Hosea 12:14

Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly,.... The Vulgate Latin version supplies it, me; that is, God, as Kimchi; or his Lord, as it may be supplied from the last clause of the verse; the sense

Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him. Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly - "Him," i:e., God.

Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: after all the means used from time to time to reclaim idolatrous sinning Israel, yet still they provoked God to indignation by their idolatries, perjuries, oppressions, murders, and all manner of sins which use to be rife among idolaters; these things were bitterness unto God. Therefore, seeing he will incorrigibly persist as he hath begun, and end in sin and misery, shall he leave his blood upon him; he shall bear the guilt and punishment of all his blood, his murders of the innocent, of those that testified against him, and, as one who hath murdered himself, shall bear his own guilt too. His reproach, which Ephraim hath east upon the prophets and pious worshippers of God, all the reproach Ephraim hath cast on God, preferring idols before him, shall his Lord return unto him; either God, who is Lord of all, or the Assyrian king and his princes, lording it over captive Ephraim; God shall by these return the shame on Ephraim which he cast on God, his worship, temple, and prophets.

Hosea 12:14 Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.Ver. 14. Ephraim hath provoked him to anger, most bitterly] Heb. with bitterness, or unto bitter displeasure, or with bitter things, that is, sins that embitter God’ s Spirit and put thunderbolts into his hands. Excusserunt ex suavissimo pectore meo suavitatem. As a bee stings not till provoked, so neither doth God punish till there be no remedy, 2 Chronicles 36:16. If Ephraim will provoke him to anger (which he will not dare to do to his landlord), if he will put it to the trial, whether God can be angry, as those did (εδοκιμασαν), Hebrews 3:9, he shall know the power of his wrath, Psalms 90:11, he shall feel, to his sorrow, that it is an evil thing and bitter, that he hath forsaken the Lord, and that his fear is not in them, Jeremiah 2:19. There will be bitterness in the end. Principium dulce est, sed finis amoris amarus. Amor amaror. Lust is a lie, as Amnon proved. "Her end is bitter as wormwood, though her lips drop as an honeycomb," saith Solomon of sinful pleasure, Proverbs 5:3. It is like Jonathan’ s honey, or Esau’ s pottage, or Judas’ thirty pence, which he would gladly have been rid of, but could not. Those that provoke God shall one day hear, "Do ye provoke me to anger? Are ye stronger than I?" they shall be taught to meddle with their match, and not to contend with him that is mightier than they, Ecclesiastes 6:10; they shall cry out in the bitterness of their souls, as Lamentations 3:15, "He hath filled me with bitternesses, he hath made me drunk with wormwood." And God shall reply, as Jeremiah 4:18, "Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; and this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter." Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him] God shall bring upon him deserved destruction; he shall bring him into the fire, and leave him there, Ezekiel 22:20; the guilt of his sin shall remain upon his soul, and then punishment cannot be far off. See Ezekiel 24:7-8; cf. Ezekiel 18:13 Joshua 2:19. Or, the enemy shall leave him all bloody. And his reproach shall his Lord return unto him] His Lord, not the Assyrian, as some sense it, but his liege lord (whom he hath reproached, by changing his glory into the similitude of a calf, and other corruptible things), shall cry quittance with him, as Hosea 12:2, cast utter contempt upon him, according to 1 Samuel 2:30, and make him know that he is his Lord.

(14) But the rift in the clouds closes again, and another severe rebuke follows. “Jacob” and “Israel” give place to the proud tribal name of Ephraim. This portion of the whole house of Israel incurs the charge. Read, Ephraim hath provoked bitter feeling. The bloodguiltinese of Moloch sacrifices and other iniquity God will not remove. (Comp. Genesis 27:43; Genesis 27:28-29, for the foundation of these references.)

Verse 14. Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him] He will not remove his guilt. These are similar to our Lord's words, John 3:36; John 9:41: "He that believeth not on the Son of God, shall not see life, for the wrath of God ABIDETH ON HIM" - shall not be removed by any remission, as he rejects the only way in which he can be saved. Because ye say, We see; therefore, YOUR SIN REMAINETH, i.e., it still stands charged against you. Your miseries and destruction are of your own procuring; your perdition is of yourselves. God is as merciful as he is just.

14. This verse would be less abrupt if it immediately followed Hosea 12:11, of which it might be taken to furnish a fuller justification. provoked] Rather, hath provoked.therefore shall he leave his blood] Rather, and his bloodshed will he cast; i.e. Jehovah will bring sudden retribution upon him for his bloodguiltiness (comp. Hosea 1:4, Hosea 4:2). his reproach] i.e., the insult to Jehovah in Israel’s idolatry (comp. Isaiah 65:7).

Ephraim provoked - the Lord most bitterly Literally, “with bitternesses,” i. e., with most heinous sins, such as are most grievously displeasing to God, and were a most bitter requital of all His goodness.

14. Surely Jehovah was justified in expecting gratitude; but he was disappointed. Ephraim — Israel (13). Provoked… to anger — By its lack of gratitude and open rebellion.