It also will be carried to Assyria for a present to a great king. Ephraim will receive shame, And Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel.
Unto Assyria, for a present to king Jareb - (or to a hostile or strifeful king. See the note above at Hosea 5:13.) Perhaps the name “Jareb” designates the Assyrian by that which was a characteristic of their empire, love of “strife.” The history of their kings, as given by themselves in the newly-found inscriptions, is one warfare. To that same king, to whom they sent for aid in their weakness, from whom they hoped for help, and whom God named as what He knew and willed him to be to them, “hostile, strifeful,” and “an avenger,” should the object of their idolatry be carried in triumph. They had trusted in the calf and in the Assyrians. The Assyrian, to whom they looked as the protector of their liberties, was to carry away their other trust, their god .