certainty of it: now shall they be among the Gentiles as
a vessel wherein is no pleasure; when Salmaneser took
Samaria, and with it swallowed up the whole king-
dam of Israel, he carried captive the inhabitants of it,
and placed them among the nations, in Halah, Habor, b!/
the river Gozau, and iu the cities of the Me{ies, c2. Kings
xvii. 6. where they lived poor, mean, and abject, and
were treated with the utmost neglect. and contempt;
no more regartled than a broken ustdess vessel, or than
a vessel of dishonour, that is made and used for the
ease of nature, for which no more regard is had than
for that service: thus idolaters, who dishonourGod by
their idolatries, shall, sooner or later, be brought to dis-
grace and dishoaour themselves.
Vet. 9. For the!! are gone up to Ass?/ria, &c.]] Or,
though they should :4o up to Assyria g; to the king of
Assyria, to gain his friendship, and enter into alliance
with hitn; as, when Pa1 king of Assyria came against
them, Menahem king of Israel went forth to meet
him, and gave llim a thousand talentsof silver to be his
confederate, and strengthen his kingdom, c2 Kings xv.
lf). yet this hindered not but that !sraei was at length
swallowed up by that people, anti scattered by them
among the nations; for this is not to be underst. ood of
their going captive into the land of Assyria, as the
Targum interprets it: a wild ass alone by/himself; which
may be applied either to the king of Assyria, and be
considered as a description of him, to whom Israel
went for help and friendship; who, though he took their
present, and made them fair promises, yet was per-
fidious, unsociable, anti inhuman, studied only his own
advantage, and not their good: or to the Israelites that
went to him, who were as sottish and stupid as the
ass, and as headstrong and unruly as that, and, like it,
lustful, and impetnous in their lusts; running to and
fro for the satisfying of them, and taking no advice,
nor suffering tttemselves to be controile{t, and, being
alone, becatne an easy prey to the Assyrian lion: or
yet they shouid be as a wild ass alone b!} itsel. fh; notwith-
standing all the methods they took to obtain the friend-
ship and alliance of the king of Assyria, yet they should
be carried captive by him, and dwell in the captivity
like a wild ass in the wilderness; and so it is to be under-
stood here, agreeably to Job xxiv. 5. Jet. ii. 24. other-
wise, as Bacharti has proved from various writers,
these creatures go in flocks: Ephraim hath hired lovers ú
by giving presents to the kings of Assyria and Egypt, to
be their allies and confederates, patrons and defenders,
2 Kings xv. 19. and xvii. 3, 4. who are represented
as their gallants, with whom Ephraim or the ten
tribes committed adultery, departing from God their
Husband, and liege Lord and King, and from his true
worship; see Ezek. xvi. 26, o.8, 33, and xxiii. 4, 5.
R. Elias Levita {k} observes, that some interpret the
words, Ephraim made a.covenant with lovers.
Ver. 10. Yea, though the!! have hired among the
nations, &c.] That is, lovers, as before; got into con-
federa.cies and alliances with the nations about them,
thinking thereby to strengthen their hands, and secure
,hemselves and their kingdom; l}articular regard may
he had to the Egyptians, as distinct 'from the Assyrians,
whom they privately engaged on their side to shake
off the Assyfinn yoke, or their obligation to send yearly
presents to the Assyrian king: now will I gctther them;
either the Assyrians against them, to invade their land,
besiege their city, and take and carry thetn captive;
or the Israelites in a body into the city of Samaria, and
there be coopod up, and taken and destroyed, or
carried captive; fbr this is not to be interpreted of the
collection or' them out of their captivity, as the Targum
and Jarchi, but of the gathering of them together for
their destruction: and they shall sorrow a little for the
burden ofthe king ofprinces the tax or tribute imposed
upon them by the king of Assyria, whose princes werc
altogether kings, Isa. x. 8. and who used to be called
king of kings, being at the head of a monarchy, which
had many kings subject to it; as the kings of Babylon
were aVterwards called, F, zek. xxvi. 7. this may refer
to the yearly present or tribute, which Hashen king of
Israel was obliged to give to the king of Assyria,
which he was very uneasy at, and did not pay it,
which drew upon him the resentment of the Assyrian
king; and that sorrow and uneasiness which that
tribute gave the king of Israel and his people were
but little and small in comparison of what they after
found; it was the beginning of sorrows to them: and
so some render the words, the?! began {}; that is, to
sorrow and complain a little; or this may refer to
their burdens and oppressions when in captivity, which
were laid upon them by the king of Assyria, and the
princes, the rulers, and governors of the several places
where the Israelites were carried captive: even the few
that shall remain {m}, as some render it; and not die
bv famine, pestilence, and sword. Kimchi and Ben
Melech think there is a deficiency of the copulative
and between king and princes; which is supplied by
the Targum, and by the Septuagint., Vulgate Latin,
Syriac, and Arabic versions, which read, the king and
princes.
Ver. 11..Because Ephraim hath ,made many altars to
sin, &c.] Not with an intention to commit sin, but
to offer sacrifice for sin, and make atonement for it, as
they thought; but these altars being erected for the
sake of idols, and sacrifices offered on them to them,
they sinned in so doing, and were the cause of sin in
others, who were drawn into it by their example; as
they were made to sin, or drawn into it, by Jeroboam
their king, These altars were those set up at Dan and
Beth-el, and in all high places, and tops of mountains,
where they sacrificed to idols; and which was con-
trary to the express command of God, who required
sacrifice only at one place, and on one altar, Deut. xii. 5,
6. typical of the one altar Christ, and his alone sacri-
lice, who is the only Mediator between God and man;
and they are guilty of the same crime as Ephraim here,
who make use ot" more, or neglect him. Altars shall
be unto him for sin' either these same altars, and the
sacrifices offered on them, shall be reckoned and im-

{g} \^wle hmh yk\^ "quamvis, etiamsi ascenderint"; so Schmidt observes it
may be rendered, though he chooses to render it by "quando", when they
should go up, &c.
{h} \^wl ddwb arp\^ "erunt onnger, qui solitarius sibi est", Schmidt.
{i} Hierozoic. par. 1. 1. 3. c. 16. col. 870.
{k} Tishbi p.267.
{l} \^wlxyw\^ "incipient", Calvin; "ceperunt enim paululum", Junius & 
Tremellius, Piscator, Zanchius, Drusius, Tarnovius, so Ben Melech.
{m} \^jem wlxyw\^ "et remanebunt pauci", Schmidt; "a rad" \^lwx\^ "durare, 
permanere".