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Texts -- Hosea 10:5-15 (NET)

Context
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 10:12 Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap unfailing love . Break up the unplowed ground for yourselves, for it is time to seek the Lord , until he comes and showers deliverance on you. 10:13 But you have plowed wickedness ; you have reaped injustice ; you have eaten the fruit of deception . Because you have depended on your chariots ; you have relied on your many warriors .
Bethel Will Be Destroyed Like Beth Arbel
10:14 The roar of battle will rise against your people ; all your fortresses will be devastated , just as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle , when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children . 10:15 So will it happen to you, O Bethel , because of your great wickedness ! When that day dawns , the king of Israel will be destroyed .

Pericope

NET
  • 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
  • Hos 10:14-15 -- Bethel Will Be Destroyed Like Beth Arbel

Bible Dictionary

  • Idolatry

    [isbe] IDOLATRY - i-dol'-a-tri (teraphim, "household idols," "idolatry"; eidololatreia): There is ever in the human mind a craving for visible forms to express religious conceptions, and this tendency does not disappear with the ac...
    [nave] IDOLATRY. Wicked Practices of Human sacrifices, Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; Deut. 12:31; 18:10; 2 Kin. 3:26, 27; 16:3; 17:17, 18; 21:6; 23:10; 2 Chr. 28:3; 33:6; Psa. 106:37, 38; Isa. 57:5; Jer. 7:31; 19:4-7; 32:35; Ezek. 16:20, 2...

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • CALF, GOLDEN

    [isbe] CALF, GOLDEN - kaf, gol'-d'-n: I. THE NAME II. ANCIENT CALF WORSHIP 1. Narrative of Aaron's Golden Calf 2. Jeroboam's Golden Calves III. ATTITUDE OF ELIJAH TO THE BULL SYMBOLS IV. ATTITUDE OF AMOS AND HOSEA TO THE BULL SYMBO...

  • Hoshea

    [ebd] salvation. (1.) The original name of the son of Nun, afterwards called Joshua (Num. 13:8, 16; Deut. 32:44). (2.) 1 Chr. 27:20. The ruler of Ephraim in David's time. (3.) The last king of Israel. He conspired against and slew...
    [isbe] HOSHEA - ho-she'-a (hoshea`, "salvation"; Hosee, 2 Ki 17:1-9): 1. A Satrap of Assyria: Son of Elah, the 19th and last king of Israel. The time was one of social revolution and dynastic change. Of the last five kings of Israe...
    [nave] HOSHEA 1. Called also Oshea. The original name of Joshua, Num. 13:8, 16; Deut. 32:44. 2. A chief of Ephraim, 1 Chr. 27:20. 3. King of Israel. Assassinates Pekah and usurps the throne, 2 Kin. 15:30. Evil reign of, 2 Kin. 1...

  • Shalman

    [ebd] an Assyrian king (Hos. 10:14), identified with Shalmaneser II. (Sayce) or IV. (Lenormant), the successor of Pul on the throne of Assyria (B.C. 728). He made war against Hoshea, the king of Israel, whom he subdued and compell...
    [isbe] SHALMAN - shal'-man (shalman): A name of uncertain meaning, found only once in the Old Testament (Hos 10:14), in connection with a place-name, equally obscure, "as Shalman destroyed Betharbel." Shalman is most commonly inter...
    [smith] (fire-worshipper), a contraction for Shalmaneser king of Assyria. (Hosea 10:14) Others think it the name of an obscure Assyrian king, predecessor of Pul.
    [nave] SHALMAN Identified by some authorities with Shalmaneser, Hos. 10:14. Other authorities disagree, and leave his identity uncertain.

  • Heifer

    [ebd] Heb. 'eglah, (Deut. 21:4, 6; Jer. 46:20). Untrained to the yoke (Hos. 10:11); giving milk (Isa. 7:21); ploughing (Judg. 14:18); treading out grain (Jer. 50:11); unsubdued to the yoke an emblem of Judah (Isa. 15:5; Jer. 48:34...
    [isbe] HEIFER - hef'-er (parah, in Nu 19(see following article) and Hos 4:16; `eghlah, elsewhere in the Old Testament; damalis, in Heb 9:13):For the "heifer of three years old" in the King James Version, the Revised Version margin ...
    [smith] (1 Samuel 6:7-12; Job 21:10; Isaiah 7:21) The heifer or young cow was not commonly used for ploughing, but only for treading out the corn. (Hosea 10:11) but see Judg 14:18 When it ran about without any headstall, (26:4) he...
    [nave] HEIFER When used as sacrifice, must be without blemish and must not have come under the yoke, Num. 19:2; Deut. 21:3. An atonement for murder, Deut. 21:1-9. The red heifer used for the water of separation, Num. 19; Heb. 9:1...

  • BETHEL

    [ebd] house of God. (1.) A place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz (Gen. 28:19). The name Bethel was at first app...
    [isbe] BETHEL - beth'-el (beth-'el; Baithel and oikos theou, literally, "house of God"): (1) A town near the place where Abraham halted and offered sacrifice on his way south from Shechem. 1. Identification and Description: It lay ...

  • Reaping

    [isbe] REAPING - rep'-ing (qatsar; therizo): Reaping in ancient times, as at present, consisted in either pulling up the grain by the roots or cutting it with a sickle (see SICKLE), and then binding the stalks into bundles to be ca...
    [nave] REAPING, Psa. 129:7. The ark of the Lord returned by the Philistines at the time of, 1 Sam. 6:13. Laws concerning gleaning at the time of, See: Gleaning. Figurative Psa. 126:6; Hos. 10:12, 13.

  • HARROW

    [ebd] (Heb. harits), a tribulum or sharp threshing sledge; a frame armed on the under side with rollers or sharp spikes (2 Sam. 12:31; 1 Chr. 20:3). Heb. verb sadad, to harrow a field, break its clods (Job 39:10; Isa. 28:4; Hos. 1...
    [isbe] HARROW - har'-o (sadhadh): Sadhadh occurs in 3 passages (Job 39:10; Isa 28:24; Hos 10:11). In the first 2 it is translated "harrow," in the last "break the clods." That this was a separate operation from plowing, and that it...
    [smith] The word so rendered, (2 Samuel 12:31; 1 Chronicles 20:3) is probably a threshing-machine. The verb rendered "to harrow," (Job 39:10; Isaiah 28:24; Hosea 10:11) expresses apparently the breaking of the clods, and is so ...

  • Chemarim

    [ebd] black, (Zeph. 1:4; rendered "idolatrous priests" in 2 Kings 23:5, and "priests" in Hos. 10:5). Some derive this word from the Assyrian Kamaru, meaning "to throw down," and interpret it as describing the idolatrous priests wh...
    [isbe] CHEMARIM - kem'-a-rim (kemarim, a plural whose singular komer is not found in the Old Testament): Occurs only once in the text of English Versions of the Bible (Zeph 1:4, the King James Version Chemarims), though the Hebrew ...
    [nave] CHEMARIM, a term descriptive of idolatrous priests, Zech. 1:4; Hos. 10:5; 2 Kin. 23:15.

  • Calf

    [nave] CALF Offered in sacrifice, Mic. 6:6. Golden, made by Aaron, Ex. 32; Deut. 9:16; Neh. 9:18; Psa. 106:19; Acts 7:41. Images of, set up in Beth-el and Dan by Jeroboam, 1 Kin. 12:28-33; 2 Kin. 10:29. Worshiped by Jehu, 2 Kin....

  • HOSEA

    [isbe] HOSEA - ho-ze'-a: I. THE PROPHET 1. Name 2. Native Place 3. Date 4. Personal History (Marriage) (1) Allegorical View (2) Literal View II. THE BOOK 1. Style and Scope 2. Historical Background 3. Contents and Divisions (1) Hos...

  • CAPTIVITY

    [isbe] CAPTIVITY - kap-tiv'-i-ti (galah, galuth, shebhuth, shibhyah; metoikesia): I. OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM (THE WORK OF ASSYRIA) 1. Western Campaigns of Shalmaneser II, 860-825 BC 2. Of Rimmon-nirari III, 810-781 BC 3. Of Tiglath...

  • Beth-aven

    [ebd] house of nothingness; i.e., "of idols", a place in the mountains of Benjamin, east of Bethel (Josh. 7:2; 18:12; 1 Sam. 13:5). In Hos. 4:15; 5:8; 10:5 it stands for "Bethel" (q.v.), and it is so called because it was no longe...
    [nave] BETH-AVEN, a place on the mountains of Benjamin, Josh. 7:2; 18:12; 1 Sam. 13:5; 14:23; Hos. 4:15; 5:8; 10:5.

  • SIEGE

    [isbe] SIEGE - sej (matsor (Dt 28:52,53; 1 Ki 15:27; 2 Ki 25:2; Isa 29:3; Ezek 4:2); "to be besieged," "to suffer siege," ba-matsor bo' (Dt 20:19; 2 Ki 24:10; 25:2)): 1. In Early Hebrew History 2. In the Monarchy 3. Preliminaries t...

  • Jareb

    [smith] (adversary) is to be explained either as the proper name of a country or person, as a noun in apposition, or as a verb from a root, rub , "to contend plead." All these senses are represented in the Authorized Version and the ...
    [nave] JAREB, king of Asshur, Hos. 5:13; 10:6.

  • Aven

    [smith] (nothingness). The "plain of Aven" is mentioned by (Amos 1:5) in his denunciation of Syria and the country to the north of Palestine. This Aven is by some supposed to be the once magnificent Heiropolis, "city of I the sun," ...
    [nave] AVEN 1. "The plain of the Sun,'' Amos 1:5. 2. Another name for On, Ezek. 30:17. 3. Beth-aven, Hos. 10:8.

  • FURROW

    [ebd] an opening in the ground made by the plough (Ps. 65:10; Hos. 10:4, 10).
    [isbe] FURROW - fur'-o (telem): The word is translated "furrows" in Job 39:10; 31:38; Ps 65:10; Hos 10:4; 12:11 (Ps 65:10 the King James Version, "ridges"). In these passages the fields are pictured as they were in the springtime o...

  • FOAM

    [ebd] (Hos. 10:7), the rendering of ketseph, which properly means twigs or splinters (as rendered in the LXX. and marg. R.V.). The expression in Hosea may therefore be read, "as a chip on the face of the water," denoting the helpl...
    [isbe] FOAM - fom (qetseph (Hos 10:7); aphros (Lk 9:39), aphrizo (Mk 9:18,20), epaphrizo (Jude 1:13)): Qetseph from qatsaph, "to break to pieces," or "to break forth into anger," "to be angry," occurs often in the sense of "wrath" ...

  • Gibeah

    [smith] a word employed in the Bible to denote a hill. Like most words of this kind it gave its name to several towns and places in Palestine, which would doubtless be generally on or near a hill. They are -- Gibeah, a city in the m...
    [nave] GIBEAH 1. Of Judah, Josh. 15:57. 2. Of Saul. Called also Gibeah of Benjamin. The people's wickedness, Judg. 19:12-30; Hos. 9:9; 10:9. Destroyed by the Israelites, Judg. 20. The city of Saul, 1 Sam. 10:26; 15:34; 22:6. Th...
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Hymns

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  • [Hos 10:12] Here From The World We Turn
  • [Hos 10:12] Sowing With Song And Prayer

Resources/Books

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...
  • These verses provide the answer to God's question in 3:1. This is the repentance that was necessary for Yahweh to return to His "wife."4:1a The Lord clarified that for His people to return to a blessed condition they must ret...
  • 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,...
  • 10:3 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...
  • 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...
  • 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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