BIG IDEA:
WHEN THERE IS NO TURNING BACK TO THE LORD, MORAL CORRUPTION LEADS TO POLITICAL DISINTEGRATION OF A NATION (BOTH INTERNALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY)
INTRODUCTION:
H. D. Beeby: The RSV translation attaches 6:11b to ch. 7. This is acceptable and makes good sense. It also helps to complete a discernible structure within the chapter which, although perhaps not originally intended, does not do violence to the content; rather it provides a form which enables the context to be more easily grasped. The whole divides into four parts: 6:11b–7:2; 7:3–7; 7:8–12; 7:13–16. Of these, the first and the fourth are similar, as are the second and third. The first and the last are laments from the mouth of God, so that the style and form are comparable. Also, they are concerned with the covenantal aspect of Israel’s circumstances, that is, with the relationships between God and Israel on which all else depends. Parts two and three deal with political matters. The former concentrates on internal affairs and in particular on the intrigue and violence that surround the tottering monarchy. The latter turns to external problems, especially the diplomatic maneuvering that the threat of war had prompted. We have then, sandwiched between covenantal concerns, two layers of the political; or between the “religious,” the ethical; between the vertical, the horizontal; between the God/human relationship, the human/human relationship. The form of the poem is accordingly expressive of its content. The outward in some measure reveals the inward, because the message of the passage is that human existence is a unity in which the things of earth cannot be divorced from our dealings with heaven.
Derek Kidner: Number of scathing images of corrupt and impotent society:
- Inedible cake (:8)
- Man who imagines he is still in his prime (:9)
- Frantic dove (:11-12)
- Flawed weapon (:16a)
Robin Routledge: The focus on Ephraim in 7:1–2 provides a bridge from the wider indictment of all the people to what appears to be a more specific indictment of the northern kingdom.
The reference to a baker’s oven (7:4, 7) marks verses 3–7 as a separate subsection, dealing primarily with internal political intrigue (cf. 6:9). The setting may be the Syro-Ephraimite war and its aftermath, though it may have wider significance. Reference to kings falling (v. 7b) will include the assassination of Pekahiah by Pekah, though may indicate, too, the death of Pekah at the hands of Hoshea (2 Kgs 15:30) and, possibly, earlier murders leading to Menahem’s accession (2 Kgs 15:8–14). Calling on Assyria (v. 11) may reflect Hoshea’s request for support after the Syro-Ephraimite conflict (2 Kgs 17:3), though may also relate to Menahem (2 Kgs 15:19).
Verses 8–16 focus on Israel’s relationship with the nations. The reference to Egypt (v. 11) may allude to Hoshea enlisting Egyptian support for his eventual rebellion against Assyria (2 Kgs 17:4), so may be later than the previous verses. The two subsections are linked by the baking imagery (7:8) and may be best viewed as a single unit (Ben Zvi 2005: 149–150; Lim and Castelo 2015: 136). Even if taken separately, they may be seen to represent complementary aspects of Israel’s unfaithfulness (Dearman 2010: 207). Andersen and Freedman (1980: 447, 462) take the two sections to reflect aspects of ‘the state of the nation’.
David Thompson: MY OWN PEOPLE ARE SO FAR REMOVED FROM A TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH ME BECAUSE OF THEIR SIN THAT THEY DO NOT EVEN RECOGNIZE THEIR PATHETIC CONDITION AND THEIR NEED TO TURN TO GOD, SO GOD WILL PERMIT HORRIFIC THINGS TO HAPPEN TO HIS PEOPLE.
What is described in this chapter should be a warning to us as a nation. It should be a warning to us as a church and it should be a warning to us as an individual. It is possible to become so calloused in our sin and in evil stuff that we do not even recognize that God is hitting us with a string of negatives in an attempt to get us to turn back to Him. Let’s face it; Israel has not recognized this for 2400 years. She just doesn’t get it.
I. (:1-2) MORAL DISINTEGRATION OF SOCIETY
A. (:1) Transgression of Israel Prevents Healing by God
“When I would heal Israel, The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the evil deeds of Samaria, For they deal falsely;
The thief enters in, Bandits raid outside,”
Trent Butler: Crime prevails. Government has lost control. The capital city of Israel does not deserve God’s healing touch.
M. Daniel Carroll R.: Three kinds of disobedient behavior give concrete expression to the accusation (7:1).
- They “practice deceit,”
- “thieves break into houses,”
- and “bandits rob”—
words that recall the general indictment of 4:2 as well as the accusation of 6:7–9. Perhaps this disobedience is what is happening in the city of Samaria itself. The social fabric is disintegrating.
Allen Guenther: Burglary describes entry into people’s homes; vandalism and looting capture the idea of stripping clothes and valuables off the bodies of war victims. Why this list is so short and narrow in scope is unclear. It may be illustrative. It takes us through a range of sins from the hidden to the most blatant acts of outrage, acts which everyone recognizes as immoral.
David Allan Hubbard: These verses, which describe evil as both encompassing Israel and witnessed by God (revealed in 7:1; cf. on 2:10; before my face; cf. Job 26:6; Ps. 38:9; Prov. 15:11), seem to combine two biblical pictures of judgment: sin spawns its own consequences – ‘Be sure your sin will find you out’ (Num. 32:23); sin is judged by God personally – ‘I, even I, will rend and go away’ (Hos. 5:14). There is, of course, no essential conflict between these views, since God is the author of order in the creation, and part of that order is a pattern of retribution and reward.
Biblehub: and thieves break in — This phrase illustrates the lawlessness and lack of security within the society. The imagery of thieves breaking in suggests a breakdown of social order and justice.
bandits raid in the streets— The presence of bandits raiding in the streets indicates a society in chaos, where violence and crime are rampant. This reflects the consequences of turning away from God’s laws, leading to societal disintegration.
B. (:2) Transparency before God Contrasted with Blindness of Israel
“And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness.
Now their deeds are all around them; They are before My face.”
Trent Butler: Israel plays politics even with God, not thinking God will remember and repay their evil deeds, just like politicians do not follow through on their promises. How could God forget? The evidence stares him in the face.
H. D. Beeby: The present poem begins with a lament from God that bemoans Israel’s frustration of all God’s plans to redeem them. God’s dilemma at not being able to do as he wishes is not unlike the brief dialogue with himself in 6:4; and what he wants to do—namely, restore Israel’s fortunes and heal them—is his response to the “confession” in 6:1–3. The expression translated “restore the fortunes” consists of the double use of a verb that means “turn”; a literal translation would be something like “turn the turning” or “return the returning,” which is not very helpful. Perhaps it is of help to point out that the verb is the one used by some OT writers when they call upon Israel to return to God, that is, to repent. Did Hosea deliberately choose this verb, not only to introduce the theme of penitence, but also to hint that in repenting Israel would not be dependent merely on their own resources? It would be God who would be doing the “turning the turning” in order to restore Israel’s fortunes. Such an interpretation is supported by the use in the parallel line of the verb “to heal.” This verb in Hosea includes the ideas of forgiveness and redemption. . .
They are deficient in everything: in all virtue and in all true devotion, and now they are shown to be blind. Yet it is God who laments, not Israel. Thus contrasts and paradoxes mount. God, in offering to restore Israel and heal them, conveniently forgets, so to speak, that they are incapable of accepting. Now the same God remembers all. Israel is surrounded by incontrovertible evidence and proof, yet they are totally unaware and, apparently, content with things as they are. This blithe spirit romps down the road to ruin, not having understood the fundamental fact of their faith—that heaven and earth are one, and religion and behavior are inseparable.
J. Andrew Dearman: The conclusion in 7:2 is somber, indeed chilling. Israel has not considered the consequences of their iniquity, although God remembered their deeds. Implicit in the verb “to remember” (zākar) is the bringing of something to mind in a conscious fashion, so that the matter is in some sense “before” or “with” a person, and then he or she is prepared to respond to it. To remember is tantamount to perceiving something and then reacting to it, whereas the nuance of “forgetting” is not thinking of a matter consciously. And since the matter is not present, a person is not prepared to respond to it. The connection between “remembering” and “reaction” is depicted in 7:2. Tragically Israel has not taken to heart (lit. “said in their heart”) that God remembers. One could paraphrase the expression by saying that Israel does not remember that God remembers. The matter is one of act and consequence: Israel’s deeds are “before” God, who is prepared to react in judgment and oversee the reaping of consequences.
Duane Garrett: Yahweh says that when he looks at Israel all he sees is guilt; there is no atonement to cover their sin. “Their sins engulf them” (literally, “their deeds surround them”) in the context of v. 2 does not mean that crime is overwhelming society (v. 1b has already established that). Rather, it means that no matter from what angle Yahweh looks at Israel, all he sees is their evil doings.
Derek Kidner: To paraphrase this verse, guilt does not fade with time; it wraps a people round; it stares God in the face.
Gary Smith: Most surprising is the utter callousness of the people toward these sinful acts. They do not seem to realize that these deeds are evil. Apparently these sins are normal, acceptable behavior in this society, since everyone seems to be doing them. They think nothing of these crimes and do not think God is paying any attention to them (Hos. 7:2). Their Canaanite worldview has eliminated a holy God of justice, who sees, hates, and punishes sin. In contrast to their blindness to sin, the stench of their vile lives has come up to God because he sees everything they are doing. These sins destroy the people’s covenant relationship with God.
James Mays: What one line could better sum up the profound theological failure of Israel! – it never enters their mind that the real issue between them and their God is the evil of their lives. The erosion of Canaanite ways of religious thinking has erased any real understanding of Yahweh; the knowledge of him whom to choose is to choose the good of his will is gone. They do not remember the history of Yahweh’s revelation, but he remembers the history of their sin. Now their deeds surround them like the wall of a prison; they have become what they have done (cf. 5.4). When they turn to Yahweh in worship and stand in his presence, he is ready to heal and restore. But when he looks upon them he must see the reality before him – the evil, the iniquity, the sin.
II. (:3-7) POLITICAL DISINTEGRATION OF SOCIETY — PALACE INTRIGUE AND REVOLT – SIGNS OF CORRUPTION
H. D. Beeby: Two sets of images are brought together: a corrupt and conspiring court and a stifling baker’s kitchen. Although these images are not normally associated, in this instance they marry effectively to give a picture of the heat and horrors of palace intrigue. . .
These verses were originally concerned with a group who plotted successfully to murder their king, possibly helped by a compliant baker who overslept. However, we have received the story not in its original setting but in the context of God’s word of judgment and mercy to Israel. In the new context its meaning has been extended and has become something typical and symbolic. It is now about a people and its politics, in particular about how that people has treated another of God’s great gifts—the gift of kingship.
Derek Kidner: Now we penetrate the palace, to find the king and his courtiers not only doing nothing to stem the tide of evil, but revelling in it, titillated by it, relishing the prevailing graft and trickery (3), and letting their lusts take over.
M. Daniel Carroll R.: The plot line is not hard to follow (vv.3, 5, 7b). The passage depicts a conspiracy against the king, which involved a drunken feast and led to an assassination. Verse 7 says that “their rulers” (lit., “judges”) and “all their kings” have fallen. These plurals suggest multiple deaths, circumstances that match the closing decades of the northern kingdom
J. Andrew Dearman: Most interpreters agree that the “plotting” in 7:3–7 represents one or more of the regicides of the mid-8th century. The difficulty comes in discerning who was in league with Menahem, Pekah or Hoshea, in fomenting the various regime changes during Hosea’s day.
Andrew Guenther: The arena of politics exposes another sphere of covenantal unfaithfulness. Israel’s political life is volatile; expediency rules. God’s design is that the nation’s leaders act as moral guides for the nation. Instead, they themselves wander astray.
The entire passage has a chiastic shape:
7:3 the condition of king and princes
7:4a adulterers = rebelsl = inflamed persons
7:4b-6 palace intrigue and revolt
7:7a gluttons = rebels = inflamed persons
7:7b the condition of kings
David Allan Hubbard: The priests remain the subject of the action, as they have, since 4:4 and 6:7 (cf. 6:9). They, their and them point uniformly to the priests who stood at the centre of the conspiracy.
James Mays: The political energy of Israel is a burning anger that is devouring the very monarchy in which it trusts. Kings are enthroned in Israel only to fall. Yet, through all this self-defeating history, it occurs to no one to appeal to the Lord who made them instead of the kings they make. The five verses are a divine saying (v. 7) in which Yahweh describes the political life of Israel as a creation of evil and an engine of wrath which rushes toward its own end with no appeal to him. The oracle remains at the level of accusation throughout and never moves to the announcement of judgment. Instead, the final line of v. 7 rings like a lament which implies a doom inherent in the nation’s failure which works its own punishment. The saying is built around one of Hosea’s characteristic metaphors. The image of the baker’s oven (vv. 4, 6, 7) is used to bring to light the passionate wrath that drives Israel’s political life.
A. (:3) Sign of Corruption = Leaders Pleased with Wickedness
“With their wickedness they make the king glad,
And the princes with their lies.”
Biblehub: They delight the king with their evil — In the context of Hosea, the northern kingdom of Israel is depicted as being in a state of moral and spiritual decay. The “king” here likely refers to one of the monarchs of Israel during Hosea’s ministry, possibly Jeroboam II or one of his successors. The phrase suggests that the king finds pleasure or satisfaction in the wickedness of his people, indicating a corrupt leadership that encourages or at least tolerates evil practices. This reflects a broader theme in Hosea where leaders are held accountable for leading the people astray (Hosea 4:9). The delight in evil can be seen as a reversal of the king’s role, which should be to uphold justice and righteousness (Proverbs 16:12).
and the princes with their lies — The “princes” refer to the ruling officials or nobles who assist the king in governance. Their delight in lies suggests a culture of deceit and manipulation within the leadership. This aligns with the broader biblical narrative where falsehood and deception are condemned (Proverbs 12:22). The lies could involve false prophecies, misleading policies, or betrayal of covenants, which were common issues in Israel’s history (Jeremiah 23:14). The acceptance and propagation of lies by the leaders contribute to the nation’s downfall, as truth and integrity are foundational to a just society. This also foreshadows the ultimate judgment that God will bring upon Israel for their unfaithfulness and corruption (Hosea 7:13).
J. D. Beeby: The king is shown to be corrupt because he is pleased by corruption (v. 3). An existing weakness of his is played upon, magnified, and taken advantage of—a weakness shared by the inner ring of the powerful. The plotter had an easy task, as the defense had already been breached by the monarch’s own personal vice.
James Mays: The new occupant of the throne assumes power in the midst of festive joy and self-satisfaction at his success. But the prophet sees that this joy has been created by evil. The singular ‘king’ suggests that Hosea describes some particular one of the many throne-changes in Israel’s recent history, probably the coronation of Hoshea ben Elah in 733. Behind Hoshea’s rise to power lay the will to murder and the plotting of deceitful treachery as the assassination of Pekah was arranged. Undoubtedly some of the conspirators had sworn allegiance to the king they betrayed. A king should rejoice in justice and righteousness, but here is one whose joy is the fruit of violent evil. With the installation of such a king Yahweh has nothing to do; indeed his inauguration is an act of rebellion against him (8.4).
B. (:4) Sign of Corruption = Flaming the Fires of Lust for Power
“They are all adulterers Like an oven heated by the baker,
Who ceases to stir up the fire
From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.”
Trent Butler: An everyday example of such burning heat comes from the baker’s oven used for baking bread. The oven is so hot that the baker doesn’t have to stoke it for a long time. The politicians are similar—so inflamed that their adultery is certain to last a long time.
David Allan Hubbard: The priestly political treachery is underscored by adulterers (cf. Ephraim’s harlotry in 6:10). Their passions burned towards goals that violated the covenant that was theirs to uphold. The oven and baker similes make this clear. The baker’s negligent watch of the oven, so that its fire kept blazing while the dough was rising, led to an intolerable result: the one who should have guarded the king left him defenceless, ready to be scorched by the red-hot oven of conspiracy.
David Allan Hubbard: The identity of the baker is harder to determine (vv. 4, 6). In the latter verse his presence is obscured by the tendency of commentators and versions to repoint the Hebrew word to read ‘their anger’ (but see Andersen, pp. 447, 449–454). Both references to the baker’s work suggest an idleness, a sleeping at the switch, that contributes to the conspiracy against the king. If the idleness is passive neglect, then the baker probably depicts a chief court official whose task was to assure the security of the king; if the idleness is maliciously intended, the baker may be identified as the chief priest (see on 4:4) who used his position to trick the king into trusting him, when all the while treason was his goal. These verses are obscure and ambiguous enough to keep any interpretation somewhat tentative.
Alternate View:
Duane Garrett: We thus find that this baker is noted primarily for his inactivity—he desists from kneading the dough while the leaven does its work, and sleeps all night while the fire in the oven gets larger and larger. It would seem, therefore, that the baker is the king who, by inattentiveness due to his debauchery with wine and “sleep” (which may allude to the adulteries of v. 4), allows evil and conspiracy to flourish. If leaven in B (v. 4) is metaphorical, as it often is, for the pervasive influence of evil, we can understand why Hosea included this picture of a baker who does nothing while leaven spreads through the dough. This is a king who does nothing while evil (leaven) spreads through society and the court.
Biblehub: from the kneading to the rising of the dough — This phrase indicates a period of time, suggesting that the people’s sinful desires are constant and enduring. The process from kneading to rising involves waiting and preparation, symbolizing how the people’s hearts are continually set on sin. This can be connected to James 1:14-15, where desire, when fully grown, gives birth to sin. The imagery of bread-making, a daily and essential task, underscores the normalcy and acceptance of sin in their lives.
C. (:5-7) Sign of Corruption = Participating in Treacherous Conspiracy
- (:5) Loss of Moral Clarity and Discernment
“On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;
He stretched out his hand with scoffers,”
James Mays: Verse 5 seems to describe the stratagem by which the palace revolt is accomplished. When all is ready the conspirators arrange for the officials of the present king to be drunk. While they are intoxicated and the king is defenceless, they strike. The assassination of Elah by Zimri in 876 was carried off while the court was drunk (I Kings 16.8–14) and the strategy may well have been used on other occasions. The ‘day of their king’ would seem to mean the coronation day of the candidate in whose behalf the conspirators acted. Did assassination and enthronement occur on the same day? It might have in the midst of the political chaos in 733. Hoshea’s kingship after all was a creature of the nation’s desperation over the failure of Pekah’s anti-Assyrian policy. The third measure of v. 5 is obscure. Literally it reads: ‘his hand draws scorners’, which may be a comment about wine to the effect that it has power to attract the loud-mouthed who are vulnerable to its appeal. Others take it to mean that ‘he [the king?] made common cause with the rebels’ (ATD, cf. RSV).
Biblehub: The princes are inflamed with wine — This phrase highlights the moral and spiritual decay among the leaders of Israel. The princes, who should be examples of righteousness and wisdom, are instead indulging in excess and losing their discernment. This behavior reflects a broader cultural acceptance of indulgence and lack of self-control, which is condemned throughout Scripture (Proverbs 20:1, Ephesians 5:18). The imagery of being “inflamed with wine” suggests not only drunkenness but also a loss of moral clarity and judgment, which is a recurring theme in the prophetic literature as a sign of impending judgment (Isaiah 28:7).
- (:6) Lust for Power Smolders and then Erupts
“For their hearts are like an oven As they approach their plotting;
Their anger smolders all night,
In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.”
Lloyd Ogilvie: In Hosea’s day an oven was about three feet in length, cylindrical in form, with the walls sloping to an open aperture at the top. Fire was set in the oven early in the morning, and the flames would leap up through the top. Later, when the walls were thoroughly hot, the fire would be removed and the flat cakes of kneaded dough would be slapped on the inside walls of the oven.
J. Andrew Dearman: v. 6 — The comparison seems to be that of political intrigue to a fire that smolders at night and heats up in the morning. This is apparently the depiction of the plotters and their designs, which get further elaboration in v. 7.
Biblehub; while they lie in wait — This phrase indicates a period of anticipation and plotting. The imagery of lying in wait suggests a predatory nature, akin to a hunter or an enemy preparing to ambush. This reflects the treacherous behavior of Israel’s leaders and people, who were often involved in conspiracies and betrayal, as seen in the historical accounts of Israel’s kings in 2 Kings. The idea of waiting also implies a lack of immediate action, highlighting the patience and cunning involved in their sinful plans.
all night their anger smolders — The night is often associated with secrecy and evil deeds in Scripture, as seen in John 3:19-20, where people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. The smoldering anger suggests a slow-burning, unresolved wrath that festers over time. This can be linked to the internalization of sin and bitterness, which eventually leads to destructive actions. The imagery of smoldering indicates that the anger is not yet visible but is ready to erupt, similar to how unresolved anger can lead to sin, as warned in Ephesians 4:26-27.
James Mays: When the plot breaks into the open, the hot passion of the conspirators is like the oven fire which is stirred and fed at morning until the flames leap out of the oven door. If the sequence of words in MT’s text are rearranged, the first line can be translated: ‘When they draw near in their ambush/their heart is like the oven.’ The sense is essentially the same.
Douglas Stuart: The passion of the king, his court officials, and the influential nobility is likened to a baker’s oven so hot that the baker need not tend the fire during the entire baking process. The heat of their treachery and transgression drives them to take matters into their own hands, ignoring Yahweh in their maneuverings.
Robin Routledge: The heat of the oven might indicate the burning ambition that drives treachery (cf. vv. 6, 7). . .
The oven of lust and ambition has become so hot that it consumes the institutions of state that maintain government and ensure fairness and decency in society.
- (:7) Loyalty Nonexistent
“All of them are hot like an oven, And they consume their rulers;
All their kings have fallen. None of them calls on Me.”
H. D. Beeby: The oven image dominates. The heat spreads to everything, temperatures rise, passions inflame; anger which had been smouldering now bursts forth and becomes a blazing fire that burns up the ruler, and before long will consume the kingdom.
James Mays: In v. 7 the oracle reaches its climax. The accusation against Israel’s political life is summarized in an inclusive statement which repeats the metaphor of the oven. The entire tragic history of the monarchy is subsumed under the particular incident just described. And the divine reaction to what has happened is offered in a final cry. ‘All of them are … like an oven’ is a reprise of vv. 4–6. The inner dynamics of the entire political history of the northern kingdom has been a fiery anger. Israelite statecraft was driven by a passion that inevitably destroyed its own achievements. Their rulers … their kings have fallen prey to their consuming wrath. The prophet sees that the genius of Israel has been their attempt at autonomy. In spite of the state’s public religion they had always sought a nation which possessed its own security and justification – and, when a king did not bring about the consummation of this dream, the passion which created him became the wrath that destroyed him. Like every revolutionary state that has no faith in anything beyond itself, Israel was burning up in its own anger.
Trent Butler: All their kings fall. This is a historical reflection on the final years of the Northern Kingdom when one royal family replaced another in quick succession through political coups and assassinations.
How could God’s people get into such a condition? Hosea had one quick answer: none of them calls on me. Even in the period of the judges with all its intrigue, sin, and false religion, Israel returned to call on God for help in time of trouble. This generation was worse than that one. They ignored their only source of help, even when the Lord stood ready to heal.
This is God’s lament. His people are so busy partying that they ignore him. How could he possibly restore their fortunes or heal their wounds? Harvest time approaches for the nations of Israel and Judah.
Duane Garrett: The lack of strong government brings about an atmosphere of chaos and self-promotion unchecked by honor or integrity. The same ovenlike burning that characterized passions for adultery in B also characterizes lust for power (D´–C´–B´ [vv. 6–7a]). The result is that society is in chaos and decent government is swallowed up by those who only want power (B´ [v. 7a]). In the end the king himself is destroyed in a political world that has abandoned God (A´ [v. 7b]).
Gary Smith: This human tragedy [of political assassination] takes place again and again (four kings are assassinated), but none of these violent people ever inquires of God about what they are doing. These murderers do not seek him to gain wisdom; they have the scoffing mockers to guide them. They do not wait for God to send a prophet to anoint the next king; they depend on cunning plots of deceit to remove and set up new kings. They are not concerned about doing what delights God because they are only concerned about what delights themselves. They do not even ask God for help because they slyly make alliances with one group or another to protect their interests. God’s role of choosing each new king for the nation is usurped by vicious plots to grab power through violence.
III. (:8-12) FOREIGN ENTANGLEMENTS – LOOKING FOR HELP IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES
Trent Butler: vv. 8-16 — Seeking help from anyone but God is foolish, and it leads to destruction.
Gary Smith: These alliances are hurting the nation because they require payment of heavy tribute and encourage cultural and religious compromises to keep the peace with the Assyrians. This syncretistic trend drains the nation of its financial resources, its independence, and its moral strength (7:9). The surprising thing is that the people do not see how this creeping compromising (like the slow process of getting gray hair) is gradually undermining their identity. These are selfish acts of pride and self-determination that are not based on God’s direction (7:10). Israel’s leaders act independently and without reliance on God. Why should they bother mixing religion with their politics by asking God what he wants? Are they not able to handle things themselves through their alliances? How can God ever help the situation? Now that they have peace with Assyria, everything will be fine.
A. (:8-10) Fatal Consequences from Foreign Alliances
- (:8) Unpalatable Foreign Alliances
“Ephraim mixes himself with the nations;
Ephraim has become a cake not turned.”
H. D. Beeby: Israel’s place was not intended to be among the nations (Num. 23:9). It was to be a people apart, belonging to God, a peculiar people in every sense. Yet Israel had deliberately repudiated this peculiarity and chosen to associate itself with the nations. A rejection of identity is implied: a deliberate choosing of a forbidden way—in fact, not just any forbidden way, but the most prohibited way of all. The choice of an identity among the nations rather than the identity given by God through election was equivalent to idolatry or, to use Hosea’s language, equivalent to harlotry, because alignment with the nations involved the accepting of their gods and a loosening of Israel’s hold on the living God. . .
To put their faith in the nations rather than in God draws forth the appropriate comment that Ephraim is half-baked. Cakes in those days were placed close to the inside wall of the oven, and when one side was brown the cake was turned over so that the other side could be baked. Ephraim was still unturned, declares Hosea, and therefore burned on one side and raw on the other. It is the same picture as we found in vv. 3–7: immaturity combined with excessive heat that burns immoderately. The verb here is different, but it is not impossible that a link with the constant demand that Ephraim “turn and return” is intended. But an Ephraim who can be insane enough to choose Egypt and Assyria rather than God is destined always to be on the wrong side.
Trent Butler: Traditionally this has been explained as a cake needing to be flipped from one side to the other during cooking to keep one side from being burned while the other remains doughy. This would describe a nation so hard on one side that God cannot find entrance but so soft on the other that all the nations take advantage of it. More recently scholars have doubted whether such flat bread needed to be turned and have looked to the process of kneading and folding the bread before baking. This would continue the description of idleness and irresponsibility pictured in Hosea 7:1–7. Either way, Israel’s identity is no longer determined by their relationship with God. It is now determined by their socializing and politicizing with foreign nations and foreign gods.
- (:9) Unknowing Dissipation of Strength and Vitality
“Strangers devour his strength, Yet he does not know it;
Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, Yet he does not know it.”
J. Andrew Dearman: Two familiar points are made. First, Ephraim is in bad straits. Second, the nation does not recognize its dire circumstances. This is further comment on the negative consequences of being mixed up among the nations in the previous verse.
H. D. Beeby: Verse 9 takes up the point about stupidity, joining it to ignorance on an heroic scale. For incredibly Ephraim chooses the alien nations even though the aliens have proved their hostility by devouring Ephraim’s strength. The Ephraimites have been blind to the changes from the outside; they are equally unaware of the internal weakening. They are getting old, and either can’t or won’t admit it. Or it is possible that the white hairs are the white hairs of mold? If so, this would fit with the cake metaphor—the nation is half-baked and moldy but doesn’t know it. Such darkness of mind! How can any people which doesn’t know its own age know God?
Trent Butler: Israel is so mixed up and confused that its people do not know who they are. They think they are party guests honored by the host nations. They think they are still youngsters with nothing better to do than have a good time. Instead, they are old men being eaten alive, losing all their strength and vitality while partying rather than serving God as a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod. 19:6).
James Mays: Everywhere in the body politic are the marks of a dying nation. Weak and greyed, the people totter toward death – and they act as though they are unaware of what is happening to them.
M. Daniel Carroll R.: “Grey hair” could mean mold, thus reinforcing that the bread is inedible (Andersen and Freedman, 467–68; Hubbard, 139–40; Garrett, 170). But grey hair may also denote old age and decrepitude. The end result is the same—uselessness. Israel through its foreign policies has become worthless.
David Allan Hubbard: Ephraim’s stupidity is stated even more blatantly. ‘He himself did not know’ that:
(1) his agricultural and economic strength was being eaten up by tribute paid to aliens (‘foreigners’, a term used in 5:7 to describe the bastard children produced by the fornication of the cult), as the priests had devoured Ephraim’s judges (v. 7); and
(2) his whole way of life had turned rotten with mould that grows its repulsive gray hairs on over-aged food. This interpretation (see Andersen, pp. 467–468) has the advantage of preserving the culinary metaphor and of avoiding the question of why gray hairs would be viewed negatively here, when biblical people usually saw them as a badge of blessing (Prov. 20:29).
- (:10) Unrepentant Prideful Spirit
“Though the pride of Israel testifies against him,
Yet they have neither returned to the LORD their God,
Nor have they sought Him, for all this.”
Trent Butler: They refuse to do the basic things God requires—return to the LORD (see comments on Hos. 6:1) and search for him (see Hos. 2:7; 3:5; 5:6, 15). God laments such behavior and the destruction it brings. Israel just keeps on having a good time.
J. Andrew Dearman: Hosea apparently regarded the diplomacy of his day as a compromise of Israel’s holy identity and an affront to YHWH’s sovereignty over his people. It is not clear that Hosea was opposed in principle to the political give-and-take with Egypt and Assyria, but that may have been the case. He is convinced that YHWH has not endorsed the actions and they are thus a betrayal of the covenant between people and Deity.
John Goldingay: To put it yet another way (v. 10), as a consequence Ephraim’s impressiveness has disappeared. It used to be more imposing than little Judah, but no longer (see 2 Kings 15:19–20, 29; 17:3). As Hosea threatened, this diminishing has happened before its own eyes (5:5), but Ephraim still hasn’t returned to Yahweh or sought help from him. Hosea again takes up the verb ʿānâ (is humbled) and the linked expressions “turn back” and “seek help” that were used earlier in that connection (5:4–6; cf. 2:7 [9]; 3:5; 5:15–6:1).
Allen Guenther: Pride and genuine repentance are mutually exclusive. One cannot strut proudly into God’s presence to make a confession of sin. Israel fails to acknowledge the One who invites them back. The implication, reinforced in 7:14, is that the nation no longer recognizes the distinction between Yahweh and the other gods. They appeal to him as they do to idols.
David Thompson: As verse 10 says, God’s people were proud and they did not return to God or seek God. Do not miss this, the reason why most people will not turn to God and to His Word is because they are proud. They are proud of their worship; they are proud of their religion; they are proud of themselves. Pride will always keep people from returning to the Lord.
B. (:11-12) Fowler Nets the Senseless Dove
- (:11) Senselessness of Depending on Foreign Powers
“So Ephraim has become like a silly dove, without sense;
They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.”
James Mays: During the career of Hosea the international policy of Israel swung back and forth between Assyria and Egypt like a pendulum. Menahem was quick to submit to Tiglath-pileser at the cost of a vast tribute (II Kings 15.19f.). Pekah joined the coalition formed to resist Assyria’s power (II Kings 15.37); possibly the allies hoped for Egyptian aid. Hoshea came to the throne in a shift back to Menahem’s policy of submission to Assyria, but later appealed to Egypt (II Kings 17.4) and revolted. Using one of his ready metaphors, Hosea compares the nation to a silly dove that is easily deceived. The way the comparison is stated in v. 11 and extended in v. 12 suggests that the dove is thought of as a bird with such little sense as to be trapped easily. To the prophet’s eye, Israel is all too easily deceived into thinking that in first Egypt and then Assyria lies her help. But the people’s fluttering from one to the other is lack of sense, for their real crisis is not caused by the great powers. Appealing to them is like sending for a physician who cannot heal (5.13). Once again Hosea terms the failure to recognize dependence on Yahweh as a basic stupidity (5.11, 13).
Biblehub: So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove — Ephraim, representing the northern kingdom of Israel, is often used in the prophetic books to symbolize the entire nation. The imagery of a “silly, senseless dove” suggests a lack of wisdom and discernment. Doves are known for their simplicity and vulnerability, which in this context, implies that Ephraim is acting foolishly and without understanding. This behavior reflects Israel’s spiritual adultery and lack of faithfulness to God, as they seek alliances with foreign nations instead of relying on the Lord. The dove’s senselessness can be seen as a metaphor for Israel’s failure to heed the warnings of the prophets and their inability to recognize the consequences of their actions.
- (:12) Certainty of Divine Chastisement
“When they go, I will spread My net over them;
I will bring them down like the birds of the sky.
I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly.”
H. D. Beeby: This part of the poem (7:8–12) ends with two verses (11 and 12) that obviously belong together because the first likens Ephraim to a bird and the second depicts God as the fowler. Verse 11 is very similar to v. 8. They both speak of two subjects: Ephraim’s identification with the nations and the nation’s moronic nature. Ephraim is like a dove, but this is not intended as a compliment. A dove flies hither and thither, uncertain and indecisive. What is more, it is “heartless,” which in this context is equivalent to “brainless” and says nothing about lack of compassion or sympathy. The immediate reasons for being so castigated are Ephraim’s reliance upon the great powers and then not being able to make up their mind which of these powers offered the best insurance against destruction. Verse 12 continues to show us the situation from God’s point of view. From Ephraim’s standpoint, of course, things are very different. They undoubtedly see themselves as dealing with the real world uncomplicated by the mysterious but irrelevant world of the preachers. As they see it, they are making a reasonable assessment of the evidence and are deciding responsibly for the greater benefit of the nation. The reality is very different. They are infantile, blind, ignorant, and hopeless. Ephraim’s leaders are not courageous statesmen but panicking birds about to be netted by the God they thought they had made redundant. As always the fundamental problem is the theological one. How is life in this world seen? If God is otiose or pensionable, or even absent, then the great factors in our immediate environment—the factors that demand immediate and constant attention, the factors round which all else must revolve—are of course the Egypts and the Assyrias, the great powers of our day too. But if God is who and what he and Hosea say he is, then the Egyptians and Assyrians are pawns in a chess game that is invisible to all but those who listen to Hosea and the few with him who prophesy. If God is known, then Egypt and Assyria are opportunities for obedience or disobedience within an immeasurably greater reality. If they and the other nations and their ambitions, plots, and fears are thought to be the reality, then such a “theology” can only land one trapped and pinioned in God’s net.
Trent Butler: The assembly would be a gathering of Israelite political leaders seeing how best to court Assyria and Egypt. The report would be either the prophetic message from God announcing his discipline on them or a report from the battlefield showing how Assyria or Egypt had attacked and conquered. By whatever means, God would use the occasion to punish his silly, easily deceived, party-happy people.
Biblehub: As they go, I will spread My net over them — This phrase suggests God’s omnipresence and His ability to execute judgment. The imagery of a net is often used in the Bible to symbolize entrapment or capture (Ezekiel 12:13, Job 19:6). In the context of Hosea, it reflects God’s response to Israel’s unfaithfulness and idolatry. The net signifies God’s inescapable judgment, emphasizing that no matter where the Israelites go, they cannot evade His reach. This also connects to the broader biblical theme of divine justice and accountability.
I will chastise them when I hear them flocking together — Chastisement here refers to corrective discipline, a recurring theme in the Bible where God disciplines those He loves (Proverbs 3:11-12, Hebrews 12:6). The act of flocking together implies a collective rebellion or conspiracy against God, reminiscent of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:4-9). This phrase underscores the communal aspect of Israel’s sin and God’s response to it. The gathering of the people in rebellion is met with divine intervention, highlighting God’s attentiveness to the actions and intentions of His people.
IV. (:13-16) FAILURE TO RETURN TO THE LORD SPARKS DIVINE LAMENT
A. (:13a) Rebellion Seals One’s Destiny
“Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me!
Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me!”
Trent Butler: One word from God’s mouth sets the tone for this entire section: woe. This interjection expresses dismay, often about impending disaster (Hos. 9:12). God is dismayed and hurt at what he sees as he views his people Israel. They have strayed from me … they have rebelled against me. God had done all he would do. His heart was right toward his people: I long to redeem them. But redemption calls for a people to turn back to God in repentance, to renew their knowledge of and relationship with God. Instead of returning to the Lord, they have strayed farther and farther away. The verb carries with it an undertone of fleeing or escaping, so that Israel wandered off from God intentionally, seeking to escape or flee from his presence.
James Mays: A woe-saying is spoken over those who are doomed or dead. It is not an invocation of disaster, but rather a statement of sorrow and warning that the consequences of some act or situation are impending and inevitable. In prophetic speech it becomes a dirge for those under the sentence of Yahweh’s judgment. The ‘woe’ is provoked by the ‘devastation’ which Yahweh has decreed against his people who have fled from him to another, and so rebelled against his lordship.
B. (:13b-16a) Redemption Impossible As Long As:
- (:13b) They Speak Ungodly Lies
“I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.”
Trent Butler: They pledge covenant faithfulness in worship but break every commandment and every covenant expectation once they leave God’s worship place.
Robin Routledge: However, despite the people’s sin, Yahweh wants to redeem them (7:13). Here we see a further expression of the divine husband’s willingness to restore his unfaithful wife. There is a way back (cf. 7:10, 14), but then, as now, many who are caught up in persistent wrongdoing refuse to admit their need and turn to Yahweh with the kind of meaningful repentance that can open the way for forgiveness and restoration.
- (:14a) They Fail to Truly Seek God
“And they do not cry to Me from their heart
When they wail on their beds;”
M. Daniel Carroll R.: The howling and self-lacerations of v.14 probably allude to non-Yahwistic rituals that try to secure sustenance (cf. 2:5, 8), practices forbidden in Deuteronomy 14:1 and reviled in 1 Kings 18:28.
James Mays: The Assyrian campaign in 734/3 undoubtedly left the land stripped of its crops and the renewal of harvest became a desperate matter (8.7). In their plight the Israelites raised the lament for help (zā’aq) to Yahweh (8.2). But the ritual by which they appealed was taken from the fertility rites of Canaan and dealt with Yahweh as though he were Baal. ‘With their heart’ is not a phrase of earnestness or sincerity; heart in Hosea is the mind, the responsible intelligence (4.4; 7.11). Israel cried out to Yahweh in stupidity, forgetting the conditions of the covenant and trying to manipulate him as a nature god whose amoral function is to produce corn and new wine (2.5, 8f.). There is some evidence that ritual wailing was performed in prostration (II Sam. 12.16; Ps. 4.4) and was practised in fertility rites (S. of S. 3.1; Isa. 57.8). The prophets of Baal in the contest on Mount Carmel lacerated themselves as they entreated Baal to come as the god of the thunder-storm and so end the drought (I Kings 18.28); ritual gashing in mourning for the dead was prohibited in Israel because of its Canaanite connections (Deut. 14.1; Lev. 19.28). The Israelite thought of Yahweh as absent (dead?) like Baal and tried by the laments that summoned Baal to gain his help with crops. So their very appeal was stubborn contumacious rebellion against the person of Yahweh.
Biblehub: They do not cry out to Me from their hearts — This phrase highlights the insincerity of Israel’s repentance. The people of Israel were engaging in religious rituals and outward expressions of distress, but their hearts were not truly seeking God. This reflects a common biblical theme where God desires genuine repentance and heartfelt devotion rather than mere external compliance (Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 15:8). The heart, in biblical terms, is the center of one’s being, encompassing emotions, will, and intellect. God seeks a relationship that is authentic and rooted in love and obedience.
when they wail upon their beds — The imagery of wailing upon their beds suggests a private, personal anguish, possibly due to the consequences of their sins or the hardships they were facing. In ancient Near Eastern culture, beds were often places of reflection and lamentation. This phrase indicates that even in their most vulnerable moments, the Israelites were not turning to God with genuine repentance. Instead, their cries were more about their suffering than a true desire to return to God. This can be contrasted with the psalms, where David often cried out to God from his bed in genuine repentance and trust (Psalm 6:6).
- (:14b) They Put a Priority on Material Prosperity
“For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves,”
Trent Butler: The more traditional interpretation is to “gather themselves” or “assemble themselves,” while recent study has led some interpreters to suggest “debauch or fornicate themselves.” The Greek Septuagint and a number of Hebrew manuscripts read “they slash themselves.” Whatever the original meaning, the reference is again to types of Baal worship involved in seeking fertility for the fields and vineyards. In turning to such worship, the people were turning from God.
Biblehub: They slash themselves for grain and new wine — This phrase refers to pagan practices that the Israelites had adopted, such as self-mutilation, which was common in Canaanite religious rituals to invoke the favor of their gods (1 Kings 18:28). The Israelites were seeking material prosperity and sustenance through these idolatrous practices rather than relying on the Lord. Grain and new wine symbolize the basic provisions and blessings that God promised to His people if they remained faithful (Deuteronomy 11:13-14). Their actions reveal a misplaced trust in false gods and a departure from the covenant relationship with Yahweh.
- (:14c) They Continually Turn Away
“They turn away from Me.”
- (:15) They Pervert My Nurturing into Attacks
“Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
Yet they devise evil against Me.”
Trent Butler: Israel’s relationship with God has come to much more than simply forgetting and wandering away. It is outright rebellion and evil plotting to defeat God and win victory for Baal.
James Mays: Again the action of Yahweh in his salvation-history is set over against the practice of Israel’s religion. In Israel’s past the power to cope with the threats and problems of national life had come from Yahweh (11.1–4; 13.4f.). The people’s strength had been his action. But now in their time of greatest danger they seek strength through alliances with Egypt and Assyria, and so disdain the revelation of Yahweh in their normative history. Every treaty with another power is a plot against their sovereign Lord. To Yahweh’s good that sought their salvation, they return the evil of seeking their own desires in their own way. The contradiction lays bare the fundamental sin of Israel – the rupture of the relation between the persons of God and people, the loss of the knowledge of God.
H. Ronald Vandermey: The indictment against Israel closes with a few broken lines that fall on the page like tears for one with a broken heart (vv. 15-16). No matter how hard the Lord tried to train (literally, “discipline”) and strengthen Israel for her battle against wickedness, she rejected Him by joining the side of evil. She had become “like a deceitful bow,” failing the archer in the time of battle. Without the Lord, who was her strength (Psalm 28:7), Israel would fall helplessly prostrate at the feet of her captors.
- (:16a) They Persist in Idolatry
“They turn, but not upward,”
Trent Butler: The people of Israel return, but they do not repent. They turn, but not in the right direction. They return to their false worship and arrogant actions. They return upward to the high places rather than upward to the Most High.
James Mays: The tribulations of Israel were a divine call to return to Yahweh (5.15; 7.7, 10), but instead they turn to things that are of no help.
- (:16b) They Cannot Be Counted as Dependable
“They are like a deceitful bow;”
J. Andrew Dearman: The imagery assumes that when an arrow is mounted and drawn and the bowstring then released, a bow, typically the result of careful crafting, should be able to send the arrow forward. A faulty bow can lose its tensive spring and go slack, or it can twist and snap and injure the archer. Like a modern firearm that misfires, this bow does not complete the task for which it was made. Correspondingly, Israel’s efforts will misfire and be injurious because it has pursued that which does not profit.
Duane Garrett: The slack bow is metaphorical for the lack of diligence and hence the military uselessness of the Israelite leadership. The sword more literally speaks of defeat and death in warfare. The point is that Israel’s political leadership was apostate, ineffective, and doomed.
C. (:16b) Reproach and Destruction Will Be Their Destiny
“Their princes will fall by the sword
Because of the insolence of their tongue.
This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.”
J. Andrew Dearman: The mixing of Israel among the nations would lead to defeat (falling to the sword) and derision for Israel in Egypt, once the land of its enslavement and also the place where YHWH previously declared himself Israel’s God (12:9 [MT 10]; 13:4).
Biblehub: For the cursing of their tongue — The leaders’ downfall is attributed to their deceitful and blasphemous speech. The tongue is a powerful instrument, capable of both blessing and cursing (James 3:6-10). In the context of Hosea, the leaders’ words likely involved false promises and alliances, as well as idolatrous practices. This reflects the broader biblical theme of accountability for one’s words (Proverbs 18:21).
James Mays: The captains have been the architects of the royal assassinations in the search for an alignment of security. Their death will bring derision from the Egyptians whose help they alternately sought and spurned.
David Allan Hubbard: The death (shall fall) of the princes at the sword-point serves as a complement to their destructive role in the collapse of the monarchy (7:3–7). What they let happen to their kings – all their kings have fallen – will happen to them, not necessarily in palace intrigue but in open warfare, when the nation they have courted will strike them down, thanks to the insolence with which their tongue greeted God’s prophetic call upon their lives (5:10, 12–14; 6:5; 9:8). Egypt (cf. v. 11), watching Ephraim’s pro-Assyria policy reduced to shambles, will have the last laugh (derision; cf. Ezek. 23:32; 34:7; 36:4) at political opportunists. For Hosea, who treasured the rich grace manifested in the exodus (13:4–5) and who longed for Israel’s new answer which would signal a new exodus (2:14–15), letting the last word of this substantial section (5:8 – 7:16) go to Egypt must have been painful indeed.