Hosea 8:1

“[Set] the trumpet to thy mouth, etc.] Or, “the trumpet to the roof of thy mouth”f142; a concise expression denoting haste, and the vehemence of the passions speaking; they are either the words of the Lord to the prophet, as the Targum, “O prophet, cry with thy throat as with a trumpet, saying;” Aben Ezra take them to be the words of the Lord the prophet, and the sense agrees with (<235801>Isaiah 58:1). The prophet is here considered as a watchman, and is called upon to blow his trumpet; either to call the people together, “as an eagle to the house of the Lord”f143, as the next clause may be connected with this; that is, to come as swiftly to the house of the Lord, and hear what he had to say…”

“PROPHECY OF THE IRRUPTION OF THE ASSYRIANS, IN PUNISHMENT FOR ISRAEL'S APOSTASY, IDOLATRY, AND SETTING UP OF KINGS WITHOUT GOD'S SANCTION. (Hos 8:1-14) In Hos 8:14, Judah is said to multiply fenced cities; and in Hos 8:7-9, Israel, to its great hurt, is said to have gone up to Assyria for help. This answers best to the reign of Menahem. For it was then that Uzziah of Judah, his contemporary, built fenced cities (Ch2 26:6, Ch2 26:9-10). Then also Israel turned to Assyria and had to pay for their sinful folly a thousand talents of silver (Kg2 15:19) [MAURER]. Set the trumpet, &c.--to give warning of the approach of the enemy: "To thy palate (that is, 'mouth,' Job 31:30, Margin) the trumpet";…”

“The trumpet to thy mouth! - So God bids the prophet Isaiah, “Cry aloud, spare not, llft up thy voice like a trumpet” Isaiah 58:1. The prophets, as watchmen, were set by God to give notice of His coming judgments Ezekiel 33:3; Amos 3:6. As the sound of a war-trumpet would startle a sleeping people, so would God have the prophet’s warning burst upon their sleep of sin. The ministers of the Church are called to be “watchmen” . “They too are forbidden to keep a cowardly silence, when “the house of the Lord” is imperilled by the breach of the covenant or violation of the law. If fear of the wicked or false respect for the great silences the voice of those whose office it is to “cry aloud,” how…”

“Set the trumpet - The Lord here commands the prophet to publish, as by sound of trumpet, that which God will bring upon apostate Israel. He - The king of Assyria. As an eagle - Swift, hungry, surmounting all difficulties. House of the Lord - The family of Israel, the Israelites church. Hosea 8:2”

“8:1 Sound the alarm: The ram’s horn trumpet (shofar) called the people to worship (Ps 98:6); it was also (as here) the signal for battle (2 Sam 20:1). God was sending an enemy, the Assyrians, to execute his judgment on Israel. • revolted against my law: God’s law (Hebrew torah) is much more than the sum of the individual laws in the Pentateuch. It represents the totality of God’s instruction to his people through his words and his deeds. Loving fulfillment of the Torah was Israel’s part of the covenant. They had broken God’s commandments, and they had turned aside from their covenant relationship with the Lord.”

“the trumpet: Hos 5:8; Isa 18:3, Isa 58:1; Jer 4:5, Jer 6:1, Jer 51:27; Eze 7:14, Eze 33:3-6; Joe 2:1, Joe 2:15; Amo 3:6; Zep 1:16; Zac 9:14; Co1 15:52 thy mouth: Heb. the roof of thy mouth as: Deu 28:49; Jer 4:13, Jer 48:40; Hab 1:8; Mat 24:28 the house: Hos 9:15; Kg2 18:27; Amo 8:3, Amo 9:1; Zac 11:1 transgressed: Hos 6:7; Isa 24:5; Jer 31:32; Eze 16:59; Heb 8:8-13 Hosea 8:2”

“The prophecy rises with a vigorous swing, as in Hos 5:8, to the prediction of judgment. Hos 5:1. "The trumpet to thy mouth! Like an eagle upon the house of Jehovah! Because they transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. Hos 5:2. To me will they cry: My God, we know Thee, we Israel!" The first sentence of Hos 5:1 is an exclamation, and therefore has no verb. The summons issues from Jehovah, as the suffixes in the last sentences show, and is addressed to the prophet, who is to blow the trumpet, as the herald of Jehovah, and give the people tidings of the approaching judgment (see at Hos 5:8). The second sentence gives the alarming message to be delivered: like an eagle comes the…”