Israel's coming war 10:9-15

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).

 An initial announcement of war 10:9-10

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 against them would not be victorious at this site of their early sinning. He would indeed defeat these people so long associated with iniquity.

10:10 At the Lord's chosen time He would chasten (punish, discipline, cf. 5:2) His people by binding them as prisoners, harnessing them to their sins (cf. v. 11). Other peoples would oppose them in battle when the Lord had bound them up for being twice guilty. The double guilt in view is probably their original guilt because of their sin at Gibeah and their present guilt because of their sin at Bethel.⁶⁵Another view is that it refers to the sin of forsaking God and the sin of forsaking His appointed Davidic kings.⁶⁶

 A confirming announcement of war 10:11-15

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 the gathered corn."⁶⁷

Ephraim had abandoned this comparatively light service in preference for becoming yoked to sin (v. 10). As punishment Yahweh would yoke the people of both Northern and Southern Kingdoms to an enemy who would greatly restrict their movements and force them to do hard work. "Judah"refers to the Southern Kingdom and "Jacob"to the Northern, using the name of the patriarch that stresses this ancestor's rebelliousness. Possibly "Jacob"refers to all 12 tribes.⁶⁸

10:12 The prophet appealed to the Israelites to repent. They should cultivate righteousness with a view to reaping the Lord's kindness (Heb. hesed). Breaking up fallow ground is what a farmer does when he plows land that has laid untouched for a long time. This is a figure for confessing sins and exposing them to God when they have laid unconfessed under the surface of life for a long time. It was time for the people to seek Yahweh, whom they had failed to seek in repentance for so long. They should confess and repent until the Lord sent the blessings of righteousness (deliverance, cf. 2:19) on them like rain (cf. 6:3).

This well-known verse is a good summary of what all Israel's prophets appealed to God's people to do throughout their history.

10:13 Instead of plowing righteousness and reaping loyal love (v. 12) the Israelites had plowed wickedness and reaped injustice. Instead of eating the fruit of righteousness they had eaten the fruit of lies. They had done this because they trusted in themselves and in their own military might.

10:14 Because the Israelites trusted in their own army, turmoil rather than tranquillity would mark their life. Their fortresses would suffer destruction rather than protecting the Israelites from destruction. Hosea compared this future loss to one in Israel's past, but what past event is uncertain.

"Shalman"may refer to King Shalmaneser III, an Assyrian who conducted campaigns in the West in the ninth century B.C. Another identification of "Shalman"is King Salamanu, a Moabite ruler who was a contemporary of King Hoshea of Israel whose name appears in a list of kings who paid tribute to the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III. A third possibility is the Assyrian king Shalmaneser V who prepared the way for Israel's captivity by invading the land (cf. 2 Kings 17:3-6).⁶⁹"Beth-arbel"could refer to the town of Arbela about 18 miles southeast of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) or to Mt. Arbel two miles west of that sea. In any case, the battle had been a bloody one that the Israelites of Hosea's day remembered vividly. The enemy had slaughtered mothers and their children without mercy.

10:15 The Israelites would suffer a similar slaughter at Bethel because of their great wickedness. "Bethel"here may refer to the town or to the whole nation of Israel (by metonymy, cf. v. 7).

"Since her destruction would occur when that day dawns' (meaning the very beginning of the day of battle), it is noteworthy that Israel's final king, Hoshea, was taken captive by the Assyrian conqueror Shalmaneser V before the actual siege of Samaria began."⁷⁰