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Texts -- Hosea 10:1-11 (NET)

Context
Israel is Guilty of Fertility Cult Worship
10:1 Israel was a fertile vine that yielded fruit . As his fruit multiplied , he multiplied altars to Baal. As his land prospered , they adorned the fertility pillars . 10:2 Their heart is slipping ; soon they will be punished for their guilt. The Lord will break their altars ; he will completely destroy their fertility pillars .
The Lord Will Punish Israel by Removing Its Kings
10:3 Very soon they will say , “We have no king since we did not fear the Lord . But what can a king do for us anyway?” 10:4 They utter empty words , taking false oaths and making empty agreements . Therefore legal disputes sprout up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a plowed field .
The Calf Idol and Idolaters of Samaria Will Be Exiled
10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria will lament over the calf idol of Beth Aven . Its people will mourn over it; its idolatrous priests will wail over it, because its splendor will be taken from them into exile . 10:6 Even the calf idol will be carried to Assyria , as tribute for the great king . Ephraim will be disgraced ; Israel will be put to shame because of its wooden idol . 10:7 Samaria and its king will be carried off like a twig on the surface of the waters . 10:8 The high places of the “House of Wickedness ” will be destroyed ; it is the place where Israel sins . Thorns and thistles will grow up over its altars . Then they will say to the mountains , “Cover us!” and to the hills , “Fall on us!”
Failure to Learn from the Sin and Judgment of Gibeah
10:9 O Israel , you have sinned since the time of Gibeah , and there you have remained . Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah ? 10:10 When I please , I will discipline them; I will gather nations together to attack them, to bind them in chains for their two sins.
Fertility Imagery: Plowing, Sowing, and Reaping
10:11 Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain; I myself put a fine yoke on her neck. I will harness Ephraim. Let Judah plow! Let Jacob break up the unplowed ground for

Pericope

NET
  • Hos 10:1-2 -- Israel is Guilty of Fertility Cult Worship
  • Hos 10:3-4 -- The Lord Will Punish Israel by Removing Its Kings
  • Hos 10:5-8 -- The Calf Idol and Idolaters of Samaria Will Be Exiled
  • Hos 10:9-10 -- Failure to Learn from the Sin and Judgment of Gibeah
  • Hos 10:11-13 -- Fertility Imagery: Plowing, Sowing, and Reaping

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • "It is not only the action of the men of Gibeah which reveals the abysmally low moral standards of the age; the indifference of the Levite who prepared to depart in the morning without any apparent concern to ascertain the fa...
  • The psalmist now changed his figure and pictured Israel as a vine that God had transplanted from Egypt to Canaan. He cleared the land of Canaan for her by driving the native people out. Israel had taken root in the Promised L...
  • The emphasis in this pericope is on the lack of qualified leaders and the consequent collapse of society that would result because God's people put their trust in people rather than in Him. The name "the Lord [sovereign] God ...
  • Isaiah, as a folk singer, sang a parable about a vineyard that compared Israel to a vineyard that Yahweh had planted and from which He legitimately expected to receive fruit.57However, the prophet's original audience did not ...
  • This is the first in a series of three parables designed to impress on the overly optimistic exiles that there was no possibility that Jerusalem would escape destruction (cf. chs. 16-17).15:1-2 The Lord asked Ezekiel how the ...
  • The major biblical doctrines that Hosea stressed were sin, judgment, salvation, and the loyal love of God.Regarding sin, the prophet stressed the idolatry of the Israelites, which he compared to spiritual adultery. Israel had...
  • I. Introduction 1:1II. The first series of messages of judgment and restoration: Hosea's family 1:2-2:1A. Signs of coming judgment 1:2-9B. A promise of restoration 1:10-2:1III. The second series of messages of judgment and re...
  • The Lord brought a legal charge against the Israelites for breaking the Mosaic Covenant. Again the literary form of this section is a legal confrontation (Heb. rib, cf. 2:2). The Lord stated His charges against Israel in 4:1-...
  • 4:15 The Lord warned the Israelites not to pollute their brethren in the Southern Kingdom with their unfaithfulness. He also warned them not to go to the pagan shrines and take an oath in His name since they did not really wo...
  • 8:8 The prophet looked ahead to the time of Israel's judgment. The nation would be swallowed up, as when someone eats grain (v. 7). Israel would become a part of the nations having gone into captivity and lost its own soverei...
  • This section is one in a series that looks back on Israel's previous history, and its reflective mood colors its prophecies (cf. 10:1-8, 9-15; 11:1-7)."Divine speech and prophetic speech combine in this passage to pronounce u...
  • The allusion that opens this series of messages is similar to the ones in 9:10; 10:9, and 11:1 in that it refers to Israel's early history. A mood of loss of confidence and protection marks this section. As so often in Hosea,...
  • 10:1 Hosea compared Israel to a luxuriant (degenerate) vine. The grapevine was a common figure for Israel. Yahweh had planted Israel in Canaan as a vine and had blessed it with fruitful prosperity (cf. Ps. 80:8-10; Jer. 2:21;...
  • 10:3 When the Lord brought destruction, the people would realize that their self-appointed king had failed them and that they did not respect the Lord. They would acknowledge that no human king could help them. Hoshea would b...
  • This section also opens with a reference to an event in Israel's past history (cf. 9:10; 10:1; 11:1). Announcements of war punishment (vv. 9-10, 14-15) bracket Yahweh's indictment of His people for their sins (vv. 11-13)....
  • 10:9 The Israelites had sinned consistently since the days of the atrocity at Gibeah (Judg. 19-20; cf. 9:9; Isa. 1:10). The prophet visualized them as warriors standing at Gibeah. He asked rhetorically if the Lord's battle ag...
  • 10:11 Hosea compared Ephraim to a heifer that enjoyed threshing."Threshing was a comparatively light task, made pleasant by the fact that the creature was unmuzzled and free to eat . . . as it pulled the threshing sledge over...
  • Again this section, which is all divine speech, begins with a reference to something in Israel's history to contrast the past with the present (cf. 9:10; 10:1, 9)."The passage at its outset has similarities to the form of the...
  • As previously, a series of messages assuring Israel's judgment (6:4-11:7) ends with assurance of future restoration. God would definitely bring devastating judgment on Israel, but His compassion for the nation and His promise...
  • 14:4 When Israel repented, the Lord promised to heal the apostasy of the Israelites that had become a fatal sickness for them (cf. 6:1). He also promised to bestow His love on them generously because then He would no longer b...
  • 1:4 Yahweh announced that He would stretch out His hand in judgment against Judah and the people of Jerusalem. Stretching out the hand is a figure of speech that implies a special work of punishment (cf. Exod. 6:6; Deut. 4:34...
  • Luke is the only evangelist who recorded this incident. He apparently did so because the fate of Jerusalem was one of his special interests. He had already recorded several warnings that Jesus had given to the people of Jerus...
  • Jesus often used a grapevine to describe the nation of Israel (cf. Matt. 20:1-16; 21:23-41; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 13:6-9; 20:9-16). The vine as a symbol of Israel appears on coins of the Maccabees.474Here Jesus used the vine meta...
  • The scene now shifts back to earth."The entire passage in every clause utilizes well known prophetic anticipations of the day of the Lord, and by his use of these images John identifies the day for his readers. One may check ...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images, 2. Their heart is divide...
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