---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Hosea 5"
description: "CHAPTER 5   :-. GOD"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/hosea/5"
---

CHAPTER 5

. GOD'S JUDGMENTS
ON THE PRIESTS,
PEOPLE, AND PRINCES
OF ISRAEL FOR THEIR
SINS.
Judah, too, being guilty shall be
punished; nor shall Assyria, whose aid they both sought, save them;
judgments shall at last lead them to repentance.

**1. the king**—probably Pekah;
the contemporary of Ahaz, king of Judah, under whom idolatry was
first carried so far in Judah as to call for the judgment of the
joint Syrian and Israelite invasion, as also that of Assyria.
**judgment is towards you**—that
is, threatens you from God.
**ye have been a snare on
Mizpah . . . net . . . upon Tabor**—As hunters spread their net
and snares on the hills, Mizpah and Tabor, so ye have snared the
people into idolatry and made them your prey by injustice. As *Mizpah*
and *Tabor* mean a "watch tower," and a "lofty
place," a fit scene for hunters, playing on the words, the
prophet implies, in the lofty place in which I have set you, whereas
ye ought to have been the *watchers* of the people, guarding
them from evil, ye have been as *hunters entrapping* them into
it [JEROME]. These two
places are specified, Mizpah in the east and Tabor in the west, to
include the *high places* throughout the *whole* kingdom,
in which Israel's rulers set up idolatrous altars.

**2. revolters**—apostates.
**profound**—*deeply*
rooted [CALVIN] and sunk
to the lowest depths, *excessive* in their idolatry ([Hosea 9:9](../../../kjv/hosea/9/9);
[Isaiah 31:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/31/6)) [HENDERSON].
From the antithesis ([Hosea 5:3](../../../kjv/hosea/5/3)),
"not hid from me," I prefer explaining, *profoundly
cunning* in their idolatry. Jeroboam thought it a *profound*
piece of policy to set up golden calves to represent God in Dan and
Beth-el, in order to prevent Israel's heart from turning again to
David's line by going up to Jerusalem to worship. So Israel's
subsequent idolatry was grounded by their leaders on various pleas of
state expediency (compare [Hosea 5:3](../../../kjv/hosea/5/3)).
**to . . . slaughter**—He
does not say "to *sacrifice,*" for their so-called
sacrifices were *butcheries* rather than sacrifices; there was
nothing sacred about them, being to idols instead of to the holy God.
**though**—MAURER
translates, "*and* (in spite of their hope of safety
through their slaughter of victims to idols) *I will be* a
chastisement to them all." *English Version* is good sense:
They have deeply revolted, *notwithstanding* all my prophetical
warnings.

**3. Ephraim**—the tribe so
called, as distinguished from "Israel" here, the other nine
tribes. It was always foremost of the tribes of the northern kingdom.
For four hundred years in early history, it, with Manasseh and
Benjamin, its two dependent tribes, held the pre-eminence in the
whole nation. Ephraim is here addressed as foremost in idolatry.
**I how . . . not hid from
me**—notwithstanding their supposed *profound* cunning
([Hosea 5:2](../../../kjv/hosea/5/2); [Revelation 2:2](../../../kjv/revelation/2/2);
[Revelation 2:9](../../../kjv/revelation/2/9); [Revelation 2:13](../../../kjv/revelation/2/13);
[Revelation 2:19](../../../kjv/revelation/2/19)).
**now**—"though I have
been a rebuker of all them" ([Revelation 2:19](../../../kjv/revelation/2/19)) who *commit* such spiritual *whoredoms,* thou art
*now* continuing in them.

**4. They**—Turning from a direct
address to Ephraim, he uses the third person *plural* to
characterize the people in general. The *Hebrew* is against the
*Margin,* their doings will not suffer *them*" the
omission of "them" in the *Hebrew* after the verb
being unusual. The sense is, they are incurable, for they will not
*permit* (as the *Hebrew* literally means) their doings to
be framed so as to turn unto God. Implying that they *resist*
the Spirit of God, not *suffering* Him to renew them; and give
themselves up to "the spirit of whoredoms" (in antithesis
to "the Spirit of God" implied in "suffer" or
"permit") ([Hosea 4:12](../../../kjv/hosea/4/12);
[Isaiah 63:10](../../../kjv/isaiah/63/10); [Ezekiel 16:43](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/43);
[Acts 7:51](../../../kjv/acts/7/51)).

**5. the pride of Israel**—wherewith
they reject the warnings of God's prophets (), and prefer their idols to God ([Hosea 7:10](../../../kjv/hosea/7/10);
[Jeremiah 13:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/13/17)).
**testify to his face**—openly
*to his face* he shall be convicted of the pride which is so
palpable in him. Or, "*in* his face," as in [Jeremiah 13:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/13/17).
**Judah . . . shall fall with
them**—This prophecy is later than [Jeremiah 13:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/13/17), when Judah had not gone so far in idolatry; now her
imitation of Israel's bad example provokes the threat of her being
doomed to share in Israel's punishment.

**6. with . . . flocks**—to
propitiate Jehovah ().
**seek . . . not find**—because
it is slavish fear that leads them to seek Him; and because it then
shall be too late ([Proverbs 1:28](../../../kjv/proverbs/1/28);
[John 7:34](../../../kjv/john/7/34)).

**7. treacherously**—as to the
marriage covenant ([Jeremiah 3:20](../../../kjv/jeremiah/3/20)).
**strange children**—alluding
to "children of whoredoms" ([Hosea 1:2](../../../kjv/hosea/1/2);
[Hosea 2:4](../../../kjv/hosea/2/4)). "Strange" or
*foreign* implies that their idolatry was imported from abroad
[HENDERSON]. Or rather,
"regarded by God as strangers, not His," as being reared in
idolatry. The case is desperate, when not only the existing, but also
the rising, generation is reared in apostasy.
**a month**—*a very brief
space of time* shall elapse, and then punishment shall overtake
them ([Zechariah 11:8](../../../kjv/zechariah/11/8)). The allusion
seems to be to money loans, which were *by the month,* not as
with us by the year. You cannot put it off; the time of your
destruction is immediately and suddenly coming on you; just as the
debtor must meet the creditor's demand at the expiration of the
month. The prediction is of the invasion of Tiglath-pileser, who
carried away Reuben, Gad, Naphtali, and the half tribe of Manasseh.
**portions**—that is,
possessions. Their resources and garrisons will not avail to save
them. HENDERSON explains
from [Isaiah 57:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/57/6), "portions"
as *their idols;* the context favors this, "the Lord"
the true "*portion* of His people" ([Isaiah 57:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/57/6)), being in antithesis to "their portions," the
idols.

**8.** The arrival of the enemy is
announced in the form of an injunction to *blow an alarm.*
**cornet . . . trumpet**—The
"cornet" was made of the curved horn of animals and was
used by shepherds. The "trumpet" was of brass or silver,
straight, and used in wars and on solemn occasions. The *Hebrew*
is *hatzotzerah,* the sound imitating the trumpet note ([Hosea 8:1](../../../kjv/hosea/8/1);
[Numbers 10:2](../../../kjv/numbers/10/2); [Jeremiah 4:5](../../../kjv/jeremiah/4/5);
[Joel 2:1](../../../kjv/joel/2/1)).
**Gibeah . . . Ramah**—both
in Benjamin ([Isaiah 10:29](../../../kjv/isaiah/10/29)).
**Beth-aven**—in Benjamin;
not as in [Hosea 4:15](../../../kjv/hosea/4/15); *Beth-el,*
but a town east of it ([Joshua 7:2](../../../kjv/joshua/7/2)).
"Cry aloud," namely, to raise the alarm. "Benjamin"
is put for the whole southern kingdom of Judah (compare [Joshua 7:2](../../../kjv/joshua/7/2)), being the first part of it which would meet the foe
advancing from the north. "After thee, O Benjamin," implies
the position of Beth-aven, *behind* Benjamin, at the borders of
Ephraim. When the foe is at Beth-aven, he is at Benjamin's rear,
close upon thee, O Benjamin ([Joshua 7:2](../../../kjv/joshua/7/2)).

**9, 10.** Israel is referred to in
[Hosea 5:9](../../../kjv/hosea/5/9), Judah in [Hosea 5:9](../../../kjv/hosea/5/9).
**the day of rebuke**—the
day when I shall chastise him.
**among the tribes of Israel
have I made known**—proving that the scene of Hosea's labor was
among the ten tribes.
**that which shall surely
be**—namely, the coming judgment here foretold. It is no longer a
conditional decree, leaving a hope of pardon on repentance; it is
absolute, for Ephraim is hopelessly impenitent.

**10. remove the bound**— ([Deuteronomy 19:14](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/19/14);
[Deuteronomy 27:17](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/27/17); [Job 24:2](../../../kjv/job/24/2);
[Proverbs 22:28](../../../kjv/proverbs/22/28); [Proverbs 23:10](../../../kjv/proverbs/23/10)).
Proverbial for the rash setting aside of the ancestral laws by which
men are kept to their duty. Ahaz and his courtiers ("the princes
of Judah"), setting aside the ancient ordinances of God, removed
the borders of the bases and the layer and the sea and introduced an
idolatrous altar from Damascus ([Proverbs 23:10](../../../kjv/proverbs/23/10)); also he burnt his children in the valley of Hinnom,
after the abominations of the heathen ([Proverbs 23:10](../../../kjv/proverbs/23/10)).

**11. broken in judgment**—namely,
the "judgment" of God on him ().
**walked after the
commandment**—Jeroboam's, to worship the calves (). Compare [Micah 6:16](../../../kjv/micah/6/16),
"the *statutes* of Omri," namely, idolatrous statutes.
We ought to obey God rather than men ([Micah 6:16](../../../kjv/micah/6/16)). JEROME reads
"filthiness." The *Septuagint* gives the sense, not
the literal translation: "after *vanities.*"

**12. as a moth**—consuming a
garment ([Job 13:28](../../../kjv/job/13/28); [Psalms 39:11](../../../kjv/psalms/39/11);
[Isaiah 50:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/50/9)).
**Judah . . .
rottenness**—Ephraim, or the ten tribes, are as a *garment*
eaten by the moth; Judah as the *body* itself consumed by
rottenness ([Proverbs 12:4](../../../kjv/proverbs/12/4)). Perhaps
alluding to the superiority of the latter in having the house of
David, and the temple, the religious center of the nation [GROTIUS].
As in [Hosea 5:13](../../../kjv/hosea/5/13); [Hosea 5:14](../../../kjv/hosea/5/14),
the violence of the calamity is prefigured by the "wound"
which "a lion" inflicts, so here its long protracted
duration, and the certainty and completeness of the destruction from
small unforeseen beginnings, by the images of a slowly but surely
consuming *moth* and *rottenness.*

**13. wound**—literally,
"bandage"; hence a *bandaged wound* ([Isaiah 1:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/1/6);
[Jeremiah 30:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/30/12)). "Saw," that
is, felt its weakened state politically, and the dangers that
threatened it. It aggravates their perversity, that, though aware of
their unsound and calamitous state, they did not inquire into the
cause or seek a right remedy.
**went . . . to the
Assyrian**—First, Menahem ([Jeremiah 30:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/30/12)) applied to Pul; again, Hoshea to Shalmaneser ([Jeremiah 30:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/30/12)).
**sent to King Jareb**—Understand
*Judah* as the nominative to "sent." Thus, as "Ephraim
saw his sickness" (the first clause) answers in the parallelism
to "Ephraim went to the Assyrian" (the third clause), so
"Judah saw his wound" (the second clause) answers to
(*Judah*) "sent to King Jareb" (the fourth clause).
*Jareb* ought rather to be translated, "their *defender,*"
literally, "avenger" [JEROME].
The Assyrian "king," ever ready, for his own
aggrandizement, to mix himself up with the affairs of neighboring
states, professed to *undertake* Israel's and Judah's *cause;*
in [Judges 6:32](../../../kjv/judges/6/32), *Jerub,* in
Jerub-baal is so used, namely, "*plead* one's cause."
Judah, under Ahaz, applied to Tiglath-pileser for aid against Syria
and Israel ([2 Kings 16:7](../../../kjv/2-kings/16/7); [2 Kings 16:8](../../../kjv/2-kings/16/8);
[2 Chronicles 28:16-21](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/28/16-21)); the Assyrian
"distressed him, but strengthened him not," fulfiling the
prophecy here, "he could not heal you, nor cure you of your
wound.

**14. lion**—The *black lion*
and the *young lion* are emblems of strength and ferocity ().
**I, even I**—emphatic;
when I, even I, the irresistible God, tear in pieces (), no Assyrian power can rescue.
**go away**—as a lion
stalks leisurely back with his prey to his lair.

**15. return to my place**—that
is, withdraw My favor.
**till they acknowledge their
offence**—The *Hebrew* is, "till they suffer the
penalty of their guilt." Probably "*accepting* the
punishment of their guilt" (compare ) is included in the idea, as *English Version*
translates. Compare [Leviticus 26:40](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/40);
[Leviticus 26:41](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/41); [Jeremiah 29:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/29/12);
[Jeremiah 29:13](../../../kjv/jeremiah/29/13); [Ezekiel 6:9](../../../kjv/ezekiel/6/9);
[Ezekiel 20:43](../../../kjv/ezekiel/20/43); [Ezekiel 36:31](../../../kjv/ezekiel/36/31).
**seek my face**—that is,
seek My favor ([Proverbs 29:26](../../../kjv/proverbs/29/26),
*Margin*).
**in . . . affliction . . .
seek me early**—that is, diligently; rising up before dawn to
seek Me ([Psalms 119:147](../../../kjv/psalms/119/147); compare
[Psalms 78:34](../../../kjv/psalms/78/34)).

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