For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
He therefore says, I, I will take away, or, “tear,” or, “tear in pieces;” for שרף, shereph, properly means this, and it agrees better with the rest of the context. “I will then, as lions and young lions are wont to do, tear in pieces, limb from limb, the whole people.” Then he says, I will go away as a lion, who, after he has enjoyed his prey, departs a conqueror with more courage being not put to flight, for he is moved by no fear. So also the Prophet says, “Let the Assyrian king come, he will not constrain me to retreat, nor will he rescue the spoil from me: and when I shall be satiated with your destruction, I shall not then have any fear on account of the Assyrian king, that I should stealthily flee away, as foxes are wont to do; I will not craftily contend; but I will go forth openly, my violence will be sufficient to put him to flight: I will thus depart of my own accord; for your subsidies will occasion me no fear.I will take away, he says, and none shall rescue.” We now comprehend the whole meaning of the Prophet. 