*H Ephraim feedeth on the wind, and followeth the burning heat: all the day long he multiplied lies and desolation: and he hath made a covenant with the Assyrians, and carried oil into Egypt.
Ver. 1. On. Lit. the wind. H. — To trust in men is no less vain. W. — Sept. "Ephraim is an evil spirit," &c. — Heat. Heb. "eastern or burning wind." H. — Manahem attempted to engage Egypt on his side, but he was frustrated in his hopes, (4 K. xv. S. Jer.) as Osee was likewise; to which king the sense conducts us better. C. xiii. 15. — Oil. That of Palestine was very excellent. Ezec. xxvii. 17.
*H Therefore there is a judgment of the Lord with Juda, and a visitation for Jacob: he will render to him according to his ways, and according to his devices.
Ver. 2. Judgment. Heb. "trial." What follows refers to all the people, whose impiety is contrasted with Jacob's virtue.
*H In the womb he supplanted his brother: and by his strength he had success with an angel.
Ver. 3. Brother Esau, thus foreshewing what would happen. Gen. xxv. — Angel. Sept. "God," whose place this angel held. Elohim implies both. v. 4. Gen. xxxii. 24.
* Footnote * Genesis 25 : 25
He that came forth first was red, and hairy like a skin: and his name was called Esau. Immediately the other coming forth, held his brother's foot in his hand: and therefore he was called Jacob.* Footnote * Genesis 32 : 24
He remained alone; and behold, a man wrestled with him till morning.*H And he prevailed over the angel, and was strengthened: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us.
Ver. 4. Wept. Sept. "they wept, and besought me." Other interpreters agree with the Vulg. — Us. By changing a vowel point, in Heb. it might be, "He spoke to him." Cap. Grot. — The most magnificent promises were made, at Bethel, regarding the Israelites: this made the profanation of the place more horrible. C. — Sept. "They found me in the house of On, and there the word was addressed to them." — Bethaven was the name of Bethel, among the pious Jews, in the days of Osee. H.
*H Even the Lord God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial.
Ver. 5. Memorial, and the object of worship; or this great Jehovah spoke to Jacob.
*H He is like Chanaan, there is a deceitful balance in his hand, he hath loved oppression.
Ver. 7. Chanaan. The Phnicians were so called, and all merchants. Here the title is given reproachfully (C.) to all the posterity of Jacob. H. — None more ignominious could be used. Dan. xiii. 56. Thus Rome is styled Babylon.
*H And Ephraim said: But yet I am become rich, I have found me an idol: all my labours shall not find me the iniquity that I have committed.
Ver. 8. Idol. Heb. also, "vanity." Riches are vain, and lead to idolatry when people place their affections on them. Mat. xiii. 22. Eph. v. 5. — Committed. I am conscious of no injustice. C. — Yet he had used a deceitful balance, and his judgment is equally perverse. H. — "What rich man shall be saved?" Clem. Alex.
*H And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, will yet cause thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the feast.
Ver. 9. Egypt. At Sinai the covenant between God and Israel was chiefly ratified. The former ceased not to perform the conditions, but the latter repaid him with ingratitude. — Feast. The people shall be brought back, (C.) or they shall again be forced to dwell under tents. Theod. — "Shall I still cause?" &c. Tournemine.
*H And I have spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and I have used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets.
Ver. 10. Prophets. They have represented me as it were under visible forms, that you cannot plead ignorance. The prophets prefigured Christ, the end of the law, &c. C.
*H If Galaad be an idol, then in vain were they in Galgal offering sacrifices with bullocks: for their altars also are as heaps in the furrows of the field.
Ver. 11. Idol. That is, if Galaad, with all its idols and sacrifices, be like a mere idol itself, being brought to nothing by Theglathphalassar, how vain is it to expect that the idols worshipped in Galgal shall be of any service to the tribes that remain. Ch. — Will these idols be more powerful? Sept. copies vary. Rom. ed. has Galaad, and Comp. Galgal in both places. But that of S. Jer. and of Theodoret is better. — Heaps of stones. They are in ruins, or very numerous: (C.) yet have not secured the country. H.
*H Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and was a keeper for a wife.
Ver. 12. Jacob. The history of the patriarch, and of his posterity, serves to place the ingratitude of the people in the clearest light. W. — The prophet had interrupted the account of Jacob, (v. 4.) who had signalized his piety in Galaad. Gen. xxxi. 46.
* Footnote * Genesis 28 : 5
And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and went to Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bathuel, the Syrian, brother to Rebecca, his mother.*H But the Lord by a prophet brought Israel out of Egypt: and he was preserved by a prophet.
Ver. 13. Prophet. Josue put the people in possession of the country, and offered sacrifice at Galgal, where the rite of circumcision was performed. This place is now defiled. What perfidy (H.) and ingratitude. C.
* Footnote * Exodus 14 : 21
And when Moses had stretched forth his hand over the sea, the Lord took it away by a strong and burning wind blowing all the night, and turned it into dry ground: and the water was divided.* Footnote * Exodus 14 : 22
And the children of Israel went in through the midst of the sea dried up; for the water was as a wall on their right hand and on their left.*H Ephraim hath provoked me to wrath with his bitterness, and his blood shall come upon him, and his Lord will render his reproach unto him.
Ver. 14. Him. He shall suffer for his crimes. M. — He can blame only himself. C.