It shall come to pass; most certainly this shall be effected. At that day; when my vengeance hath overtaken the house of Jehu, when his great-great-grandson shall be slain. I will break; weaken, and by degrees quite break, i.e. by the conspiracies, seditions, and civil wars which will arise among themselves. The bow: this was a warlike weapon they much used and were skilful in; this one weapon put for all their warlike provision, power, and skill; possibly it may allude to the bow of Jehu, who slew Joram with an arrow, and usurped his throne, but now the bow of the house of Jehu and of Israel shall be broken. Of Israel: see Hosea 1:4. In the valley of Jezreel: next to Samaria, Jezreel was chief city of the ten tribes, a very strong and fortified town, and both situated in the large and pleasant valley that hath from Joshua's time been known by this name, valley of Jezreel, Joshua 17:16. In this valley it is probable the bloodiest battles in the civil wars were fought, between Zachariah and Shallum, 2 Kings 15:10, and between Shallum and Menahem, 2 Kings 15:14; between Pekahiah and Pekah, 2 Kings 15:25, and Pekah and Hoshea; the reason whereof probably might be this, because whoever carried the victory in this place were soon masters of Samaria and Jezreel, and consequently carried the kingdom too.
Related Commentaries of Hosea 1:5
Hosea 1:5
5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.