For the Israelites
This phrase refers to the chosen people of God, the descendants of Jacob, who were set apart to be a holy nation. The term "Israelites" is deeply rooted in the covenantal relationship established between God and the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Historically, the Israelites were a people who experienced both the blessings of obedience and the consequences of disobedience. In this context, they are being reminded of their identity and the impending period of separation from their traditional religious and political structures.

must live many days
The phrase "must live many days" indicates a prolonged period of time. In the Hebrew context, this suggests a divinely ordained duration, emphasizing God's sovereignty over time and history. This period is not just a temporary setback but a significant epoch in Israel's history, where they are to endure the absence of their usual societal and religious norms. It is a time of waiting and reflection, meant to bring about repentance and renewal.

without king or prince
This highlights the absence of political leadership and governance. In ancient Israel, the king and prince were not only political figures but also seen as representatives of God's authority on earth. The lack of a king or prince signifies a loss of national identity and stability. Historically, this can be linked to the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles, where Israel and Judah were left without their monarchs, symbolizing a period of judgment and divine discipline.

without sacrifice or sacred pillar
Sacrifices were central to Israelite worship, serving as a means of atonement and communion with God. The "sacred pillar" refers to the altars or standing stones used in worship, often associated with pagan practices that had infiltrated Israelite religion. The absence of these elements indicates a disruption in their religious practices, a call to purify their worship and return to the true worship of Yahweh. This period of absence is a divine intervention to cleanse and redirect the hearts of the people back to God.

without ephod or idol
The "ephod" was a priestly garment used in seeking divine guidance, while "idol" refers to the false gods that Israel often turned to in times of spiritual adultery. The absence of these items signifies a stripping away of both legitimate and illegitimate means of seeking divine favor. It is a call to abandon idolatry and to seek God with a pure heart. Historically, this reflects the period of exile when the Israelites were removed from their land and the temple, forcing them to confront their reliance on physical symbols rather than a genuine relationship with God.

(4) The prophet suddenly passes from his personal history to that of Israel, which it symbolised.

Without a king . . .--The isolation of Gomer's position pre-figured that of Israel in the exile. Her bitter experience was a parable of Israel's utter deprivation of all civil and religious privilege. There was to be no king, or prince, or sacred ritual of any kind. Observe that the terms of both cultus are here intermingled, suggesting the idolatrous conceptions of the pure ancient practice which Jeroboam's calf-worship was only too likely to introduce. By "image" we are to understand upright stones, representing Baal or the sun-god. (Comp. Hosea 10:1 and Exodus 24:4.) On "ephod," see Judges 17:5; Judges 18:14; Judges 18:17-20; on "teraphim," Genesis 31:19-35; 1Samuel 19:13-16; Ezekiel 21:21; Zechariah 10:2. In the last two passages the word is translated "idols," "images," their use as instruments of divination being condemned. . . .

Verse 4. - For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and teraphim. For a long series of years they were thus doomed to be without civil polity, or ecclesiastical privilege, or prophetic intimations. More particularly they were to remain without royal rule, or princely power, or priestly function, or prophetic instruction. As the prophet's wife was neither to be, strictly speaking, her husband's nor yet belong to another man; so Israel, as represented by her, was destined to be deprived of independent self-government and princely sovereignty; of Divine service, whether allowed as by sacrifice - the central part of Hebrew worship - or disallowed as by statue; of oracular responses, whether lawful as by the ephod or unlawful as by teraphim. There was thus an entire breaking up of Church and state as they had long existed; of all civil and ecclesiastical relations and privileges as they had been long enjoyed. Without a king of their own nationality to sit upon the throne, or a prince of their own race as heir apparent to the kingdom, or princes as the great officers of state; without offering by sacrifice to Jehovah, or statue by way of memorial to Baal; without means of ascertaining the will of Heaven in relation to the future by the Urim and Thummim of the high-priestly ephod, only the more than questionable means of soothsaying by the teraphim; - the children of Israel were to be left. And what attaches special importance to this remarkable passage is the undeniable tact that these predictions were uttered, not only before the dissolution of the monarchy and the cessation of sacrifices, but at a time when no human sagacity could foresee and no human power foretell the future abstention of the Hebrew race from idol-worship so long practiced, and from heathenish divination resorted to from such an early period of their history. Rashi, in his comment, has the following: "I said to her, Many days shalt thou abide for me; thou shalt not go a-whoring after other gods; for if thou shalt play the harlot, thy sons shall remain many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice in the sanctuary in Judah, and without a statue of Baal in Samaria of the kings of Israel, and without an ephod with Urim and Thummim which declared to them secrets, and without teraphim; they are images that are made with the observation of one hour composed for the purpose, and which speak of themselves and declare secrets; and so Jonathan has translated, "Neither will there be an ephod nor one to give a response.'" Similarly Aben Ezra: "Without king, nor is there any objection from the Chasmoneans, for they were not of the children of Judah... without sacrifice to Jehovah nor statue to Baal, without ephod to Jehovah and without teraphim to the worshippers of idols, which Laban called his gods." It is a matter of much consequence that some of the ablest of the Jewish expositors realize these predictions as applicable to their own case and the existing circumstances of their nation. Thus Kimchi, in commenting on this verse, says, "These are the days of the exile in which we are this day, and we have neither king nor prince of Israel, for we are in the power of the Gentiles, and in the power of their kings and princes... no sacrifice to God and no statue for worshippers of idols... and no ephod which shall declare future things by Urim and Thummim, and no teraphim for idolaters which declare the future according to the notion of those who believe in them; and thus we are this day in this exile, all the children of Israel;" he then cites the Targum of Jonathan in confirmation of his sentiments. For the ephod, comp. Exodus 28:6-14, from which we learn that it was "a short cloak, covering shoulders and breast, wrought with colors and gold, formed of two halves connected by two shoulder-pieces, on each of which was an onyx engraved with six names of tribes, and held together round the waist by a girdle of the same material;" it was part of the high priest's attire. The teraphim - from the Arabic tarifa, to live comfortably, and turfator, a comfortable life, were the household gods and domestic oracles, like the Roman penates, and deriving the name from being thought the givers and guardians of a comfortable life, חֶרֶפ. They were images in human form and stature, either graven of wood or stone (pesel), or molten out of precious metal (mas-sekhah). The first mention of them is in Genesis 31:19, and the name occurs fifteen times in the Old Testament. They appear to have been of Syrian or Chaldean origin. Aben Ezra says of them, "What appears to me most probable is that they had a human form and were made for the purpose of receiving supernal power, nor can I explain it further." The two principal species of offerings were the זבח, or bloody sacrifice, and the מנחה, or unbloody oblation. The former comprehended those entirely burnt on the altar, עֹלָח rad. עלה, to ascend, from going up entirely in the altar-smoke; and חלב, or those of which only the fat was burnt. According to the object of the offerer, they were chattah, sin offering, pointing to expiation or pardon for something done demanding punishment; or asham, trespass offering, implying satisfaction and acceptance, or something undone demanding amends; and shelamim, peace offerings.

Parallel Commentaries ...


For
כִּ֣י ׀ (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

the Israelites
בְּנֵ֣י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

must live
יֵֽשְׁבוּ֙ (yê·šə·ḇū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

many
רַבִּ֗ים (rab·bîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 7227: Much, many, great

days
יָמִ֣ים (yā·mîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117: A day

without
אֵ֥ין (’ên)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

king
מֶ֙לֶךְ֙ (me·leḵ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king

or prince,
שָׂ֔ר (śār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8269: Chieftain, chief, ruler, official, captain, prince

without
וְאֵ֣ין (wə·’ên)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

sacrifice
זֶ֖בַח (ze·ḇaḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2077: A slaughter, the flesh of an animal, a sacrifice

or
וְאֵ֣ין (wə·’ên)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

sacred pillar,
מַצֵּבָ֑ה (maṣ·ṣê·ḇāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4676: Something stationed, a column, an idol

and without
וְאֵ֥ין (wə·’ên)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

ephod
אֵפ֖וֹד (’ê·p̄ō·wḏ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 646: A girdle, the ephod, highpriest's shoulder-piece, an image

or idol.
וּתְרָפִֽים׃ (ū·ṯə·rā·p̄îm)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 8655: (a kind of idol) perhaps household idol


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OT Prophets: Hosea 3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide (Ho Hs Hos.)