15. In Gilgal. See on 4:15.
I hated them. It is a fearful thing when our sins provoke God’s hatred, and severe will be those judgments which are the effects of this hatred. However, we may rest assured that although God hates the sin, He still loves the sinner (SC 54). If the sinner will not separate himself from his iniquity, he must someday reckon with the divine abhorrence of evil that brings the final destruction of sin. Ephraim’s sin was no common sin, no sin of ignorance. It was a sin against the full light of God’s will and therefore worthy of the greater condemnation (see Luke 12:47, 48).
Mine house. Compare “my land” (see on 3).
Love them no more. This of course applies only to the nation as a whole. It does not refer to individuals, many of whom remained true to the Lord and His ways. There were many such in Israel, and God loved them, as He always has and will (see 1 Kings 19:18; 2 Chron. 16:9; Rom. 8:35-39; PK 292).
All their princes. This shows how utterly hopeless the spiritual condition of the northern kingdom was, for not one of its kings did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. How tragic that this nation, which should have been a light to the Gentiles (see Isa. 49:6), became a land of spiritual darkness. For further comment see 30-33.