Hosea 10:7-15

7 Samaria’s king will be destroyed, swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.

8 The high places of wickedness^[a] will be destroyed— it is the sin of Israel. Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

9 “Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel, and there you have remained.^[b]Will not war again overtake the evildoers in Gibeah?

10 When I please, I will punish them; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bonds for their double sin.

11 Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her fair neck. I will drive Ephraim, Judah must plow, and Jacob must break up the ground.

12 Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.

13 But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors,

14 the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated— as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.

15 So will it happen to you, Bethel, because your wickedness is great. When that day dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

Hosea 10:7-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 10

This chapter is of the same argument with the former, and others before that; setting forth the sins of the ten tribes, and threatening them with the judgments of God for them; and exhorting them to repentance, and works of righteousness. They are charged with unfruitfulness and ingratitude; increasing in idolatry, as they increased in temporal good things, Ho 10:1; with a divided heart, and with irreverence of God, and their king; and with false swearing, covenant breaking, and injustice, Ho 10:2-4; and are threatened with a removal of their king, and with the destruction of their idols, and places of idolatry, which should cause fear in the common people, and mourning among the priests, Ho 10:1,5-8. It is observed, that their sin had been of long continuance, though the Lord had been kind and good unto them, in chastising them in love, giving them good laws, sending his prophets to exhort them to repentance and reformation, but all in vain, Ho 10:9-13; wherefore they are threatened with the spoiling of their fortresses, the destruction of the people, and the cutting off of their king, Ho 10:14,15.

Cross References

• 1. ver 15; Hosea 13:11
• 2. S Ezekiel 6:6
• 3. S ver 5; 1 Kings 12:28-30; S Hosea 4:13
• 4. S Hosea 9:6
• 5. ver 2; S Isaiah 32:13
• 6. S Job 30:6; Amos 3:14-15
• 7. Amos 7:9; Luke 23:30*; Revelation 6:16
• 8. S Hosea 5:8
• 9. S Joshua 7:11
• 10. S Ezekiel 5:13; S Hosea 4:9
• 11. S Jeremiah 15:12; S Jeremiah 31:18
• 12. S Ecclesiastes 11:1
• 13. S Proverbs 11:18; James 3:18
• 14. Jeremiah 4:3
• 15. S Isaiah 19:22; Hosea 12:6
• 16. S Isaiah 45:8
• 17. S Job 4:8; S Hosea 7:3; Hosea 11:12; Galatians 6:7-8
• 18. S Proverbs 11:18; S Hosea 8:7
• 19. Psalms 33:16
• 20. S Isaiah 17:3; Micah 5:11
• 21. S 2 Kings 17:3
• 22. S Isaiah 13:16; Hosea 13:16
• 23. S ver 7

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "aven," a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see verse 5.
• [b]. Or "there a stand was taken"