So shall Bethel do unto you, because of your great
wickedness,
&c.] Or, "because of the evil of your evil" F19; their
extreme wickedness, and exceeding sinfulness; the evil of evils
they were guilty of was their idolatry, their worshipping the
calf at Bethel; and this was the cause of all their ruin: God was
the cause of it; the king of Assyria the instrument; but the
procuring or meritorious cause was their abominable wickedness at
Bethel; which therefore should be as Betharbel; yea, the whole
land should be, on the account of that, like unto it, or be
spoiled as that was. Or the words may be rendered, "so will he do
unto you, O Bethel" F20; that is, either God, or Shalman or
Shalmaneser, shall do the same to Bethel as he did to Betharbel;
utterly destroy it and its inhabitants, showing no mercy to age
or sex; in a morning shall the king of Israel be utterly
cut off;
meaning Hoshea the last king of Israel, and the kingdom entirely
destroyed; so that afterwards there was no more king in Israel,
nor has been to this day; there was not only an utter destruction
of that king, but of all kingly power and government, and ever
since the children of Israel have been without a king, ( Hosea 3:4 ) ; and this
was to be done, and was done, in a "morning": in the beginning of
his reign, as Joseph Kimchi; but this seems not so well to agree
with the history, since it was in the ninth year of his reign
that Samaria was taken: but the sense is, either that it would be
certainly done, as sure as the morning came; or suddenly and
quickly, as the morning light breaks forth; or in the morning of
prosperity, when they were expecting light and good days, from
their alliance with the king of Egypt, against the king of
Assyria.