Verse 3
Israel would not remain in the Promised Land but would go into captivity (cf. Deuteronomy 11:8-21). Assyria, likened here to Egypt (cf. Hosea 7:16; Hosea 8:13; Hosea 11:5), would be the place the Israelites would eat unclean food (i.e., no longer be independent; 2 Kings 17:6; Ezekiel 4:13; Amos 7:17). She would eat defiled food in a defiled land because she had defiled herself with sin.
"The place of their captivity was first called ’Egypt’ (cf. Hosea 8:13) in order to show its general character; then Assyria was named as the actual place the people would be taken to (cf. Hosea 11:5)." [Note: Wood, "Hosea," p. 204.]
"Egypt" is a metonymy for exile because it was the original place of Israel’s captivity (cf. Deuteronomy 28:68).
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