Hosea 13:1-6

Ephraim's Idolatry

1 ¹When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He ²exalted himself in Israel, But through ³Baal he did wrong and died.

2 And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves ⁴molten images, Idols ⁵skillfully made from their silver, All of them the ⁶work of craftsmen. They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the ⁷calves!"

3 Therefore they will be like the ⁸morning cloud And like dew which soon disappears, Like ⁹chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor And like ¹⁰smoke from a chimney.

4 Yet I have been the ¹¹LORD your God Since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know ¹²any god except Me, For there is no savior ¹³besides Me.

5 I ¹⁴cared for you in the wilderness, ¹⁵In the land of drought.

6 As they had their pasture, they became ¹⁶satisfied, And being satisfied, their ¹⁷heart became proud; Therefore * they ¹⁸forgot Me.

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Hosea 13:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 13

This chapter begins with observing the different state and condition of Ephraim before and after his idolatry, Ho 13:1; his increase in it, Ho 13:2; and therefore his prosperity was very short lived, which is signified by various metaphors, Ho 13:3; and his sins are aggravated by the former goodness of God unto him his great ingratitude unto God, and forgetfulness him, Ho 13:4-6; hence he is threatened with his wrath and vengeance in a very severe manner, Ho 13:7,8; for which he had none to blame but himself; yea, such was the grace and goodness of God to him, that though he had destroyed himself, yet there were help and salvation for him in him, Ho 13:9; though not in his king he had desired, and was given, and was took away in wrath, Ho 13:10,11; but his sin being bound up and hid, and he foolish and unwise, sharp corrections would be given him, Ho 13:12,13; and yet a gracious promise is made of redemption from death and the grave by the Messiah, Ho 13:14; but, notwithstanding this, and all his present prosperity, he would be blasted in his wealth and riches; and Samaria the metropolis of his country would he desolate; and the inhabitants of it be used in the most cruel manner, because of their rebellion against God, Ho 13:15,16.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 18

1. Job 29:21, 22
2. Judges 8:1; Judges 12:1
3. Hosea 2:8-17; Hosea 11:2
4. Isaiah 46:6; Jeremiah 10:4; Hosea 2:8
5. Isaiah 44:17-20
6. Hosea 8:6
7. Hosea 8:5, 6; Hosea 10:5
8. Hosea 6:4
9. Psalms 1:4; Isaiah 17:13; Daniel 2:35
10. Psalms 68:2
11. Hosea 12:9
12. Exodus 20:3; 2 Kings 18:35
13. Isaiah 43:11; Isaiah 45:21, 22
14. Deuteronomy 2:7; Deuteronomy 32:10
15. Deuteronomy 8:15
16. Deuteronomy 8:12, 14; Deuteronomy 32:13-15; Jeremiah 5:7
17. Hosea 7:14
18. Hosea 2:13; Hosea 4:6; Hosea 8:14

Footnotes 7

[a]. Or "spoke with trembling"
[b]. Or "became guilty"
[c]. Or "according to their own understanding"
[d]. Lit "sacrificers of" or, "(among) mankind"
[e]. Lit "goes away early"
[f]. Lit "window"
[g]. Or "knew"