Hosea 1:7

7 And I shall have mercy on the house of Judah, and I shall save them in their Lord God; and I shall not save them in bow, and sword, and battle, and in horses, and in horsemen, either knights. (But I shall have mercy on the house of Judah, and I shall save them by the Lord their God; and I shall not save them by bow, or sword, or battle, or by horses, or by horsemen, or knights.)

Hosea 1:7 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 1:7

But I will have mercy on the house of Judah
The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which retained the true worship of God among them; see ( Hosea 11:12 ) and though they often sinned against the Lord, he showed them mercy, and spared them longer than the ten tribes; and though he suffered them to be carried captive into Babylon, he returned them again after seventy years: this is mentioned as an aggravation of the punishment of Israel, that Judah was spared, when they were not; and to show that God will have a people to seek and serve him, and, when he rejects some, he will make a reserve of others: and will save them by the Lord their God;
by his own arm and power, and not theirs, or any creature's; nor by any warlike means or instruments whatever, as follows: and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses,
nor by horsemen:
which may respect either the deliverance of the Jews from the invasion and siege of Sennacherib's army; which was done without shooting an arrow, or drawing the sword, or engaging in a pitched battle, or by a cavalry rushing into his camp, discomfiting his army, and pursuing them; but by an angel sent from heaven, which in one night destroyed a hundred and fourscore and five thousand, ( 2 Kings 19:35 ) or else refers to Cyrus being stirred up by the Lord to issue forth a proclamation, giving liberty to the Jewish captives to go free, without price or reward; and so was brought about, not by the might and power of man, but by the Spirit of the Lord; see ( Ezra 1:1 ) ( Isaiah 45:13 ) ( Zechariah 4:6 ) though a greater salvation is pointed at, or at least shadowed forth, by this, even the spiritual and eternal salvation of God's elect by Christ; which is the fruit of mercy, and not the effect of the merits of men; is obtained not by human power, or by man's righteousness; but by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah our righteousness, the Lord God of his people; who stands in a relation to them prior to his being the Saviour of them; to which work and office he is equal, being the eternal Jehovah, and the true and living God. So the Targum,

``and I will save them by the Word of the Lord their God;''

the eternal Word, that was with God, is God, and became incarnate, God in our nature.

Hosea 1:7 In-Context

5 And in that day, I shall all-break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. (And on that day, I shall altogether break Israel's bow, or their power, in the Jezreel Valley.)

6 And she conceived yet, and childed a daughter. And the Lord said to him, Call thou the name of her Without mercy, for I shall no more lay to, for to have mercy on the house of Israel, but by forgetting I shall forget them. (And she conceived again, and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to him, Call thou her name Loruhamah, or Without mercy, for I shall no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but by forgetting I shall forget all about them.)

7 And I shall have mercy on the house of Judah, and I shall save them in their Lord God; and I shall not save them in bow, and sword, and battle, and in horses, and in horsemen, either knights. (But I shall have mercy on the house of Judah, and I shall save them by the Lord their God; and I shall not save them by bow, or sword, or battle, or by horses, or by horsemen, or knights.)

8 And (s)he weaned her that was Without mercy. And she conceived, and childed a son to him. (And she weaned Loruhamah. And then she conceived, and gave birth to another son.)

9 And he said, Call thou his name Not my people, for ye shall not be my people, and I shall not be your God. (And he said, Call thou his name Loammi, or Not my people, for ye shall not be my people, and I shall not be your God.)