Hosea 5:14

For I [will be] unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah,.... Being provoked by their above conduct and behaviour in seeking to others, and not to him, for help, he threatens

For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.

For I, the Lord, whose power is infinite, whose wrath they have enkindled, who hath threatened to extirpate them, will be unto Ephraim as a lion; a panther, say some, a very swift beast, wherein he excels the lion, and a very fierce and ravenous creature, wherein he equals the lion; or a lioness, say others: but to leave that, God will make the Assyrian a chirurgeon, such as a fierce, ravenous lion would be to a wounded man. As a young lion to the house of Judah; which is grown up to his strength for mischief, and retains his inclination to gamesomeness, or to play with his prey; so should Judah find himself when caught by this lion, first made a sport to please the tyrannous humour, and after made a feast to feed his ravenous hunger. I, even I, will tear: the threat is doubled to ascertain it and make it more dreadful. Divine vengeance by the Assyrians shall be as a lion tearing his prey. And go away: when satisfied, the lion goes away, fleeth not for fear. I will take away: he leaveth not ally behind him, carrieth away what he did not cat; so should Assyria devour the land, and carry away the people. None shall rescue him: none have courage to attempt or power to effect a rescue, the prey must hopelessly perish; so it will be with Ephraim and Judah, when God appears as a lion against them.

Hosea 5:14 For I [will be] unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, [even] I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue [him].Ver. 14. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion] I, that is, my Assyrian, the rod of my wrath, will be as a lion, or leopard, a creature swift and fierce above measure. The Vulgate rendereth it a lioness, which, saith Aelian, is robustissimum et bellicosissimum animal, a most strong and stout creature; hence Semiramis gloried much when in hunting she had taken not a lion, but a lioness. "What is stronger than a lion?" said those Philistines to Samson, Judges 14:18. See 2 Samuel 1:23 Proverbs 30:30. The lion (but especially the young lion, that is in his hot blood) fears no other creature, falls upon his prey with great fury, and teareth it; carrieth it away when he hath done in his mouth, or devours it in the place, and fears no rescue. If pursued he altereth not his gait, though he die for it. Some say that he is frightened at the crowing of a cock, or the creaking of wheels. But the Lion of the tribe of Judah cannot be terrified by anything or turned out of his track. And Nebuchadnezzar, his servant, is often compared to a lion, Isaiah 5:29 Jeremiah 41:7 Daniel 7:4, as being set to work by God to revenge the quarrel of his covenant upon a perverse and perfidious nation. Hence that often repetition here of the pronoun I even I, will tear and go away] Tear the very core of their heart in sunder, tear them by the teeth of my terrible sword, which shall devour flesh and drink blood; yea, be drenched and drunk in the gall of these ungodly wretches. They have no way to help themselves better than to fall down flat before this Lion ( satis est prostrasse leoni. Plin. lib. 8, cap. 15), to rend their hearts and not their garments, to break off their sins by repentance, and to be abrupt in the work, lest he tear them to pieces, and there be none to deliver them. If this be not timely and truly done, God will go on in his wrath, and of a moth and little worm become a ramping and a roaring lion. The little cloud, though at first but as a handbreadth, will soon overspread the whole heaven: yea, as one cloud followeth thick upon another, so will one judgment upon another, if the sun of repentance do not interpose and disperse them. Light afflictions not improved to this purpose will be but as a drop of wrath forerunning the great storm: as a crack forerunning the ruin of the whole building. That is a known text, "If you will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more," and seven times more, and seven to that, Leviticus 26:18; Leviticus 26:28.

(14) As a lion.—First the trans-Jordanic tribes, then additional provinces, and lastly the whole population, were carried away as in the teeth of a beast of prey. (Comp. Amos 3:6.) Assyria is here referred to as represented by Tiglath-pileser. We might also quote from the inscription of Sargon in fulfilment of this prediction: “Samaria I besieged; I captured 27,290 people dwelling in the midst of it; I carried captive” (George Smith, Assyrian Eponym Canon, p. 125). A similar fate overtook Jerusalem in 587 B.C., at the hands of Babylonia, in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chronicles 36:4-10; 2 Kings 24:10-16; 2 Kings 25:1-11).

Verse 14. I will be - as a lion] כשחל cashshachel, as a panther or lioness.

14. If a stronger figure is necessary to warn Israel of the destructiveness of his present course, Jehovah will compare himself to a lion (comp. Isaiah 31:4). as a lion, and as a young lion] Hebrew has at least five words for ‘lion’; of the two selected here, the first describes this terror of ancient Palestine as a roarer (so Hosea 13:7), the second as covered with a mane. I, even I] For the axe may be human, but the hand which wields it is divine (Isaiah 10:15). I will take away …] i.e. I will carry off the prey. The passage reminds us of the comparison of the Assyrians to a lion in Isaiah 5:29.

For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion - He who would thus strengthen himself by Outward help against God’s chastisements, challenges, as it were, the Almighty to a trial of strength.

13. The eyes of the two kingdoms could not remain closed forever to this condition of affairs, but they failed to seek help where alone it could be found.