“Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early.
O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee?.... Or, "for thee" (x)? The Lord having observed the effect and consequence of his going and returning to his place, of his leaving his people for a long time under afflictions and in distress; namely, their thorough conversion to him in the latter day, and the blessings attending it...
Their goodness vanishes like morning mist and early dew, they were unstable, unsteady as water. God asks what He can do with them not from perplexity but to show how absurd and unreasonable they were. He had tried every method; He was loath to extremity; but what else could He do when He could not in honour save them?
AI summary
Commenting on Hosea 6:4-11
O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness [is] as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. (c) You seem to have a certain holiness and repentance, but it is very sudden, and as a morning cloud.