Charles Ellicott Commentary Hosea 10

Empty in the English version is wrong, as it is inconsistent with what follows (compare the Septuagint and Vulgate). Read luxuriant. The metaphors of the vintage (compare also Genesis 49:22, and Introduction to Hosea 9:0) are still prevalent in the mind of the prophet. Wünsche has powerfully illustrated this wild, strong growth of Israel as compared with Judah. Joash prevailed over Amaziah and plundered Jerusalem (2 Kings 14:12–14). Jeroboam II extended his power as far as Hamath (2 Kings 14:23–25).

The kingdom had resisted the attacks of Syria and had become insolent as well as idolatrous. The last clause should be rendered, The more abundant his fruit, the more he increased altars; the fairer his land, the fairer the Baal-pillars. On “Baal-pillars,” see W. R. Smith, Old Testament in the Jewish Church, pp. 248, 425 (compare Hosea 9:1 and Hosea 2:5). Misapprehending the cause of their temporal prosperity and willfully ignoring Jehovah’s forbearance and love, they attributed their mercies to the grace of Baal and multiplied idolatrous shrines .

Their heart is divided is the rendering of the Septuagint, Raschi, Aben-Ezra, and most ancient versions. But modern expositors prefer to translate “Their heart is treacherous (smooth).” The rest of the verse should read as follows: Now shall they suffer punishment. He shall break (the horns of) their altars; he shall destroy their pillars.

To us.—Better, as for a king, what will he do for us? The prophet, having witnessed a succession of Israelite kings overthrown and anarchy as its consequence, predicts yet another time of confusion and helplessness, a full vindication of the threatenings of the prophet Samuel. (Compare to 1 Samuel 8:19.)

Judgment — i.e., Divine judgments shall prevail not as a blessing, but as a curse; not as a precious harvest, but as a poisonous plant (poppy or hemlock) in the ridges of the field.

It is hard to express the sarcastic force and concentrated scorn of the original term "calves": literally, she calves, the feminine form used to express contempt, the plural alluding to the scattered worship in numerous shrines throughout Israel (or, perhaps, a pluralis majestatis of mockery).

The next clause should be read as follows: For it (a personal pronoun, referring to the calf par excellence of the main place of worship at Bethel, here degraded to Bethaven), people mourn because of it, and its priests tremble because of it. The word for "priests," kemarîm, always means an idolatrous priesthood.