Hosea 10:2

Their heart is divided,.... Some say from Hoshea their king, who would have reformed them from their idolatry, and returned them to the true worship of God; but of that there is no proof; better from

Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. Their heart is divided - (1 Kings 18:21, "How long halt ye between two opinions?

Their heart is divided from God and his worship, or between God and Baal, such as speaks of, or else divided one from another by parties, and factions, and civil wars, which tended to their ruin. Now shall they be found faulty; as this was their sin, so the effects hereof should manifestly prove them faulty. He, either God, or the king of Assyria stirred up by God to invade and destroy Ephraim, shall break down their altars; utterly pull down those altars which they had multiplied to their idols: the Assyrians shall, as other conquering heathen idolaters, rage against the gods of the people they conquer, as well as against the people; such was the pride and atheism of these men. He shall spoil their images; waste or destroy them; how goodly soever they had seemed to be, yet they should be broken to pieces; and where made of rich materials, as silver and gold, or if adorned with it, the enemy should the sooner spoil them; and then it will appear how sottish this people were to trust in them, or ascribe any praise to them, when Baal cannot defend his own images or people.

Hosea 10:2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.Ver. 2. Their heart is divided] sc. from God; whose soul therefore is justly disjointed from them, Jeremiah 6:8. They professed to worship the true God, and yet they transferred the honour due to him alone upon dumb idols; they halted between two, and would needs serve two lords; but God would have none of that. "Be the gods of the heathen good fellows," saith one, "the true God is a jealous God, and will not part stakes with another." The double-minded man is not for his service; for he will be served truly, that there be no halting; and, totally, that there be no halving. Good therefore and worthy of all acceptation is the counsel of St James to such, James 4:8, "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded," or ye cloven-hearted, διψυχοι. Out with the corruption that cleaveth to your hearts; and then there will be a constance and evenness in your minds, mouths, and manners; which is absolutely necessary to such as draw nigh to God in holy duties, and the contrary abominable, Isaiah 29:13. Now shall they be found faulty] Sinners against their own souls, procurers of their own ruth and ruin. And this they shall so clearly be convinced of (as afflictio dat intellectum, smart makes wit), that they shall cry out, with Joseph’ s brethren, We are verily guilty, Genesis 42:21, and conscience awakened, shall answer as Reuben in the next verse, "Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin" (O do not this abominable thing): "and ye would not hear?" Did not the prophets foretell you what would be the fruit of your idolatries? did they not even slit up your hearts with the sacrificing knife of God’ s word (sharper than any two-edged sword), and lay all your evil thoughts naked and open, or dissected, quartered, and cleft in the backbone (as the apostle’ s word, τετραχηλισμενα, signifieth, Hebrews 4:13), but ye would not then be convinced of all, and falling down upon your face, worship God, as 1 Corinthians 14:24-25? Now you are found faulty, or guilty, and cry peccavi; I have sinned, or now you are, that is, shortly ye shall be, wasted and desolated, as some render it; or now shall they die ( interibunt, so the Vulgate), shall they perish; how should they do otherwise whose heart, that seat of life, is cut in twain; and whom the jealous and just God will cut in twain (διχοτομησει), tearing their souls from their bodies by death, Satan’ s slaughter man, and appointing them their portion with hypocrites, Matthew 24:51. He shall break down their altars] He, that is, God, my God, Hosea 9:17, for this chapter is a continuation of that (though Gualter makes it the beginning of Hosea’ s seventh sermon). He, that excelleth he, that Aph-hu, 2 Kings 2:14.

(2) Their heart is divided is the rendering of the LXX., Raschi, Aben-Ezra, and most ancient versions. But modern expositors prefer to translate “Their heart is treacherous (smooth).” The rest of the verse should run thus:—Now shall they suffer punishment. He shall break (the horns of) their altars; he shall destroy their pillars.

Verse 2. Their heart is divided] They wish to serve God and Mammon, Jehovah and Baal: but this is impossible. Now GOD will do in judgment what they should have done in contrition, "break down their altars, and spoil their images."

2. Their heart is divided] viz., between Jehovah and idols. But this, which involves an alteration of the points, gives too weak a sense for such a context. It is better to keep the ordinary pointing, and render, Their heart is slippery (or deceitful; lit. ‘is smooth’; comp. Ezekiel 12:24 smooth, i.e. flattering, divination). be found faulty] Rather, be dealt with as guilty (as Hosea 13:16). he shall break down, &c.] The phrase is a bold one; it is literally ‘he shall break the necks of the altars’, i.e. perhaps strike off their horns (Amos 3:14), and so destroy them. ‘He’ is emphatically expressed in the Hebrew, to indicate the unseen observer of their thoughts and actions.

Their heart is divided - Between God and their idols, in that they would not wholly part with either, as Elijah upbraided them, “How long halt ye between the two opinions?” 1 Kings 18:21.

1, 2. Empty vine — Or, emptying vine, that is, the vine that “pours forth its internal strength in abundance of growth and fruit”; therefore R.V., correctly, “luxuriant” (compare Hosea 9:10).