Hosea 5:12

12 Therefore I am to Efrayim like a moth, And to the house of Yehudah like rottenness.

Hosea 5:12 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 5:12

Therefore [will] I [be] unto Ephraim as a moth
Which eats garments, penetrates into them, feeds on them privately, secretly, without any noise, and gradually and slowly consumes them; but at last utterly, that they are of no use and profit: this may signify the various things which befell the ten tribes in the reigns of Zachariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, and Pekah, which secretly and gradually weakened them; and the utter consumption of them in the times of Hoshea by Shalmaneser: and to the house of Judah as rottenness;
as rottenness in the bones, ( Proverbs 12:4 ) ; which can never be got out or cured; or as a worm that eats into wood, as Jarchi interprets it; and gets into the very heart of a tree, and eats it out: thus the Lord threatens the house of Judah, or the two tribes, with a gradual, yet thorough, ruin and destruction.

Hosea 5:12 In-Context

10 The princes of Yehudah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out my wrath on them like water.

11 Efrayim is oppressed, He is crushed in judgment; Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.

12 Therefore I am to Efrayim like a moth, And to the house of Yehudah like rottenness.

13 When Efrayim saw his sickness, And Yehudah his wound, Then Efrayim went to Ashshur, And sent to king Yarev: But he is not able to heal you, Neither will he cure you of your wound.

14 For I will be to Efrayim like a lion, And like a young lion to the house of Yehudah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.