And the Lord shall smite Israel as a reed is shaken in the
water
Either by the wind or by the stream; and may signify the fluctuating and uncertain condition Israel should be in future reigns, through civil wars, and the translation of the kingdom into different families; so that there was continually disquietude and uneasiness, and no settled peace and tranquillity:
and he shall root up Israel out this good land he gave to their
fathers;
which was brought about, first by Tiglathpileser, and then by Shalmaneser, kings of Assyria, that carried them captives from hence:
and shall scatter them beyond the river;
the river Euphrates, as the Targum: or, as others, the river Gozan, ( 2 Kings 17:6 )
because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger:
in which groves they placed idols, and worshipped them, which was highly provoking to the Lord, and the cause of their dispersion.