11 Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird- no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
11 Ephraim's glory shall fly away like a bird-- no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
11 Ephraim is fickle and scattered, like a flock of blackbirds, their beauty dissipated in confusion and clamor, Frenetic and noisy, frigid and barren, and nothing to show for it - neither conception nor childbirth.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird-- No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception!
11 The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird, for your children will not be born or grow in the womb or even be conceived.
21 And she named the child Ichabod,
21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed
21 The Chest of God gone, father-in-law dead, husband dead, she named the boy Ichabod (Glory's-Gone),
21 Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel!" because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.
21 She named the child Ichabod (which means "Where is the glory?"), for she said, "Israel's glory is gone." She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead.
(Read 1 Samuel 4:19-22)
The wife of Phinehas seems to have been a person of piety. Her dying regret was for the loss of the ark, and the departure of the glory from Israel. What is any earthly joy to her that feels herself dying? No joy but that which is spiritual and divine, will stand in any stead then; death is too serious a thing to admit the relish of any earthly joy. What is it to one that is lamenting the loss of the ark? What pleasure can we take in our creature comforts and enjoyments, if we want God's word and ordinances; especially if we want the comfort of his gracious presence, and the light of his countenance? If God go, the glory goes, and all good goes. Woe unto us if he depart! But though the glory is withdrawn from one sinful nation, city, or village after another, yet it shall never depart altogether, but shines forth in one place when eclipsed in another.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Hosea 9:11
Commentary on Hosea 9:11-17
(Read Hosea 9:11-17)
God departs from a people, or from a person, when he withdraws his goodness and mercy from them; and when the Lord is departed, what can the creature do? Even though, for the present, good things seem to remain, yet the blessing is gone if God is gone. Even the children should perish with the parents. The Divine wrath dries up the root, and withers the fruit of all comforts; and the scattered Jews daily warn us to beware, lest we neglect or abuse the gospel. Yet every smiting is not a drying up of the root. It may be that God intends only to smite so that the sap may be turned to the root, that there may be more of root graces, more humility, patience, faith, and self-denial. It is very just that God should bring judgments on those who slight his offered mercy.