Charles Ellicott Commentary Hosea 5
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Hosea 5
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Hosea 5
"Hear this, O ye priests, and hearken, O house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king; for unto you pertaineth the judgment; for ye have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor." — Hosea 5:1 (ASV)
House of the king refers to his following on both sides of the Jordan—Mizpah on the east side, in Gilead, and Tabor on the west. They are singled out as being military strongholds, where the princes of the royal house, with the apostate priests, exercised their deadly hold upon the people, waylaying them, as birds and beasts are snared in the mountains of prey. (Compare to Hosea 6:8-9.)
Judgment is toward you.—More accurately, is meant for you.
"And the revolters are gone deep in making slaughter; but I am a rebuker of them all." — Hosea 5:2 (ASV)
Are profound to make slaughter.— Ewald, followed recently by Nowack, is right in interpreting the Hebrew text as meaning, “The apostates have gone deep in iniquity.” In the last clause the Authorized Version is again incorrect. Translate it as: But I (i.e., Jehovah) am chastisement to them all. The deceivers and deceived will both perish.
"Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God; for the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not Jehovah." — Hosea 5:4 (ASV)
The margin, “Their deeds will not suffer (them),” requires the introduction of the word “them,” not in the Hebrew. It is favoured by the Jewish commentators, Schmoller, and others, but it is better to render, with the Authorised version, They frame not their doings, etc. The knowledge of the only true God is life.
"And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in their iniquity; Judah also shall stumble with them." — Hosea 5:5 (ASV)
The pride of Israel may be either the true object of pride and boasting, namely, Jehovah Himself , or the false object of pride to which they had yielded. The latter interpretation is to be preferred, and is supported by Amos 6:8.
Arrogance led Ephraim, on numerous occasions in earlier sacred history, to resent the supremacy of Judah. This jealousy culminated in the rebellion of Jeroboam I, and characterised their history until the reign of Ahab. Arrogance will be their ruin now; and in this, Judah is represented as likewise involved.
This last feature is a new note in prophetic utterance. (Compare Hosea 4:15.) We are therefore justified in regarding Hosea 5:0 as delivered at a later time than the oracle standing immediately before it.
"They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them." — Hosea 5:6 (ASV)
The vain effort to repent when it is too late. The spirit with which sacrifices of flocks and herds were offered is of more consequence than the multitude of such offerings (Micah 3:4; Isaiah 1:11; Psalms 40:6). Ghastly and revolting results follow the substitution of ritual of any kind for the weightier matters of the law.
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