INTRODUCTION
1. Historical Background
Hosea, prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel, ministered in the stirring days just preceding the Fall of Assyria. When he began his work, one would not have thought the end was near. Jeroboam II (793–753 B.C.; cf. 2Ki 14:23–29) was the ruler, and a strong one. He had established approximately the same boundaries on the east and north of his country that had been held in the empire days of David and Solomon. This success had given him a remarkable position of influence along the entire Mediterranean coastland. Similarly, Uzziah, king of Judah, a contemporary of Jeroboam for thirty-seven years, had expanded his territory to a size nearly that of the southern boundary in the earlier period. Together Israel and Judah almost reduplicated the area held by Israel’s two greatest rulers.
Before the accession of Jeroboam II, the situation had been quite a different one. Because of military attacks by Assyria and Syria, Israel had been brought to abject humiliation. During the reign of Jehoahaz (Jeroboam’s grandfather), the strength of Israel’s army had fallen to only “fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers.” The king of Syria had “destroyed the rest, and made them like the dust at threshing time” (2Ki 13:7). Recovery had begun with Jeroboam’s father, Jehoash, who had defeated the Syrians three times (2Ki 13:25). Jeroboam had then been able to continue this resurgence and bring the country to the strong position noted.
Because of this recovery, Hosea’s generation knew of humiliating defeat and foreign oppression only through the memories of their fathers. By this time there had been peace for many years, and with it had come economic prosperity. The land was again producing abundantly (2Ch 26:10), and many people were becoming wealthy. Luxuries had become common. Building activity was flourishing (Hos 8:14), which led to a widespread feeling of pride (Am 3:15; 5:11; cf. Isa 9:10). Social and moral conditions developed that were wrong and degrading. Side by side with wealth, extreme poverty existed. Through dishonest gain and false balances, the strong took advantage of the weak (Hos 12:7; cf. Isa 5:8; Am 8:5–6). Justice seemed absent, and the courts apparently did little to help.
Religious conditions were no better. Though the pagan cult of Baal, brought into the land during the dynasty of Omri (1Ki 16:29–33), had been largely brought to an end (2Ki 10:19–28), many of its offensive features continued (Hos 2:8; 11:2; 13:1). Apparently sacred prostitution was still practiced (4:10–18). Also, the people still built “high places” and set up images and Asherah poles “on every high hill and under every spreading tree” (2Ki 17:7–12).
Amos had preceded Hosea in preaching against such sins, but the people paid little attention. Now it was Hosea’s turn, and he courageously spoke out against the evils of the day.
After the reign of Jeroboam II, Israel’s political fortunes declined rapidly. His son and successor, Zechariah (753 B.C.; cf. 2Ki 15:8–12), was killed by Shallum after reigning only six months. Shallum was in turn killed by Menahem after a rule of only one month (2Ki 15:13–15). Menahem (752–742 B.C.; cf. 2Ki 15:17–22) then ruled for ten years. The series of brief reigns resumed when his son Pekahiah (742–740 B.C.; cf. 2Ki 5:23–26) was killed by Pekah, one of his military leaders. Pekah was able to keep the throne for twenty years, until 732 B.C., with an overlapping reign of twelve years, from 752–740 (2Ki 15:27). His rule was marred by the crushing invasion of Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria in 733 B.C. The next Assyrian king, Shalmaneser V, marched into the region in 724 B.C. and put Samaria, its capital, under siege. The strong city held out for many months. Finally, however, when it capitulated in 722 B.C., many more Israelites were taken captive; and the sovereign days of Israel as a nation were over.
2. Authorship and Date
The author of this first book of the Minor Prophets was Hosea, son of Beeri (Hos 1:1). The book contains convincing evidence that he was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. While occasionally mentioning Judah, his messages were directed mainly to Israel. Hosea refers to the ruler in Samaria as “our king” (7:5); and he uses a number of Aramaisms, suggesting that the Aramaic-speaking state of Syria immediately to the north had a close influence on Israel.
Hosea dates his ministry by listing four kings of Judah (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah) and one of Israel (Jeroboam II), thus indicating his recognition that the Davidic line in Judah was the only legitimate one (2Sa 7:12–13). There are few clues to the date of his prophecies. For one thing, they were not given at the same time. The words about Hosea’s marriage and also the earliest prophecies must have been delivered prior to the death of Jeroboam II, because in 1:4 Hosea refers to the coming vengeance on the “house of Jehu” (of which Jeroboam was a member). This came with the assassination of Jeroboam’s son Zechariah six months after he began to reign (2Ki 15:8–12). Besides this, there are the references to contact with Assyria (e.g., 5:13; 8:9; 12:1), which point to the time of Menahem, who did negotiate with Tiglath-pileser III (2Ki 15:19–20). Finally, in 7:11 there is the reference to Israel’s dealing with Egypt and Assyria, which suggests that it was written in the days when Egypt was pitted by Israel against Assyria.
Hosea himself lived till the reign of Hezekiah (728–686 B.C). Because he did not specifically refer to Samaria’s fall to the Assyrians in 722 B.C., he probably had completed his writing before that time, but he certainly witnessed the fall of the northern kingdom. As there is no indication that he was taken captive, he doubtless remained in the land. His ministry was a long one, extending at least from 753 to 715 B.C.
3. Hosea’s Marriage
The marriage of Hosea has occasioned much discussion. In ch. 1, the Lord commanded him to take “an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness.” In ch. 3, the Lord told Hosea to love a woman though she was an adulteress. Hosea did this and made a payment of money and barley. The different views regarding the marriage may be divided into four principal types. The Hypothetical marriage view sees the marriage as never happening but understands it as either a vision or an allegory symbolic of the relation of God to unfaithful Israel. The literal marriage with Gomer unchaste view holds that the marriage did occur and that Gomer was already an unchaste person, possibly a temple prostitute. The spiritual infidelity view is that the situation is one of spiritual rather than physical infidelity. Gomer became unchaste because, like the Israelites of Hosea’s day, she became a worshiper of false gods.
The preferred view is the Literal marriage with Gomer chaste view, which holds that the marriage did indeed occur but that Gomer was chaste when married and only became adulterous later. Gomer was not a harlot at the time Hosea married her. Thus the ethical problem of his marrying an acknowledged harlot would not have existed. Perhaps the most convincing reason in favor of the preferred view is that it implies a significant parallel between Hosea’s marriage and God’s experience with Israel (cf. 1:2, 67, 9; 2:2–13). In the OT Israel is presented as having been chaste when espoused by God in the wilderness (Jer 2:2–3). Again and again God extended his love toward Israel, but she continually proved unfaithful herself to him.
4. Theological Values
The central thought of Hosea concerns God’s covenant with Israel that the people had broken. God had loved his people and called them his “son” (11:1; cf. Ex 4:22). Through the passing years, however, they had wandered away from God; and the more he had called after them, the further they went from him (11:2). They fell deep into sin, breaking the covenant God had graciously made with them. Hosea repeatedly describes the sins committed both by the people (4:1–2, 9–19; 6:4–11; et al.) and by the religious leaders (4:5–10). He used the forceful illustration of his unhappy marriage relationship to impress these truths on the minds of his readers.
Hosea’s principal significance lies in his sounding the call for Israel to repent of their sins. Other prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, had given earlier warnings. But Hosea’s warning was the last one. God had been patient, but that patience was wearing thin and crushing punishment would soon be necessary. This punishment would come in the form of desolation of the land (4:3; 5:1–15) and exile for the people.
The prophet included a note of joy in this otherwise somber picture. Israel’s future punishment would not spell the end; it would be followed by a glad time of restoration. Hosea characterized this time as one of true repentance on the part of the people (6:1–3) and of rich blessing at the hand of God (cf. 1:10; 2:14–15).
EXPOSITION
I. Israel’s Infidelity Illustrated (1:1–3:5)
A. Historical Setting (1:1)
1 This verse concerns matters of the historical background of this prophecy (cf. Introduction).
B. Marriage and Children of Hosea (1:2–9)
2 For a discussion of “an adulterous wife,” see Introduction. “Children of unfaithfulness” (lit., “of harlotries”) means children who would become like their mother. Often the influence of parents will have this kind of result in their children. That the nation was “guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD” sets forth the parallel between Hosea’s marriage and God’s relation to Israel. Gomer was chaste at the time of her marriage but became unfaithful after her marriage; similarly, Israel became unfaithful after God chose her, and her descendants then followed in the same pattern of life.
3 Hosea obeyed God’s command and married Gomer, though this was certainly not easy, knowing what Gomer would become. The text makes clear that the son that was now born was a proper son of the new marriage.
4 Three children were born to Hosea and Gomer, and each was given a symbolic name. “Jezreel” (the city where Jehu slaughtered the “house of Ahab,” 2Ki 9:7–10:28) looks to a future day when “the blood” Jehu then shed would be avenged. Although Jehu had done well in carrying out God’s directive (2Ki 9:1–10), he had sinned in killing more people than God had intended. The punishment for Jehu’s sin was to be the cessation of Israel as a nation (which occurred in 722 B.C.).
5 The bow symbolized power; thus a broken bow symbolized the loss of power. The “Valley of Jezreel” lay north of the city of Jezreel. To the west it merged into the Esdraelon Valley, both scenes of major battles through history. The prediction here is that this valley would see a significant stage in Israel’s final defeat, which came mainly in the campaign of Tiglath-pileser III (cf. Introduction).
6 “Lo-Ruhamah” means “not loved.” Prophetically, God would no longer show love to Israel but would bring judgment on her. The reason Israel had continued this long was that God had favored them. “I should at all forgive them” may also be rendered “I will utterly take them away [GK 5951],” suggesting the idea that “I will no longer show love toward the nation of Israel, but will instead violently carry her away in judgment.”
7 God would no more show love to Israel; yet he would continue to show love to Judah. These words were probably written during the reign of Uzziah in Judah—a “good” king (2Ki 15:3; 2Ch 26:4), the third of four “good” kings (Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham). That God referred to himself by name (“the LORD their God”) shows his desire to impress on Israel the name of their true God, whom they had forgotten. Judah’s hope was fixed in the Lord and therefore Judah would be spared.
8–9 That Gomer had her third child after the second was weaned is a detail that shows the narrative is historical and not allegorical or spiritual. “Lo-Ammi” means “not my people.” The people had departed from the Lord, going after other gods. Therefore Israel was disowned by God as his people; he would no longer be their God. The name Lo-Ruhamah spoke of not being loved; Lo-Ammi speaks of being fully disowned.
C. A Future Day of Hope (1:10–2:1)
10 Though in Hosea’s day God was disclaiming the Israelites as his people, in a day to come God would make their number “like the sand on the seashore.” God would carry out his promise to Abraham (Ge 22:17) despite the unfaithfulness of the people (cf. Ro 9:26).
11 By speaking of both the “people of Judah and the people of Israel,” Hosea makes clear that the time of future hope would involve both nations. That the two peoples “will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader” is a clue to the identification of the hoped-for day. After the Babylonian exile, Israel was no longer divided into two nations, but they never attained true autonomy until May 1948. Another clue to the hoped-for day is found in the identity of “the land,” which is best seen as Egypt, symbolizing the nations throughout the world among which the Israelites would be dispersed (cf. Dt 28:68; cf. 2:14–15). So this twentieth century has seen thousands of people returning to Palestine from this collective “land.”
The statement “great will be the day of Jezreel” indicates that the day will in some sense be outstanding, and something will justify its being called “the day of Jezreel.” In 2:22–23 Jezreel stands for Israel in the sense of the nation’s being “sown” in the land by God for her rebirth and multiplication. This implies that the coming day would be “great” because it would see the nation reborn for a time of glory.
2:1 Hosea sets forth the spiritual relation between God and Israel in the future day of hope, which contrasts with his own day. At present that relationship was symbolized by the names Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi (“not loved” and “not my people”); but in the future day the appropriate names will be “my people” and “my loved one.” “My people” is related to “brothers” and “my loved one” to “sisters” only because Lo-Ammi was a son’s name and Lo-Ruhamah a daughter’s (1:8–9).
D. Israel, the Adulterous Spouse (2:2–13)
2 Although the language of this section applies in good part to Hosea’s unfaithful wife, it is primarily intended for Israel. The verb translated “rebuke” (GK 8189) means basically “to contend or strive.” Here the meaning is to “strive with your mother in rebuke” for her life of sin. The mother is Israel as a nation, and the children are individual Israelites. Thus Israelites were being urged to call for their nation to return to faithful living before God.
The statement “she is not my wife” implies that Hosea had disowned his wife (see 3:1). Likewise God had disowned Israel, expressed in the symbolic name Lo-Ammi (1:9). The reference to her “breasts” may imply that she had laid bare her bosom to entice her lovers. So Israel, having turned from her own true God, was guilty of unblushing idolatry and voluptuous service to false gods.
3 If Israel did not change, she would be made as she was at birth—a naked, helpless child. The time of infancy was Israel’s experience in the wilderness after the Exodus. God protected Israel at that time, but she herself would be like that parched and desolate land if she did not return to him.
4–5 Again Hosea draws a distinction between mother and children. The former again refers to the nation as a whole; the latter to individual Israelites. Israel as a nation was guilty and deserving of punishment, but so were individual Israelites. “Love” (GK 8163) would be shown to neither. “Children of adultery” refers to those who are called children because they practiced the sins of their mother (cf. 1:2).
The quotation in v.5 attributed to Israel, the Lord’s unfaithful wife, applies equally to Gomer, Hosea’s wife. As she was running after “lovers” who would give gifts to her, so Israel was running after the false gods of the surrounding nations. From these nations Israel was receiving gifts, which were no doubt the result of trade agreements. So the desire for trading benefits led Israel into going after other gods.
6 God threatened to keep her lovers from her by blocking “her path with thornbushes.” In fact, he would use them to wall her in. The thornbushes symbolize all the warfare and hardship that God permitted to come on Israel in the following years (cf. Introduction; also Job 3:23; 19:8).
7 Though Israel’s path would be blocked, she would still try to “chase after her lovers” in futility. “My husband as at first” is a reference to God. Israel, frustrated in chasing false gods, would finally recognize the supremacy of her own God, realizing that she was better off when following him than when pursuing strange gods. Only in the last days will Israel fully return to her “first husband.”
8 The reason for Israel’s unfaithfulness is that the people did not recognize God as the source of their benefits. They had used much silver and gold for images of false gods (e.g., Baal). Jehu had done much to eliminate Baal worship (2Ki 10:19–28), but it still persisted.
9 As a result of Israel’s idolatry, God would punish her by taking away the “grain when it ripens,” the “new wine when it is ready,” and wool and linen. That is, because of their sin, the people would lack food and clothing (probably by rain being withheld).
10 “Expose her lewdness” is literally “uncover her shame” (“shame” means “withered state”; GK 5578). Israel would wither because God would withhold his bounty. Her “lovers” would thus come to despise her, not wanting to have dealings with one so distressed. No one would “take her out of” God’s control, both because they would not care to and because God would not permit it.
11 Israel would no longer enjoy her “celebrations,” “festivals” (the annual festivals of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles), the monthly festival of the new moon, and the weekly Sabbaths. “Appointed feasts” probably refers to regular celebrations not covered by the other terms.
12 The “vines” and “fig trees” represent the finest of the land’s products; God would destroy them because Israel had regarded them as “pay for her lovers.” These would now become merely “thickets” for wild beasts to roam and eat in. In other words, the protective hedges would be taken away and cultivation stopped. These were fulfilled during Israel’s last days. Her land was devastated by Assyrian forces; then, in 722 B.C., it was totally subjugated by them. God’s warnings are never to be taken lightly.
13 The reason for these punishments now becomes more specific; it goes back to “the days” when Israel “burned offerings to the Baals.” Such occurrences were mainly in the reign of Ahab and his sons; but even after Jehu had slaughtered the religious personnel of the Baals, idol worship continued to some degree. The remainder of the verse depicts activities of Israel in following the Baals, activities characteristic of a prostitute in her attempt to lure men.
E. The Blessing of Israel (2:14–23)
14 God, who withheld the blessings, cannot bestow them until Israel’s sin has been punished. The word for “allure” (GK 7331) connotes persuasion by means of attractive benefits. The words “desert” and “Egypt” in v.15 point to a historical parallel with the time of Israel’s journey from Egypt. As God persuaded Israel to leave Egypt and move on finally to the Promised Land, so in the final day he will persuade her to leave the Egypt of spiritual decline and move on to the Promised Land of blessed rest. In that day God will “speak tenderly to her” rather than in harsh words of vv.6–13.
15 In addition to speaking consolingly, God will give Israel’s vineyards back to her. The Valley of Achor (cf. Jos 7:24–26) will in the future be “a door of hope.” So Israel’s future response in song-filled thanksgiving will be as when she entered Canaan the first time. In partial fulfillment, there was joyful praise when Israel returned from the Babylonian exile. But in the future there will be even greater praise, when the people return to their land and Christ is their king.
16 “My husband” is the symbolic name the people of God were to give him on returning to him. Israel will be spiritually revived so that she will recognize God to be her true husband and she his wife. No longer will she think of him as “my master” (lit., “my Baal”).
17–18 In the coming day the Lord will remove Baal worship and all remembrance of the names of the Baals from Israel. Then God will be truly worshiped, Israel will be reconciled with God, and there will be peace on earth. The Lord will make a covenant with the beasts, the birds, and the little creatures of the ground (cf. Isa 11:6–9). Also the bow and sword (the two main weapons of war in Hosea’s day) will be abolished, so that “all may lie down in safety” (cf. Isa 2:4; Mic 4:3).
19 God promises Israel that she will be betrothed to him forever. This betrothal involves several qualitative relationships, four being mentioned here: “righteousness and justice” (which indicate that all legal standards will be met in the betrothal) and “love and compassion” (which denote God’s emotional concern for the new bride).
20 A fifth relationship—–faithfulness”—is also promised. The emphasis here is probably on Israel’s faithfulness to God, though God’s faithfulness is also present. That new relationship is no doubt the connotation of the statement “you [Israel] will acknowledge the LORD.”
21–22 As a result of this beautiful coming relationship between the Lord and Israel, God will respond to the needs of the people. The skies are seen as pleading with God to send rain on the earth, to which God responds favorably; and the earth is seen as asking the heavens to send rain, and the heavens respond favorably. Hosea sees also the grain, the new wine, and the oil as asking the earth for its provisions—a request to which the earth responds favorably. Finally Jezreel is viewed as asking the grain, new wine, and oil to provide blessings, and these also respond favorably. Here “Jezreel” almost certainly means all Israel—a name that means “God plants” (cf. v.23, which clearly refers to Israel). The Valley of Jezreel was a center for production of food.
23 Israel (i.e., Jezreel), planted bountifully, will bring forth a large population (cf. 1:10–11). In contrast to Hosea’s time, when the names “not loved” (Lo-Ruhamah) and “not my people” (Lo-Ammi) were appropriate (1:6, 8), the future day will find the opposite true. Love will be shown toward “Not my loved one,” and “Not my people” will be called “You are my people” (cf. Ro 9:25). The Israelites, in turn, will respond, “You are my God.” Thus vv.22–23 give response to all three of Gomer’s children.
F. Gomer Loved Again (3:1–3)
1 After having dealt with the relations between God and Israel (1:9–2:23), the narrative now returns to the relations between Hosea and Gomer. Gomer had left Hosea following the birth of their third child. God tells his servant to take back his unfaithful wife. Gomer is called merely “woman,” without a possessive suffix to indicate “your.” That Hosea may have come to think of her as “some woman” would have made God’s command the more difficult to carry out. But in taking her back, Hosea would be illustrating God’s continuing love for Israel, who had turned to “other gods” and lusted after “raisin cakes” (delicacies of the day that represented the idolatrous worship of the Israelites).
2 It is unlikely that the price Hosea paid for Gomer was paid to her parents. After all, though estranged, Gomer was still Hosea’s wife; and no payment was officially due. It was probably given to Gomer as a kind of bridal gift. The amount was not large. This gift (given as if for a new marriage) and its modest size show the emotional separation between Hosea and Gomer.
3 “Many days” points to an indefinite period of time. Hosea wanted Gomer to know that this time he intended their relationship to last indefinitely. She must resolve to live no longer as a prostitute.
G. Israel’s Future Return to God (3:4–5)
For the third time in as many chapters, the future reconciliation between God and Israel is foreseen. The parallel with the Hosea/Gomer story continues.
4 Israel’s time of separation from God is portrayed by her loss of three pairs of things: (1) “King or prince”; Israel will be without an autonomous rule. (2) “Sacrifice or sacred stones”; Israel will be without religious ceremonies (the “sacred stones” represent idolatrous worship, adopted from Israel’s neighbors; cf. 2Ki 3:2; 10:26–28; 17:10). (3) “Ephod or idol”; the special devices used for searching into the future (cf. Ge 31:19–34; 1Sa 23:9; 30:7) will no longer be available.
5 After the “many days” of v.4, the Israelites “will return and seek the LORD their God.” This will also involve seeking “David their king,” and the Israelites will come “trembling” to the Lord. All this will occur in the “last days.” For the complete fulfillment of these things, we must look once more to the millennial reign of Christ. The extent to which the Israelites sought God after the Babylonian captivity was limited and surely not with “trembling.” While the people did cease from following false gods, their worship was cold and formal; and there was much sin among them. But in the Millennium the Jews will seek Christ (the David of the time, ruling on David’s throne), and they will also truly seek after God in heaven (Isa 12:1–6; 66:23; Jer 33:11; Eze 20:40; et al.).
II. Israel’s Indictment, Punishment, and Restoration (4:1–14:9)
A. Israel’s Indictment (4:1–7:16)
1. A general indictment of the people (4:1–4)
1 Hosea exhorts the Israelites to listen because God was charging them with sinfulness. They were untrustworthy, failed to show compassion toward others, and lacked a true knowledge of the being and nature of God.
2–3 A list of the people’s overt sins follows. The phrase “bloodshed follows bloodshed” (lit., “bloody deed touches bloody deed”) suggests that violent crimes had become so common that one seemed immediately to follow another, as if touching it. These sins resulted in drought that came as a judgment, making the land dry up and the beasts and the birds “waste away” (cf. 1Ki 17–18). It had even brought death to the fish through the drying up of the streams and ponds.
4 Though conditions in Israel were shockingly bad, mutual charges and accusations could not remedy them. Accusing others only increased problems. But the people could accuse the priests, who, as vv.5–10 show, were blameworthy.
2. Sins of the priests (4:5–11a)
5 Hosea speaks directly to the priests (the mention of prophets implies that they were included in the indictment). Both groups, instead of being leaders for the right, had been stumbling day and night, committing sin. Jeroboam I had made priests “from all sorts of people” (1Ki 12:31; 13:33). Therefore, large numbers of true priests—and doubtless true prophets—had left the northern kingdom (2Ch 11:13–16). “Mother” refers to Israel (cf. 2:2–5) as the mother of individual Israelites.
6 The priests had not been teaching the people about God and his law (Dt 33:10; Eze 44:23; Mal 2:7), so the people were being “destroyed.” Moreover, God removed the priests from their service because they themselves had rejected the knowledge of God and his law. The closing lines announce, in poetic format, that since they had “ignored” (GK 8894) the law, God would “ignore” their descendants.
7–8 The priests are still in view here. The greater their power became, the more they sinned. They were so given over to iniquity that Hosea said they were feeding on “the sins of” the people. This they did by enjoying the benefits of the people’s sins, such as taking bribes and eating the sin offerings. As a result God would turn their “Glory” into “something disgraceful.”
9 The aphorism “Like people, like priests” shows that the priests were no better than the people. Despite their priestly office, they would share the punishment of the people.
10–11a Though the priests “eat” the sins of the people, their appetite for evil remains insatiable. Though the people engage in ritual prostitution of the Canaanite fertility rites (done to enhance human and animal reproduction and to ensure good crops), they have no harvest. Israel’s indulgence in these rites is a shameless example of the depth to which the people had fallen in forsaking the true God.
3. Sins of the people (4:11b–19)
11b–12 Attention turns to Israel, here called “my people.” The priests had been the leaders in wrongdoing, but the people had followed them all too closely. The mention of “old wine and new” implies the sin of intoxication, which stole away the people’s “understanding.” Instead, they appealed for guidance to a mere “stick of wood.” The “spirit of prostitution” prevalent in the land included the people and the priests (v.10). The reference to being unfaithful to their God suggests that the prostitution was primarily spiritual. The people were worshiping and looking for leading from false gods rather than from their own true God.
13 Mountaintops, hills, and groves of oak, poplar, and terebinth trees were favorite places for idolatrous worship (see Dt 12:2; Jer 2:20; 3:6; Eze 6:13). Middle Eastern religion in Hosea’s time made cultic prostitution an important part of its practice; and because the Israelites had adopted other aspects of this kind of religion, their daughters and their daughters-in-law were prostituting themselves.
14 Yet even though the younger women were immoral, God would not punish them, because “the men” were consorting with harlots (the shrine prostitutes). Even-handed justice forbade punishment of the young women while the men were turning to prostitutes!
15 Though Hosea prophesied chiefly to the northern nation, here he warned the southern kingdom not to follow Israel in this abominable kind of worship. Judah must not, he declared, go either to Gilgal or Beth Aven for this purpose. Under Elijah and Elisha (2Ki 2:1; 4:38), Gilgal had been a center for prophetic instruction. Now, however, it had become a center of false worship (Hos 9:15; 12:11; Am 4:4; 5:5). Beth Aven is to be identified with Bethel (cf. Am 4:4; 5:5) and means “house of deceit”—a deliberate substitution by Hosea for Bethel (“house of God”).
Bethel was the southern center of calf worship established by Jeroboam I (1Ki 12:28–29). Though God’s people had been permitted to “swear” an oath in the name of the Lord (Dt 6:13; 10:20), Hosea now warned the people of Judah not to do this, probably because at this time such oaths were being sworn in connection with the false worship at Gilgal and Bethel.
16 The thought shifts back to the people of the northern nation. Hosea told them that if they acted like stubborn cows, they could not expect to be treated like obedient sheep.
17–18 The Ephraimites were the most influential tribe of the northern nation and were often referred to as representative of that nation. They were so far gone into idolatry as to have become incorrigible. They were, therefore, to be let alone till punishment came. Furthermore, as evidence of the depths of the Israelites’ sin, the people are said to have continued their prostitution even after they had finished their drinks (with its lower inhibitions against sexual immorality). This was in part because “their rulers” influenced them through their love of “shameful ways.”
19 The literal meaning of this verse is vivid: “A whirlwind has wrapped her [Ephraim] up in her wings,” i.e., for the purpose of destruction. In other words, the people’s “sacrifices will bring them shame.” They will realize how ineffective their sacrifices have been, whether to false gods or to the Lord.
4. A warning to priest, people, and king (5:1–7)
1 Hosea demands attention from three groups of people: the priests (cf. ch. 4), the people of Israel, and the royal family. The “judgment” referred to is no doubt the one cited in v.2. The “snare” and the “net” were used to trap prey; and “Mizpah” of Gilead (cf. Jdg 10:17; 11:29) and Mount Tabor were likely places for hunting. The figure is of people being hurt, as if being hunted and trapped by the religious and civil leaders of the day.
2–3 That rebels were “deep in slaughter” reflects the plight of a people not only hunted but slaughtered. But God would discipline those responsible for this. The tribe of Ephraim in particular were foremost in fornication, for the Bethel altar was in their area—the center of a religion not only corrupt (see 4:10, 12) but also corrupting all Israel. God knew the whole sad story; nothing was hidden.
4 “Deeds” are the product of the state of one’s heart. Because the hearts of the people desired prostitution (probably both spiritual and physical), their subsequent deeds did not allow a return to God.
5 The Israelites, steeped in the sin of idolatry, had grown arrogant against God. Ephraim, presumably the worst-offending tribe, was again singled out for censure. Judah too was indicted for wayward behavior (see vv.8–10).
6 To go with “flocks and herds to seek the LORD” means to search after God’s favor through sacrifice. But without the evidence of true faith, mere outward sacrifice will not do (cf. 6:6; 1Sa 15:22–23). Thus the people find only that God “has withdrawn himself from them.”
7 In being “unfaithful” (GK 2338; cf. Jer 3:20 Mal 2:14), the people had produced “illegitimate children.” That is, parents had reared their children in their own sinful ways rather than in the fear of God. The “New Moon festivals” were debased by hypocritical worship and thus, devoid of God’s blessing, would bring about the ruin of people and fields alike.
5. A warning to Ephraim and Judah (5:8–15)
8–9 Hosea next warned Judah while continuing to warn Ephraim. A “trumpet” (GK 8795) was customarily used to sound a warning of impending danger. Both Gibeah and Ramah were important cities of Benjamin, strategic points on Judah’s northern border. Beth Aven is probably another reference to Bethel (see comment on 4:15). Benjamin was especially being summoned to “lead on” in the conflict. (1) Because of its geographic proximity to Israel, Benjamin had to be especially watchful of Israel’s influence on her. (2) Punishment would soon descend on Ephraim, making it a “waste.” When that happened, the way would be opened for the invading army to descend immediately south on Benjamin (as Assyria eventually did). The last line shows the certainty of this.
10 Next Hosea turned to the reason for the coming punishment of Judah—its leaders were “like those who move boundary stones,” which was tantamount to stealing property from neighbors (cf. Dt 19:14; 27:17). Property lines, indicated often only by stone markers, could be easily moved in a night. Judah’s leaders, however, were not shifting physical property lines but spiritual ones established by God, changing the boundary between right and wrong, between true and false religion, between the true God and the idols.
11 Hosea turns back to Ephraim, saying that the tribe was “oppressed” and “trampled in judgment,” looking on it as an accomplished fact. The reason is that the people had been intent on pursuing “idols.” What may be in view here is Jeroboam’s institution of calf worship on substitute altars at Bethel and Dan (1Ki 12:27–30).
12–13 A bold figure of speech describes the judgment referred to in v.11. It was not future but already on them. The people were being eaten—as if by moths and decay—by problems and troubles. On realizing the situation, Ephraim sought help from Assyria rather than from God—perhaps the time when Menahem paid tribute to Assyria (2Ki 15:19–20; cf. 2Ki 16:5–9). Ephraim’s troubles were internal ones and indeed incurable.
14 Help could not come from Assyria, for God, mightier than this foreign country, was “like a lion” in bringing destruction on both Ephraim and Judah. His justice, like his love, works inevitably, irresistibly. His chastisement, already operating through the moth-like and decaying conditions, would be greatly accentuated through the coming devastation by Assyria—the very country whose aid had been sought. Tiglath-pileser III did come against Israel in two crushing campaigns (743 and 734–732 B.C.); later (722 B.C.) Shalmaneser V did much to bring Israel’s history to an end (2Ki 17). Sennacherib came against Judah in 701 B.C. (2Ki 18:17–37).
15 When the punishment has been inflicted, God will withdraw to await the desired results. The people will admit their guilt and will search out his presence. The Assyrian-Babylonian captivity witnessed little of such a change of heart. Thus the language appears to reach into the Millennium (cf. 1:10–11; 2:14–23).
6. Words of repentant Israel (6:1–3)
For three verses Hosea gives the words of Israel in the day of her repentance. Israel as a nation has never yet prayed like this.
1–2 The people urge one another to return truly to God in the confidence that he who has punished them will heal them and bind up their wounds. The reference to “two days” and “the third day” means only that the restoration will come surely and quickly (cf. Job 5:19; Pr 6:16; 30:15, 18; Am 1:3, 6, 9; et al.)
3 Again the people admonish themselves, this time to “acknowledge the LORD.” True knowledge of God provides the basis for faith and obedience. The people exhort themselves to “press on” in obtaining this knowledge. And God, they can be sure, will respond to their persistence in seeking him; he will come to them as surely “as the sun rises,” a coming as delightfully welcome as the “winter rains” and the “spring rains.”
7. Continued indictment of the people (6:4–11)
After the inserted words of repentance, Hosea returns to his main theme of warning the people against their sin. He continues to address Ephraim and Judah. Probably, however, Ephraim is here to be understood once again as representing all Israel, not just one tribe.
4–5 In his strong indictment against both Ephraim and Judah, Hosea stresses that the love of the people for God was as unstable as the “morning mist” and “dew.” The word “love” (GK 2876) connotes continued faithful love; but the people fell lamentably short when it came to sustaining it. As a result, God had sent his prophets to speak words of warning, which included predictions of doom and death. These “judgments” came clearly and ominously “like lightning” to the people.
6 The prophet sounds a note given also by the other eighth-century prophets (cf. Isa 1:11–17; Am 5:21–24; Mic 6:6–8): God desires true faith rather than empty sacrifice (cf. Mt 9:13; 12:7). This was not a denial of sacrifice as such but only of improper, faithless sacrifice. God had commanded the people to sacrifice, but the ceremony had to be marked by a proper attitude of heart; otherwise it was meaningless and worthless (cf. 5:6). The importance of “knowing God” is stressed as it had been in v.3.
7 Hosea begins to list a series of wrongdoings of the people, starting with the general sin of covenant breaking. The people were doing this knowingly, deliberately, just as Adam had in eating the forbidden fruit. “There” refers to Israel’s land, covenanted to them by God, and perhaps especially to Bethel (see comment on 4:15; 5:11).
8–9 The list continues. Gilead is first noted as a “city of wicked men.” This name is often applied to all the northern Transjordan area. The prophet next thought of the priests, who were acting in packs like highwaymen. Shechem lay on the road from the capital city, Samaria, to the religious center, Bethel. The thought is that the priests themselves, appointed by Jeroboam from “all sorts of people” (1Ki 12:31), were robbing and murdering pilgrims.
10–11 “House of Israel” no doubt stands for the Israelite nation, not to some special house of worship. The “horrible thing” singled out is the sin of prostitution. Judah seems never to have been far from Hosea’s mind. Her “harvest” was her time of coming punishment (“harvest” elsewhere carries this sense; cf. Joel 3:13).
8. A ruinous domestic policy (7:1–7)
1–2 The first two lines speak of attempts by God to help and heal Israel—attempts that included sending prophets to warn and remonstrate. But the people’s sins had thereby become more evident and exposed. The prophets’ efforts had brought more sin to light, thus compounding the people’s guilt. “Ephraim” continues to be mentioned as representative of the northern kingdom and Samaria, the capital city, is cited as the center of crime. Some of the sins are deceit, burglary, and street robbery by gangs. God knew about all this and saw it as engulfing the people, who themselves seem unaware that God knew about their sins.
3–4 An important reason for this sad situation is that the king and his princes were pleased with it. The sin of adultery is singled out for special mention—again primarily spiritual adultery, though physical adultery is also meant as part of the licentious worship of Baal. The people in their zeal for this sin were like a heated oven—a striking illustration of lust. The oven was so hot that after being unattended during an entire night, with a fresh tending of the fire in the morning, it had sufficient heat for baking at that time.
5–7 The prophet gives a striking example of the oven-inflamed sin of vv.3–4: the assassination of the king. It happened on a special day, a festival day. During the festivities the ringleaders planning the crime became drunk, and the king with them. In keeping the figure of the oven, the hearts of the plotters were hot with desire to perform their treacherous deed. Each time they were near the king, their hearts flamed up. They waited during the night, however, with their passion smoldering like the baker’s fire, anticipating the morning. Then the blaze of passion stirred anew, and the terrible deed was done. Hosea mentions “rulers” (pl.; GK 9149) because he was describing an incident repeated several times in Israel’s history (2Ki 15:10, 14, 25, 30). Though so many kings fell in this way, still no one in the land called to God for help.
9. A fatal foreign policy (7:8–16)
Having noted the weaknesses in Israel’s internal affairs, Hosea next speaks of foreign relations, which he found equally wanting.
8–9 Outsiders were living among the Israelites, encouraged to do so by the Israelites themselves. They brought heathen gods and pagan ways of worship into the country. “A flat cake not turned over” is one that is overdone on one side and not baked on the other, thus being completely worthless. Unfortunately, the debilitating inroads of the foreigners, through their licentious cultic practices, were not recognized by Israel. As hair turning gray symbolizes aging, so Israel was becoming old and feeble without noticing it.
10 In spite of the sins mentioned in the previous verses, Israel had no thought of turning back to God and had no desire to seek him.
11 Hosea compares the people to “doves,” which are proverbial for their naivete (cf. Mt 10:16). As doves, “easily deceived and senseless,” may be lured by food into snares, so Israel was lured by both Egypt and Assyria as sources of assistance, only to be entrapped by them—especially by Assyria, which ultimately brought Israel down.
12 God is portrayed as a fowler throwing his net over Israel and pulling her down for correction. “Flocking together” may refer to the efforts of Israel’s leaders to unite in seeking aid from Egypt and Assyria. “Catch” (GK 4334) means “to chastise”; this chastisement from God will come in full measure when he permits Assyria to devastate Israel.
13 The prophet characterizes the impending punishment as “woe” and “destruction,” doubtless to come on the people by Assyria. God desperately wanted to redeem them, but they told lies about him, probably saying that he would not help them.
14–15 Though they bewailed their plight, the people were not truly turning their hearts to the Lord. They were gathering together in an attempt to get “grain and new wine,” which had evidently become scarce under the divine correction. But instead of seeking them from God, they persisted in turning away from him. In fact, they went so far as to “plot evil” against God, even though he was the one who had trained and strengthened them. By “plot evil” the prophet meant their worship of foreign gods—in particular, the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
16 The people were turning everywhere but to “the Most High,” to their God who alone could help them. So they were like a warped bow, one that sends its arrows awry. The mention of the leaders who “fall by the sword” points to such men as Zechariah, Shallum, Pekahiah, and Pekah, all victims of assassination (see comment on vv.5–7). In the prosperous days of Jeroboam II, Israel had defied Egypt by boasting of her great strength. Now she would be ridiculed in Egypt because of the downfall of her leaders.
B. Israel’s Punishment (8:1–10:15)
1. Warning of approaching judgment (8:1–14)
Hosea has been describing Israel’s sin, but now he begins to speak primarily about punishment, the awful consequences of that sin.
1 God bids Hosea to trumpet a warning. An eagle (i.e., Assyria) was ready to descend on “the house of the LORD.” As there was no temple in the northern kingdom to which this phrase could refer, it must refer to Israel as the people among whom God should and would dwell (cf. 9:15; Nu 12:7; Jer 12:7; Zec 9:8). The last two lines show why God would permit this “eagle” of punishment to come.
2–3 Though Israel would cry out that she knew God, this would be a cry of desperation rather than the cry of a believing heart. The people had rejected the “good” of truly knowing and serving God. Therefore their enemy would be permitted to pursue them.
4 The people had chosen their leaders, including their kings, without seeking guidance from God. Hence there was no continuing dynasty; in fact, nine different dynasties came to power in Israel. Furthermore, the people had made idols of silver and gold (a reference especially to the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, the extreme southern and northern points of Israel). The last two lines of this verse reemphasize the note of warning in v.1 by linking idol-making to destruction. Israel’s destruction would come as a result of this sin.
5 “Throw out your calf-idol” is literally “your calf stinks.” Here again the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, which were so odious to God, are in view. The rhetorical question at the close of the verse implies that there would never be a time when the idolatry of Israel would not be sinful.
6 The main reason why the calves were a stench before God was that they were man-made (1Ki 12:28). Therefore God would see that they were demolished. The calf idol is linked to Samaria only in the sense that Samaria, the capital city, represents the whole northern kingdom.
7–8 The figure of sowing and reaping, here in proverbial form, is common in the Bible (cf. 10:12–13; Job 4:8; Pr 22:8; Gal 6:7). The “wind” speaks of the emptiness of Israel’s sin; the “whirlwind” speaks of God’s impending destruction. That punishment had already begun: the stalks were not producing grain that could be milled into flour. God had apparently withheld the rain. Furthermore, if any stalks did produce grain, it was only for foreigners to snatch it up. Thus Israel, like the grain, was being swallowed up—i.e., losing her national identity and independence. So she was despised like worthless pottery.
9 The context shows that the Assyrian captivity was not in view here. Rather, Israel had “gone up to Assyria” in the sense of asking for aid. Hosea compared this to the solitary wandering of the wild donkey (cf. Jer 2:24). Wild donkeys are intractable; so Israel was stubborn in having her own way and repudiating God’s guidance. Like a prostitute, she was selling herself to the heathen nations (cf. 2:5).
10 Hosea anticipates the full force of the Assyrian captivity on Israel. “Although” the people had looked to the nations for help, God would “gather them together” in order to inflict this punishment on his people. As a result, their numbers would diminish under the oppression of the “mighty king.” This most likely refers to the Assyrian ruler through whom God would bring the punishment (cf. Isa 10:8).
11 God had ordained the one altar at his central sanctuary as the place for the people to worship. With the division of the kingdom, Jeroboam had set up false altars at Bethel and Dan for religious sacrifices. Hosea made it clear that these were in no way a religious help to Israel but that God considered them only as altars for committing sin.
12 In the Pentateuch God had given the people “the many things” (lit., “ten thousand things”) of his law so that they could know his will. But they had thought of his law as something “alien” or strange. Thus the fault lay with the people, not with God.
13 With the altars still in mind, Hosea says that God charged the people using these false altars to offer sacrifices that belonged to him (and therefore should have been offered in the proper place and manner). Furthermore, though God permitted certain parts of various sacrificial animals to be eaten, these people were apparently eating whatever they desired, and so were compounding their sin. In God’s sight such offerings were only “meat,” with no sacrificial value at all. So punishment would come in the form of a forced return to “Egypt”—a word used representatively for Assyria, where Israel was eventually taken.
14 An additional ground of Israel’s punishment is that the people had forgotten their Maker and had instead put their confidence in fine palaces. Judah, too, had come to rely on fortified cities. Therefore, God would hurl fire on the cities and burn up the fortresses. This came with the Assyrian invasion not many years after Hosea’s writing.
2. Assyrian captivity soon to come (9:1–9)
The message of warning continues, speaking more specifically about the coming captivity in Assyria.
1–2 The people of Israel were not to rejoice, nor were they to celebrate like other nations. They were the people of God, with standards much higher than those of the heathen with their false gods. The shame of Israel was that the people were denying their own supreme God and attributing their blessings to the heathen gods. This was spiritual adultery, analogous to the physical adultery practiced by prostitutes. The mention of “threshing floors” probably carries through the figure of prostitution, for the Canaanites frequently used threshing floors and winepresses as places for carrying out their fertility rites. God implies that because of insufficient rainfall the threshing floors and winepresses would fail to produce enough food for the people.
3 The people of Israel were soon to be taken captive from the land. The place of their captivity was first called “Egypt” (cf. 8:13) to show its general character, then “Assyria” was named as the actual place the people would be taken to (cf. 11:5). The food they were to eat there would be “unclean” because it would not be selected and prepared according to the Mosaic Law.
4–5 Moreover, the captive Israelites would not be able to present “wine offerings” or “sacrifices” because there would be no temple of the Lord in Assyria (Dt 12:5–14). Therefore, whatever sacrifices they did offer would be like “the bread of mourners” (cf. Dt 26:14)—unclean and unacceptable, like food touched by a mourner defiled by a dead body (Nu 19:22). Anyone eating the meat from such sacrifices would also be unclean. The rhetorical question in v.5 puts vividly the plight of Israel: captive in Assyria, without temple or sacrifices, and so unable to celebrate the commanded feasts and festivals.
6 Even if Israel is not utterly destroyed, the people will be taken captive; they will be gathered by Egypt (again used symbolically for Assyria; cf. v.3) and buried by Memphis (another symbol), an ancient capital of Egypt and a celebrated place of burial. Meanwhile, their own fine land (“treasures of silver”) would revert to briars and thorns.
7–8 With eloquent power, Hosea announces the days of punishment that were coming on Israel and calls for understanding of it. Yet Israel had sunk so deep into sin that the people considered any prophet who warned them a madman and a fool. Since the prophets stood with God over Ephraim (the northern nation), the people, motivated by animosity, sought to entrap them. Hosea calls this “hostility in the house of his God” (the latter phrase being a reference to Israel; cf. comment on 8:1).
9 Hosea compares the sin of Israel to that of the men of Gibeah, who committed a heinous crime against the concubine of a Levite who was their guest (Jdg 19–20). This most shocking example of sin in the OT had led to civil war and brought the tribe of Benjamin to the brink of annihilation.
3. The fleeting glory of Israel (9:10–17)
The warning now turns to more general matters as Hosea speaks of punishments that would take place prior to the Assyrian captivity.
10 This is a poignant reference to Israel’s earliest days as a nation, when God found her and chose her. Then she was like “grapes in the desert” and “the early fruit on the fig tree.” Grapes, unusual in the desert, are a special delight when found there; the early figs are considered especially delicious. In other words, when God first found Israel in the desert (Dt 32:10), it was like finding such delicacies. Things soon changed, however. Already at Baal-peor, before even entering the Promised Land (Nu 25:3–18), the people slipped into the worship of the local Baal. This was not Israel’s only time of sin, but it is singled out here because it was the first instance of their worship of Baal—worship they persisted in till it became their besetting sin.
11–12 The “glory” (GK 3883) God gave Ephraim (Israel), through making her a fine nation after he had found her in the desert, would fly away like a bird because of her recurring sin. “No birth, no pregnancy, no conception” is a terse way of saying that Israel’s population would decrease. And even if children were born, they would die young before reaching adulthood (cf. Dt 32:25). God would turn his favor from Israel because of her unfaithfulness. This form of punishment would precede the captivity to Assyria, and the captivity itself would climax it.
13–14 God had given Israel a pleasant and advantageous location. All caravan trade between Egypt and countries to the north had to pass through her land, because the Mediterranean Sea was to the west and the desert to the east. She was like Tyre, for Tyre also had a situation highly advantageous for her maritime activities. Israel failed, however, to realize her potential because of her sin. Instead, her children would be led out to the “slayer”—a further factor in the diminishing of population through murders, civil strife, and warfare. Hosea’s irony in v.14 is as unmistakable as it is powerful.
15 The severe treatment of Israel was because of “all their wickedness in Gilgal.” By this time Gilgal had clearly become a center of false worship (cf. 4:15). The meaning of “hate” (GK 8533) in this context is defined by the words “I will no longer love them.” It was not that God had a positive animosity toward Israel, but he had nothing favorable to say of them. Because of their “sinful deeds” and the rebellion of their leaders, God would expel them from his “house” (the congregation of Israel; see comments on 8:1; 9:8).
16 Hosea returns to the warning that Israel would be diminished in population, using again the figure of a plant (cf. v.10; 10:1; 14:8). The people would be withered right down to the root (cf. Mal 4:1) and thus rendered fruitless and hopeless.
17 In summary, God would reject the people because of their persistent disobedience. As a result they would become “wanderers among the nations”—another allusion to their coming captivity.
4. Guilt and coming captivity (10:1–8)
In this section Hosea speaks even more explicitly of the impending captivity of Israel.
1 Hosea begins by referring once more (cf. 9:10) to Israel’s early history when the people were like a luxuriant vine. But as the “fruit” of prosperity “increased,” they deteriorated spiritually. Pagan “altars” were built and “sacred stones” (or pillars) adorned. The people thus turned from the worship of the true God.
2 The word translated “deceitful” (lit., “smooth” or “flattering”; GK 2744) is elsewhere applied to lips or tongues that are insincere (cf. Pss 5:9; 12:3; Pr 5:3). Because the same is true here of the heart of a guilty people, God would destroy both the altars and the sacred stones they had erected.
3 As a result, the people would be brought to admit that they had no king worthy of the name because they did not choose one who revered the Lord. The time referred to can only have been just before the captivity, when Israel’s kings showed themselves ineffectual both in tackling Israel’s problems and in coping with the Assyrian menace. The last two lines note despairingly that even if the land did have a truly capable king, things were so bad that he would be powerless to help.
4 Hosea enlarges on the idea of deceitfulness of heart (cf. v.2): promises had been made, false oaths taken, and contracts signed. The thought here mainly concerns agreements among the people themselves. With the denial of people’s legal rights, “lawsuits” were springing up like “poisonous weeds” (cf. Dt 29:17) in a “plowed field.”
5 The people of Samaria (representative of all Israel), seeing the ominous signs of the impending punishment, are said to be anxious about their “calf-idol” at Beth Aven (Bethel; cf. 4:15) rather than about their own sin. “Its people” (i.e., the Israelites identified as the people of this calf!) mourn concerning the matter, along with the idolatrous priests (cf. 2Ki 23:5) that serve it.
6–7 Hosea now speaks clearly of the Assyrian captivity. The shameful but materially valuable calf-idol would be carried to the victorious king of Assyria as tribute. And Israel would feel disgrace and humiliation. The word for “its wooden idols” is often translated “its counsel” (cf. NIV note). The former translation refers disdainfully to the calf as mere wood; the alternate translation to the “counsel” given by Jeroboam I when he had first established calf worship (1Ki 12:28). Not only the calf idol but also Samaria and its king would be taken, borne away to foreign Assyria, helpless as a twig on a river.
8 “The high places of wickedness” signifies the calf temple at Bethel (Beth Aven; cf. comments on 4:15; 5:8; 10:5). Destruction there by the Assyrians would be so complete that thorns and thistles would replace the buildings containing the altars (cf. Ge 3:18). Also, the people would cry in despair for the mountains and hills to fall on them, apparently to terminate their time of disgrace (cf. Lk 23:30; Rev 6:16).
5. Sin and punishment (10:9–15)
Hosea speaks more generally again, referring to both Israel’s sin and her resulting punishment; he also gives a word of instruction. Mention of the Assyrian captivity reappears at the close of the section.
9–10 Once more the prophet refers to the sin at Gibeah (see comment on 9:9). Since that tragic occurrence, Israel has defiantly continued in the same basic sin, and the appropriate punishment—such as was meted out to the original offenders—has not yet been experienced but is now due. This punishment, at God’s pleasure, would see nations gathering against Israel—a passing reference to the captivity. The “double sin” is probably the sins of forsaking God and of departing from the rule of David’s house.
11 Ephraim (Israel) had been well trained in past days, like a heifer broken to the yoke. She had come, however, to enjoy only the work of threshing grain (pleasant to the heifer because she could then eat her fill of grain). But God would put a yoke of true work on her “fair neck” so that she would have to work hard in plowing and breaking up the hard soil. Judah is once more included (cf. 6:11; 8:14; et al.) as meriting the same treatment. “Jacob” suggests all twelve tribes.
12 Hosea pauses to give advice. The people should sow “righteousness” (i.e., treat each other in the right manner), and they would reap kindness in return. Thereby unplowed ground would be plowed (cf. v.11). Admittedly, just as plowing is hard work, so it would be hard for the people to change their lifestyle; but they must do so. Only by searching for the Lord and his righteousness would they be delivered from the coming punishment.
13 Instead of doing this, however, the people were planting (lit., “plowing”) wickedness and reaping evil. Deceit and its baneful results (vv.2–4) therefore abounded. Because Israel had depended on her own strength and her many warriors, God would permit the roar of battle to come against the people.
14 The outcome would be the destruction of all Israel’s fortifications through the Assyrian attack. To illustrate how bad the time would be, Hosea compares it with another horrible and tragic slaughter at Beth Arbel (difficult now to identify). Perhaps Shalman is Shalmaneser V, who played such a decisive part in the Assyrian action leading to Israel’s captivity (2Ki 17:3–6).
15 So, concludes Hosea, Bethel, the calf-idol center, representative of all that was wicked in Israel, would experience the same fate as this Beth Arbel. In that day even the “king of Israel” would be “completely destroyed.” Israel was facing a most foreboding future. Hosea prophesies that her destruction would occur from the very beginning of the day of battle; it is noteworthy that Israel’s final king, Hoshea, was taken captive by the Assyrian conqueror Shalmaneser V before the actual siege of Samaria began.
C. Israel’s Restoration (11:1–14:9)
1. God’s love and Israel’s rebellion (11:1–7)
The theme now changes from Israel’s punishment to Israel’s restoration. It is introduced by a moving contrast between God’s steadfast love and Israel’s persistent apostasy.
1 Once more (cf. 9:10; 10:1, 9) Hosea mentions the earlier history of Israel, this time looking back to the Lord’s words in Ex 4:22–23: “Israel is my firstborn son. . . . ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me.’ ” The reason Israel was God’s son is that God had especially chosen him as his own (cf. Ge 12:2–3; cf. Mt 2:13–15).
2 God had multiplied the people of Israel and had shown his power in bringing them into the land of Canaan. Yet despite these evidences of his love, Israel forsook him and worshiped other gods (Jdg 2:11–13). So God disciplined them through numerous foreign oppressions to call them back; but the more he did so, the more they apostatized.
3–4 Here the tender figure of a parent teaching an infant to walk shows the Lord’s compassion in disciplining Israel (Ephraim). But they were blind to his healing purpose in dealing with them. The poetic language continues in v.4. God had “led” (lit., “drawn”; GK 5432) them with cords of “human kindness” and “ties of love.” He also had lifted “the yoke from their neck,” just as an owner sometimes lifts the yoke away from the face of an ox so that it might eat more comfortably. So God had dealt gently with his people in spite of their sin.
5–6 A rhetorical question that implies an affirmative answer points to the impending captivity—the consequence of Israel’s sin, which had been compounded because the people persisted in it despite God’s continuing grace. When Egypt (i.e., Assyria; see comments on 8:13; 9:3) attacked, swords would bring death in the cities, the cities’ defenses would be broken, and all the plans for survival would be frustrated.
7 In their apostasy the people of Israel were obdurate in their unfaithfulness. The remainder of this verse may best be taken to mean that the people would not listen to the prophets who were calling them to return to God but were choosing instead to remain in the mire of sin.
2. Restoration in the last days (11:8–11)
These verses are like a window into the heart of God. They show that his love for his people is a love that will never let them go. Like the beautiful final chapter of the book, these verses look forward, beyond the chastisement of the immediate future, to the Millennium, to the time, still distant, when Israel will truly return to her God and he will bless her once more.
8 Two poignant questions reveal the depth of God’s love for his people. Despite the sure judgment that was soon to come on unfaithful Israel, he could not bear to give up his chosen people (here called Ephraim and Israel) forever. His enduring love precluded his treating them as he did Admah and Zeboiim, two cities that had been utterly destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. Dt 29:23).
9 In that future day God would not devastate his people Israel again, as he was about to do through the Assyrians. He is “God, and not man”—i.e., he is one whose ways transcend those of sinful humanity. Because he is holy, he does not let passion or bitterness govern his decisions. He promises wondrous blessing on the people, if they will follow him (cf. Dt 28:1–14). But in that future day of restoration, he will not come against any city or land “in wrath,” as he was about to do in Hosea’s day.
10 Hosea gives God’s reason for carrying out his promise of restoration in the coming day: The people “will follow the LORD.” The metaphor of the lion’s roar means that God’s call to his people will sound so clearly throughout the earth that they will come “trembling” (i.e., “humbly”) “from the west.” The return of Judah from the Babylonian captivity was from the east. But this mention of “the west” sets off the future return from the earlier one (cf. Isa 11:11–12).
11 Hosea next compares the swiftness (i.e., the readiness and responsiveness) of the future return of his people to the flight of birds and doves. Egypt and Assyria are named because of Israel’s years of bondage in Egypt and their impending captivity in Assyria. In this context Egypt and Assyria typify the many nations from which God’s people will return in the future day. Then he will settle them “in their homes”—an assurance of their permanent residence in their land (cf. 2:19).
3. The folly of Israel (11:12–12:14)
This section, like ch. 3, reverts to the main theme of the book—Israel’s unfaithfulness to her God. The book, however, will end on the contrasting note of Israel’s future restoration.
12 God accuses the Israelites of surrounding him with deceit and dishonesty, as though attacking him. Once more Israel’s sin is paralleled by Judah’s rebellion against God, who is their “faithful Holy One.”
12:1 Ephraim (Israel) is now said to “feed on the wind,” meaning that her efforts were to no worthwhile purpose. One aspect of this effort was the treaties they made with Assyria and Egypt (cf. 2Ki 17:4; 18:21; Isa 30:7), which were seldom of benefit to Israel. “Lies and violence” were often involved in making them. Indeed, Israel, while making a treaty with Assyria, might at the same time be sending olive oil to Egypt in an effort to enlist her support against Assyria (cf. 2Ki 17:4).
2 Once more Hosea refers to Judah as being accused by God and facing retribution. “Jacob” is probably a reference to both Judah and Israel combined; he was the ancestor of all the Israelites and so becomes the subject of vv.3–4. All his descendants, the people of both the northern and the southern kingdoms, were guilty before God.
3 When Jacob was being born, he seized his brother’s heel (Ge 25:24–26). Later he struggled with God himself at the brook Jabbok (Ge 32:25–29). He is an example for the people of Hosea’s day to follow. His struggling with God was a time of triumph, for through it he received the Lord’s blessing. Thus, the first occasion should be understood in the same way; Jacob’s act in the womb of his mother was one in which the providential direction of God symbolized Jacob’s desire for the birthright and blessing. Similarly, Israel in Hosea’s time should be striving for God’s favor and blessing rather than chasing the wind.
4 Hosea enlarges on Jacob’s struggle at Jabbok, pointing out that Jacob overcame the angel because he wanted the blessing so much that he even “wept and begged” for it. Then the prophet shifts to Jacob’s encounter with God at Bethel (Ge 35:1–15), when God confirmed the blessing already promised him. The implication is that God would do the same thing for Israel if she desired God’s blessing as much as Jacob had.
5 Hosea now turns to God himself, the one who had blessed Jacob and wanted to do the same thing for Israel. His great name is given—the name that stands for him in all his excellency: “LORD God Almighty” (lit., “The Lord, the God of hosts”). Israel should always think of God in this way, and they could be sure that he would keep every promise he had ever made to them.
6 The people should repent and “return” (GK 8740) to God, to “maintain love and justice” in respect to one another, and to “wait” in expectancy for God to bring them the same kind of blessing he had brought Jacob. All this they were to do with the help of God. We work for God as God enables us (cf. Php 2:11–12); so only is God’s work done.
7–8 Hosea next turns to a specific area of sin in Israel—“the merchant” using dishonest scales and loving “to defraud” customers. What a way to be remembered! Much of Israel’s dealing with the nations of the day had involved trading and had been contaminated by deceit. As a result of these shady practices, the people had been boasting of their wealth and declaring that no one could find them guilty of any sin. So they did not see themselves as deserving any punishment. Apparently they had devised loopholes in the law to justify what they had been doing. Hosea is probably speaking here of the reign of Jeroboam II, when Israel prospered greatly.
9 While the people were thinking themselves self-sufficient, God counters this thinking by reminding them that he had been the Lord their God from the land of Egypt. But now because of their sin, he would drive them out of their wealthy circumstances and make them “live in tents again,” as they did at the Feast of Tabernacles (which commemorated the time they lived in the desert). This refers to the coming days of captivity. Because the Feast of Tabernacles was also a joyous occasion, the implication may be that even in their transient time of captivity God would again graciously provide for them—as indeed he did.
10 Hosea resumes his general theme. God, he recalls, had communicated his will to Israel through prophets, visions, and parables. The people therefore could not plead ignorance and were without excuse.
11 Gilead (east of the Jordan) and Gilgal (west of it) here represent the entire land. Rhetorical questions concerning both serve to underline their wickedness. The very idea of bulls being sacrificed at Gilgal indicates one of the ways in which wickedness was involved there, for it was the wrong place for such sacrifice (cf. 4:15; 9:15). As a result God would reduce the altars there to mere piles of stones on a “plowed field”—i.e., they would be useless and in the way.
12–13 In vv.3–4 Hosea had mentioned the blessing Jacob received; here he speaks of the hardship Jacob endured after running away from home. His point is that God had blessed this ancestor, even though things had happened at the time—the long years served for Rachel, the flight from Esau—that had not seemed like blessings. And God had similarly provided for Israel when he had brought them by a “prophet” (presumably Moses; cf. Dt 18:18) out of Egypt and cared for them.
14 This past history should have led Israel to a state of humility and submission before God, but it had not. Instead Ephraim (Israel) had “bitterly provoked him to anger" through her extensive sinning. Therefore Ephraim’s “Lord” (“master”; GK 151) would leave the people in their “guilt of . . . bloodshed" (cf. Lev 20:9; Dt 19:10) and “repay” them for the insults rendered. Punishment would indeed come.
4. Israel’s fall Into sin (13:1–16)
Hosea continues to speak of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God, but here he takes on a more historical approach.
1 Hosea has frequently referred to the whole northern nation as Ephraim, but in this verse the tribe of Ephraim is intended. In former years when Ephraim had spoken, the other tribes had listened with deference and respect. Ephraim had often asserted leadership, sometimes in improper ways (see Jdg 8:1–3; 12:1–6; 1Ki 12:25; cf. 11:26). Things had changed for Ephraim, however, since Baal worship (i.e., the calf worship at Bethel) had crept in. Though Jeroboam I had instituted calf worship as the worship of Israel’s God (1Ki 12:26–33), doubtless elements of the Baal cult had come to be practiced there.
2–3 Spiritual death was the result of Baal worship. The people heaped sin on sin, owning and worshiping idols made from silver by clever craftsmen (cf. 8:4). The last two lines of v.2 admit of two renderings. Although NIV takes them to refer to “human sacrifice," this seems unlikely since no other indication is given that human sacrifices were practiced at Bethel or Dan. The more likely rendering is “In respect to the images [of the calves], they [leaders in this form of worship] are saying, ‘Let those who would sacrifice do so by kissing the calf-idols.”’ To kiss an image was to do homage to it (see 1Ki 19:18; cf. Ps 2:12). Jeroboam I had first bidden the people to give this homage, and leaders in the worship were continuing the practice. Persistence in this sin would lead to the disappearance of Israel (referred to in v.3 in four striking figures that suggest how surely and speedily it would happen).
4 Hosea again reminds Israel of what their covenant God had done for them in the Exodus. He then admonishes them to acknowledge God alone as their God and Savior. The admonition tallies with the tenor of the book.
5–6 Hosea goes on to remind the people how God had cared for them during those arduous desert days, a reminder that should also have stirred them to observe the admonition in v.4. God’s care for the people involved his feeding them with manna, a thought that is probably intended to cover generally all of God’s provisions. This satisfied the people, but then they “became proud" and forgot God (cf. Dt 8:11–20). This had happened in the desert, and it had been happening during the intervening centuries.
7–8 This brings Hosea again to his theme of coming judgment. God would pounce on the rebellious people like a lion and like a leopard, to bring punishment (cf. 5:14). The figure is apt, for in v.6 the people have been pictured as a flock under God’s care. To intensify this theme, the figure of a bear crazed by the loss of her cubs is used, followed once more by the figure of a lion. The “wild animal" refers to all three as beasts of the field; they were all native to Palestine and known for their relentless manner of killing prey.
9–10 Israel would suffer destruction because she lived in opposition to God, who had helped her so much throughout history. Israel was not kingless, but she did not have as king one who could deliver the people from the Assyrian threat. Only God, their true “helper,” whom they rejected, could do this. “Your rulers” (lit., “your judges”) refers to the king’s assistants. The last part of v.10 does not refer to the time of Samuel when the people asked for a king (1Sa 8:4–6), but to the occasion when the northern tribes wanted their own king after rebelling against Rehoboam (1Ki 12:16–20).
11–12 This verse can also be translated “I have been giving" you a king and “I have been taking him away.” No one king apparently is in view here but the series of kings that had occupied Israel’s throne since the kingdom’s division. God had been allowing them to rule; but because of their unfaithfulness to him, he had also been setting them aside. Many had come to a violent end (see comment on 7:7). Thus was the guilt of Ephraim “stored up” and “kept on record” against the day of reckoning.
13 Hosea further delineates the punishment of Israel by likening her to a mother in labor and then to a son being born to the mother. This son, he says, was without wisdom because he did not come to the “opening of the womb” (cf. 2Ki 19:3; Isa 37:3) at the proper time for the birth. God, in other words, was bringing punishment on Israel so that the people might be reborn to follow him as he desired; but they were foolish in not grasping the opportunity. God had been using various disciplinary measures against Israel for years, but to no avail.
14 Like 11:8–11, this verse is parenthetical between v.13 and v.15. God breaks in to sound a note of encouragement and promise to the people. They had severe punishment ahead of them in Hosea’s time, but a day would come when wondrous blessing would be their portion. Paul quoted v.14b at the triumphant climax of his great chapter on resurrection (1Co 15:55). One aspect of its fulfillment (that relating to the resurrection of the believer in a spiritual body) is to be found there. But since the context of ch. 13 relates to the earthly punishment of Israel, another aspect of v.14b must still be future—i. e., at the time of Christ’s reign on earth during the Millennium (cf. 11:8–11).
Verse 14a speaks of the people being ransomed “from the power of the grave.” The dreaded enemies of death and the grave will be shorn of their power against God’s redeemed people. What glorious thoughts! The last line of v.14 literally reads, “Repentance is hidden from my eyes”; it is best taken with v.14 rather than with v.15, meaning that God will not change his mind about doing what this verse declares.
15–16 Though the people of Israel may thrive among their neighbors, eventually they will be dried up by an east wind from the desert. Because of this, springs and wells will fail. That time of thriving must be the time of Jeroboam II, when prosperity was marked. The destroying east wind must be Assyria—a power that came from the east and effected Israel’s fall in 722 B.C. Moreover, Assyria did indeed plunder Israel’s “storehouse” at that time. This invasion came as a result of the people’s “guilt” of their rebellion against their God. The shocking brutalities described in v.16 are in keeping with what we know about the character of the Assyrians. Here “Samaria,” as the capital of the northern kingdom, represents all Israel.
5. Israel’s repentance and God’s blessing (14:1–9)
In beauty of expression these final words of Hosea rank with the memorable chapters of the OT. Like the rainbow after a storm, they promise Israel’s final restoration. Here is the full flowering of God’s unfailing love for his faithless people, the triumph of his grace, the assurance of his healing—all described in imagery that reveals the loving heart of God.
1–2 The people of Israel are not only invited to “return” (GK 8740) to their God; they are also reminded of their sins—God’s forgiveness must be accompanied by awareness of sin. But they may not return to the Lord without bringing something; they must come to him with words that he puts, as it were, in their mouths. When they ask for forgiveness, the Lord will graciously receive them. The offering of “the fruit of our lips” is literally “we offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls” (cf. NIV note)—i.e., instead of offering bullocks we offer as our sacrifice our lips that utter prayer and praise to God (cf. Heb 13:15).
3 The offering of words—all of them words of repentance—continues. Israel was to admit that neither Assyria nor any military might (symbolized by “war-horses”) could save her. Once and for all, she was to renounce man-made images as her “gods.” Moreover, since God has compassion on the orphans (cf. Ex 22:22; Dt 10:18), Israel could expect him to have compassion also on her.
4 In response to Israel’s penitent words, the Lord describes the wondrous blessings that he will bestow on them. Since the people had not repented and would not repent nationally in the way Hosea described until the future Great Tribulation, and since the blessings from God described in vv.4–8 will not be fully bestowed till the Millennium, the ultimate meaning of this passage must be eschatological—i.e., the time of the Millennium again (cf. 1:10–11; 2:14–23; et al.). Here we have God’s grace in action—his healing of their “waywardness” and his loving them unconditionally. He had indeed turned his anger away from them.
5–6 Among the great biblical figures of speech are those that relate to trees and flowers—especially meaningful to dwellers in semiarid lands like Palestine. Here Hosea likens Israel in her time of future blessing to a lily, a cedar of Lebanon, and that most essential of all trees, an olive tree. The second and third lines of v.6 show the result of this healthy growth: the cedar will have the “splendor” or majesty of the olive tree and the “fragrance” of the cedar of Lebanon itself. So the nation of Israel will be admired throughout the world.
7 In the Hebrew the first two lines of this verse are literally “They who dwell in his shadow shall again make grain to live.” The antecedent of “his” is the tree (representative of Israel nationally); and the antecedent of “they,” individual Israelites. It is a promise that the people of Israel in the future day will flourish and blossom like a vine, with their “fame” spreading abroad like the fame of Lebanese wine. How different from the situation of Israel in Hosea’s day!
8 The rhetorical question here relates to the idolatry that had been Israel’s besetting sin. In God’s sight idols are absolutely nothing, and so shall they be for Ephraim (Israel). God, not the idols, is the one who will answer and “care for” Israel in her time of need. He is like a “green pine tree”; all their fruitfulness comes from him.
9 This verse is like a noble epilogue. The balance between the rhetorical questions, with their answers, and the dignity of the last sentence, with its concise parallelism, close Hosea’s unique book on a note of solemn authority.
The Old Testament in the New
| OT Text | NT Text | Subject |
| Hos 1:6, 9 | 1Pe 2:10 | Not God’s people |
| Hos 1:10 | Ro 9:25–26 | Now God’s people |
| Hos 2:23 | Ro 9:25–26; 1Pe 2:10 | Now God’s people |
| Hos 6:6 | Mt 9:13; 12:7 | Mercy, not sacrifice |
| Hos 10:8 | Lk 23:30 | Hills falling on us |
| Hos 11:1 | Mt 2:15 | My son from Egypt |
| Hos 13:14 | 1Co 15:55 | Victory over death |