Hosea 12:11
in Hosea 12Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Is Gilead iniquity? they are altogether false; in Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field.
KJV
Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
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This verse in Hosea 12
Commentary
8 notes on this verse"If Galahad was an idol, then they were sacrificing their cattle in vain at Galgal; for even their altars were like heaps on the furrows of the field." LXX: "If it is not Galahad, then the princes sacrificing at Galgala were false, and their altars were like tortoises on the desert of the field." Because we have translated "bobus," which is called Surim in Hebrew, the LXX translated it as "princes," which are called Sarim, being deceived by the similarity and ambiguity of the word.
This site's exposition
Is there iniquity in Gilead
on Hosea 12:11-14
Is there iniquity in Gilead names a place notorious for idol altars raised in heaps in the furrows of the fields, worship multiplied past counting. Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife recalls the flight from Esau and the years under Laban (Gen 29-31), the patriarch's servitude for love set beside verse 13's greater deliverance, by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved, naming Moses and reminding a people who had turned on their own prophets exactly who had carried them this far. Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly closes the chapter with the debt still owed, his reproach shall his Lord return unto him, judgment matching the provocation measure for measure.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Is there iniquity in Gilead? Yea, (2.) And in Gilgal too; there they sacrifice bullocks ( ch. ix. 15 ), and there their altars which they have set up, either to strange gods in opposition to his own appointed altar, are as thick as heaps of manure in the furrows of the field that is to be sown, ch. viii.
By this the prophet minds the Ephraimites what they must expect, and doth it in this pungent question, Is there iniquity in Gilead? Be it, Gilead was all iniquity; They - They that come up to Gilgal to sacrifice, are idolaters.
Is there iniquity in Gilead?....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Is there iniquity in Gilead?--He asks the question, not as if the answer was doubtful, but to strengthen the affirmation: "Surely they are vanity"; or as MAURER translates, "They are nothing but iniquity." Iniquity, especially idolatry, in Scripture is often termed "vanity." Pr 13:11: "Wealth gotten by vanity," that is, iniquity.
Iniquity in Gilead - Gilgal and Gilead are equally iniquitous, and equally idolatrous. Gilead, which was beyond Jordan, had already been brought under subjection by Tiglath-Pileser. Gilgal, which was on this side Jordan, shall share the same fate; because it is now as idolatrous as the other. Their altars are as heaps - They occur everywhere. The whole land is given to idolatry.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Is there iniquity in Gilead? - The prophet asks the question, in order to answer it the more peremptorily. He raises the doubt, in order to crush it the more impressively. Is there “iniquity” in “Gilead?” Alas, there was nothing else. “Surely they are vanity,” or, strictly, “they have become merely vanity.” As he said before, “they become abominations like their love.” “For such as men make their idols, or conceive their God to be, such they become themselves.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And I spoke to the prophets to admonish you and to bring you back to do good.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I will yet make you dwell in tents I will cut off from your midst deceitful traffickers, and I will cause you to dwell in tents. I will set up from among you students engaging in the Torah.
If there is violence in Gilead If they suffered from destruction and violence, they caused it to themselves, for they were but vanity in Gilgal, and they sacrificed oxen to pagan deities.
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
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | <if>? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| גִּלְעָ֥ד | gilad | [is] Gilead | H1568 → | |
| אָ֙וֶן֙ | ʾaven | wickedness | H205 → | 77 times |
| אַךְ־ | ʾakh- | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| שָׁ֣וְא | shav' | worthlessness | H7723 → | |
| הָי֔וּ | hayu | they are | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בַּגִּלְגָּ֖ל | bagilgal | in <the> Gilgal | H1537 → | 41 times |
| שְׁוָרִ֣ים | shevarim | bulls | H7794 → | |
| זִבֵּ֑חוּ | zibechu | they have sacrificed | H2076 → | 134 times |
| גַּ֤ם | gam | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| מִזְבְּחוֹתָם֙ | mizbechotam | altars their | H4196 → | 401 times |
| כְּגַלִּ֔ים | kegalim | [are] like heaps of stones | H1530 → | |
| עַ֖ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| תַּלְמֵ֥י | talmei | [the] furrows of | H8525 → | |
| שָׂדָֽי׃ | sadai | a field | H7704 → | 334 times |
אִם־<if>?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
גִּלְעָ֥ד[is] Gilead
giladH1568 →
אָ֙וֶן֙wickedness
ʾavenH205 →77 times
אַךְ־surely
ʾakh-H389 →161 times
שָׁ֣וְאworthlessness
shav'H7723 →
הָי֔וּthey are
hayuH1961 →3559 times
בַּגִּלְגָּ֖לin <the> Gilgal
bagilgalH1537 →41 times
שְׁוָרִ֣יםbulls
shevarimH7794 →
זִבֵּ֑חוּthey have sacrificed
zibechuH2076 →134 times
גַּ֤םalso
gamH1571 →769 times
מִזְבְּחוֹתָם֙altars their
mizbechotamH4196 →401 times
כְּגַלִּ֔ים[are] like heaps of stones
kegalimH1530 →
עַ֖לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
תַּלְמֵ֥י[the] furrows of
talmeiH8525 →
שָׂדָֽי׃a field
sadaiH7704 →334 times
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
Hosea 9:15All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are…
it leads to
- Amos 5:5
Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Hosea 4:15
Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
- 1 Samuel 7:16
Every year he would go on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all these places.
- Amos 5:5
Through
Hosea 10:1Israel 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.
it leads to
- Hosea 8:11
Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.
- Leviticus 26:1
“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am…
- Isaiah 5:1–7
I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
- Hosea 8:11
Through
Hosea 4:15Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
it leads to
- Hosea 9:15
All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are…
- Hosea 9:15
Where this verse is studied
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; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 12:11; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.