Hosea 10:1-11

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.

Read Chapter Compare

Hosea 10:1-11 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 27

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

Footnotes 11

[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"