Hoseachapter 10
15 verses · Hosea · 755 to 715 BC · The Twelve
Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.
Introduction
Hosea, The Twelve, Hosea Overview.
Hosea addressed this chapter to farmers in the last years before Samaria fell, about 730 to 722 BC. Their good harvests had paid for more altars and finer standing stones. The chapter centres on Bethel, the royal shrine of the calf, and on the priests who lived from it. It speaks the language of the vineyard and the ploughed field from beginning to end. Listen for the farm work that each picture names, from threshing to breaking hard ground. Listen too for where the chapter says the nation had placed its trust, and for the old name Gibeah that returns from chapter 9.
Context
- Who
- Israelite farmers whose prosperity had funded their idolatry
- What
- A charge against Israel's growing altars and the calf of Beth-aven, with a call to break up hard ground and seek the LORD.
- Where
- The vineyards and fields of the northern kingdom and the calf shrine at Bethel, with Samaria, Gibeah and Beth-arbel named.
- When
- About 730 to 722 BC, in the last decade of the northern kingdom before the fall of Samaria; the date is approximate.
- Why
- To show that Israel's wealth had paid for idolatry and that its trust in its army would end in defeat, and to call it to seek God.
Historical context
The opening image is agricultural and exact. A luxuriant vine that produces heavily also puts out enormous leaf growth, and the more it produced the more standing stones and altars Israel built. Wealth had not made them faithful; it had funded better shrines.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The calf being carried off to Assyria as tribute was the ordinary fate of a defeated nation's gods. Assyrian reliefs show soldiers carrying divine images out of captured cities in procession, the standard way of announcing that a people's god had lost. Hosea says Bethel's calf will go the same way, and the priests who profited from it will wail over it.
The farming instructions in the middle are technical. A trained heifer used for threshing had the easiest job on the farm and was allowed to eat as she worked; being put to the yoke for ploughing was harder labour on a heavier neck. Breaking up fallow ground means driving the plough through soil left unworked, where the crust has hardened and thorn roots have taken hold. It is the slowest, most punishing work in the farming year, and it is what Hosea calls seeking the LORD.
Shalman's destruction of Beth-arbel is referred to as something everyone remembered and nobody today can identify with certainty; it was probably a recent atrocity in one of the campaigns rolling through the region, and the detail that mothers were dashed in pieces with their children fits Assyrian and Moabite warfare as it is described in their own records.
Significance
Sow righteousness, reap steadfast love, break up your fallow ground, the whole chapter turns on that instruction. Repentance is described not as an emotion but as the hardest field work of the year, undertaken because it is time to seek the LORD until he comes and rains righteousness.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The alternative is spelled out just as physically. You have ploughed wickedness and reaped injustice, because you trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your warriors. A kingdom with a strong army had put its confidence exactly where every other kingdom put it.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this lane, printed no weekly portion and no Haftarah from this chapter, and no festival reading for the book. That table carries the Haftarah of each of the fifty-four weekly portions and the books read whole at the feasts, and it carries nothing for the special Sabbaths or the fast days. This card therefore names no public reading of the chapter and leaves that question to a source that holds those readings.
The corpus joins the chapter to the weeks of the Torah portions through the works arranged by portion. Under the second verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma, Shoftim 18:1. Under the eleventh verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayera 31:2.
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries. He is quoted here from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY, and every quotation of it is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern. His lemmas, which carry the verse in that translation's wording, are never quoted.
Rashi reads the empty vine of the first verse as a vine that casts off its good fruit. "So did they forsake Me, Who is the good and fitting fruit for them" (Rashi on Hosea 10:1:1). At the second verse he reports a teaching of the Midrash Aggadah on peace and strife. "Peace is great, for, even if Israel worships idols, but there is peace among them, Satan does not bring charges against them". Where their heart is divided, "Satan can open his mouth to bring charges" (Rashi on Hosea 10:2:2).
The calves of Beth-aven are the calves of Bethel, "called Beth-aven in the Book of Joshua" (Rashi on Hosea 10:5:1). Rashi dates the carrying off to Assyria from Seder Olam, chapter 22, to the twelfth year of Ahaz, when Pul took "the golden calves that were in Bethel" (Rashi on Hosea 10:6:1). King Yareb he names in three words: "This is Sennacherib" (Rashi on Hosea 10:6:2).
At the ninth verse he dates the sin of Gibeah, again from Seder Olam. The outrage of the concubine at Gibeah fell in the time of Othniel the son of Kenaz, "who was the first of the judges", when the image of Micah already stood (Rashi on Hosea 10:9:1). Ephraim at the eleventh verse is a heifer goaded many times who still has not bowed. Rashi says "they did not subject themselves to My Torah, but follow the vision of their heart" (Rashi on Hosea 10:11:1). The last verse lays it all at one door: "The calf in Bethel has brought about all this retribution upon you" (Rashi on Hosea 10:15:1).
The corpus carries two further notes on this chapter without an English text, each marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref. They stand cited and unquoted at Rashi on Hosea 10:3:2. The corpus cites Ibn Ezra on Hosea 10:7:1 the same way.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the first verse it holds Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 15:9, Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Shirah 7:1 and Sifrei Aggadah on Esther, Midrash Panim Acherim, Version I 1:12. On the second verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 11:7, Bereshit Rabbah 38:6, Midrash Lekach Tov, Deuteronomy 21:4:1, Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 34:20:2 and Midrash Tanchuma, Shoftim 18:1. It holds Sifrei Bamidbar 42:2 and Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 9:24 there as well. On the fourth verse it holds Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 919:4.
On the fifth verse it holds Ein Yaakov, Sanhedrin 7:15, Megillah 25b:17 and Sanhedrin 63b:12. On the sixth verse it holds Otzar Midrashim, The Ten Exiles 1:5 and Seder Olam Rabbah 22:1. On the eighth verse it holds Devarim Rabbah 10:4. On the tenth verse it holds Sifrei Bamidbar 131:2. On the eleventh verse it holds Aggadat Bereshit 64:2, Avot DeRabbi Natan 23:2, Bereshit Rabbah 48:13, Bereshit Rabbah 53:3, Bereshit Rabbah 93:5 and Eikhah Rabbah 2:2. It holds Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayera 31:2 there as well.
On the twelfth verse it holds Avodah Zarah 5b:3, Bava Kamma 17a:9, Bekhorot 24a:13, Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Toldot 10 and Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Vayechi 34. It holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Avodah Zarah 1:13 there as well. On the thirteenth verse it holds Midrash Tanchuma, Mishpatim 12:4, Shemot Rabbah 31:15 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 111:11. On the fourteenth verse it holds Bava Metzia 39a:1, Eikhah Rabbah 1:37, Ein Yaakov, Bava Metzia 3:3, Jerusalem Talmud Yevamot 15:3:9 and Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Emor 18:1. It holds Midrash Tanchuma, Emor 13:1 there as well. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Hosea 10:1:1 to 10:15:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Rashi, Rashi on Hosea 10:3:2, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Hosea 10:7:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/hosea/10.json, the 40 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, printing no portion and no Haftarah for this chapter and no festival reading for this book.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A luxuriant vine that only multiplied altars
Hosea 10:1-2
Israel was a luxuriant vine: e", and the vine figure turns bitter: "The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars". "Their hearts are devious" names the root under the fruit. The warning is against wealth misused, the same warning Deuteronomy gave before the land was entered.
Hosea 10:1
“MAURER translates, "A widespreading vine"; so the Septuagint. Eze 17:6. bringeth forth fruit unto himself--not unto ME. according to . . . multitude of . . . fruit . . . increased . . . altars--In proportion to the abundance of their prosperity, which called for fruit unto God (compare Ro 6:22), was the abundance of their idolatry (Ho 8:4, 11).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Hosea 10:1
“Those who think vvqq, bukok, here applied to the vine, means "empty," are mistaken; for the Prophet means rather, that Israel was like a vine, which is robbed after the ingathering is come: for the word vqq, bekok, means properly to pillage, or to plunder.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
Hosea 10:1
“Israel is an empty vine - Or, in the same sense, “a luxuriant vine;” literally, “one which poureth out,” poureth itself out into leaves, abundant in switches, (as most old versions explain it,) luxuriant in leaves, emptying itself in them, and empty of fruit; like the fig-tree, which our Lord cursed.”
Their hearts are devious: Spurgeon preached the verse as A Divided Heart. Henry compared the heart to the false mother who asked for the child to be divided, and said the LORD will have the whole heart. Such a heart, Henry said, bears the guilt of treachery.
Hosea 10:2
“Their heart is divided; now they shall perish: he shall break down their idols, he shall lay waste their altars." LXX: "They have divided their hearts: now shall they perish: he shall break down their altars, he shall distress their statues." The Hebrews hand down a similar story, confirming their suspicion with the authority of Scripture: captivity did not come until both kings and peoples alike adored golden calves and were united in impiety.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Hosea 10:2patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Hosea 10:2
“THIS passage may be taken as referring to the people of Israel as a nation, and it is not less applicable to the church of God. It is one grand and grievous fault with the church of Christ at the present day, that it is not merely divided somewhat in its creed, and somewhat also in its practice of the ordinances, but alas, it is also somewhat divided in heart.”
Hosea 10:2
“But God is the sovereign of the heart and he will by no means endure a rival; he will either have all or none. Satan, like the pretended mother, says, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it; but, if this be yielded to, God says, Nay, let him take it all. A heart thus divided will be found faulty, and be rejected as treacherous in covenanting with God.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Hosea 10:3-4
"We have no king, for we do not revere the LORD" confesses the disorder of Israel's last decades, and admits the cause was spiritual first. Covenants made "with false oaths" turn bitter, and "judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field."
Hosea 10:3
“Because now they will say, 'There is no king for us, for we did not fear the Lord, and what will the king do to us?' Speaking words of useless vision, and you will strike a covenant, and judgment will germinate like bitterness over the furrows of the field. "LXX: "Therefore now they will say, there is no king for us, because we did not fear the Lord, but what will the king do to us? Speaking words, false excuses: he will arrange a testament, and judgment will arise like grass over the desert of the field.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Hosea 10:3-4patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Hosea 10:3
“For now they shall say, we have no king - These are the words of despair, not of repentance; of people terrified by the consciousness of guilt, but not coming forth out of its darkness; describing their condition, not confessing the iniquity which brought it on them. In sin, all Israel had asked for a king, when the Lord was their king; in sin, Ephraim had made Jeroboam king; in sin, their subsequent kings were made, without the counsel and advice of God; and now as the close of all, they reflect how fruitless it all was.”
with false oaths they make covenants: Wesley took the covenant as the one made with the king of Assyria, sworn with false oaths. Clarke read the oaths as covenants with nations, made by men who never meant to keep their word. Those mere words ended as bitter as gall.
Hosea 10:4
“They have spoken words - Vain, empty, deceitful words. Swearing falsely - This refers to the alliances made with strange powers, to whom they promised fidelity without intending to be faithful; and from whom they promised themselves protection and support, notwithstanding God was against them, and they knew it. All their words were vain, and in the end as bitter as gall. Judgment springeth up as hemlock - As our land lies without cultivation, so that we have nothing but noxious weeds instead of crops; so we have no administration of justice.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Hosea 10:4
“Swearing falsely - By perjury deceiving those they treated with. A covenant - With the Assyrian king. Judgment - Divine vengeance.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Hosea 10:4
“They swore falsely in making a covenant; they were deceitful in their covenanting with God, the covenant of circumcision, the fair promises they made of reformation when they were in distress; and no marvel if those that were false to their God were false to all mankind.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The calf of Beth-aven carried off to Assyria
Hosea 10:5-8
the calf of Beth-aven: Samaria fears for "the calf of Beth-aven", Hosea's scornful name for Bethel, and the calf is "carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king". In verse 8 the people beg the mountains, "Cover us!", and the hills, "Fall on us!", words Jesus takes up (Luke 23:30, Revelation 6:16).
Hosea 10:5
"The inhabitants of Samaria have worshipped the cows of Bethaven, because its people have mourned over it; and its priests have rejoiced over it, for its glory has departed from it. Moreover, it has been carried away to Assyria, as a gift to the avenging king. Ephraim will be put to shame by the confusion he caused; Israel will be ashamed of his own will." LXX: "At the calf of the house of Ὦn, those who dwell in Samaria will reside: because his people mourned over him.
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Hosea 10:5-6patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Hosea 10:5
“The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of - (i. e., for) the calves of Beth-aven He calls them in this place “cow-calves,” perhaps to denote their weakness and helplessness. So far from their idol being able to help “them, they” shall be anxious and troubled for their idols, lest these should be taken captive from them.”
as tribute to the great king: The calf its worshippers trusted to save them is itself carried off to Assyria. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown name the great king as Shalmaneser. Adam Clarke thought it was Pul, to whom Menahem gave one of the golden calves to secure his help.
Hosea 10:6
“A present to King Jareb - See on Hos 5:13 (note). If this be a proper name, the person intended is not known in history: but it is most likely that Pul, king of Assyria, is intended, to whom Menahem, king of Israel, appears to have given one of the golden calves, to insure his assistance.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
like a twig on the surface: The early translators split over the word. Jerome kept foam, the Septuagint and Theodotion read a brand, and Symmachus pictured the froth on boiling water. Gill took the king as Hoshea, the last of Israel's kings, cut off by Assyria.
Hosea 10:7
"He made his king pass like foam over the face of the water of Samaria, and the high places of idols shall be destroyed, the sin of Israel." LXX: "He has cast out his king from Samaria as a brand on the face of the water, and the altars will be removed." For "foam," which the LXX and Theodotion translated as φρύγανον, that is, "brand," Symmachus has placed ἐπίζεμα, wanting to show the upper waters of boiling water, and the foam and bubbles rising, which the Greeks call πομφόλυγας.
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Hosea 10:7-8patristic
The high places of Aven: Clarke read Aven as Beth-aven and the high places as idol temples. Thorns and thistles overgrow the altars of a land left empty once its people are carried away. Jesus took up the cry to the mountains at Luke 23:30.
Hosea 10:8
“The high-places - Idol temples. Of Aven - Beth-aven. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars - Owing to the uncultivated and unfrequented state of the land, and of their places of idol worship, the people being all carried away into captivity. “And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, And to the hills, Fall on us.” “This sublime description of fear and distress our Lord had in view, Luk 23:30, which may be a reference, and not a quotation.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Cross references
Hosea 10:8
- Quoted inLuke 23:30“At that time ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’”
'say to the mountains, Fall on us' (weeping women of Jerusalem)
Ephraim, a trained heifer who loved to thresh
Hosea 10:9-10
Since the days of Gibeah: h you have sinned" reaches back to Judges 19 to 20, the outrage and the civil war it set off. Israel has stayed in that sin, "and there you have remained", so now "nations will be gathered against them" for a sin grown old.
Hosea 10:9
"Israel sinned from the days of Gabaa: there they stood. They will not be caught at Gabaa in battle against the sons of iniquity. According to my desire, I will rebuke them: when the peoples are gathered together against them and will be corrected over their two iniquities." LXX: "Since Israel sinned on the hills, there they stood; they were not captured in battle on the hills against the sons of lawlessness. He came to rebuke them, and the peoples will be gathered against them when they are rebuked for their two iniquities."
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Hosea 10:9-10patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Hosea 10:9
“O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah - There must have been great sin, on both sides, of Israel as well as Benjamin, when Israel punished the atrocity of Gibeah, since God caused Israel so to be smitten before Benjamin.”
Hosea 10:9
“Not only the wickedness that was committed in that age is revived in this, and reacted, a copy from that original, but the wickedness that was committed in that age has been continued in a constant series and succession through all the intervening ages down to this; so that the measure of iniquity had been long in filling; and still there had been made additions to it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
for their double transgression: Newcome, cited by Clarke, took the double transgression as the calf at Dan and the calf at Bethel. Clarke also named the two sins in Jeremiah, forsaking the LORD and turning to idols. Henderson read the Hebrew margin, which counts the transgressions as two.
Hosea 10:10
“The Chaldee says, Those that are gathered against them shall exercise dominion over them, in like manner as a pair of heifers are tied to their two furrows. Thus those that would not be God's freemen shall be their enemies' slaves, and shall be made to know the difference between God's service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries, 2 Chron. xii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 more voices on this verse
Hosea 10:10
“When they shall bind themselves in their two furrows - “When they are chastised for their two iniquities,” i.e., the calves in Dan and Beth-el. - Newcome. But this double iniquity may refer to what Jeremiah says, Jer 11:13: “My people have committed two evils.” - 1. They have forsaken me. 2. They have joined themselves to idols.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Hosea 10:10
“Ho 10:11, which specifies the two, favors this view. HENDERSON prefers the Keri (Hebrew Margin) "for their two iniquities"; and translates, "when they are bound" in captivity.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Hosea 10:11-13
a well-trained heifer: Ephraim is "a well-trained heifer that loves to thresh", unmuzzled (Deuteronomy 25:4), and now the LORD will "place a yoke on her fair neck". "Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion" calls Israel to repent while "it is time to seek the LORD".
Hosea 10:11
"Ephraim likes to tread his grain, as a trained cow; and I passed over his beauty in the hill and climbed over Ephraim: Judah will plow; Jacob will break up the land for himself." LXX: "Ephraim is a cow" (or "heifer:" for what is called Egla in Hebrew means both a calf and heifer), so "Ephraim is a trained cow that loves to thresh; but I will come over his beautiful hill; I will set upon Ephraim, and Judah will be silent. Jacob will again be strengthened."
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Hosea 10:11patristic
3 more voices on this verse
Hosea 10:11
“And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn,.... Like a heifer taught to bear the yoke, and to plough; but learned it not, as the Targum; does not like it; chooses to tread out the corn where it can feed upon it, its mouth not being then muzzled, according to the law; oxen or heifers were used both in ploughing and treading out corn, to which the allusion is.”
Hosea 10:11
“Ephraim is an heifer that is taught and that loveth to tread out the corn - The object of the metaphor in these three verses seems to be, to picture, under operations of husbandry, what God willed and trained His people to do, how they took as much pains in evil, as He willed them to do for good. One thing only they did “which” He willed, but not because He willed it - what pleased themselves.”
Hosea 10:11
I passed over upon--I put the yoke upon. make . . . to ride--as in Job 30:22; that is, hurry Ephraim away to a distant region [CALVIN]. LYRA translates, "I will make (the Assyrian) to ride upon Ephraim." MAURER, "I will make Ephraim to carry," namely, a charioteer. his clods--"the clods before him."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Sow righteousness, break up your fallow ground
break up your unplowed ground: Spurgeon saw Hosea taking his figures from the field. He read the plow that breaks up unplowed ground as conviction of sin, and the sowing as the seed of the gospel received by faith. Henry read the rain of righteousness as the grace the LORD sends on those who sow.
Hosea 10:12
“HOSEA uses a great many figures taken from farming. He describe the seeking of the Lord in the former part of this verse as plowing, and sowing, and breaking up fallow ground. I suppose he intends by this to describe conviction of sin, humiliation of soul as the work that plows, the reception of the Truth of the Gospel by faith in Jesus Christ as sowing, for this introduces the Living Seed into the soul. And he here gives two reasons why this matter of seeking the Lord should be attended to at once. His first reason is the season.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3557: “An Urgent Necessity” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
1 more voice on this verse
Hosea 10:12
“Act righteously and ye shall reap the reward; a reward not of debt, but of grace. in mercy--according to the measure of the divine "mercy," which over and above repays the goodness or "mercy" which we show to our fellow man (Lu 6:38). break . . . fallow ground--Remove your superstitions and vices, and be renewed. seek . . .”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
eaten the fruit of lies: Wesley read the fruit of lies as vain hopes the people fed on. Their own way was their idolatry. The next lie they lived on was the wisdom and courage of their great men.
Hosea 10:13
“Eaten - Fed yourselves with vain hopes. In thy way - Their way was their idolatry. Mighty men - The next lie on which they lived was the wisdom and valour of their great men.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Hosea 10:13
"You harvested impiety and iniquity; you consumed the fruit of lies." LXX: "Why are you silent about his impieties and injustices? You harvested the fruit of deceit." Against my will, I often find myself debating the nuances of the Hebrew language. For we do not merely repeat sentiments in the manner of rhetoricians, we construct words and rouse the admiration of our listeners or readers by means of our declamatory style. Instead, we strive to explain what is obscure, especially to those who are unfamiliar with the language of others.
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Hosea 10:13patristic
Hosea 10:14-15
as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel: The fortresses will fall "as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle". "Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel" closes the chapter at the shrine where it opened. The fall is swift: "When the day dawns, the king of Israel will be utterly cut off."
Hosea 10:14
"Because you trusted in your ways: tumult shall arise among your people because of the multitude of your strong ones, and all your fortifications shall be laid waste. Just as Salman was devastated in his own house, he who was judging Baal on the day of the battle, when a mother was dashed upon her children, so has Bethel done to you because of the malice of your wickedness."
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Hosea 10:14-15patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Hosea 10:14
“Shall a tumult arise - The enemy shall soon fall upon thy people, and take all thy fortified places. As Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel - Some think that this refers to Jerubbaal, or Gideon’s victory over Zalmunna, general of the Midianites; see Jdg 7:8. Others think that an allusion is made here to the destruction of Arbela, a city of Armenia, by Shalmaneser, here called Shalman; and this while he was only general of the Assyrian forces, and not yet king. I think the history to which this refers is unknown. It seems that it was distinguished by some remarkable ferocities.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Hosea 10:14
“Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel--that is, Shalmaneser, a compound name, in which the part common to it and the names of three other Assyrian kings, is omitted; Tiglath-pileser, Esar-haddon, Shar-ezer. So Jeconiah is abbreviated to Coniah.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
because of your great wickedness: Barnes noted that the prophet names Bethel as the one who does this, to show that Israel's own sin brought the ruin. Literally it reads the wickedness of your wickedness. Matthew Henry named Hoshea, the last king of Israel, or one of his predecessors cut off by treachery.
Hosea 10:15
“So shall Bethel do unto you - God was the judge, who condemned them so to suffer from the enemy. The Assyrian was the instrument of the wrath of God. But, in order to point out the moral government of God, the prophet says, neither that God did it, nor that the Assyrian did it, but Bethel, once “the house of God,” now the place where they dishonored God, “because of your great wickedness,” literally, “the wickedness of your wickedness.” In their wickedness itself, there was an essence of wickedness, malice within malice.”
1 more voice on this verse
Hosea 10:15
“Hoshea was the last king of Israel; in him the whole kingdom was cut off and came to a period; it may refer either to him or to some of his predecessors that were cut off by treachery.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Keep studying
Studies4
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Charles Spurgeon; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 10:7-8; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.