The Tetragrammaton  =  hwhy = YaHuWaH

Huwshua' prophesied around the ninth century B.C., after the division of the Kingdom into Ysra'al and Yahuwdah. His own life story, as recounted here, is an allegory about the Northern Kingdom, often known as Ephrayim for short, because its first king (Yarab’am, but not the same one mentioned in 1:1), who led the secession from Yahuwdah, was from that tribe. In actuality, it was Yahuwdah that seceded, because the other tribes all gave Rehab’am (son of Shlomo) an opening to improve upon his father’s treatment of their laborers, but he refused. Yahuwah said the kingdom was being torn from him; only Dawid’s throne remained to him, along with one additional tribe. He has the same name as that of the son of Nun - the right hand man of Moshah. His name most likely was pronounce as Huwshua: see note that follows -

Hoshea --- (Hushuwa) - He was the "right-hand-man" of Moshah - and was a type of YaHuWSHuWaH. His changed name (by Moshah) was the same name that was given to our Savior by His Father. And the observations as to the spelling of the original name seen below and the spelling of the changed name MUST BE TRUE - otherwise we in no way can arrive at YaHuWSHuWaH as the name of our Savior and Life-Giver.  ("Hoshea" is also the name of the prophet who wrote the book called by his name.)

Bemidbar 13:8 "Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun."   Hoshea (spelled) - heh-waw-shin-ayin ….  הוֹשֵׁ֫עַ   =  Hoshea = "ho-shay-ah"  -  this is according to Strong's (using the Masoretic vowel pointing). But, the probable pronunciation should be Huw-shu -ah. The "heh-waw" in this name is the the same "heh-waw" combination that is seen in the tetragammaton and is seen in the spelling of "I AM HE" - YAHUW - which is part of the Father's Name  - the yod-heh-waw-heh.  And that "heh-waw" has the "hu or hoo" sound and means "he" in the tetragammaton.

So the "waw" that comes after the "heh" in the name of Hoshea, should by pronunciation rules, have the "oo" or "uu" sound (the "waw" sound)  which would make his name to be said as "Huw -shua" (Huwshua). When Moshah changed his name he did so by adding to it just the "yod" - "Yah -Ya"  sound …. this then would make his name to be Yahuwshua --- just as it is seen in Strong's #3091. …. wonderful, beautiful, and quite simple and self-explanatory. Concerning the "shua" at the end of the name: it is the same ending as that of Yahuw-shua and Elishuwa (not Elisha) note the following on "Elisha": (really Alishuwa

It is also interesting to note that the prophet "Elisha" is phonetically spelled - and should be pronounced as such - Al-ee-shoo'-ah - and in Hebrew is spelled: אֱלִישׁ֫וּעַ

(aleph-lamed-yod-shin-waw-ayin) Notice the "shoo-ah" ending --- shin-waw-ayin -- which in Hebrew would be the "uw" sound after the "ayin", thus making the true spelling of Elisha to be Elishuwa. #474 & 477 ---- from Strong's"

Original Word: אֱלִישׁ֫וּעַ

Transliteration: Elishua

Phonetic Spelling: (Al-ee-shoo'-ah)

Short Definition: Elishua

Strong's says that the meaning of "Hoshea" is "salvation" - "deliverer". And the meaning of the full name of "Joshua" is "Yahuwah is salvation" (was "Jehovah" - I redid the spelling) and links to #3091.

From Bemidbar 13:16 "These are the names of the men who Moshah sent to spy out the land. Moshah called Hoshea the son of Nun Yahuwshua." (Unless "Hoshea" is really spelled "Hushua" this cannot be so.)

Huwshua'    [     c    y    h 

                     ayin - shin - waw - heh

1:1 The Word of  YaHuWaH  that came toward Huwshua the son of Be'eriy, in the days of UzziYahuw, Yowtham, Achaz, and ChizqiYahuw, kings of Yahuwdah, and in the days of Yarob'am the son of Yow'ash, king of Ysra'al.

Note that until the two houses come back together, Yahuwdah is not considered part of Ysra'al. Hushua’s name is the same as Yahuwshua’s was prior to Moshah’s renaming him (Deut. 32:44), and thus bears a special connection to the name of Yahuwshua the Mashiyach. Beeri means “my well”, but at root, means one who explains or clarifies, indicating that he is one who interprets the “water” of YaHuWaH’s Word correctly. The kings’ names, in order, mean: Strength of YaHuWaH, YaHuWaH is Perfect, He has Seized, Strengthened by YaHuWaH, A People Will Contend, and YaHuWaH Burns.

 1:2 When YaHuWaH spoke at first by Huwshua: YaHuWaH said to Huwshua, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery, forsaking YaHuWaH.”

The Land: that is, Israel. Idolatry is always considered adultery against YHWH, to whom YHWH was married at Mt. Sinai. Intimacy with anything He hates is another form of idolatry.

1:3 So he went and took Gomer (coming to an end/completing) the daughter of Diblayim; and she conceived, and bore him a son.

Gomer means “coming to an end”, which was a prophecy (v. 4). But it also means “completing”, because through this dispersal of Ysra'al, YaHuWaH would bring His work in the earth to completion. Diblayim means “a pair of fig cakes”. The Aramaic translation interprets this as meaning if they did not repent they would fall like the leaves of a fig tree. The fig tree loses its leaves very rapidly once they begin to fall.

1:4   YaHuWaH said to him, “Call his name Yizre'al; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Yizre'al on the House of Yahuw', and will cause the kingdom of the House of Ysra'al to cease. 

(Ysra'al in Hebrew) became Yizre'al. The similarity of the two names reminds YaHuWaH that one day they will become Ysra'al again. Yizre’al means “Aluahiym scatters”, and this is the theme of the rest of the book. In fact the Aramaic has, Call their name Scattered Ones. But it also means “Aluahiym sows”, and a sown seed dies only to re-emerge an bear much fruit—the meaning of the name Ephrayim. Only a little longer and I will: i.e., I am very close to doing this. Charge: visit, revisit, muster, or call to account. The blood of Yizre’al: including Yisabel's. The Aramaic targum says, “I will avenge the blood of the idolaters which Yehu [son of Yahuwshafat] shed in Yizre’al, when he put them to death because they had worshipped Ba'al (cf. 2 Kings 9-10); now they themselves have turned back to go astray after the calves in Beyth Al. Therefore I will account it as innocent blood upon the House of Yehu, and I will abolish kingship from the House of Ysra'al.” i.e., I got rid of Yizabel, a foreigner who was corrupting the royal house, but now Ysra'al herself has grown just as evil, and I almost regret having rescued you once. An end: literally, a sabbath (ceasing). The end would not actually be played out for another two centuries, but this placed a damper on the rest of its history, which encompassed one evil king after another.

1:5 It will happen in that day that I will break the bow of Ysra'al in the valley of Yizre'al.”

1:6 She conceived again, and bore a daughter. [not Huwshua's child]

Note that this time it does not say, “She bore HIM a daughter”, as with Yizre’al the firstborn. Yizre’al was YaHuWaH’s firstfruits; the others were only the children of the House of Ephrayim. YaHuWSHuWaH says He sowed the sons of the Kingdom as seeds, but an enemy sowed a worthless crop in the same field. (Mat. 13:37) So soon after her marriage, she has already gone back to her harlotries. (2:4) This is a picture of Ysra'al going after other lovers beside YaHuWaH, and bearing fruit that is not for Him. Lo-Ruhamah means “no pity”. Not… again: the rest of the chapter makes it clear that this does not mean “never again”, but “This is the last straw; I have had it with you, and I am not going to spare you the punishment you have deserved for a long time!” Carry them away: this indeed happened through the Assyrians, who resettled those they conquered in other lands so as to be away from the land of their deities and thus made somewhat homogeneous. The LXX has, I will set Myself in array against them.

Then He said to him, “Call her name Lo-Ruchamah; for I will no longer have mercy on the House of Ysra'al, that I should in any way pardon them. 1:7 But I will have mercy on the House of Yahuwdah, and will save them through the Word [Memra] of YaHuWaH their Aluah, and will not save them by bow (symbol of power), sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.”

Bow: a symbol of power. Not by bow: compare Zecharyah 4:6  "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Ruwach,’ says YaHuWaH Master of Armies.". Through YaHuWaH: Aramaic, by the Memra [living Word] of YaHuWaH, that is, YaHuWSHuWaH. (Yahuwchanan 1:14)

1:8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruchamah, she conceived, and bore a son. 

1:9 He said, “Call his name Lo-Ammiy; for you are not my people, and I will not be yours.

Lo-Ammi means “not My people”. I.e., again, this was Gomer’s son, but not Huwshua’s.

 1:10 Yet the number of the descendants of Ysra'al will come to be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured nor numbered; yet it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living Aluah.’

Number can also mean “tale”. Sand comes from a word meaning to writhe, dance, or whirl about, as can be observed in the shifting patterns on a sand dune. The sea often symbolizes the heathen nations, so in addition to there being an immeasurable number of Ysra'elites in exile (because they are lost track of in their intermingling with the gentiles; cf. Gen. 48:16" the Messenger Who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Yitshaq. Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”, their “story” will also be one of moving from place to place like the ever-shifting sand. Yet: Even those on whom He had no compassion can still become His children because they are related to Ephrayim. (Compare YashaYahuw 65:1“I am inquired of by those who didn’t ask; I am found by those who didn’t seek Me: I said, See Me, see Me, to a nation that was not called by My Name.) YaHuWaH would not lose track of one grain. (Amos 9:9 “For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the House of Ysra'al among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth.) Their very own descendants will one day be reassembled like the dried-out bones of Yehezqel 37) in the same Land (as the ancient Aramaic interpretation bears out) and, as suggested by the term “place”, at the Hekal Mount itself, which is often specifically nicknamed “The Place [where I have set My Name]”. The Aramaic interpretation supports this. Sons of the Living Al: This claim is made in 1 Yahuwchanan 3:1 "Behold, how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of Aluahiym! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know Him." . We will not look like our fathers, but like YaHuWSHuWaH when we see Him. (Compare Yahuwchanan 1:12.But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become Aluahiym’s children, to those who believe on His Name:) This therefore identifies where we can find the House of Ysra'al today. It is a “people” who are “called out” of every nation, kindred, tribe, and language. The exile continued long after this declaration, however. The reason is that there are two concurrent sentences. (See note on v. 11.) 

1:11 The descendants of Yahuwdah and the descendants of Ysra'al will be gathered into one, and they will together appoint themselves one head, and will go up from the land; for great will be the day of Yizre'al.

(Yirm. 16:14-18  Therefore, behold, the days come, says YaHuWaH, that it shall no more be said, As YaHuWaH lives, who brought up the children of Ysra'al out of the land of Mitsrayim; 16:15 but, As YaHuWaH lives, who brought up the children of Ysra'al from the land of the north, and from all the countries where He had driven them. I will bring them again into their Land that I gave to their fathers. 16:16 Behold, I will send for many fishermen, says YaHuWaH, and they shall fish them up; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 16:17 For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, neither is their iniquity concealed from My eyes.)   [the Valley of Yizre’al is right beside the tel called Har Megiddo (Armageddon). Aramaic: Great is the day of their assembling. 

YashaYahuw 11:12-14  He will set up a Banner [Mashiyach] for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Ysra'al, and gather together the dispersed of Yahuwdah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephrayim will depart, and those who persecute  Yahuwdah will be cut off. Ephrayim won’t envy  Yahuwdah, and  Yahuwdah won’t persecute Ephrayim.    They will fly down on the shoulders of the Pelishtiyim on the west. Together they will plunder the children of the east. They will extend their power over Edom and Mow'ab, and the children of Ammon will obey them.) ... and Amos 9:11-15  “For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Ysra'al among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth. 9:10 All the sinners of My people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil won’t overtake nor meet us.’ 9:11 In that day I will raise up the booth of Dawiyd which has fallen down, and repair its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; 9:12 that they may possess the remnant of Adam, and all the nations who are called by My Name,” says YaHuWaH Who does this.]

When YaHuWSHuWaH paid our ransom "in the fullness of time", Hoshua's sentence of "no mercy" was up, and it was only a matter of informing the scattered Ysra'elites that they could come back home. That's why He said He was sending His disciples out as “fishers of men”. (Mat. 4:19 He said to them, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers for men.” ) Before long, they were celebrating because many were "returning to YaHuWaH from among the gentiles". Even Ya'aqob, YaHuWSHuWaH's brother, who at first hesitated to allow these supposed gentiles into the household, later addresses his epistle overtly "to the twelve tribes of Ysra'al who are scattered abroad". Others could respond, which is one reason He scattered them. But if Ephrayim’s seed so mixed with all nations, then many, if not most, of the people who respond to the Gospel are gentiles only in this secondary sense. Indeed, Sha'ul writes to the new believers as "former gentiles" who were now equals with the Jews (the House of Yahuwdah) and were forming “one new man”. (1 Cor. 12:2; You know that when you were still pagans you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. Eph. 2:11" Don't forget that you gentiles used to be outsiders by birth. You were called "the uncircumcised ones" by the Yahuwdim, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Mashiyach. You were excluded from YaHuWaH's people, Ysra'al, and you did not know the promises YaHuWaH had made to them. You lived in this world without YaHuWaH and without hope.  13 But now you belong to Mashiyach YaHuWSHuWaH. Though you once were far away from YaHuWaH, now you have been brought near to Him because of the blood of Mashiyach. ..... "15 By His death He ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Yahuwdim and gentiles by creating in Himself one new person from the two groups.  16 Together as one body, Mashiyach reconciled both groups to YaHuWaH by means of His death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.  17 He has brought this Good News of peace to you gentiles who were far away from Him, and to us Yahuwdim who were near.  18 Now all of us, both Yahuwdim and gentiles, may come to the Abba through the same Set-apart Ruwach because of what Mashiyach has done for us. 19 So now you gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of YaHuWaH's set-apart people. You are members of YaHuWaH's family.  20 We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Mashiyach YaHuWSHuWaH Himself.  21 We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a Set-apart Dwelling Place for the Master. 22 Through Him you gentiles are also joined together as part of this dwelling where YaHuWaH lives by His Ruwach.

 Yet the focus on bringing Ysra'al back to the covenant they had abandoned was lost in the push to reach every last tribe with what was turning out to be a new religion instead. They took advantage of His amnesty. Eventually all who wished to be part of the institutional church had to cut all ties to their Hebraic roots. The other side also gave an ultimatum: to believe that Bar Kochba, not YaHuWSHuWaH, was the Mashiyach or be put out of the synagogues. So the two houses became separated once again. How could this happen? Because Leviticus 26:18 also says that if Ysra'al had not repented after 390 years (which they had not), He would increase the sentence seven times. Though individuals could return to the covenant after YaHuWSHuWaH renewed it (Mat. 26:28  for this is My blood of the Renewed Covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.), Huwshua's other sentence--the concurrent, but longer, one of “not being a people”—would last 2,730 years! Yet in our day this is coming to an end. We have another unique open door, and no longer have to remain as loners walking with our Shepherd. He is fusing us back into being a unified group--the nation of Ysra'al--once again! Up from the land: the Aramaic adds, of their exile. Yizre’al also pertains to the last days, because the Valley of Yizre’al is right beside the tel called Har Megiddo (Armageddon). Aramaic, Great is the day of their assembling. (Compare Yeshayahu/Isaiah 11:12-14

  He will set up a Banner [Mashiyach] for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Ysra'al, and gather together the dispersed of Yahuwdah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim will depart, and those who persecute  Yahuwdah will be cut off. Ephraim won’t envy  Yahuwdah, and  Yahuwdah won’t persecute Ephraim.    They will fly down on the shoulders of the Philistines on the west. Together they will plunder the children of the east. They will extend their power over Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon will obey them.) 

This is the second sowing—back in their Land. (2:23; Amos 9:11-15  “For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Ysra'al among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth. 9:10 All the sinners of My people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil won’t overtake nor meet us.’ 9:11 In that day I will raise up the booth of Dawid which has fallen down, and repair its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; 9:12 that they may possess the remnant of Adam, and all the nations who are called by My Name,” says YaHuWaH who does this.

9:13 “Behold, the days come,” says YaHuWaH, “that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills.

9:14 I will bring My people Ysra'al back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

9:15 I will plant them on their Land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their Land which I have given them,”says YaHuWaH your Al.)

 But this return is not accomplished by magic; we must allow Him to do it through us if we are to be the ones who receive the promise. One head: The Aramaic adds, from the House of Dawiyd. YaHuWaH Himself will set His King in place (Yehezqel 34:23  I will set up One Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even My servant Dawiyd; He shall feed them, and He shall be their shepherd.), so appointing for themselves one head has a deeper meaning. It could be rendered take for themselves a head of unity, i.e., have one mind, agreeing on all things, as Sha'ul so often wrote. (Rom. 15:5; 2 Cor. 13:11; Phil. 1:27; 2:1ff; 1 Kefa 3:8). If this is not enough motivation, remember that unity of mind is what gives the Counterfeit Mashiyach his power and authority (Rev. 17:13), and we certainly do not want him to outdo the Mashiyach. The “head” of grain is meant to produce “one bread and one body”. (1 Cor. 10:17  And when we break the loaf of bread, aren't we sharing in the benefits of the body of Mashiyach?  17 And we all eat from one loaf, showing that we are one body.  18And think about the nation of Ysra'al; all who eat the offerings are united by that act.)

 Until we are united, there is no Kingdom for the King to rule over.

2:1 “Say to your brothers, ‘My people!’ [spoken to Yizre'al - the legitimate son] and to your sisters, ‘O compassioned ones!’ 

Yizre’al is the one still being addressed here. He is Huwshua’s son, symbolizing those born of Ysra'el’s intimacy with YaHuWaH, that is, the first harvest of barley, whom He is now separating out. He does not fall under the curses placed on his brothers, so his responsibility is to inform his siblings who are Ysra'al but not yet YaHuWaH’s, that they truly belong to Him as well, and not to the church that has been co-opted by Babylon. This is the second harvest (that of the wheat). The third sibling corresponds with a third harvest, the sheep and goats judgment in Mat. 25. Pity: Aramaic, Return to My law and I will have pity.

(YashaYahuw 50:1 Thus says YaHuWaH, “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away? or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were you sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.; YirmiYahuw 3:8  I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Ysra'al had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Yahuwdah, her sister, didn’t fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.) 

2:2 Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not My wife, neither am I her Husband (Man);and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Contend against: strive with or plead with. When YaHuWaH disciplines us, it means He is paying attention to us, which is much better than the alternative. (Heb. 12:7) Husband: the term used is actually “man”, referring to a beloved husband. We will see later that for a time He has been her husband in the sense of an overlord, but without intimacy. Your mother: Aramaic, the congregation of Ysra'al. She symbolizes the entirety of the people of Ysra'al. Zech. 13 says that two thirds of His scattered sheep will be cut off, i.e., put outside the camp until they are no longer unclean (a picture of selfishness). The other third will be refined. He identifies that third as those who are truly His people (corresponding to Yizre’al here) and the way one can tell who they are is that they call on His Name, not some other name (cf. v. 16 below). Not My wife: Ysra'al (including the Land, as per v. 3) was divorced because of her children’s rebellion, which defiled her. Harlotries… adulteries: i.e., signs of them, such as a special style of cosmetics or a bag of sweet-smelling spices to attract victims. The way to contend with her is to inform her children that their mother really is Ysra'al, despite the make-up with which she tries to cover that fact.

2:3 Lest I strip her naked, and make her bare as in the day that she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.

(Amos 8:11  Behold, the days come,” says YaHuWaH Aluah,“that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the Words of YaHuWaH .

Strip: literally, make her plain and simple. Indeed, the Land of Ysra'al did become exactly like this description until the late 19th century when Yahuwdah began to come back and revive it. But the Aramaic interprets it, I will remove my Sh’kinah from her, and take away her esteem. Thirst: lack of water symbolizes a paucity of teaching YaHuWaH’s Word.

2:4 Indeed, on her children I will have no compassion;for they are children of harlotries;

Of harlotries: Aramaic, who go astray. Compare Revelation 17’s description of Babylon as the “mother of harlots”. Her children: again, this does not include Yizre’al, who is His child as well.

2:5 For their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; for she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’

Acted shamefully: sounds like the word for dried up, a word play on the punishments listed in v. 3. LXX, disgraced them. My lovers: Aramaic, the nations. Wool: figuratively, whiteness, which ties her to Laban, “the white one”. Refreshment: or drink; LXX, my necessaries.

2:6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and fence her paths, so that she shall not find her way.

 (YashaYahuw 42:22-25 But this is a robbed and plundered people. All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prisons. They have become a prey, and no one delivers; and a spoil, and no one says, ‘Restore them!’ Who is there among you who will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? Who gave Ya'aqob as plunder, and Ysra'al to the robbers? Didn’t YaHuWaH, He against Whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His Ways, and they disobeyed His Torah. Therefore He poured the fierceness of His anger on him, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire all around, but he didn’t know; and it burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.”)

2:7 She will eagerly pursue her lovers, but she won’t overtake them; and she will seek them, but won’t find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my original man; for then was it better with me than now.’

Pursue her lovers: Aramaic targum, Pursue peace with the nations. This is very timely for our day. In His mercy, YaHuWaH never let her actually marry another, for if she did, He would never be able to take her back. (Compare Yahuwchanan 4:18.) Original man: or primary husband. (Compare YaHuWSHuWaH’s parable of the Prodigal Son, which is really the same allegory; Luke 15:17)

2:8 For she did not know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Ba'al. (the lord)

2:9 Therefore I will take back My grain in its time, and My new wine in its season, and will pluck away My wool and My flax which should have covered her nakedness.

Take back My grain: Aramaic, My Memra [living Word] will return to curse the grain at the time of its harvest. Grain is a picture of His people, whom He is reclaiming from the church because it has not been a true shepherd to most of them, but only a hireling. 

(Yehezqel 34:1-4  The Word of YaHuWaH came to me, saying,  Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Ysra'al, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Master YaHuWaH: Woe to the shepherds of Ysra'al who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep?  You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you don’t feed the sheep.  You haven’t strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them.;  Yahuwchanan 10:12-13 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them. The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.)

New wine represents joy, and their joy is now indeed out of season: on Sunday rather than the Sabbath or Christmas instead of the feasts He prescribed. The Northern Kingdom began by keeping His feasts, but deliberately moving them to a different month. (1 Kings 12:33) They were thus out of season. They later mixed wool and linen, which He forbade (Lev. 19:19), by mixing actual pagan ways with truth. Linen comes from a plant, which is from the earth; wool represents what does not come from the earth, but from heaven (as in Qayin and Hebel’s offerings, Gen. 4), so she will have neither an earthly nor a heavenly covering anymore.

2:10 Now I will uncover her nakedness/immodesty in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hand.

Immodesty: shamelessness, pudenda, or foolishness; LXX, her uncleanness. Rescue her from My hand: or snatch them out. YaHuWSHuWaH alluded to this, but turned its meaning around for those who would listen to His voice, whom He identifies as His sheep. (Yahuwchanan 10:29 My Abba , who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of My Abba ’s hand.  I and the Abba  are ONE.”   )

2:11 I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her shabbaths, and all her solemn feasts . 

Notice that these are her feasts, not His; i.e., those she has taken on from pagan lovers or invented for herself. She chose her own Sabbath and rejected His. Her new moon: or months. They substituted the Gregorian calendar from Rome for months clearly signaled by the signpost He created in the sky. So He will remove all the joy from Sunday and from Christmas, Easter, etc.

2:12 I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, about which she has said, - ‘These are my presents that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest,’- and the animals of the field shall eat them.

 2:13 I will visit on her the days of the Ba'als, to which she burned incense, when she removed her rings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot Me,” says YaHuWaH.

Removed her rings: i.e., the signs that she is married. Aramaic, like a woman who has left her husband, decking herself with earrings and her strings of pearls.

2:14 “Nevertheless, here I am alluring her, and have brought her into the wilderness, and spoken to her heart. [Rev. 12]

Alluring: or simply persuading; Aramaic, I will make her subject to the law, and work miracles and mighty deeds for her, as I did in the wilderness. Have brought: He speaks prophetically. Into the wilderness: the term means “place of the word” in Hebrew-- the site, probably at Mt. Sinai again (v. 15), where the two houses of Ysra'al will be reunited and have the Mashiyach appointed as their common ruler. (Rev. 12:13-17; Mark 13:14; YashaYahuw 16:1-5; Yehezqel 37:24) But simply coming back to the Word now does straighten out the crooked thoughts of our hearts.

2:15 I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Akowr (Tribulation) as a doorway of hope; and she will be humbled there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Mitsrayim.

 But the root meaning of the Hebrew word for hope is twining together as in a rope. Ysra'elites are now so scattered and each wants to do things (even kodesh things) his own way. How will He ever twine us together? The answer on one level is through trouble (the meaning of Akhor).  But the answer is also in what happened in the Valley of Akhor. Akhan, the son of Karmi (which, incidentally, means “my vineyard”), brought sin into the camp, thus bringing a curse on the entire community of Ysra'al. (Yahuwshua 7) What he brought from Yericho were a Babylonian mantle (garment), tongues of gold, and silver which were all declared off-limits and to be destroyed. Not until these were expunged (along with Akhan, his family, his flocks, and his tent) was the curse removed from the camp. So we need to know how to use this doorway of hope. The things he brought in and placed among his own things, thereby defiling them as well, represent a covering by Babylon (the system of profit and empowerment of the church that seems to bring security), tongues of gold (lovely promises of prosperity, and even the language we use, for those who want to become wealthy today learn English, so YaHuWaH is turning us back to Hebrew), and silver (the same word for money in Hebrew, and also a symbol of blood, which most of the church began eating again when it declared the kosher laws outdated). Tents represent religious learning. Before we can stand before our enemies, we must put away Akhan’s type of religion, his flocks, and all of these other things, for they weaken all of Ysra'al. They must be rooted out, and everything connected with them destroyed.

2:16 It will be in That Day,” says YaHuWaH, “that you will call Me ‘my Husband/Man,’ and no longer call Me ‘my Ba'al.’ (lord/master) 

Lord: Heb., Ba’al, another word for husband, but with the sense of a cruel overlord with whom one hesitates to be intimate. The English word “Lord” also appears to have pagan connections, having referred originally to a deity associated with pig farmers, so it is not an appropriate title by which to call YaHuWaH.

2:17 For I will take away the names of the Ba'als out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name.

2:18 In That Day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the Land, and will make them lie down safely.

2:19 I will betroth you to Me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.

Betroth you: Aramaic, establish you before Me. This verse is repeated not only at Ysra'elite weddings, but when wrapping the tefillin (phylactery)-straps around one’s fingers during prayer. Once each of the patriarchs accepted Him as their Aluahiym, His promises to them came true.

2:20 I will even betroth you to Me in trustworthiness; and you shall know YaHuWaH.

2:21 It will happen in That Day, I will respond,” says YaHuWaH,

“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth;

2:22 and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Yizre'al.

Respond: in other words, all of these elements will work together in harmony, instead of against each other, as YaHuWaH wants all of Ysra'al to do. This new wine is over 3,000 years old, yet it is new to those of us who are only now offered the doorway back to it. And as YaHuWSHuWaH said, the old is better. (Luke 5:39)

2:23 I will sow her to Myself in the Land; and I will pity Lo-Ruchamah [No-Pity] on her who had not obtained pity; and I will say to Lo-Ammi [Not-My-People]  ‘Now you are My people;’ and they will say, ‘My Aluah!’”

You are: singular here. 

He is speaking to one man—not just Huwshua’s son, but the reunited Ysra'al (Ex. 24:3; Ezra 3:1; Neh. 8:1) and the restored Adam with Yahuwshuwah as its head. After with joy He brings back the sheaves sown in tears around the world (since He hated to scatter our ancestors so far, Psalm 126:6  He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves.), He will plant the seed from that harvest back in their proper Land.

3:1  YaHuWaH said to me, “Go again, love a woman loved by a lover, yet is an adulteress, even as YaHuWaH loves the children of Ysra'al, though they turn to other mighty ones, and love cakes of raisins.”

 [ Raisins are grapes removed from the vine (YaHuWSHuWaH) and rendered waterless (free from Torah).]

3:2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley. 

Bought: literally, bargained for. If a half-sheqel is the tax paid by each person for the Hekal, this is 30 half-sheqels of silver, possibly the thirty pieces paid when YaHuWSHuWaH was betrayed, which YaHuWaH used to build Himself a true Hekal of living stones. Chomer: 100 omers, symbolic of the world. Lethekh: thought to be a half a chomer, or five eyfoth. Thus the total amount of barley would be 15 eyfoth as well. A chomer of barley is valued at 50 sheqels (Lev. 27:16), and also the value of a man at his prime. (27:3) Silver is symbolic of blood and redemption, and the Aramaic interprets the fifteen here as referring to the day the Ysra'elites were redeemed from Egypt (the 15th of Abib), but the barley as representing the omer of the offering from the produce of barley (which was brought to the Hekal as firstfruits). YaHuWSHuWaH’s resurrection was on the first day of the barley harvest. Barley is Ysra'el’s first crop. The total value of the barley here would be 75 sheqels, which is five times the value of the silver. Not only redemption, but fruitfulness and a mature man are what make His bride ready.

3:3 I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days. You shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be with any other man. I will also be so toward you.”

I.e., He put a freeze on their relationship. It is also as if He has no bride during this time. He only has had isolated body parts all often going in their own direction.

3:4 For the descendants of Ysra'al shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without slaughterings, and without pillar, and without shoulder garments or house idols. 

YaHuWSHuWaH purchased us back for YaHuWaH, but we would remain in exile until our sentence was up. We would neither be a unified nation, nor worship idols as such, nor have a priesthood or Temple-based worship of YaHuWaH, but would be on a sort of probation in His custody, being held in reserve for Him. Standing stone: Aramaic, cult pillar. Trafim: LXX, manifestations; Aramaic, interpreters. But the word is based on “healing”. We were only partially healed, and even our conceptions of the prince (Mashiyach) were skewed. In short, we were neither pagan nor were we Ysra'al.

3:5 Afterward the descendants of Ysra'al shall return, and seek YaHuWaH their Aluah, and Dawiyd their king [the annointed Son of Dawiyd], and shall stand in awe of YaHuWaH and His beneficial favor in the latter days.

Return: or repent. Intently seek: as compared to having to be bargained for, i.e., persuaded or bribed into following Him, as we often were lured into spiritual pursuits through the church’s advertising gimmicks. We will find Him when we seek with all our heart. (Yirm. 29:13) Dawiyd: the Aramaic clarifies that this really means the anointed Son of Dawiyd (the Mashiyach). Compare Yehezqel 34:23-24; 37:24, which are explained in Yahuwchanan 10:16 [I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. [YashaYahuw 56:8;Yehezqel 34]  I must bring them also, and they shall heed My voice, and there shall be one flock with One Shepherd.]. Stand in awe: or fear—not be afraid of Him, but be afraid of being outside of His direct care again. His beneficial favor: or, His doing things right. Latter days: Aram., in the end of days. The embryonic stages of this are already upon us!

4:1 Hear the Word of YaHuWaH, you descendants of Ysra'al; for YaHuWaH has a charge against the inhabitants of the Land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of Aluah in the Land.

4:2 Swearing, and lying, and murdering, and stealing, and committing adultery have increased. And bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Broken all bounds: mushroomed out of control, refused to be restrained. The same term is used of sheep breaking out of a sheepfold in Micha 2:13. They are free (v. 16), but unprotected, and the neighborhood is not safe.

4:3 Therefore the Land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein will waste away. All living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die,

4:4 “until no man brings a charge against another, neither let any man accuse another; For your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.

No longer argues or judges: Aramaic, They say, “The scribe shall not teach, and the prophet shall not admonish”, so your people argue with your teachers. They cannot teach, because the students all think they know it all. Arguing with a priest: a presumptuous act, since the term itself means an officiator, and they were also given the final say in matters of interpretation of Torah. (Deut. 17:9-13)

4:5 You will stumble in the day, and the false prophet will also stumble with you in the night; and I shall make your mother perish. 

4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected the knowledge, I will also reject you, from being priests for Me, since you have ignored your Aluah's Torah, I will also ignore your children.

4:7 As they were multiplied, so they sinned against Me. I will change their esteem into shame.

4:8 They feed on the sin of My people, and set their heart on their iniquity.

4:9 It will be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will repay them for their deeds.

4:10 They will eat, and not have enough. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; because they have quit giving heed to YaHuWaH.

4:11 Prostitution, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. 

4:12 My people seek counsel at their tree, and their staff declares to them the directions. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have gone out from beneath their Aluah to commit adultery.

Seek counsel: yet it belongs to YaHuWaH alone. (Prov. 8:14) It was idolatry that originally caused the split in Ysra'al, but YaHuWaH used bad advice as the last straw. Their tree: i.e., their wooden groves around idolatrous worship-sites. Make it known: Aramaic, interpret for it (the tree or wooden image). Out from beneath their Aluahiym: out from under His protective wings; alt., have gone whoring after others in place of Him.

4:13 They slaughter on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because their shadow is good.

Therefore your daughters play the prostitute, and your brides commit adultery.

4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for they themselves are mingled with whores, and they slaughter with the shrine prostitutes; therefore a people that does not understand embraces the harlot (Babel).

4:15 “As for you, O Ysra'al, you shall not condemn Yahuwdah; nor shall you go to Gilgal, neither go up to Bayith 'Awen, nor swear, ‘As YaHuWaH lives.’

4:16 For Ysra'al has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will YaHuWaH feed them like a lamb in a meadow?

4:17 Ephrayim is joined/addicted to idols. Leave him alone!

4:18 Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.

4:19 The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; let them be ashamed of their altars. (Zech. 5:9)

5:1 “Listen to this, you priests! Listen, House of Ysra'al, and give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; for you have been a snare at Mitspah, and a net spread on Tabowr.

5:2 The rebels are deep in slaughter; but I discipline all of them.

5:3 I know Ephrayim, and Ysra'al is not hidden from Me; for now, Ephrayim, you have played the prostitute. Ysra'al is defiled.

 Yirmeyahu 16:17 For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, neither is their iniquity concealed from My eyes..

5:4 Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their Aluah; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know YaHuWaH.

5:5 The pride of Ysra'al testifies to his face. Therefore Ysra'al (that is, Ephrayim) will stumble in their iniquity. Yahuwdah also will stumble with them.

5:6 They will go with their flocks (congregations) and with their herds (denominations) to seek YaHuWaH; but they won’t find Him. He has withdrawn Himself from them.

5:7 They are unfaithful to YaHuWaH; for they have borne outsider's children. Now a New Moon [month]will devour them and their heritage. 

Outsider’s children: those born after Ephrayim started “mixing himself with the peoples” (7:8) were now gentiles themselves; they knew nothing of what it meant to be YaHuWaH’s covenant people. Yevamoth 17a regards them as pagans. A New Moon will consume: Aram., Month by month I will bring nations against them who will plunder the produce of their Land; LXX, the cankerworm will devour. New Moon: or simply, renewal—perhaps the misunderstanding of the Renewed Covenant that has taken the church on so many rabbit trails.

5:8 “Blow the rams horn in Gib'ah, and the shofar in Ramah!

Sound a battle cry at Bayith 'Awen, behind you, O Binyamin!

Shofar, (silver) trumpets, signal: traditional ways of spreading the news that the new moon (v. 7) has been sighted. Gib’ah, Ramah, Beyth-Aven: towns on high hills north of Yahrushalom and the most important ones in the tribal land of Binyamin. Yahrushalom is where the official word of the new moon must originate. Its watchmen would be able to see the signal in Yahrushalom, and pass it on to the other tribes. Ramah was where Shmuel the prophet was from, and the Aramaic takes this as a punishment for not listening to him. Judgment must also begin with the House of YaHuWaH. The Hekal is actually partly in Binyamin’s territory as well. Gib’ah can generically simply mean a hill, and ramah a height, any of which would be places from which to relay signals to the next hill. These trumpet-calls also signal a call to war. Aben is the root of the first name Rachel gave to Binyamin (Ben-Oni). It seems Binyamin here is in a way set apart from both of the two Houses. When Ya'aqob thought Yoseyph was dead, Binyamin became the most beloved and best-protected. Yahuwdah made an oath to protect him (perhaps the context for 4:15), but he was actually a son of Rachel, and so is closely tied to the northern Kingdom. In fact, his tribal land sits on the border between the two kingdoms and is a special fulcrum between them, perhaps being where many Messianic “Jews” come from, or perhaps representing Orthodox Jews, the “last hope” of Yahuwdah in terms of Torah observance.

5:9 Ephrayim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke.

Among the tribes of Ysra'al, I have made known that which will surely be.

5:10 The princes of Yahuwdah are like those who remove a landmark [His Name]. I will pour out My wrath on them like water.

5:11 Ephrayim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; Because it pleased him to wake after Tsaw (an idol) 5:12 Therefore I am to Ephrayim like a moth, and dry rot to the House of Yahuwdah.

I: Aramaic, My Memra [living Word]. Moth… dry rot: LXX, consternation… , a goad. A moth represents an enemy in that it goes after our covering and tries to put holes in it.

5:13 “When Ephrayim saw his sickness, and Yahuwdah his wound, then Ephrayim went to Ashshuwr, and sent messengers to the great king  for help: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.

5:14 For I will be to Ephrayim like a lion, and like a young lion to the House of Yahuwdah. I Myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.

5:15 I will go and return to My place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek My face.  In their affliction* they will seek Me early.” * ( The great Tribulation)

6:1 They will say. “Come, and let us return to YaHuWaH; for He has torn us to pieces (scattered us), and He will heal us; He has injured us, and He will bind up our wounds.

6:2 After two days He will revive us. On the third day He will raise us up,  and we will live before Him.  [Ysra'al, like Yahuwshuwah will be raised to life after "3 days".]

[In two days He will make us whole again; in the third day He shall raise us up (the resurrection) and we shall be whole by His favor."] Hebrew TaNaK

After two days: Psalm 90 says a day is like a thousand years. 2,000 years after YaHuWSHuWaH was stricken, YaHuWaH’s anger is departing from Efrayim. The third day is the Messianic Kingdom. But it literally says, from a pair of days, perhaps owing to two of His feast days. YaHuWSHuWaH was also raised up on the third day as the firstfruits of His whole harvest.

6:3 So let us know, let us ardently press on to know YaHuWaH. His going forth is established as the morning. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.”

Press on: literally, chase after. While He also says to be still and know that He-Is, and to relax in trusting Him, He will only be found by us if we search with our whole hearts. (YirmeYahuw 29:13) His coming out is as sure as the dawn: or possibly, As sure as the dawn [we will] find Him. (The LXX supports this.) Latter rains: the spring rains which mature the crops in Ysra'al. Former rains: literally, pouring rains, which follow hard on the heels of the fall festivals. But the word is also used (even more commonly) for “teach” or “instruct”, and is related to the word Torah. In fact, in Yoel 2:23, the word for “teacher” is used for “former rain”, and in the same sentence the parallel phrase “Teacher of Righteousness” is what YaHuWaH says He will send. This is the one the Qumran sect described as the priestly Mashiyach, and is alluded to in Yahuwchanan 11:28.

6:4 “Ephrayim, what shall I do to you? Yahuwdah, what shall I do to you?

For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early.

6:5 Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the Words of My mouth, so your legal rulings might be a light that shines forth.

6:6 For I desire mercy, and not slaughters; and the knowledge of Aluah more than burnt offerings.

Mercy-  courtesy. And not: a Hebrew idiom paralleling the “more than” in the next phrase. It does not mean He has changed His mind about what He commanded, but that His intent is to engender faithfulness (or mercy, lovingkindness) so that the slaughters are not necessary. YaHuWSHuWaH quoted this verse to make His point in Mat. 9:13; 12:7. Compare YaHuWaH’s words to King Sha’ul in 1 Shmuel 15:22 Samuel said, “Has YaHuWaH as great delight in burnt offerings and slaughters, as in obeying the voice of  YaHuWaH? Behold, to obey is better than slaughters, and to listen than the fat of rams"., and YaHuWSHuWaH’s comparison of “drawing-near” offerings to our obligations to our fellow men (Mark 7:11). Also, He would rather we repent than that He have to slaughter us; He prefers to have mercy on us. Knowledge of: or intimacy with.

6:7 But they, like Adam, have broken the Covenant; they have acted treacherously against Me there!

Adam: or, perhaps, [all] humanity; Aramaic, like the former generations. The word for treacherously is the root for the word “garment” in Hebrew, for it was not until after Adam transgressed that he tried to clothe or cloak himself, for he felt the need to cover his guilt. Covenant: This includes the rulings of the prophets that clarify it. (v. 5)

6:8 Gil'ad is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood.

6:9 As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shekem,  surely they commit lewdness.

As kings were blamed in the last chapter, now priests are reprimanded as well. On the way to Sh’khem: or, on the road by consent, for Sh’khem means “shoulder”, and by consenting to another’s sins, we “shoulder” the responsibility, being complicit to the sin. Like the watchmen on the wall (Yehezqel 33), the priests are among those most responsible for the welfare of Ysra'al. YaHuWSHuWaH’s parable of the Samaritan who helped the man ambushed on the road by raiders (Luke 10:30ff) is an allusion to this verse, which also refers to the Northern Kingdom, of which Samaria (Shomron) was the capital. Sh’khem (Gk. Sykhar) is the first place outside Yahuwdah to which YaHuWSHuWaH went looking for the Lost Sheep of the House of Ysra'al. (Yahuwchanan 4) And like the second son in His parable who said he would not obey but ended up doing so (Mat. 21:28ff), the Samaritans ended up more responsive to Him,( the man who descended and was wounded), than the priests and Levites did, though, called to take the place of the firstborn in Ysra'al, they were coming down from Yahrushalom and were therefore meant to be serving their fellow Ysra'alites. Thus, in this sense, they were murderers due to their neglect. They showed that they were, but he proved more of an Ysra'alite than they though they looked down on him as a half-breed. If we choose wisdom, our paths will be safe. (Prov. 3:19-23)

6:10 In the House of Ysra'al I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephrayim. Ysra'al is defiled.

6:11 “Also, Yahuwdah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I bring back the captivity of My people.

A harvest-time: here, a both a negative “cutting off” and positive fruitfulness. When the “Fullness of the gentiles” (Efrayim, the Northern Kingdom, according to Gen. 48:19) come back in, all Ysra'al will be rescued. (Rom. 11:25) LXX, begin to gather grapes for yourself.

7:1 When I would heal Ysra'al, then the iniquity of Ephrayim is uncovered, also the wickedness of Shomerown; for they wrought falsehood. While the thief enters in, a gang of robbers ravages outside.

7:2 They don’t consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have encircled them [hemming them in], they have come face to face with Me. 

They assume He will have mercy; they speak of His grace as an excuse to go on sinning. But grace is not for those who reject His instruction (Torah). This approach to Him is what cost them their healing at that juncture. Thus he doubled their sentence. (Yirm. 16:18) After that, they began to respond, but again let Ysra'al be co-opted by the nations’ interests, and their sentence was increased to seven times. (Lev. 26:24) Today, that sentence is up. We have another opening to respond correctly. Let us not waste it.

7:3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.

7:4 Their rulers are all adulterers. They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker who stops stirring [the fire] after the dough has been kneaded until it is leavened.

YaHuWSHuWaH compared the Kingdom to leaven that permeates the whole lump of dough (Mat. 13:33), but there comes a time to stop the dough from rising, and this is accomplished by heating it. But if there is only a little heat, it makes it rise further (the reason many cooks set dough in the sun while it rises). It must be stoked to higher heat, or it will lose its shape and never stop being leavened. At a certain point the called-out community was no longer meant to keep growing, but to contract again back to the Land once the message of amnesty and the right to return reached all the lost sheep of the House of Ysra'al. The Aramaic targum says they will go into exile because they hastened to fulfill their evil designs, and did not remember the miracles and mighty deeds done for them when they were brought up out of Egypt, the time the dough was kneaded before it was leavened.

 7:5 On the day they start to give counsel, the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine. They joined his hand with mockers.

7:6 Because their heart is hot like an oven with their plots, all night their anger is suppressed; and in the morning it burns as a flaming fire.

If the bread is cooked at high heat after it has risen too far, it only bakes the crust solid and does not cook the inside well at all. Once Ysra'al was fully given over to idolatry, it was too late to try to stop it; any attempt at this point only galvanizes its rebellion. Since the sin brought in was not burned out by the Torah, the lukewarm religiousness that remained only let the lawlessness fester. The church that it mushroomed into, became unified in its Sunday worship, and when confronted about it now, it has this protective crust of tradition to hide behind.

7:7 They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges.

All their kings have fallen; there is no one among them who calls to Me.

7:8 Ephrayim, he mixes himself among the nations. Ephrayim is a cake not turned. 

(half-baked - soft dough on one side burned on the other)

Ephrayim: the Aramaic targum comes right and says this is the House of Ysra'al. Mixing himself: mingling so that the two are confused, indistinguishable from one another; we thus became gentiles. Not turned over: Aramaic, eaten before it is turned. We celebrated who we were without paying the price. Thus we were “half-baked”. YaHuWaH wants Ysra'al to be a light to the nations, but we didn’t let Him finish making us mature before we exposed our pearls to the nations, and they trampled them underfoot. Now that we have the rest of the Gospel—that YaHuWSHuWaH came to restore all the tribes of Ysra'al--we are being put back on the griddle so the light they “eat of” will be something kodesh. It is time to be mature, not children.

7:9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he doesn’t realize it. Indeed, gray hairs are here and there on him, and he doesn’t realize it.

Wealth: our being a light to the nations and the Kingdom with the name Ysra'al. Since Efrayim had already made himself a stranger to YaHuWaH, he no longer recognizes what is foreign. We cut deals with the Greek mindset and it consumed our identity, sapped our energy, and used up our glad tidings. Gray hairs: Aramaic, weakness. Ysra'al thinks it is still attractive to other lovers. Ya'aqob spoke of looking in the mirror of the Torah and forgetting our natural face—who we really are (Ysra'alites). Here, they are not even looking in a mirror! Yet he is mature, meant to be a leader to the world, not taken advantage of by it.

7:10 And the Excellency of Ysra'al did witness to his face; yet they haven’t returned to YaHuWaH their Aluah, nor sought Him, for all this.

7:11 “Ephrayim is like an easily deceived dove, without understanding. They call to Mitsrayim. They go to Ashshuwr.

 easily deceived: or, open-minded, easily persuaded, silly, flitting back and forth aimlessly. They have been seduced by the idea that alliances with these great nations can benefit them. Aramaic, a senseless dove whose young have been taken away. Understanding: literally, heart.

7:12 When they go, I will spread My net on them. I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will discipline them, as a proclamation to their congregation.

7:13 Woe to them!For they have wandered from Me. Destruction to them! For they have trespassed against Me. Though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against Me.

7:14 They have not cried to Me with their heart, when they wailed on their beds about grain. They gather wine for themselves, but turn away from Me.

Have not cried...howl: Aramaic, they do not pray before Me; therefore they wail… They gather: LXX, they pined for oil and wine; Aram., because of the abundance of grain and wine which they have gathered, they rebel.

7:15 Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet they plot evil against Me.

7:16  When they turn back it is not upward; they are like a slack bow. Their princes will fall by the sword for the defiance of their tongue. For this they will be laughed to scorn in the land of Mitsrayim.

Turned back (repented), but not upward; they did not take it to the highest level. A slack (or deceptive) bow will shoot, but not hit its target. Without the proper tension, it cannot be aimed rightly. Though we thought we were repenting toward YaHuWaH, what we really were crying for was material provisions to benefit ourselves. Classic paganism is to appease a deity only enough to keep him off their backs and to get whatever they can from him in the process. How can He accept them back when this is the true state of their hearts? Defiance: or indigence; LXX, unbridled state; their rulings were based on their own hearts, not His instruction.

8:1 “Put the shofar to your lips! He shall come like a bird of prey I am swooping down upon the House of YaHuWaH, because of their crossing the boundaries of My Covenant, and have rebelled against My Torah.

Judgment begins with the House of YaHuWaH. The Aramaic interprets this swooping bird (eagle or vulture) as a king that will besiege the Set-apart Place. Crossing the boundaries: the same word for being a Hebrew; the word here for rebelling also means trespassing. Once we have become Hebrews, if we cross back over, as reprobates (making forays back into what we came out of), we profane ourselves, making ourselves common again instead of kodesh (set apart for a special purpose). That is the theme of this chapter. Crossing back is to “un-hebraicize” ourselves, like those in the days of the Maccabees who had actually had operations to reverse their circumcision so they could compete in Greek games without seeming out of place.

8:2 They cry to Me, ‘My Aluah, we Ysra'al acknowledge You!’ [In g_d we trust]

8:3 Ysra'al has cast off that which is good. The enemy will pursue him.

8:4 They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I knew them not. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off.

8:5 O Shomerown your bull-calf has cast you off! My anger burns against them! How long will it be until they are capable of purity?

 Your bull-calf: partly a reference to the two golden calves Yarabam had set up as alternative worship sites. A few years ago a picture appeared symbolizing the European Union, utilizing imagery from Greco-Roman mythology of a woman riding the back of a bull. It correlates with the vision in Revelation 17:7, 16 of the harlot riding the Beast which then bucks her off when he has used her. A bull also often represents commercial prosperity, with which we have too often become entangled. Pagan society does not really love YaHuWaH’s people, even if they try to be part of its system.

8:6 For this is even from Ysra'al! The workman made it, and it is no Aluah; indeed, the calf of Shomerown shall be broken in pieces.

8:7 For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.

8:8 Ysra'al is swallowed up. Now they are among the nations like a worthless thing.

Swallowed up: Lost their identity and forgot their origin. Among the nations: They wanted to be just like the other nations of the world, rather than His special treasure. Tool without a purpose: or vessel in which there is no pleasure; an unacceptable utensil. YaHuWaH does not need more ordinary tools; He has plenty, but since Ysra'al made herself common (v. 10), He has no one to do the unique job He created her for, and she is useless for anything else.

8:9 For they have gone up to Ashshuwr, like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephrayim has hired lovers for himself.

Wild donkey: Heb., pere, a word play on para (fruitful), the root for Ephrayim’s name. Though once fruitful, he has become like Yishmael. (Gen. 16:12) Though a son of Abraham, he was undomesticated, not having the Torah.

8:10 But although they sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them out; when they have suffered for a while from the burden of a sovereign, of rulers.

8:11 Since Efrayim has multiplied altars for the purpose of sin offerings, they will become for him altars to sin upon. (a snare)

8:12 I wrote for him ever so many things of My Torah; but they were regarded as a strange thing.

Ever so many things: or, myriads of things; alt., great things. The more set apart we become, the more He teaches us, and the more things we realize we can no longer do, because we realize they are foreign to His way of thinking. But for many years the Church has considered the “Old Testament” a foreign thing, a thing of the past, something that just doesn’t fit with its culture of liberal grace.

8:13 In My permissiveness, they slaughter flesh and eat, But YaHuWaH doesn’t accept them.

In My permissiveness: i.e., during the grace period offered while the Master was gone (Luke 12:45); or, as gifts ascribed to Me. Call them to account: It is one thing for Him to let many things slide when we are children, but when we are mature it is time to act that way. Back to Mitsrayim: Though they were aiming for Assyria, they will end up at the target chosen by YaHuWaH instead. If they do not appreciate His removing them from slavery, but prefer heathen ways, why should He keep them from going back? Paul speaks of YaHuWaH turning these “re-uncircumcised” ones over to a reprobate mind (Rom. 2:26), because they were no longer thinking like Ysra'elites. Just being moral is not enough. Wrong moral definitions can actually keep us from obeying Torah. The meaning of Mitsrayim in Hebrew is a place of distress, and they were certainly returned there, if not literally to Mitsrayim.

Now He will remember their guilt, and call them to account for their missing the target; they will go back to Mitsrayim!

8:14 For Ysra'al has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Yahuwdah has caused inaccessible cities to multiply; but I will send a fire on his cities, and it will devour its citadels.”

Inaccessible cities: YaHuWSHuWaH accused Yahuwdah of tying heavy burdens on people and not lifting a finger to help them carry them. (Mat. 23:4) He contrasted His light burden (still a burden!) with theirs. But one day Yahuwdah will cease to oppress Efrayim. (YashaYahuw 11:13) Citadels: LXX, foundations.

9:1 O Ysra'al, do not rejoice with gladness as the peoples do; for you have whored from your Aluah. You have loved the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor. [church]

With gladness: or, in a circle; toward the age. Other nations may be thoughtlessly merry, but Ysra'al has cause for fear, for she has been cheating on her Elohim. A hire-price: i.e., a harlot’s fee, for they would place shrines to idols at the very places where they threshed grain, thus giving the idols credit for feeding them. It is supposed to be a place of separating the grain (i.e., making it holier), but “grain” here means “increase” and is related to Efrayim’s “multiplying like fish” (Gen. 48:16). Fish have been a symbol of Christianity, which is where Efrayim has increased, but has also become a place mixed with idolatry. Threshing floor: at root, a smooth place.

9:2 The threshing floor and the winepress won’t feed them, and the new wine will fail her.

9:3 They won’t dwell in YaHuWaH’s Land; but Ephrayim will return to Mitsrayim, and they will eat unclean food in Ashshuwr.

9:4 They won’t pour out wine offerings to YaHuWaH, neither will they be pleasing to Him. Their offerings will be to them like the bread of affliction; all who eat of it will be polluted; for their bread will be for their appetite. It will not come into the House of YaHuWaH.

Be pleasing to Him: or, be accepted by Him. Bread of sorrows: or, mourners’ food. For themselves: Here is the key to the symbolism of ritual uncleanness; it represents that which is done only for self. Without community, this bread is not kosher for His altar. As “one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17), we partake of one another, but here the bread is not the Mashiyach; it has soured

9:5 What will you do on the solemn feast day, and in the day of the festival of YaHuWaH? 

I.e., How will you make it to your mandatory appointments if you are in exile?

9:6 For, lo, they are gone away from destruction, yet Mitsrayim will gather them up. 

[They were absorbed into Christopaganism, and bore its children (many new denominations which carry on their mother’s spiritual deadness), so there is no fruit unto Ysra'al]

Moph will bury them. Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver.

Thorns will be in their tents.

9:7 The Days of vengeance have come. The Days of reckoning are near; then Ysra'al shall know it. (Day of YaHuWaH) Ysra'al will consider the prophet to be a fool, and the man who is inspired to be insane, because of the abundance of your sins, and because your hostility is great.

9:8 The one who watches over Ephrayim is with my Aluah. A fowler’s snare is on all of his paths, and hostility in the House of his Aluah.

YaHuWaH is the one watching for ways to set traps for Efrayim so they will stop straying away.

9:9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gib'ah. [Shophetim 19-21] He will remember their iniquity. He will punish them for their sins.

Days of Gib’ah: Probably an allusion to the events in Judges 19-21, which seem to be returned to over and over in Hushuwa. They did not learn the lesson YaHuWaH had already taught them there. They all partook of a piece of the defiled bread (v. 4), and began devouring one another (Gal. 5:15) as they done there, and the bitterness has spread like cancer, and is also their attitude toward YaHuWaH for what He has allowed to happen to them. So like the concubine in Judges, He has divided them up and is ready to scatter them.

9:10 I found Ysra'al like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season; but they came to Ba'al Pe'owr, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing, and became abominable like that which they loved.

Grapes in the wilderness: reminiscent of the great cluster brought back to Moshah from the Valley of Eshqol. (Numbers 13) He had great delight in them at first, like one who finds luscious fruit when very hungry. Ba’al-Pe’or: Where Bilaam had the Moabites seduce Ysra'al into idolatrous orgies. Consecrated themselves: the same word as that of becoming a Nazirite; LXX, were shamefully estranged; Aramaic, attached themselves.

9:11 As for Ephrayim, their esteem will fly away like a bird. There will be no birth, none with child, and no conception.

9:12 Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!

Lit., I will bereave them of a man. On the mystical level, this means there will be no unity, and they will no longer bear YaHuWaH’s image, and what use is left for Ysra'al if we do not? We only withhold the birthpangs of the Mashiyach.

9:13 I have seen Ephrayim, like Tsor, planted in a pleasant place; but Ephrayim will bring out his children to the murderer.

As I saw Tsor: Aramaic, When the congregation of Ysra'al fulfills the law it is like Tsor in her prosperity and ease. But “the ruler of Tsor (Tyre)” is symbolic of Heylel (Lucifer, Yehezqel 28), described there in the same terms as the Bride of Mashiyach in Revelation 21, who replaces the first bride as Hadassah (Esther) did Queen Vashti, thrilling the heart of the king. Yet Efrayim is doing no better than killing their sons for the worship of idols.

9:14 Give them— YaHuWaH what will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

Luke  23:29 For behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 23:30 Then they shall begin to tell the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 23:31 For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” 

9:15 “All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My House! I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels.

Gilgal: where Shmuel the prophet was staying when Shaul (who was from Gib’ah) was to be made king, and where Shaul then disobeyed YaHuWaH, forfeiting his kingdom. Love them: Aramaic, pity them.

9:16 Ephrayim is struck. Their root has dried up. They will bear no fruit. Even though they bring forth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb.”

9:17 My Aluah will cast them away, because they did not listen to Him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.

Since they wandered from Him, He will make them wander in the wilderness again, pursued again by Pharaoh. If we draw near to Him, He draws near to us; if we forsake Him, He forsakes us. Ysra'al as a whole will all be rescued one day, but before that time, individual Ysra'elites can perish if they repudiate their connection to Him.

10:1 Ysra'al is a vine that puts forth fruit for himself. The more his fruit, the more altars he made; the richer his land, the more elaborate he made the goodly pillars.

Standing stones/pillars: cult pillars placed beside pagan worship centers. They were actually phallic symbols, and they marked the place of a pagan temple. Stylized forms appeared as obelisks in Egypt and at the Vatican. When Constantine mandated that everyone in the Roman Empire must become a Christian, many temples were turned into churches, and the tall pillars placed on top for added visibility; we know them today as steeples.

10:2 Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones.

Their heart is divided: This is what makes the difference in why He will no longer show them mercy. Notice that “heart “ is singular, when speaking of a plural group. This is the problem: their hearts are not united. This is why they were multiplying altars. Some even hired Levites as private priests. (Judges 19)

10:3 Surely now they will say, “We have no king; for we don’t fear YaHuWaH; and the king, what can he do for us?”

10:4 They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants. Therefore justice springs up like a poisonous weed in the furrows of the field.

 Poisonous weed: Aramaic, I will bring, like the poison of venomous serpents, judgment for their falsehood on the boundaries of their fields (failing to leave gleanings for the poor). But the field belonged to YaHuWaH (1 Cor. 3:9ff) since they had made an agreement. He takes our word seriously, even if we do not, so since they had given consent, He kept making His crops spring up where He wanted them, though they had set the field in order a different way.

10:5 The inhabitants of Shomerown shall sojourn to the female calves of Bayith Aven; for its people will mourn over it, along with its priests who rejoiced over it, for its esteem, because it has departed from it.

Beyth-Aven: “house of vanity”, an epithet YaHuWaH uses for Beyth-Al, where Yarab’am set one of his alternative worship sites, since He did not want His name over such a site. The other altar, at Dan, has been rediscovered and partially reconstructed by archaeologists. It is as if every ancient spirit is being called upon for the final showdown with YaHuWaH. Those who grew emotionally agitated: or, its pagan priests; LXX, as they provoked him.

10:6 It also will be carried to Ashshuwr for a present to a great king. Ephrayim will receive shame, and Ysra'al will be ashamed of his own counsel.

10:7 Shomerown and her king float away, like a twig on the water.

10:8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Ysra'al, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle are what will ascend on their altars. They will tell the mountains, “Cover us up!” and the hills, “Fall on us!”

Luke  23:29 For behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 23:30 Then they shall begin to tell the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 23:31 For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” 

Cover us up: or conceal us. YaHuWSHuWaH quoted this last passage on His way to His death (Luke 23:30), and Rev. 6:16 places its time frame in the last days of this age when the great day of YaHuWaH’s wrath comes. So we can deduce that this will still be going on in some manner among some of the people of the Northern Kingdom in the days ahead as YaHuWSHuWaH prepares to return.

10:9 “Ysra'al, you have sinned from the days of Gib'ah. There they remained.

The battle against the children of iniquity doesn’t overtake them in Gib'ah.

Days of Gib’ah: probably another allusion to the event in Judges 19-21 where all of Ysra'al united against the tribe of Binyamin—and lost, but rallied again and decimated them, bring chaos to Ysra'al, their only unity being in the act of all but annihilating another tribe. LXX, from the time the hills came into existence. The Aramaic targum interprets this as meaning they were not worthy to again have a king established at Gib’ah as before (for it was King Sha’ul’s hometown).

10:10 When it is My desire, I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.

YirmeYahuw 2:12-13 “Be astonished, you heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate,” says YaHuWaH.  “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Spring of Living Waters, [the Truth in His Word] and cut them out cisterns [explanations], broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 

10:11 Ephrayim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh grain; so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephrayim. Yahuwdah will plow. Ya'aqob will break his clods.

Heifer being trained: i.e., having been harnessed to the two golden heifer-calves like a younger cow being trained to plow by an older one. All Ephrayim was doing was learning the ways of the pagan nations. Alt., a trained heifer, i.e., one that no longer needs to wear a yoke, but he is eating the grain as he goes, including the poisonous weeds. Thus YaHuWaH would rein him in again. Make Ephrayim to be ridden: or make him draw the plow. Nations that conquered others would often harness the heifers and oxen of those they conquered and ride them. LXX, I will mount Ephrayim, I will pass over Yahuwdah in silence; Ya'aqob shall prevail against him.

10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek YaHuWaH, until He comes and rains [teaches] righteousness on you.

Rains down righteousness: the former rains in the fall, just after the harvest, are the driving rains, and they are called the “teacher of righteousness” in Yoel 2:23.

10:13 You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, [The Lie] for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men. (great spiritual leaders)

10:14 Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be plundered, as Shalman plundered Bayith Arbe'l in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.

10:15 So Bayith'Al [House of god] will do to you because of your great wickedness. At daybreak the king of Ysra'al will be destroyed.

11:1 “When Ysra'al (Yahuwshua) was a child, then I loved Him, and called My Son out of Mitsrayim. (dual meaning)

11:2 They called to them, [the prophets] but they walked away from their presence. They slaughter to the Ba'als, and burned incense to engraved images.

11:3 Yet I taught Ephrayim to walk. I took them by his arms; but they didn’t know that I healed them.

11:4 I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love; and I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks; and I bent down to him and I fed him.

[ cords of man: or, pangs of Adam, which reminds us of the birthpangs of the Maschiyach, when the “one new man”, the second Adam, comes to completion (having begun as Yahuwshua, the head, forged the way).]

11:5 “They won’t return into the land of Mitsrayim; but the Ashshuwrn will be their king, because they refused to repent.

11:6 The sword will fall on their cities, and will destroy the bars of their gates, and will put an end to their plans.

11:7 My people are hanging in suspense, about My returning, and though they call to the Most High, none of them will exalt Him.

11:8 “How can I give you up, Ephrayim? How can I hand you over, Ysra'al?

How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Tsebo'iym?

My heart is turned within Me, My compassion is aroused.

11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of My anger. I will not return to destroy Ephrayim: for I Myself am Aluah, and not man; the Esteemed One in the midst of you; and I will not come in wrath.

11:10 They will walk after YaHuWaH, Who will roar like a lion; for He will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.

Like a lion: is it Yahuwdah He uses to call us? That is certainly the case through YaHuWSHuWaH, the Lion of the Tribe of Yahuwdah. Trembling: LXX, be amazed. The west: or, the sea, an idiom for the Gentile world. The Aramaic targum takes this as the return of the exiles.

11:11 They will come trembling like a bird out of Mitsrayim, and like a dove out of the land of Ashshuwr; and I will settle them in their houses,” says YaHuWaH.

11:12 Ephrayim surrounds Me with falsehood, and the House of Ysra'al with deceit. But Yahuwdah still walks with Al, and is true to the Esteemed One.

Thus someone from Yahuwdah (i.e., YaHuWSHuWaH) can serve as a kinsman redeemer for Efrayim, still having his feet firmly planted within the covenant.

12:1 Ephrayim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies [the Lie] and desolation. They make a covenant with Ashshuwr, and oil is carried into Mitsrayim.

Wind: or ruwach. One of the characteristics of Efrayim, as housed in the church, has been to spiritualize Scripture, including the salvation which for Ysra'al will one day be a very physical thing as well. Set-apartness cannot be something only in one’s heart; we either live it out or we do not have it, at least in any practical way. The spiritual realm is more real than the physical, but the two are not meant to be separated, or we are simply hypocrites. There is nothing substantial about us, and we are malnourished. Chases after the east wind: or, persecutes (pursues with hostility) the ancient spirit. The church has often been guilty of persecuting those who follow the Torah, though YaHuWSHuWaH commanded us to keep it. The east wind is also what brought many of the plagues into Egypt. It was dry, desert air—without water (often a symbol of the Torah). Cut a covenant: trying to find a visible security, when YaHuWaH has called us to trust Him.

12:2   YaHuWaH also has a controversy with Yahuwdah, and will punish Ya'aqob according to his ways; according to his deeds he will repay him.

Ya'aqob: here equated with the southern kingdom of Yahuwdah in particular. But it is the fleshly side of him, not Ysra'al the spiritual man.

12:3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he contended with Aluah.

12:4 Indeed, he struggled with the Messenger, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to Him. He found Him at Bayith 'Al, and there He spoke with Him,

12:5 even YaHuWaH, the Aluah Master of Armies; YaHuWaH is His Remembrance!

12:6 Therefore turn to your Aluah. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your Aluah.

12:7 Ya'aqob is a cunning Kena'aniy; misleading balances are in his hand. He loves to oppress by extortion.

Misleading balances: false scales or deceitful measures. The justice of v. 6 is diametrically opposed to the condition Ya'aqob was in. Psalm 62 ties trusting in oppression to get us our wealth with going up on the scales—that is, being outweighed even by worthless things. In our day we must look at the church as well as rabbinic Judaism to see what this means. Both weigh things by the wrong measures, defining wrongly what the true wealth is (Rev. 3:17-20), and thus deceiving themselves into being able to claim what is not really true:

12:8 Ephrayim said, “Surely I have become rich,  (Rev. 3:17) I have found myself wealth. In all my labors they won’t find in me any crookedness that is sin.”

12:9 “But I am YaHuWaH your Aluah from the land of Mitsrayim. I will yet again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast. [Passover/Sukkot]

Again make you dwell in tents: in the wilderness during the time of Ya'aqob’s trouble, when all Ysra'al will be reunited prior to re-entering the Land. (Dan. 11:41; Rev. 12:13-17; Mk. 13:14; Yehezq. 37:24; YashaYahuw 16:1-5) I.e., He will remove us from all this wealth gained in our exile and bring us back to where we were really meant to be as a people set apart unto Him. In tents: symbolizes both study of Torah and a people at war, when we do not build our own houses, and those concerned with wealth stay home and are thus not counted among the numbers of Ysra'al. The root word for tent means clear or easy to distinguish. Appointed feast: chiefly referring to Passover, when YaHuWaH brought Ysra'al out “by armies” in a camp that looked like Pharaoh’s war camp, and was thus it was easy to tell that they were set apart unto a particular purpose. He brought them out to a place where they could see who they really were, and where they learned Torah, which define what mercy and justice are. By guarding these and by having proper measures we can find our way back to that place of truly being Ysra'al again. But another appointed feast is Sukkoth, in which Ysra'al is commanded to dwell in temporary shelters, specifically because YaHuWaH had Ysra'al dwell in temporary shelters when they came out of Mitsrayim. (Lev. 23:42-43) Thus tents are included in this category, for that is what they lived in then. Temporary shelters bespeak the fact that we value where we are going more highly than being settled and satisfied in our exile.

12:10 I have also spoken to the prophets, and I Myself have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables (similitude).

12:11 If Gil'ad is wicked, surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they slaughter bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.

12:12 Ya'aqob fled into the country of Aram, and Ysra'al served to get a wife, and for a wife he kept watch.

 [Kept watch: spent cold, sleepless nights watching over Laban’s sheep. (Gen. 31:38-41)]

12:13 By a prophet YaHuWaH brought Ysra'al up out of Mitsrayim, and by a prophet He was watched over.

Watched over: or guarded, but this parallels Ya'aqob’s keeping watch in v. 12.

12:14 Ephrayim has bitterly provoked Me to anger. 

Therefore his blood will be left on him, and his Master will repay his contempt.

13:1 When Ephrayim spoke with trembling, he was a support in Ysra'al, but through Ba'al [the lord], he became guilty and died.

Was a support: or, was exalted. At that time, the only thing he feared was YaHuWaH. Why did it change? Because when one converts to a new religion, he learns new words specific to that religion in another language. We open and close doors in the spiritual realm through our words. Even if we thought we were still worshipping Him, when YaHuWaH began to be called “God”, credit was going to another deity, named Ba’al-Gad, or “Lord of Luck”. The way to repair this error is to go back to what we did at first (Rev. 2:5) and “rejoice with trembling”. (Psalm 2:11)

13:2 Now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, ‘They offer human offerings and kiss the calves.’

Their skill: or, their own understanding. (Compare Prov.3:5) We ended up making crucifixes that looked like a Greek general Instead, we should “kiss the son” (Psalm 2:12).

13:3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that passes away early, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, and like the smoke out of the chimney.

Compare Ya'aqob (James)’s words about the rich. (Ya'aqob 1:11)

13:4 “But I Myself am YaHuWaH your Aluah since the land of Mitsrayim; and you shall acknowledge no Aluah but Me, because except for Me there is no Savior [Mashiyach].

13:5 I became intimately acquainted with you in the wilderness, in the land of flame-dry drought.

13:6 When they were given pasture, they were satisfied with it; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten Me.

13:7 Therefore I am like a lion to them. Like a leopard, I will lurk by the path.

13:8 I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, and will tear the covering of their heart. Then, like a great lion, I will devour them there; the animal of the field will rip them to pieces.

Animal: literally, living thing. YaHuWSHuWaH said the field represents the world (Mat. 13:38), so we could say the life of the world is what divided Ephrayim in many directions. YaHuWSHuWaH said the cares of this world would make us miss what He has for us. (Luke 21:34) Also, compare His warning about casting our pearls before swine. (Mat. 7:6)

13:9 You are destroyed, Ysra'al, because you are against Me, against your Help.

13:10 Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes?’

13:11 I have given you a king in My anger, and have taken him away in My wrath.

13:12 The guilt of Ephrayim is stored up. His sin is hidden from being discovered.

Rachel hid her idols; her descendants must repair this breach by confession and repentance.

13:13 The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. He is an unwise son; because he should not endure long in the place where children break forth.

Being “born again” is just entering the initial gates; it is the kindergarten of our return to YaHuWaH. It may be comfortable, safe, and warm (v. 6), but there is no maturity in it. So He will put more pressure on us like a mother giving birth, so that the baby will not die where there is no air. At every stage we need to continue to take the same attitude of not being satisfied, but going on to greater maturity, for Ysra'al cannot be fully restored until we reach maturity in all our Father’s characteristics (Eph. 4:13): kodeshness, righteousness, and judgment as well as mercy.

13:14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? She'owl, where is your destruction? “Compassion/pity will be hidden from My eyes.

13:15 Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind (judgment term) will come, the Breath of YaHuWaH coming up from the wilderness; and his spring will become dry, and his fountain will be dried up. He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.

Ephrayim’s name means “doubly fruitful”, and indeed he has gained wealth commensurate with his name. But it has made us wander from Him, and like everything natural, it has its limits and after a point can no longer deliver anything worthwhile. So He will take away all that is unnecessary and bring us back into the wilderness again so we might realize what is truly important. (2:14; Yehezqel 20:35) Those who refuse this option will face a grim alternative:

13:16 Shomerown will bear her guilt; for she has rebelled against her Aluah. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.”

14:1 Ysra'al, return to YaHuWaH your Aluah; for you have fallen down because of your sin.

14:2 Take Words (Yahuwshuwah) with you, and return to YaHuWaH. Tell Him, “Bear away all our sin, and receive us well, so we offer the bulls of our lips.

With no temple intact and being in exile, this is all Efrayim has available to bring to YaHuWaH as an acceptable offering. (Compare Rom. 12:1-2.) 

14:3 Ashshuwr can’t save us. We won’t ride on horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ‘Our mighty ones!’ for in You the fatherless finds mercy.”

14:4 “I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for My anger is turned away from him.

14:5 I will be like the dew to Ysra'al. He will blossom like the lily, [Songs 2:1] and send down his roots like Lebanon.

Dew: traditionally associated with the resurrection, but also with the manna, which arrived when there was dew. The root word for “dew” means “to cover over”.

14:6 His shoots will go forth, and His beauty will be like the olive tree, and His fragrance like Lebanon.

Shoots will go forth: Since this is speaking of Ephrayim, it is an allusion to Ya'aqob’s promise that Yoseph’s branches would stride across a wall. (Gen. 49:22) 

14:7 Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, and blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.

The vine: YaHuWSHuWaH said this is what He was. (Yahuwchanan 15:5)

14:8  Ephrayim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green fir tree; from Me your fruit is found.”

14:9 Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them For the ways of YaHuWaH are straightforward, and the righteous walk in them; But the rebellious stumble in them.

Who is wise: anyone who asks can be. (Ya'aqob 1:5) These things: the restoration and return of the House of Ysra'al. Straightforward: level, correct, straight, fitting, proper, upright. Rebel: revolt or overstep, i.e., leaving the path through either carelessness or willfulness. The rebels are still affected by the Torah; they can still be redeemed. Those who are wholly wicked will simply ignore it.