Hosea5
New International Version
1“Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, royal house! This judgment is against you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.
2The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them.
3I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt.
4“Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the Lord.
5Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them.
6When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.
7They are unfaithful to the Lord; they give birth to illegitimate children. When they celebrate their New Moon feasts, he will devour their fields.
8“Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, Benjamin.
9Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain.
10Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water.
11Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols.
12I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.
13“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores.
14For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
15Then I will return to my lair until they have borne their guilt and seek my face— in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Hosea 5.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The Divine judgments against Israel. (1-7). Approaching desolations threatened. (8-15).
vv1-7
The piercing eye of God saw secret liking and disposition to sin, the love the house of Israel had to their sins, and the dominion their sins had over them. Pride makes men obstinate in other sins. And as Judah was treading in the same steps, they would fall with Israel. By dealing treacherously with the Lord, men only deceive themselves. Those that go to seek the Lord with their flocks and their herds only, and not with their hearts and souls, cannot expect to find him; nor shall any speed who do not seek the Lord while he may be found. See how much it is our concern to seek God early, now, while it is the accepted time, and the day of salvation.
vv8-15
The destruction of impenitent sinners is not mere talk, to frighten them, it is a sentence which will not be recalled. And it is a mercy that we have timely warning given us, that we may flee from the wrath to come. Compliance with the commandments of men, who thwart the commandments of God, ripens a people for ruin. The judgments of God are sometimes to a sinful people as a moth, and as rottenness, or as a worm; as these consume the clothes and the wood, so shall the judgments of God consume them. Silently, they shall think themselves safe and thriving, but when they look into their state, shall find themselves wasting and decaying. Slowly, for the Lord gives them space to repent. Many a nation; as well as many a person, dies of a consumption. Gradually, God comes upon sinners with lesser judgments, to prevent greater, if they will be wise, and take warning. When Israel and Judah found themselves in danger, they sought the protection of the Assyrians, but this only helped to make their wound the worse. They would be forced to apply to God. He will bring them home to himself, by afflictions. When men begin to complain more of their sins than of their afflictions, then there begins to be some hope of them; and when under the conviction of sin, and the corrections of the rod, we must seek the knowledge of God. Those who are led by severe trials to seek God earnestly and sincerely, will find him a present help and an effectual refuge; for with him is plenteous redemption for all who call upon him. There is solid peace, and there only, where God is.
Key Words
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
כֹּהֵן: literally one officiating, a priest; also (by courtesy) an acting priest (although a layman)
קָשַׁב: to prick up the ears, i.e. hearken
בַּיִת: a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
אָזַן: to broaden out the ear (with the hand), i.e. (by implication) to listen
מֶלֶךְ: a king
מִשְׁפָּט: properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style
פַּח: a (metallic) sheet (as pounded thin); also a spring net (as spread out like a lamina)
מִצְפָּה: Mitspah, the name of two places in Palestine
Cross References
Hosea 5Direct law forbidding the removal of landmarks, which Judah's rulers spiritually and civilly imitated.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
The precise warning of seeking God too late and not finding Him when He withdraws.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Parallels Ephraim's willing walk after human statutes (the statutes of Omri) instead of God's commands.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
Parallels the 'profound' revolters who seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Repeats the phrase 'the spirit of whoredoms' causing Israel to err and depart from God.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Verbatim parallel: 'the pride of Israel testifieth to his face' and they do not return.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The covenant pattern of God departing until they confess their iniquity and acknowledge their offense.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Illuminates God's silent, slow-working judgment under the metaphor of a consuming moth.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Ephraim's foolish political vacillation, calling to Egypt and going to Assyria for help.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Parallels God's fearsome judgment as a lion and a leopard waiting to tear.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The immediate historical and spiritual resolution: returning to the Lord who tore them.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The image of a wife departing treacherously from her husband, matching Israel's spiritual adultery.
Supported by JFB
The swift execution of judgment under the temporal unit of 'a month' devouring them.
Supported by JFB
The covenant curse pronounced on those who remove their neighbor's landmark.
Supported by John Calvin
Historical fulfillment of Israel sending to the Assyrian king Pul for military support.
Supported by Matthew Poole