Hosea 7:8-16

8 “Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.

9 Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice.

10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this he does not return to the LORD his God or search for him.

11 “Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless— now calling to Egypt, now turning to Assyria.

12 When they go, I will throw my net over them; I will pull them down like the birds in the sky. When I hear them flocking together, I will catch them.

13 Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak about me falsely.

14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail on their beds. They slash themselves,^[a] appealing to their gods for grain and new wine, but they turn away from me.

15 I trained them and strengthened their arms, but they plot evil against me.

16 They do not turn to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.

Hosea 7:8-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 7

This chapter either begins a new sermon, discourse, or prophecy, or it is a continuation of the former; at least it seems to be of the same argument with the latter part of it, only it is directed to Israel alone; and consists of complaints against them because of their manifold sins, and of denunciations of punishment for them. They are charged with ingratitude to God, sinning in a daring manner against mercy, and with falsehood, thefts, and robberies, Ho 7:1; with want of consideration of the omniscience of God, and his notice of their sins, which surrounded them, Ho 7:2; with flattery to their king and princes, Ho 7:3; with adultery, which lust raged in them like a heated oven, Ho 7:4; with drunkenness, aggravated by drawing their king into it, Ho 7:5; with raging lusts, which devoured their judges, made their kings to fall, and brought on such a general corruption, that there were none that called upon the Lord, Ho 7:6,7; with mixing themselves with the nations of the earth, and so learning their ways, and bringing their superstition and idolatry into the worship of God, so that they were nothing in religion, like a half baked cake, Ho 7:8; with stupidity and insensibility of their declining state, Ho 7:9; with pride, impenitence, and stubbornness, Ho 7:10; with folly, in seeking to Egypt and Assyria for help, and not to the Lord; for which they would be taken as birds in a net, and sorely chastised, Ho 7:11,12; with ingratitude, hypocrisy, and deceitfulness; for all which they are threatened with destruction, Ho 7:13-16.

Cross References

• 1. ver 11; Psalms 106:35; S Hosea 5:13
• 2. Isaiah 1:7; Hosea 8:7
• 3. Hosea 5:5
• 4. Hosea 5:4
• 5. ver 14; S Isaiah 9:13
• 6. S Genesis 8:8; Hosea 11:11
• 7. ver 16; Hosea 9:6
• 8. S ver 8; S Jeremiah 2:18; S Lamentations 5:6; Hosea 5:13; Hosea 9:3; Hosea 12:1
• 9. S Ezekiel 12:13; S Ezekiel 32:3
• 10. Hosea 9:12
• 11. Jeremiah 14:10; S Ezekiel 34:4-6; Hosea 9:17
• 12. S Psalms 116:11
• 13. ver 1; Jeremiah 51:9; Matthew 23:37
• 14. Jeremiah 3:10
• 15. Amos 2:8
• 16. S ver 10; S Hosea 4:10; Hosea 9:1; Hosea 13:16
• 17. Hosea 11:3
• 18. Psalms 2:1; S Psalms 140:2; Nahum 1:9,11
• 19. S ver 7
• 20. S Psalms 78:9,57
• 21. Malachi 3:14
• 22. S Ezekiel 23:32
• 23. S ver 11; Hosea 9:3; Hosea 11:5

Footnotes

• [a]. Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts "They gather together"