to say I have to say that you are no longer fit for me, for so is the way of one who sends away his wife and she goes away, etc.

But you have played the harlot [with] many lovers With many lovers. Nevertheless, return to Me.

yet return to me Heb. ושוב, lit. and to return to me, like עשות, to do, and to return to Me, I long for you.

rivulets rivulets of water.

you were not lain with Heb. שלגת, an expression of a פילגש a concubine.

you sat for them to be prepared to greet them.

like an Arab A tent dweller, who is always found outside in the deserts, and because of this, he is called ערבי since he dwells in the ערבה, the plain.

and the latter rain The rain that falls in Nissan on the ears (מלילות) and the straws (קשים). מלקוש is (tardif in O.F.).

Will you not from now If only you repent of your evil and call me “My Father.” If you do so, will your Lord bear a grudge forever for what you have sinned? Will He keep it to eternity? He will not keep it.

Behold, you have spoken with your mouth, “We will no longer come to You,” and that evil you will do, and you will not give any thought of returning.

and you were able And you prevailed in rebelling with a victorious and irrefutable reply.

In the days of King Josiah when He commanded me to bring back the Ten Tribes, “Have you seen what the backsliding Israel has done? משבה is the same as שובבה, (envejjsede in O.F).

Israel The Ten Tribes.

she goes i.e., when she was still on her land before she was exiled in the days of Hezekiah with Hoshea son of Elah.

הלכה means, she would go on every lofty mountain.

and she played the harlot there i.e., she played the harlot by worshipping idols. וַתִּזְנִי is the equivalent of וַתִּזֶן, the ‘yod’ being superfluous.

And I said through My prophets, Amos and Hosea son of Beeri and the other prophets, “You shall return to Me.”

And her treacherous sister Judah saw it i.e., saw all this. The appellation “treacherous” is harsher than “backsliding.” Israel, since they were the first to sin, and they did not see any retribution from which to learn and to repent, are called “backsliding.” Judah, who saw that these went in exile and did not receive correction, are called “treacherous.”

And I saw, because of all that backsliding Israel had committed adultery The signs of the intonation of this verse teach us its explanation. ישראל is punctuated with a ‘zakef-katan,’ separated from שלחתיה, I sent her away. שלחתיה, I sent her away, is punctuated with a ‘zakef-gadol’ by itself. And this is its explanation: I saw; i.e., I contemplated her to exact punishment upon her. And why? Because of all that backsliding Israel had committed adultery. And what was My vengeance? I sent her away from before Me. And treacherous Judah did not fear when she saw the retribution of Samaria, to set her heart to repent.

and she committed adultery with the stones Jonathan paraphrases: And she strayed with the worshippers of stones and wood. And Jonathan renders מִקֹל as an expression of lightness, since her idols were light in her eyes.

And yet for all this that they saw the misfortune of the retribution of their companions.

but falsely Josiah’s generation would show themselves as righteous although they were wicked. They would make forms of pagan deities on the inside of their doors, half on this door and half on this one, and when the destroyers of idols would inspect, the door would be open, and they would not notice it.

has proved herself more righteous She has been cleared and she has freed herself from an unfavorable verdict, for she had no one to learn from.

Go and proclaim, etc. Go, as the Targum renders, אזיל, the imperative form. Here he commanded him to go and bring back the Ten Tribes during the days of Josiah, as he states above that during the days of Josiah this prophecy was said to him and some of them returned in the eighteenth year of Josiah.

to the north To the places where they were exiled there to Assyria.

My anger My anger, so did Jonathan render it.

you have rebelled Heb. פשעת.

and you have scattered your ways This is an expression of harlotry, spreading the legs to the woman’s private parts.

backsliding children (Envasec in O.F.) That you perverted your way because of much good, that you enjoyed tranquility and pleasure, as Scripture states: They hum snatches of song to the tune of the lute (Amos 6:5), those who drink from bowls of wine (v. 6).

for I possessed you and you are called by My name, that I am your Master, and it is not honorable for Me to leave you in the hands of My enemies.

they will no longer say, “The ark of the Lord’s covenant” For your entire assembly will be holy, and I will dwell therein as though it were an ark.

nor shall they remember it Heb. יפקדו, like יזכרוּ, remember or mention.

nor shall it be done anymore i.e., it shall not be done what was done with it already in Shiloh, that they brought it into the battle with the Philistines in the days of Eli.

shall gather Heb. ונקוו, an expression of: מקוה מים, a gathering of water.

the idea of an expression of seeing. Comp. אשורנו “I see him” (Num. 24:17).

the house of Judah will go with the house of Israel They will join them and they will be added to them to be one kingdom.

And I said to Myself, etc. and therefore, I caused your forefathers to inherit them.

How shall I place you among the sons? i.e., how shall I place you, my congregation and My nation, among the other sons, mingled with the heathens. I, therefore, selected a handsome portion, and I gave you a desirable land.

the beauty of hosts of nations The beauty of all the hosts of nations.

Truly But you did not live up to My expectations [lit., do My thought], but like a woman who betrays her beloved because he cannot provide her sustenance, so did you betray Me, Who provides you with all good. So is the Midrash Aggadah (Tanhuma Mishpatim 17).

A voice on the rivulets is heard It is likely to be heard.

Here we are, we have come to You The prophet teaches them to confess and to say as follows, “Here we are, we have come to You... Truly, in vain... But the shameful thing has consumed, etc., Let us lie in our shame.” All this is the language of the prayer that the prophet teaches them to say.

We have come אתנו.

Truly, in vain we awaited from the hills and the multitude of mountains where we worshipped idols.

Truly in truth.

But the shameful thing The idolatry with which we occupied ourselves, as Scripture states. “And they turned aside to the shameful thing” (Hosea 9:10).

consumed the toil of our fathers Because of the iniquity of its worship, our toil was pillaged.