Hosea 10:9
in Hosea 10Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not the battle in Gibeah overtake the sons of iniquity?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood; the battle against the children of iniquity doth not overtake them in Gibeah.
KJV
O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
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This verse in Hosea 10
Commentary
8 notes on this verse"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."
This site's exposition
from the days of Gibeah
on Hosea 10:9-10
O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah reaches back to Judges 19-20, the Benjamite outrage and the civil war it triggered, naming a wound the nation carries from its earliest years in the land rather than a recent lapse. There they stood recalls how the tribes once rallied to punish that crime, and the note the battle did not overtake them at Gibeah marks a judgment then withheld that will not be withheld now, the people gathered against Israel this time for a sin grown old rather than new.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Thistles and tribulations will ascend upon their altars, and they will say to the mountains, 'Cover us,' and to the hills, 'Fall upon us.' LXX: 'Thorns and tribulations will ascend upon their altars, and they will say to the mountains, 'Cover us,' and to the hills, 'Fall upon us.' It is a sign of ultimate loneliness, that not even walls or the last remnants of buildings will be left. At that time, 'they will say to the mountains, 'Cover us,' and to the hills, 'Fall upon us.' This is what the Lord says will be fulfilled in the last days of the captivity of Judah. Therefore, whatever is said now against the ten tribes or against all of Israel, let us know that it can also be transferred typologically to the entire people, so that when the Romans capture Jerusalem and overthrow the temple, or when the day of judgment comes, as some suspect, they will say with great horror, fearing, "Cover us, mountains," and "Fall on us, hills," preferring to die rather than see what brings death. But the spiritual wickedness of Samaria, which had separated itself from the people of God, caused its king to pass quickly, namely, the speech of heretics and doctrine like foam or cream on the surface of the water, some of which, while it appears, suddenly dissolves, while others are easy to remove from the summits of the waters and cast into the fire. Such are the heretics, swelling with foaming words, and mixing the teachings and words of Christ with the baptism and their own sermons. All of these things will pass away, and the great words in which they labored, which is interpreted as "being", will be immediately scattered, in which Israel sinned: and there will be such a great solitude of wicked doctrine that thorns and thistles will ascend upon their altars. It is well known that thorns and thistles grow where there is no cultivation of the fields. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
They are singled out as a specimen of the whole nation. there they stood--The Israelites have, as there and then, so ever since, persisted in their sin [CALVIN].
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah - This is another reference to the horrible rape and murder of the Levite’s wife, Jdg 19:13, Jdg 19:14. There they stood - Only one tribe was nearly destroyed, viz., that of Benjamin. They were the criminals, the children of iniquity; the others were faultless, and stood only for the rights of justice and mercy.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
With My will, I chastised them According to My will, I always chastised them from judge to judge, and I delivered them into the hands of their plunderers.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִימֵי֙ | mimei | since [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַגִּבְעָ֔ה | hagivah | <the> Gibeah | H1390 → | 45 times |
| חָטָ֖אתָ | chatata | you have sinned | H2398 → | 238 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | O Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| שָׁ֣ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| עָמָ֔דוּ | ʾamadu | they have remained | H5975 → | |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַשִּׂיגֵ֧ם | tasigem | will it overtake? them | H5381 → | |
| בַּגִּבְעָ֛ה | bagivah | in <the> Gibeah | H1390 → | 45 times |
| מִלְחָמָ֖ה | milchamah | war | H4421 → | 320 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עַֽלְוָֽה׃ | ʾalvah | injustice | H5932 → |
מִימֵי֙since [the] days of
mimeiH3117 →2304 times
הַגִּבְעָ֔ה<the> Gibeah
hagivahH1390 →45 times
חָטָ֖אתָyou have sinned
chatataH2398 →238 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לO Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
שָׁ֣םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
עָמָ֔דוּthey have remained
ʾamaduH5975 →
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַשִּׂיגֵ֧םwill it overtake? them
tasigemH5381 →
בַּגִּבְעָ֛הin <the> Gibeah
bagivahH1390 →45 times
מִלְחָמָ֖הwar
milchamahH4421 →320 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בְּנֵ֥יsons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
עַֽלְוָֽה׃injustice
ʾalvahH5932 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 6:5Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
it leads to
- Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
- Romans 1:28–31
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
- Mark 7:21–23
For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Jeremiah 4:14
Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
- Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- Matthew 15:19
Through
Hosea 9:9They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.
it leads to
- Judges 19:16
That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was residing in Gibeah (the men of that place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the field.
- Hosea 8:13
Though 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…
- Judges 19:16
Through
Judges 20:5And during the night, the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house. They intended to kill me, but they abused my concubine, and she died.
it leads to
- Judges 19:22
While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who…
- Judges 19:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Hosea
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; 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 10:9-10; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 10:9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.