USB ~ Hosea 10

Destruction of Idolatrous Cultic Objects

1 a Israel is a luxuriant vine whose fruit matches its growth. The more abundant his fruit, the more altars he built; The more productive his land, the more sacred pillars† he set up.

2 Their heart is false! Now they will pay for their guilt: God will break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars.

3 For now they will say, “We have no king!† Since we do not fear the LORD, the king—what could he do for us?”

4 They make promises, swear false oaths, and make covenants, While lawsuits sprout like poisonous weeds† in the furrows of a field!

5 The inhabitants of Samaria are afraid for the calf of Beth-aven;† Its people mourn for it and its idolatrous priests wail over it, —over its glory which has departed from it. b

6 It too will be carried to Assyria, as an offering to the great king.† c Ephraim will be put to shame, Israel will be shamed by his schemes.

7 Samaria and her king will disappear, like a twig upon the waters.

8 The high places of Aven† will be destroyed, the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will cry out to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall upon us!” d

War Because of Israel’s Wickedness

9 Since the days of Gibeahe you have sinned, Israel. There they took their stand; will war not reach them in Gibeah? Against a perverse people

10 I came and I chastised them; Peoples will be gathered against them when I bind them to their two crimes.†

11 Ephraim was a trained heifer, that loved to thresh; I myself laid a yoke upon her beautiful neck; I will make Ephraim break ground, Judah must plow, Jacob must harrow for himself:

12 “Sow for yourselves justice, reap the reward of loyalty; Break up for yourselves a new field, f for it is time to seek the LORD, till he comes and rains justice upon you.” g

13 But you have plowed wickedness, reaped perversity, and eaten the fruit of falsehood. Because you have trusted in your own power, and in your many warriors, h

14 The clamor of war shall break out among your people and all your fortresses shall be ravaged As Salman ravaged Beth-arbel† on the day of war, smashing mothers along with their children. i

15 So it will be done to you, Bethel, because of your utter wickedness: At dawn† the king of Israel will utterly disappear.

Footnotes

†. 10:1 Sacred pillars: see note on 3:4.

†. 10:3 No king: the instability of the monarchy (7:3-7) and its vassalage to foreign kings (7:8-16) render the monarchy ineffective. The kings do the opposite of what they are supposed to do (10:4).

†. 10:4 Lawsuits…like poisonous weeds: the administration of justice, which should have been the mainstay of the people, has in corrupt hands become another instrument of oppression; cf. Am 6:12.

†. 10:5 The calf of Beth-aven: see note on 4:15.

†. 10:6 The great king: a title used by the Assyrian kings. See also note on 5:13.

†. 10:8 Aven: wickedness, first of all at Bethel (v. 5), but also at all the high places.

†. 10:10 Two crimes: the allusion is not clear; a possible reference is the outrage described in Jgs 19.

†. 10:14 As Salman ravaged Beth-arbel: perhaps Salamanu, king of Moab, mentioned in an inscription of Tiglath-pileser III, after an invasion in Gilead (Transjordan), where there was a Beth-arbel, close to present Irbid.

†. 10:15 At dawn: normally the moment of God’s victory over Israel’s enemies, and thus his salvation (Is 17:14; Ps 46:6). Here it is a reversal of this expectation.

10:1 Is 5:1-7.
10:5 1 Sm 4:21-22.
10:6 Am 5:27.
10:8 Is 2:10, 19; Lk 23:30; Rev 6:16.
10:9 Jgs 19-21.
10:12 Jer 4:3.
10:12 Is 45:8; Jl 2:23.
10:13 Is 31:1.
10:14 Ps 137:9; Am 1:13.