Hosea 5

Listen to this, you priests. Pay attention, people of Israel. Hear this, you of the king's household. This judgment is against you, because you have been a trap at Mizpah and a net spread out on Mount Tabor.

1Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

NoteMizpah and Tabor were well-known high places, hilltop shrines where people came to worship. "Snare" and "net" are bird-catcher's equipment: the charge is that the nation's leaders lay in wait for people at the very places pilgrims traveled to. "House of the king" means the royal court and family, not a building.

2The rebels have gone deep into killing, but I will punish them all.

2And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.

NoteThe Hebrew of this line is damaged or obscure, and translators differ widely; some read it as "the rebels have gone deep in slaughter," others as a reference to a place called Shittim, or to a pit dug deep as a trap. The sense of the second half: that God rebukes or disciplines them all, is clear.

3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have sold yourself, and Israel is unclean.

3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

NoteEphraim was the largest tribe of the northern kingdom, and its name is used throughout Hosea as another word for that whole kingdom; "Israel" here means the same northern kingdom, not the twelve tribes together. Hosea repeatedly describes the nation's worship of other gods as a wife's unfaithfulness, the book's governing image. "Defiled" is a ritual word: made unclean, and so unfit to approach God.

4What they do will not let them turn back to their God, because a spirit of unfaithfulness is inside them, and they do not know the LORD.

4They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD.

Note"To know the LORD" in Hebrew is not about holding information. It means to acknowledge him, to be in ongoing relationship with him, the way one knows a person rather than a fact.

5Israel's pride speaks against him to his own face. So Israel and Ephraim will fall because of their sin, and Judah will fall with them.

5And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

NoteJudah is the separate southern kingdom, with Jerusalem as its capital; Israel and Ephraim are the northern kingdom. Hosea preached in the north but repeatedly warns that the south is on the same road.

6They will go with their flocks and their herds to look for the LORD, but they will not find him. He has pulled away from them.

6They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

NoteBringing flocks and herds means bringing animals to be sacrificed. The picture is of people arriving at the sanctuary with the full, correct offerings and finding no one there.

7They have broken faith with the LORD, because they have had children who are not his. Now the new moon will swallow them up, along with their fields.

7They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.

Note"Strange children" in the King James means children who do not belong, either children born of the nation's unfaithfulness, or children who are no longer recognized as belonging to the LORD. The "new moon" was the monthly festival marking the start of a new month; the Hebrew can mean either that the festival itself will devour them, or simply that within a month they will be devoured. Translators split on which.

8Blow the ram's horn in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the war cry at Beth-aven: after you, Benjamin!

8Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.

NoteThe ram's horn was the standard alarm and battle signal. Gibeah, Ramah and Beth-aven are towns in Benjamin's territory, strung along the border between the northern and southern kingdoms, the warning moves southward, town by town, as an invader would. "Beth-aven" means "house of wickedness" and is a deliberate twisting of Beth-el, "house of God," the northern kingdom's chief sanctuary. "After you, Benjamin" appears to be an old war cry, calling the tribe of Benjamin to lead the charge.

9Ephraim will be left in ruins on the day of punishment. Among the tribes of Israel I am making known what will surely happen.

9Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

10The leaders of Judah are like people who move boundary stones. So I will pour out my anger on them like water.

10The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

NoteBoundary stones marked the edges of a family's inherited field. Quietly shifting one stole land from a neighbor and was hard to prove; the law singles it out for a curse (Deuteronomy 19:14, 27:17). The comparison is to a thief who steals by moving the rules rather than by force.

11Ephraim is crushed, broken by judgment, because he was determined to keep following the order he was given.

11Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "the commandment" is uncertain and heavily disputed. It may mean a human command or decree that Ephraim chose to obey, or, with different vowels, filth, vanity, or worthless idols. Translations divide sharply, and the ambiguity is in the text itself, not in the English.

12So I will be like a moth to Ephraim, and like rot to the house of Judah.

12Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

NoteA moth destroys cloth invisibly from the inside, and rot eats away wood or bone over time. Both images are of slow, quiet ruin rather than sudden disaster. The second word can also mean festering or maggots.

13When Ephraim saw how sick he was, and Judah saw his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb. But that king could not heal you or cure your wound.

13When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

NoteAssyria was the dominant empire of the region in Hosea's day, and northern kings paid it tribute for protection. "Jareb" is probably not a personal name: the Hebrew suggests something like "the great king" or "the king who contends," a title or a mocking nickname for the Assyrian ruler.

14For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear them apart and then walk away. I will carry them off, and no one will rescue them.

14For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.

15I will go back to my own place until they admit their guilt and look for my face. When trouble comes, they will search for me eagerly.

15I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

Note"Seeking someone's face" is court language: presenting yourself before a ruler to ask a favor or be received back. The King James "seek me early" translates a Hebrew verb that means to search out earnestly or diligently; the connection with dawn is a secondary sense of the word and not the point here.