Hosea 1:7

“But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, etc.] The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which retained the true worship of God among them; (see <281112>Hosea 11:12) and though they often sinned against the Lord, he showed them mercy, and spared them longer than the ten tribes; and though he suffered them to be carried captive into Babylon, he returned them again after seventy years: this is mentioned as an aggravation of the punishment of Israel, that Judah was spared, when they were not; and to show that God will have a people to seek and serve him, and, when he rejects some, he will make a reserve of others: and will save them by the Lord their God; by his own arm and power, and not…”

“Judah is only incidentally mentioned to form a contrast to Israel. by the Lord their God--more emphatic than "by Myself"; by that Jehovah (Me) whom they worship as their God, whereas ye despise Him. not . . . by bow--on which ye Israelites rely (Hos 1:5, "the bow of Israel"); Jeroboam II was famous as a warrior (Kg2 14:25). Yet it was not by their warlike power Jehovah would save Judah (Sa1 17:47; Psa 20:7). The deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib (Kg2 19:35), and the restoration from Babylon, are herein predicted.”

“I will have mercy on the house of Judah - For to them the promises were made in David, and of them, according to the flesh, Christ was to come. Israel, moreover, as being founded in rebellion and apostasy, had gone on from bad to worse. All their kings clave to the sin of Jeroboam; not one did right in the sight of God; not one repented or hearkened to God. Whereas Judah, having the true Worship of God, and the reading of the law, and the typical sacrifices, through which it looked on to the great Sacrifice for sin, was on the whole, a witness to the truth of God (see the note at Hosea 11:12). And will save them by the Lord their God, not by bow ... - Shortly after this, God did, in the…”

“Save them - I will preserve them, that violence do not swallow them up, nor length of captivity wear them out; and this preserved remnant shall return and be planted in their own land, and there kept in safety. By the Lord - Particularly in that extraordinary deliverance of Hezekiah and Jerusalem, from Sennacherib. Hosea 1:9”

“1:7 For many years, the kingdom of Israel had depended upon its armies and horses and charioteers for security, but its confidence was completely misplaced. Safety and security are only to be found in God’s power as the Lord.”

“I will: Hos 11:12; Kg2 19:35; Isa. 36:1-37:38 will save: Isa 7:14, Isa 12:2, Isa 49:6; Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6; Zac 2:6-11, Zac 4:6, Zac 9:9, Zac 9:10; Mat 1:21-23; Tit 3:4-6 by bow: Psa 33:16, Psa 44:3-6 Hosea 1:9”

“"And I will favour the house of Judah, and save them through Jehovah their God; and I will not save them through bow, and sword, and war, through horses and through horsemen." By a reference to the opposite lot awaiting Judah, all false trust in the mercy of God is taken away from the Israelites. From the fact that deliverance is promised to the kingdom of Judah through Jehovah its God, Israel is to learn that Jehovah is no longer its own God, but that He has dissolved His covenant with the idolatrous race. The expression, "through Jehovah their God," instead of the pronoun "through me" (as, for example, in Gen 19:24), is introduced with special emphasis, to show that Jehovah only extends…”