Hosea 13:9-16

9 “You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your helper.

10 Where is your king, that he may save you? Where are your rulers in all your towns, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’?

11 So in my anger I gave you a king, and in my wrath I took him away.

12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up, his sins are kept on record.

13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him, but he is a child without wisdom; when the time arrives, he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.

14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? “I will have no compassion,

15 even though he thrives among his brothers. An east wind from the LORD will come, blowing in from the desert; his spring will fail and his well dry up. His storehouse will be plundered of all its treasures.

16 The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open.”^[a]

Hosea 13:9-16 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.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 2:17-19
• 2. S Deuteronomy 33:29
• 3. 2 Kings 17:4; Hosea 7:7
• 4. 1 Samuel 8:6; Hosea 8:4
• 5. S Numbers 11:20
• 6. S Joshua 24:20; S 1 Samuel 13:14; S 1 Kings 14:10; Hosea 3:4; S Hosea 10:7
• 7. S Deuteronomy 32:34
• 8. Isaiah 13:8; Micah 4:9-10
• 9. 2 Kings 19:3
• 10. Isaiah 66:9
• 11. S Psalms 16:10; Psalms 49:15; S Ezekiel 37:12-13
• 12. S Isaiah 25:8
• 13. 1 Corinthians 15:55*
• 14. S Hosea 10:1
• 15. S Job 1:19; S Ezekiel 19:12; S Hosea 4:19
• 16. S Jeremiah 51:36
• 17. Jeremiah 20:5
• 18. 2 Kings 17:5
• 19. Hosea 10:2
• 20. S Hosea 7:14
• 21. Hosea 11:6
• 22. S 2 Kings 8:12; S Hosea 10:14
• 23. 2 Kings 15:16; Isaiah 13:16; Amos 1:13

Footnotes

• [a]. In Hebrew texts this verse (13:16) is numbered 14:1.