Hosea 11:8

“How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? [how] shall I deliver thee, Israel? etc.] That is, as usually interpreted, into the hand of the enemy, or unto wrath, ruin, and destruction; for, notwithstanding all the sins of this people before observed, and the punishment threatened to be inflicted on them, the Lord is pleased here, and in the following verses, to give some intimations of his goodness, grace, and mercy to them; not to the whole body of them, for they as such were given and delivered up to the enemy, and carried captive, and dispersed among the nations, and were never recovered to this day; but to a remnant among them, according to the election of grace, that should spring from them, for…”

“as Admah . . . Zeboim--among the cities, including Sodom and Gomorrah, irretrievably overthrown (Deu 29:23). heart is turned within me--with the deepest compassion, so as not to execute My threat (Lam 1:20; compare Gen 43:30; Kg1 3:26). So the phrase is used of a new turn given to the feeling (Psa 105:25). repentings--God speaks according to human modes of thought (Num 23:19). God's seeming change is in accordance with His secret everlasting purpose of love to His people, to magnify His grace after their desperate rebellion.”

“How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? - o: “God is infinitely just and infinitely merciful. The two attributes are so united in Him, yea, so one in Him who is always one, and in whose counsels “there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning,” that the one doth not ever thwart the proceeding of the other. Yet, in order to shew that our ills are from our own ill-deserts, not from any pleasure of His in inflicting ill, and that what mercy He sheweth, is from His own goodness, not from any in us, God is represented in this empassioned expression as in doubt, and (so to say) divided between justice and mercy, the one pleading against the other. At the last, God so determines, that both should have…”

“Give thee up - To utter destruction. Admah and Zeboim were two of the four cities which were destroyed with fire from heaven. My repentings - Not that God is ever fluctuating or unresolved; but these are expressions after the manner of men, to shew what severity Israel had deserved, and yet how divine grace would be glorified in sparing them. Hosea 11:9”

“11:8 Though justice demanded Israel’s death, the Lord recoiled at the thought of giving Israel up, of letting them go, of destroying his son. • Admah and Zeboiim were cities near Sodom and Gomorrah that God totally destroyed (Deut 29:23). • In Hebrew thought, the heart is the center of the intellect and the will.”

“How shall I give: Hos 6:4; Jer 9:7; Lam 3:33; Mat 23:37; Luk 19:41, Luk 19:42 Admah: Gen 14:8, Gen 19:24, Gen 19:25; Deu 29:23; Isa 1:9, Isa 1:10; Amo 4:11; Zep 2:9; Pe2 2:6; Jde 1:7; Rev 11:8, Rev 18:18 Mine: Deu 32:36; Jdg 10:16; Sa2 24:16; Kg2 13:23; Psa 106:45; Isa 63:15; Jer 3:12, Jer 31:20; Amo 7:3, Amo 7:6 heart: Lam 1:20 Hosea 11:9”

“They deserved to be utterly destroyed for this, and would have been if the compassion of God had not prevented it. With this turn a transition is made in Hos 11:8 from threatening to promise. Hos 11:8. "How could I give thee up, O Ephraim! surrender thee, O Israel! how could I give thee up like Admah, make thee like Zeboim! My heart has changed within me, my compassion is excited all at once. Hos 11:9. I will not execute the burning heat of my wrath, I will not destroy Ephraim again: for I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee: and come not into burning wrath." "How thoroughly could I give thee up!" sc. if I were to punish thy rebellion as it deserved. Nâthan, to surrender…”