Isa 14:5, Hos 4:12 | JFB | STEP | 5. staff —not the scepter ( ), but the staff with which one strikes others, as he is speaking of more tyrants than one ( ) [MAURER ]. rulers —tyrants, as the parallelism "the wicked" proves (compare see on ).

Isaiah 14:5

5. staff—not the scepter (Ps 2:9), but the staff with which one strikes others, as he is speaking of more tyrants than one (Isa 9:4; 10:24; 14:29) [MAURER].

rulers—tyrants, as the parallelism "the wicked" proves (compare see on Isa 13:2).

Hosea 4:12

12. Instances of their understanding ("heart") being "taken away."

stocks—wooden idols (Jer 2:27; Hab 2:19).

staff—alluding to divination by rods (see on Eze 21:21, 22). The diviner, says ROSENMULLER, threw a rod from him, which was stripped of its bark on one side, not on the other: if the bare side turned uppermost, it was a good omen; if the side with the bark, it was a bad omen. The Arabs used two rods, the one marked God bids, the other, God forbids; whichever came out first, in drawing them out of a case, gave the omen for, or against, an undertaking.

declareth—that is, is consulted to inform them of future events.

spirit of whoredoms—a general disposition on the part of all towards idolatry (Ho 5:4).

err—go astray from the true God.

from under their God—They have gone away from God under whom they were, as a wife is under the dominion of her husband.