Hosea — Chapter 8

Ipsi regnaverunt et non ex me

'They have reigned and not by me.' À Lapide applies this to all rulers who claim authority without divine sanction, and to schismatic religious leaders. The silver and gold made into idols reflects the perversion of God's gifts to sinful ends. He draws on Augustine's De Civitate Dei in distinguishing the city of God from the earthly city.