he spoke in counsel, and with authority, they rose up and heard him with great reverence and respect; see (Job 29:8–10) . So the Targum,

``when anyone of the house of Ephraim spoke, trembling laid hold on the people; they became princes in Israel.'' Some refer this to the times of Joshua, who was of that tribe, and whom the Israelites feared as they had feared Moses, (Joshua 4:14) ; others to the times of Gideon and Jephthah, with whom the tribe of Ephraim expostulated, (Judges 8:1) (12:1) ; but others interpret it of Jeroboam's idolatry, of his setting up the worship of the calves, which he did upon his exalting himself, and setting himself up as king of the ten tribes; and, in some agreement with this, Schmidt understands, by "trembling", a terrible and horrible thing, idolatry, which he commanded and appointed; and which he "bore" or "carried", as the word ^F18 is interpreted by him, and may be; that is, his sin, and the punishment of it, which Jeroboam and his posterity did bear; and so it agrees with what follows: but,
or "and", when he offended in Baal, he died ;
or when he sinned, and became guilty of more idolatry still, by worshipping Baal, as well as the calves, which was done in the times of Ahab, (1 Kings 16:31) ; when Ephraim or the kingdom or Israel fell into distresses and calamities, sunk in their grandeur and authority, declined in their wealth and riches, and were insulted by their enemies, particularly by Benhadad king of Syria, who sent to Ahab, and challenged his silver and gold, his wives and children, as his own, (1 Kings 20:3 1 Kings 20:4) ; and so they gradually decreased in credit and reputation, in power and authority, in wealth and substance, and at last were delivered to the sword of the enemy, and to captivity, which was their civil death.

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: (ttr-rbdk) "quum loqueretur--tremor erat", Pagninus, Vatablus; "terror erat", Zanchius, Drusius.
• F18: (awh avn) "portavit ipse, [sub.] iniquitatem suam", Schmidt.

And now they sin more and more
Since the times of Jeroboam, and also of Ahab, adding other deities to the calves, and to Baal, as follows; increasing the number of their idols, and their idolatrous sacrifices, rites, and ceremonies: this they did in the times the prophet, who prophesied after the times of as it is common with evil men and seducers to wax worse and worse, and to proceed to more ungodliness, and from evil to evil; such is the way of idolaters, they stop not, but run into greater absurdities and grosser idolatries:

and have made them molten images of their silver :
which is to be understood, not of the calves, or of Baal, made of gold, which they purchased with their silver; but of other images they had in their houses, or carried about with them, made of their silver, of their plate, which they melted and cast images of it, of whatsoever shape or form they pleased:

[and] idols according to their own understanding ;
which were entirely of man's device, and had nothing divine in them, either as to matter or form, but wholly the invention of the human brain; or, "according to their own likeness", as the Targum, and so other Jewish interpreters; after the form of a man, and yet were so weak and stupid as to account them gods:

all of it the work of the craftsmen ;
of silversmiths and founders, and such like artificers; the same, or of the same sort, with the craftsmen that made shrines for Diana, (Acts 19:24Acts 19:38) ; and therefore such a work, wrought by such hands, could never be a deity, or have anything divine in it; they must be as stupid and senseless as the work itself to imagine there should:

and yet they say of them ;
the false prophets, or the idolatrous priests, say of such idols:

let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves :
let those that bring their sacrifices, or those that offer them, pay religious worship and adoration to the calves; which they signified by kissing the idols they sacrificed to, either their mouths, or their hands; or, if out of their reach, they kissed their own hands in token of honour to them; which rites were commonly used among the Heathens.

Cicero ^F19 says at Agrigentum, where was a temple or Hercules, where the people not only used to show a veneration to his image by prayers and thanksgivings, but they used to kiss it. So Apuleius ^F20 speaks of a beautiful virgin, the report of whose beauty brought together a vast number of citizens and strangers; who, amazed at the sight of her, put their right hand to their mouths, the first finger resting upon the thumb erect, and gave her reverence with religious adoration, as if she had been the goddess Venus herself; and Minutius Felix ^F21 says of Caecilius, that, observing the image of Serapis (probably much like one of these calves), putting his hand to his mouth, according to the superstitious custom of the common people, with his lips smacked a kiss;

and so Pliny observes, in worshipping, the right hand is used for a kiss, turning about the whole body, which to do to the left was reckoned the more religious; hence it is observed of Aemilius, a derider of and scoffer at things divine, that he would never make supplication to any god, nor frequent any temple; and if he passed by any place of worship, he reckoned it a crime to put his hand to his lips by way of adoration, or on account of that; and it seems to have obtained as early as the times of Job among idolatrous people, that, upon the sight of the sun or moon, they immediately with their mouth kissed their hands; see (Job 31:26Job 31:27) ; hence Lucian , speaking of the Indians, says, rising early in the morning, they worship the sun, not as we, who think the prayers are finished when the hand is kissed; and Tertullian , addressing the Heathens in his time, thus addresses them, most of you, out of an affectation of worshipping the celestial bodies at the rising of the sun, move and quaver your lips; hence kissing is used for the worship of the Son of God, (Psalms 2:12) .

Some read the words, "let those that sacrifice a man ^F1 kiss the calves"; as if it respected the abominable practice of sacrificing men to Moloch; or intimated that men were sacrificed to the calves at Bethel.

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: In Verrem, l. 4. Orat. 9. c. 13.
• F20: Metamorphos. sive de Asino Auero, l. 4. p. 60.
• F21: Octavius, p. 2.
• F1: (Mda yxbz) "immolatores hominem, [vel] immolantes homines", Vatablus; "sacrificantes hominem", Montanus, Calvin, Schmidt; so some in Abenda. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin render it as an imperative, "sacrifice men"; and the Syriac version, "O you that sacrifice men".

Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud
Which, however promising it is, soon disappears when the sun is risen; signifying that the idolatrous Israelites, king, priests, and people, should be no more; their kingdom would cease, all their riches and wealth would depart from them, and they and their children be carried captive into a strange land:

and as the early dew it passes away ;
as soon as the heat of the sun is felt, when the earth is left dry; so these people, though they seemed to be in great prosperity, and to be very fruitful in children, and in substance, and promised themselves much more; yet in a little time their land would become desolate, and they stripped of all that was dear and valuable to them these metaphors are used in (Hosea 6:4) ;

as the chaff [that] is driven with a whirlwind out of the floor ;
signifying that these idolatrous people were like chaff, light and empty, useless and unprofitable, fit for nothing but burning; and that they would be driven out of their own land through the Assyrian, that should come like a whirlwind with great three and power, as easily and as quickly as chaff is driven out of a threshing floor of corn with a strong blast of wind; see (Psalms 1:5) (Jeremiah 4:11–13) (Daniel 2:35) ;

and as the smoke out of the chimney ;
which rises up in a pillar, and is soon dissipated by the wind, or dissolved into air; and is no sooner seen but it disappears; see (Psalms 68:2) . All these similes show how easily, suddenly, and quickly, the destruction of this idolatrous nation would be brought about.

Yet I [am] the Lord your God from the land of Egypt Which brought you out from there, as the Targum; and ever since, from that time to this, had shown a regard to them, as the Lord their God, both in the wilderness, as later mentioned, and in the land of Canaan, where they had been continued, and followed with instances of goodness to that day, and yet find sinned in so gross a manner, which argued great ingratitude in them, and forgetfulness of the Lord, and his mercies: and you shall know no God but me ; they ought to have known, acknowledged, and worshipped no other god, as was enjoined them in the law: or, "you know not" ^F2 ; they did not know any other, which they in their own consciences were obliged to confess, if appealed to; however, they should know no other; by sad experience they would find that there was no other that could be of any service to them; their images and idols being unable to help them.

for [there is] no savior besides me ; that could save them out of their troubles and deliver them out of their distresses. No other that is, or can be, the author, either of temporal or of spiritual and eternal salvation.

FOOTNOTES:

• F2: (edt al) "non novisti, [vel] cognovisti", Liveleus, Drusius, Rivet.

I did know thee in the wilderness
Where there were no food nor drink, where were scorpions, serpents, and beasts of prey; there the Lord knew them, owned them, and showed a fatherly affection for them, and care of them; and fed them with manna and quails, and guided and directed them in the way, and protected and preserved them from their enemies, and from all hurt and danger. So the Targum explains it,

``I sufficiently supplied their necessities in the wilderness:'' in the land of great drought ;
or, "of droughts" <sup>F3</sup> ; the word is only used in this place; and is by Aben Ezra interpreted a dry and thirsty land; and so he says it signifies in the Arabic language and the same is observed by the father of Kimchi, and by R. Jonah <sup>F4</sup> ; but is by some rendered "torrid" <sup>F5</sup> , or "inflamed", as if it had the signification of a Hebrew word which signifies a flame: and the Targum takes it to be akin to another, which signifies to "desire", rendering it, ``in a land in which you desire everything;'' that is, wants everything. The first seems best, and is a fit a description of the wilderness, which was a place of drought, wherein was no water, (Deuteronomy 8:15) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: (tbwalt Urab) "an terra siccitatum", Vatablus, Drusius, Schmidt.
• F4: Apud R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed. fol. 35. 1.
• F5: "In terra torridonum locorum", Montanus; "torridissima", Junius & Tremellius, Heb. "infammationum", Piscator.