Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Hosea 9:3 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ho 9:3	Strong Concordance	They shall not dwell [03427] in the LORD'S [03068] land [0776]; but Ephraim [0669] shall return [07725] to Egypt [04714], and they shall eat [0398] unclean [02931] things in Assyria [0804].
	King James	They shall not dwell in the LORD'S land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
return to Egypt--(See on Hos 8:13). As in Hos 11:5 it is said, "He shall not return into . . . Egypt." FAIRBAIRN thinks it is not the exact country that is meant, but the bondage state with which, from past experience, Egypt was identified in their minds. Assyria was to be a second Egypt to them. Deu 28:68, though threatening a return to Egypt, speaks (Deu 28:36) of their being brought to a nation which neither they nor their fathers had known, showing that it is not the literal Egypt, but a second Egypt-like bondage that is threatened. eat unclean things in Assyria--reduced by necessity to eat meats pronounced unclean by the Mosaic law (Eze 4:13). See Kg2 17:6.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

return to Egypt--(See on Hos 8:13). As in Hos 11:5 it is said, "He shall not return into . . . Egypt." FAIRBAIRN thinks it is not the exact country that is meant, but the bondage state with which, from past experience, Egypt was identified in their minds. Assyria was to be a second Egypt to them. Deu 28:68, though threatening a return to Egypt, speaks (Deu 28:36) of their being brought to a nation which neither they nor their fathers had known, showing that it is not the literal Egypt, but a second Egypt-like bondage that is threatened.

eat unclean things in Assyria--reduced by necessity to eat meats pronounced unclean by the Mosaic law (Eze 4:13). See Kg2 17:6.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
They shall not dwell in the Lord's land. The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof - Yet He had chosen the land of Canaan, there to place His people; there, above others, to work His miracles; there to reveal Himself; there to send His Son to take our flesh. He had put Israel in possession of it, to hold it under Him on condition of obedience. Contrariwise, God had denounced to them again and again; "if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to possess it" Deu 30:17-18. The fifth commandment, "the first commandment with promise" Eph 5:2, still implies the same condition, "that thy days may be logit in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." God makes the express reserve that the land is His. "The land shall not be sold forever, for the land is Mine, for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me." Lev 25:23. It was then an aggravation of their sin, that they had sinned in God's land. It was to sin in His special presence. To offer its first-fruits to idols, was to disown God as its Lord, and to own His adversary. In removing them, then, from His land, God removed them from occasions of sin. But Ephraim shall return to Egypt - He had broken the covenant, whereon God had promised, that they should not return there (see above the note at Hos 8:13). They had recourse to Egypt against the will of God. Against their own will, they should be sent back there, in banishment and distress, as of old, and in separation from their God. And they shall eat unclean things in Assyria - So in Ezekiel, "The children of Israel shall eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them" Eze 4:13. "Not to eat things common or unclean" was one of the marks which God had given them. whereby he distinguished them as His people. While God owned them as His people, He would protect them against such necessity. The histories of Daniel, of Eleazar and the Maccabees (Dan 1:8; 2 Macc. 6; 7), show how sorely pious Jews felt the compulsion to eat things unclean. Yet this doubtless Israel had done in his own land, if not in other ways, at least in eating things offered to idols. Now then, through necessity or they were to be forced, for their sustenance to eat tilings unclean, such as were, to them, all things killed with the blood in them, i. e., as almost all things are killed now. They who had willfully transgressed God's law, should now be forced to live in the habitual breach of that law, in a matter which placed them on a level with the pagan. People, who have no scruple about breaking God's moral law, feel keenly the removal of any distinction, which places them above others. They had been as pagan; they should be in the condition of pagan.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
"They will not remain in the land of Jehovah: Ephraim returns to Egypt, and they will eat unclean things in the land of Asshur. Hos 9:4. They will not pour out wine to Jehovah, and their slain-offerings will not please Him: like bread of mourning are they to Him; all who eat it become unclean: for their bread is for themselves, it does not come into the house of Jehovah." Because they have fallen away from Jehovah, He will drive them out of His land. The driving away is described as a return to Egypt, as in Hos 8:13; but Asshur is mentioned immediately afterwards as the actual land of banishment. That this threat is not to be understood as implying that they will be carried away to Egypt as well as to Assyria, but that Egypt is referred to here and in Hos 9:6, just as in Hos 8:13, simply as a type of the land of captivity, so that Assyria is represented as a new Egypt, may be clearly seen from the words themselves, in which eating unclean bread in Assyria is mentioned as the direct consequence of their return to Egypt; whereas neither here nor in Hos 9:6 is their being carried away to Assyria mentioned at all; but, on the contrary, in Hos 9:6, Egypt only is introduced as the place where they are to find their grave. This is still more evident from the fact that Hosea throughout speaks of Asshur alone, as the rod of the wrath of God for His rebellious people. The king of Asshur is king Jareb (striver), to whom Ephraim goes for help, and by whom it will be put to shame (Hos 5:13; Hos 10:6); and it is from the Assyrian king Salman that devastation and destruction proceed (Hos 10:14). And, lastly, it is expressly stated in Hos 11:5, that Israel will not return to Egypt, but to Asshur, who will be its king. By the allusion to Egypt, therefore, the carrying away to Assyria is simply represented as a state of bondage and oppression, resembling the sojourn of Israel in Egypt in the olden time, or else the threat contained in Deu 28:68 is simply transferred to Ephraim. They will eat unclean things in Assyria, not only inasmuch as when, under the oppression of their heathen rulers, they will not be able to observe the laws of food laid down in the law, or will be obliged to eat unclean things from simple want and misery; but also inasmuch as all food, which was not sanctified to the Lord by the presentation of the first-fruits, was unclean food to Israel (Hengstenberg). In Assyria these offerings would cease with the whole of the sacrificial ritual; and the food which was clean in itself would thereby become unclean outside the land of Jehovah (cf. Eze 4:13). This explanation of טמא is required by Hos 9:4, in which a further reason is assigned for the threat. For what we have there is not a description of the present attitude of Israel towards Jehovah, but a picture of the miserable condition of the people in exile. The verbs are pure futures. In Assyria they will neither be able to offer wine to the Lord as a drink-offering, nor such slain-offerings as we well-pleasing to Him. For Israel could only offer sacrifices to its God at the place where He made known His name by revelation, and therefore not in exile, where He had withdrawn His gracious presence from it. The drink-offerings are mentioned, as pars pro toto, in the place of all the meat-offerings and drink-offerings, i.e., of the bloodless gifts, which were connected with the zebhâchı̄m, or burnt-offerings and thank-offerings (shelâmı̄m, Num 15:2-15, Num 15:28-29), and could never be omitted when the first-fruits were offered (Lev 23:13, Lev 23:18). "Their sacrifices:" zibhchēhem belongs to יערבוּ־לו (shall be pleasing to Him), notwithstanding the previous segholta, because otherwise the subject to יערבו would be wanting, and there is evidently quite as little ground for supplying נס'כיהם from the preceding clause, as Hitzig proposes, as for assuming that ערב here means to mix. Again, we must not infer from the words, "their slain-offerings will not please Him," that the Israelites offered sacrifices when in exile. The meaning is simply that the sacrifices, which they might wish to offer to Jehovah there, would not be well-pleasing to Him. We must not repeat זבחיהם as the subject to the next clause להם ... כּלחם, in the sense of "their sacrifices will be to them like mourners' bread," which would give no suitable meaning; for though the sacrifices are called bread of God, they are never called the bread of men. The subject may be supplied very readily from kelechem (like bread) thus: their bread, or food, would be to them like mourners' bread; and the correctness of this is proved by the explanatory clause, "for their bread," etc. Lechem 'ōnı̄m, bread of affliction, i.e., of those who mourn for the dead (cf. Deu 26:14), in other words, the bread eaten at funeral meals. This was regarded as unclean, because the corpse defiled the house, and all who came in contact with it, for seven days (Num 19:14). Their bread would resemble bread of this kind, because it had not been sanctified by the offering of the first-fruits. "For their bread will not come into the house of Jehovah," viz., to be sanctified, "for their souls," i.e., to serve for the preservation of their life.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

"They will not remain in the land of Jehovah: Ephraim returns to Egypt, and they will eat unclean things in the land of Asshur. Hos 9:4. They will not pour out wine to Jehovah, and their slain-offerings will not please Him: like bread of mourning are they to Him; all who eat it become unclean: for their bread is for themselves, it does not come into the house of Jehovah." Because they have fallen away from Jehovah, He will drive them out of His land. The driving away is described as a return to Egypt, as in Hos 8:13; but Asshur is mentioned immediately afterwards as the actual land of banishment. That this threat is not to be understood as implying that they will be carried away to Egypt as well as to Assyria, but that Egypt is referred to here and in Hos 9:6, just as in Hos 8:13, simply as a type of the land of captivity, so that Assyria is represented as a new Egypt, may be clearly seen from the words themselves, in which eating unclean bread in Assyria is mentioned as the direct consequence of their return to Egypt; whereas neither here nor in Hos 9:6 is their being carried away to Assyria mentioned at all; but, on the contrary, in Hos 9:6, Egypt only is introduced as the place where they are to find their grave. This is still more evident from the fact that Hosea throughout speaks of Asshur alone, as the rod of the wrath of God for His rebellious people. The king of Asshur is king Jareb (striver), to whom Ephraim goes for help, and by whom it will be put to shame (Hos 5:13; Hos 10:6); and it is from the Assyrian king Salman that devastation and destruction proceed (Hos 10:14). And, lastly, it is expressly stated in Hos 11:5, that Israel will not return to Egypt, but to Asshur, who will be its king. By the allusion to Egypt, therefore, the carrying away to Assyria is simply represented as a state of bondage and oppression, resembling the sojourn of Israel in Egypt in the olden time, or else the threat contained in Deu 28:68 is simply transferred to Ephraim. They will eat unclean things in Assyria, not only inasmuch as when, under the oppression of their heathen rulers, they will not be able to observe the laws of food laid down in the law, or will be obliged to eat unclean things from simple want and misery; but also inasmuch as all food, which was not sanctified to the Lord by the presentation of the first-fruits, was unclean food to Israel (Hengstenberg). In Assyria these offerings would cease with the whole of the sacrificial ritual; and the food which was clean in itself would thereby become unclean outside the land of Jehovah (cf. Eze 4:13). This explanation of טמא is required by Hos 9:4, in which a further reason is assigned for the threat. For what we have there is not a description of the present attitude of Israel towards Jehovah, but a picture of the miserable condition of the people in exile. The verbs are pure futures. In Assyria they will neither be able to offer wine to the Lord as a drink-offering, nor such slain-offerings as we well-pleasing to Him. For Israel could only offer sacrifices to its God at the place where He made known His name by revelation, and therefore not in exile, where He had withdrawn His gracious presence from it. The drink-offerings are mentioned, as pars pro toto, in the place of all the meat-offerings and drink-offerings, i.e., of the bloodless gifts, which were connected with the zebhâchı̄m, or burnt-offerings and thank-offerings (shelâmı̄m, Num 15:2-15, Num 15:28-29), and could never be omitted when the first-fruits were offered (Lev 23:13, Lev 23:18). "Their sacrifices:" zibhchēhem belongs to יערבוּ־לו (shall be pleasing to Him), notwithstanding the previous segholta, because otherwise the subject to יערבו would be wanting, and there is evidently quite as little ground for supplying נס'כיהם from the preceding clause, as Hitzig proposes, as for assuming that ערב here means to mix. Again, we must not infer from the words, "their slain-offerings will not please Him," that the Israelites offered sacrifices when in exile. The meaning is simply that the sacrifices, which they might wish to offer to Jehovah there, would not be well-pleasing to Him. We must not repeat זבחיהם as the subject to the next clause להם ... כּלחם, in the sense of "their sacrifices will be to them like mourners' bread," which would give no suitable meaning; for though the sacrifices are called bread of God, they are never called the bread of men. The subject may be supplied very readily from kelechem (like bread) thus: their bread, or food, would be to them like mourners' bread; and the correctness of this is proved by the explanatory clause, "for their bread," etc. Lechem 'ōnı̄m, bread of affliction, i.e., of those who mourn for the dead (cf. Deu 26:14), in other words, the bread eaten at funeral meals. This was regarded as unclean, because the corpse defiled the house, and all who came in contact with it, for seven days (Num 19:14). Their bread would resemble bread of this kind, because it had not been sanctified by the offering of the first-fruits. "For their bread will not come into the house of Jehovah," viz., to be sanctified, "for their souls," i.e., to serve for the preservation of their life.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Ephraim - Many of Ephraim shall fly into Egypt. And they - The residue shall be carried captive into Assyria.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
But Ephraim shall return to Egypt - See on Hos 8:12 (note).

Top

⁶ In the ninth [08671] year [08141] of Hoshea [01954] the king [04428] of Assyria [0804] took [03920] Samaria [08111], and carried [01540] Israel [03478] away [01540] into Assyria [0804], and placed [03427] them in Halah [02477] and in Habor [02249] by the river [05104] of Gozan [01470], and in the cities [05892] of the Medes [04074].

¹³ And the LORD [03068] said [0559], Even thus shall the children [01121] of Israel [03478] eat [0398] their defiled [02931] bread [03899] among the Gentiles [01471], whither I will drive [05080] them.

³⁶ The LORD [03068] shall bring [03212] thee, and thy king [04428] which thou shalt set [06965] over thee, unto a nation [01471] which neither thou nor thy fathers [01] have known [03045]; and there shalt thou serve [05647] other [0312] gods [0430], wood [06086] and stone [068].

⁶⁸ And the LORD [03068] shall bring [07725] thee into Egypt [04714] again [07725] with ships [0591], by the way [01870] whereof I spake [0559] unto thee, Thou shalt see [07200] it no more again [03254]: and there ye shall be sold [04376] unto your enemies [0341] for bondmen [05650] and bondwomen [08198], and no man shall buy [07069] you.

⁵ He shall not return [07725] into the land [0776] of Egypt [04714], but the Assyrian [0804] shall be his king [04428], because they refused [03985] to return [07725].

¹³ They sacrifice [02076] flesh [01320] for the sacrifices [02077] of mine offerings [01890], and eat [0398] it; but the LORD [03068] accepteth [07521] them not; now will he remember [02142] their iniquity [05771], and visit [06485] their sins [02403]: they shall return [07725] to Egypt [04714].

⁸ But Daniel [01840] purposed [07760] in his heart [03820] that he would not defile [01351] himself with the portion [06598] of the king's [04428] meat [06598], nor with the wine [03196] which he drank [04960]: therefore he requested [01245] of the prince [08269] of the eunuchs [05631] that he might not defile [01351] himself.

²³ The land [0776] shall not be sold [04376] for ever [06783]: for the land [0776] is mine; for ye are strangers [01616] and sojourners [08453] with me.

² And [2532] walk [4043] in [1722] love [26], as [2531] Christ [5547] also [2532] hath loved [25] us [2248], and [2532] hath given [3860] himself [1438] for [5228] us [2257] an offering [4376] and [2532] a sacrifice [2378] to God [2316] for [1519] a sweetsmelling [2175] savour [3744].

¹⁷ But if thine heart [03824] turn away [06437], so that thou wilt not hear [08085], but shalt be drawn away [05080], and worship [07812] other [0312] gods [0430], and serve [05647] them;
¹⁸ I denounce [05046] unto you this day [03117], that ye shall surely [06] perish [06], and that ye shall not prolong [0748] your days [03117] upon the land [0127], whither thou passest over [05674] Jordan [03383] to go [0935] to possess [03423] it.

¹⁴ This is the law [08451], when a man [0120] dieth [04191] in a tent [0168]: all that come [0935] into the tent [0168], and all that is in the tent [0168], shall be unclean [02930] seven [07651] days [03117].

¹⁴ I have not eaten [0398] thereof in my mourning [0205], neither have I taken away [01197] ought thereof for any unclean [02931] use, nor given [05414] ought thereof for the dead [04191]: but I have hearkened [08085] to the voice [06963] of the LORD [03068] my God [0430], and have done [06213] according to all that thou hast commanded [06680] me.

¹⁸ And ye shall offer [07126] with the bread [03899] seven [07651] lambs [03532] without blemish [08549] of the first [01121] year [08141], and one [0259] young [01241] [01121] bullock [06499], and two [08147] rams [0352]: they shall be for a burnt offering [05930] unto the LORD [03068], with their meat offering [04503], and their drink offerings [05262], even an offering made by fire [0801], of sweet [05207] savour [07381] unto the LORD [03068].

¹³ And the meat offering [04503] thereof shall be two [08147] tenth deals [06241] of fine flour [05560] mingled [01101] with oil [08081], an offering made by fire [0801] unto the LORD [03068] for a sweet [05207] savour [07381]: and the drink offering [05262] thereof shall be of wine [03196], the fourth [07243] part of an hin [01969].

²⁸ And the priest [03548] shall make an atonement [03722] for the soul [05315] that sinneth ignorantly [07683], when he sinneth [02398] by ignorance [07684] before [06440] the LORD [03068], to make an atonement [03722] for him; and it shall be forgiven [05545] him.
²⁹ Ye shall have one [0259] law [08451] for him that sinneth [06213] through ignorance [07684], both for him that is born [0249] among the children [01121] of Israel [03478], and for the stranger [01616] that sojourneth [01481] among [08432] them.

² Speak [01696] unto the children [01121] of Israel [03478], and say [0559] unto them, When ye be come [0935] into the land [0776] of your habitations [04186], which I give [05414] unto you,
³ And will make [06213] an offering by fire [0801] unto the LORD [03068], a burnt offering [05930], or a sacrifice [02077] in performing [06381] a vow [05088], or in a freewill offering [05071], or in your solemn feasts [04150], to make [06213] a sweet [05207] savour [07381] unto the LORD [03068], of the herd [01241], or of the flock [06629]:
⁴ Then shall he that offereth [07126] his offering [07133] unto the LORD [03068] bring [07126] a meat offering [04503] of a tenth deal [06241] of flour [05560] mingled [01101] with the fourth [07243] part of an hin [01969] of oil [08081].
⁵ And the fourth [07243] part of an hin [01969] of wine [03196] for a drink offering [05262] shalt thou prepare [06213] with the burnt offering [05930] or sacrifice [02077], for one [0259] lamb [03532].
⁶ Or for a ram [0352], thou shalt prepare [06213] for a meat offering [04503] two [08147] tenth deals [06241] of flour [05560] mingled [01101] with the third [07992] part of an hin [01969] of oil [08081].
⁷ And for a drink offering [05262] thou shalt offer [07126] the third [07992] part of an hin [01969] of wine [03196], for a sweet [05207] savour [07381] unto the LORD [03068].
⁸ And when thou preparest [06213] a bullock [01121] [01241] for a burnt offering [05930], or for a sacrifice [02077] in performing [06381] a vow [05088], or peace offerings [08002] unto the LORD [03068]:
⁹ Then shall he bring [07126] with a bullock [01241] [01121] a meat offering [04503] of three [07969] tenth deals [06241] of flour [05560] mingled [01101] with half [02677] an hin [01969] of oil [08081].
¹⁰ And thou shalt bring [07126] for a drink offering [05262] half [02677] an hin [01969] of wine [03196], for an offering made by fire [0801], of a sweet [05207] savour [07381] unto the LORD [03068].
¹¹ Thus shall it be done [06213] for one [0259] bullock [07794], or for one [0259] ram [0352], or for a lamb [03532] [07716], or a kid [05795].
¹² According to the number [04557] that ye shall prepare [06213], so [03602] shall ye do [06213] to every one [0259] according to their number [04557].
¹³ All that are born of the country [0249] shall do [06213] these things after this manner, in offering [07126] an offering made by fire [0801], of a sweet [05207] savour [07381] unto the LORD [03068].
¹⁴ And if a stranger [01616] sojourn [01481] with you, or whosoever be among [08432] you in your generations [01755], and will offer [06213] an offering made by fire [0801], of a sweet [05207] savour [07381] unto the LORD [03068]; as ye do [06213], so he shall do [06213].
¹⁵ One [0259] ordinance [02708] shall be both for you of the congregation [06951], and also for the stranger [01616] that sojourneth [01481] with you, an ordinance [02708] for ever [05769] in your generations [01755]: as ye are, so shall the stranger [01616] be before [06440] the LORD [03068].

⁴ They shall not offer [05258] wine [03196] offerings to the LORD [03068], neither shall they be pleasing [06149] unto him: their sacrifices [02077] shall be unto them as the bread [03899] of mourners [0205]; all that eat [0398] thereof shall be polluted [02930]: for their bread [03899] for their soul [05315] shall not come [0935] into the house [01004] of the LORD [03068].

⁵ He shall not return [07725] into the land [0776] of Egypt [04714], but the Assyrian [0804] shall be his king [04428], because they refused [03985] to return [07725].

¹⁴ Therefore shall a tumult [07588] arise [06965] among thy people [05971], and all thy fortresses [04013] shall be spoiled [07703], as Shalman [08020] spoiled [07701] Betharbel [01009] in the day [03117] of battle [04421]: the mother [0517] was dashed in pieces [07376] upon her children [01121].

⁶ It shall be also carried [02986] unto Assyria [0804] for a present [04503] to king [04428] Jareb [03377]: Ephraim [0669] shall receive [03947] shame [01317], and Israel [03478] shall be ashamed [0954] of his own counsel [06098].

¹³ When Ephraim [0669] saw [07200] his sickness [02483], and Judah [03063] saw his wound [04205], then went [03212] Ephraim [0669] to the Assyrian [0804], and sent [07971] to king [04428] Jareb [03377] [07378]: yet could [03201] he not heal [07495] you, nor cure [01455] you of your wound [04205].

⁶ For, lo, they are gone [01980] because of destruction [07701]: Egypt [04714] shall gather them up [06908], Memphis [04644] shall bury [06912] them: the pleasant [04261] places for their silver [03701], nettles [07057] shall possess [03423] them: thorns [02336] shall be in their tabernacles [0168].

¹² I have written [03789] to him the great things [07230] [07239] of my law [08451], but they were counted [02803] as a strange thing [02114].