John Calvin Commentary Hosea 7

God, so that He might show how corrupt the state of all the people of Israel was, compares Himself here to a physician. A physician, while wishing to try remedies, acknowledges that there are hidden, graver diseases; this is often the case.

When a sick person sends for a physician, his disease will soon be discovered. However, it may be that he has for many years suffered from other hidden complaints which do not immediately come to the physician's attention. The physician may indeed think that the symptoms of the disease are those which proceed from a more hidden source; but on the third or fourth day, after having tried some remedies, he then knows that there is some hidden malady.

God then says that by applying remedies He had discovered how corrupt Israel was: While I was healing my people, He says, then I knew what was the iniquity of Samaria and of all Ephraim.

By Samaria the Prophet means the principal part of the kingdom, for that city, as is well known, was the capital and the chief seat of government. The Prophet therefore says that the iniquities of Samaria were then discovered to be, not common, but inveterate diseases. This is the meaning.

We now see what God intended, for the people might deceive themselves, as often happens, and say, “We are not indeed entirely free from every vice; but God ought not, however, to punish us so severely, for what nation is there under the sun which does not suffer from common diseases?” But the Prophet here answers that the people of Israel were so corrupt that mild remedies would not be sufficient for them.

God then here takes on the role of a physician and says, “I have until now wished to heal Israel, and this was My design when I hewed them by My Prophets and employed My word as a sword, and afterwards when I added chastisements. But now I have found that their wickedness is greater than can be corrected by such remedies.” The iniquity of Ephraim then has been discovered, He says, and then I perceived the vices of Samaria.

Now this passage teaches that though the vices of men do not immediately appear, yet those who deceive themselves and disguise themselves to others gain nothing. They are not freed before God, their fault is not lessened, nor are they absolved from guilt, for at last their hidden vices will come to light. This especially happens when the Lord acts as a physician toward them, for we see that men then cast out their bitterness when the Lord seeks to heal their corruptions.

Under the papacy, even those who are the worst conceal their own vices. How so? Because God does not try them; there is no teaching that cauterizes or that draws blood. Since then the Papists rest quietly in their own dregs, their perverseness does not appear. But in other places, where God puts forth the power of His word, and where He speaks effectually by His servants, there men show what great impiety was before hidden in them; for in full rage they rise up against God, and they cannot endure any admonition.

As soon then as God begins to act as a physician, men then reveal their diseases. And this is the reason why the world so greatly shuns the light of heavenly doctrine; for he who does evil hates the light (John 3:20).

We may also observe the same regarding chastisements. When God indulges the wicked, they then at least with their mouths bless Him; but when He begins to punish their sins, they clamor against Him and are angry, and at length show how much fury was before hidden in their hearts.

We now see what the Prophet here charges against the people of Israel. It may also be observed today throughout the whole world, that the curing of diseases reveals evils which were before unknown.

But we have said, and this ought to be kept in mind, that Ephraim is here expressly named by the Prophet, and also the city, Samaria. This is because He wished to intimate that their diseases were inveterate, existing not only in the outermost members, but deeply fixed in the head and bowels, and occupying the vital parts. It then follows, Because they have acted mendaciously, or, done falsely.

By this expression, the Prophet signifies that there was nothing sound in the whole people, because they were addicted to their own depravities. By the word שקר, shikor, He means every kind of falseness; that is, that men were thoroughly imbued with depraved lusts, and that there was nothing sound or whole now remaining in them. This then is the main point: that the wickedness of the people was discovered, and that it could not be cured by moderate severity, because it had penetrated into the very bowels and spread over the whole body.

What follows interpreters usually regard as the punishment which God had already inflicted. The Prophet says, The thief has entered in, and the robber has plundered without. They therefore think that this is to be referred to the manner in which God had already begun by punishment to recall the people to a sound mind, as though He said, “You have been pillaged by thieves as well as harassed by robbers.”

But I rather think that the Prophet here pursues the same subject and shows that the people were inwardly and outwardly so infected with vices that there was now no sound part. He does this by mentioning a part for the whole, here designating every kind of evil, for He specifies two kinds which may represent all things in general.

He therefore says, The thief has entered in, that is, stealthily, and causes harm insidiously, or even openly like robbers who use open violence. This means that impiety so prevailed, either by fraud or by open force, that they were in every way corrupt.

But when He says that the thief had entered in, He means that many of the people were like foxes, who craftily cause harm. And when He says that the robber had plundered in the open, He means that others, like lions, openly and shamelessly seized what belonged to others, and thus by open force stripped and plundered the wretched and the poor.

We now understand the Prophet's meaning. Having said that the Israelites and the citizens of Samaria had behaved so deceitfully, He now, by specifying two things, shows how they had departed from all uprightness and prostituted themselves to every kind of wickedness. For where violence reigned, there also fraud and all kinds of evil reigned. The thief then had entered in, and the robber plundered in the open; that is, they secretly circumvented their neighbors and also went forth like robbers, openly and without any shame.

The Prophet shows here that the Israelites had advanced to the highest summit of all wickedness, because they thought that no account was ever to be given by them to God. From this arises the contempt of God; that is, when people imagine that he is, as it were, sleeping in heaven, and that he rests from every work. They dare not indeed deny God, and yet they take from him what especially belongs to his divinity, for they exclude him from the office of being a judge.

Therefore, people allow themselves so much liberty because they imagine that they have made a truce with God. Yes, they think that they can do anything with impurity, as if they had made a covenant with death and hell, as Isaiah says (Isaiah 28:15).

Of this foolishness, then, the Prophet here accuses the Israelites: They have not said, he says, in their heart, that I remember all their wickedness;

That is, “They so audaciously mock me, as though I were not the judge of the world. They do not consider that all things are in my sight, and that nothing is hidden from me. Since then they suppose me to be like a dead idol, they have no fear; indeed, they abandon themselves to every wickedness.”

He then adds, Now their wicked deeds have surrounded them, for they are in my sight; that is, “Though they promise impunity to themselves and flatter themselves in their hypocrisy, all their works are yet before me; and thus their deeds surround them.” That is, “They shall at last perceive that they are enveloped in their own sins, and that no escape will be open to them.”

We now understand the Prophet's point. For after complaining about the stupidity of the people, he now says that they flattered themselves to no avail, because God is not, in the meantime, blind.

So, though they think that a veil is drawn over their sins, they are nevertheless mistaken, for all their sins are in my sight. This they themselves shall at last find out by experience, because their sins will surround or besiege them.

Let us learn from this passage that we should fear nothing more than Satan so fascinating us that we think God rests idly in heaven. There is nothing that can stir us up more to repentance than when we recognize God in his own power, are persuaded that he is the judge of the world, and also when we walk as in his sight, and know that our sins cannot be forgotten, except when he buries them by pardon.

This then is what the Prophet teaches in the first part of the verse. Now, when we imagine that we have peace with God, and with death and hell, as Isaiah says in the place we have quoted, the Prophet teaches that God is still awake, and that his office cannot be taken from him, for he knows whatever happens in this world.

And this will eventually be made openly known when our sins shall surround us, as it is also said in Genesis 4, Sin will lie down at thy door.

For we may for a time imagine that we have many escapes or at least hiding-places, but God will eventually show that all this is in vain. For he will come upon us and has no need of forces obtained from various sources; we shall have enemies enough in our own vices, for we shall be besieged by them just as if God were to arm the whole world against us. Let us go on—

The Prophet now accuses all the citizens of Samaria, and in them the whole people, because they gave obedience to the king through flattery, and to the princes in wicked things, concerning which their own conscience convicted them. He had already in the fifth chapter mentioned the falling away of the people in this respect: that they had obeyed the royal edict.

It might indeed have appeared something worthy of praise that the people had quietly embraced what the king commanded. This is the case with many today, who offer this kind of pretext. Under the papacy, they dare not withdraw from their impious superstitions, and they offer this excuse: that they ought to obey their princes.

But, as I have already said, the Prophet has previously condemned this sort of obedience. Now he shows that the falling away which then prevailed throughout all Israel should not be ascribed to the king or to a few men, but that it was a common evil, which involved everyone in the same guilt, without exception. How so? By their wickedness, he says, they have exhilarated the king, and by their lies the princes; that is, if they wish to cast the blame on their governors, it will be done in vain; for from where did such readiness then come?

As soon as Jeroboam formed the calves, as soon as he built temples, religion instantly collapsed, and whatever was before pure, degenerated. How was the change so sudden? It was because the people had inwardly devised their wickedness, which showed itself when an occasion arose, for hypocrisy lay hidden in all of them and was then discovered. We now perceive what the Prophet intended.

And this passage should be carefully noted, for it often happens that some vice, which proceeds from one person or from a few, creeps in. But when all readily embrace what a few introduce, it is quite evident that they have no living root of piety or of the fear of God. Then those who are so prone to adopt vices were previously hypocrites; and we daily find this to be the case.

When pious men govern a city and act prudently, then the whole populace will give some hope that they will fear the Lord; and when any king, influenced by a desire to advance God's glory, endeavors to keep all his subjects in the pure worship of God, then the same feeling of piety will be seen in all. But when an ungodly king succeeds him, most people will immediately fall back again; and when a magistrate neglects his duty, most of the people will break out into open impiety.

I wish there were no proofs of these things; but throughout the world, the Lord has intended for such examples to exist.

This purpose of God should therefore be noted, for he accuses the people of having made themselves too submissive and compliant. When King Jeroboam set up corrupt worship, the people immediately showed themselves ready to obey; thus impiety became quite open. They then delighted the king by their wickedness, and the princes by their lies; as if he said, "They cannot transfer the blame to the king and princes. Why? Because they delighted them by their wickedness; that is, they controlled the king by their wickedness and delighted the princes by their lies."

The Prophet pursues the same subject in this verse: he says that they were all adulterers. This similitude has already been often explained. He does not speak here of common fornication, but calls them adulterers because they had violated their faith pledged to God, because they had given themselves up to filthy superstitions, and also because they had wholly corrupted themselves; for faith and sincerity of heart constitute spiritual chastity before God.

When men become corrupt in their whole life and degenerate from the pure worship of God, they are justly deemed adulterers. In this sense, the Prophet now says that they were all adulterers, and thus he confirms what I have said before: that concerning the corruptions which then prevailed, not just a few men had been drawn into them, but the whole people were implicated in guilt, for they were all adulterers. To say that they had been deceived by the king, that they had been forced by authority, or that they had been compelled by the tyranny of their princes, would have been vain and frivolous, for all of them were adulterers.

He afterward compares them to a furnace or an oven: They are, he says, as a furnace or an oven, heated by the baker, who ceases from stirring up until the meal kneaded is well fermented. By this similitude, the Prophet shows more clearly that the people were not corrupted by some outward impulse, but by their own inclination and propensity of mind—indeed, by a mad and furious desire of acting wickedly.

He had previously said that they had willfully sinned when they readily embraced the edict of the king; but now he goes even further and says that they had been set on fire by an inward sinful instinct and were like a hot oven. Then he adds that this had not been a sudden impulse, as sometimes happens, but that it had so continued that they were confirmed in their wickedness. When he says that adulterers are like a burning oven, he means that their defection had not only been voluntary, so that the blame was in themselves, but that they had also ardently seized on the occasion of sinning and had been heated, like a hot oven. The ungodly often restrain and suppress their desires when no occasion is presented, but give vent to them when they have the opportunity of sinning with impunity. So God now declares that the people of Israel had not only been prone to defection but had also greedily desired it, so that their madness was like a burning flame.

But a third thing follows: this fire had not been suddenly lit but had been gathering strength for a long time. Hence he says, As an oven heated by the baker, who ceases, he says, from stirring up after the shaking or mixing of the meal, until it be fermented. לום, lush, means “to besprinkle;” empaster is what they say here.

Some foolishly hold that they were like those who sleep and afterward awake early in the morning. But the Prophet had a different thing in view: namely, that over time their wickedness had increased, and, as it were, by degrees. He means, in short, that they had not been under a sudden impulse, like men who often break out through lack of thought and immediately repent, and whose lust, which had been set on fire in a moment, in a short time abates.

The Prophet says that the frenzy of the people of Israel had been different, for they had been like an oven, which the baker, after having lit it, allows to grow quite hot, even to the highest degree; for he waits while the dough is becoming well fermented. It was not, then, the intemperance and lust of a few days; rather, they made their hearts quite hot, as when a baker heats his oven and puts in a great quantity of fuel, so that after a time it may become thoroughly heated while the dough is fermenting.

The word מעיר, meoir, “from stirring up,” is to be taken for מהעיר, maeoir; for what some say—that the baker rested from the city, that is, to manage public affairs—is unconvincing. Others render it thus: “He rests from the city,” so as not to be a citizen—to what purpose? There is then no doubt that the Prophet here pursues his own similitudes, which he will shortly repeat.

The Prophet here rebukes especially the king and his courtiers. He had spoken of the whole people and shown that the filth of evils was diffused everywhere; but he now relates how strangely the king and his courtiers ruled. Hence he says, The day of our king! the princes have made him sick; that is, so great was the intemperance of their excess that the king himself became sick from too much drinking and extended his hand to mockers. In short, the Prophet means that the members of government in the kingdom of Israel had become so corrupt that in the king's hall or palace there was no regard for decency and no shame.

By “the day of the king,” some understand his birthday; and we know that it has been a very old custom even for the common people to celebrate their birthday. Others refer it to the day of coronation, which is more probable. Some take it as the very beginning of his reign, which seems strained. The day of our king! That is, “Our king is now seated on his throne; he has now undertaken the government of the kingdom; let us then feast plentifully and glut ourselves with eating and drinking.” This sense fits well, but I do not know whether it can fit the term “day”; he calls it the day of the king. I would then rather adopt the opinion of those who explain it as the annual day of coronation: The day then of our king. Still other interpreters translate the sentence as follows: “In the day the princes have made the king sick”; but I make this separation in it: The day of the king! the princes have made him sick.

It was not indeed sinful or blameworthy to celebrate yearly the memory of the coronation; but then the king ought to have stirred up himself and others to give thanks to God; the goodness of the Lord, in preserving the kingdom safe, ought to have been acknowledged at the end of the year; the king ought also to have asked God for the spirit of wisdom and strength for the future, so that he might rightly discharge his office.

But the Prophet shows here that nothing then was in a sound state, for they had turned into gross abuse what was in itself, as I have said, useful. The day then of our king—how is it spent? Does the king humbly ask for pardon before God if he has done anything unworthy of his station, if in anything he has offended?

Does he give thanks that God has until now sustained him by His support? Does he prepare himself for the future discharge of his duty? No such thing; instead, the princes indulge in excess and stimulate their king; yes, they so overcome him with immoderate drinking that they make him sick. This then, he says, is their way of proceeding; nothing royal, or even anything worthy of men, now appears in the king’s palace; for they abandon themselves like beasts to drunkenness, and such great intemperance prevails among them that they ruin the king himself with a bottle of wine.

Some translate this as “a flagon”; חמת, chemet, properly means a bottle; and we know that wine was then preserved in bottles, as people in Eastern lands still do today. So, with a bottle of wine, with immoderate drinking, they made the king sick.

He then says that the king stretched forth his hand to scorners; that is, forgetting himself, he retained no seriousness, but became like a buffoon and indecently mixed with worthless men. For the Prophet, I do not doubt, calls those scorners, who, having cast away all shame, indulge in buffoonery and wantonness. He therefore says that the king held forth his hand to scorners as a sign of friendship. Since he was then the companion of buffoons and worthless men, he had cast away from himself everything royal that he ought to have possessed. This is the meaning.

The Prophet, therefore, deplores this corruption: that there was no longer any dignity or decency in the king and his princes, since they were wholly given, as they were, to excess and drunkenness; yes, they turned sacred days into this abuse, when the king ought to have conducted himself in a manner worthy of the highest rank of honor: he prostituted himself to every kind of wantonness, and his princes were his leaders and encouragers. The Prophet now deplores this great depravity.