Hosea 10

Retribution for Israel's Sin

1 Israel is a luxuriant ¹vine; He produces fruit for himself. The more his fruit, The more altars he ²made; The richer his land, The better he made the sacred ³pillars.

2 Their heart is ⁴faithless; Now they must bear their ⁵guilt. The LORD will ⁶break down their altars And destroy their sacred pillars.

3 Surely now they will say, "We have ⁷no king, For we do not revere the LORD. As for the king, what can he do for us?"

4 They speak mere words, With ⁸worthless oaths they make covenants; And ⁹judgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.

5 The inhabitants of Samaria will fear For the ¹⁰calf of ¹¹Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn for it, And its ¹²idolatrous priests will cry out over it, Over its ¹³glory, since it has departed from it.

6 The thing itself will be carried to ¹⁴Assyria As tribute to ¹⁵King Jareb; Ephraim will be ¹⁶seized with shame And Israel will be ashamed of its ¹⁷own counsel.

7 Samaria will be ¹⁸cut off with her king Like a stick on the surface of the water.

8 Also the ¹⁹high places of Aven, the ²⁰sin of Israel, will be destroyed; ²¹Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars; Then they will ²²say to the mountains, "Cover us!" And to the hills, "Fall on us!"

9 From the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel; There they stand! Will not the battle against the sons of iniquity overtake them in Gibeah?

10 When it is My ²³desire, I will ²⁴chastise them; And ²⁵the peoples will be gathered against them When they are bound for their double guilt.

11 Ephraim is a trained ²⁶heifer that loves to thresh, But I will ²⁷come over her fair neck with a yoke; I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow, Jacob will harrow for himself.

12 ²⁸Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; ²⁹Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to ³⁰seek the LORD Until He ³¹comes to ³²rain righteousness on you.

13 You have ³³plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, You have eaten the fruit of ³⁴lies. Because you have trusted in your way, in your ³⁵numerous warriors,

14 Therefore a tumult will arise among your people, And all your ³⁶fortresses will be destroyed, As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle, When ³⁷mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.

15 Thus it will be done to you at Bethel because * of your great wickedness. At dawn the king of Israel will be completely cut off.

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Hosea 10 Commentary

Chapter 10

The idolatry of Israel. (1-8) They are exhorted to repentance. (9-15)

Verses 1-8 A vine is only valuable for its fruit; but Israel now brought no fruit to perfection. Their hearts were divided. God is the Sovereign of the heart; he will have all, or none. Were the stream of the heart wholly after God, it would run strongly, and bear down all before it. Their pretences to covenant with God were false. Even the proceeding of justice was as poisonous hemlock. Alas, how empty a vine is the visible church even at this day! But all earthly prosperity is but a collection of bubbles, soon destroyed like foam upon the water. Sinners will in vain seek shelter from that Judge, whom they now despise as a Saviour.

Verses 9-15 Because God does not desire the death and ruin of sinners, therefore in mercy he desires their chastisement. The children of iniquity still remained in Israel. The enemies would be gathered against them. It is just with God to make those know what hardships mean, who indulge themselves in ease and pleasure. Let them cleanse their hearts from all corrupt affections and lusts, and be a broken and contrite spirit. Let them abound in works of piety towards God, and of justice and charity towards one another: herein let them sow to the Spirit. Seeking the Lord is to be every day's work, but there are special occasions when to seek him. Christ shall come as the Lord our righteousness, and grant us of it abundantly. If we sow in righteousness, we shall reap according to mercy; a reward not of debt, but of grace. Even the gains of sin yield the sinner no satisfaction. As our comforts, so our confidences in the service of sin will certainly fail us. Come and seek the Lord, and thy hope in him shall not deceive thee. See what cruel work war makes. Whatever mischief is done, it is sin that does it. What miseries men's sins bring on them, even in this world!

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 37

1. Isaiah 5:1-7; Ezekiel 15:1-6
2. Jeremiah 2:28; Hosea 8:11; Hosea 12:11
3. 1 Kings 14:23; Hosea 3:4
4. 1 Kings 18:21; Zephaniah 1:5
5. Hosea 13:16
6. Hosea 10:8; Micah 5:13
7. Psalms 12:4; Isaiah 5:19
8. Ezekiel 17:13-19; Hosea 4:2
9. Deuteronomy 31:16, 17; 2 Kings 17:3, 4; Amos 5:7
10. Hosea 8:5, 6
11. Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8
12. 2 Kings 23:5
13. Hosea 9:11
14. Hosea 11:5
15. Hosea 5:13
16. Hosea 4:7
17. Isaiah 30:3; Jeremiah 7:24
18. Hosea 13:11
19. Hosea 4:13
20. 1 Kings 12:28-30; 1 Kings 13:34
21. Isaiah 32:13; Hosea 9:6; Hosea 10:2
22. Isaiah 2:19; Luke 23:30; Revelation 6:16
23. Ezekiel 5:13
24. Hosea 4:9
25. Jeremiah 16:16
26. Jeremiah 50:11; Hosea 4:16; Micah 4:13
27. Jeremiah 28:14
28. Proverbs 11:18
29. Jeremiah 4:3
30. Hosea 12:6
31. Hosea 6:3
32. Isaiah 44:3; Isaiah 45:8
33. Job 4:8; Proverbs 22:8; Galatians 6:7, 8
34. Hosea 4:2; Hosea 7:3; Hosea 11:12
35. Psalms 33:16
36. Isaiah 17:3
37. Hosea 13:16

Footnotes 13

[a]. Or "degenerate"
[b]. Or "better"
[c]. Lit "they"
[d]. Lit "smooth"
[e]. Lit "He"
[f]. Or "Swearing falsely in making a covenant"
[g]. So with some ancient versions; Heb "calves"
[h]. Or who "used to rejoice over"
[i]. Or "the avenging king" or "the great king"
[j]. Lit "receive shame"
[k]. Or "bind"
[l]. Or "loyalty"
[m]. Or "teach"

Chapter Summary

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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible