Hosea8
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1Set the trumpet to thy mouth. As an eagle he cometh against the house of Jehovah, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
2They shall cry unto me, My God, we Israel know thee.
3Israel hath cast off that which is good: the enemy shall pursue him.
4They have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
5He hath cast off thy calf, O Samaria; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
6For from Israel is even this; the workman made it, and it is no God; yea, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: he hath no standing grain; the blade shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up.
8Israel is swallowed up: now are they among the nations as a vessel wherein none delighteth.
9For they are gone up to Assyria, like a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
10Yea, though they hire among the nations, now will I gather them; and they begin to be diminished by reason of the burden of the king of princes.
11Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been unto him for sinning.
12I wrote for him the ten thousand things of my law; but they are counted as a strange thing.
13As for the sacrifices of mine offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; but Jehovah accepteth them not: now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins; they shall return to Egypt.
14For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and builded palaces; and Judah hath multiplied fortified cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the castles thereof.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Hosea 8.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Destruction threatened for the impiety of Israel. (1-4). For their idolatry. (5-10). Further threatenings for the same sins. (11-14).
vv1-4
When Israel was hard pressed, they would claim protection from God, but this would be disregarded. What stead will it stand in to say, My God, I know thee, if we cannot say, My God, I love thee, serve thee, and cleave to thee only?
vv5-10
They promised themselves plenty, peace, and victory, by worshipping idols, but their expectations came to nothing. What they sow has no stalk, no blade, or, if it have, the bud shall yield no fruit, there was nothing in them. The works of darkness are unfruitful; nay, the end of those things is death. The hopes of sinners will deceive them, and their gains will be snares. In times of danger, especially in the day of judgment, all carnal devices will fail. They take a course by themselves, and like a wild ass by himself, they will be the easier and surer prey for the lion. Man is in nothing more like the wild ass's colt, than in seeking for that succour and that satisfaction in the creature, which are to be had in God only. Though men may sorrow a little, yet if it is not after a godly sort, they will be brought to sorrow everlastingly.
vv11-14
It is a great sin to corrupt the worship of God, and will be charged as sin on all who do it, how plausible soever their excuses may seem to be. The Lord had caused his law to be written for them, but they cared not to know, and would not obey it. Man seems by the temples he builds to be mindful of his Maker, yet really he has forgotten him, because he has cast off all his fear; but none ever hardened his heart against God and prospered. So long as men despise the truths and precepts of God's word, and the ordinances of his worship, all the observances and offerings, however costly, of their own devising, will be unto them for sin; for those services only are acceptable to God, which are done according to his word, and through Jesus Christ.
Key Words
שׁוֹפָר: a cornet (as giving a clear sound) or curved horn
חֵךְ: properly, the palate or inside of the mouth; hence, the mouth itself (as the organ of speech, taste and kissing)
נֶשֶׁר: the eagle (or other large bird of prey)
בַּיִת: a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.)
עָבַר: to cross over; used very widely of any transition (literal or figurative; transitive, intransitive, intensive, causative); specifically, to cover (in copulation)
בְּרִית: a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh)
פָּשַׁע: to break away (from just authority), i.e. trespass, apostatize, quarrel
תּוֹרָה: a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or Pentateuch
זָעַק: to shriek (from anguish or danger); by analogy, (as a herald) to announce or convene publicly
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
Cross References
Hosea 8The swift, destructive invader descending 'as an eagle' fulfills the covenant curses of Moses.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
New Testament expression of the spiritual principle that whatever a man sows, he will also reap.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Uses identical imagery of being cast off as a broken, despised vessel wherein is no pleasure.
Supported by JFB
Ephraim's perversity in paying and hiring foreign lovers rather than being courted by them.
Supported by JFB
The command to sound the warning trumpet of judgment and imminent war.
Supported by JFB
Hypocritical professions of 'Lord, Lord' parallel Israel crying 'My God, we know thee' in distress.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
They profess to know God, but in their deeds and works they deny Him.
Supported by JFB
The description of the wild ass running headstrong and alone in the wilderness.
Supported by JFB
God gathering hostile nations to execute judgment on Israel rather than helping them.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Trusting in lying words of empty religious claim while violating God's covenant.
Supported by JFB
The historical setting up of Jeroboam as king without God's sanction or appointment.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The proverbial truth that those who sow iniquity shall reap vanity and trouble.
Supported by JFB
Fulfills the specific covenant threat that disobedience would result in a return to Egypt.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Judah's defensive multiplication of cities met by God's devouring fire on her palaces.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The continuing sin of making molten images of their silver according to their own understanding.
Supported by JFB