Hosea 9:10

“I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness, etc.] Not Jacob or Israel personally, with the few souls that went down with him into Egypt; for these died in Egypt, and never returned from thence, or came into the wilderness to be found; nor Israel in a spiritual sense, the objects of electing, redeeming, and calling grace; though it may be accommodated to them, who in their nature state are as in a wilderness, in a forlorn, hopeless, helpless, and uncomfortable condition; in which the Lord finds them, seeking them by his Son in redemption, and by his Spirit in the effectual calling; when they are like grapes, not in themselves, being destitute of all good, and having nothing but sin and…”

“As the traveller in a wilderness is delighted at finding grapes to quench his thirst, or the early fig (esteemed a great delicacy in the East, Isa 28:4; Jer 24:2; Mic 7:1); so it was My delight to choose your fathers as My peculiar people in Egypt (Hos 2:15). at her first time--when the first-fruits of the tree become ripe. went to Baal-peor-- (Num 25:3): the Moabite idol, in whose worship young women prostituted themselves; the very sin Israel latterly was guilty of. separated themselves--consecrated themselves. unto that shame--to that shameful or foul idol (Jer 11:13). their abominations were according as they loved--rather, as Vulgate, "they became abominable like the object of their…”

“I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness - God is not said to find anything, as though “He” had lost it, or knew not where it was, or came suddenly upon it, not expecting it. “They” were lost, as relates to Him, when they were found by Him. As our Lord says of the returned prodigal, “This my son was lost and is found” Luke 15:32. He “found” them and made them pleasant in His own sight, “as grapes which a man finds unexpectedly, in “a great terrible wilderness of fiery serpents and drought” Deuteronomy 8:15, where commonly nothing pleasant or refreshing grows; or “as the first ripe in the fig-tree at her fresh time,” whose sweetness passed into a proverb, both from its own freshness and…”

“I found Israel - The Lord speaks of himself in the person of a traveller, who unexpectedly in the wilderness finds a vine loaded with grapes; such love did God bear to Israel. Your fathers - Whom I brought out of Egypt. As the first - ripe - As the earliest ripe fruit of the fig - tree, which is most valued and desired. Separated themselves - Consecrated themselves to that shameful idol. Their abominations - Their idols, and way of worshipping them. As they loved - As they fancied. Hosea 9:11”

“9:10 when I first found you: Hosea, like Ezekiel (Ezek 16), speaks of the Lord’s finding and adopting chaste, innocent Israel in the desert. But Israel soon deserted God for idols at Baal-peor (Num 25:1-4). Participation in idolatry had made the Israelites vile. This strong word can also be translated “detestable” (Deut 29:17) or “Abominable” (Jer 7:30). They inevitably resembled what they worshiped.”

“found: Hos 11:1; Exo 19:4-6; Deu 32:10; Jer 2:2, Jer 2:3, Jer 31:2 grapes: Hos 2:15; Num 13:23, Num 13:24; Isa 28:4; Mic 7:1 but: Num. 25:3-18; Deu 4:3; Psa 106:28 separated: Hos 4:14; Jdg 6:32; Kg1 16:31; Jer 11:13; Rom 6:21 and their: Num 15:39; Deu 32:17; Psa 81:12; Jer 5:31; Eze 20:8; Amo 4:5 Hosea 9:11”

“Hos 9:10. "I found Israel like grapes in the desert, I saw your fathers like early fruit on the fig-tree in the first shooting; but they came to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to shame, and became abominations like their lover." Grapes in the desert and early figs are pleasant choice fruits to whoever finds them. This figure therefore indicates the peculiar pleasure which Jehovah found in the people of Israel when He led them out of Egypt, or the great worth which they had in His eyes when He chose them for the people of His possession, and concluded a covenant with them at Sinai (Theod., Cyr.). Bammidbâr (in the desert) belongs, so far as its position is concerned, to ‛ănâbhı̄m:…”