Hosea 7:1-11

1 when I would heal Israel, and the corruption of Ephraim is revealed, and the wicked deeds of Samaria; because they deal [in] falsehood, [the] thief breaks in, [and the] bandit raids the outside.

2 {But they did not consider} that I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face.

3 By their wickedness they make [the] king glad, and [the] officials by their treacheries.

4 All of them commit adultery, like a burning oven whose baker has stopped from stirring the fire, and from kneading [the] dough until it is leavened.

5 [On] the day of our king, the princes became sick [with] the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with mockers.

6 Because they are kindled like an oven, their heart burns within them; all night their anger {smolders}, [in the] morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

7 All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen; there is none who calls to me amongst them.

8 Ephraim mixes himself with the nations; Ephraim is a bread cake not turned over.

9 Foreigners devour his strength, and he does not know [it]; {mold} is also sprinkled upon him, and he does not know [it].

10 The pride of Israel {testifies against him}-- they do not return to Yahweh their God; they do not seek him for all of this.

11 Ephraim was like a dove, silly, {without sense}; they call [to] Egypt, they go [to] Assyria.

Hosea 7:1-11 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "comes in"
• [b]. Literally "But they did not say to their heart"
• [c]. This phrase refers to the effects of wine on the body
• [d]. Hebrew "they drew near;" other ancient translations read "they are kindled"
• [e]. Literally "sleeps"
• [f]. Or "they eat"
• [g]. Or "Foreigners eat"
• [h]. Literally "grey hair," but in this case the word refers to the "hairs of mold" on food
• [i]. Literally "answers against his face"
• [j]. Or "in all of this"
• [k]. Literally "without heart"