Hosea 9:14

14 Geef hun, HEERE! Wat zult Gij geven? Geef hun een misdragende baarmoeder, en uitdrogende borsten.

Hosea 9:14 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 9:14

Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give them?
&c.] The prophet foreseeing the butchery and destruction of their children, his heart ached for them; and, to show his tender affection for this people, was desirous of putting up a supplication for them; but was at a loss what to ask, their sins were so many, and so aggravated, and the decree gone forth for their destruction: or, "give them what thou wilt give them" {l}; so Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, what thou hast threatened before to give them, ( Hosea 9:11 ) ; do not give them to be butchered and murdered before the eyes of their parents by their enemies; but rather let them die in the womb, or as soon as born; so it follows: give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts;
the latter being a sign of the former, as physicians observe; or the words may be rendered disjunctively, give them one, or the other; that is, to the wives of the people of Israel, if they conceive, let them miscarry, prove abortive, rather than bring forth children to be destroyed in such a cruel manner by murderers; or if they bear them to the birth, and bring them forth, let their breasts be dried up, and afford no milk for their nourishment; and so die for lack of it, rather than fall into the hands of their merciless enemies: thus, of two evils, the prophet chooses and prays for the least. Some interpret this as a prediction of what would be, or an imprecation of it; but it rather seems a pathetic wish, flowing from the tender affection of the prophet, judging such a case to be preferable to the former; see ( Luke 23:29 ) ; though the other sense seems best to agree with what follows, and which is favoured by the Targum,

``give thou, O Lord, the recompence of their works; give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (Ntt hm Mhl Nt) "da eis quod daturus es", Junius & Tremellius, Vatablus, Grotius; "da illis id quod dabis", Schmidt.

Hosea 9:14 In-Context

12 Ofschoon zij hun kinderen mochten groot maken, Ik zal er hen toch van beroven, dat zij onder de mensen niet zullen zijn; want ook, wee hun, als Ik van hen zal geweken zijn!

13 Efraim is, gelijk als Ik Tyrus aanzag, die geplant is in een liefelijke woonplaats; maar Efraim zal zijn kinderen moeten uitbrengen tot den doodslager.

14 Geef hun, HEERE! Wat zult Gij geven? Geef hun een misdragende baarmoeder, en uitdrogende borsten.

15 Al hun boosheid is te Gilgal, want daar heb Ik ze gehaat, om de boosheid van hun handelingen; Ik zal ze uit Mijn huis uitdrijven, Ik zal ze voortaan niet meer liefhebben; al hun vorsten zijn afvalligen.

16 Efraim is geslagen, hunlieder wortel is verdord, zij zullen geen vrucht voortbrengen; ja, ofschoon zij genereerden, zo zal Ik toch de gewenste vruchten van hun buik doden.