Hosea 9:14

“Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give them? etc.] The prophet foreseeing the butchery and destruction of their children, his heart ached for them; and, to show his tender affection for this people, was desirous of putting up a supplication for them; but was at a loss what to ask, their sins were so many, and so aggravated, and the decree gone forth for their destruction: or, “give them what thou wilt give them”f182; so Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, what thou hast threatened before to give them, (<280911>Hosea 9:11); do not give them to be butchered and murdered before the eyes of their parents by their enemies; but rather let them die in the womb, or as soon as born; so it follows: give…”

“what wilt thou give?--As if overwhelmed by feeling, he deliberates with God what is most desirable. give . . . a miscarrying womb--Of two evils he chooses the least. So great will be the calamity, that barrenness will be a blessing, though usually counted a great misfortune (Job 3:3; Jer 20:14; Luk 23:29).”

“Give them a miscarrying womb - The prophet prays for Israel, and debates with himself what he can ask for, amid this their determined wickedness, and God’s judgments. Since “Ephraim” was “to bring forth children to the murderer,” then it was mercy to ask for them, that they might have no children. Since such are the evils which await their children, grant them, O Lord, as a blessing, the sorrows of barrenness. What God had before pronounced as a punishment, should, as compared to other evils, be a mercy, and an object of prayer. So our Lord pronounces as to the destruction of Jerusalem. “Behold the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never…”

“Give then - It is an abrupt but pathetic speech of one that shews his trouble for a sinking, undone nation. A miscarrying womb - It is less misery to have none, than to have all our children murdered. Hosea 9:15”

“what: Hos 9:13, Hos 9:16; Mat 24:19; Mar 13:17; Luk 21:23, Luk 23:29; Co1 7:26 a miscarrying womb: Heb. a womb that casteth the fruit, Job 21:10 Hosea 9:15”