John Gill Commentary Hosea 2:12

"And I will lay waste her vines and her fig-trees, whereof she hath said, These are my hire that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them." — Hosea 2:12 (ASV)

And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees
Which are mentioned for the rest, being the most fruitful and beneficial: this was done when Judea was invaded, overrun and wasted, by the Roman army; and when many were cut down, as Josephus observes, to build forts, and cast up mounts against Jerusalem; so that, he, says ^F12 , the appearance of the earth was miserable, for what before was adorned with trees and gardens, looked now like a wilderness:

of which she has said, these are my rewards that my lovers have given
me ;
alluding to the hire of harlots, given them by their gallants; these she ascribed, as she did before her bread, water, wool, flax; and oil, (Hosea 2:5) , not to God, the author and giver of them, but to the people her lovers, as the Targum; or to her idols, or to her beloved tenets, and doing according to them; and which is here mentioned as a reason of the divine resentment, and why he destroyed these fruitful trees:

and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat
them ;
make the vines and fig trees like forest trees, barren and unfruitful; the fruitful land of Judea should be turned into a forest, or become like a desert or wilderness, and all the fruits of it should be eaten up by wild beasts; by their enemies, compared to the beasts of the field, particularly the Romans, the fourth beast; see (Isaiah 56:9) (Daniel 7:7) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F12: De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 1. sect. 1.