John Calvin Commentary Hosea 6:8

"Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity; it is stained with blood." — Hosea 6:8 (ASV)

First, I will speak of the subject, and then, in its proper place, something will be added concerning the words. The Prophet here undoubtedly notices something special against Gilead, which, due to the imperfection of history, is now obscure to us. But first, we must remember that Gilead was one of the cities of refuge, and the Levites possessed these cities, which were appointed for fugitives.

If anyone killed a man by chance, so that the relatives might not take revenge, the Lord provided that he should flee to one of these cities appointed for his safety. He was safe there among the Levites, and the Levites received him under their protection, the matter having been previously tried; for a legal hearing of the case must have preceded to determine whether the one who had killed a man was innocent.

We must then first remember that this city was occupied by the Levites and the priests, and they ought to have been examples to all others. For as Christ calls his disciples the light of the world, so the Lord had chosen the priests for this purpose: that they might carry a torch before all the people. Since, then, the highest sanctity ought to have shone forth in the priests, it was quite monstrous that they were like robbers, and that the holy city, which was, as it were, the sanctuary of God, became a den of thieves.

It was for this reason, then, that the Prophet especially inveighs against the city Gilead, and says, Gilead is a city of the workers of iniquity, and is covered with blood. But if Gilead was so corrupt, what must have been the case with the other cities? It is, then, as if the Prophet had said, “Where shall I begin?”

If I reprove the people indiscriminately, the priests will then think that they are spared because they are innocent—indeed, that they are wholly without blame. “No,” he says, “the priests are the most abandoned; they are even the ringleaders of robbers.” Since, then, corruptions so great prevail among the order of priests, in whom the highest sanctity ought to have shone forth, how great must be the licentiousness of the people in all kinds of wickedness?

“And then what must be said of other cities, since Gilead is so bad—Gilead, which God consecrated for a special purpose, that it might be a kind of sanctuary? Since, then, Gilead is a den of robbers, what must the other cities be?” We now comprehend the Prophet's meaning.

Concerning the phrase Polluted with blood (Hebrew: עקובה מדם, okube medam): the Hebrew word עקב, okob, means “to deceive,” and also “to hold” or “retain.” The word עקב, okob, is also the sole of the foot; hence, עקב, okob, signifies “to supplant.” And there is no doubt that “to deceive” is its metaphorical meaning.

I will now come to the Prophet's meaning. He says that the city was עקובה מדם (okube medam). Some say this means “deceptive in blood,” because they did not openly kill men but by lying in wait for them, and from this they derive this sense.

But I prefer the view of those who say that the city was “full of blood,” not that this is the strict sense of the Hebrew word, but we may properly render it “occupied by blood.” Why so? Because עקב, okob, as I have said, sometimes means to hold, to stay, and to hinder. We may then properly and fittingly say that Gilead was “occupied” or “possessed by blood.” But a clearer and fuller explanation of this sentence follows—