Hosea 7:16

“They return, [but] not to the most High, etc.] To Egypt, and not to Jerusalem, and the temple there, and the worship of it; to their idols, and not to him whose name alone is Jehovah, and is the most High all the earth, the God of gods, and Lord of lords, and King of kings; though they made some feint as if they would return, and did begin, and take some steps towards repentance and reformation; but then they presently fell back again, as in Jehu’s time, and did not go on to make a thorough reformation; nor returned to God alone, and to his pure worship they pretended to, and ought to have done: or, “not on high, upwards, above”f140; their affections and desires are not after things above;…”

“return, but not to the Most High--or, "to one who is not the Most High," one very different from Him, a stock or a stone. So the Septuagint. deceitful bow-- (Psa 78:57). A bow which, from its faulty construction, shoots wide of the mark. So Israel pretends to seek God, but turns aside to idols. for the rage of their tongue--their boast of safety from Egyptian aid, and their "lies" (Hos 7:13), whereby they pretended to serve God, while worshipping idols; also their perverse defense for their idolatries and blasphemies against God and His prophets (Psa 73:9; Psa 120:2-3). their derision in . . . Egypt--Their "fall" shall be the subject of "derision" to Egypt, to whom they had applied for help…”

“They return, but not to the most High - God exhorts by Jeremiah, “If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto Me” Jeremiah 4:1. They changed, whenever they did change, with a feigned, hypocritical conversion, but not to God, nor acknowledging His Majesty. Man, until truly converted, turns to and fro, unstably, hither and thither, changing from one evil to another, from the sins of youth to the sins of age, from the sins of prosperity to the sin of adversity; but he remains himself unchanged. He “turns, not to the most High.” The prophet says this in three, as it were, broken words, “They turn, not most High.” The hearer readily filled up the broken sentence, which fell, drop…”

“Not to the most high - What shew soever of repentance was among them, yet they never throughly repented. A deceitful bow - Tho' they seemed bent for, and aiming at the mark, yet like a weak bow they carried not the arrow home, and like a false bow they never carried it strait toward the mark. The rage of their tongue - Against God, his prophets and providence. Their derision - They shall be upbraided with this. Next: Hosea Chapter 8”

“7:16 A crooked (literally loose) bow cannot propel its arrow to the target; it depicts Israel’s futility apart from God (see 7:8, 11).”

“return: Hos 6:4, Hos 8:14, Hos 11:7; Psa 78:37; Jer 3:10; Luk 8:13, Luk 11:24-26 like: Psa 78:57 the rage: Hos 7:13; Psa 12:4, Psa 52:2, Psa 57:4, Psa 73:9; Isa 3:8; Jer 18:18; Mat 12:36; Jam 3:5; Pe2 2:8; Rev 13:5 this: Hos 8:13, Hos 9:3, Hos 9:6; Eze 23:32, Eze 36:20 Next: Hosea Chapter 8”