As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
As for Ephraim, thee glory shall fly away. Fit retribubution to these who "separated themselves unto that shame" (Hosea 9:10). Children were accounted the glory of parents; sterility a reproach. "Ephraim" means fruitfulness (Genesis 41:52, margin); this its name shall cease to be its characteristic.
From the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. Ephraim's children shall perish in a threefold gradation-
(1) From the birth;
(2) From the time of pregnancy;
(3) From the time of their first conception.
Compare the threefold stages of failure in their produce of the earth --
(1) "It hath no stalk;
(2) The bud shall yield no meal;
(3) If so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up" (Hosea 8:7).