Hosea 10:7
in Hosea 10Samaria will be carried off with her king like a twig on the surface of the water.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As for Samaria, her king is cut off, as foam upon the water.
KJV
As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.
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This verse in Hosea 10
Commentary
10 notes on this verse"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.
This site's exposition
the calf of Beth-aven
on Hosea 10:5-8
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).
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
As for Samaria,.... The metropolis of the ten tribes of Israel, and here put for the whole kingdom: her king is cut off; which some understand of Pekah, who was killed by Hoshea; others of several of their kings cut off one after another, very suddenly and quickly, as the metaphor after used shows; or rather Hoshea the last king is meant, who was cut off by the king of Assyria; the present tense is used for the future, to denote the certainty of it.
Is cut off - Shortly will be cut off: this prophecy probably was delivered when Samaria was besieged.
No better are the greatest of kings when they set up in opposition to God; when God comes to contend with them by his judgments he can as easily disperse and dissolve them, and bring them to nothing, as the froth upon the water. They shall have no joy of their idols and of their worship of them. And miserable is the case of that people whose gods fail them when their kings do.
Kings, though gods to us, are men to God, and shall die like men. And ( lastly ) what does all this desolation owe its rise to? What is the spring of this bloodshed?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
(Ho 10:3, 15). foam--denoting short-lived existence and speedy dissolution. As the foam, though seeming to be eminent raised on the top of the water, yet has no solidity, such is the throne of Samaria. MAURER translates, "a chip" or broken branch that cannot resist the current.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Her king is cut off as the foam - As lightly as a puff of wind blows off the foam that is formed below by a fall of water, so shall the kings of Israel be cut off. We have already seen that not less than four of them died by assassination in a very short time. See on Hos 7:7 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Her king is cut off like foam - (Or, more probably, “a straw) on the” (literally, “face of the) water.” A bubble, or one of those little shreds which float in countless numbers on the surface of the water, give the same image of lightness, emptiness, worthlessness, a thing too light to sink, but driven impetuously, and unresistingly, here and there, at the impulse of the torrent which hurries it along. Such was the king, whom Israel had set in the highest place, in whom it had trusted, instead of God.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נִדְמֶ֥ה | nidmeh | [will] be destroyed | H1820 → | 15 times |
| שֹׁמְר֖וֹן | shomeron | Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| מַלְכָּ֑הּ | malkah | king its | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| כְּקֶ֖צֶף | keketzef | like a twig | H7110 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵי־ | penei- | [the] surface of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| מָֽיִם׃ | mayim | [the] waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
נִדְמֶ֥ה[will] be destroyed
nidmehH1820 →15 times
שֹׁמְר֖וֹןSamaria
shomeronH8111 →109 times
מַלְכָּ֑הּking its
malkahH4428 →2525 times
כְּקֶ֖צֶףlike a twig
keketzefH7110 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵי־[the] surface of
penei-H6440 →2123 times
מָֽיִם׃[the] waters
mayimH4325 →581 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
Jude 1:13They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:17
These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
- Philippians 3:19
Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
- Isaiah 57:20
But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.
- Psalms 65:7
You stilled the roaring of the seas, the pounding of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.
- 2 Peter 2:17
Through
2 Kings 1:3But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 17:1
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in…
- Jonah 2:8
Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion.
- Jeremiah 2:11–13
Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
- 1 Kings 17:1
Through
Hosea 10:3Surely now they will say, “We have no king, for we do not revere the LORD. What can a king do for us?”
it leads to
- Hosea 10:15
Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day dawns, the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.
- Hosea 10:15
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 on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 10:7-8; 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.