Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
gone . . . to Assyria—referring to Menahem's application for Pul's aid in establishing him on the throne (compare Hosea 5:13; Hosea 7:11). Menahem's name is read in the inscriptions in the southwest palace of Nimrod, as a tributary to the Assyrian king in his eighth year. The dynasty of Pul, or Phalluka, was supplanted at Nineveh by that of Tiglath-pileser, about 768 (or 760) BC Semiramis seems to have been Pul's wife, and to have withdrawn to Babylon in 768; and her son, Nabonassar, succeeding after a period of confusion, originated "the era of Nabonassar," 747 BC [G. V. SMITH]. Usually foreigners coming to Israel's land were said to "go up"; here it is the reverse, to intimate Israel's sunken state, and Assyria's superiority.
wild ass—a figure of Israel's headstrong perversity in following her own bent (Jeremiah 2:24).
alone by himself—characteristic of Israel in all ages: "lo, the people shall dwell alone" (Numbers 23:9; compare Job 39:5-8).
hired lovers—reversing the ordinary way, namely, that lovers should hire her (Ezekiel 16:33-34).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Hosea 8:9:
2 Kings 15:19
Isaiah 14:31
Isaiah 30:6
Ezekiel 23:5
Hosea 8:1
Hosea 8:1
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