8:1 [Set] the trumpet to thy a mouth. [He shall come] as an
eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have
transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
(a) God encourages the Prophet to signify the speedy coming
of the enemy against Israel, which was once the people
of God.
8:2 Israel shall b cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
(b) They will cry like hypocrites, but not from the heart,
as their deeds declare.
8:4 They have set up c kings, but not by me: they have made
princes, and I knew [it] not: of their silver and their gold
have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
(c) That is, Jeroboam, by whom they sought their own
liberty, and to obey my will.
8:5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast [thee] off; mine anger is
kindled against them: how long [will it be] ere they attain
to d innocency?
(d) That is, upright judgment and a godly life.
8:6e For from Israel [was] it also: the workman made it;
therefore it [is] not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be
broken in pieces.
(e) Meaning the calf was invented by themselves, and by
their fathers in the wilderness.
8:7 For they have f sown the wind, and they shall reap the
whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if
so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
(f) Showing that their religion has but a show, and in itself
is but vanity.
8:9 For they are gone up to Assyria, a g wild ass alone by
himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
(g) They never cease, but run to and fro to seek help.
8:10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I
gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the h
burden of the king of princes.
(h) That is, for the king and the princes will lay upon
them: and by this means the Lord brings them to
repentance.
8:12 I have written to him the great things of my law, [but]
they were counted as a i strange thing.
(i) In this way the idolaters consider the word of God as
strange with regard to their own invention.
8:13 They sacrifice flesh [for] the sacrifices of mine
offerings, and eat [it; but] the k LORD accepteth them
not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their
sins: they shall return to Egypt.
(k) Saying that they offer it to the Lord, but he accepts
no service which he himself has not appointed.
