For they have sown the wind, &c.— Because they have sown the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind: The stalk shall be without grain: It shall yield no meal; and if it yield it, strangers shall devour it. These proverbial expressions are used to signify that the rewards of men will always be according to their works. Jehovah, Jesus, whose right it is to judge, hath thus determined. They who sow iniquity, shall reap vanity. All the pains which the kings of Israel have taken to enrich themselves, and to strengthen their kingdom, being built on the foundation of apostacy and idolatry, shall prove like a blasted crop of corn; the small increase whereof, if there be any, shall become a prey to their enemy. See Lowth and Houbigant.
The first clause of this 7th verse, observes Bishop Horsley, predicts generally the dispersion of the ten tribes, and the demolition of their monarchy by the force of the Assyrian, represented under the image of a scattering wind and destroying whirlwind. The following clauses describe the progressive steps of the calamity, in an inverted order. "There shall be no stem belonging to him:" Nothing standing erect and visible in the field; that is, the nation shall be ultimately so utterly extinguished, that it shall not be to be found upon the surface of the earth. But before this utter ruin takes place, it shall be impoverished, and reduced to great weakness. For "the ear," upon the stem yet standing, shall be an ear of empty husks, "yielding no meal." The nation shall not thrive in wealth or power. "And what perchance it may yield, strangers shall consume." Before the extreme decay, represented by the barren ear, takes place; its occasional temporary successes, in its last struggles, will all be for the enrichment and aggrandizement of foreign allies, at last the conquerors of the country.