Oseas 10:3

3 Entonces dirán: «No tenemos rey
porque no temimos al Señor
.
Pero aun si tuviéramos un rey,
¿qué podría hacer por nosotros?».

Oseas 10:3 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 10:3

For now they shall say, we have no king
This they would say, either when they had one; but by their conduct and behaviour said they had none; because they had no regard unto him, no affection for him, and reverence of him; but everyone did what was right in his own eyes: or during the interregnum, between the murder of Pekah, which was in the twentieth year of Jotham, and the settlement of Hoshea, which was in the twelfth of Ahaz; see ( 2 Kings 15:30 ) ( 17:1 ) ; or when the land of Israel was invaded, and their king was shut up in prison, and Samaria besieged, so that it was as if they had no king; they had none to protect and defend them, to sally out at the head of them against the enemy, and fight their battles for them; or rather when the city was taken, the altars broke down, their images spoiled, and they and their king carried captive: because we feared not the Lord:
did not serve and worship him, but idols; and this sin, casting off the fear of the Lord, was the source and cause of all their troubles and sorrows; of the invasion of their land; of the besieging and taking their city, and having no king to rule over them, and protect them: what then should a king do to us?
if they had one, he could be of no service to them; for since they had offended God, the King of kings, and made him their enemy, what could an earthly king, a weak mortal man, do for them, or against him? it was now all over with them, and they could have no expectation of help and deliverance.

Oseas 10:3 In-Context

1 Juicio de Dios contra Israel
Qué próspero es Israel,
una vid frondosa llena de uvas.
Pero mientras más se enriquece la gente,
más altares paganos construye.
Cuanto más abundantes sus cosechas,
tanto más hermosas sus columnas sagradas.

2 El corazón de los israelitas es inconstante;
ellos son culpables y deben ser castigados.
El Señor
derribará sus altares
y hará pedazos sus columnas sagradas.

3 Entonces dirán: «No tenemos rey
porque no temimos al Señor
.
Pero aun si tuviéramos un rey,
¿qué podría hacer por nosotros?».

4 La gente habla palabras vacías
y hace pactos que no tiene intención de cumplir.
Así que la injusticia brota en medio de ellos
como hierbas venenosas en el campo de un agricultor.

5 La gente de Samaria tiembla de miedo
por lo que pudiera ocurrirle a su ídolo, el becerro en Bet-avén.
El pueblo está de luto y los sacerdotes se lamentan
porque la gloria del ídolo será quitada.