Hosea 5:8
in Hosea 5Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; raise the battle cry in Beth-aven: Lead on, O Benjamin!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: sound an alarm at Beth-aven; behind thee, O Benjamin.
KJV
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth–aven, after thee, O Benjamin.
⋯
This verse in Hosea 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseBlow the horn in Gabaa, trumpet in Rama: howl at Bethaven after your back, O Benjamin: Ephraim shall be in desolation in the day of rebuke, among the tribes of Israel have I made known the truth." LXX: "Blow the trumpet on the hills, sound on the high places," "proclaim it in the house." ὢν: "Benjamin's mind has failed, Ephraim has become desolate in the days of reproof, in the tribes of Israel I have shown faithfulness." Ephraim and Israel and Judah shall each month, or the rust with its parts, devour.
This site's exposition
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah
on Hosea 5:8-10
The trumpet call rings across Benjamin's own territory, Gibeah and Ramah and Beth-aven all named, an alarm sounding for an invasion the prophet already sees coming rather than a summons to battle the nation can win. Ephraim will be desolate in the day of rebuke, the certainty stated among the tribes as a settled fact rather than a threat that might yet be turned aside. The princes of Judah are likened to those who remove the ancient boundary stone, a crime Deuteronomy curses by name, and the bench reads it of Judah's encroachment on Israelite territory during this era's border wars, drawing the Lord's wrath down on Judah for the same greed that undoes Ephraim.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Blow ye - Ye watchmen, sound the alarm, the enemy cometh. After thee, O Benjamin - After thy cries. After thee, O Beth-aven, let Benjamin also cry aloud: for they shall also fall for their sin.
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah,....
Let all therefore prepare to meet their God. He had before spoken of the judgments as certain; here he speaks of them as near; and, when they are apprehended as just at the door, they are very startling and awakening. The blowing of this cornet is explained,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah - Gibeah and Ramah were cities of Judah, in the tribe of Benjamin. After thee, O Benjamin - An abrupt call of warning. “Benjamin, fly for thy life! The enemy is just behind thee!” This is a prediction of the invasion of the Assyrians, and the captivity of the ten tribes.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The arrival of the enemy is announced in the form of an injunction to blow an alarm. cornet . . . trumpet--The "cornet" was made of the curved horn of animals and was used by shepherds. The "trumpet" was of brass or silver, straight, and used in wars and on solemn occasions. The Hebrew is hatzotzerah, the sound imitating the trumpet note (Ho 8:1;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
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
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah - The evil day and destruction, denounced, is now vividly pictured, as actually come. All is in confusion, hurry, alarm, because the enemy was in the midst of them. The “cornet,” an instrument made of horn, was to be blown as the alarm, when the enemy was at hand. The “trumpet” was especially used for the worship of God. “Gibeah and Ramah” were cities of Benjamin, on the borders of Ephraim, where the enemy, who had possessed himself of Israel, would burst in upon Judah. From Bethaven or Bethel, the seat of Ephraim’s idolatry, on the border of Benjamin, was to break forth the outcry of destruction, “after thee, O Benjamin;” the enemy is upon thee, just behind thee, pursuing thee. God had promised His people, if they would serve Him, “I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee” Exo 23:27, and had threatened the contrary, if they should “walk contrary to Him.” Now that threat was to be fulfilled to the uttermost. The ten tribes are spoken of, as already in possession of the enemy, and he was “upon Benjamin” fleeing before them.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תִּקְע֤וּ | tiku | blow | H8628 → | |
| שׁוֹפָר֙ | shofar | a horn | H7782 → | |
| בַּגִּבְעָ֔ה | bagivah | in <the> Gibeah | H1390 → | 45 times |
| חֲצֹצְרָ֖ה | chatzotzerah | a trumpet | H2689 → | |
| בָּרָמָ֑ה | baramah | in <the> Ramah | H7414 → | |
| הָרִ֙יעוּ֙ | hariu | sound an alarm | H7321 → | |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | Beth | H1007 → | 14 times |
| אָ֔וֶן | ʾaven | Aven | H1007 → | 14 times |
| אַחֲרֶ֖יךָ | ʾachareikha | after you | H310 → | 715 times |
| בִּנְיָמִֽין׃ | binyamin | O Benjamin | H1144 → |
תִּקְע֤וּblow
tikuH8628 →
שׁוֹפָר֙a horn
shofarH7782 →
בַּגִּבְעָ֔הin <the> Gibeah
bagivahH1390 →45 times
חֲצֹצְרָ֖הa trumpet
chatzotzerahH2689 →
בָּרָמָ֑הin <the> Ramah
baramahH7414 →
הָרִ֙יעוּ֙sound an alarm
hariuH7321 →
בֵּ֣יתBeth
beitH1007 →14 times
אָ֔וֶןAven
ʾavenH1007 →14 times
אַחֲרֶ֖יךָafter you
ʾachareikhaH310 →715 times
בִּנְיָמִֽין׃O Benjamin
binyaminH1144 →
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
Joel 2:1Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near—
it leads to
- Joel 2:15
Blow the ram’s horn in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a sacred assembly.
- 1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.
- Joel 1:15
Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Joel 3:17
Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.
- Malachi 4:1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…
- Joel 2:15
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
- Hosea 10:9
Since 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?
- 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 10:9
Through
1 Samuel 15:34Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 11:4
When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud.
- 1 Samuel 11:4
About Hosea
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
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; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 5:8-9; 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.