Hosea 5

8. The arrival of the enemy is announced in the form of an injunction to blow an alarm.
cornet . . . trumpet--The "cornet" was made of the curved horn of animals and was used by shepherds. The "trumpet" was of brass or silver, straight, and used in wars and on solemn occasions. The Hebrew is hatzotzerah, the sound imitating the trumpet note ( Hosea 8:1 , Numbers 10:2 , Jeremiah 4:5 , Joel 2:1 ).
Gibeah . . . Ramah--both in Benjamin ( Isaiah 10:29 ).
Beth-aven--in Benjamin; not as in Hosea 4:15 ; Beth-el, but a town east of it ( Joshua 7:2 ). "Cry aloud," namely, to raise the alarm. "Benjamin" is put for the whole southern kingdom of Judah (compare Hosea 5:5 ), being the first part of it which would meet the foe advancing from the north. "After thee, O Benjamin," implies the position of Beth-aven, behind Benjamin, at the borders of Ephraim. When the foe is at Beth-aven, he is at Benjamin's rear, close upon thee, O Benjamin ( Judges 5:14 ).

9, 10. Israel is referred to in Hosea 5:9 , Judah in Hosea 5:10 .
the day of rebuke--the day when I shall chastise him.
among the tribes of Israel have I made known--proving that the scene of Hosea's labor was among the ten tribes.
that which shall surely be--namely, the coming judgment here foretold. It is no longer a conditional decree, leaving a hope of pardon on repentance; it is absolute, for Ephraim is hopelessly impenitent.

10. remove the bound--( Deuteronomy 19:14 , 27:17 , Job 24:2 , Proverbs 22:28 , 23:10 ). Proverbial for the rash setting aside of the ancestral laws by which men are kept to their duty. Ahaz and his courtiers ("the princes of Judah"), setting aside the ancient ordinances of God, removed the borders of the bases and the layer and the sea and introduced an idolatrous altar from Damascus ( 2 Kings 16:10-18 ); also he burnt his children in the valley of Hinnom, after the abominations of the heathen ( 2 Chronicles 28:3 ).

11. broken in judgment--namely, the "judgment" of God on him ( Hosea 5:1 ).
walked after the commandment--Jeroboam's, to worship the calves ( 2 Kings 10:28-33 ). Compare Micah 6:16 , "the statutes of Omri," namely, idolatrous statutes. We ought to obey God rather than men ( Acts 5:29 ). JEROME reads "filthiness." The Septuagint gives the sense, not the literal translation: "after vanities."

12. as a moth--consuming a garment ( Job 13:28 , Psalms 39:11 , Isaiah 50:9 ).
Judah . . . rottenness--Ephraim, or the ten tribes, are as a garment eaten by the moth; Judah as the body itself consumed by rottenness ( Proverbs 12:4 ). Perhaps alluding to the superiority of the latter in having the house of David, and the temple, the religious center of the nation [GROTIUS]. As in Hosea 5:13 Hosea 5:14 , the violence of the calamity is prefigured by the "wound" which "a lion" inflicts, so here its long protracted duration, and the certainty and completeness of the destruction from small unforeseen beginnings, by the images of a slowly but surely consuming moth and rottenness.

13. wound--literally, "bandage"; hence a bandaged wound ( Isaiah 1:6 , Jeremiah 30:12 ). "Saw," that is, felt its weakened state politically, and the dangers that threatened it. It aggravates their perversity, that, though aware of their unsound and calamitous state, they did not inquire into the cause or seek a right remedy.
went . . . to the Assyrian--First, Menahem ( 2 Kings 15:19 ) applied to Pul; again, Hoshea to Shalmaneser ( 2 Kings 17:3 ).
sent to King Jareb--Understand Judah as the nominative to "sent." Thus, as "Ephraim saw his sickness" (the first clause) answers in the parallelism to "Ephraim went to the Assyrian" (the third clause), so "Judah saw his wound" (the second clause) answers to (Judah) "sent to King Jareb" (the fourth clause). Jareb ought rather to be translated, "their defender," literally, "avenger" [JEROME]. The Assyrian "king," ever ready, for his own aggrandizement, to mix himself up with the affairs of neighboring states, professed to undertake Israel's and Judah's cause; in Judges 6:32 , Jerub, in Jerub-baal is so used, namely, "plead one's cause." Judah, under Ahaz, applied to Tiglath-pileser for aid against Syria and Israel ( 2 Kings 16:7 2 Kings 16:8 , 2 Chronicles 28:16-21 ); the Assyrian "distressed him, but strengthened him not," fulfiling the prophecy here, "he could not heal your, nor cure. you of your wound.

14. lion--The black lion and the young lion are emblems of strength and ferocity ( Psalms 91:13 ).
I, even I--emphatic; when I, even I, the irresistible God, tear in pieces ( Psalms 50:22 ), no Assyrian power can rescue.
go away--as a lion stalks leisurely back with his prey to his lair.

15. return to my place--that is, withdraw My favor.
till they acknowledge their offence--The Hebrew is, "till they suffer the penalty of their guilt." Probably "accepting the punishment of their guilt" (compare Zechariah 11:5 ) is included in the idea, as English Version translates. Compare Leviticus 26:40 Leviticus 26:41 , Jeremiah 29:12 Jeremiah 29:13 , Ezekiel 6:9 , 20:43 , 36:31 .
seek my face--that is, seek My favor ( Proverbs 29:26 , Margin).
in . . . affliction . . . seek me early--that is, diligently; rising up before dawn to seek Me ( Psalms 119:147 ; compare Psalms 78:34 ).