SEV Biblia, Chapter 10:14
Por tanto, en tus pueblos se levantará alboroto, y todas tus fortalezas serán destruidas, como destruyó Salmán a Bet-arbel el día de la batalla; la madre fue arrojada sobre los hijos.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Hosea 10:14
Verse 14. Shall a tumult arise] The enemy shall soon fall upon thy people, and take all thy fortified places. As Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel] Some think that this refers to Jerubbaal, or Gideon's victory over Zalmunna, general of the Midianites; see Judg. vii., viii. Others think that an allusion is made here to the destruction of Arbela, a city of Armenia, by Shalmaneser, here called Shalman; and this while he was only general of the Assyrian forces, and not yet king. I think the history to which this refers is unknown. It seems that it was distinguished by some remarkable ferocities.
The mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.] But when, where, how, and by whom, still remain unknown. Conjecture in such a case must be useless.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 14. Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people , etc.] Because of their wickedness and vain confidence, the Assyrian army should invade them; which would cause a tumultuous noise to be made throughout the tribes in all cities and towns, a cry, a howling, and lamentation; especially among fearful and timorous ones as women and children; who would be thrown into a panic at hearing the news of a powerful foreign enemy entering their country, and laying waste all before them; a voice of clamour, as Jarchi observes, crying, flee, flee: and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled ; the strong holds, in which they put their confidence for safety; everyone of these should be taken and demolished by the enemy, in all parts of the kingdom; so that there should be none left to flee unto no place of retreat: as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle ; that is, Shalmaneser king of Assyria, his name being abbreviated, as Bethaven is called Aven, ( Hosea 10:8); who had lately, though there in no account of it elsewhere, spoiled this place, demolished its fortresses, and destroyed the inhabitants of it; which is thought to be either the city of Arbel beyond Jordan, in the Apocrypha: “Who went forth by the way that leadeth to Galgala, and pitched their tents before Masaloth, which is in Arbela, and after they had won it, they slew much people.” (1 Maccabees 9:2) which Josephus calls a city of Galilee, and sometimes a village; and which, according to him, was not far from Sipphore, and in lower Galilee near to which thieves and robbers dwelt in caves and dens, difficult to come at; and so a Jewish writer places Arbel between Sipphore and Tiberias; and elsewhere mention is made of the valley of Arbel, near to these places: and Jerom says, there was the village Arbel beyond Jordan, on the borders of Pella, a city of Palestine; and another of this name in the large plain, nine miles from the town of Legio: and he also speaks of an Arbela, the border of the tribe of Judah to the east; perhaps the same with Harbaalah, whence Arbela, or the mount of Baalah, ( Joshua 15:11); now one or other of these places might be laid waste by this king of Assyria, in the first year of Hoshea, when he came up against him, and made him tributary: though some think Arbela in Assyria or Armenia is meant, famous for the utter defeat of Darius by Alexander, four hundred years after this, when it might have been rebuilt, and become considerable again: some of the Jewish writers say there was a place near Nineveh so called; Benjamin of Tudela says f210 , from Nineveh to Arbel is one “parsa”, or four miles: and others think Samaria itself is meant; but that cannot be, since the destruction of that city is here prophesied of, which should be as this: some conjecture it was the temple of a deity called Arbel, as Schmidt: but, be it what or where it will, here was a great devastation and slaughter made; which at this time was well known, and to which the desolation that would be made in the land of Israel is compared. The Vulgate Latin version is, “as Salmana was wasted by the house of him who judged Baal in the day of battle”; which patrons and defenders of interpret of the slaughter of Zalmunna by Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon; but the names of the one and the other are very different; nor does the text speak of the slaughter of a prince, but of the destruction of a city, and not of Shalman, but of Arbel; and refers not to an ancient, but recent history. Mr.
Whiston places the spoil of Arbela in the year 3272 A.M. or before Christ 732; the mother was dashed in pieces with [her] children : women big with child, or having their children in their arms, had no mercy shown them, but were destroyed together; so it had been at Arbel, and would be again in Israel, which was dreadful to think of: according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, Arbel was the name of a great man in those days, whose family, meant by beth or a house, was thus cruelly destroyed.
Matthew Henry Commentary
The distress to come upon Israel. (Hos. 9:1-6) The approach of the da of trouble. (Hos. 9:7-10) Judgments on Israel. (Hos. 9:11-17)
Hos. 9:1-6 Israel gave rewards to their idols, in the offering presented to them. It is common for those who are niggardly in religion, to be prodigal upon their lusts. Those are reckoned a idolaters, who love a reward in the corn-floor better than a reward in the favour of God and in eternal life. They are full of the joy of harvest, and have no disposition to mourn for sin. When we make the world, and the things of it, our idol and our portion, it is just with God to show us our folly, and correct us. None may expect to dwell in the Lord's land, who will not be subject to the Lord's laws, or be influenced by his love. When we enjoy the means of grace, we ought to consider what we shall do, if they should be taken from us. While the pleasures of communion with God are out of the reach of change, the pleasant places purchased with silver, or in which men deposit silver are liable to be laid in ruins. No famine is so dreadful as that of the soul.
Hos. 9:7-10 Time had been when the spiritual watchmen of Israel wer with the Lord, but now they were like the snare of a fowler to entangl persons to their ruin. The people were become as corrupt as those of Gibeah, Judg. 19; and their crimes should be visited in like manner. A first God had found Israel pleasing to Him, as grapes to the travelle in the wilderness. He saw them with pleasure as the first ripe figs This shows the delight God took in them; yet they followed afte idolatry.
Hos. 9:11-17. God departs from a people, or from a person, when he withdraws his goodness and mercy from them; and when the Lord is departed, what can the creature do? Even though, for the present, goo things seem to remain, yet the blessing is gone if God is gone. Eve the children should perish with the parents. The Divine wrath dries u the root, and withers the fruit of all comforts; and the scattered Jew daily warn us to beware, lest we neglect or abuse the gospel. Yet ever smiting is not a drying up of the root. It may be that God intends onl to smite so that the sap may be turned to the root, that there may be more of root graces, more humility, patience, faith, and self-denial It is very just that God should bring judgments on those who slight his offered mercy __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
וקאם 6965 שׁאון 7588 בעמך 5971 וכל 3605 מבצריך 4013 יושׁד 7703 כשׁד 7701 שׁלמן 8020 בית ארבאל 1009 ביום 3117 מלחמה 4421 אם 517 על 5921 בנים 1121 רטשׁה׃ 7376
