Hosea 10:6

6 This idol will be carted away to Assyria, a gift to the great king there. Ephraim will be ridiculed and Israel will be shamed, because its people have trusted in this idol.

Hosea 10:6 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 10:6

It shall also be carried unto Assyria [for] a present to King
Jareb
Or, "he himself" ^F26; not the people of Samaria, or of Bethaven, or of the calf, but the calf itself; which, being all of gold, was sent a present to the king of Assyria, here called Jareb; either Assyria, or the king of it; (See Gill on Hosea 5:13); this was done either by the people of Israel themselves, to appease the king of Assyria; or rather by the Assyrian army, who reserved the plunder of this as a proper present to their king and conqueror, to whom not only nations, but the gods of nations, were subject: Ephraim shall receive shame;
for worshipping such an idol, when they shall see it broke to pieces, and the gold of it made a present to the Assyrian king, and that it could not save them, nor itself: and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel;
of giving in to such idolatry, contrary to the counsel, mind, and will of God; or of the counsel which they and Jeroboam took to set up the calves at Dan and Bethel, and thereby to keep the people from going up to Jerusalem, ( 1 Kings 12:28 ) ; as well as of their counsel and covenant with the king of Egypt against the king of Assyria, ( 2 Kings 17:4 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 (wtwa Mg) "etiam ipsemet", Pagninus, Montanus; "etiam ipse", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "etiam ille", Cocceius; "etiam ille ipse", Schmidt.

Hosea 10:6 In-Context

4 They spout empty words and make covenants they don’t intend to keep. So injustice springs up among them like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field.

5 The people of Samaria tremble in fear for their calf idol at Beth-aven, and they mourn for it. Though its priests rejoice over it, its glory will be stripped away.

6 This idol will be carted away to Assyria, a gift to the great king there. Ephraim will be ridiculed and Israel will be shamed, because its people have trusted in this idol.

7 Samaria and its king will be cut off; they will float away like driftwood on an ocean wave.

8 And the pagan shrines of Aven, the place of Israel’s sin, will crumble. Thorns and thistles will grow up around their altars. They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!” and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!”