Hosea 13:11

11 In my anger I gave you kings, and in my fury I took them away.

Hosea 13:11 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 13:11

I gave thee a king in mine anger
Not the king of Assyria, sent to waste and destroy them, and carry them captive, as some, for of him the next clause cannot be said; nor Jeroboam, the first king of the ten tribes, as others, who was not given in anger to Israel, but to Solomon; rather Saul, as Kimchi and Aben Ezra, the first king of all Israel; and who was given at the request of the people, though in anger and resentment, they rejecting God their King; or it may design the kingly office and power in general, in a succession of kings from him the first of them: and took [him] away in my wrath;
not Jeroboam, who does not appear to be taken away by death in wrath; rather Saul, who died in battle with the Philistines, and fell on the mountains of Gilboa: but it may be rendered better, "I will take him away" ^F15; and refers not to Zedekiah the last king of Judith, as some in Kimchi; but to Hoshea, the last king of the ten tribes; for it is of there more especially the words, both in the text and context, are spoken; and so it respects the entire removal of kingly power from them, which ceased in Hoshea; see ( Hosea 3:4 ) ( 10:15 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (xqaw) "et auferam", Zanchius, Piscator, Cocceius, V. L. "recipiam", Drusius; "accipiam", Schmidt.

Hosea 13:11 In-Context

9 “You are about to be destroyed, O Israel— yes, by me, your only helper.

10 Now where is your king? Let him save you! Where are all the leaders of the land, the king and the officials you demanded of me?

11 In my anger I gave you kings, and in my fury I took them away.

12 “Ephraim’s guilt has been collected, and his sin has been stored up for punishment.

13 Pain has come to the people like the pain of childbirth, but they are like a child who resists being born. The moment of birth has arrived, but they stay in the womb!