Hosea 11:9

9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.

Hosea 11:9 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 11:9

I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger
That is, his wrath and fury to the uttermost; his people are deserving of his wrath as others, being by nature children of wrath as the rest; which they are sensible of under spiritual conviction, and therefore flee from it, where they may be safe: and though the Lord often chastises and afflicts them, yet not in wrath; or however but in a little wrath, as it seems to them; he does not stir up all his wrath, nor any in reality; all being poured upon his Son, their surety, who saves and delivers them from wrath to come; I will not return to destroy Ephraim;
or "again", or "any more, destroy" ^F6 him; not twice; he might be destroyed when carried captive into Assyria; but the remnant that shall spring from him in the latter day shall not be destroyed, but saved. The Targum is,

``my word shall not return to destroy the house of Israel;''

or I will not return from my love and affections to them, I will never be wroth with them any more; nor from my mercy to them, which is from everlasting to everlasting; or from my covenant, promise, and resolution to save them, they shall not be punished with everlasting destruction: for I [am] God, and not man;
a God gracious and merciful, longsuffering, slow to anger, and pardoning sin, and not man, cruel, revengeful, implacable, who shows no mercy when it is in the power of his hands to avenge himself; or God that changes not in his purposes and counsels, in his love and affections, and therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed, and not man that repents, is fickle, inconstant, and mutable; or God that is faithful to his covenant and promises, and not man that lies and deceives, promises and never performs. The Targum is,

``seeing I am God, my word remains for ever, and my works are not as the works of the flesh (or of men) who dwell upon the earth;''

the Holy One in the midst of thee;
being in the midst of his people, he protects and defends them, and so they are safe; and being the Holy One there, he sanctifies them, and saves them, in a way consistent with his own holiness and justice: or there is "a Holy One", or Holy Ones, the singular put for the plural, "in the midst of thee" ^F7; and therefore thou shalt not be destroyed for their sakes, as Sodom would not, had there been ten righteous persons in it, to which some think the allusion is: and I will not enter into the city;
in a hostile way to destroy or plunder it; but this is not to be understood either of Samaria or Jerusalem, which were entered into in this manner. The Targum is,

``I have decreed by my word that my holy Shechinah shall be among you, and I will not change Jerusalem again for another city;''

which sense the Jewish commentators follow; but, as this respects Gospel times, the meaning seems to be, that God would dwell among his people everywhere, and would not be confined to any city or temple as heretofore; but wherever his church and people were, there would be his temple, and there he would dwell.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (txvl bwva al) "non perdam amplius", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "non iterum destruam", Cocceius.
F7 (vwdq Kbrqb) "[est] sanctus", i.e. "[sancti], in medio tui", Rivetus.

Hosea 11:9 In-Context

7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.

8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.

10 They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.

11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.