TEXT [Commentary]

  2.   Hosea’s condemnation of prostitute Israel (4:15-19)

15 “Though you, Israel, are a prostitute,

may Judah not be guilty of such things.

Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven,[*]

and do not take oaths there in the LORD’s name.

16 Israel is stubborn,

like a stubborn heifer.

So should the LORD feed her

like a lamb in a lush pasture?

17 Leave Israel[*] alone,

because she is married to idolatry.

18 When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking,

off they go to find some prostitutes.

They love shame more than honor.[*]

19 So a mighty wind will sweep them away.

Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.

NOTES

4:15 you, Israel, are a prostitute. Prostitution forms the thematic thread that stitches these verses to the preceding 14 verses.

Beth-aven. The name contains a pun. By its apostate worship, Bethel (house of God) has become Beth-aven (house of iniquity). Both Bethel and Gilgal are denounced by Hosea’s contemporary, Amos (Amos 5:4-5).

4:16 like a stubborn heifer . . . like a lamb in a lush pasture? Hosea, fond of similes, often used them to draw comparisons from the animal and agrarian worlds (see “Literary Style” and “Major Themes” in the Introduction).

4:18 finish their drinking. The verb sar [TH5493, ZH6073] (finish) forms a nice play on sounds with the verb for “stubborn” (sarar [TH5637, ZH6253]) in v. 16. Not content with the drinking at supposed religious sites, when the liquor is gone, the men turn to the cult prostitutes (cf. Ezek 23:42).

They love shame more than honor. This last part of v. 18 in the MT is notoriously difficult. Because of the constraints of the flow and the sense in the context, the NLT follows the LXX, which apparently read a slightly variant form of the Hebrew. As a result, the LXX reads literally “they loved dishonor on the basis of [or because of] their snorting.” The Greek term “snorting” was likewise used metaphorically for insolence, loose or unrestrained—even promiscuous—behavior. Therefore, it has been translated ad sensum with such rendering as “shameful behavior” (NET) or “lewdness” (RSV).

COMMENTARY [Text]

Hosea’s reaction to the Lord’s pronouncement was one of concern—concern for Judah first of all. Hosea’s fondest wish was that Judah not be caught up in spiritual adultery. The citizens of the northern kingdom had compromised the worship of God by combining it with the debased rites of Canaan. Feigning loyalty to Yahweh, they ardently pursued Baal. Consequently, proud, stubborn Israel would find itself helpless in the fast-approaching day of judgment. No Baal would help them then. Rather, Israel would die a shameful death.

The dangers of spiritual compromise and disloyalty are evident here. Israel was to have no other god but Yahweh (Exod 20:2-4). To fail to give single-hearted allegiance to him alone was to invite disaster (Deut 8:19-20). Adulterous Israel was also guilty of taking oaths in the Lord’s name by pretending to worship him—a clear violation of the spirit of the third commandment (Exod 20:7). They had not heeded Moses’s words that “the LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name” (Deut 5:11).

Christians, too, are to remember that their hope of eternal salvation lies in God alone as revealed in Jesus Christ (John 10:27-30; Acts 4:12). Accordingly, they are to keep themselves from false worship practices and any worldly pursuit that would compromise either the person of Christ or the testimony of his name (2 Cor 6:14–7:1; 1 John 5:21). God’s sentence of judgment upon Israel stands as a reminder that Christians will also stand before Christ to be judged (2 Cor 5:10; cf. Rom 14:10). There is, however, another promise. If believers will seek to live according to God’s will for their lives (Col 1:9-10) and pursue it faithfully—come what may—theirs is the crown of life (Rev 2:10).