Hosea 13:10

“I will be thy King, where [is any other] that may save thee in all thy cities? etc.] Governor, Protector, and Defender; and so confirming what is before said, that their help was in him: or, as the Targum, Abarbinel, and othersf280, “where is thy king now, that he may serve thee in all thy cities?” whom they had asked, rejecting the Lord, and in whom they had put their trust and confidence for help; and now either having no king, he being taken away from them by death, or by the enemy; or if they had, he being unable to help them in their distress; they are ironically asked where he was, that he might exert himself and save them, if he could, in all the cities of the land, where the enemy…”

“I will be thy king; where--rather, as the Margin and the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, "Where now is thy king?" [MAURER]. English Version is, however, favored both by the Hebrew, by the antithesis between Israel's self-chosen and perishing kings, and God, Israel's abiding King (compare Hos 3:4-5). where . . . Give me a king--Where now is the king whom ye substituted in My stead? Neither Saul, whom the whole nation begged for, not contented with Me their true king (Sa1 8:5, Sa1 8:7, Sa1 8:19-20; Sa1 10:19), nor Jeroboam, whom subsequently the ten tribes chose instead of the line of David My anointed, can save thee now. They had expected from their kings what is the prerogative of God alone,…”

“I will be thy King - (literally, “I would be” thy King) Where is any other that, etc. A better translation would be: “Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities; and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, give me a king and princes.” As Israel was under Samuel, such it remained. “Then” it mistrusted God, and looked to man for help, saying, “Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles” 1 Samuel 8:19. In choosing man they rejected God. The like they did, when they chose Jeroboam. In order to rid themselves of the temporary pressure of Rehoboam’s taxes, they demanded anew…”

“Thy king - I would have been thy king to govern and save thee, but thou refusedst me in both: yet I will be thy king to punish thee. Thy judges - Where are they now? And princes - Necessary to assist the king. Hosea 13:11”

“13:10 where is your king? When Hoshea’s alliance with Egypt failed (see 12:1), he tried to make peace with Assyria, but he was captured and imprisoned (2 Kgs 17:4). The Israelites had relied on their armies and kings to save them rather than on the Lord, and now there was no one to save them.”

“I will be thy king: or, Where is thy king, "King Hosea being then in prison, Kg2 17:4." Psa 10:16, Psa 44:4, Psa 47:6, Psa 47:7, Psa 74:12, Psa 89:18, Psa 149:2; Isa 33:22, Isa 43:15; Jer 8:19; Zac 14:9; Joh 1:49 where: Hos 13:4, Hos 10:3; Deu 32:37-39; Jer 2:28 thy judges: Hos 8:4; Jdg 2:16-18; Sa1 8:5, Sa1 8:6, Sa1 8:19, Sa1 8:20, Sa1 12:11, Sa1 12:12; Kg1 12:20 Hosea 13:11”