Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 9:10-17
ISRAEL, APOSTATE AND REBELLIOUS FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL, IS DOOMED TO DESTRUCTION, Hosea 9:10-17. Three times in chapters 9-11 (Hosea 9:10; Hosea 10:9; Hosea 11:1) Hosea reverts to the early history of Israel to show how loving had been the divine care and how persistent Israel’s apostasy and rebellion. In the beginning Israel appeared to Jehovah like a desirable fruit; but ere long contact with the Canaanitish religion caused contamination and Israel became an abomination in the sight of Jehovah... read more
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 9:10
10. Like grapes in the wilderness As grapes unexpectedly discovered in the desert delight the heart of the weary traveler, so Israel, in the beginning, delighted the heart of Jehovah (compare Hosea 2:15; Jeremiah 2:3). In the wilderness is to be connected with like grapes, not with Israel, though there may be an allusion to Israel’s abode in the desert (Deuteronomy 32:10). As the first-ripe in the fig tree at her first time R.V., “at its first season,” that is, when figs first... read more