Hosea 9:8
in Hosea 9The prophet is Ephraim’s watchman, along with my God, yet the snare of the fowler lies on all his paths. Hostility is in the house of his God!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ephraim was a watchman with my God: as for the prophet, a fowler’s snare is in all his ways, and enmity in the house of his God.
KJV
The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.
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This verse in Hosea 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verse"Ephraim the spy with my God: the prophet is a snare of ruin" "above all his ways: insanity in the house of his God, deeply they have sinned: as in the days of Gabaa, their iniquities will be remembered, and their sins will be visited." LXX: "Ephraim the spy with God the prophet: a twisted snare over all his ways, insanity" "they have fabricated in the house of God: they have been corrupted according to the days of the hill: " "their iniquities will be remembered, and they will be avenged for their sins."
This site's exposition
The days of visitation are come
on Hosea 9:7-9
The days of visitation are come announces that judgment has finally arrived rather than merely being threatened, and the people answer by calling the prophet a fool and the spiritual man mad, blaming the messenger for the message. Verse eight turns the charge back on the nation itself, the watchman of Ephraim was with my God, yet a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God, describing a corruption that reaches even the shrine meant to guard against it. Their corruption is measured against Gibeah, the outrage of Judges nineteen that nearly ended the tribe of Benjamin, a byword the prophet uses deliberately to say Israel has returned to its worst historical low.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Ephraim is a sentinel with my God," that is, Israel was established by God, he says, so that he might receive the truth and watch over honorable feasts, and that he might be, as is the true prophet, with the help of God, the teacher …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Woe unto thee, O land! unto thee, O church! that hast such watchmen, such prophets, that are seers, but not doers! Corruptio optimi est pessima--The best things, when corrupted, become the worst. That God will now reckon with them for the sins of their fathers, which they have trod in the steps of,
The prophet - The false prophets have, as well as the people, left God. Is a snare - Their pretended predictions are but a snare, such as fowlers lay. And hatred - Such prophets are full of hatred and malice: yea, they are hatred itself.
The watchman of Ephraim was with my God,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The watchman . . . was with my God--The spiritual watchmen, the true prophets, formerly consulted my God (Jer 31:6; Hab 2:1); but their so-called prophet is a snare, entrapping Israel into idolatry. hatred--rather, "(a cause of) apostasy" (see Ho 9:7) [MAURER]. house of his God--that is, the state of Ephraim, as in Ho 8:1 [MAURER].
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The watchman of Ephraim - The true prophet, was with - faithful to, God. The prophet - The false prophet is the snare of a fowler; is continually deceiving the people, and leading them into snares, and infusing into their hearts deep hatred against God and his worship.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The watchman of Ephraim was with my God - These words may well contrast the office of the true prophet with the false. For Israel had had many true prophets, and such was Hosea himself now. The true prophet was at all times with “God.” He was “with God,” as holpen by God, “watching” or looking out and on into the future by the help of God. He was “with God,” as walking with God in a constant sense of His presence, and in continual communion with Him. He was “with God,” as associated by God with Himself, in teaching, warning, correcting, exhorting His people, as the Apostle says, “we then as workers together with Him” 2Co 6:1. It might also be rendered in nearly the same sense, “Ephraim was a watchman with my God,” and this is more according to the Hebrew words. As though the whole people of Israel had an office from God , “and God addressed it as a whole, ‘I made thee, as it were, a watchman and prophet of God to the neighboring nations, that through My providence concerning thee, and thy living according to the law, they too might receive the knowledge of Me. But thou hast acted altogether contrary to this, for thou hast become a snare to them. ‘“ Yet perhaps, if so construed, it would rather mean, “Ephraim is a watchman, beside my God,” as it is said, “There is none upon earth, that I desire with Thee” Psa 73:25, i. e., beside Thee. In God the Psalmist had all, and desired to have nothing “with,” i. e., beside God. Ephraim was not content with God’s revelations, but would himself be “a seer, an espier” of future events, the prophet says with indignation, “together with my God.” God, in fact, sufficed. Ephraim not. Ahab hated God’s prophet, “because he did not speak good concerning him but evil” 1Ki 22:8, 1Ki 22:18. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| צֹפֶ֥ה | tzopeh | [was] a watchman | H6822 → | |
| אֶפְרַ֖יִם | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| אֱלֹהָ֑י | ʾelohai | God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| נָבִ֞יא | navi' | a prophet | H5030 → | 314 times |
| פַּ֤ח | pach | a trap of | H6341 → | |
| יָקוֹשׁ֙ | yakovosh | a fowler | H3352 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [is] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| דְּרָכָ֔יו | derakhav | ways his | H1870 → | 707 times |
| מַשְׂטֵמָ֖ה | mastemah | animosity | H4895 → | |
| בְּבֵ֥ית | beveit | [is] in [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אֱלֹהָֽיו׃ | ʾelohav | God his | H430 → | 2601 times |
צֹפֶ֥ה[was] a watchman
tzopehH6822 →
אֶפְרַ֖יִםEphraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
אֱלֹהָ֑יGod my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
נָבִ֞יאa prophet
navi'H5030 →314 times
פַּ֤חa trap of
pachH6341 →
יָקוֹשׁ֙a fowler
yakovoshH3352 →
עַל־[is] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
דְּרָכָ֔יוways his
derakhavH1870 →707 times
מַשְׂטֵמָ֖הanimosity
mastemahH4895 →
בְּבֵ֥ית[is] in [the] house of
beveitH1004 →2046 times
אֱלֹהָֽיו׃God his
ʾelohavH430 →2601 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
Isaiah 62:6On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD shall take no rest for yourselves,
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:8
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, together they shout for joy. For every eye will see when the LORD returns to Zion.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 6:17
I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.’ But they answered, ‘We will not listen!’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 3:17–21
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.
- Psalms 134:1–2
Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who serve by night in the house of the LORD!
- 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing.
- Isaiah 52:8
Through
Ezekiel 3:17“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 19:10
For every dispute that comes before you from your brothers who dwell in their cities—whether it regards bloodshed or some other violation of law, commandments, statutes, or ordinances—you are to warn them, so that…
- 2 Chronicles 19:10
Through
John 15:24If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.
it leads to
- John 14:9
Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the…
- John 5:36
But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.
- John 14:9
About Hosea
This page draws on 10 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; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON HOSEA; 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 9:8-9; 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.