Hosea 3:4

“For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, etc.] Without any form of civil government, either regal or without any civil magistrate, either superior or subordinate, of their own; being subject to the kings and princes of other nations, as the ten tribes were from their captivity by Shalmaneser, to the coming of Christ, which was about seven hundred years; and from that time the tribes of Judah and Benjamin have had no kings and princes among them, for the space of nineteen hundred years, which may very well be called “many days”. This answers to the harlot’s abiding for the prophet many days, in the parable: and without a sacrifice; the daily…”

“The long period here foretold was to be one in which Israel should have no civil polity, king, or prince, no sacrifice to Jehovah, and yet no idol, or false god, no ephod, or teraphim. Exactly describing their state for the last nineteen centuries, separate from idols, yet without any legal sacrifice to Jehovah, whom they profess to worship, and without being acknowledged by Him as His Church. So KIMCHI, a Jew, explains it. The ephod was worn by the high priest above the tunic and robe. It consisted of two finely wrought pieces which hung down, the one in front over the breast, the other on the back, to the middle of the thigh; joined on the shoulders by golden clasps set in onyx stones with…”

“For the children of Israel shall abide many days - The condition described is one in which there should be no civil polity, none of the special temple-service, nor yet the idolatry, which they had hitherto combined with it or substituted for it. “King and prince” include both higher and lower governors. Judah had “kings” before the captivity, and a sort of “prince” in her governors after it. Judah remained still a polity, although without the glory of her kings, until she rejected Christ. Israel ceased to have any civil government at all. “Sacrifice” was the center of worship before Christ. It was that part of their service, which, above all, foreshadowed His love, His atonement and…”

“For - Now the parable is unfolded, it shall be with Israel as with such a woman, they and she were guilty of adultery, both punished long, both made slaves, kept hardly, and valued meanly, yet in mercy at last pardoned, and re - accepted tho' after a long time of probation. Without a king - None of their own royal line shall sit on the throne. A prince - Strangers shall be princes and governors over them. Without a sacrifice - Offered according to the law. An image - They could carry none of their images with them, and the Assyrians would not let them make new ones. Ephod - No priest as well as no ephod. And without teraphim - Idolatrous images kept in their private houses, like the Roman…”

“without a king: Hos 10:3; Gen 49:10; Jer 15:4, Jer 15:5; Joh 19:15 without a sacrifice: Ch2 15:2; Dan 8:11-13, Dan 9:27, Dan 12:11; Mat 24:1, Mat 24:2; Luk 21:24; Act 6:13, Act 6:14; Heb 10:26 an image: Heb. a standing, or statue, or pillar, Isa 19:19, Isa 19:20 ephod: Exo 28:4; Lev 8:7; Jdg 8:27, Jdg 17:5; Sa1 2:18, Sa1 14:3, Sa1 21:9, Sa1 22:18, Sa1 23:6, Sa1 23:9; Sa1 30:7; Sa2 6:14 without teraphim: Gen 31:19 \*marg. Jdg 17:5, Jdg 18:17-24; Kg2 23:24 \*marg. Eze 20:32, Eze 21:21 \*marg. Mic 5:11-14; Zac 13:2 Hosea 3:5”

“"For the sons of Israel will sit for many days without a king, and without a prince, and without slain-offering, and without monument, and without ephod and teraphim." The explanation of the figure is introduced with כּי, because it contains the ground of the symbolical action. The objects, which are to be taken away from the Israelites, form three pairs, although only the last two are formally connected together by the omission of אין before תּרפים, so as to form one pair, whilst the rest are simply arranged one after another by the repetition of אין before every one. As king and prince go together, so also do slain-offering and memorial. King and prince are the upholders of civil…”