Hosea 11
Summary
Joseph will retain traits of his half-Egyptian origins. The mother of Ephraim and Manasseh was from Egypt.
They will worship Baal as the Ancient British, Irish, and Gauls did. God raised them up like someone taking care of a baby but still they rejected HIM.
The Lost Ten Tribes will repent and return from the West to the Land of Israel. Ephraim will have rejected the Almighty while Judah remained faithful.
The Book of Hosea
Chapter Eleven
A Brit-Am
Biblical Commentary
[Hosea 11:1] WHEN ISRAEL WAS A CHILD, THEN I LOVED HIM, AND CALLED
MY SON OUT OF EGYPT.
The Israelites were subjected to the
Egyptians and then redeemed under the leadership of Moses. They still retained
an attachment however to Egypt as may be seen by the sin of the Golden Calf.
Jeroboam the son of Nebath
who lead the rebellion of the Ten Tribes from Judah. He had initially fled from
Solomon to Egypt which gave him refuge. Later the separate Kingdom of Israel
adopted aspects of the Egyptian religion and culture as confirmed by
archaeological findings. Joseph married an Egyptian woman who bore his sons,
Ephraim and Manasseh. Ancient Britain reveals ongoing contacts with Egypt.
There is an Egyptian element within Joseph.
[Hosea 11:2] AS THEY CALLED THEM, SO THEY WENT FROM THEM: THEY SACRIFICED UNTO
BAALIM, AND BURNED INCENSE TO GRAVEN IMAGES.
As we have mentioned the so-called
"Celts" of Ireland, Britain, and Celtic Europe worshipped the sun-god "bel"
who is another form of "baal".
Baal was worshipped locally under different forms. In this sense there were
numerous "baalim"
(in the plural) though others could consider
threm
all vatriations
on the one theme. There are also indications that at one stage the God of
Israel was confused with "baal"
and vice-versa in the eyes of the Early Hebrews.
[Hosea 11:3] I TAUGHT EPHRAIM ALSO TO GO, TAKING THEM BY THEIR ARMS; BUT THEY
KNEW NOT THAT I HEALED THEM.
<<I TAUGHT? TO GO. Hebrew "tirgalti"
i.e. taught to walk.
Yehudah
Kiel ("Daat
Mikra")
points out that the words "Ephraim" and the Hebrew for I HEALED THEM ("Refatim")
interplay with each other.
[Hosea 11:4] I DREW THEM WITH CORDS OF A MAN, WITH BANDS OF LOVE: AND I WAS TO
THEM AS THEY THAT TAKE OFF THE YOKE ON THEIR JAWS, AND I LAID MEAT UNTO THEM.
Yehudah
Kiel renders the Hebrew original in this verse as referring to the care given to
a very young child: I DREW THEM WITH BABY STRAPS, WITH BANDS OF LOVE: AND I WAS
TO THEM AS THEY THAT LIFT UP THE INFANT TO THEIR CHEEK, AND I SPOON-FED THEM
SLOWLY.
[Hosea 11:5] HE SHALL NOT RETURN INTO THE LAND OF EGYPT, AND THE ASSYRIAN SHALL
BE HIS KING, BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO RETURN.
They shall be ruled over by Assyria in
Exile because they refused to return to God nevertheless they shall not be
returned to Egypt (Y. Kiel).
[Hosea 11:6] AND THE SWORD SHALL ABIDE ON HIS CITIES, AND SHALL CONSUME HIS
BRANCHES, AND DEVOUR THEM, BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN COUNSELS.
[Hosea 11:7] AND MY PEOPLE ARE BENT TO BACKSLIDING FROM ME: THOUGH THEY CALLED
THEM TO THE MOST HIGH, NONE AT ALL WOULD EXALT HIM.
<<NONE AT ALL WOULD EXALT HIM: Also
understandable as saying (Y. Kiel) "they would not elevate themselves though
they were called to return to the Almighty". They would not change their ways
even though disaster was coming upon them.
[Hosea 11:8] HOW SHALL I GIVE THEE UP, EPHRAIM? HOW SHALL I DELIVER THEE,
ISRAEL? HOW SHALL I MAKE THEE AS ADMAH? HOW SHALL I SET THEE AS ZEBOIM? MINE
HEART IS TURNED WITHIN ME, MY REPENTINGS ARE KINDLED
TOGETHER.
<<ADMAH?...ZEBOIM:
Cities that were overthrown by the Almighty together with Sodom and
Gomorrha
(Genesis 14:2).
[Hosea 11:9] I WILL NOT EXECUTE THE FIERCENESS OF MINE ANGER, I WILL NOT RETURN
TO DESTROY EPHRAIM: FOR I AM GOD, AND NOT MAN; THE HOLY ONE IN THE MIDST OF
THEE: AND I WILL NOT ENTER INTO THE CITY.
[Hosea 11:10] THEY SHALL WALK AFTER THE LORD: HE SHALL ROAR LIKE A LION: WHEN HE
SHALL ROAR, THEN THE CHILDREN SHALL TREMBLE FROM THE WEST.
Radak:
Even though because of their transgression I remove my Divine Presence from them
and exile them from their Land, there will come a far time that they will follow
after God and search HIM out in their Place of exile, as mentioned at the
beginning of this book, AFTERWARD SHALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL RETURN, AND SEEK
THE LORD THEIR GOD [Hosea 3:5].
HE SHALL ROAR LIKE A LION. Radak.
Just as the lion roars and the beasts gather unto him for he is the King of the
beasts so too shall the Children of Israel gather together at the sound of the
roar of the Almighty.
WHEN HE SHALL ROAR. Radak:
Meaning when HE will reveal HIMSELF to them in their Exile through a Prophet or
through a sign and wonder that HE will send.
THE CHILDREN SHALL TREMBLE FROM THE WEST.
Yehonatan:
The Exiles will be ingathered from the West.
[Hosea 11:11] THEY SHALL TREMBLE AS A BIRD OUT OF EGYPT, AND AS A DOVE OUT OF
THE LAND OF ASSYRIA: AND I WILL PLACE THEM IN THEIR HOUSES, SAITH THE LORD.
Abarbanel
says that just as they had hoped to receive help from Assyria and Egypt so will
they realize their error and return before their Redemption.
Midrash
(Shir
HaShirim
Rabah
1:63) AS A BIRD OUT OF EGYPT: This was the Generation of the Exodus, AND AS A
DOVE OUT OF THE LAND OF ASSYRIA: These are the Ten Tribes.
Isaiah spoke of the same phenomenon.
http://www.britam.org/isaiah/Isaiah26to30.html
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY, THAT THE GREAT TRUMPET SHALL BE BLOWN,
AND THEY SHALL COME WHICH WERE READY TO PERISH IN THE LAND OF ASSYRIA, AND THE
OUTCASTS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT, AND SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE HOLY MOUNT AT
JERUSALEM [Isaiah 27:13].
<<WHICH WERE READY TO PERISH [Hebrew:
Ovdim
= were lost, or in the process of getting lost, or wandering] IN THE LAND OF
ASSYRIA [i.e. the Lost Ten Tribes], AND THE OUTCASTS [i.e. the descendants of
Captive Jews] IN THE LAND OF EGYPT.
[Hosea 11:12] EPHRAIM COMPASSETH ME ABOUT WITH LIES, AND THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL
WITH DECEIT: BUT JUDAH YET RULETH WITH GOD, AND IS FAITHFUL WITH THE SAINTS.
Ephraim goes away from the Torah yet
Judah remains faithful, even so cf. Jeremiah 3 where the Lost Ten Tribes in a
sense will have fulfilled their mission in Exile.
RULETH:
Hebrew "ReD"
possibly the source of our English word "ride".
If this prophecy is referring to the End Times (as in one respect it must be) or
close to them, it is a further proof that Judah and Ephraim will be practicing
separate religions.
Chapter Ten
