HOSEA
CHAPTER 5
The kingdoms of Judah and of Israel shall both fall because of their iniquities.
1 HEAR ye this, O priests; and hearken, [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] ,
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. [ Mizpah and Tabor, both
mountains, were famous
for hunting; hence, the “net” and “snare.” ]
for hunting; hence, the “net” and “snare.” ]
2 And the revolters are profound to
make slaughter, [ Revolters were those who drove
animals into a pit that had been camouflaged. The metaphor depicts the
rulers and priesthood in the bloody role of the hunters who spiritually killed
their prey, Israel.] though I have
been a rebuker of
them all.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.
4 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.
5 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.
6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.
7 They have dealt treacherously against the LORD:
for they have
begotten strange children: [ “Israel ought to
have begotten children of God in the maintenance of the covenant with the Lord;
but in its apostasy from God it had begotten an adulterous generation, children
whom the Lord could not acknowledge as His own” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary,
10:1:89).] now
shall a month devour
them with their portions.
8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O Benjamin.
9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.
10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove
the bound: [ Deuteronomy
27:17 says, “Cursed be he that removeth
his neighbour’s landmark” (see also Deuteronomy 19:14). In ancient Israel, property was marked with stone markers or “landmarks.” To move such a mark was a serious offense, for it was the same as stealing land. If one who destroyed a neighbor’s boundaries was cursed, how much more cursed were the princes of Judah who destroyed the moral and spiritual boundaries that guarded the worship of Jehovah? ] therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.
his neighbour’s landmark” (see also Deuteronomy 19:14). In ancient Israel, property was marked with stone markers or “landmarks.” To move such a mark was a serious offense, for it was the same as stealing land. If one who destroyed a neighbor’s boundaries was cursed, how much more cursed were the princes of Judah who destroyed the moral and spiritual boundaries that guarded the worship of Jehovah? ] therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment,
because he willingly walked after the
commandment. [ indicates that Ephraim was oppressed because it willingly
walked after filth instead of walking after true commandments ]
13 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.