John Calvin Commentary Hosea 12:11

"Is Gilead iniquity? they are altogether false; in Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field." — Hosea 12:11 (ASV)

The Prophet asks an ironical question: Is there iniquity in Gilead? He scoffs at the madness of those who delighted in such gross vices, especially since their worship was entirely false and corrupt. Even though they knew they were treacherous towards God and followed a worship alienated from His law, they were still so perverse that they proudly refused all warnings.

Since they were then blinded by their vices, the Prophet asks them ironically, Is there iniquity in Gilead? They are, supposedly, still doubtful whether they are guilty before God or bear any blame. Surely, he says, they are vanity; that is, 'However much they may seek plausible excuses for themselves, deny being conscious of wrongdoing, and also introduce many reasons for doubt so that they might not be forced to admit their sin, they still, he says, are guilty of falsehood. All their deceptive arguments contain nothing solid but are mere disguises that are worthless before God.' We now therefore understand the Prophet's meaning.

But there is no doubt that he also condemns here their perverted worship, through which the Israelites simultaneously thought they were rendering the best service to God. But obedience, we know, is better than all sacrifices. The Prophet then speaks out strongly here against all false modes of worship, devised apart from God and contrary to the authority of God’s law.

But at the same time, as we have just mentioned, he indirectly exposes their carelessness in imagining themselves excusable, provided they could claim their own good intention, as is commonly done. They would say that they built altars with no other purpose than to make the name of God known everywhere and to preserve some signs of religion among themselves.

Since, then, they thus created a smokescreen to cover their impiety, the Prophet says, 'They indeed still inquire, as if it were a doubtful thing, whether there is iniquity in Gilead. Let them inquire and dispute; Surely,' he says, 'they are vain.' This is literally, surely they have been falsehood: but he means that they foolishly brought forward those frivolous excuses with which they tried to escape their crime and its punishment.

Why were they vain? Because God values His own law more than all the deceptive arguments of men, and He will have all people obey His own word without dispute. But when they thus wantonly depart from His commandments, that is something He cannot endure. Therefore, those who think their own inventions are of any value before God are false and deceive themselves. He then sets forth their crimes.

In Gilgal, he says, have they sacrificed oxen. Jerome translates this as, 'They sacrifice to oxen,' and thinks that the Israelites are rebuked here for sacrificing to the calves, but this seems too far removed from the Prophet's words. The Prophet then mentions their sin: that they sacrificed oxen and multiplied altars. And yet, it seemed to be a diligence worthy of praise that they increased many altars, worshipped God everywhere, spared neither expense nor labor, and were not content with few sacrifices but added a great number—all this seemed to deserve considerable praise.

But the Lord, as has already been said, did not value these corrupt practices. For He would have Himself be worshipped alone by His people, and would have their piety be demonstrated by this single evidence: their obedience to His word. When we therefore turn aside from God’s word—indeed, when we, with loose reins, abandon ourselves to new inventions—though we may plausibly profess that our object is to worship God, yet all this is a vain and deceptive pretext, as the Prophet here declares.

Jerome is mistaken in thinking that Gilgal was a town in the tribe of Judah. This supposition cannot suit this passage, for Judah, we know, was then free from those gross corruptions. Judah was not yet polluted with the defilements that the Prophet here condemns in the kingdom of Israel. It is therefore certain that Gilgal was a town of Israel, and we know that a well-known temple and altar were there. Therefore, he especially points out this place.

But he afterwards adds, Their altars are as heaps on the furrows of the field. There was then, we know, only one legitimate altar, and God would not have sacrifices offered to Him, except in one place. Hence, the more active the Israelites were in multiplying altars, the more they provoked God's vengeance. However much it was their purpose to worship God, yet God rejected that foolish pretense.

We therefore see why the Prophet here compares the altars then erected in the kingdom of Israel to heaps of stones, as though he said, 'Just as one gathers stones into a heap when the land is stony, so that he may drive his plow more easily, so everyone forms an altar for himself, as though he were raising up a small hill in his own field. Thus it happens that they perversely corrupt the pure and lawful worship which I have appointed.'

We now therefore understand the Prophet's meaning to be that superstitious people gain nothing when they boldly and openly boast that they worship God. For whatever disguise they may invent for themselves and others, the Lord still abominates everything that is contrary to His word. Our way of worshipping God is alone true and lawful when we only follow what He prescribes and allow ourselves nothing that is not according to His command and appointment. This is the meaning. Let us proceed.