Hosea 8:7

“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind, etc.] The sense is, the Israelites took a great deal of pains in the idolatrous worship of the calves, and made a great stir, bustle, and noise in it, like the wind; were very vainglorious and ostentatious, made a great show of religion and devotion, and promised themselves great things from it, peace and plenty, wealth and riches, all prosperity and happiness, enjoyed by Heathen nations; but this was lost labour, it was labouring for the wind, or sowing that; they got nothing by it, or what was worse than nothing; it proved not only useless, but hurtful, to them; for, for their idolatry, and continuance in it, the whirlwind of…”

“sown . . . reap-- (Pro 22:8; Gal 6:7). "Sow . . . wind," that is, to make the vain show of worship, while faith and obedience are wanting [CALVIN]. Rather, to offer senseless supplications to the calves for good harvests (compare Hos 2:8); the result being that God will make them "reap no stalk," that is, "standing corn." Also, the phraseology proverbially means that all their undertakings shall be profitless (Pro 11:29; Ecc 5:16). the bud--or, "growth." strangers--foreigners (Hos 7:9).”

“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind - “They shall reap,” not merely as “they have sown,” but with an awful increase. They sowed folly and vanity, and shall reap, not merely emptiness and disappointment, but sudden, irresistible destruction. “They sowed the wind,” and, as one seed bringeth forth many, so the wind, “penn’d up,” as it were, in this destructive tillage, should “burst forth again, reinforced in strength, in mightier store and with great violence.” Thus they “reaped the whirlwind,” yea, (as the word means) “a mighty whirlwind”. But the whirlwind which they reap doth not belong to “them;” rather they belong to it, blown away by it, like chaff, the sport…”

“Sown the wind - A proverbial speech to denote lost labour. Whirlwind - A tempest, which destroyeth all that is in its way; an emblem of the wrath of God. No stalk - All your dependance on idols, and foreign assistance, will be as seed that bear neither stalk nor bud. No meal - Or suppose it produced stalk and bud, yet the bud shall be blasted, and never yield meal. Hosea 8:9”

“8:7 When Hosea proclaimed divine judgment, the punishment fit the crime (see study note on 4:10). Through their idolatry and political intrigue, the Israelites had planted the seeds of their own destruction (see Gal 6:7).”

“sown: Hos 10:12; Job 4:8; Pro 22:8; Ecc 5:16; Gal 6:7 it hath: Isa 17:11; Jer 12:13 stalk: or, standing corn the strangers: Hos 7:9; Deu 28:33; Jdg 6:3-6; Kg2 13:3-7, Kg2 15:19, Kg2 15:29 Hosea 8:8”

“This will Israel reap from its ungodly conduct. Hos 8:7. "For they sow wind, and reap tempest: it has no stalks; shoot brings no fruit; and even if it brought it, foreigners would devour it." With this figure, which is so frequently and so variously used (cf. Hos 10:13; Hos 12:2; Job 4:8; Pro 22:8), the threat is accounted for by a general thought taken from life. The harvest answers to the sowing (cf. Gal 6:7-8). Out of the wind comes tempest. Wind is a figurative representation of human exertions; the tempest, of destruction. Instead of rūăch we have און, עמל, עולה (nothingness, weariness, wickedness) in Hos 10:13; Job 4:8, and Pro 22:8. In the second hemistich the figure is carried out…”