Hosea — Chapter 8
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1Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
2Israel cries out to Me, “O our God, we know You!”
3But Israel has rejected good; an enemy will pursue him.
4They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.
5He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6For this thing is from Israel—a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria.
7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
8Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel.
9For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers.
10Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes.
11Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.
12Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.
13Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.
14Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied its fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels.
1Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
2Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
3Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.
4They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
5Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
6For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
7For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
8Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
9For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
10Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes.
11Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
12I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.
13They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.
14For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
1[Set] the trumpet to thy mouth. As an eagle [he cometh] against the house of Jehovah, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
2They shall cry unto me, My God, we Israel know thee.
3Israel hath cast off that which is good: the enemy shall pursue him.
4They have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
5He hath cast off thy calf, O Samaria; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
6For from Israel is even this; the workman made it, and it is no God; yea, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: he hath no standing grain; the blade shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up.
8Israel is swallowed up: now are they among the nations as a vessel wherein none delighteth.
9For they are gone up to Assyria, [like] a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
10Yea, though they hire among the nations, now will I gather them; and they begin to be diminished by reason of the burden of the king of princes.
11Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been unto him for sinning.
12I wrote for him the ten thousand things of my law; but they are counted as a strange thing.
13As for the sacrifices of mine offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; but Jehovah accepteth them not: now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins; they shall return to Egypt.
14For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and builded palaces; and Judah hath multiplied fortified cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the castles thereof.
1Sound the alarm! An eagle looms over the temple of the Lord! For they have broken their covenant with me and have rebelled against my law.
2Israel cries out to me, “My God, we acknowledge you!”
3But Israel has rejected what is morally good; so an enemy will pursue him.
4They enthroned kings without my consent. They appointed princes without my approval. They made idols out of their silver and gold, but they will be destroyed!
5O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol. My anger burns against them! They will not survive much longer without being punished, even though they are Israelites!
6That idol was made by a workman—it is not God! The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.
7They sow the wind, and so they will reap the whirlwind! The stalk does not have any standing grain; it will not produce any flour. Even if it were to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it all up.
8Israel will be swallowed up among the nations; they will be like a worthless piece of pottery.
9They have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey that wanders off. Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers.
10Even though they have hired lovers among the nations, I will soon gather them together for judgment. Then they will begin to waste away under the oppression of a mighty king.
11Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning.
12I spelled out my law for him in great detail, but they regard it as something totally unknown to them.
13They offer up sacrificial gifts to me and eat the meat, but the Lord does not accept their sacrifices. Soon he will remember their wrongdoing; he will punish their sins, and they will return to Egypt.
14Israel has forgotten his Maker and built royal palaces, and Judah has built many fortified cities. But I will send fire on their cities; it will consume their royal citadels.
1“Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house, because they have broken my covenant, and rebelled against my law.
2They cry to me, ‘My God, we Israel acknowledge you!’
3Israel has cast off that which is good. The enemy will pursue him.
4They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I didn’t approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off.
5Let Samaria throw out his calf idol! My anger burns against them! How long will it be until they are capable of purity?
6For this is even from Israel! The workman made it, and it is no God; indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
7For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.
8Israel is swallowed up. Now they are among the nations like a worthless thing.
9For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.
10But although they sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them; and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones.
11Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they became for him altars for sinning.
12I wrote for him the many things of my law; but they were regarded as a strange thing.
13As for the sacrifices of my offerings, they sacrifice meat and eat it; But Yahweh doesn’t accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins. They will return to Egypt.
14For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire on his cities, and it will devour its fortresses.”
Summary
God sounds the alarm like a trumpet, an eagle circling because Israel has broken his covenant and transgressed his law even while claiming to know him (vv. 1-3). They set up kings and princes without God's approval and made idols of silver and gold that will lead to their own ruin, including the calf-idol of Samaria that God's anger burns against (vv. 4-6). Having sown the wind, they will reap the whirlwind — their labor yields nothing, and what little it produces will be devoured by foreigners (v. 7). Israel is swallowed up among the nations, having gone to Assyria for help like a wandering donkey and multiplied both alliances and altars, yet all of it only increases their sin (vv. 8-11). Though God wrote out his law for them, they treat it as something foreign, offering sacrifices he will not accept, and Ephraim has forgotten its Maker in favor of building palaces and fortified cities that God will now consume with fire (vv. 12-14).
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- Samaria (v.5, v.6): Central region between Judea and Galilee; mixed Jewish-Gentile population.
- Assyria (v.9): Empire to the northeast that conquered the northern kingdom of Israel (722 BC).
- Egypt (v.13): Land to the southwest; place of Israel's bondage and exodus.
Places on this map
- SamariaSebastia, West BankOmri bought a bare hill and built a capital on it, which gave the northern kingdom a fortress with no prior claim on it, the same calculation David made with Jerusalem. It commands the pass west toward the coastal plain. The name later spread to the whole region between Galilee and Judea. Wikipedia
- Galileenorthern IsraelThe northern hill country above the Jezreel Valley, wetter and greener than Judah and crossed by the trade road to Damascus. That traffic is why Judeans considered it mixed and provincial, and why Jesus grew up hearing more than one language. Wikipedia
- Assyrianorthern IraqThe upper Tigris heartland around Nineveh, Calah and Asshur. Its armies reached Israel by following the Fertile Crescent north-west and then south down the coast, so the threat always arrived from the north even though Assyria lay to the east. Wikipedia
- EgyptEgyptA ribbon of irrigated land along the Nile, ending in the Delta where Israel settled in Goshen. Rain-fed Canaan depended on weather; Egypt depended on a river that flooded on schedule, which made it the place everyone went when the harvest failed. Wikipedia
- Judeasouthern Israel and the West BankThe southern hill country around Jerusalem, high, stony and dry, with the wilderness on one side and the Philistine plain on the other. Poor farming and hard access are what let it stay independent longest. Wikipedia
Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Verse-by-verse commentary on this chapter, written for the everyday reader and freely available online.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Hosea -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- Claiming to Know God While Living Against Him (v.2) — Israel calls out to God as one who knows Him even while breaking His covenant in practice. Do your actions actually back up your profession of knowing God, or is there a gap between what you say and how you live?
- Small Compromises With Large Consequences (v.7) — The image of sowing wind and reaping a whirlwind captures how minor compromises grow into much larger consequences than expected. What small shortcut or "minor" disobedience in your life might be quietly growing into something far bigger?
- A Vessel Without Purpose (v.8) — Israel is described as having become like a useless vessel among the nations, no longer serving the purpose for which it was made. Are you actively living out the purpose God made you for, or drifting into functional purposelessness?
- God's Word Treated as Foreign (v.12) — God's instructions are said to be regarded as something strange rather than familiar and welcome. When Scripture starts to feel distant or irrelevant to you, could that be a sign of how far your heart has drifted rather than a flaw in the Word itself?
- Forgetting, Not Just Rejecting, the Maker (v.14) — Israel's core problem is described as having forgotten their Maker, a slow drift rather than a single dramatic rebellion. Has the busyness of building your career, home, or security quietly crowded out your attention to God?