King James Version
Hosea 5
15 verses with commentary
Judgment on Israel and Judah
Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
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KJV Study Commentary
The summons 'Hear this, O priests; listen, O house of Israel; give ear, O house of the king' calls all leadership to account: religious (priests), tribal (Israel collectively), and political (royal house). 'For the judgment is toward you' (ki lakem ha-mishpat) announces God's legal proceeding against them. The specific charge: 'you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor'—geographic ...
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(1) **House of the king** refers to his following on both sides of the Jordan—Mizpah on the east side, in Gilead, and Tabor on the west. They are singled out as being military strongholds, where the princes of the royal house, with the apostate priests, exercised their deadly hold upon the people, waylaying them, as birds and beasts are snared in the mountains of prey. (Comp. Hosea 6:8-9.)
**Judgm...
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**10. be upon us--**that is, their guilt remain on us.
**pine away in them--**if we suffer the penalty threatened for them in Eze 24:23, according to the law (Le 26:39).
**how should we ... live?--**as Thou dost promise in Eze 33:5 (compare Eze 37:11; Is 49:14).
And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all. though: or, and a rebuker: Heb. a correction
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Divine warning to leaders: 'And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.' The Hebrew is challenging: שַׁחֲטָה שֵׂטִים הֶעְמִיקוּ (shachatah setim he'emiqu)—literally 'the revolters have made deep slaughter' or 'gone deep in corruption.' The imagery suggests deliberate, calculated rebellion—not casual sin but intentional evil. Despite God's continuous ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Are profound to make slaughter.—**Ewald, followed recently by Nowack, is right in interpreting the Heb. text as meaning, “The apostates have gone deep in iniquity.” In the last clause the Authorised version is again incorrect. Render, *But I* (*i.e.,* Jehovah) *am chastisement to them all.* The deceivers and deceived shall alike perish.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. To meet the Jews' cry of despair in Eze 33:10, Ezekiel here cheers them by the assurance that God has no pleasure in their death, but that they should repent and live (2Pe 3:9). A yearning tenderness manifests itself here, notwithstanding all their past sins; yet with it a holiness that abates nothing of its demands for the honor of God's authority. God's righteousness is vindicated as in Eze ...
Read full commentary →I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.
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Known to God: 'I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.' The emphatic אֲנִי יָדַעְתִּי אֶפְרַיִם (ani yada'ti Ephraim): 'I, I know Ephraim'—complete divine knowledge despite human attempts to hide sin. The verb יָדַע (yada', 'know') indicates intimate, comprehensive knowledge—not mere awareness but full understanding of mot...
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**12. not fall ... in the day that he turneth--**(2Ch 7:14; see Eze 3:20; 18:24).
They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD. They will: or, Their doings will not suffer them frame: Heb. give
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Shallow repentance insufficient: 'They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD.' The Hebrew לֹא יִתְּנוּ מַעַלְלֵיהֶם לָשׁוּב אֶל־אֱלֹהֵיהֶם (lo yittenu ma'alelhem lashuv el-Eloheihem): 'their deeds do not permit them to return to their God.' Sin has created such bondage that repentance becomes imposs...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) The margin, “Their deeds will not suffer (them),” requires the introduction of the word “them,” not in the Hebrew. It is favoured by the Jewish commentators, Schmoller, and others, but it is better to render, with the Authorised version, *They frame not their doings,* &c. The knowledge of the only true God is life.
And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.
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Pride's fall: 'And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.' The phrase גְּאוֹן יִשְׂרָאֵל (ge'on Yisrael, 'pride of Israel') testifies עָנָה בְפָנָיו (anah befanav, 'to his face')—pride becomes self-accusatory witness. What they boasted in becomes evidence against them. The consequence: stumbling/fall...
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(5) **The pride of Israel** may be either the true object of pride and boasting, viz., Jehovah Himself (comp. Amos 8:7), or the false object of pride to which they had yielded. The latter interpretation is to be preferred, and is supported by Amos 6:8. Arrogance led Ephraim, on numerous occasions in earlier sacred history, to resent the supremacy of Judah. This jealousy culminated in the rebellion...
Read full commentary →They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.
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Seeking God without turning from idols: 'They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.' The irony: they seek YHWH with sacrificial animals, maintaining outward worship forms while hearts remain idolatrous. God's response: withdrawal (חָלַץ, chalats—depart, remove Himself). Proper ritual without heart transfo...
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(6) The vain effort to repent when it is too late. The spirit with which sacrifices of flocks and herds were offered is of more consequence than the multitude of such oblations (Micah 3:4; Isaiah 1:11; Psalm 40:6). Ghastly and revolting results follow the substitution of ritual of any kind for the weightier matter of the law.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. give again that he had robbed--**(Lu 19:8).
**statutes of life--**in the obeying of which life is promised (Le 18:5). If the law has failed to give life to man, it has not been the fault of the law, but of man's sinful inability to keep it (Ro 7:10, 12; Ga 3:21). It becomes life-giving through Christ's righteous obedience to it (2Co 3:6).
They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.
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Covenant treachery: 'They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.' The verb בָּגַד (bagad, 'dealt treacherously') describes covenant violation—marital infidelity applied to God-Israel relationship. The 'strange children' (בָּנִים זָרִים, banim zarim) may be literally children from mixed marriages or figu...
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(7) **Strange children** refers to offspring that followed in the ways of their mother. (Comp. Hosea 1) Some reference is involved to the consequences of intermarriage with heathen. The “month” may be a personification of the period of a month (Henderson), during which takes place the now closely impending (perhaps already commenced) invasion by Tiglathpileser (2Kings 15:29; 2 Chron. 19:21). This ...
Read full commentary →Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.
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Alarm of judgment: 'Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O Benjamin.' The שׁוֹפָר (shofar, ram's horn) at Gibeah and חֲצֹצְרָה (chatsotsrah, silver trumpet) at Ramah signal military alarm—enemy approaching. These towns in Benjamin territory (northern border of Judah) mark invasion route from north. 'After thee, O Benjamin' means 'behind you!'—...
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(8) **Cornet** . . . **trumpet.—**The two kinds of trumpet mentioned here are the *cornet,* made like the bent horn of an animal, and the *long, straight metallic trumpet,* used for sounding an alarm and convoking the congregation (Numbers 10:2). Gibeah and Ramah were lofty hills on the northern boundary of Benjamin. From the parallel passage, Isaiah 10:29, we conclude that Gibeah lay between Jeru...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. The way of the Lord--**The Lord's way of dealing in His moral government.
Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.
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Certain calamity: 'Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.' The declaration אֶפְרַיִם לְשַׁמָּה תִהְיֶה (Ephraim leshamah tihyeh): 'Ephraim shall be for desolation'—absolute certainty. The 'day of rebuke' (יוֹם תּוֹכֵחָה, yom tokhechah) references coming judgment. God has 'made known that which shall surely be' (הוֹדַ...
Read full commentary →The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.
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Moved boundaries: 'The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.' Removing boundary markers (הַסִּיגֵי גְבוּל, hasigei gevul) violated covenant law (Deuteronomy 19:14, 27:17, Proverbs 22:28, 23:10)—stealing land by moving property stones. Judah's leaders, warned to avoid Israel's sin (4:15), instead imitated it. God's response: ...
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(10) The princes of Judah, such as Ahaz, whose pusillanimity brought untold evil on both Israel and Judah (2Kings 16:10-18).
**Like them that remove the bound** (landmark).—A practice prohibited in Deuteronomy 19:14, and included in the curses of Mount Ebal (Deuteronomy 27:17), an indication that this very legislation existed before the time of the prophet. They break down the barrier between righ...
Read full commentary →Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.
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Oppression and worthless worship: 'Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.' The phrase רְצוּץ דָּכוּא מִשְׁפָּט (retsuts dakku mishpat): 'crushed, trampled in judgment.' This occurred because Ephraim 'willingly walked after the commandment' (הוֹאִיל הָלַךְ אַחֲרֵי־צָו, ho'il halakh acharei-tsav)—but which commandment? Not God's but man's (lik...
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(11) **Broken in judgment.—**The Authorised version is probably right in this rendering, the phrase having reference to rights pertaining to individuals. Interpreters differ as to the rare word *tsav,* translated “commandment.” It only occurs in one other place (Isaiah 28:10; Isaiah 28:13). Ewald regards it as meaning “wooden post,” *i.e.,* their idol, but this has no basis in Old Testament usage,...
Read full commentary →Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. rottenness: or, a worm
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Divine judgment as consuming disease: 'Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.' God Himself becomes disease: עָשׁ (ash, moth) eating fabric, רָקָב (raqav, rottenness/decay) corrupting wood. These images depict slow, hidden destruction—not sudden catastrophe but gradual decay. The moth larvae consume from within; rot weakens structural integrity invisibl...
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(12) **Rottenness.**—The Authorised version is right in this rendering (the disease *caries*) rather than *worm* (margin). Both images express concealed causes of irreparable destruction which come suddenly to view when *it is too late.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. twelfth year ... tenth month--**a year and a half after the capture of the city (Jr 39:2; 52:5, 6), in the eleventh year and fourth month. The one who escaped (as foretold, Eze 24:26) may have been so long on the road through fear of entering the enemy's country [Henderson]; or, the singular is used for the plural in a collective sense, "the escaped remnant." Compare similar phrases, "the es...
Read full commentary →When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb : yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. king Jareb: or, the king of Jareb: or, the king that should plead
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Failed alliances: 'When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.' Recognizing illness (חֳלִי, choli) and wound (מָזוֹר, mazor), Israel sought help from Assyria and 'king Jareb' (likely title meaning 'great king' or possibly Jareb is scornful name meaning 'contender'). But pol...
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(13) **To the Assyrian.—**Their adversity leads Ephraim to seek protection from their formidable foe instead of turning to the Lord. (On “Jareb,” see *Excursus.*)
**EXCURSUS A: ON JAREB (Hosea 5:13).**
Schrader, in his “Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament,” has the following note:—“King Combat, or Contention (Jareb), is not a proper name—none such being found in the Assyrian lists. In the...
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**22. in the evening--**(see on Eze 33:2). Thus the capture of Jerusalem was known to Ezekiel by revelation before the messenger came.
**my mouth ... no more dumb--**that is, to my countrymen; as foretold (Eze 24:27), He spake (Eze 33:2-20) in the evening before the tidings came.
For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.
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God as predator: 'For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.' The escalation from moth/rottenness (v.12) to lion (שַׁחַל, shachal) and young lion (כְּפִיר, kefir) intensifies judgment imagery. God Himself becomes devouring predator. The emphatic repetition אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי (anokhi an...
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(14) **As a lion.**—First the trans-Jordanic tribes, then additional provinces, and lastly the whole population, were carried away as in the teeth of a beast of prey. (Comp. Amos 3:6.) Assyria is here referred to as represented by Tiglath-pileser. We might also quote from the inscription of Sargon in fulfilment of this prediction: “Samaria I besieged; I captured 27,290 people dwelling in the midst...
Read full commentary →I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. acknowledge: Heb. be guilty
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Divine withdrawal unto repentance: 'I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.' God declares withdrawal to 'my place' (מְקוֹמִי, meqomi—likely heaven, or presence), remaining there עַד (ad, until) they acknowledge guilt (אָשַׁם, asham) and seek His face. The phrase 'in their affliction they will seek me earl...
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(15) Tenderness blends with judgment, and insulted love bleeds and hopes. The image of the lion is dropped. Jehovah speaks of “His own place”—Heaven. He will cause all manifestations of His regard for them to cease till “they suffer punishment, and seek my face,” and, like the prodigal in the flush of a new morning, will arise and go unto the Father.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Text...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. they that inhabit ... wastes of ... Israel--**marking the blindness of the fraction of Jews under Gedaliah who, though dwelling amidst regions laid waste by the foe, still cherished hopes of deliverance, and this without repentance.
**Abraham was one ... but we are many--**If God gave the land for an inheritance to Abraham, who was but one (Is 51:2), much more it is given to us, who, thoug...
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