Hosea 13:13

The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him,.... Upon Ephraim, or the ten tribes; that is, afflictions, distresses, and calamities, which are often in Scripture compared to the pains and

The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children. The sorrows of a travailing woman - calamities sudden and agonizing .

The sorrows of a travailing woman: by this simile, well known in Scripture, the prophet assures Ephraim that the punishment of his sins will overtake him suddenly, with very great anguish, and with as great certainty, . Shall come upon him; as suddenly, inevitably, and with as much danger too, if he be not the wiser, and return to his God. He, i.e. Ephraim, is an unwise son; a very foolish son, an inconsiderate child, who endangers himself and his mother. For he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children: as a child that sticks in the birth, so Ephraim, just at the birth, hesitateth, one while will, another while will not, return to God; thus dieth under the delay.

Hosea 13:13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he [is] an unwise son; for he should not stay long in [the place of] the breaking forth of children.Ver. 13. The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him] This commonwealth was before compared to a mother, Hosea 1:1-11 Hosea 3:1-5. And as a woman that hath conceived is not for a while discerned to be with child till she biggen, and burnish, and grow near her time; so it is with sinners. See it elegantly set forth by St James, James 1:14-15. The sorrows of a travailing woman are known to be unexpected, exquisite, and inevitable; so shall God’ s judgments be upon the workers of iniquity, such as they shall never be able to avert, to avoid, or to abide. This is set forth by an apt similitude, ordinary in Holy Scripture, Micah 4:9-10 Psalms 48:7 Jeremiah 49:24; Jeremiah 50:43. And whereas some might say, A travailing woman is soon delivered; her pain is sharp, but short; she hath hope, not only of an end but of a birth; the joy whereof maketh her remember her anguish no more, John 16:21; the prophet replieth, that it is otherwise with Ephraim. He is an unwise son] That will be the death both of his mother and of himself. He hath no wish to help himself, and to get free of the straits and perils of the birth, by passing through the narrow womb of repentance, and being born anew. God stands over him, stretching out his hands all the day long, to do a midwife’ s office, to take him out of the womb, as Psalms 21:9, to cut his navel and wash off his blood, to salt him, and swaddle him, as Ezekiel 16:4, but he hath no mind to come out of the filth of his sins, or to be washed from his wickedness. Rather than be regenerated (without which there is no heaven to be had, John 3:5, or freedom from deadly dangers upon earth), he will venture to stay a while at least (as the text here hath it òú) in the mouth of the matrix, though it cost him a choking. Such Ephraims we have not a few, that proceed no farther than to conviction; debarring themselves of the benefit of a thorough conversion. These go as far as Kadeshbarnea, they are nigh to God’ s kingdom, they are almost persuaded to be true Christians, they are come as far as the place of the breaking forth of children, but there they stick and are stifled; they are never brought forth from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins, and inheritance among the saints and sons of God, Acts 26:18. Oh make much of the least beginnings of grace (saith a reverend man), even those called repressing; since they prepare the heart for conversion.

(13) Travailing woman.—Ephraim is first addressed as a travailing woman; but the imagery passes to the condition of the unborn child, which tarries just where it should issue into the light of the world. Lack of seasonable repentance increases the danger at this critical stage of Israel’s destiny. The latter part of the verse is missed in the rendering of the English version. Read, For at the right time he standeth not in the place where children break forth. But the use of the Hebrew word for “at the right time” (‘çth) is doubtful. Perhaps the word should be read ‘attah (“now”), as Buhl, in Zeitschrift für Kirchliche Wissenschaft, suggests. (Comp. Ezekiel 27:34.)

Verse 13. The sorrows of a travailing woman] These judgments shall come suddenly and unavoidably. The place of the breaking forth of children.] As there is a critical time in parturition in which the mother in hard labour may by skilful assistants be eased of her burden, which, if neglected, may endanger the life both of parent and child, so there was a time in which Ephraim might have returned to God, but they would not; therefore they are now in danger of being finally destroyed. And, speaking after the manner of men, he must be deemed an unwise son, who if he had power and consideration, would prolong his stay in the porch of life, where he must necessarily be suffocated; so is Ephraim, who, though warned of his danger, having yet power to escape, continued in his sin, and is now come to destruction. I could illustrate the allusion in the text farther, and show the accurate propriety of the original; but the subject forbids it.

9–15. An alternation of cries expressive of the contending thoughts and emotions of the tender-hearted but truthful prophet. The punishment is inevitable; yea, it is begun. Yet—if Israel would only repent! Indeed, his Father must interpose. And yet, on the other hand, rebellion must be punished.

The sorrows of a travailing woman are come upon him - The travail-pangs are violent, sudden, irresistible.

Utter destruction the just punishment for Israel’s guilt, Hosea 13:9-16.This discourse closes with another description of the hopelessness of Israel’s condition.