Hosea 7:3

3 By their wickedness they make the king glad, and give joy to the officials with their lies.

Hosea 7:3 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 7:3

They make the king glad with their wickedness
Not any particular king; not Jeroboam the first, as Kimchi; nor Jehu, as Grotius; if any particular king, rather Jeroboam the second; but their kings in general, as the Septuagint render it, in succession, one after another; who were highly delighted and pleased with the priests in offering sacrifice to the calves, and with the people in attending to that idolatrous worship, by which they hoped to secure the kingdom of Israel to themselves, and prevent the people going to Jerusalem to worship: it made them glad to the heart to hear them say that God was as well pleased with sacrifices offered at Dan and Bethel, as at Jerusalem: and the princes with their lies;
with their idols and idolatrous practices, which are vanity and a lie; though some interpret this of their flatteries, either of them, or their favourites; and of their calumnies and detractions of such they had a dislike of.

Hosea 7:3 In-Context

1 When I would heal Israel, the evil acts of Ephraim are exposed, and the wicked deeds of Samaria; for they deceive and steal, a thief breaks in; a group of bandits raid outside.

2 But they don't consider within their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds show who they are, right in front of my face.

3 By their wickedness they make the king glad, and give joy to the officials with their lies.

4 They all act like adulterers; they are like a heated oven, whose baker doesn't need to stoke the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.

5 On the day of our king, the officials became sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand to those who mocked him.