Hosea 4:15

Warning to Judah: Do Not Join in Israel’s Apostasy!

4:15 Although you, O Israel, commit adultery,

do not let Judah become guilty!

Do not journey to Gilgal!

Do not go up to Beth Aven! ¹ 

Do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives!”

Hosea 12:11

12:11 Is there idolatry ²  in Gilead? ³ 

Certainly its inhabitants ⁴  will come to nothing! ⁵ 

Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?

Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!

Joshua 4:19-24

4:19 The people went up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month ⁶  and camped in Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. ⁷  4:20 Now Joshua set up in Gilgal the ⁸  twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan. 4:21 He told the Israelites, “When your children someday ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones represent?’ ⁹  4:22 explain ¹⁰  to your children, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan River ¹¹  on dry ground.’ 4:23 For the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you while you crossed over. It was just like when the Lord your God dried up the Red Sea before us while we crossed it. ¹²  4:24 He has done this so ¹³  all the nations ¹⁴  of the earth might recognize the Lord’s power ¹⁵  and so you might always obey ¹⁶  the Lord your God.”

Joshua 5:2-9

A New Generation is Circumcised

5:2 At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites once again.” ¹⁷  5:3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites on the Hill of the Foreskins. ¹⁸  5:4 This is why Joshua had to circumcise them: All the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt died on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt. ¹⁹  5:5 Now ²⁰  all the men ²¹  who left were circumcised, but all the sons ²²  born on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt were uncircumcised. 5:6 Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the desert until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the Lord, died off. ²³  For the Lord had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn on oath to give them, ²⁴  a land rich in ²⁵  milk and honey. 5:7 He replaced them with their sons, ²⁶  whom Joshua circumcised. They were uncircumcised; their fathers had not circumcised them along the way. 5:8 When all the men ²⁷  had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they had healed. 5:9 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have taken away ²⁸  the disgrace ²⁹  of Egypt from you.” So that place is called Gilgal ³⁰  even to this day.

Joshua 10:43

10:43 Then Joshua and all Israel returned to the camp at Gilgal.

Joshua 10:1

Israel Defeats an Amorite Coalition

10:1 Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, ³¹  heard how Joshua captured Ai and annihilated it and its king as he did Jericho ³²  and its king. ³³  He also heard how ³⁴  the people of Gibeon made peace with Israel and lived among them.

Joshua 7:16

7:16 Bright and early the next morning Joshua made Israel approach in tribal order ³⁵  and the tribe of Judah was selected.

Amos 4:4

Israel has an Appointment with God

4:4 “Go to Bethel ³⁶  and rebel! ³⁷ 

At Gilgal ³⁸  rebel some more!

Bring your sacrifices in ³⁹  the morning,

your tithes on ⁴⁰  the third day!

Amos 5:5

5:5 Do not seek Bethel! ⁴¹ 

Do not visit Gilgal!

Do not journey down ⁴²  to Beer Sheba!

For the people of Gilgal ⁴³  will certainly be carried into exile; ⁴⁴ 

and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” ⁴⁵ 

Micah 6:5

6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, ⁴⁶ 

how Balaam son of Beor responded to him.

Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal,

so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly.” ⁴⁷ 

[4:15]  ¹ sn Beth Aven means “house of wickedness” in Hebrew; it is a polemic reference to “Bethel,” which means “house of God.” Cf. CEV “at sinful Bethel.”

[12:11]  ² tn The noun אָוֶן (’aven) has a broad range of meanings which includes: (1) “wickedness, sin, injustice” (2) “deception, nothingness,” and (3) “idolatry, idolatrous cult” (HALOT 22 s.v. אָוֶן; BDB 19 s.v. אָוֶן). While any of these meanings would fit the present context, the second-half of the verse refers to cultic sins, suggesting that Hosea is denouncing Gilead for its idolatry. Cf. NLT “Gilead is filled with sinners who worship idols.”

[12:11]  ³ tn The introductory deictic particle אִם (’im) functions as an interrogative and introduces an interrogative clause: “Is there…?” (see HALOT 60 s.v. אִם 5; BDB 50 s.v. אִם 2). The LXX assumed that אִם was being used in its more common function as a conditional particle: “If there….”

[12:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the inhabitants of Gilead) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:11]  ⁵ tn The noun שָׁוְא (shav’, “emptiness, nothing”), which describes the imminent judgment of the people of Gilead, creates a wordplay in Hebrew with the noun אָוֶן (’aven, “nothingness” = idolatry). Because Gilead worshiped “nothingness” (idols), it would become “nothing” (i.e., be destroyed).

[4:19]  ⁶ sn The first month was the month Abib (= late March-early April in the modern calendar). The Passover in Egypt also occurred on the tenth day of the first month (Exod 12:2; 13:4).

[4:19]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[4:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “these,” referring specifically to the twelve stones mentioned in vv. 3-7.

[4:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “What are these stones?”

[4:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “make known.”

[4:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “crossed this Jordan”; the word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the meaning.

[4:23]  ¹² tn Heb “just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea when he dried [it] up before us while we crossed over.”

[4:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “in order that.”

[4:24]  ¹⁴ tn Or “peoples.”

[4:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “know the hand of the Lord that it is strong.”

[4:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “fear.”

[5:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “return, circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate the repetition of an action.

[5:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Gibeath Haaraloth.” This name means “Hill of the Foreskins.” Many modern translations simply give the Hebrew name, although an explanatory note giving the meaning of the name is often included.

[5:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “All the people who went out from Egypt, the males, all the men of war, died in the desert in the way when they went out from Egypt.”

[5:5]  ²⁰ tn Or “indeed.”

[5:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “people.”

[5:5]  ²² tn Heb “all the people.”

[5:6]  ²³ tn Heb “all the nation, the men of war who went out from Egypt, who did not listen to the voice of the Lord, came to an end.”

[5:6]  ²⁴ tn Some Hebrew mss, as well as the Syriac version, support this reading. Most ancient witnesses read “us.”

[5:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “flowing with.”

[5:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “their sons he raised up in their place.”

[5:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “nation.”

[5:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “rolled away.”

[5:9]  ²⁹ sn One might take the disgrace of Egypt as a reference to their uncircumcised condition (see Gen 34:14), but the generation that left Egypt was circumcised (see v. 5). It more likely refers to the disgrace they experienced in Egyptian slavery. When this new generation reached the promised land and renewed their covenantal commitment to the Lord by submitting to the rite of circumcision, the Lord’s deliverance of his people from slavery, which had begun with the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea, reached its climax. See T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 59.

[5:9]  ³⁰ sn The name Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew verb “roll away” (גַּלַל, galal).

[10:1]  ³¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[10:1]  ³² map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[10:1]  ³³ tn Heb “as he had done to Jericho and to its king, so he did to Ai and to its king.”

[10:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and how.”

[7:16]  ³⁵ tn Heb “by tribes.”

[4:4]  ³⁶ sn Bethel and Gilgal were important formal worship centers because of their importance in Israel’s history. Here the Lord ironically urges the people to visit these places so they can increase their sin against him. Their formal worship, because it was not accompanied by social justice, only made them more guilty in God’s sight by adding hypocrisy to their list of sins. Obviously, theirs was a twisted view of the Lord. They worshiped a god of their own creation in order to satisfy their religious impulses (see 4:5: “For you love to do this”). Note that none of the rituals listed in 4:4-5 have to do with sin.

[4:4]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew word translated “rebel” (also in the following line) could very well refer here to Israel’s violations of their covenant with God (see also the term “crimes” in 1:3 [with note] and the phrase “covenant transgressions” in 2:4 [with note]; 3:14).

[4:4]  ³⁸ sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.

[4:4]  ³⁹ tn Or “for.”

[4:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “for.”

[5:5]  ⁴¹ sn Ironically, Israel was to seek after the Lord, but not at Bethel (the name Bethel means “the house of God” in Hebrew).

[5:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “cross over.”

[5:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “For Gilgal.” By metonymy the place name “Gilgal” is used instead of referring directly to the inhabitants. The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:5]  ⁴⁴ tn In the Hebrew text the statement is emphasized by sound play. The name “Gilgal” sounds like the verb גָּלָה (galah, “to go into exile”), which occurs here in the infinitival + finite verb construction (גָּלֹה יִגְלֶה, galoh yigleh). The repetition of the “ג” (g) and “ל” (l) sounds draws attention to the announcement and suggests that Gilgal’s destiny is inherent in its very name.

[5:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “disaster,” or “nothing”; NIV “Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”

[6:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”

[6:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “From Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the Lord.” Something appears to be missing at the beginning of the line. The present translation supplies the words, “Recall how you went.” This apparently refers to how Israel crossed the Jordan River (see Josh 3:1; 4:19-24).