As for Ephraim, or, Ephraim! their glory shall fly away like a bird What they make their boast of so much shall depart from them. The fruitfulness of their women seems to be the thing here spoken of. From the birth Their children shall die soon after they are born; from the womb They shall be untimely births, or abortions; and from the conception They shall not even be conceived as they were wont to be. Dr. Wheeler renders this clause, They shall not bring forth, nor bear in the womb, nor conceive. Though they bring up, &c. If some of them happen to bring up their children to a state of youth, or manhood, yet will I bereave them Yet still shall they be deprived of them, for they shall be slain in war, or carried away captive. Yea, wo also to them when I depart from them They shall suffer still greater and greater miseries when I wholly withdraw my protection from them, Deuteronomy 31:17; 2 Kings 17:18-23. Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place The situation of Ephraim, and particularly of the royal city, Samaria, is as pleasant as that of Tyre: see Ezekiel 27:3. But Ephraim shall bring forth, &c., to the murderer Shall be obliged to deliver up his children to his enemies. Instead of Tyre, some interpreters render the word צור , a rock, which it generally signifies, and translate the passage, Ephraim, which, when I looked upon him, was as a rock planted in a pleasant place, shall bring forth, &c. So Houbigant, and to the same sense Newcome and Horsley.
Related Commentaries of Hosea 9:11
Hosea 9:11-13
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.