Hosea 5:12

12 Therefore, I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.

Hosea 5:12 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 5:12

Therefore [will] I [be] unto Ephraim as a moth
Which eats garments, penetrates into them, feeds on them privately, secretly, without any noise, and gradually and slowly consumes them; but at last utterly, that they are of no use and profit: this may signify the various things which befell the ten tribes in the reigns of Zachariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, and Pekah, which secretly and gradually weakened them; and the utter consumption of them in the times of Hoshea by Shalmaneser: and to the house of Judah as rottenness;
as rottenness in the bones, ( Proverbs 12:4 ) ; which can never be got out or cured; or as a worm that eats into wood, as Jarchi interprets it; and gets into the very heart of a tree, and eats it out: thus the Lord threatens the house of Judah, or the two tribes, with a gradual, yet thorough, ruin and destruction.

Hosea 5:12 In-Context

10 The princes of Judah act like raiders who steal the land; I will pour out my anger like water upon them.

11 Ephraim is under pressure from its enemies; Ephraim's rights aren't protected. This is because Ephraim chose to pursue worthless things.

12 Therefore, I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.

13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and Ephraim sent for the great king. But he could not heal them; nor could he cure their wound.

14 I am like a lion to Ephraim, like a young lion to the house of Judah. I am the one who tears the prey and goes forth; no one can snatch it from me.