Hosea 14:5

I will be as the dew unto Israel,.... To spiritual Israel, to those that return to the Lord, take with them words, and pray unto him, whose backslidings are healed, and they are freely loved;

I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

I, the Lord, who have pardoned, and am appeased, will be as the dew, refresh and water, that they may grow, and that they may be fruitful and flourish, as the dew in those countries, where it was more abundant than with us, and for some months together supplied the want of rain; God will refresh and comfort, and make fruitful in good works, through his grace, such as return to him. Israel; those that do unfeignedly, not hypocritically, confess, pray, and repent. As the lily; which grows apace, is fragrant, beautiful, and delights in valleys, often grows among thorns; so the Israel of God among troubles in low state, yet comely, and fragrant to the Lord, and grows up in him speedily. Lebanon, put for the trees of Lebanon; as those trees spread forth their roots, grow up to strength, are most beautiful, odoriferous, and durable, cedars in Lebanon are these trees; so shall the true Israel, converted backsliders, be blessed of God. So flourishing and happy shall the church be under Christ.

Hosea 14:5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.Ver. 5. I will be as the dew unto Israel] I will give good in abundance; and this is sweetly set forth in a sevenfold metaphor, all answering to the name of Ephraim (which signifieth fruitful) and to the ancient promises made unto him; and all again opposite to the many contrary curses, threatened in the former parts of the prophecy, under metaphors of a contrary importance, as Pareus and (out of him) Tarnovius have well observed. As first of solid and fruit causing dew, in opposition to that vanishing and barren dew, Hosea 6:4; Hosea 13:3; secondly, of the flourishing lily, contrary to those nettles, thorns, and thistles, Hosea 9:16; Hosea 10:8; thirdly, of the well-rooted and durable trees of Libanus, contrary to dry roots, Hosea 9:16; fourthly, of spreading and growing branches, instead of branches consumed, Hosea 11:6; Hosea 9:16; Hosea 10:8; fifthly, of trees yielding pleasant shade and repose, contrary to Hosea 9:3; Hosea 9:6; sixthly, of corn to satisfy hunger, contrary to Hosea 8:7; lastly, of a vine bringing forth excellent wine, contrary to Hosea 9:16; Hosea 10:1. And all these fruits the fruits of Lebanon, a most fertile mountain, the valleys whereof were most rich grounds for pasture, grain, and vineyards. As the dew unto Israel, he shall blossom as the lily] Quot verba, tot lumina, imo flumina orationis. This prophet aboundeth with similitudes, as is before noted. He beginneth here with a simile drawn from the dew of heaven; a mercy very much set by, in those hotter countries especially, where from May to October they had no rain. The Chaldee paraphrase and Hebrew doctors understand this text concerning Christ and his benefit. Truly he is good to Israel, to the pure in heart, Psalms 73:1. Peace and mercy, sanctity and safety, all spiritual benedictions in heavenly things in Christ, shall be upon the Israel of God, Galatians 6:16 Ephesians 1:3. What the dew is to the herbs, fields, fruits, that is Christ to his Israel. 1. The dew comes when the air is clear; so doth Christ by his blessing, when the light of his countenance is lifted up upon us, 2. As the dew refresheth and cherisheth the dry and fady fields (hence it is called the dew of herbs, Isaiah 26:19, which thereby recover life and beauty), so doth Christ our hearts, scorched with the sense of sin; and fear of wrath. 3. As the dew allayeth great heats, and moisteneth and mollifieth the earth, that it may fructify; so Christ cooleth the devil’ s fiery darts, and filleth his people with the fruits of righteousness (Aristot. lib. 1, Meteor. cap. 10; Plin. lib. 2, cap. 60, et lib. 18, cap. 29). "He is unto them as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest," Isaiah 18:4, and maketh their souls as so many watered gardens, Jeremiah 31:12 4.

(5, 6) As the Dew.—For this imagery see Psalms 130:3. Properly it is “a copious mist, shedding small invisible rain, that comes in rich abundance every night in the hot weather, when west or north-west winds blow, and which brings intense refreshment to all organised life” (Neil’s Palestine Explored, p. 136). The lily, which carpets the fields of Palestine (Matthew 6:29), has slender roots, which might easily be uptorn, but under God’s protection, even these are to strike downward like the roots of the cedars.[13] Branches are to grow like the banyan-tree, until one tree becomes a forest, and the beauty of the olive in its dancing radiance is to cover all, while the fragrance shall go abroad like the breezes from the forest of Lebanon. [13] The lily of the Bible is identified by some with the Lilium chalcedonicum, or Scarlet Martagon, which grows profusely in the Levant, and is said to abound in Galilee in the months of April and May. Wetzstein, on the other hand, identifies it with a beautiful dark violet lily which grows in the large plain south-east of the Hauran range of mountains, and is called susân. The opinion of the Chaldee paraphrast and of Rabbinical writers, that the rose was really meant by the Hebrew, may safely be rejected.

Verse 5. I will be as the dew unto Israel] On these metaphors I gladly avail myself of the elegant and just observations of Bp. Lowth. "These verses (Hosea 14:5-7) contain gracious promises of God's favour and blessings upon Israel's conversion. In the fifth verse, it is described by that refreshment which copious dews give to the grass in summer. If we consider the nature of the climate, and the necessity of dews in so hot a country, not only to refresh, but likewise to preserve life; if we consider also the beauty of the oriental lilies, the fragrance of the cedars which grow upon Lebanon, the beauteous appearance which the spreading olive trees afforded, the exhilarating coolness caused by the shade of such trees, and the aromatic smell exhaled by the cedars; we shall then partly understand the force of the metaphors here employed by the prophet; but their full energy no one can conceive, till he feels both the want, and enjoys the advantage, of the particulars referred to in that climate where the prophet wrote." - Lowth's twelfth and nineteenth prelection; and Dodd on the place. What a glorious prophecy! What a wonderful prophet! How sublime, how energetic, how just! The great master prophet, Isaiah, alone could have done this better. And these promises are not for Israel merely after the flesh; they are for all the people of God. We have a lot and portion in the matter; God also places his love upon us. Here the reader must feel some such sentiment as the shepherd in Virgil, when enraptured with the elegy which his associate had composed on their departed friend. The phraseology and metaphors are strikingly similar; and therefore I shall produce it. Tale tuum carmen nobis, divine poeta, Quale sopor fessis in gramine, quale per aestum Dulcis aquae saliente sitim restinguere rivo. Nec calamis solum aequiparas, sed voce magistrum. Fortunate puer! tu nunc eris alter ab illo. Nos tamen haec quocunque modo tibi nostra vicissim Dicemus, Daphninque tuum tollemus ad astra: Daphnin ad astra feremus: amavit nos quoque Daphnis. VIRGIL. Ecl. v., ver. 45. "O heavenly poet, such thy verse appears, So sweet, so charming to my ravish'd ears, As to the weary swain with cares oppress'd, Beneath the sylvan shade, refreshing rest; As to the feverish traveller, when first He finds a crystal stream to quench his thirst. In singing, as in piping, you excel; And scarce your master could perform so well. O fortunate young man! at least your lays Are next to his, and claim the second praise. Such as they are, my rural songs I join To raise your Daphnis to the powers divine; For Daphnis was my friend, as well as thine."

5–9. Jehovah, in answer, describes the blessings which He will give. The imagery reminds us of the Song of Songs; notice especially the references to the lily and to Lebanon.

I will be as the dew unto Israel - Before, He had said, “his spring shall become dry and his fountain shall be dried up” Hosea 13:15.

4-8. The sentiments expressed in Hosea 14:1-3, are essentially different from those expressed in Hosea 6:1-3.