Hosea 14:9

Who [is] wise, and he shall understand these [things]? prudent, and he shall know them?.... Contained in this book, and particularly in this chapter; which expresses so much of the goodness of God

Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: Who is wise, and he shall understand these things?

Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? though not many wise, yet some methinks; now of those few, who is there that will consider what sins God complains of and threatens to punish in his people, what sins God forbade them so much as once to commit, and peremptorily commanded them to turn from when once committed; what duties he required, what promises he proposed, what patience he used toward them while any hope of their amendment, what severity upon their incorrigible sins? Whoso with any tolerable degree of wisdom will view these things, and seriously consider of them, they will understand, and know that the prophet hath given best advice, and that it is the safest course to follow it. Prudent, and he shall know them? the same thing doubled with elegancy, and to confirm the word, as is usual in Scripture. For the ways of the Lord are right; the ways which he would have us walk in towards him, his law, his ordinances of worship, his whole doctrine which directeth our walk, are all righteous and equal. And the ways wherein God walketh toward us, in corrections for sins committed, in suspending his. promises of grace, on conditions of duty, in afflicting or comforting, are all righteous and very equal. The just shall walk in them; will approve them, all justifying the righteousness of God’ s displeasure, and confessing he remembereth mercy in the midst of judgment; and justifying the righteousness of his precepts by endeavouring to observe them. But the transgressors, wilful, obstinate, and inconsiderate sinners, shall fall therein; eventually it proves so, they stumble and are offended somewhat at his precepts and commands, but more at his severe judgments; they cast off the one, and vainly hope to shift off the other, till at last they fall under the weight of their own sins and God’ s wrath.

Hosea 14:9 Who [is] wise, and he shall understand these [things]? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD [are] right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.Ver. 9. Who is wise and he shall understand these things] A pathetic perclose, whereby the prophet (orator-like) would leave a sting in the hearts of his hearers, and so seal up, and set on all that he had said before, conclusio gnomica, exclamatio emphatica. Who is wise?] q.d. I could wish there were more; but I see there are not many. Store there are of fools, Stultorum plena aunt omnia, such dust-heaps there are in every corner to be found, not a few that either know not the will of God, or stumble at it. "But who hath known the mind of the Lord?" 1 Corinthians 2:16. "Who among you will give ear to this? Who hath believed our report? or to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Who is the wise man, that may understand this?" Isaiah 42:23; Isaiah 53:1 Jeremiah 9:12. Lucerna accensa hominem quaerebat Aesopus. Jeremiah was bidden run to and fro to find a man that sought the truth, v. 1. Rari quippe boni (Juven. Sat. 13). Not many wise, wise, I mean, to salvation, 2 Timothy 3:15, that make sure work for their souls, and draw their wisdom from God’ s holy word, from the mine of the mystery of Christ, Psalms 119:98-99. All others are "foolish people, sottish children; they have no understanding," Jeremiah 4:22, be they never so shrewd and of deep reach for the world, be they never so wise in their generation. The fox is so in his; and the devil in his, for when he was but young he outwitted our first parents, 2 Corinthians 11:3, who yet were no babes, simple and weak in understanding, as the Socinians affirm them to have been or else they would not (say they) have so sinned. A fond conceit, and without footing in God’ s holy word, where we find that they were created in God’ s image, which consisteth in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, as saith the apostle, Ephesians 4:24. And he shall understand these things] "Which none of the princes of this world know," 1 Corinthians 2:8, because their learning hangs in their light; and, like moles, they dig dexterously under-ground, but are blind above-ground. Sapiens est cui res sapiunt prout sunt, saith Bernard. He is the wise man that savoureth things as they are. And herein lieth the whole wisdom of a man, saith Lactantius, ut Deum cognoscat, et colat, that he know and worship God aright, that with a practical judgment he ponder the words and ways of God, in order to salvation. This is that wisdom that dwelleth with prudence, Proverbs 8:12. Aristotle, in many places of his works, distinguisheth between wisdom and prudence. Wisdom he maketh to be a right apprehending of truths in general; prudence, an applying them to particular cases and uses.

(9) Who is wise.—Hosea hands his words over to all students of the ways of God. The exhortation to wisdom is expressed in the form of a question. “Wisdom” and “wise men” take in the later Hebrew literature the place of “prophecy” and “prophets.” Wisdom interprets both the word and its fulfilment. Christ’s own teaching goes beyond wisdom and prudence (Matthew 11:28; comp. 1 Corinthians 1:20): it was spirit and life (John 6:63).

Verse 9. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things?] What things? Those which relate to the backslidings, iniquity, and punishment of Israel; and to the mercy and kindness of God in their promised restoration. The things which belong to the work of sin in the heart; the things which belong to the work of grace in the soul; and particularly the things mentioned in this wonderful chapter. Prudent, and he shall know them?] He who endeavours to understand them, who lays his heart to them, such a person shall understand them. For the ways of the Lord are right] This is the conclusion which the prophet makes from the whole. All God's conduct, both in the dispensation of justice and mercy, is right: all as it should be, all as it must be; because he is too wise to err, too good to be unkind. The just shall walk in them] This is a truth which he will always acknowledge; and illustrate it by a righteous and godly life. But the transgressors shall fall therein.] Howsoever good they might have been before, if they do not consider the necessity of depending upon God; of receiving all their light, life, power, and love from him; ever evidencing that faith which worketh by love; maintaining an obedient conduct, and having respect to all God's precepts; they shall fall, even in the "way of righteousness." When still using the Divine ordinances, and associating with God's people, they shall perish from the way; and be like Ephraim, who once "spoke trembling," and "was exalted in Israel," who was "God's beloved son," and "called out of Egypt;" yet, by "offending in Baal," giving way to "the idols of his heart," fell from God, fell into the hands of his enemies, and became a wretched thrall in a heathen land. "Whoso is wise, let him understand these things! Whoso is prudent, let him know them!"----- He who is well instructed will make a proper application of what he has here read; will tremble at the threatenings, and embrace the promises, of his God. The Targum is worthy the most serious attention. "The ways of the Lord are right, and the just who walk in them shall live for ever; but the ungodly, because they have not walked in them, shall be delivered into hell." How instructive, how convincing, how awakening, and yet how consolatory, are the words of this prophecy! Reader, lay them to heart. A godly mind cannot consider them in vain; such shall know them, and know that the ways of the Lord are right.

9. An epilogue or conclusion to the prophecy, unspecializing it, as it were, and extracting the general moral lesson which underlies it all. The tone and language of it remind us of the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 11:5; Proverbs 15:19). The term ‘the righteous’ occurs nowhere else in Hosea. Who is wise, &c.] Rather, Whoso is wise, let him understand these things (i.e. the foregoing prophecies). One great mark of ‘wisdom’ in the Old Testament sense was a rational acquiescence in the equity of the providential government. for the ways of the Lord, &c.] The ‘ways of Jehovah’ are those marked out by Him as Governor of the world for the righteous and for the wicked respectively. These ‘ways’ are ‘straight’ or ‘right’ (synonymous with ‘righteous’, as Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalms 119:37), alike when they spread themselves out in an unbroken level for the pious, and when they oppose themselves in rocky stumbling-blocks to the ungodly. Comp. Proverbs 11:5; Proverbs 15:19; Isaiah 26:7.

Who is wise and he shall understand these things? - The prophet says this, not of the words in which he had spoken, but of the substance.