Hosea13
King James Version · Public Domain
1When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
2And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
3Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.
5I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
6According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
7Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:
8I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
9O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.
10I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
11I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.
12The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.
13The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.
14I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
15Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
16Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Hosea 13.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The abuse of God's favour leads to punishment. (1-8). A promise of God's mercy. (9-16).
vv1-8
While Ephraim kept up a holy fear of God, and worshipped Him in that fear, so long he was very considerable. When Ephraim forsook God, and followed idolatry, he sunk. Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves, in token of their adoration of them, affection for them, and obedience to them; but the Lord will not give his glory to another, and therefore all that worship images shall be confounded. No solid, lasting comfort, is to be expected any where but in God. God not only took care of the Israelites in the wilderness, he put them in possession of Canaan, a good land; but worldly prosperity, when it feeds men's pride, makes them forgetful of God. Therefore the Lord would meet them in just vengeance, as the most terrible beast that inhabited their forests. Abused goodness calls for greater severity.
vv9-16
Israel had destroyed himself by his rebellion; but he could not save himself, his help was from the Lord only. This may well be applied to the case of spiritual redemption, from that lost state into which all have fallen by wilful sins. God often gives in displeasure what we sinfully desire. It is the happiness of the saints, that, whether God gives or takes away, all is in love. But it is the misery of the wicked, that, whether God gives or takes away, it is all in wrath, nothing is comfortable. Except sinners repent and believe the gospel, anguish will soon come upon them. The prophecy of the ruin of Israel as a nation, also showed there would be a merciful and powerful interposition of God, to save a remnant of them. Yet this was but a shadow of the ransom of the true Israel, by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. He will destroy death and the grave. The Lord would not repent of his purpose and promise. Yet, in the mean time, Israel would be desolated for her sins. Without fruitfulness in good works, springing from the Holy Spirit, all other fruitfulness will be found as empty as the uncertain riches of the world. The wrath of God will wither its branches, its sprigs shall be dried up, it shall come to nothing. Woes, more terrible than any from the most cruel warfare, shall fall on those who rebel against God. From such miseries, and from sin, the cause of them, may the Lord deliver us.
Key Words
אֶפְרַיִם: Ephrajim, a son of Joseph; also the tribe descended from him, and its territory
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
רְתֵת: terror
נָשָׂא: to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
אָשַׁם: to be guilty; by implication to be punished or perish
בַּעַל: Baal, a Phoenician deity
מוּת: to die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill
עַתָּה: at this time, whether adverb, conjunction or expletive
חָטָא: properly, to miss; hence (figuratively and generally) to sin; by inference, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, (causatively) lead astray, condemn
Cross References
Hosea 13Direct parallel to the practice of kissing the calves as an act of pagan adoration.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Famous apostolic adaptation of the triumphant defiance: 'O death, where is thy sting? O grave...'
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Repetition of the exact imagery of the vanishing morning cloud and early dew.
Supported by JFB
Moses' warning of Jeshurun waxing fat, being filled, and then forsaking God who made him.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The historical request for a king ('Give me a king') which rejected God's direct rule.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
God giving Saul in displeasure and removing him in wrath due to rebellion.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
The fatal spiritual turning point under Ahab when Israel officially offended in Baal.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel declaration of God's identity as Yahweh from the land of Egypt.
Supported by JFB
God knowing and leading Israel through the great and terrible wilderness of drought.
Supported by JFB
Sin described as laid up in store and sealed up among God's treasures.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The motif of transgression being sealed up in a bag, safely preserved for reckoning.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The east wind drying up the fruit and fountains, representing the destructive Assyrian invasion.
Supported by JFB
Literal, horrific historical fulfillment of women with child being ripped up by conquerors.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The cultural practice of kissing a deity as a sign of absolute allegiance.
Supported by JFB
Job's denial of throwing a kiss with the hand to pagan celestial bodies.
Supported by JFB
Direct echo of the opening of the Decalogue establishing God's exclusive claim.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Moses' specific warning that being full in the land would lead to forgetting God.
Supported by JFB
Lamentations' parallel comparison of God's sudden judgment to a waiting bear and lion.
Supported by JFB
Proverbial danger of meeting a fierce she-bear robbed of her whelps.
Supported by JFB
Samuel declaring that requesting a earthly king was a rejection of God as savior.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Contrast between Ephraim's name ('fruitful') and his impending spiritual and physical dryness.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Chaff driven away by the wind representing the utter dissolution of pagan kingdoms.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Earlier Hosian warning of God acting as a fierce lion to tear Ephraim.
Supported by JFB
Verbal echo highlighting how self-willed sin destroys one's own soul.
Supported by JFB