Hosea 13:15

"Though he be fruitful among his brethern, an east wind shall come, the breath of Jehovah coming up from the wilderness; and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall make spoil of the treasure of all goodly vessels."

In this verse, the prophet resumed the Word of God regarding the specific punishment of the apostate people. "The east wind" here is unanimously interpreted by scholars as a reference to the military power of Assyria, which would move upon Israel from the east and utterly destroy the nation.

Like almost every other verse in Hosea, there is a reflection of the Pentateuch here. The reference to Ephraim as "fruitful" harks back to the patriarchal blessing of Ephraim by Jacob (Genesis 48:19). The very name Ephraim means "fruitful."

"The breath of Jehovah coming from the wilderness ..." It is Yahweh's wind, because it is Yahweh himself who executes the judgment pronounced, Assyria being the instrument."[36]

The metaphors of the failing spring and the dried-up fountain were eloquent indeed of that awful invasion and conquest by Assyria.

Jamieson has given an account of the historical fulfilment of the event prophesied in this verse:

"The Assyrian invader, Shalmaneser began the siege of Samaria in 723 B.C. Its close was in 721 B.C., the first year of Sargon, who seems to have usurped the throne of Assyria while Shalmaneser was at the siege of Samaria. Hence, while 2 Kings 17:6 states, `the king of Assyria took Samaria,' 2 Kings 18:10 says, `at the end of three years they took it!'"[37]