He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.
Here the Prophet denounces a new punishment, that the people in vain hoped that Egypt would be a place of refuge or an asylum to them; for the Lord would draw them away to another quarter. For the Israelites had cherished this hope, that if by any chance the Assyrians should be too powerful for them, there would yet be a suitable refuge for them...
When Israel was weak and helpless as children, God set His love upon them and bore them as a nurse bears the sucking child. Those whom God loves He calls out of bondage into the glorious liberty of His children.
AI summary
Commenting on Hosea 11:1-7
He shall not return into the land of Egypt,.... Ephraim or Israel, the ten tribes: and the Septuagint and Arabic versions express them by name, though they give a wrong sense of the words, rendering them, "and Ephraim dwelt in Egypt"; he did so indeed with the other tribes formerly; but here it is said he shall not go thither again to be a captive...