​Introduction:
 
As is the case with all of Hebrew Scripture, there are no chapter breaks in the scroll of the 12 Prophets in which Hosea is located. It’s important to see the text of this chapter as a continuation of the previous chapter:
 
“17 He has cast them off, rejected them My Judge/God, they have not listened, received, comprehended Him; And they have become retreating wanderers in the nations.”
 
1Gefen bokeik A vine is empty, it is Yisrael; periy fruit yeshaveh-lo He produces for himself. Kerov According to the abundance lefiryo of his fruit hirbah he has increased lamizbechot his altars; ketov due to the goodness leartzo of the land heiytiyvu matzeivot the memorial pillars/idols were made better.
 
This verse emphasises the idolatrous practices of Israel (northern kingdom) in relationship to their successful grape harvests (corresponding to the appointed time of Sukkot [September-October]).
 
The tribes of the north had, as we have already seen, been giving credit for their successful harvests to false gods of fertility rather than to YHVH their Provider. The common grace of God that allows all human beings to continue to exist in the sin affected creation is extended for a time unto repentance, however, where there is no repentance punishment is applied to provoke it, for the good of creation. In this case punishment will come upon the northern tribes so as to provoke repentance and position all Israel (including Judah and Benjamin) to become a light to the nations through the King Messiah Yeshua.
 
The vine is often used as a metaphor for the people of Israel, cared for by the Master Vine Dresser HaShem (Deut. 32:32; Psalm. 80:8-11; Isaiah 5:1; Jer. 2:21; John. 15:1).
 
“You removed a vine from Egypt (Double distress); You drove out the goyim (nations other than Israel) and planted it.  You cleared the way before it, and it took deep root and filled the land (of Israel).” -Tehilim (Psalms) 80:8-9 (Authors translation)
 
“A vine is empty, it is Israel” A vine devoid of fruit is worthless. At the end of the fruiting season it’s severely pruned in order to provoke fruiting in the future. The ground must also be addressed to ensure drainage and rainfall mitigated so as to cause stress to the vine in order to promote fruiting. All this God will enact toward Israel. The irony of this first phrase in 10:1 is palpable as we read of Israel’s fruitfulness toward other gods.
 
God is conveying in the prophet the reality that fruit alone is not evidence of a healthy vine, rather good fruit is. “You will know them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:15-23) refers to the nature of the fruit and not the appearance of it. Yeshua further illuminates this explaining that even acts of “ministry” (fruit) can be camouflage for lawlessness. He teaches that His intimate knowledge (relationship) with us is the defining factor and not the action or fruit in and of itself. This is a sobering challenge to believers. Speaking in His Name is not the same as being in Him. Good fruit is that which is the product of a motivation to glorify God, whereas fruit that appears good but is in fact ungodly, is born of a motivation to glorify self.

“15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns, nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 Therefore, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruit. 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Adonay, Adonay’ will enter the kingdom of the heavens, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Adonay, Adonay, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name cast out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS (PSALMS 6:9).’” -Mattisiyahu 7:15-23
​
This first clause can also be seen as prophetic of what is to come, that being the Assyrian invasion and the removal of the fruit of Israel by the armies of her enemies so that her vine is left empty.
 
“Israel resembles a vine that casts off all its good fruit. So did they forsake Me, Who is the good and fitting fruit for them.” -Rashi on Hosea 10:1
 
“fruit He produces for himself.” Idolatry finds a willing companion in the selfishness of humanity. In fact, all sin is the progeny of self-worship. Satan acted on his self-worship at the inception of sin (which is a decision of the will of a created being). This is why Rav Shaul teaches in the New Testament that “The love of worldly wealth is the root of all evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10). The Greek text uses the definite article “ho” which properly translates “the root” and not “a root” as many misleading English translations convey. What is “the love of worldly wealth”? It is of course the love of something other than God. This by definition is idolatry. We notice of course that the result of self-worship is self-harm.
 
“According to the abundance of his fruit he has increased his altars; due to the goodness of the land the memorial pillars/idols were made better.” In and of themselves “memorial pillars and altars” are not idolatrous (Exodus 24:4-5). The qualifying aspect of idolatry is the worship of anything or anyone other than YHVH (Exodus 20:5). The only exception is where an object depicts a known deity, in which case it is an idol by nature according to the identity of the one it depicts. In the case of the present text the pillars were erected in memory of false gods and those gods were being credited with the fruitfulness of the harvest.
 
“When I increased their good, they increased for the altars When I lavished good upon them, they made many calves for the altars. Another explanation Israel is a plundered vine; the produce of their deeds brought it about to them. פְּרִי יְשַׁוֶּה לוֹ means ‘will avail them’ to be plundered, for they made the altars and availed their nation for evil. This is the wording of the Targum.” -Rashi on Hosea 10:1

2 Chalak Divided, slippery, deceitful libam is their inner being (core, heart); now ye’shamu they suffer for their offence. Hu He (The Lord) ya’arof will break the neck of mizbechotam their altars, yeshoded violently ruin matzeivotam their memorial pillars/idols.
 
“Divided, slippery, deceitful is their inner being (core, heart)” The meaning of the Hebrew “chalak” illuminates the demise of the inner person through sin, and the phrasing addresses the “heart, core being, inner person” of collective Israel (northern tribes) by using the plural “libam”. When our inner being is divided, undecided, self-deceiving, we become the authors of our own demise.
 
“Now they suffer for their offence.” This can also be understood to mean that “they suffer because of their offense”. Their suffering is a result of their “divided, slippery, deceitful inner being”. A wilful condition.
 
“He (The Lord) will break the neck of their altars, violently ruin their memorial pillars/idols.” The Hebrew “ya’arof” is used of the breaking of an animals neck for sacrifice. The prophet is saying that HaShem will do to the altars that which has been done to the animals placed upon them.
 
3 Kiy For now yomeru they say, ‘Eiyn melekh lanu We have no king, Kiy For lo yareinu we do not fear et the particular YHVH (Mercy) Lord.  Ve’hamelekh And the king, mah-ya’aseh lanu what does he do for us?’”
 
“For now they say, ‘We have no king, For we do not fear the particular YHVH (Mercy) Lord.  And the king, what does he do for us?’” Although rebellion and the overthrow of kings was prevalent among the northern tribes at this time (2 Kings 15:30), it is not the then king of the north that is being referred to here but YHVH the King of all. The northern kingdom had historically rejected the line of Davidic kingship and had since rejected YHVH as King.
 
The northern tribes say “We have no king, we do not fear YHVH (Mercy).” Ironically, as a result of their sin they will be left devoid of their human kingship and will suffer under the oppression of foreign kings, so they’re correct in saying “We have no king”.
 
“And the king, what does he do for us?” This is a further insult aimed at YHVH. These foolish words confirm what the prophet’s indictment denotes, that the northern tribes consider the success of their harvest to be due to their own efforts and the help of false gods (who are not gods at all), and not the work of YHVH.

4 Diberu They speak devariym words, essences, things, alot taking oaths shav falsely karot cutting beriyt covenants; ufarach and sprouting forth karosh venom (because of, like, associated with the head), noxious weeds mishpat as judgment al upon talmeiy the furrows of saday the field.
 
“They speak words, essences, things, taking oaths falsely cutting covenants;” Both the kings and the people of the north were making oaths in the names of false gods and or in syncretistic rites combining worship of false gods with that of YHVH. Additionally, the kings of the north had cut covenants with foreign powers, paying tribute to them.
 
“sprouting forth venom, noxious weeds as judgment upon the furrows of the field.” This ambiguous phrasing conveys the ideas of both the false poisonous judgement born of idolatry and the judgement that comes back on the one who made it. In short, their own noxious assertions and actions seeded poison in the furrows of their ploughed fields, physically and metaphorically.
 
The prophet Amos, a contemporary of Hosea says something similar:
 
“Do horses run on rocks?
Or does one ]plow with oxen?
Yet you have turned justice into poison,
And the fruit of righteousness into noxious weeds,” -Amos 6:12 (Author’s translation)
 
“swearing falsely Heb. אָלוֹתשָוְא, swearing falsely. אָלוֹת is, in construction, like כָּרֹת, a present tense. forming a covenant with pagan worship. Therefore, judgment of torments and retribution shall spring up upon them… the furrows Heb. תַּלְמֵי. The furrow of a plowshare is called תֶּלֶם. Another explanation: on the furrows of the field where they erect their altars, as it is said (below 12:12): “like heaps on the furrows of the field.” There the judgment for their iniquity shall spring up on them. Another explanation: swearing falsely Every covenant they form with one another they break. and...shall spring up like hemlock which springs up on the furrows of the field, which is a bitter grass, so do their judgments spring up and bitterness grows for the poor and needy. Amos, too, says: (6:12) “For you have turned judgment into hemlock.” -Rashi on Hosea 10:4
 
5 Le’eglot For the calves of Beit Aven (Beth-aven, House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity) yaguru shechan Shomeron the inhabitants of Samaria will be afraid. Kiy For aval its people will mourn alayv amo over it, uchemarayv and its self-macerated (idolatrous) priests alayv yagilu will tremble over it, al-kevodo over its glory, kiy because galah mimenu it (the glory) has departed from it.
 
“For the calves of  Beth-aven, House of wickedness the inhabitants of Samaria will be afraid.” Invasion is imminent, the day is near when the residents of the northern capital Samaria will tremble in fear as the Assyrians invaders first take the other tribes of the north and then conclude their invasion by taking Samaria and toppling the calf idols. The qualifying phrase “The calves of” confirms the assertion that Beiyt-Aven and Beiyt-El are synonymous, given that the two calf idols of Jeroboam were located at Dan and Bethel (1 Kings 12:26-30).
 
“Beit-Aven” (House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity) is a sarcastic way of referring to Bethel (House of God)[Talmud], and or a place very close to Bethel (Joshua 7:2), it was a main centre of northern apostate worship located in the territory of Ephraim/Benjamin. A place that has a strong connection to both the physical and spiritual journeys of the Patriarchs and in particularly to Jacob, who became Israel. It was on the border of the territories of Ephraim and Benjamin (according to the interpretation that equates it to Bethel it is technically located in the territory of Benjamin to the east of the border between the two territories).
 
It seems likely, given Hosea 4:15, that Beth Aven was considered to be part of the territory of Ephraim (northern tribes):
 
“Judah must not become an offender in the Gilgal; and don’t go into to Beth-Aven” -Hosea 4:15
 
“For its people will mourn over it, and its self-macerated (idolatrous) priests will tremble over it, over its glory, because it has departed from it.” “It” refers to the calf idol. The Hebrew used to describe the priests is not the common term “kohen” but rather a diminished term “kamar” which is essentially an ascetic description of the named party. “Kamar” means tender, shrunken, macerated, hot. In short it is a metaphor denoting an idolatrous priest, an illegitimate spiritual guide.
 
The glory of the calf god will literally depart from Samaria and be carried away into exile.
 
Seder Olam Rabba records that Tiglathpileser king of Assyria came and took away the golden calf in Dan in the twentieth year of Pekah king of Israel; and a subsequent king of Assyria (Shalmaneser) came in the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Israel and took away the golden calf at Bethel:” ref. Seder Olam Rabba, c. 22. p. 60, 61.

6 Gam Also oto it will le’ashur be taken to Assyria (a step) yuval carried minchah as an offering lemelekh Yarev to King Jareb (contender) alt. to a king of contention; Efrayim  (doubly blessed) yikach will be received veyeivosh and ashamed, Yisrael mei’atzato from his own counsel.
 
“Also it will be taken to Assyria (a step) carried as an offering to King Jareb (contender) alt. to a king of contention;” Once again “it” refers to the calf idol. It is said to become an offering to a king/ruler of Assyria. This makes a mockery of its deity. Gods are offered to, they are not made an offering of.
 
Rashi says that “Yareb” is another name for Sennacherib.
 
“Efrayim (doubly blessed) will be received and ashamed, Yisrael from his own counsel.” The kings of the north will be received into exile and thus the kingship of the northern tribes will be no more. This agrees with traditional rabbinic interpretation.
 
“Ephraim shall take shame Heb. בָּשְׁנָה. Jeroboam, who was from the tribe of Ephraim, shall take shame for himself, that he erected this calf for a deity… and Israel shall be ashamed of that counsel that they took counsel to make them, as it is said (1 Kings 12:28) “The king took counsel and made two golden calves.” -Rashi on Hosea 10:6

7 Nidmeh Shomeron malcah Cut off, left silent will be Samaria without a kingship, queen, her king, keketzef like a splintered twig (wrath) al-peneiy-mayim on the face of the waters.
 
Samaria, as capital of the northern tribes, here represents all the tribes and the authority over them. The kingship of the northern tribes is to be ended permanently.
 
“like a splintered twig on the face of the water” This is a metaphor alluding to the temporal nature of human power born of fallen motivations which manifest idolatry. All that is idolatrous will become like worthless flotsam washed away by the punishing waters of HaShem.
 
“The king of Samaria is silenced Heb. נִדְמֶה. The king of Samaria is silenced, and he is like foam on the surface of the water, which is eskoume (ecume) in Old French.” -Rashi on Hosea 10:7
 
8 Venishmedu And destroyed are bamot the high places of aven (wickedness, trouble, idolatry), chatat the sinful, missing the mark of Yisrael; kotz thorn vedardar and thistle ya’aleh will come up al-mizbechotam on their altars; veameru and they will say lehariym to the mountains, “Kasunu Conceal us!” velagevaot And to the hills, “niflu aleiynu Fall on us!”
 
“And destroyed are the high places of aven (wickedness, trouble, idolatry)” This refers to the high places of Bethel according to Rashi. While Iben Ezra understands this to refer to the deaths of those who “owned” or were responsible for the upkeep of the calf idols.
 
“the sinful, missing the mark of Yisrael; thorn and thistle will come up on their altars;” The altars will be left destroyed and their remnants will be untouched, thus they will be overgrown by fruitless weeds such as thorns and thistles so that anyone who touches them will be pierced by barbs. This is the counterpoint to the fruitfulness of idolatry described in verse 1. This has a startling correlation to the teaching of Yeshua regarding the fruit of vines and the fruitlessness of thorns:
 
“16 You will know them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns, nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 Therefore, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” -Matthew 7:16-19
 
“and they will say to the mountains, “Conceal us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!” Sadly this is not a cry of repentance but one seeking concealment from God and or a choice of death over exile and suffering. This is the hubris of vulnerability. When this text is quoted by Yeshua as recorded in Luke’s Gospel (23:30) and repeated in the Revelation to John (6:16), it refers to wilfully unrepentant people. People who, even when faced with the reality that it is their sin and rejection of God that has brought their suffering, nonetheless refuse to repent and instead invoke concealment and death, calling on created things to hide and or kill them rather than crying out to the Creator for deliverance.
 
Ref. Isaiah 2:10; Hosea 10:8; Luke 23:30; Revelation 6:16

9 Miymeiy From the days of ha-Givah the Gibeah (hill) chatata you have sinned, missed the mark Yisrael; sham there amadu they remain! Lo-tasiygeim Will it not reach them bagivah in Gibeah, milchamah the battle al-beneiy alvah against the sons of injustice?
 
“Gibeah” may refer to Gibeah of Benjamin (Judges 19) and the abhorrent actions of that tribe regarding the concubine/wife of a Levite from Ephraim. Alternatively it may refer to Gibeah of Saul (1 Samuel 15) where Israel rebelled against the words of the prophet Samuel and demanded a king like those who ruled the other nations.
 
While the rebellion against God’s Kingship is wicked and a root of further rebellion, it seems more likely that Gibeah of Benjamin is meant because a process of descent into deep corruption resulting in vile sin is inferred by the context and qualifying language. It was said of the vile nature of the sin in Gibeah Benjamin, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt.” Some liken the sin of the men of Benjamin (Judges 19) to that of the men of Sodom (Genesis 19). This adds weight to my interpretation.
 
“there they remain.” Israel has remained in the place (sham), both physical and spiritual, of their missing the mark of God’s Instruction. In short, they have wilfully chosen to remain in their sin.
 
“Will it not reach them in Gibeah, the battle against the sons of injustice?” The spiritual battle against injustice will come against the sons of injustice, thus the sons of the northern tribes who have sown poison (v. 4) will reap poisoned fruit.
 
10 Beavatiy In My desire, ve’esoreim I will discipline them; veusefu and gather aleihem upon them amiym the peoples be’aseram in binding lishteiy them twice eiynotam their torture onotam glowing. Alt. punished twofold for their double crime.
 
HaShem desires to discipline Israel for her good. The twofold punishment of exile (Assyria) upon exile (Babylon). The punishment is just and the outcome is repentance (returning).
 
The binding of the northern tribes can also be seen as pretext to the ploughing metaphor which follows.
 
“Since Hosea compares them to a heifer as stated further: “Ephraim is a goaded heifer,” he, therefore, compared their chastisement to a cow, which they tire with plowing and they bind it to the yoke of the plowshare, and the pegs of the yoke penetrate it, [i.e., they penetrate the yoke,] one on this side and one on that side, next to the ox’s two eyes. And so did Jonathan render: as one hinds a “padna” on its two eyes. “Padna” is a yoke of oxen.” -Rashi on Hosea 10:10
 
11 And Efrayim eglah a heifer melumadah taught, ohavtiy I love ladush to tread out (thresh), va’aniy and I avartiy I passed by al-tov tzavarah upon her good, lovely neck; arkiyv I will harness Efrayim, Y’hudah yacharosh will plough, yesaded-lo Yaakov will break up clods of earth for himself.
 
The opening phrasing speaks of God’s care for Ephraim (the northern kings and their dominion) teaching her, allowing her to feed while she trampled out the grain on the threshing floor.
 
“I passed by upon her good, lovely neck; I will harness Efrayim” The “good” neck of Ephraim’s younger days of training is made counterpoint to her stiff necked rebellion in her latter days. Her neck once good is now stiff/rebellious.
 
“I will harness Epharim, Judah will plow, Yaakov will break up clods of earth for himself.” This trifold naming unites all Israel. The order of the ploughing process is seen in each task associated with each named party. Ephraim (kings of the north, people of the north) are harnessed, Judah (southern kingdom, people of Judah and Benjamin) will plough to cover the seed, then, in the following season (after exile) all Israel together as Jacob will break up the hard ground left fallow by their exile. This is a text of prophetic hope for the soon to be punished people of God.

12 Ziru Sow lachem for yourselves, litzdakah to righteousness; kitzru reap lefiy from My mouth chesed kindness, practical love, faithfulness. Niyru lachem Break up your niyr fallow ground, ve’eit for its time lidrosh to seek, enquire of et-YHVH the particular Lord (Mercy) ad-yavo until He comes veyoreh and rains tzedek righteousness lachem on you all.
 
Mercy precedes judgement and is the fruit of discipline. Here, once again, YHVH offers an opportunity for true repentance, an opportunity for sowing righteousness and reaping kindness, an opportunity for enquiring of the LORD (Mercy) and receiving the cleansing rains of righteousness. Seeing the end from the beginning HaShem knows that Israel will not receive this until after her exile. This is why the final aspect of the order of ploughing in the previous verse denotes the breaking of hard ground following its many years of being left fallow.
 
Rashi understands this as an admonishment to turn to Torah observance, however, Torah observance does not bear the seed of righteousness, rather godly righteousness bears the fruit of right action which is approved by the Torah, that is, when measured against Torah righteousness is seen as holy (set apart).
 
Righteousness sown in God enquires of God and thus reaps righteousness from God. Messiah in us outworks righteousness. Therefore, we are not Torah keepers, rather God keeps us through the righteous One (the King Messiah), Who is the Goal of Torah (Romans 10:4). All that we do for God is idolatry (God needs nothing done for Him, nor are we capable of doing anything without Him), all that we do from God is righteousness. Not human righteousness (which God refers to as being like used menstrual cloth [Isaiah 64:6]) but the righteousness of God.

13 Charashtem-resha You have ploughed, engraved wickedness, avlatah injustice ketzartem you have reaped achaltem, you have eaten periy-chachash fruit of deception. Kiy Because vatachta you trusted vedarkecha in your way, bero in great numbers giboreycha of your mighty men (warriors),
 
Israel, the northern tribes had engraved their soil, both literal and metaphorical, with wickedness and injustice and had therefore deceived themselves. Knowing that the Torah and Prophets say otherwise, they nonetheless concluded that the strength of their own armies was more trustworthy than God’s strength.
 
“‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord Who goes warring.” -Zechariah 4:6b (Author’s translation)

14 Vekam And raise shaon an uproar be’amecha among your people, vechol-mivtzareycha and all your fortified cities yushad will be ruined, keshod like Shalmaneser (Shalman: fire worshipper) destroyed Beiyt-arbel (house of God’s ambush) beyom in the day milchamah of battle, eim al-baniym mothers upon children rutashah torn to pieces.
 
The uproar among the people is understood by Yarchi, Rashi and others as an alarm calling out “Flee, flee!”
 
“Your fortified cities” This means that what is to come will affect both the vulnerable unwalled towns and the fortified cities (like those Judah trusted in). This is a prophecy of all out invasion, one that came soon after at the hand of the Assyrian Empire.
 
“Beit Arbel” Is a city of the Kinneret (Galilee) region (Antiqu. l. 12. c. 11. sect. 1. & l. 14. c. 15. sect. 4. In Vita sua, sect. 69. p. 922, 934.), situated between Sipphore and Tiberias (Yuchasin, fol. 65. 1.).
 
“mothers upon children torn to pieces” This horrific language denotes the most heinous of wartime acts which leaves the conquered devoid of their women and children. This imagery is commonly used in Scripture 2 Kings 8:12; Isaiah 13:16; Nahum 3:10; Psalms 137:9; Hosea 14:1.

15 Kachah So asah it will be done lachem to you all at Beiyt-el (house of God/Judge) mipeneiy from the face of your ra’at evil ra’atchem evils. Alt. [of your great wickedness.] Bashachar In the dawn nidmoh nidmah cut off, destroyed will be melekh a king of Yisrael.
 
This horror will come against all who, at a location named for Jacob’s (Israel) intimate connection with God (Bethel: House of God), had brought evil forth unto evil multiplied. Thus, once again, the self-harming idolatry of evil is emphasised. Bethel (Beth Aven) was home to one of the two calf idols set up by the first king of the northern tribes Jeroboam I.
 
“The calf in Bethel has brought about all this retribution upon you.” -Rashi on Hosea 10:15
 
“In the dawn” This makes the destruction of the northern tribes immanent. Both Hoshea (not the prophet) the last king of the northern tribes, and the kingdom itself will be cut off.
 
As tragic as this is, there is also the future hope in the Greater Son of David, that King of Judah Who will reign over all the tribes of Israel. Therefore, the permanent end of the kingship of the north is a sign pointing to the redemption for all Israel through the King Messiah born of the Davidic line of Judah.
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

Introduction:
 
As is the case with all of Hebrew Scripture, there are no chapter breaks in the scroll of the 12 Prophets in which Hosea is located. It’s important to see the text of this chapter as a continuation of the previous chapter:
 
“14 And Israel has forgotten, ignored, wilfully turned from their specific Maker and built temples (to false gods); Judah has become great, multiplying fenced cities. But I will send fire in his cities and devour the palaces.” -Hosea 8:14
 
1 Don’t tismach rejoice, Yisrael (overcome in God/the Judge), el-giyl with circling joy ka’amiym like other tribes (peoples)! Kiy For zaniyta fornicating you have mei’al gone from Eloheycha your God/Judge. Ahavta You have loved etnan the wages of a prostitute al upon kol-garenot all the threshing floors dagan of grain. 2 Goren Threshing floor vayekev and wine press lo will not yireim feed them, vetirosh and the new wine yechachesh bah will fail them/deceive them.
 
“For you have erred from the worship of your God; you have loved to serve idols on all, grain floors.” -Targum Yonatan (2nd Century CE Aramaic paraphrase)
 
The Targum understands the text to refer to the setting up of idols on the threshing floors and the attribution of fertility, both agricultural and familial, to those gods. This is consistent with the worship of Ha-Ba’al the Canaanite deity of fertility.
 
“‘Rejoice not, O Israel’ like the other peoples, for they did not receive a Torah, and they did not come to My lot, but you strayed from Me and lost many benefits.” -Rashi
 
Rashi understands the text to be an admonishment clarifying the advantage of Torah, and the losses associated with the rejecting of it.
 
“Don’t rejoice, Yisrael with circling joy like other tribes (peoples)!” Israel is rebuked for rejoicing in idolatrous acts and at the same time warned that her rejoicing will cease.
 
“For fornicating you [masculine] have gone from your God/Judge.” There is no need to debate whether this is meant literally of actual sex acts done in the worship of false gods or as a general metaphor for idolatry. Both are true. The false choice created by some of our rabbis and numerous Christian theologians only proves to show the depth to which we have sunken into Greco-Roman compartmentalization.
 
“For you [masculine] have loved the wages of a prostitute…” Here, Israel (northern tribes) are likened to a male temple prostitute, temple prostitution being a vocation found among those who worship false gods.
 
“You have loved the wages of a prostitute upon all the threshing floors of grain.” This is a metaphor denoting the fact that the northern tribes were celebrating the provision of their grain by giving glory to false gods (Baalim, Ashterot etc.)
 
“Threshing floor and wine press will not feed them, and the new wine will fail them/deceive them.” The references to both threshing floor (grain) and wine press (grapes, a latter harvest fruit) seem to encapsulate a range of harvest festivals beginning with the early barley harvest (Pesach, Passover, Shavuot [Pentecost], First fruits etc.) and ending with the latter harvests which coincide with the celebration of Sukkot (Dwellings). Tragically, it seems that rather than honour God in the prescribed way (Torah), the northern tribes were either syncretizing and or entirely forsaking the worship Instruction of YHVH, and instead acknowledging other gods as their providers and the means of their fertility.
 
“the new wine will fail them/deceive them.” This is intentionally ambiguous. The new wine will appear to be plentiful but will be scarce. On the other hand the new wine, when consumed in excess will cause clouded judgement and thus, by inference, deceive the drinker etc.
 
The threshing floor was not, as some erroneously claim, solely the domain of males. Women were involved in gleaning behind the men, and while the men and women slept separately during the harvest, they nonetheless often remained within close proximity to the fields for the duration.
 
Sadly one popular “Christian” study Bible compares the prostitution and fornication of the northern tribes (Hosea 9:1-2) with the story of Ruth (3:2-3), inferring that it was common practice for prostitutes to be entertained by the entirely male harvesting crew. This is abhorrent nonsense better suited to playground ignorance than it is to sound Biblical interpretation. In the account of Ruth, Ruth acts in righteous purity, as does Boaz, and the context denotes an exception to common practice. While it may be true to say that during her periods of sin as a nation Israel did entertain prostitutes on the threshing floors, paying them with grain (Rashi, on Genesis Rabbah 57:4), when Israel acted righteously there was no such illicit sexual practice among them. Shame on those who say otherwise.
 
This metaphorical language continues to emphasise the fact that it is YHVH Who provides, and therefore, He will not continue to do so as long as His people are attributing His provision to other gods. To bless and enable perpetual sin action is to curse. Therefore, HaShem does not bless in these circumstances, rather He allows the curse to manifest so that the result of the discipline which follows will be blessing.

3 Lo yeishevu They will not remain be’eretz in the land of the LORD YHVH (Mercy),
Veshav Efrayim (doubly fruitful) Ephraim will turn back to Mitzrayim Egypt (double distress), uveashur and in Assyria tame yochelu they will eat unclean things.
 
“They will not remain in the land of the LORD.” This is an explicit statement connecting Ha-Aretz (the Land of Israel) to YHVH Himself. He is the One Who established Tziyon (Isaiah 14:32). The prophets are describing a temporary condition when they say that Israel “will not remain in the land.” After all, the redemptive narrative always begins and bears the fruit of Mercy:
 
“What answer shall be given to the envoys of that goy nation? ‘The Lord YHVH Mercy, has established Tziyon, and in her His afflicted people will find refuge.’” -Isaiah 14:32
 
Neither Hosea 9:3 nor any other Scripture, imply that God will not honour His covenant with Abram, Isaac and Jacob, concerning the giving of the land to the people of Israel. To say so is to impugn God’s character. After all, the covenant that initiated the giving of the land to Abram and was then reaffirmed to Isaac and Jacob (Ex. 6:8; 33:1; Lev. 26:42; Deut. 1:8 etc. etc.) was made while Abram was unconscious (Genesis 15), meaning that YHVH alone is bound to fully fill it. Abram’s role was simply one of agreeing to receive YHVH by faith.
 
“Efrayim (doubly fruitful) Ephraim will turn back to Mitzrayim Egypt (double distress), and in Assyria they will eat unclean things.” The kings of the north, who bear the name “doubly fruitful” will become “doubly distressed”, being exiled to both Egypt and Assyria, the nations whose strength they sought for protection. By trusting in the strength of human beings, governments, false gods, the kings of the north became subject to those things they trusted in rather than accepting their position as heirs to God’s kingdom. Therefore, they would suffer along side the idolatrous nations that surrounded them. All human beings are subjects of God’s Kingdom, but only those who receive adoption as sons and daughters through the King Messiah Yeshua will dwell in God’s Kingdom forever.
 
“And they will eat unclean things.” The food consumed by these nations did not reflect the kashrut of Torah instruction. Nor was it offered according to YHVH in keeping with Torah guidelines, but was instead offered to false gods. Thus, even that food which might have been permissible for Israel to eat while in exile, was defiled based on its association with false gods. In addition this might be seen as a metaphor for the consumption of false ideals, philosophies and religious beliefs.
 
Iben Ezra makes an interesting connection between the first clause “They will not remain in the land of the LORD” and the last “And they will eat unclean things.” He rightly understands that this is not to be a permanent state for Israel:
 
“They shall not sit, neither shall they eat of the unclean thing; for they shall eat in the land of the LORD;” -Iben Ezra, on Hosea 9:3
 
In short, they will not eat again of clean things until that day they return to the Lord and thus, to the land of the Lord, Ha-Aretz Yisrael (the land of Israel).

4 Lo They don’t yisechu pour out drink offerings la-YHVH yayin of wine to the Lord (Mercy), velo and don’t ye’ervu-lo exchange with Him their zivcheiyhem sacrifices.
kelechem Like the bread oniym of mourners lahem to them kol-ochelayv all who eat yitamau are unclean, defiled, polluted; kiy-lachmam for their bread lenafsham is for their soul, lo yavo it will not come into beit YHVH the house of the Lord (Mercy).
 
“They don’t pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord (Mercy), and don’t exchange with Him their sacrifices.” The key here is not the offerings themselves but the One to Whom they should be offered. It is inferred by the earlier indictments of this prophetic work, that Israel was making offerings, but to false gods, and not to the God of Israel, or, if they were offering to Him it was in syncretism with idolatrous practice (calf idols, Ba’alim etc.) and not unto Him alone.
 
The wine offerings (Lev. 23:13; Num. 15:5, 7, 10; 28:14 etc.) commanded in Torah were to be offered at the place appointed by God (Deut. 12; 16; 26:2: Mt Zion, Jerusalem) once Israel entered the land. Therefore, all the offerings of the north were apostate offerings which could not be said to be offered to YHVH even in those cases where His Name was invoked.
 
“Like the bread of mourners to them all who eat are unclean, defiled, polluted” In the same way that bread which has been in the house where someone has died is considered ritually unclean (Num. 19:14; Deut. 26:14; Jer. 16:7), the food and offerings of the northern tribes are considered unclean and associated with death, a reflection of their soul condition.
 
“for their bread is for their soul, it will not come into the house of the Lord.” The bread defiled by dead bodies can be eaten by mourners already defiled but cannot be brought into the House of the Lord. Therefore, the tribes of the north have disqualified themselves from God’s presence (temporarily).
 
The bread in question is made with yeast and therefore cannot be presented as show bread in the House of the LORD. The Show bread was to be unleavened, in fact no yeast was to be offered on the altar of the LORD or brought inside the Holy place of either Mishkan (Tent of Meeting) or Ha-heyichal (The Temple). The exception concerning the wave offering of the first fruits does not compromise this Torah requirement because it is waved before the LORD, and neither offered on the altar nor brought into the Temple.
 
Yeast always represents sin in Hebrew Scripture. In fact, yeast represents sin in all Scripture, including the New Testament (written in Greek by Jews, thinking as Jews and using Hebrew symbolism accordingly). Therefore, the metaphorical meaning of the present text illuminates the fact that intentional and perpetual sin is not allowed to cohabitate with the godly in the presence of the Holy God of Israel.
 
They have sought bread for themselves and have kept it from the House of the Lord (Temple), and as a result their priests have not been feed, those Levites (of the north) left to find other employment, had abandoned the teaching and passing on of Torah so that the spiritual condition of the people deteriorated due to their own neglecting of God’s Instruction.

5 Mah What ta’asu will you accomplish leyom on the day of moeid an appointed time (festival), uleyom and on the day of chag a feast of YHVH (Mercy) the Lord?
 
This rhetorical question is posed almost sardonically by the prophet. “If you’ve defiled the Lord’s appointed times “moadim” with idolatry, and have defiled yourselves with the bread of the dead, what do you think will result, other than your demise?”

6 Kiy-hineih For behold, now, pay attention, halechu they will walk mishod from destruction; Mitzrayim Egypt (double distress) tekabetzem will assemble them, Mof Memphis (haven of good) tekaberem will bury them. Machmad The delight lechaspam of their silver kimos yirasheim will be possessed by thistles, choach be’oholeiyhem thorns in their tents.
 
“They will walk from destruction…” This means that based on the impending destruction from Assyria, the people were already leaving for other lands, in particular, they were returning to Egypt as a “good haven” (the meaning of Memphis).
 
“Egypt will assemble them, Memphis (haven of good) will bury them.” Those who flee to Egypt for help, trusting in Egypt rather than in YHVH, will perish in the city they saw as a “good haven” (Memphis). This is in part a reminder of the consequences which God had previously warned the nation of in Deuteronomy 28.
 
“The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.” -Deuteronomy 28:68 (NIV)
 
How often do we seek comfort from our sin behaviour rather than repenting of it? How often do we seek solace in returning to places of past sin because it appears to be a “good haven”?
 
“The delight of their silver will be possessed by thistles, thorns in their tents.” The silver they had delighted in in the Land of Israel, which they had perhaps hidden intending to return for it, would be overgrown by thistles. As they travel into exile, be it to Egypt or to Assyria, while they dwell in tents on the journey they will suffer the torments of the wild (thorns). The Aramaic Targum Yonatan understands the Hebrew choach to represent wild beasts of the wilderness.
 
7 Bau yemeiy hapekudah Days have come of the visitation, bau yemeiy hashilum days have come of retribution; yeideu make it known to Yisrael! Eviyl hanaviy The prophet is a fool, meshuga iysh haruach a man of the spirit, al because rov there is a multitude avonecha of your perverseness, iniquity, verabah masteimah and great is your animosity.
 
“Days have come of the visitation, days have come of retribution;” The just punishment of the northern tribes is at hand. Israel will receive the wages of sin, just as she had received the wages of a prostitute.
 
“make it known to Israel! ‘The prophet is a fool, a man of the spirit’, because there is a multitude of your perverseness, iniquity, and great is your animosity.” In 2 Kings 9:11 the companions of Yehu (Jehu) call the prophet sent to him by Elisha “ham’shuga” the fool, crazy person. The inference here seems to be that the prophet of God, considered a fool by the wicked, is in fact foolish to believe that such a wicked group of people would repent, given their intentional perversity and constant animosity toward God.
 
In the following verse Ephraim (Israel’s kings) is referred to as watchman and prophet, but is clearly apostate in both roles and therefore not “a man of the Spirit”. This eliminates Ephraim as a candidate for prophet in the present verse.

8 Tzopeh Efrayim Ephraim was a watchman im-Elohay with my God, naviy a prophet;
pach yakosh a snare of a bird catcher al-kol-derachayv upon all his ways,
masteimah there is animosity beveit Elohayv in the house of his Judge (God).
 
Ephraim, representing the kings of the northern tribes, was to watch over the tribes of the north and with God, given the opportunity to have prophetic voice and godly influence.
 
“a snare of a bird catcher upon all his ways, there is animosity in the house of his Judge (God).” However, the kings of the north instead kept watch against those who sought to worship God in Jerusalem and appointed their own false prophets who were not men “of the Spirit”. In doing so Ephraim ensnared himself and in showing animosity toward the House of the LORD, received animosity from the house of his Judge (God).
 
We note that YHVH is Named as “Elohayv” in the latter clause which denotes judgement against Ephraim (the northern kings).
 
Kimchi, Yarchi and Rashi all claim that this refers to the murder of Zechariah by Joash, recorded in 2 Chronicles 24:17-27. But this is not the case. Joash was a king of Judah and not of the northern tribes.

9 Hemiyku-shicheitu They’ve become deeply corrupted, kiymeiy like the days hagivah of the Gibeah (hill); yizkor remembering avonam their perversity yifkod He will number, punish chatotam their sin, uncleanses.
 
“They’ve become deeply corrupted, like the days of the Gibeah…” The Hebrew shachat (corrupt) is the same word used of Israel’s idolatry concerning the golden calf of Sinai (Ex. 32:7; Deut. 9:12; 32:5).
 
“Gibeah” may refer to Gibeah of Benjamin (Judges 19) and the abhorrent actions of that tribe regarding the concubine/wife of a Levite from Ephraim. Alternatively it may refer to Gibeah of Saul (1 Samuel 15) where Israel rebelled against the words of the prophet Samuel and demanded a king like those who ruled the other nations.
 
While the rebellion against God’s Kingship is wicked and a root of further rebellion, it seems more likely that Gibeah of Benjamin is meant because a process of descent into deep corruption resulting in vile sin is inferred by the context and qualifying language. It was said of the vile nature of the sin in Gibeah Benjamin, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt.” Some liken the sin of the men of Benjamin (Judges 19) to that of the men of Sodom (Genesis 19). This adds weight to my interpretation. The subject of Egyptian bondage is poignant, making sense of the correlation between the then present depravity of the northern tribes and the historical depravity of Benjamin at Gibeah (Judges 19).

“22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.” 23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.” 25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. 26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. 27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home. 29 When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!” -Judges 19:22-30 (NIV)

“remembering their perversity He will number, punish their sin, uncleanses.” HaShem chooses to cover sin that is repented of through blood, but does not cover unrepentant sin and thus “remembers” it unto just punishment. He “numbers” it as a debt against godly morality.

We note that the Hebrew avon means perversity, premeditated perversion that exceeds basic sin, and that excessive types of sin are numbered according to the degree to which they miss the mark chata set by God’s holy standard (Torah).

It’s not true to say that all sin is the same. It’s true that “all have sinned” and that any sin great or small separates us from God’s holiness, but, this concerns the salvation of the person (neshama) unto eternal life and does not negate degrees of sin within time and space. Within time and space murder is worse than stealing but both are sin that separate us from God’s holiness. Within time and space the consequences of these sins differ, as do the commanded punishments for them.

1. "Now if someone murders a person, that one must be put to death." -Leviticus 24:17
2. "If someone steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep." -Exodus 22:1

10 Ka’anaviym Like grapes bamidbar (in-from-thing/word/essence) in the wilderness matzatiy  I found Yisrael; kevikurah like the first ripe fruit vite’einah on the fig tree bereishiytah in the beginning raiytiy I saw avoteichem your fathers heimah who ba’u came to Ba’al-peor (Master, Husband, Lord of a gap, cleft) vayinazeru and separated themselves laboshet unto shame, vayihyu and they became shikutziym as detestable abominations (idols) keohovam according to their loving.
 
“Like grapes in the wilderness I found Yisrael; like the first ripe fruit on the fig tree in the beginning…” Grapes are rare in the desert, as are figs. The delight of finding such fruit is incredible, overwhelming, redemptive, satisfying. This was how the choosing of Israel as a people began in HaShem’s sight. However, this was soon turned to heartbreak as a result of Israel’s unfaithfulness.
 
“your fathers who came to Ba’al-peor (Master, Husband, Lord of a gap, cleft) and separated themselves unto shame, and they became as detestable abominations (idols) according to their loving.” This is an allusion to the sin of Israel described in Numbers 25 (ref. Deut. 4:3-4), where they allowed themselves to be seduced by the women of Moab and entered into idolatry. Rashi interprets the last line of this verse as “when they loved the daughters of Moab.” The “fathers” is a reference to the forebears of Israel who left Egypt and not to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
 
In using this reference to Israel’s past sin the prophet is also reminding the righteous remnant of the way that HaShem dealt with that sin:
 
“Your eyes have seen what the Lord has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the Lord your God has destroyed [a]them from among you. 4 But you who clung to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.” -Deuteronomy 4:3-4 (NASB)
 
It is no coincidence that Ba’al-peor means Lord of a gap. Nor is it a coincidence that the next phrase says “and separated”. The god of the gap is the one who acted to separate itself (angelic being) from YHVH and thus tempted humanity to do the same. His name is Ha-Satan (the accuser), the Serpent of Genesis.

11 Efrayim, kaof like a bird yitofeif will fly away, kevodam so will be their glories mileidah from birth umibeten and from the womb umeiheirayin and from conception!
 
“Ephraim like a bird that flies away” A trained bird that leaves its master behind and seeks sustenance elsewhere.
 
“their glories from birth and from the womb and from conception.” The glories of a husband and wife are their children. Due to Ephraim’s sin the children of the northern tribes will die at each point of development. Some at birth, some during gestation, and some the moment they are conceived. This is a consequence of the abuse suffered by the body when sexual sin spreads disease and repeated intentional abortions leave damage that makes carrying a child to full term impossible. It is chilling to read this regression of baby deaths in light of the modern (legal) practice of abortions from conception (day after pill) up to birth (now allowed for through legislation introduced by governing bodies in many western countries including my own). In one sense this text written more than two and a half thousand years ago is an indictment against all abortions, past, present and future.
 
12 Kiy For im-yegadelu though they attempt to bring up et-beneiyhem their children, veshikaltiym and I will cause them to miscarry, meiadam from a man (their humanity) kiy-gam-oiy likewise also alas, woe. Besuriy meihem When I depart from them!
 
This does not mean that HaShem murders babies and children but that He allows human beings to exercise their freewill in sinning against their own bodies. Therefore, God is in control and the cause of the miscarriages is man’s rejection of God and His Instruction. God does not force Himself upon His wife Israel. If she refuses Him, He leaves like a gentleman. And when a gentleman leaves, there is room in the house for an abusive man to enter. Thus, “Woe, when I depart from them.”

13 Efrayim, ka’asher-raiytiy whom I have seen, leTzor in Tyre (a rock) shetulah is transplanted venaveh in a pasture; ve’efrayim But Ephraim lehotziy will bring forth el-horeig banayv his children for murder.
 
Tyre was an ancient Phoenician port city to the north of Israel. It is the fourth largest city in modern Lebanon (approx. 15km north of Akko on the Mediterranean coast). Ancient Tyre controlled area bordering ancient Israel, and was often but not always a friend of Israel. It’s noteworthy that the allotment of land to the tribe of Asher (recorded in Joshua 13:1-22:34) included a third of the latter Phoenician kingdom.
 
Tyre was wealthy and comfortable at the time of Hosea’s prophecy, and Ephraim (Israel’s kings) may have traded there. However, the kings of the north will be transplanted into a pasture where their children will be raised only to be murdered by their enemies and the overlords of their impending exile.
 
The text may also be alluding to the fact that Tyre, situated in a good location by the sea, with abundant wealth, being well fortified, seemed secure from all enemies like Ephraim (kings of the north representing the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel). However, Tyre would first be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar (573 BCE), and then by Alexander (332 BCE) and thus meet its doom and the slaughter of its children. In the same way Ephraim (the northern kingdom), would meet her destruction at the hand of the Assyrians (732 BCE).
 
On the other hand the phrasing “Efrayim, whom I have seen in Tyre is transplanted in a pasture…” may simply mean that at that time, due to the proximity of the northern tribes to the Phoenician border, it may be that the kings of the north had stock in the lower part of the area governed by Tyre’s rulers.
 
Rashi sees the text as referring to the sacrificing of children to idols:
 
“Ephraim, as I saw Tyre in its tranquility, enjoying royalty and wealth more than all the provinces, so did I see Ephraim, planted in a dwelling place. But Ephraim what recompense did he recompense Me? He occupied himself with taking his children out to the slayer, to slaughter them in worship of the idols. So did Jonathan translate.” -Rashi
 
“they of the house of Ephraim have sinned in slaying their children to the service of idols;'” -Targum Yonatan
 
Once again, the prophet Hosea, speaking in the Spirit of God, is simply stating the fact that Ephraim is guilty of the deaths of her own children. God is not to blame.
 
14 Tein-lahem YHVH Give to them, Lord (Mercy)--mah what titein will You give? Tein-lahem Give them rechem mashkil a barren womb veshadayim and breasts tzomekiym dried up.
 
This appears harsh but is rather a statement of mercy in response to a rhetorical question concerning the vile behaviour of the northern kings.
 
YHVH denotes Mercy. Therefore, we could read “Give to them Mercy”. What would be the merciful thing to give in the case of children who are being raised to idolatry? The merciful thing would be barrenness.
 
“The prophet prays that they should die when young, for the mourning for a child is not as bad as the mourning for an adult. Therefore, if it is impossible that they die from birth, from the womb, or from conception, for it was already decreed from the Creation of the world, (Gen. 3:l6) “And to your husband shall be your longing,” give them quickly in their childhood what you say to give to them after a time, for You said, “For, if they raise their children. I will bereave them.” [from Pesikta Rabbathi 45:3]” -Rashi
 
For it is better not to raise children at all, than to raise them unto sin, idolatry, self-destruction and death everlasting.
 
15 Kol All ra’atam their evil bagilgal is in Gilgal (rolling, wheel); kiy for sham there seneitiym I hated them! Al roa Upon the wickedness ma’aleiyhem of their practices mibeiytiy from My house agaresheim I will expel them! Lo oseif ahavatam I will no longer increase love to them; kol-sareiyhem All their princes sore’iym are revolters, rebels.
 
“Gilgal” is thought to be the same as Gibeath-haaraloth, the location where Joshua renewed the covenant of circumcision (Joshua 5:3), following which the Passover was celebrated for the first time in the promised land (5:10). It was to Gilgal that the ark of the covenant was returned each day after the children of Israel paraded it around Jericho (Joshua 6:11). It’s where the Gibeonites made their treaty with Israel (9:3).
 
Samuel the prophet made Gilgal one of the three places where he held circuit court (1 Samuel 7:14).It was at Gilgal that Samuel killed Agag the king of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:33).
 
Saul was both crowned and rejected as king at Gilgal (1 Samuel 11:14, 15).
 
Both Hosea and Amos refer to Gilgal as a centre for idolatry (Hosea 4:15; 9:15; 12:11; Amos 4:4; 5:5).
 
Elisha made Gilgal his headquarters for a time (2 Kings 2:1; 4:38). Gilgal also known as Beit Gilgal (Nehemiah 12:29).
 
Speaking of Gilgal Rashi says:
 
“There they worshipped idols to a great extent (on high places, absent in mss.). Since the Mishkan (Tent of meeting) was there first, the prophets of Baal would tell them that was a choice site, and it belonged to the kings of Israel.” -Rashi on Hosea 9:15
 
“there I hated them!” can also be read “made a foe of them”. Hate here is the counterpoint to love. The language means to emphasise the fact that what Israel had done was abhorrent because they had made a place that was once a location of the Mishkan (Tent of Meeting: the portable Temple) into a place of heinous idolatry and desecration. Hate therefore, is not too strong a word for the just response of God to their vile sin.
 
“Upon the wickedness of their practices from My house I will expel them!” Due to the depths of depravity that the northern tribes had sunk, they will be removed from the land, expelled from the House of God. Ironic, given that they had wilfully rejected the temple cult and had instead set up their own places of worship to false gods in the north. Not to mention their fowl syncretism when likening HaShem to the calf idols of Bethel and Dan. The northern tribes had removed themselves from God. Now, He simply gives them a push on their way out of the land. Their exile is the result of their sin.
 
“I will no longer increase love toward them” This simply means, that like a spurned husband, God will not continue to chase after a woman who refuses to return to Him.
 
“All their princes are rebels.” Alludes to the fact that the rebellious kings of the north have born rebellious children and that they perpetuated rebellion against YHVH and His moral law.

16 Hukan Struck down is Efrayim, sharesham their root yaveish dried up, periy val-ya’asun gam also hardly fruiting. Kiy For though they will yeileidun bring forth children, vehematiy yet I will kill machamadiy the precious ones vitenam in their womb.
 
The striking down of Ephraim, while it inevitably refers to the tribes of the north in a general sense, nonetheless specifically denotes the end of the kingship of the north. Thus, “Their root dried up…”
 
Any potential progeny will die in the womb. “I will kill them” like “I will cause them” (v.12), alludes to God’s control over the ordered universe and simply conveys the idea that God has allowed them to make their own sinful choices and suffer the natural consequences of those choices.
 
17 Yim’aseim He has cast them off, rejected them Elohay My Judge/God, kiy for lo shameu lo they have not listened, received, comprehended Him; veyihyu And they have become nodediym  retreating wanderers bagoyim in the nations.
 
God has cast off the kings of the north and rejected them. He has cast off the particular wicked generation of Hosea’s day and has sent them into exile. He has not cast off or rejected all Israel forever (as some fools suggest). If that were true we would have to remove large portions of Scripture which promise to the contrary that God will never perpetually forsake Israel whom He has chosen as a people for Himself. Israel, like Judah, is first and foremost an ethnic noun referring to the person Jacob and his blood descendants who are now known as Jews (Y’hudiym) and continue to find their place in God’s redemptive purposes for all humanity through Yeshua the promised King Messiah of the Jews.

“27 Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of mankind and the seed of animals. 28 And just as I have watched over them to uproot them, tear them down, ruin, destroy, and bring disaster on them, so I will watch over them to build and to plant them,” declares the Lord.
29 “In those days they will no longer say,
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
[m]But it is the children’s teeth that have become blunt.’
30 But everyone will die for his own wrongdoing; each person who eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will become blunt.
31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”
35 This is what the Lord says,
He who gives the sun for light by day
And the [n]fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar--
The Lord of armies is His name:
36 “If [o]this fixed order departs
From Me,” declares the Lord,
“Then the descendants of Israel also will cease
To be a nation before Me [p]forever.”
37 This is what the Lord says:
“If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also reject all the descendants of Israel
For everything that they have done,” declares the Lord.
38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the city will be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead, to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. 40 And the entire valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord; it will not be uprooted or overthrown ever again.” -Yermiyahu (Jeremiah 31:27-40 (NASB)
​
The only “spiritual Jew” is an ethnic Jew, the only “Israel of God” are Jews who are redeemed through Yeshua.
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

​Introduction:
 
As is the case with all of Hebrew Scripture, there are no chapter breaks in the scroll of the 12 Prophets in which Hosea is located. It’s important to see the text of this chapter as a continuation of the previous chapter:
 
“They return not to the most High: they have become like a slackened bow: their princes will fall by the sword from the rage of their tongue: this stammering derision in the land Egypt.” -Hosea 7:16
 
1“Put a shofar (ram’s horn) to your mouth! Kanesher Like an eagle al upon beit YHVH the house of the Lord (Mercy) Ya’an because averu the people have passed over, alienated veriytiy My covenant (cutting agreement), ve’al and against Toratiy My Torah Instruction pashau rebelled.
 
“Put the shofar to your mouth” is an instruction to the prophet Hosea. He is to blow the shofar (ram’s horn) with the wind (ruach) of the Holy Spirit in him. The mouth denotes both intimacy and proclamation. The shofar (Gen. 22) represents the voice of the Ram of God (Yeshua the King Messiah), Who is the Word (Ha-Davar) essence, the substance of God and the testimony of Yeshua is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10).
 
It is interesting to compare a similar phrasing spoken to Yishayahu (Isaiah):
 
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a shofar, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” -Isaiah 58:1
 
“Ram’s horn” (shofar) is often blown as a warning (Joel 2:1; Amos 3:6) and is also associated with the giving of the Torah (Ex. 19:16) [poignant given the accusation concerning rejection of Torah in verses 1 & 11], the jubilee (Lev. 25:9), war & miracles (Jos. 6:4; Jdg. 6:34; 7:8) etc. And finds its true origin in the “binding of Isaac” (Gen. 22). Meaning that at its root it is the sound of redemption.
 
Rashi understands this verse to carry the same meaning as that of Isaiah 58:1.
 
“The Shechinah says to the prophet: Let the voice of your palate be heard, and call like a shophar, and say: You enemies! Fly and hasten as the eagle swoops and come to the house of the Lord. To your palate a shophar, it is as though a shophar is placed to your palate. [after Jonathan]” -Rashi
 
“Like an eagle upon the house of the LORD”
 
“behold, as an eagle flies, so shall a king with his army come up and encamp against the house of the sanctuary of the Lord.” -Targum Yonatan
 
The eagle is a bird of prey and is used as a figure for invading rulers and their empires (Eze. 17:3; Deut. 28:49). This is misinterpreted by the majority of Christian scholars as referring to the Assyrian invasion. This cannot be the case because the Assyrians did not take Jerusalem and defile the Temple (House of the LORD).
 
The rabbinical interpretation rightly concludes that this is prophetic of the Babylonian invasion when Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 17) would destroy the Temple in 586 BCE. Therefore, the warning reaches beyond the exile of the northern tribes to the exile of all Israel including Judah and Benjamin.
 
“And say, ‘Thus says the LORD GOD; A great eagle with great wings, long winged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:” -Ezekiel 17:3
 
All this had been long since prophesied over Israel’s disobedience:
 
“The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;” -Deuteronomy 28:49
 
“because the people have passed over, alienated My covenant, and against My Torah Instruction rebelled.” The reason for the warning is that Israel (the northern tribes) have ignored the covenant they have with YHVH (made at Sinai) and have wilfully rebelled against the Torah Instruction of YHVH. “Pasha” a Hebrew word for sin means “to miss the mark” and at its root denotes rebellion born of idolatry. This is significant because the beginning of this chapter addresses with warning the idolatry of the previous chapter.
 
2 Liy To Me Yisrael (overcome in God) yizaku cries,  ‘Elohay My God, yeda’anucha we know You!’
 
The northern tribes claim to call on God as “My God”, “Our God”, but they do so while calling on many gods and while rejecting YHVH’s covenant and wilfully turning from his Torah. To this hypocrisy they add the self-incriminating phrase “we know you” denoting intimate knowledge of God. This is vile for two reasons, first, God has offered Israel faithful intimacy and they have spurned Him, and second, they have been consistently intimate with false gods, prostituting themselves before His face.
 
The Targum Yonatan interprets this as temporary, situational confession from the lips of the unrepentant:
 
"in every time that distress comes upon them, they pray before me, and say, now we know that we have no God besides thee; redeem us, for we are thy people Israel;'' -Targum Yonatan
 
Rav Shaul the Shaliach (Apostle) writes concerning hypocritical “Messianic Gentiles” who acted in a similar way. These gentile believers were demanding that other gentiles be circumcised in the flesh contrary to Shaul’s (Paul’s) teaching (Philippians 3). This same gentile circumcision cult were claiming to teach the things of God and to know God, but were in themselves detestable, disobedient, and worthless in God’s sight.
 
“10 For there are many rebellious people, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of [h]dishonest gain. 12 One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. For this reason reprimand them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” -Titus 1:10-16 (NIV)
 
Amos, another contemporary of Hosea, makes it clear that while Israel was claiming to Know YHVH she was practicing flagrant idolatry (Amos 2:4, 7-8; 3:14; 5:26).

3 Zanach Yisrael Israel has cast off, spurned, rejected tov good; oyeiyv  an enemy yirdefov will pursue him.
 
“Israel has cast off, spurned, rejected good;” Good is not just a reference to a distinction in circumstance or flavour. Good is defined by the character of God. This is why Yeshua said “Why do you call me good, no one is good but God alone.” (Matt. 19:17; Mark 10:18). Therefore, this opening phrase is the poetic couplet which correlates to “rebelled against My Torah” (v.1). Some of our ancient rabbis rightly interpret this as “Israel has cast off and rejected God (Good Himself).”
 
“an enemy will pursue him.” This correlates to the “eagle” who is to come against all Israel including Judah and Benjamin. In fact there is a progression of eagles through Assyria (against the northern tribes) and on to Babylon (taking Judah and Benjamin into exile).
 
4 Heim They himlichu have set up kings ve’lo mimeniy that did not come from Me; heisiyru they appointed princes ve’lo yadaetiy not known by Me. Kaspam With silver uzehavam and gold asu  they make lahem for themselves atzabiym idols/images lema’an for the purpose of yikareit cutting themselves off.
 
“They have set up kings that did not come from Me”
 
“They” refers to the northern tribes and the “kings” are all the kings of the north from Jeroboam I onward. Jeroboam I having set the stage for the idolatry of the north by setting up the calf idols of Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:25-33). The evidence that the kings did not “come from” (were not established) by God is manifest in their idolatrous and unrepentant behaviour. This is not to say that God was not in control but that He allowed their disobedience for a greater redemptive purpose.
 
Jeroboam I was allowed by the will of God to become king of the northern tribes, but was nonetheless crowned by the people without the express instruction of God, and without His counsel being sought by either rulers or people. God allowed but did not consent to the crowning of Jeroboam I. Therefore, the appointment of Jeroboam I was on the heads of the people themselves.
 
Many of Jeroboam’s (I) successors were conspirators, who set themselves up without the consent of either God or the people of the northern tribes. They plotted to overthrow others, and reigned after slaughtering them. This is true of Shallum, Menahem, Pekah, and Hoshea (the king, not the prophet).
 
Further still, the people of Israel had no right to choose a king for themselves; the right belonged to God alone; it was He that chose and appointed the kings of all Israel (Deut. 17:15): Saul, David, and Solomon, were all chosen and appointed by YHVH (1 Samuel 10:24).
 
The people of the north brought curse on all the kings of the northern tribes through their rejection of the line of David. By rejecting the throne of David they rejected the greater Son of David, the King Who was to come, the King Messiah.
 
“What share do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;
To your tents, Israel!
Now look after your own house, David!” -1 Kings 12:16 (NIV)
 
Jeroboam I had built up Shechem as his residence. Thus the connection to the rebuke of Hosea levelled against those practicing acts of perversity on their way to Shechem (Hosea 6:9).
 
“they appointed princes not known by Me” Here “known” does not negate knowledge of the princes, rather it reveals the fact that there was not an intimate connection between them and YHVH as there had been with Solomon and David. The key is that the princes were “appointed” by apostate people and not by God.
 
“With silver and gold they make for themselves idols/images for the purpose of cutting themselves off.” Their idolatry results in self-harm. Practically speaking idolatry makes waste of things which God has purposed for use while turning useful things into waste. 
 
Isaiah another contemporary of Hosea, says:
 
“They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he makes it a god: they fall down, yes, they worship.” -Isaiah 46:6

5 Zanach Cast off, reject, spurn egleich your calf-idol Shomeron (Samaria, guarding/watch mountain) [alt. “Your calf-idol has been cast off Samaria” or "Your calf has cast you off"]! Charah Fury burns apiy in My nostrils bam against them. Ad-matay How long will they lo yuchelu refuse to overcome nikayon with innocence?
 
“Cast off, reject, spurn your calf-idol Samaria!” This connects the apostate kingship of the north through Jeroboam I to the calf idols established by him in the territory of Samaria in the towns of Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28-33). It is worth noting that upon setting up these calf idols Jeroboam I had spoken the same words Aaron had spoken when setting up the calf deity at Sinai.
 
“So the king Jeroboam I consulted, and he made two golden calves; and he said to the people, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.’” -1 Kings 12:28
 
This can be read as “Your calf-idol has been cast off Samaria” or "Your calf has cast you off" Kimkhi and Ben Melekh understand this to mean that the false god has left the northern tribes in the lurch, it has forsaken them, and has removed itself. It can also mean that the calf will be carried away. In fact that is exactly what Hosea prophecies, indicating that the king of Assyria will do so (Hosea 10:5).
 
“Fury burns in My nostrils against them. How long will they refuse to overcome with innocence? The mention of snorting nostrils in the Hebrew denotes intimate fury. There is heartbreak in the expression and a sense of incredulity, though God is not capable of the human response, it is meant to be viewed with incredulity by the hearer/reader. A shocking indictment. Israel, knowing the way of innocence revealed through covenant and Torah, nonetheless wilfully refuse it to their own harm.
 
6 Kiy For miYisrael from Israel vehu charash asahu he (the calf idol) is made by a craftsman; ve’lo and it is not elohiym a god/judge. Hu he (the calf idol) kiy-shevaviym will be splintered, powdered yihyeh it will happen egel to that calf of Shomeron (Samaria, guarding/watch mountain).
 
“For it was Israel’s doing; It was only made by a joiner, It is not a god. No, the calf of Samaria shall be reduced to splinters!” -Hosea 8: 6 Sefaria translation
 
“For from Israel he (the calf idol) is made by a craftsman.” This is an important phrase which emphasizes the fact that the calf idol is not an assimilated deity from the Canaanites or from other foreign cults but is an invention of Israel, from Sinai to Samaria (Bethel and Dan) the calf idol is the sole responsibility of Israel. The idea for the calf idol may have originally been borrowed from the Egyptians who had a cult that worshipped a living ox or cow, however the allusion here is to the fact that it was gold and silver of Israel moulded by a member of the northern tribes that was crafted into the calf idols of Bethel and Dan.
 
With prophetic irony the calf idol of which Jeroboam I had said “behold your gods…” is called “not a god!”
 
“he (the calf idol) will be splintered, it will happen to that calf of Shomeron (Samaria, guarding/watch mountain).” The calf idol, not a god, will provide no protection, it will not guard the mountain of guardians (Shomeron), it will be splintered like a breaking beam, pulverised into powder.
 
The commentator Yarchi says that in ancient Aramaic (Syriac) “shevaviym” signifies, beams, planks, and boards, and pieces of them falling as dust. The Targum and Ben Meleckh agree in accordance with rabbinical teaching. The inference being that the calf idol of Samaria will be ground to fine dust and the northern tribes made to drink it mixed with water just as the golden calf was ground to powder by Moses, and all those who sinned in it were made to drink the powder mixed with water. The symbolism of the act conveys the reality that idolatry is self-harm.
 
7 “Kiy For ruach a wind yizrau they have sown vesufatah and a whirlwind yiktzoru they will reap. Kamah eiyn-lo The standing grain does not tzemach bud, fruit;  beliy wearing out it will not ya’aseh produce kemach flour. Ulay ya’aseh If perhaps it yields grain, zariym strangers yivlahu would swallow it down.
 
“For a wind they have sown and a whirlwind they will reap.” The wind produced by the voice of idolatrous worship has reaped the much greater whirlwind of God’s prophetic judgement at the hand of Assyria and then Babylon.
 
“The standing grain does not bud, fruit;  wearing out it will not produce flour.” The grain barely grew tall enough to produce ears sufficient for grinding flour.
 
“If perhaps it yields grain, strangers would swallow it down.” Even if the crop were to produce grain the tribes of the north will not consume it, rather it will be eaten by the invading armies of Assyria.

8 Nivla Yisrael (overcomes in God/the Judge) is swallowed up; now she hayu has become bagoyim in the nations kichliy  like a vessel eiyn-chefetz none delight in.
 
Like swallowed grain Israel (northern tribes) will be swallowed up by the invading Assyrian armies. As a result of her exile she will become known among the nations as a worthless vessel, a jug with cracks in it, a tool with a blunt edge, without value, devoid of purpose, and without place.
 
 9 Kiy For they have alu gone up to Ashur (Assyria, a step) pere  a wild donkey bodeid wandering alone. Efrayim (doubly fruitful) hitnu has hired herself out ahaviym to lovers.
 
A wild donkey wanders aimlessly and is vulnerable as prey to lions.
 
The kings (Ephraim) of the northern tribes have sought help from the Assyrians, paying them tribute (Menachem 2 kings 15:19, Hoshea 2 Kings 17:3) and courting their power like prostitutes trying to sleep their way to a position of higher social status and strength.

10 Gam Also kiy because yitnu they have hired themselves out bagoyim in the nations, now akabetzem they gather together. Vayacheilu and defile, pollute themselves me’at becoming a little thing mimasa from the burden Melekh of a king sariym of princes.
 
The gathering of the northern tribes refers to them being gathered for captivity. They intensify the fruit of their idolatrous sin and as a result are weakened and become subject to a king who is over many princes (an allusion to the king of Assyria Isaiah 10:8).
 
11 “Kiy-hirbah For Efrayim mizbechot has made many altars lachato for sin (offerings), hayu-lo which  have become mizbechot altars lachato for sinning.
 
The northern kings, first inspired by Jeroboam’s (I) idolatrous act (calf idols), have syncretised the practice of sin offerings from the Torah with the altars of false gods and the worship of the calf idols. Thus the offerings that might have covered their sin have in fact become additional sin of an abhorrent nature.
 
How many “altars”, both physical and metaphorical, have been built in “Church” communities throughout the world? Altars built as places to repent and receive forgiveness for sin by connecting to the Gospel message, that have instead been turned into altars of sinful practice. The list is long:
 
·      “Church” Buildings costing millions, while the people of the community struggle for work and the sick and poor go unaided
·      Popular “Christian” music proliferated and profited from by secular record companies that own smaller “Christian” record labels. The money of believer’s being used to fund immoral secular agendas
·      Famous pastors, prophets, authors and worship leaders, followed as heroes to the point of idolatry
·      “Christian” psychology intended to help and mature believers, nonetheless fallen prey to secular psychological philosophies that contradict and distort the message of Scripture. Places where people come for help from godly men and women who should be pointing them to God’s strength in their time of need, but instead encourage them to trust in their own mental strength, and promise the self-empowerment to overcome (that empowerment being from the poisoned well of secular self-help doctrines
·      The list goes on and on…
 
12 Echtov-lo I wrote for them kemov-ribov the many things Toratiy of my Instruction (Torah), zar nechshavu but they thought of them as a foreign thing.
 
Here God refers to His Torah which Israel had treated like the spiritual writings of another people, written in a foreign language, an alien thing that had no connection to them. They had spurned the love letter of the Creator to His creation, given to and through the nation Whom He had chosen and called to be a light to others.
 
“I constantly reprimand them through My prophets, and write for them the great things of My Law, but they are considered a strange thing.” -Rashi

13 Zivcheiy They offer sacrifices havhavay as gifts to Me, yizbechu they sacrifice vasar flesh vayocheilu and they eat it, YHVH (Mercy) the Lord lo does not ratzam accept them.

 The offered sacrifices may have included offerings which were to be eaten only by the priests (Levites)[Lev. 6:24-26]. These offerings were apparently being eaten by those who should not eat them. Additionally it is possible that the priests were acting in a similar way to the sons of Eli, taking the fat that should have been burned as the LORD’s portion, and instead eating it themselves (1 Samuel 2:15-17).

Of course, the priests of the north included men from tribes other than Levi, meaning that all offerings brought to God by them were apostate based on the requirements of the Torah.
​
Ultimately, the reason the offerings were not accepted was because there was no genuine repentance, no real willingness to obey YHVH.
 
“21 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh. 22 For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this is [h]what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you shall walk [i]entirely in the way which I command you, so that it may go well for you.’ 24 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked by their own advice and in the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and they [j]went backward and not forward.” -Jeremiah 7:21-24 (NIV)
 
Now yizkor he will remember avonam their perverse depravities. Veyifkod  and visit chatotam their sins (missing the mark, uncleanness, offenses) upon them: Hemah They yashuvu Mitzrayim will return to Egypt (double distress).
 
God is just and must punish perversity. The disobedience of Israel will result in a return to bondage (Egypt) for the purpose of discipline and return to God.

14 Vayishkach Yisrael And Israel (overcomes in God/the Judge) has forgotten, ignored, wilfully turned from et-Oseihu their specific Maker vayiven and built heiychalot temples (to false gods);
 
The Targum reads “and built temples to idols”.
 
No one forgets a lover except by wilful avoidance. Israel had turned her back on her Husband (YHVH), Who was also her Creator. Like an adulterous and hateful wife she had sought other lovers (idolatry).
 
Israel (the northern tribes) had sought strength in other gods (idolatry).
 
Y’hudah (praise) hirbah has become great, multiplying ariym betzurot fenced cities (excitement). Veshilachtiy-eish But I will send fire be’arayv in his cities ve’achelah and devour armenoteyah the palaces.”
 
Where Israel (the northern tribes) had sought strength in other gods (idolatry), Judah had trusted in his own strength (idolatry). But fire from God would devour them and burn away the weak strength of those temporary things they had trusted in. Historically speaking Jerusalem would be burned by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (Jeremiah 52:13).
 
Messiah follower, do we pass judgement on those who worship idols while trusting in our own intellect, physical strength, talents, finances, emotional intelligence, qualifications, righteousness? If so, we are hypocrites and idolaters.
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

​Introduction:
 
As is the case with all of Hebrew Scripture, there are no chapter breaks in the scroll of the 12 Prophets in which Hosea is located. It is important to see the text of this chapter as a continuation of the previous chapter:
 
“Also, Y’hudah, there is set a harvest for you, in My returning you from captivity My people.” -Hosea 6:11
 
1Kerafe’iy For I would heal  le’Yisrael Israel, veniglah but uncovered avon iniquity, perversity, of Efrayim (doubly fruitful), veraot and the evils of Shomeron (Samaria: guardians): kiy for fa’alu they practice shaker deception; veganav and a thief yavo goes in, pashat gedud bachutz a group of robbers strip what’s outside.
 
God desires to heal Israel (the northern tribes) but uncovers the iniquity of Israel’s kings (represented by Ephraim re. Jeroboam, Asa, Omri etc.) and the evil practices of idolatry performed in the city of Samaria (1 Kings 16:24) the capital of the territory of Samaria, where deception and theft are present both inside and outside their homes.
 
“for they practice deception, and a thief goes in, a group of robbers strip what’s outside.”
 
The deception alluded to may refer to Israel’s feigned repentance or to her alliances with foreign powers.
 
God offers healing to all, but only the repentant receive it. God will not act against His character by enabling sin. Bringing healing in the midst of open rebellion would not be an act of loving discipline.
“in the night they thieve in houses, and in the day they rob on the plain,” -Targum Yonatan
2Uval-yomeru And they don’t say lilvavam to their inner beings (hearts) kol-ra’atam “All evils zacharetiy I remember”: atah (Ayin not Aleph) now sevavum they’re turned around ma’alleiyhem from their own practices neged right in front of  panay My face it has come to pass hayu.
 
“They do not lay it up to their heart that all their evil is inscribed before Me as a remembrance.” -Rashi
 
“They” are, in this case, specifically the northern tribes. Hence the reference to Ephraim (kings of the north) in the previous verse.
 
“They don’t say in their inner beings…” refers to the self-talk of the core being or heart, the “inner person” (not the seat of emotion as in Greco-Roman thought).
 
“All evils I remember” Within the context, refers to the fact that God sees all and therefore, “remembers” (keeps an account) of evil actions. It can also be understood to refer to the fact that the human soul (body, mind, spirit) remembers, either consciously or subconsciously, the act and consequence of sin, and suffers the fruit of evil actions, either now or in the future.
 
“they’re turned around from their own practices right in front of My face it has come to pass.” Their sin practices have turned round onto them and they are suffering the consequences. All this is seen by God and it’s as if it were right in front of His face. He is intimately related to Israel and grieves the result of her sin, it is an direct affront to His Person.
 
3Bere’etam In evils yesamechu-melekh they make joy for a king uvechachasheiyhem and in deceptions, sariym princes .
 
“In evils they make joy for a king and in deceptions, princes.” The then king of the north has rejoiced in evil and the princes of the north are born from and to deception.
 
4 Kulam All are mena’afiym from adulteries, kemo like tanur an oven boeirah kindled meiopeh by a baker, yishbot ceasing mei’iyr to rise melush from kneading batzeik the dough, ad-chumtzaro until it is leavened.
 
“Adulteries” are both sexual sin and idolatrous worship.
 
“like an oven kindled by a baker” Denotes not only the heat of lust but also the intentional fuelling of that heat. According to the Hebrew text the baker has kindled the fire. The allusion to a baker denotes the possibility of baking something.
 
“ceasing to rise from kneading the dough, until it is leavened.” This continues the analogy using the baking process as a whole and showing that sin results in a loss of good produce. Simply put, the baker has kindled the oven to cook bread but has not finished kneading the dough. He has instead rested, and has neglected the dough so that it has not been properly proofed, nor has it been baked, thus it sours in the sun and becomes good for nothing.
 
Rashi sees it differently and I believe misappropriates the analogy, nonetheless he gleans an effective spiritual lesson from it:
 
“From the time he thinks of the evil in his heart, how he will do it, he rests and sleeps until morning, when he can do it, just as the baker rests from the kneading of the dough until it leavens, when he can bake it. And so it is stated in Micah 2:1: “Woe is to those who plan iniquity and work evil on their beds; when the morning lights up, they do it.” -Rashi
 
5 Yom A day of malkeinu our king thechelu made weak by sariym, princes chamat miyayin from wine skins mashach he stretched out yado his hand et-lotzetziym with scorners.
 
“A day of our king made weak by princes from wine skins he stretched out his hand with scorners.” Probably refers to one of the palace revolts of the northern kingdom (2 Kings 15:8-30). The reference to wine skins and mockery probably alludes to the state of vulnerability that the usurpers of the king found him in.
 
“2Ki 15:8  In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.
2Ki 15:9  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
2Ki 15:10  And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
2Ki 15:11  And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they arewritten in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
2Ki 15:12  This was the word of the LORD which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it came to pass.
2Ki 15:13  Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria.
2Ki 15:14  For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
2Ki 15:15  And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
2Ki 15:16  Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that weretherein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.
2Ki 15:17  In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.
2Ki 15:18  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
2Ki 15:19  And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
2Ki 15:20  And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.
2Ki 15:21  And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
2Ki 15:22  And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead.
2Ki 15:23  In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years.
2Ki 15:24  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
2Ki 15:25  But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.
2Ki 15:26  And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
2Ki 15:27  In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.
2Ki 15:28  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
2Ki 15:29  In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.
2Ki 15:30  And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.” -2 Kings 15:8-30
 
6 Kiy-keirevu For they draw near chatanur libam their inner being (heart) like an oven, be’arebam lying in wait; kol-halaylah all the night yashen ofeihem their baker sleeps; boker hu in the morning he voeir burns ke’eish as a flaming lehavah fire.
 
The imagery of the oven and baker continue to convey the fruit of lust and the strengthening of the fire that propels the ongoing depravity of the leaders and the people.
 
“They draw near their inner being like an oven...” Their burning lust is born of the inner being. They have not sinned and regretted it, rather they sin and are motivated by a core sinful state made possible by the hardening of their hearts toward HaShem.
 
“The inner being (heart) is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” -Jerimiah 17:9
 
“all the night their baker sleeps; in the morning he burns as a flaming fire.” This appears to indicate that the baker has lit a fire in the oven and fallen asleep, the fire has grown so hot as to burst forth and consume the baker and his household. This is consistent with the prophesied discipline against Israel (northern tribes).
 
7 Kulam All yeichamu of them are hot katanur like an oven, ve’achelu and have eaten et-shofeteiyhem their judges; kol-malcheiyhem all their kings nagalu are fallen: eiyn-korei none call out vahem in them eilay unto Me.
 
Once again, “hot like an oven” denotes a fiery lust for sin.
 
“have eaten their judges” They have done away with those who might have held them morally accountable.
 
“all their kings have fallen” Four kings of Israel were assassinated over a 20 year period at this time in history. Two of those kings, Zechariah and Shallum were killed within two years of each other (2 Kings 15:10-15). Ultimately, God will put an end to the kings of the northern tribes and bring all the tribes of Israel under the reign of the Messiah Ben David, King of Judah (the Jews, now synonymous with Israel) and over all nations, in fulfilment of the Torah, Prophets and Writings of Scripture.
 
“none call out in them unto Me.” Not only do the kings refuse to call out to YHVH for help, but also the princes, priests and common people. A heart breaking indictment.
 
“Palestinian Talmud in tractate Avodah Zarah (1:1) it is expounded as follows: ‘On the day they crowned Jeroboam, “the princes became ill from the heat of wine” as is explained. They came to him and said to him, “Get up! Make idols for us.” He replied, “Now is the time of evening, and all the people are drinking”; i.e., it is a time of drunkenness. Perhaps now you are drunk, and tomorrow you will recant. “Go and return in the morning.” They went and returned in the morning. That is what is written: “For they have made ready etc.” He said to them, “I fear your Sanhedrin.” They replied, “We will kill them.” I.e. what is written: “And they devour their judges.” “He draws his hand etc.” When he saw a righteous man, he would seat two scorners next to him, and they would say to him, “Which generation was the most beloved of all generations?” And he would reply, “The generation of the desert.” And they would say to him, “Did they not worship idols?” And he would reply, “Since they were beloved, they were not punished.” And they would say to him, “Quiet! The king wants to do that.”’” -Rashi
 
8 Efrayim, ba’amiym is in the people, hu yitbolal he has mixed, confused, mingled himself; Efrayim hayah has become ugah hot bread beliy wearing out (burning on one side) hafuchah not turned over.
 
“Efrayim is in the people, he has mixed, confused, mingled himself…” This refers to both physical intermarriage and spiritual adultery due to sexual connection with people from other nations, worshippers of other gods. This practice is forbidden according to the Torah and the Prophets (Ex. 34:12-26; Ezr. 9:12; Neh. 10:29-30; 13:25). This cannot refer to the exile as Rashi suggests because the Hebrew is in the present tense and clearly spoken as a warning to the pre-exilic northern tribes.
 
“Efrayim has become hot bread wearing out (burning on one side) not turned over.” Bread left lying on one side until it burns and becomes uneatable. Thus, the heat of the fire (lust) damages the bread (progeny of lust). A metaphor concerning the unfit nature of the kings of the north (Ephraim).
 
9 Achelu zariym Strangers have eaten kocho his strength, vehu lo yada and he doesn’t know, comprehend, learn: gam also sheiyvah grey hairs zarekah sprinkled come on him vehu lo yada and he doesn’t know, comprehend, learn.
 
“Strangers have eaten his strength, and he doesn’t know, comprehend, learn.” Strangers consuming Ephraim’s strength may refer to the intermarriage of the previous verse and the subsequent idolatry. It may also refer to political intrigue as per Rashi:
 
“the kings of Aram consumed him in the days of Jehoahaz, as it is said:  (2 Kings 13:7) “For he had not left to Jehoahaz etc. and made them like dust to trample.” Nonetheless, Jeroboam his son did not repent of his father’s evil.” -Rashi
 
“He doesn’t learn” refers to Ephraim’s wilful rejection of God and his refusal to learn from his mistakes which have resulted from rebellion against God’s Torah.
 
“also grey hairs sprinkled come on him and he doesn’t know, comprehend, learn.” Grey hair is linked to wisdom and God’s care for human beings (Lev. 19:32; Job 12:12-13; Isa. 46:4-5; Psalm 71:18-18; Proverbs 16:31; 20:28-29). A sprinkling of grey hair is a modicum of wisdom, but even that smattering of wisdom is refused, not learned. Some say that the grey hairs represent frailty and old age. Regardless, Ephraim has learned neither wisdom nor the lessons of old age.
 
10 Ve’anah geon-yisrael And the pride of Israel answers befanayn in his face: ve’lo-shavu and they do not return el-YHVH to the LORD (Mercy) Eloheiyhem their God (Judge), ve’lo and do not vikshuhu seek Him bechol-zot for all this.
 
“And the pride of Israel answers in his face” Israel (northern tribes) are testified against by their own pride. The pride is both in Israel’s face and before God’s face.
 
“and they do not return the LORD their God, and do not seek Him for all this.” In spite of the fact that their own sin testifies against them to their face, they still refuse to return to YHVH (Mercy) their Elohim (Judge, God).
 
11 Vayehiy Efrayim has become kiyonah like a dove fotah seduced eiyn leiv without a heart (inner being): karau Mitzrayim they call to Egypt (double distress), Ashur halachu they walk to Assyria.
 
The dove imagery is of a seduced and mis-trained dove which has lost any sense of its true purpose. This is what has happened among the northern tribes. They have lost connection with the true form of religious practice connected to Jerusalem and the temple cult, and ultimately, have lost connection with HaShem. Israel has forgotten her bondage in Egypt and the Redeemer YHVH Who delivered her. She is like a dizzy dove devoid of purpose fluttering about aimlessly, even flying back to captivity.
 
As a result of losing her sense of identity and purpose Israel has sought help from both those who had (Egypt) subjugated her, and those who would (Assyria) subjugate her.
 
The fact that the kings (Ephraim) of the north “walk to Assyria” infers that their political alliances were doomed to result in exile.
 
12 Ka’asher yeileichu For when they will walk, efros I will spread out aleiyhem over them rishtiy My net; keof like birds hashamayim of the heavens oriydeim I will bring them down; aysireim I will discipline them, keshema la’adatam as their assembly has heard.
 
As a counterpoint to Israel netting would be worshippers headed for Jerusalem (Hosea 5:1), God nets Israel as she attempts to make alliances with foreign powers. The phrase “birds of the heavens” seems to refer to birds of prey (clever, strong, lofty) as distinct from doves (gentle, simple, close). Therefore, even that which Israel considers strength (eagle.) will be caught and brought down to the dust.
 
“I will discipline them, as their assembly has heard” Indicates fair warning and just retribution.
 
13 Oy Alas lahem to them! Kiy-nadedu for they have departed mimeniy from Me: shod destruction lahem to them! Kiy-fasheu For they have rebelled viy against Me: veanochiy and I efdeim have redeemed them, veheimah yet they diberu have spoken alay kezaviym lies against Me.
 
Their “Destruction” is the result of their having “departed from” YHVH.
 
The house of Israel lead by Ephraim have rebelled against God and have misrepresented Him to both themselves and others.
 
As modern believers we must soberly ask, “Have I misrepresented God to myself and others?” On what do we base our knowledge of God’s character and redemptive purpose if not the present Spirit of His Son and His written Word (the entire Bible, Tanakh and New Testament).
 
“I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me.” YHVH redeemed Israel from bondage in Egypt, and in spite of this Israel has returned to Egypt for help and gone after the gods of the nations.
 
Rashi sees the line “they spoke deceit against Me” as referring specifically to Israel’s abuse of the prophet Jeremiah:
 
“They said to Jeremiah, (Jer. 43:2) ‘You speak falsely; the Lord our God did not send you to say, ‘You shall not come to Egypt.’” -Rashi
 
14 Velo-za’aku And they have not cried eiliy to Me belibam in their hearts (inner beings), kiy when yeyeiliylu they wailed al-mishkevotam upon their beds: al-dagan upon corn vetiyrush and new wine yitgoraru they assemble themselves, yasuru they depart veiy from Me.
 
In their distress, which resulted from their sin, they did not cry out to the LORD from their inner being. This is the counterpoint to the earlier references to the utter degradation of the inner being of the northern tribes (verses 2 & 6).
 
“upon corn and new wine they assemble themselves, they depart from Me.” They celebrate the harvests given by God as if they were the gifts of other gods.
 
Targum Yonatan links Israel’s departure from God with her over abundance:
 
"because of the multitude of corn and wine which they have gathered they have rebelled against my word;'' -Targum Yonatan
 
15 Va’Aniy And I yisartiy I disciplined chizaktiy, I strengthened zero’otam their arms and shoulders, ve’eilay and against Me yechashevu-ra they devise evil.
 
Through the word of His prophets and through lesser wars and periods of suffering God had disciplined and strengthened Israel. However, she had used that strength to plot evil against God. The evil they devised against God concerns their idolatry and chasing after foreign gods, attributing abundance to false gods (demons) rather than to the God of Israel YHVH.
 
16 Yashuvu lo They return not Al to the most High: [alt. They return not lifted up] hayu they have become kekeshet remiyah like a slackened bow: yipelu vachrev sareiyhem their princes will fall by the sword miza’am from the rage leshonam of their tongue: zo this la’gam stammering derision be’eretz in the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt, double distress).
 
The Hebrew “Al” translated “Most High” is a concise form of “Elyon” which is sometimes written “El Elyon” God Most High. This refers to YHVH as being God above all perceived deities and powers. The reason for the use of this title is that at that time Israel’s kings, priests and people had so clouded their ability to recognise God as “El Elohay Yisrael” (God the God of Israel) or “YHVH”, that the prophet must allude to the fact that the only way they can reference YHVH is by using a designation used by those who don’t properly know Him, that designation being “Al” (High) or “Elyon” (the Highest). In short, YHVH had become known simply as the God who reigned above the pantheon consisting of countless other gods, demons, rulers, judges. And still “They return not to the most High.”
 
Alternatively the Hebrew can read “They return not lifted up” meaning that they have gone to Egypt for help and have returned without it. This follows Rashi’s understanding of the text.
 
“Heb. עָל. They returned to Egypt, but it did not avail them. Therefore, עָל is vowelized with a “kamatz.” Comp. (2 Sam. 23:1) “The word of the man raised up high (עָל),” which is an expression of raising up and is not attached to the following word.” -Rashi
 
“they have become like a slackened bow” This could read as “deceitful bow”. The Hebrew remiyah can figuratively convey deceit. In either case the idiom denotes a bow that is of little use. A slackened bow cannot propel the arrow effectively and a deceitful bow shoots the arrow in a contrary direction (re. Rashi).
 
“their princes will fall by the sword from the rage of their tongue:” This may refer to the revolt s of the conspirators Zachariah, Shallum, Pekahiah, and Pekah, or to those who were killed by the sword of the Assyrians, such as Hoshea (the king), and the princes with him, by Shalmaneser. Rashi notes that some of those who fell were casualties of an armed force which had gone down to Egypt.
 
Rashi names the princes as “Jonathan son of Kareah and all the officers of the armies who returned to Egypt.”
 
This appears to be supported by the clause “this stammering derision in the land of Egypt.”
 
Generally speaking it is as a result of their rage against YHVH that the princes of the northern tribes met their demise. However, Rashi, based on his understanding of verse 13, concludes that the demise of the princes of the north is directly related to their abuse of the prophet Jeremiah:
 
“The harsh language with which they replied to Jeremiah.” -Rashi
 
Ref. Verse 13 “They said to Jeremiah, (Jer. 43:2) ‘You speak falsely; the Lord our God did not send you to say, ‘You shall not come to Egypt.’” -Rashi
 
“this stammering derision in the land of Egypt.” The death of some of Israel’s princes will be a result of derision caused by Israel’s return to Egypt for political assistance.
 
‘“This is their derision which they will deride them in the land of Egypt. Why have you returned to us to bring retribution upon us? Is it not written concerning you,” (Ex. 14:13) “You shall no longer continue to see them?”’ -Rashi
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

​Introduction:
 
Verses 13-15 of the previous chapter speak of the sickness (wounds) of Ephraim and Judah and their tearing apart as prey to HaShem (likened to a Lion and a Young Llion). The chapter concludes with a redemptive promise concerning a state of distress, that results in genuine repentance before the LORD. As we continue, we see the counterpoints to wounding and tearing in the healing and binding (bandaging) of Ephraim and Judah described in the first verse of the current chapter.
 
1“Le’chu, let’s walk ve’nashuvah and return el YHVH (Mercy) to the Lord.
Kiy For Hu He has taraf torn, ve’yirpaeinu He will heal us; He has yach struck, veyachbesheinu He will bind (bandage) us.
 
1“Come, let’s return to the Lord.
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
 
a.     “Let us return” is the repentant cry that activates the promised mercy.
b.     “LORD”, and the multiple repetitions of “He” establish for the reader (hearer) the Omnipotence of God.
c.     “He has torn” and “He has wounded” regard the practical discipline of the LORD which intends to provoke godly sorrow and repentance.
d.     “He will heal” and “He will bind” regard His healing work within the spirit and His touch of restoration in the physical.
 
This opening phrase is pretexted in the Targum Yonatan by the words, “They shall say” referring to those in distress (5:15) in the preceding verse. The Targum reads:
 
“They shall say ‘Let us return to the worship of the LORD.”
 
What is certain is that the voice is human and Israelite, a call from one or more of the people to the collective asking all to return to YHVH.
 
“Let’s walk” has both a physical application and a spiritual one. Halakhah (the way we walk) is the practical outworking of faith that is determined by the inner conviction of the soul.
 
The Hebrew does not say “Come let’s return” but “Let’s walk and return”. The text is enforcing the idea that mental assent to returning is not enough, part of faith in action is repentance in action. In fact, devoid of repentance in action faith is worthless.
 
Rashi says that the Hebrew “yach” is present tense and the text therefore reads, “He strikes us, He binds us up.”
 
It is YHVH Who both destroys and makes alive:
 
“See now that I, I am He, and no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither can any deliver out of My hand.” -Devarim (Deut.) 32:39
 
“Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD binds up the breach of his people, and heals the stroke of their wound.” -Yishayahu (Isaiah) 30:26
 
The Hebrew chabash (bind) is often used to refer to bandaging wounds and should not be presumed to refer to restraint. Misunderstanding this for example leads many to misinterpret Yeshua’s revelation to Peter and the disciples regarding their role as gatekeepers of the kingdom and the authority to bind and loose (Matt. 16:15-19).
 
Iben Ezra alludes to the fact that the ancient practice of binding wounds included softening the wound with oil prior to binding it. There is a significant link to the work of the Holy Spirit in the healing process.

2 Yechayeinu He will give us life mi-yomayim from two days; bayom in the day hashliyshiy the third yekimeinu He will raise us up, ve’nichyeh that we may live lepanayv before His face.
 
2 He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
 
a.     “Two days” and “third day” refer to the progression of a grouping of days, and coupled with “revive” denote the temporal restoration of the people, and “raise” their resurrection.
b.     “That we may live before Him” reveals both the outcome and the One Who made the outcome possible.
 
As I have stated elsewhere in my commentary the repetition of terms in Hebrew poetic phrasing such as this intends synonymous or intrinsically linked ideas. This gives emphasis to the same concept by repeating it in multiples.
 
The progression of days from two to three denotes two points, the first referring to a revival (awareness) and the second, a final resurrection (life being the result). The revival refers to the first coming of Messiah which occurred following the two figurative (days) captivities of Israel (Egyptian captivity, and Babylonian exile) and the conclusion of the third day refers to that time yet future when Messiah will return and the revival of the entire Jewish people (Israel) will occur convergent with the resurrection of the latter days. This is consistent with the commentary of Kimchi who makes a correlation between these verses and the three captivities of Egypt, Babylon and the present diaspora. Kimchi notes that the Jewish people await Ben Melekh (Son of a king) the Messiah Who will raise us up and bring us comfort.
 
Therefore, the obvious implication is that the future revival of Israel is intrinsically connected to a resurrection that occurs after three days, and the result of that miraculous event will be that Israel is able to live before God’s face in intimate relationship. Put plainly, Messiah Yeshua will revive us in three (historical, figurative) days (through His death and resurrection) and make it possible for us to be forgiven and restored to intimate holy relationship with YHVH the God of Israel.
 
The Targum Yonatan reads:
 
"He will quicken us in the days of consolation which are to come, and in the day of the resurrection of the dead he will raise us up;''
 
Ultimately, what we are reading here is the promise of God to restore all chosen, ethnic, religious, empirical Israel (the modern Jewish people descended from Yaakov) to Himself through the death and resurrection of the Jewish King Messiah Yeshua (Romans 11:15-36)

3 Veneidah And learn to know nirdefah following after lada’at to know et-YHVH the particular Lord. Keshachar Like the dawn nachaon firmly established motzau is His going forth; veyavo And He will come chageshem like the rain lanu to us, kemalkosh as the latter rain, yoreh as spring rain aretz upon land.”
 
3 So let’s learn, let’s press on to know the Lord.
His appearance is as sure as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
As the spring rain waters the earth.”
 
a.     “Learn to know” and “press on to know” establish the need for repentant people to apply the knowledge of God.
b.     “The LORD”, “His appearance” and “He will come” are supported by the physical reality of the rising sun, the seasonal cycle, and the perpetual precipitation of the created order.
 
The Sefaria English translation renders the Hebrew “ve’neidah” (and learn to know) as “obedience”. The knowledge being spoken of here is applied knowledge.
 
In ancient times the seasons were understood to have an almost immutable quality. Therefore, when Hebrew poetic/prophetic language likens the appearance of God to the dawn and to the rains that provide living waters to the land, it is saying that God’s coming to His people with healing and revival is certain, firmly established. His love and intimate knowledge of His creation is, for the creation, as reliable as the rising sun, the seasonal cycle, and the perpetual precipitation of the created order.
 
Iben Ezra focuses on the fact that it is knowledge of the Holy Name YHVH that will bring about Israel’s truly holy state of being. He is in fact, without knowing it, referring to the revelation of Yeshua the King Messiah.
 
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.” -Acts 4:12 NASB
 
"we shall know him, and it will be as clear to us as the light of the morning without clouds:'' -Yosef Kimchi
 
4 Mah What e’eseh-lecha shall I fashion with you, Efrayim (doubly fruitful)? Mah What e’eseh-lecha shall I fashion with you, Y’hudah (praise)? Vechasdechem And your kindness, faithfulness, practical love ka’anan-boker is like a morning cloud, vechatal night mist mashkiym that rises early and holeich goes away quickly.
 
4 What shall I do with you, Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, Judah?
For your loyalty is like a morning cloud,
And like the dew which goes away early.
 
a.     “Ephraim” the northern kingdom.
b.     “Judah” the southern kingdom.
c.     “Ephraim” and “Judah” are all the tribes of Israel combined.
d.     “Loyalty” as a single quality is in this case perpetually unreliable “morning cloud”, “dew”, and “goes away early”.
 
Sadly Israel’s good intentions did not last. HaShem’s response points out the hypocrisy of Israel’s claim to have understood her need to seek Him in true knowledge and thus be sure of His mercy. The response of God to His people is worded in such a way as to expose their hypocrisy as verbal assent to an idea rather than the application of true repentance. Whereas God’s coming in mercy is as reliable as the dawn, all Israel’s so called “loyalty” is as reliable as a quickly evaporating morning cloud/mist, like the dew which lasts only until the sun has risen.
 
God’s light exposes the brevity of Israel’s so called “repentance”.

5 Al-kein Therefore chatzavtiy I have quarried them baneviyiym by the prophets; haragtiym the slayings are be’imreiy-fiy in the speaking of My mouth; umishpateycha and the judgments on you or are a light yeitzei going forth.
 
5 Therefore I have cut them in pieces by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
And the judgments on you are like the light that [b]shines.
 
a.     “Cut” and “slain” refer to established discipline following fair warning.
b.     “Prophets” and “Words of My mouth” are intrinsically linked.
c.     “Judgements” and “light shining forth” denote a clear and just revelation and manifest application of God’s discipline. Remembering that His Mercy precedes His judgement and is the fruit of it.
 
The prophets of God (Amos, Micah, Isaiah, Hosea) had been filled with and had publicly proclaimed the Word of YHVH as a means of quarrying out the righteous remnant from among the worthless rock of the wider community. The Word of YHVH will manifest in the physical, coming to pass with the slaying of the wicked and the revelation that His judgement is righteous, and is seen by all.

6 Kiy For chesed kindness, faithfulness, practical love chafatztiy I delight in, velo and not zavach sacrifice, ve’da’at And the knowledge of Elohiym (God, Judge) meiolot from whole burnt offerings.
 
6 For I [c]desire loyalty rather than sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
 
a.     “Kindness, practical love” and “the knowledge (intimacy) of God the Judge” link intimate knowledge with relational love in their applied forms.
b.     “Sacrifice” and “burnt offerings” here refer to defiled sacrifice and apostate offerings.
 
As I understand the Hebrew text the best reading of it is: “For kindness, faithfulness, practical love I delight in, and not (defiled) sacrifice, and knowledge of God, the Judge from whole burnt offerings.”
 
In short, this is not saying that God desires faithfulness and knowledge of Him in place of sacrifice and offering but that faithful love for Him is better than defiled sacrifices, and knowledge of Him is evidenced in the right application of burnt offerings.
 
The sacrifices and burnt offerings being spoken of here are the defiled and syncretised sacrifices mixing worship of YHVH with other gods. This text is not contradicting the Torah sacrificial system, nor is it saying that properly offered sacrifices and offerings are unpleasing to God, to the contrary, loyalty to God and knowledge of Him result in appropriate sacrifice and offering. In Messiah we are instructed to offer our body’s as a living sacrifice to God, and in whatever we do, be it word or deed, to do it in the name, identity, and character of the Lord Yeshua our Messiah, giving thanks to God the Father through Him (Colossians 3:17).

7 Veheimah And in the same way ke’adam as Adam (the first man) averu they have missed the mark, violated the veriyt covenant; sham there bagedu they have acted deceitfully viy toward Me.
 
7 But like [d]Adam they have violated the covenant;
There they have dealt treacherously with Me.
 
a.     “Adam” and “dealt treacherously” are the couplet that reminds the reader/hearer of humanity’s decision to disobey God and allow sin to enter the world and death with it.
b.     “Violated the covenant” and “Me” show the connection between the covenant Maker God and those who enter into covenant (agreement) with Him.
 
“Like Adam” does not mean that Adam the first man violated a written or blood atoned covenant, no such covenant was made between God and Adam. Covenant is used here in the sense of the root meaning of “bara” (cutting, eating, agreement) and denoting agreement between two persons or groups of people. In Adam’s case he and Chavah ate of the fruit of garden in agreement with the Creator. Through relationship this agreement (covenant) was implied, thus by eating of the fruit which they had agreed (covenanted) not to eat, they broke covenant with God.
 
In the same way that the first man and subsequently mankind have chosen to act by missing the mark (which is what the Hebrew “averu” means), of The Covenant established by God’s all existing holiness (predates Exodus 19:5, Torah), Israel has despised the written covenant of Sinai.
 
We note that the covenant entered into at Sinai at the revealing of the Torah of HaShem was unanimously agreed to by the people of Israel (Exodus 24:3). We further observe that the Torah was given as the physical, written and lasting measure by which sin is exposed. The Torah is a legal document that is therefore used to indict sinners. God’s holiness is all existing and is the ultimate reference point for determining Good from Evil. Therefore, the measure by which we determine Good and Evil predates the written Torah and makes Adam (the first man, and humanity as a whole) culpable in regard to the choice to sin against God’s holiness (the mark).
 
“There” refers to the land of Israel and may infer a correlation between the sin of Ephraim and Judah to that sin which occurred in the valley of Achor (named after the sin of Achan who stole items dedicated to destruction from the ruins of Jericho; Joshua 7). We note that it is God’s intention to turn the valley of Achor (trouble) into a door of hope (Hosea 2:15).
 
God had brought the tribes of Israel, from Egypt, to Sinai (Covenant of Torah) and into ha-aretz (the Land). Therefore, having been delivered from captivity, given covenant law and carried into a land of abundance, Israel, once comfortable in the land had dealt treacherously with the One Who had given them all this.
 
“In a good land where I settled them, there they betrayed Me, like Adam, whom I brought into the Garden of Eden, and he transgressed My commandment. [from Gen. Rabbah]” -Rashi
 
"and in the good land, which I gave unto them to do my will, they have dealt falsely with my word.'' -Targum Yonatan

8 Gil’ad (witness heap) kiryat is a city po’aleiy of makers of aven iniquity, wickedness, idolatry. akubah insidious, slippery, polluted midam from blood.
 
8 Gilead is a city of wrongdoers,
Tracked with bloody footprints.
 
a.     “Gilead” meaning “witness heap” testifies as a witness against its own vile sin.
b.     “Iniquity” is linked to “slippery blood” an denotes a city in which murder and idolatrous sacrifices have resulted in the shedding of so much blood that the ground is slippery with it.
 
The city Gilead in Gad (territory of the tribe of Gad) was the capital of the wider region of Gilead. The wider region covered area near and beyond the Jordan river, and was inhabited by Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh; and thus belonged to the ten tribes of the north.
 
The city of Gilead is thought to be Ramot-Gilead, a city of refuge inhabited by priests, both apostate and Levite. This made the sin of the city even more deplorable given that the priests and Levites had knowledge of the Torah but had clearly not properly conveyed that knowledge to the wider community.
 
While the polluting of blood can refer to murder and idolatrous sacrifices, it can also denote bloodguilt brought on the city by the misapplication of the law of refuge. It may be that murderers guilty of premeditated murder were being given refuge contrary to the law, or that those guilty of accidental killing were being given over to the avenger of blood rather than being protected by the city of refuge in accordance with Torah law*.
 
*The Bible names the six cities as being cities of refuge: Golan, Ramot-Gilead and Bosor, on the east of the Jordan river (Left bank) [Deut. 4:43; Josh. 20:8], and Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron on the west bank of the Jordan river [Joshua 20:7].
 

9 Uchechakeiy And like robbers lying in wait for iysh a man gedudiym as a group, chever a company kohaniym of priests yeratztzechu commit murder on the way to Shechmah (Shechem, shoulder/back); kiy Surely zimah (premeditation) they have planned asu to fashion evil.
 
9 And as a band of robbers lie in wait for a person,
So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem;
Certainly they have committed an act of infamy.
 
a.     “robbers” and “priests” are seen as synonymous.
b.     “lie in wait” and “way to Shechem” are considered synonymous.
 
This verse describes priests who acting like robbers not only murder others on their way to make sacrifices (perform religious acts), but do so with premeditation. Therefore, they have exceeded even the depravity of the godless nations that surrounded Israel. They have not stumbled upon evil, they have planned it.
 
“On the way to Shechem” can be understood to refer to those who are murdered. They are those who are passing through Shechem on their way to Jerusalem to worship the LORD at one of the Regaliym/Aliyot (going up festivals: Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot).
 
Some understand the verse to read “As a band of robbers wait to pounce on a person, so priests are murdered on the way to Shechem, certainly they have planned to do this evil.”
 
*We note that Shechem was also a city of refuge and that the blood guilt on the city of Ramot-Gilead is extended to Shechem and the priests associated with that city.
 
Shechem rests in the valley between Mt Ebal (bald) and Mt Gerizim (Cuttings off) where the Curses (Ebal) and Blessings (Gerizim) were pronounced over Israel as she entered the land (Deut. 11:29; 27; 28; Joshua 8:30-35).

10 Be’beiyt In the house Yisrael (overcome in God) raiytiy I have seen sha’aruriyah an opening to horror, dread, storm; sham there zenut fornication, harlotry le’Efrayim to Ephraim, nitma uncleanness, defilement in Yisrael.
 
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
Ephraim’s infidelity is there, Israel has defiled itself.
 
a.     “House of Israel” and “Ephraim” join the northern tribes to the house from which their kingship had originated.
b.     “Horrible thing”, “Infidelity (sexual sin)” and “defiled herself” link the abhorrent sight of sexual sin to its repercussions. Thus, as mentioned in my commentary prior to this, sexual sin is self-harm.
 
The horror in Israel resulting from her infidelity, mixes idolatry and sexual sin. The calves set up at Dan and Bethel (1 Kings 12:25-33) mirrored the calf worshipped at the foot of Sinai (Exodus 32) and represented the ultimate affront to the covenant of YHVH. The spiritual fornication of the worship of false gods overflowed into physical sexual immorality and was mingled with the blood of the innocent in orgies of vile apostate religion. All this Israel had chosen while wilfully turning her back on HaShem.

11 Gam Also, Y’hudah, shat there is set katziyr a harvest lach for you, beshuviy in My returning you shevut from captivity Amiy My people.
 
11 Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you,
When I restore the fortunes of My people.
 
a.“Judah” is not immune to sin, there is a judgement coming upon the southern kingdom also (Babylonian exile). However, “Harvest” represents both judgement outworked and redemption made full.
b.“Return” the LORD will return Judah from exile.
 
The meaning of this verse is beautifully complex and denotes both judgement (Harvest: Joel 3:13; Matt. 13:30-39) and salvation (Harvest: Isaiah 9:3; Luke 10:2; Matt.9:38) through returning (repentance).
 
The English translation “When I restore the fortunes of My people” is ineffective. The Hebrew text literally reads “In My returning you from captivity My people”. The Hebrew is saying, “When I personally return you through judgement and harvest from captivity, you My people.”
 
We note that both the harvest of judgement and the harvest of returning are associated to Judah specifically and will benefit all Israel. In other words, the judgement and restoration will come through Judah. This initially refers to the Babylonian exile and the subsequent return of all the tribes of Israel to Judea where they collectively become known as Y’hudim (Jews). However, it ultimately refers to the deliverance of Israel from sin through the King Messiah born of Judah, and the fullness of the redemption of all ethnic, chosen, religious, empirical Israel through Yeshua at the end of days (Romans 11:15-36).
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

​1Shimu-zot Hear, listen, receive, understand this, ha-kohaniym you the priests!
Ve’hakshiyvu and pay attention, be attentive, heed, incline your ears beiyt Yisrael house of Israel! Uveiyt ha-melekh And house of the king ha’azinu give ear, listen, harken, be obedient! Kiy For lachem upon you hamishpat is the judgment, kiy because you have been a pach bird trap le’Mitzpah at Mizpah (look out, watch point, watchtower), vereshet and a net perusah spread out, breaking in pieces al-Tavor (mound, breaking) on Tabor (Mt Tabor).
 
1Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, you of the house of the king!
For the judgment applies to you,
Because you have been a trap at Mizpah,
And a net spread out on Tabor.
 
a.     “Hear… Pay attention… Listen” are a trifold admonishment in response to Israel’s wilful decision to block her ears, ignore and refuse to listen to God.
b.     “You priests” is spoken to the illegitimate priests of the north but also regards Israel being a nation of priests called by God (Exodus 19:6) and finds its triplet in the “house of Israel” and the “house of the king”. Each of the three were responsible for maintaining justice: a. Priest [Godly, spiritual justice] b. Israel [social justice] c. King [justice of governance].
c.     “House of the king” could refer to HaShem as King [the King], or to the king of Judah, linking to the reference to Judah in verse 5, it could also be a reference to Menachem [the then king of the north] or a symbolic reference to Jeroboam: of Ephraim, as first king of the north).
d.     “Judgement” corresponds to “a trap” and “a net”.
e.     The two locations of “Mizpah” and “Tabor” are mentioned as locations relating to Israel’s idolatrous sin against God. They mark two places where idolatry was being practiced, a reference to high places of occult worship. They may also have been look out stations intended to prevent members of the northern tribes from going up to Jerusalem to worship (Rashi).
 
“Hear this you priests”
 
God had called all Israel a “priesthood”:
 
“and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” -Exodus 19:6 NASB
 
It’s important to note that the priests of the northern kingdom appointed by Jeroboam were not Levites and therefore were illegitimate priests.
 
“And he (Jeroboam) made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.” -1 Kings 12:31 KJV
 
We could read “Hear this you illegitimate priests!”
 
“incline your ears house of Israel! And house of the king give ear”
 
The distinction made by admonishing the “house of Israel” and the “house of the king” could mean that God is addressing both the northern tribes and Judah (Benjamin). The remaining verses and the greater context makes this the most likely interpretation. However, as stated in the points above regarding the poetic mechanisms, there are at least two other possible interpretations.
 
“For upon you is the judgment, because you have been a bird trap at Mizpah (look out, watch point, watchtower), and a net spread out, breaking in pieces (mound, breaking) on Tabor.”
 
Bird traps and the like are used in Scripture as a metaphor of the practices of the wicked in entrapping innocent people (Job 18:8-10; Psalm 140:5; Proverbs 29:5; Lamentations 1:13). This adds weight to Rashi’s assertion that Mizpah and Tabor were look outs intended to prevent members of the northern tribes from going up to worship in Jerusalem.
 
Mizpah could be one of two places: 1. Mizpah in Gilead east of the Jordan (Genesis 31:43-49) 2. Mizpah in Benjamin (1 Samuel 7:5-6; 10:17). Given the historical context it seems more likely that Mizpah in Benjamin is being alluded to, making the indictment equally against the northern and southern kingdoms. However, Rashi infers that both locations were in the northern kingdom and were high points where look outs were placed to prevent members of the northern tribes from going up to Jerusalem to worship.
 
“On these two mountains they stationed sentries so that Israel would not make the pilgrimage to the Temple.” -Rashi
 
Regardless, as a result of her occult and idolatrous practices on the high places of Mizpah and Tabor, the northern kingdom and perhaps Benjamin (Mizpah: 1 Samuel 7:5-6; 10:17) have set a trap for all residents of Israel (and Judah) and have caused a breaking out of violence and debauchery that has permeated through the entire northern region and as a result has overflowed into Judah.
 
Mizpah means “look out” and Tabor “breaking”. Thus, both Israel (northern kingdom) and Judah have invited demonic false deities to have access to the north (Tabor) and south (Mizpah). They have done this by a. preventing those who wish to come to worship at the God appointed location of the temple mount and b. by worshipping other deities in syncretism with their worship of HaShem.
 
There is a warning here for all who believe. When we compromise the clear instruction of God and in turn allow other forms of worship to converge with our faith practice, we too invite demonic influence, and if we leave these things unaddressed, that influence becomes a stronghold with the potential to lead us to destruction.

2 Veshachatah And the slaughter seitiym of the rebels he’miyku has gone deep,
va’aniy And I musar will discipline lechulam all of them. 3 Aniy yadatiy I know Efrayim (doubly fruitful), veYisrael and Israel (Overcome in El) lo-nichchad is not hidden/cut off mimeniy from Me; kiy for now nitma unclean, impure Efrayim (doubly fruitful), has been, as has Israel.
 
2 And the rebels have gone deep in [a]depravity,
But I will discipline all of them.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
Because now, Ephraim, you have been unfaithful,
Israel has defiled itself.
 
a.     “Depravity” is the fruit of “Rebellion”, and a loving God disciplines the ones He loves.
b.     “Ephraim” and “Israel” (northern tribes) are synonymous terms. The northern tribes are neither hidden nor cut off from HaShem YHVH (Mercy).
c.     “Unfaithfulness (in particular, sexual unfaithfulness)” is “Self-defilement”.
 
“the slaughter of the rebels has gone deep”
 
Iben Ezra calls them “those idolaters, revolters, or worshippers of Baal.”
 
This refers to the fruit of idolatrous blood sacrifices. Both the spiritual and physical implications have found their way into the depths of societal and individual consciousness.
 
“The extent of their straying they have deepened. I said that anyone who does not go up to Jerusalem on the Pilgrimage festivals transgresses a positive commandment, and they decreed that anyone who does go up to Jerusalem shall be put to death. Hence, they went deeper than I. I.e., they were more stringent than I (Sanhedrin 102a).” -Rashi
 
“I will discipline all of them”
 
“All of them” refers to all who have sinned. God is just, those who are part of the righteous remnant will go into exile along with the wicked but will be kept set apart from the punishment of the wicked.
 
“I know Efrayim, and Israel is not hidden/cut off from Me;”
 
“I know” is an intimate phrase denoting God’s relationship to Ephraim. “Not hidden” is an affirmation of God’s intimate knowledge of Israel and is a reminder of His All Knowing (omniscient) nature.
 
“Until Hosea son of Elah, they blamed their sins on their kings, who prevented them from going on the pilgrimages. This one arose and abolished the sentries; yet they did not go up. Therefore, they were exiled. For now you have committed harlotry, O Ephraim, and they cannot blame the king. I learned this in Seder Olam [Order of the world] (ch. 22).” -Rashi

4 Lo yitnu Nothing will be given them ma’aleiyhem from their deeds, lashuv to return el-Eloheiyhem to their God. Kiy For ruach a spirit, wind, breath of zenuniym prostitution, adultery, fornication bekirbam is within them, ve’et-YHVH and the particular YHVH (Mercy) lo yadau they do not know.
 
4 Their deeds will not allow them
To return to their God.
For a spirit of [b]infidelity is within them,
And they do not know the Lord.
 
a.     “Their deeds” and “infidelity” are connected to a spirit (demonic) of infidelity which has gained access through the perpetual nature of their sin.
b.     Their ability to “return to” is corrupted by the fact that they “do not know”.
 
“Nothing will be given them from their deeds, to return to their God.”
 
The fruit of idolatry does not lead to repentance. To the contrary, an awareness of God’s holiness exposes sin and leads to godly sorrow and returning. It’s not true to say only that “All things work together for good”, a part truth is a lie. What is true is that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28; cf. Eph. 1:11). Neither “things” nor “works” themselves are the cause, rather, they are the substance moulded by the cause, and the cause proceeds from God.
 
Persistent intentional sin, the decision to make sin a lifestyle, eventually leads a person to a place where repentance is impossible (Jeremiah 13:23; Hebrews 6:4-6).
 
“For a spirit, wind, breath of prostitution, adultery, fornication is within them,”
 
Israel, through perpetual and intentional sin has opened the door of her inner self to the demonic and the demonic has taken up residence “within” her. All of this is a result of her wilful ignorance of God:
 
“They do not know the LORD”
 
This is because they have refused to know Him. In one sense this is consistent with the sexual sin metaphor, in that they have rejected intimacy with their Husband and have “known” (in the Biblical sense: sexually) other husbands (false gods, foreigners, strangers).
 
They have sinned both corporeally and spiritually by practicing orgies of worship before false deities, on the high places that God had commanded them not to worship at.

5 Ve’anah and testifies, geon-Yisrael the pride of Israel befanayv in his face,
ve’yisraeil and Israel ve’Efrayim (doubly fruitful) and Ephraim yikashelu have stumbled, staggered ba’avonam in their depravity, iniquity, perversity; kashal stumbling gam-Y’hudah also Judah (praise) imam with them.
 
5 Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him,
And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their wrongdoing;
Judah also has stumbled with them.
 
a.     The “pride of Israel”, “their wrong doing”, and the “stumbling” of Judah are a trifold indictment.
b.     The sin itself (pride) is testifying against the sinner (Israel).
 
“and testifies, the pride of Israel in his face,”
 
The outworking of Israel’s pride is staring her in the face. Her sin is obvious to her. The use of the Hebrew befanayv denotes intimacy and affirms the idea of the previous verse that notes Israel’s intimacy with other lovers. One of her other lovers is her own pride.
 
“Israel and Ephraim have stumbled in their perversity…”
 
The Hebrew avon denotes vile perversity, the English (NASB) “wrong doing” is a benign translation. The imagery is of one who is caught in the quagmire of his own debasement, sin and death being both cause and effect.
 
“also Judah with them”
 
As evidenced by the repeated references to Judah, Israel (northern kingdom) are not alone in idolatrous practice (1:7; 3:5; 4:15; 5:5, 10, 12, 14; 6:11; 12:3). Judah has, of her own freewill chosen to adopt the idolatrous practices of Israel.

6 Betzonam With their flocks uvivkaram and herds yelechu they will walk (go out)
levakeish to seek et-YHVH (Mercy) the particular Lord, velo yimtzau and they will not find Him; chalatz He has withdrawn meihem from them.
 
6 They will go with their flocks and herds
To seek the Lord, but they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them.
 
a.     “Flocks and herds” and “seek the LORD” qualify the flocks and herds as sacrificial animals intended for the covering of sin before YHVH.
b.     “Will not find Him” and “withdrawn from them”, establish the fact that Israel’s intentional and perpetual idolatry has made it impossible, at this juncture, for her to find Him. They intend to defile the sacrifices commanded by God and as a result the sin sacrifices will be ineffective, leaving them incapable of reconciliation to YHVH, at this point in time.
 
“With their flocks and herds they will walk out”
 
Sacrificial animals.
 
“To seek the particular Lord, and they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them.”
 
They intend to seek the LORD with syncretized worship practices. Therefore, He will not be found by them. It will be as if He has withdrawn from them. Grace and mercy are offered to all through blood covering but only the truly repentant can receive God’s free gift.
 
To seek to offer compromised sacrifices to YHVH in their situation was abhorrent (Isaiah 1:10-14; Amos 5:21-25; Micah 6:6-8). Note that when the prophets speak of God not wanting sacrifices and festivals they are not speaking of the proper observance of the LORD’s appointed times or the proper offering of sacrifices according to His Torah, but the syncretized, compromised observance of festivals and the offering of defiled sacrifices.
 
Rashi interprets “withdrawn” as “slipped off” and infers that God as Husband has removed Israel’s marital covering like the removal of a garment. This is consistent with the marriage metaphor.
 
“Heb. חָלַץ, slipped away. Comp. (2 Samuel 2:21) “and take to yourself his clothing (חֲלִצָתוֹ),” the clothing that you will slip off them.” -Rashi
 
This verse is not saying that Israel will never return to the LORD, but that she was unable to at that time. Elsewhere we are told that Israel will return to the LORD when she repents in the true integrity of her inner being (3:5; 5:15; Dt. 4:29—31; Jer. 29:13).

7 Ba-YHVH Against the LORD they have dealt bagadu treacherously,
Kiy For vaniym children zariym strangers yaladu they have given birth to.
Now yochlem chodesh the new moon/new month is devouring them et-chelkeiyhem with their portion, share, territory, possession.
 
7 They have dealt treacherously with the Lord,
For they have given birth to [c]illegitimate children.
Now the new moon will devour them with their [d]land.
 
a.     “Dealt treacherously” finds its correlation in “given birth”.
b.     “The LORD” and “illegitimate children” are connected phrases because a point is being made that Israel has birthed children of idolatrous practices and the children are therefore worshipping false gods because they are not the legitimate children of YHVH. In some cases the children in question are literally children born of the sexual union of Israelites and foreigners (idolaters).
 
“For children strangers they have given birth to…”
 
Israel had attributed the successful birth of her children to the Canaanite fertility god Ba’al and therefore have made Ba’al the father, making them legitimate children of Satan illegitimate children of Israel.
 
“the new moon/new month is devouring them with their portion, share, territory, possession.”
 
The desecration of the God appointed new moon celebration will become a sign of the punishment coming against Israel. The punishment will happen over a metaphorical month and she will be removed from her tribal territories and taken into captivity. Why, because the reason for the removal of the inhabitants of the land given to Israel, was their idolatrous behaviour (Lev. 20:23). Therefore, being a just God and Father, YHVH removes (temporarily) Israel for the same reason. However, being Israel’s Father YHVH intends this removal as temporal discipline and not permanent banishment (as some fools teach).
 
8 Tiku Blow shofar a ram’s horn ba-Givah in Gibeah (bowl, in the mountain district of Judea), And chatzotzerah the trumpet in ba-Ramah (high place, near to Gibeah).
Hariyu Shout, raise an alarm at Beit Aven (Beth-aven, House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity): “Behind you, Benyamiyn (son of the right hand [strength])!”
 
8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,
And the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:
“Behind you, Benjamin!”
 
a.     “Ram’s horn” and “Trumpet” are both instruments for calling the people. However, they serve different purposes in calling. The Ram’s horn is associated with the binding of Isaac (Gen. 22), the giving of the Torah (Ex. 19:16), the jubilee (Lev. 25:9), war & miracles (Jos. 6:4; Jdg. 6:34; 7:8) etc., whereas the silver trumpets were associated with the movement of the camp in the desert (Num. 10:2), the priesthood (Num. 10:8; 1 Ch. 15:24), worship (1 Ch. 13:8; 2 Ch. 5:12), and the coronation of kings (2 Ch. 23:11-13).
b.     “Gibeah”, “Ramah”, and “Beth Aven” are all locations of idolatrous worship, two of which are in the territory of Benjamin (Gibeah and Ramah), and one on the border of Ephraim and Benjamin (Beth Aven), or, if Beth Aven and Bethel are the same place, then it is located in the territory of Benjamin just east of the border.
 
“Ram’s horn” (shofar) As stated, the ram’s horn is associated with the giving of the Torah (Ex. 19:16), the jubilee (Lev. 25:9), war & miracles (Jos. 6:4; Jdg. 6:34; 7:8) etc. And finds its true origin in the “binding of Isaac” (Gen. 22). Meaning that at its root it is the sound of redemption.
 
“Trumpet” (chatzotzerah, silver trumpet) As stated, is associated with the movement of the camp in the desert (Num. 10:2), the priesthood (Num. 10:8; 1 Ch. 15:24), worship (1 Ch. 13:8; 2 Ch. 5:12), and the coronation of kings (2 Ch. 23:11-13).
 
Therefore, all aspects of meaning associated with both instruments are denoted in the naming of them:
 
1.     The Torah has found you wanting (Ex. 19:16).
2.     You will not be in the land to celebrate the jubilee (Lev. 25:9).
3.     War is at hand, but the power of God is levelled against you by way of punishment at the hand of the Assyrian Empire (Jos. 6:4; Jdg. 6:34; 7:8).
4.     The camp is about to move, into exile (Num. 10:2).
5.     Your compromised priesthood will fall (Num. 10:8; 1 Ch. 15:24).
6.     There will be an end to your apostate worship (1 Ch. 13:8; 2 Ch. 5:12).
7.     The north will see no more kings (2 Ch. 23:11-13).
 
“Gibeah” and “Ramah” are situated in the territory of Benjamin. This means that the alarm being sounded is a warning to Judah and in particular to Benjamin. The Assyrian invasion is immanent.
 
“Beit-Aven” (House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity) is a sarcastic way of referring to Bethel (House of God)[Talmud], and or a place very close to Bethel (Joshua 7:2), it was a main centre of northern apostate worship located in the territory of Ephraim/Benjamin. A place that has a strong connection to both the physical and spiritual journeys of the Patriarchs and in particularly to Jacob, who became Israel. It was on the border of the territories of Ephraim and Benjamin (according to the interpretation that equates it to Bethel it is technically located in the territory of Benjamin to the east of the border between the two territories).
 
It seems likely, given Hosea 4:15, that Beth Aven was considered to be part of the territory of Ephraim (northern tribes):
 
“Judah must not become an offender in the Gilgal; and don’t go into Beth-Aven” -Hosea 4:15
 
Proximity is important. Benjamin had absorbed the practices of the northern tribes. “Bad company corrupts good character” (Proverbs 1:8-19; 1 Corinthians 15:33).
 
“Sound a shofar: [O prophets, raise your voices like a shofar.] The news of the sword which is coming as retribution for the iniquity of crowning Saul, who was in Gibeah, and for disobeying Samuel, who was from Ramah. And their kings caused them to turn away from following Me, such as Jeroboam and his ilk. Shout over them, ‘Violence and great destruction!’” -Targum Yonatan
 
Some claim that this warning refers to the Aramean/Syrian and Ephraimite war 734-733 BCE recorded in 2 Kings 16:5-9 and alluded to in Isaiah 7:1-9. This cannot be determined definitively.

9 Efrayim (doubly fruitful) le’shamah will become a horror bayom in the day tocheichah of correction; beshivteiy Among the tribes of Yisrael I make known what is ne’emanah to be established.
 
9 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is trustworthy.
 
a.     “Ephraim” and “Israel” are in one sense synonymous, however, Ephraim is mentioned as a symbol of the kings of the north (Jeroboam of Ephraim being the first king of the north), whereas Israel encompasses all the tribes. Thus, all are culpable.
b.     “made known” and “firmly established” are phrases denoting the obvious outcomes of Israel’s sin and the just indictment made against her to her face by YHVH.
 
The plain meaning denotes the exile of the northern tribes at the hand of the Assyrians. Their exile will be a horror to both the northern tribes, who endure it, and the southern tribes who observe it. Nonetheless, the southern tribes failed to heed the warning and were taken into exile in Babylon approximately a hundred years later.
 
“Said Rabbi Abahu in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Chanina. On the day that the Holy One, blessed be He, debates with them in judgment, they will not be able to open their mouths, for among their tribes I made known that the judgment is a true judgment. You find that, when the ten tribes were exiled, Benjamin and Judah were not exiled, and the ten tribes were saying, Because they are the dwellers of His palace, He did not exile them. There is favouritism in this matter. God forbid, there is no favouritism, but their measure of sin was not yet full. As soon as they sinned, they were exiled. Then the ten tribes were bewildered, without an answer in their mouths, and they said, “Behold God! Behold the Mighty One! Behold the Just One! For even to those who dwell in His house He shows no favouritism.” This is to fulfil what is stated: Among the tribes of Israel I made known a true judgment. [from Lam. Rabbah, Proem 6]” -Rashi

10 The sareiy princes of Y’udah have become kemasigeiy like those who remove gevul a boundary (territory) marker; aleiyhem on them eshpoch I will pour out kamayim evratiy My fury like water.
 
10 The leaders of Judah have become like those who displace a boundary marker;
On them I will pour out My anger like water.
 
Idolatry is also present in Judah, perhaps not yet to the same extent but it is nonetheless growing. The exile of the northern tribes is to be an unheeded warning and the sins of Judah are being called out. The indictment against Judah addresses a sin against all the tribes. The moving of territory markers which secure the tribal allotments assigned by HaShem.
 
The Torah forbids the moving of boundary stones because it is an act of stealing from another tribe and a desecration against Israel as a whole.
 
“You shall not displace your neighbor’s boundary marker, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to [q]possess.” -Deuteronomy 19:14 NASB
 
“Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.” - Deuteronomy 27:17 NKJV
 
This sin is abhorrent to HaShem because it is in direct opposition to His provision of an inheritance for all Israel. It would be a king of Judah who would one day rule over all the tribes in the Messianic age, therefore, for the then kings and princes of Judah to be likened to those who remove boundary markers is to say they have dishonoured their role as protectors of the inheritance of Israel.

11 Efrayim (doubly fruitful) ashuk is oppressed, retzutz crushed mishpat by judgment,
Kiy Because hoiyl he was determined halakh to walk achareiy after tzav a command.
12 Va’aniy And I am cha’ash like a moth to Efrayim, ve’charakav and like decay leveiyt Y’hudah to the house of Judah.
 
11 Ephraim is oppressed, broken by judgment,
Because he was determined to follow [e]man’s command.
12 Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim,
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
 
a.     Ephraim’s oppression is the result of following a command of men, or of Ba’al (as opposed to the commands of God).
b.     Oppression is the fruit of human sin, whereas judgement (in this case) is of God, Elohiym (the Judge).
c.     “Moth” and “Rottenness” progressively destroy and are the result of neglect. In Israel’s case they have neglected the Torah of YHVH and have instead followed the doctrines of men.
 
“Now why does he suffer with all this? Because he wished and desired and followed the new commands of the prophets of Baal.” -Rashi

13 When Efrayim saw chalyo his sickness, and Y’udah his et-mezoro particular wound,
Efrayim then went to Ashur (Assyria, a step) vayishlach And sent to Melekh Yarev a king of Jareb (Contender). But he is unable lirpo to heal lachem you, or to yigheh take away mikem from you mazior your wound.
 
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his [f]sore,
Ephraim then went to Assyria
And sent word to [g]King Jareb.
But he is unable to heal you,
Or to cure you of your [h]sore.
 
a.     “Sickness” and “wound” are the result of idolatry.
b.     “Ephraim (northern tribes)” and “Judah (including Benjamin)”
c.     The northern kings went to Tiglath Pileser II for help.
 
Despite the protests of revisionist liberal scholars both Jewish and Christian, there is clear evidence here of the Assyrian threat.
 
“King Jareb” or “king of Jareb” appears to be another name for Tiglath Pileser II whom Assyrian records say received a tribute paid by the Israelite (northern tribes) kings Menachem and Hoshea (2 Kings 15:19-20; 17:2). The reading “Of Jareb” would mean that he was a king of a province called Jareb rather than a king named Jareb. This is consistent with the correlation to Tiglath Pileser II.
 
“This is Hosea son of Elah, who was his vassal and then rebelled against him (II Kings 17:4).” -Rashi
 
"and sent to the king that shall come to avenge them;'' -Targum Yonatan

14 Kiy For Anochiy I will be chashachal like a lion to Efrayim, vechakefiyr and like a young lion leveiyt to the house of Y’hudah. Aniy Aniy I, indeed I, etrof will tear to pieces ve’elech and go away, esa carrying away, ve’eiyn matziyl and there will be no one to rescue.
 
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, yes I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be no one to rescue.
 
The metaphor “like a lion” used of YHVH is consistent with similar usage elsewhere in prophetic literature. The King Messiah is known as the “Lion of Judah” (Rev. 5:5).
 
The Assyrian Empire will take away the northern tribes, however, God is in control of what takes place, therefore, He is the One who carries Israel away as prey.

15 I eilech will go ashuvah and return el-makumiy to My place, ad until asher-yeshemu they acknowledge their guilt uvikshu and seek panay My face; batzar In their distress lahem yeshacharuniy they will earnestly search for Me.
 
15 I will go away and return to My place
Until they [i]acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their distress they will search for Me.
 
“I will go and return to My place,”
 
While the plain meaning indicates that God will withdraw His protection over Israel. It is worth noting that the Hebrew el-makumiy can be understood to refer to the temple mount in Jerusalem ha-makum.
 
“Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face”
 
According to the redemptive rhythm of the prophetic work an opportunity for repentance is given along with hope for reconciliation.
 
The acknowledgement of sin is necessary and to seek intimate knowledge of God is essential in order for reconciliation to take place.
 
“In their distress they will search for Me.”
 
The discipline that will result in Israel’s distress is intended to bring her to godly sorrow unto repentance and to deliver her from her self-harming lifestyle of idolatry.
 
“29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things happen to you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice.” - Deuteronomy 4:29-30 NASB
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

CHAPTER 3
 
3 1Vayomer And said YHVH (Mercy) the Lord to me (Hosea), “Eilay od leicha Walk continually toward and, ehav-ishah love a woman ahuvat who is beloved by/as an reia intimate friend, umena’afet and yet continues to commit adultery, ke’ahavat because of the love YHVH (Mercy) the Lord bestows on et-beneiy Yisrael the children of Israel, ve’hem and they poniym look/turn (continually) el-elohiym acheiriym toward other gods veohaveiy and love ashiysheiy fire pressed anaveiym fruit/grapes (raisin cakes, wine libation).”
 
“go, deliver a prophecy against the house of Israel, who are like a woman dear to her husband; and though she commits fornication against him, yet he so loves her that he will not put her away:” -Hosea 3:1 Targum Yonatan Ben Uzziel (2nd Centruy CE Aramaic paraphrase translation)
 
We note that in the previous chapter HaShem has promised to show compassion upon Israel and to seed righteousness in them through His sacrificial love. Their future is belonging and right relationship but their present was the antithesis of these things. The stark contrast between the faithfulness of God and the unfaithfulness of Israel is illuminated in the living mashal (parable) of Hosea’s life.
 
Hosea (Salvation) is tasked with physically showing the northern tribes and by extension all Israel (including Judah and Benjamin) the abhorrent nature of her condition. Consider the gut wrenching heartbreak the prophet must suffer in order to act out these instructions, the self-sacrificing obedience to God, the forsaking of an opportunity for marriage to a faithful bride of the remnant in order to continue to offer grace to the wayward wife Gomer (Perfect, beautiful), who has wilfully chosen to seek her own pleasure over the secure love of her husband. Are we willing to be obedient in the face of suffering? To forgo just outcomes in this temporary world in order to expose wickedness and offer redemption to the wicked? What would that look like in our lives?
 
“And Mercy said to me, ‘Walk continually toward and love a woman who is loved by/as an intimate friend, and yet continues to commit adultery…”
 
There are two ways to understand this verse. First, the intimate friend is the wayward women and second, the intimate friend is a friend of the prophet who has cheated with the wayward woman (Gomer). If the latter is the intended meaning the weight of Hosea’s task becomes exponentially greater. Regardless, the woman is intentionally and flamboyantly adulterous and thus her actions both break her husband’s heart privately and humiliate her husband publicly. The fact that she is clearly (according to the social norms that had developed through sin practices and in opposition to the Torah) not being held accountable by society at large, places the righteous prophet in an extremely vulnerable position.
 
“for the love the Lord bestows on the children of Israel, and they look/turn (continually) toward other gods and love fire-pressed grapes.”
 
The plain meaning shows that HaShem’s relationship with Israel is being reflected in what Hosea has been instructed to do.
 
The last phrase (description) is difficult to translate into English. The Hebrew ashiysheiy essential means “to press down” and appears to come from the root ish (fire) and the plural anaveiym refers to fruit and in particular grapes. Therefore the phrase may refer to raisin cakes offered to Ba’al [Husband, Master, Lord] (Canaanite deity of the harvest and fruitfulness in general), but could just as easily refer to libation offerings of wine made on a fiery altar to any number of other false deities (Ba’al is not mentioned specifically here, though is mentioned in the surrounding text along with the many ba’aliym). The Talmud Bavliy (Babylonian Talmud) contains a dispute between two rabbis, one of whom explains the Hebrew “ashiysheiy” to mean “a cake prepared from one-sixth of an eipha of flour” and the other as “a jug of grapes”, or “excessive wine” (Pesachim 36b:15).
 
2 Va’ekereah And I purchased her liy to me bachamishah asar for fifteen pieces kasef of silver, vechomer and a portion of se’oriym barley veleitech and a half portion of  se’oriym barley. 
 
It is highly unlikely that the purchase of Gomer was a transaction related to her price as a prostitute for two reasons: first, the price was too high (being half the worth of a servant/bond servant Ex.21:23), and secondly, being a figure for God’s relationship with Israel it would impugn God’s character were His proxy (Hosea) to validate the price of prostitution. Therefore, this “purchase, trade” is most likely the result of a discounted sale of a slave/bondservant (Ex.21:23).
 
Due to her lifestyle Gomer had apparently been left with no other option but to sell herself into slavery to an Israelite household. They seem to have placed little value on her and were thus willing to sell her for half the accepted price (Ex.21:23) along with a portion and a half of barley to compensate them for the remainder (15 shekelim).
 
It’s impossible to accurately equate the value of ancient Biblical silver to modern silver values. Therefore, it is far better to qualify our understanding of the value being placed based on the relevant Biblical texts.
 
The Targum Yonatan suggests a figurative connection between the purchase of Gomer and the feast of unleavened bread which is convergent with Passover and lasts seven days. The Targum paraphrases this verse as follows:
 
“And I redeemed them at My command on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan, and I made shekalim of silver an atonement for their souls, and I declared that they offer before me an ‘omer’ as heave-offering from the barley harvest; that is to say, I did not weary you with difficult duties.” -Hosea 3:2 Targum Yonatan Ben Uzziel (2nd Centruy CE Aramaic paraphrase translation)
 
This is consistent with the fact that barley is the first grain crop and its first appearance when coming up from the ground coincides with yom habikkurim (the day of first fruit), not to be confused with the later “first fruits” offering associated with Shavuot (Pentecost). At very least the price being partially paid in barley gives seasonal context, and seasonal context allows for the connection to the Biblical moedim (appointed times), the one most closely associated with barley being Pesach (Passover). Additionally the Hebrew denotes a portion of grain alluding to the counting of the “omer”(portion) for the 50 days between Passover and Shavuot (Pentecost).
 
A “chomer” of barley is thought to be approximately 6.5 bushels and is equivalent to 230 litres.
 
Barley being the early crop, was generally eaten by the poor and or lower middle class, who had no means of either purchasing or storing large amounts of wheat from the previous year’s latter harvest: whereas wheat was the latter crop and was consumed by the upper class due to their wealth and ability to store wheat from the previous year’s harvest to be enjoyed in the subsequent year. Bread made from barley being rougher and bread made from wheat being more refined and at that time preferred by the upper class. In short, Gomer was purchased cheaply based on the price she set upon her body when selling herself to other men. This is figurative of the cheap price Israel (the northern kingdom) sold herself for to her false gods and foreign political “friends”.
 
The price paid in these verses is a price of redemption intended to return wayward Israel to her true Husband YHVH.
 
3 Vayomer And I said to her, “Yamiym rabiym For many days teisheviy liy sit, abide, dwell with me. Lo don’t tizniy sell your body (practice prostitution), velo and don’t have le’ish another man; Vegam-aniy and also eilaych I will be toward you.”
 
“Many days” denotes a temporary period. (v.5) Rashi understands this phrase to refer to a period of 5 days in total:
 
“The plural “days” refers to (a minimum) of two, “many” to (a minimum of) three, making a total of five. This (the forty-five of the previous verse added to the five of this verse) alludes to the fifty days between Passover and Pentecost. On that day I offered her the Torah, admonishing her:” -Rashi
 
“and don’t have le’ish another man” is a figurative way of saying “You shall have no other gods before Me” -Exodus 20:3
 
Gomer, and therefore Israel is being asked not to continue to worship false gods (practice prostitution). Rashi interprets the pretext “many days” to be a promise of the longevity of the children of Israel in the land provided they do as HaShem asks.
 
God will be as He has always been toward Israel, and she is being asked to use her opportunity of redemption to change her behaviour and dwell with her Husband in purity.
 
“I will be toward you” is a continued offer of fidelity from God to Israel (from Hosea to Gomer). Essentially it means, “I will not replace you with another woman, I will continue to be faithful to you despite having every reason to divorce you.”
 
4 Kiy For yamiym rabiym many days yeishevu beneiy Yisrael the children of Israel will be without melekh a king ve’eiyn and without sar a prince, ve’eiyn and without zevach a slaughter (sacrifice) matzeivah a memorial stone (pillar, idol, stump), ve’eiyn and without an eiphod (seamless priestly garment) uterafiym or household idols/healers.
 
Once again and by means of firmly establishing the fact, “Many days” denotes a temporary period. (v.5).
 
“the children of Israel will be without a king and without a prince”
 
It’s important to remember that in the context of Hosea this refers to the northern kingdom seeing an end to her kings. To be without both king and prince means to be without the hope of an heir coming into power. It means an end to the line of a king. In this case it means an end to the kingship of a divided kingdom and points to a return to the kingship of a united kingdom [all 12 tribes under David’s greater Son (the King Messiah) of Judah].
 
“without a slaughter (sacrifice), a memorial stone (pillar, idol, stump), and without an (seamless priestly garment) or household idols/healers.”
 
Each of these is associated with Israel’s idolatry. Either because the godly forms are missing or because the ungodly forms are present. However. The last descriptor “household idols (teraphim)” indicates that God will remove all worship tools including both those divinely appointed and those associated to false gods.
 
Iben Ezra understands this to refer to the lack of godly representations:
 
“without a king of the house of David, and without a ruler over Israel; without sacrifice for acceptance in Jerusalem; and without a high place in Samaria; and without an ephod, and him that shows;” -Iben Ezra
 
Whereas Rashi combines the two ideas, seeing this as representing both the absence of godly forms and the introduction of idolatrous alternatives.
 
“In the Temple in Judah. nor pillar The pillar of Baal in Samaria of the kings of Israel. nor ephod of the Urim and Tummim, which discloses to them hidden things. teraphim They are images constructed, having in mind a particular hour established, at which time they speak of their own accord and tell of hidden things. So does Jonathan translate: and there shall be no ephod or oracle.” -Rashi
 
Modern readers often ask “What exactly are these teraphim?” Jewish tradition answers:
 
“what are the ‘teraphim?’ they slay the firstborn of a man, cut off his head, and pickle it with salt and oil, and inscribe on a plate of gold the name of an unclean spirit, and put that under his tongue; then they place it in a wall, and light candles before it, and pray unto it, and it talks with them.’” - Pirke Eliezer, c. 36. fol. 40. 1.
 
This combines the occult practice of speaking with the dead to demonic spirits and in some cases ancestral idolatry, where the idol itself is an ancestor under whose tongue the name of a demon is placed. Based on this understanding the teraphim therefore, are the ultimate convergence of self-deification and witchcraft. An abhorrent form of idolatry.
 
5 Achar  Afterward yashuvu he will return beneiy Yisrael the sons of Israel uvikshu and they will seek, desire et the particular YHVH (Mercy) Lord Eloheiyhem their God/Judge ve’et-daveed and David malkam their king; ufachadu and they will fear, tremble, be in awe  el before YHVH (Mercy) the Lord ve’el-tovu and before His goodness be’acharit hayamiym in the latter days.
 
“and seek the worship of the Lord their God, and obey Messiah the Son of David their King;” -Hosea 3:5 Targum Yonatan Ben Uzziel (2nd Centruy CE Aramaic paraphrase translation)
 
The return of Israel (the northern tribes) to the LORD will be marked by their return to the greater heir to David’s throne. The kings of Israel (northern kingdom) were never going to endure because to deny the God appointed succession of David’s throne was to deny the greater Son of David, the King Messiah, Who was to be a descendant of David by blood and to rule on David’s throne forever over all Israel (12 tribes).
 
Therefore, the King of Judah was to be King of the Jews and all the remaining tribes would come under His authority and be known as Y’hudim. This began in a practical historical sense upon the return of the 12 tribes to dwell in Judea as Judeans (Jews) following the Babylonian exile, joining the remnant of Judah that had remained in the land.
 
“The latter days” refers to the olam haba (world to come). We note that it is in the goodness of God that all Israel will tremble. Terror and security united in love through the redemptive work of God in Messiah Yeshua the greater Son of David.
 
“the Rabbis say this is the King Messiah; if of the living, David is his name; if of the dead, David is his name.” - T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 5. 1.
 
“it is said, when Jerusalem is built, David comes; that is, the Son of David, the Messiah; which is proved by this passage, ‘afterwards the children of Israel shall return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their King’” - Talmud Bavliy Megillah, fol. 18. 1.
 
“the holy blessed God is well pleased with him in this world, and in the world to come; in this world, as it is written, ‘and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake’, 2 Kings 20:6, and in the world to come, as it is written, ‘they shall seek the Lord their God, and David their King,’” - Zohar in Exod. fol. 93. 3.
 
“It was taught in the name of R. Shimon the son of Yochai: The children of Israel rejected three things during the reign of Rehoboam; the Kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of the House of David, and the Holy Temple, as it is written: “What portion have we in David” (1 Kings 12:16) which may be understood literally; “to your tents O’ Israel” (ibid.), do not read, “to your tents” (Heb. לְאֹהָלֶךָ) but “to your gods” (Heb.לֵאלֹהֶך) “now see your own house, David” (ibid.), refers to the Holy Temple (see Rashi 1 Kings 12:16). R. Shimon the son of Menassiah said: Israel shall not be shown any omen of good until they repent by seeking out all three; “Afterwards shall the children of Israel return, and seek their Lord their God,” which refers to the Kingdom of Heaven; “and David their king” is self-explanatory; “and shall come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness,” which refers to the Holy Temple, as it is written “that good mount” (Deut. 3:7) (a reference to the Temple Mount. [from Midrash Samuel 13:4]” -Rashi
 
Introduction to Chapter 4:
 
Throughout my commentary of chapter 4 I will give a secondary rendering of the text with the poetic couplets and mechanisms highlighted for emphasis.
 
CHAPTER 4
 
Once again the poetic couplets, word play and synonymous terms of Hebrew poetry are employed in this chapter. Take note of the emphasis on connected attributes, practices, ideas, and principles.
 
This chapter essentially addresses the spiritual prostitution of Israel, her idolatry (worship of Canaanite deities) and her political adultery (courting the aid of foreign powers and their gods).
 
4 1Shimu Hear, listen, receive, understand, comprehend devar a word of YHVH (Mercy) the Lord, beneiy Yisrael you children of Israel, for YHVH (Mercy) the Lord has riyv a case, dispute im with yosheveiy those who dwell in ha-aretz the land/earth (Land of Israel), kiy For eiyn there is no emet truth, ve’eiyn and no chesed goodness, kindness, mercy, practical love, ve’eiyn and no da’at knowledge Elohiym of God/the Judge ba-aretz in the land/earth (Land of Israel).
 
4 1Listen to a word of the Lord, you children of Israel,
Because the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land of Israel,
For there is no truth, nor practical love,
Nor knowledge of God in the land of Israel.
 
a.     The Word of the LORD and the LORD are echad (One)
b.     Israel (northern tribes) must “listen” to “the case”
c.     Truth, practical love (mercy), and knowledge of God are connected in unity
 
The LORD has a legitimate case against Israel according to Torah (moral law). His case is not (in this instance) against all inhabitants of the earth but against the inhabitants of the land of the northern tribes.
 
While it’s true that haaretz can be translated “the earth”, it is not contextually true in this case. Here haaretz refers specifically to the land of Israel. God’s indictment against Israel begins by explaining that by ignoring God and His attributes the people of the land have lost their knowledge of God, a knowledge given by Him for their good.
 
“For there is no truth, and no goodness, kindness, mercy, practical love, and no knowledge of God/the Judge in the Land of Israel.”
 
The popular English translation “there is no faithfulness” does not reflect the Hebrew text. The Hebrew word emet means “truth”. Faithfulness is born of truth but it does not convey the fullness of truth.
 
Each of the attributes listed as missing from among the people of the land are manifestations of God’s character. Therefore, the fact that these attributes are not present among the people means that the people have wilfully rejected God and as a result have no knowledge of His role as Judge (Elohiym). The word Elohiym (the Judge) is used because the situation regards judgement of a crime.

2 Aloh oath-taking, vechacheish and deception, veratzoach and murder, veganov and stealing, venaof and adultery. Paratzu They break out (in violence), vedamiym and bloodshed bedamiym follows bloodshed nagau (at their) touch.
 
2 Oath-taking, and deception, and murder, and stealing, and adultery.
They break out (in violence), and bloodshed follows bloodshed (at their) touch.
 
a.     Deceptive oath taking, murder, stealing, adultery, are all sins against fellow human beings. Therefore, because they have forsaken their God and lack knowledge of His right judgement they have also forsaken the second of the greatest commandments “love thy neighbour as thyself” (Lev.19:18). One cannot love one’s self if one does not recognize the fact that human worth is defined by the Creator and His love, and without true love for self it is impossible to love someone else.
b.     Sinful violence, and bloodshed upon bloodshed, denotes an intrinsic murderous nature (Cain).
c.     All of these actions ultimately lead to death.
 
“Oath taking” is not the problem. “Oath taking and deception” together are the problem.
 
Rashi notes:
 
“blood touches blood They multiply transgression upon transgression (Targum Jonathan). Now according to its more apparent meaning: they broke down all bounds and increased bloodshed until the blood of one murdered person touches the blood of another.” -Rashi

3 Al-kein Therefore upon this te’eval ha-aretz the land mourns,
Veumlal kol-yosheiv And all who dwell in it languish
Bah b’chayat It’s in the animals hasadeh of the field uve’of and in the birds hashamayim of the sky, ve’gam and also degeiy the fish of hayam the waters ye’asefu which are gathered.
 
3 Therefore upon this the land mourns,
And all who dwell in it languish
Mourning is in the animals of the field, and in the birds of the sky,
And also the fish of the waters, which are gathered.
 
a.     As a result of the sinful practices of human beings, in particular the northern tribes of Israel, the land of Israel (ha-aretz) mourns. Humanity were tasked from the beginning of creation with being caretakers of creation (the earth), through humanity’s choice to sin death entered the world and in the perpetuation of sin death reigned over creation.
b.     The mention of land animals, birds, and water life reflects the creation narrative (Gen.1).
 
4 Yet let no iysh man (person) yarev complain, and let no one rebuke another iysh man (person); ve’amecha for your people kimriyveiy are like those who argue with kohein a priest.
 
4 Yet let no one complain, and let no one rebuke another person; for your people are like those who argue with a priest.
 
a.     Complaining about the repercussions of one’s sin is ludicrous, like those who know God’s Torah but argue with a priest about how it should be observed
 
In a greater sense the northern kingdom “argues against the true priesthood” which has remained true to the Temple cult instructed by Torah (Mt Zion, Jerusalem).
 
The opening clause is quite simply an admonishment against hypocrisy.
 
“‘let no man strive’ You forewarn the true prophets not to strive with you nor to reprove you, as it is written concerning Amos 7:16, that Amaziah the priest of Bethel said to him (i.e. to Amos): “Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.” This transpired in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash in whose time Hosea prophesied.” -Rashi
 
“‘them who strive with the priest’ They strive with their instructors, for the priests were the instructors, as it is written [concerning the priestly tribe of Levi]: “They shall teach Your judgments to Jacob, etc.” (Deut. 33:10).

5 Vechashalta And you will stagger hayom during the day,
vechashal And staggering gam also, naviy will be a prophet imecha (with ayin) with you Laylah at night; vedamiytiy and I will put a stop to imecha (with aleph) your mother.
 
5  And you will stagger during the day,
And staggering also, will be a prophet along with you at night;
And I will put a stop to your mother.
 
a.     Staggering is the couplet to destruction. Thus staggering from sin leads to being cut off.
b.     The “mother” here is generally speaking Israel (the northern kingdom) as allegorised in the living parable of Gomer, Hosea’s wife. However “mother” may refer to Shomron (Samaria) one of the main cities of the northern tribes, and a hotbed of idolatry and sexual immorality.
c.     “Put a stop to” is the better translation of the Hebrew text. It means that God will “put a stop to” her sinful behaviour.
 
Staggering is associated with drunkenness, a self-imposed state of disorder. Staggering during the day is a sign of an extreme state of perpetual drunkenness given that even those given to drunkenness tend to limit their behaviour to the cover of darkness. Such is the extent of the people’s pride and haughty outlook that they brazenly flaunt their sinful chaos in the daylight.
 
The result of the common people staggering during the day is that they eventually lure in the priest. Alternatively, the priests in question are priests of Ba’al and are staggering at night due to the drunken worship of the false god.

6 Nidmu Cut off, destroyed are amiy My people mibeliy from lack of hada’at the knowledge. Kiy For atah you (singular) hada’at ma’asta have refused the knowledge,
Ve’emasecha And I refuse you mikahein liy from being My priest.
vatishkach Since you have ignored Torah the Instruction Eloheycha of your God,
Eshkach baneycha gam-Aniy I also will ignore your children.
 
6 Cut off, destroyed are My people from lack of the knowledge.
For you (singular) have refused the knowledge,
And I refuse you from being My priest.
Since you have ignored the Instruction of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
 
a.     Destruction is the result of a lack of the knowledge and the lack of the knowledge is the result of wilful ignorance.
b.     Lack of the knowledge is disobedience to Torah.
c.     God ignores the children of sin in order to bring about repentance. To prosper the children of sin would be to enable their sinful lifestyle.
 
Notice, not just “knowledge” but “the knowledge”. The people are not cut off for lack of knowledge but for the lack of “the knowledge” of God. “Knowledge (human) puffs up, Love (of God) builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1).
 
The word “forgotten” used in some English versions is a poor translation. Israel had not “forgotten” Torah, to the contrary, they had intentionally “ignored” Torah. Or, more precisely, had neglected the remembrance of Torah.
 
God speaks through Hosea using the singular to refer to Israel (northern kingdom) as a priest who has neglected to pass on the Instruction of God and will therefore produce offspring that do not know the truth about the God of Israel or of the judgement and mercy He offers.
 
God had called all Israel a “priesthood”:
 
“and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” -Exodus 19:6 NASB
 
It’s important to note that the priests of the northern kingdom appointed by Jeroboam were not Levites and therefore were illegitimate priests.
 
“And he (Jeroboam) made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.” -1 Kings 12:31 KJV
 
7 Kerubam Because of abundance, kein so chateu-liy they sinned (missed the mark) against Me; kevodam their glory, honour bekalon amiyr I will change into shame, dishonour.8 Chatat The sin (missing the mark) Amiy of My people, yocheilu they eat up, devour, burn up ve’el-avonam And perversity, depravity, iniquity yisu they set nafsho their souls (entire functioning being) on.
 
7 Because of abundance, so they sinned (missed the mark) against Me;
Their glory, honour I will change into shame, dishonour.
8 The sin (missing the mark) of My people, they eat up, devour, burn up
And perversity, depravity, iniquity they set their souls (entire functioning being) on.
 
a.     Abundance (material) has resulted in sin born of false comfort.
b.     The glory (idolatry) of abundance will bear the fruit of shame.
c.     Sin is delighted in, consumed with passion.
d.     The soul being of the people respectively seeks out depravity. “The heart (lev, inner being) of man deceitful and desperately wicked above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9).
 
With the exception of Abraham very few Biblical characters remained faithful during times of abundance. It seems that the nature of human beings causes us to be prone to wander when we are comfortable (in material things). Our faith undergoes its greatest refining, not in the furnace of poverty but in the trial of abundance.
 
False comfort is found in temporal things and bears the fruit of selfish dissatisfaction. The comfort of God is everlasting, eternally present in those who have turned to Him, and overflows into the lives of others.
 
“The sin of My people, they eat up, devour, burn up And perversity, depravity, iniquity they set their souls (entire functioning being) on.”
 
This refers to the illegitimate priests of the former verse. Those priests who were not Levites but were appointed by Jeroboam from other tribes. The sin offerings were meant as a means of symbolic propitiation and were to be offered properly before God in order to cover the sins of the people. The illegitimate priests of the northern kingdom were desecrating these offerings with syncretised idolatry and drunkenness and as a result the sin of the northern tribes remained upon them before God’s judgement.

9 Vehayah And it will be, cha’am like people, kakohein like priest;
Ufakadtiy And I will punish them alayv according to derachayv their ways
Uma’alalayv ashiyv lo And repay them for their practices.
 
9 And it will be, like people, like priest;
And I will punish them according to their ways
And repay them for their practices.
 
a.     Both the priests and common people of the northern kingdom were apostate. The fact that Levites were worshipping at altars outside of Jerusalem and non-Levites were being appointed priests (1 Kings 12:31) was abominable by Torah standards.
b.     The punishment of the LORD is just and is according to the sinful actions of the people. It is repeated because it is firmly established.

10 Ve’achelo And they will eat, velo yisba’u and not have enough;
Hiznu They practice prostitution, velo and don’t yifrotzu break out (give birth, prosper), kiy-et-YHVH because YHVH (Mercy) the Lord azevu they have forsaken, lishmor and have ceased watching for Him, alt. guarding, observing the things of Him.
 
10 And they will eat, and not have enough;
They practice prostitution, and not break out (give birth, prosper),
Because YHVH (Mercy) the Lord they have forsaken,
And have ceased watching for Him,
 
a.     To eat and not have enough is a figure of excess rather than want. Gluttony eventually lessens the effectiveness of the palate and causes all food to seem common (familiarity breeds contempt), meaning that one is always seeking something more even while being full to overflowing. Thus obesity gives way to want for more, an insatiable appetite. This is also reflected in the prostitution metaphor which sees the practice become fruitless due to its proliferation (disease, infertility etc.)
b.     This is happening not because God has forsaken Israel (northern kingdom) but because she has intentionally and consistently forsaken Him and has ceased looking for Him or observing His Word.
 
We are all potentially guilty of these same practices in spiritual form if not physical. When we neglect the reading and observance of God’s Word on a daily basis we become less and less interested in the things of God and thus, perhaps at first in small ways, forsake Him Who has redeemed us. What might it mean for the modern believer who is otherwise chased in their behaviour to ask, “Have I ceased to watch for Him?”
 
11 Zenut Prostitution, veyayin and wine, vetiyrish and new wine yikach-leiv take away the heart (inner being, core being). 12 Amiy My people be’eitzo yishal seek counsel from their wooden idol, umaklo and their magic wand yagid speaks to them;
Kiy For ruach a spirit zenuniym of prostitutions hit’ah has caused them to err, stagger, wander, go astray, vayiznu and they prostitute themselves, mitachat coming out from under Eloheiyhem their God.
 
11  Prostitution,  and wine, and new wine take away the heart (inner being, core being).
12  My people  seek counsel from their wooden idol, and their magic wand speaks to them; for a spirit of prostitutions has caused them to err, stagger, wander, go astray, and they prostitute themselves,  coming out from under their God.
 
"there shall not be found among you any that use divination" -Deuteronomy 18:10
 
a.     Prostitution and excessive alcohol are vehicles for the destruction of the inner being of a person. Sexual immorality being a sin that one sins against one’s self (1 Cor. 6:18), and drunkenness (stoned, high etc. Eph. 5:18) causing one to become out of control and therefore lacking self-control, which gives way sins a sober mind is able to withstand. Inevitably intoxication leads a person into a spiral of self-destructive behaviour.
b.     Demonic spirits are involved in the tempting of the people but it is people who are responsible for giving in to temptation. Israel have chosen to come out from under the covering of God their Husband.
 
The NASB translation “understanding” in place of “heart” albeit possibly a choice which follows the Septuagint, is nonetheless extremely poor. “Understanding” in a Greco-Roman or modern English sense is an insufficient representation of what is meant. Mental acuity is not what’s being spoken of here, but the complete breakdown of the core person.
 
The heart of the people is taken away by the false comfort of material things. The wine in this context is from the abundance of the previous harvest and the new wine reflects the belief that Ba’al the Canaanite deity of fertility is at work.
 
Verse 12 describes the occult practices of the northern tribes and reveals that through their intentional and repeated sin choices they have given access to a demonic spirit of prostitution because they have come out (of their own free will) from under the covering of their Husband HaShem and have made themselves fair game for the powers of darkness. The modern “Church” is in no position to pass judgement. We are guilty of the same. We have allowed access to the demonic through perpetual sin practices, small compromises that when proliferated open wide the gates of destruction.
 
“14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.” -Yaakov (James) 1:14-15 NASB

13 Al Upon rasheiy the summits of hehariym mountains yezabechu they slaughter/kill (offer sacrifices) ve’al and upon hagevaot the hills they yekateru burn incense, tachat under alon oaks, velivneh and poplars, ve’eilah and terebinth, kiy because tov tzilah their shade is good. Al-kein Therefore tizneynah benoteiychem your daughters practice prostitution, vechaloteiychem And your brides/daughter’s in law tena’afnah commit adultery.
 
13  Upon the summits of mountains they slaughter/kill (offer sacrifices) and upon the hills, they burn incense, under oaks, and poplars, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters practice prostitution, And your brides/daughter’s in law commit adultery.
 
a.     Here the worship of false gods and the practice of divination are linked to prostitution and adultery. The repetitions affirm the prolific and deep seeded nature of the sin being practiced among the people.
 
It was not just certain woman but the majority of women who were practicing sexual immorality.

14 I will lo-efkod not punish benoteiychem your daughters kiy when they tizneiynah practice prostitution, or your kaloteiychem brides/daughters in law when they commit tena’afnah adultery, kiy because the men hem themselves hazonot yefareidu separate, divide (themselves) with the prostitutes, veim-hakedeishot and with shrine prostitutes yezabeichu slaughter/kill (offer sacrifices); ve’am lo-yaviyn and the people don’t understand yilaveit and are cast down, ruined.
 
14 I will not punish your daughters when they practice prostitution, or your brides/daughters in law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves separate, divide (themselves) with the prostitutes, and with shrine prostitutes slaughter/kill (offer sacrifices); and the people don’t understand and are cast down, ruined.
 
a.     Punishment or lack thereof is mitigated equitably. God does not hold the misplaced patriarchal view that men should be allowed to keep mistresses but women should be punished for having lovers. To the contrary, inevitably the fruit of sexual immorality and idolatry will be poison to both sexes.
b.     Sexual sin separates, which is the opposite of godly unity.
c.     Sexual sin is intrinsically connected to idolatry.
d.     Sexual sin and idolatry numb the consciousness and result in self destruction. Sexual sin itself being a form of self-harm (1 Cor. 6:18).
 
The punishment concerning “bitter waters” (Numbers 5:11-29) will not be enforced because the men are as guilty as the women.
 
“‘I will not punish your daughters’ anymore, to test them with the ‘bitter waters’ should they commit adultery. Why? Because their husbands join with harlots; for once the man is not free of sin, the waters do not test his wife.” [based on Sifrei Num. 5:82 and Sotah 47a] -Rashi
 
15 Im-zoneh With a prostitute atah Yisrael you Israel are al upon
Yesham Y’hudah (Judah, Praise) must not become an offender in HaGilgal The Gilgal (rolling wheel); ve’al-ta’alu And don’t go into to Beit Aven (Beth-aven, House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity), ve’al-tishave’u and don’t take an oath saying, “Chay-YHVH (Mercy) Life is in YHVH alt. As the Lord lives!”
 
15  With a prostitute you Israel are upon
 Judah (Praise) must not become an offender in the Gilgal (rolling wheel);
And don’t go into to Beth-Aven (House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity),
And don’t take an oath saying, “As the Lord lives!”
 
a.     Israel are in the midst of the act of idolatry (sexual immorality). That is, it has become a perpetual practice.
b.     Judah is warned not to do as the northern tribes are doing: “Don’t become offenders like them, don’t desecrate the righteous heritage of Samuel by participating in the idolatry practiced at Gilgal, don’t go to the house of vanity and wickedness, and don’t swear oaths as hypocrites who, while worshipping other gods, say ‘As YHVH lives!’” “for if they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ they, nevertheless, swear falsely” (Jer. 5:2).
 
Giglal is the first site of the Israelite camp west of the Jordan and east of Jericho. It is where Samuel the prophet was judge and Saul was made king. It was also a main centre for Israel’s (the northern kingdom) idolatrous worship practices (Hosea 9:15; Amos 4:4).
 
“Beit-Aven” (House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity) is a sarcastic way of referring to Bethel (House of God)[Talmud], and or a place very close to Bethel (Joshua 7:2), it was the other main centre of northern apostate worship. A place that has a strong connection to both the physical and spiritual journeys of the Patriarchs and in particularly to Jacob, who became Israel.

16 Kiy For kefarah like a cow soreiram that rebels, pulls away, slides back, is stubborn sarar with stubbornness, rebellion, pulling away, is Yisrael (Israel)[northern kingdom]
Atah (Ayin not Aleph) Now yireim YHVH (Mercy) will the Lord feed them kecheves like a lamb bamerchav in a large field?
 
16 For like a cow that rebels, with rebellion, is Israel (northern kingdom)
Now will the Lord feed them like a lamb in a large field?
 
a.     The rebellion of the northern kingdom is firmly established (rebels with rebellion). Therefore, the LORD cannot feed them because rather than being like a gentle, vulnerable lamb that is entirely reliant on the shepherd (and or its mother) for milk, Israel is like a hyper stubborn cow that will not receive food from the herdsman’s hand.
 
The figurative reference to God as Shepherd (herdsman) is well established in Scripture.

17 Chavur Joined, bound together, coupled atzabiym to idols is Efrayim (Doubly fruitful, Ephraim); hanach-lo rest him (leave him to it).
18 Sar Sour saveam is their liquor, fortified drink, strong drink,
Hazneh They prostitute themselves hiznu in the act of prostitution;
Ahavu heivu Loving to love kalon shame, disgrace, dishonour magineyah is her shield.
 
17 Coupled to idols is Ephraim; leave him to it.
18 Sour is their liquor,
They prostitute themselves in the act of prostitution;
Loving to love shame, is her shield.
 
a.     The quadruple ideas of coupling to idols, strengthened liquor, doubled prostitution, and loving to love a shame shield, are an horrific indictment against the wilful unrepentant nature of the northern kingdom. By extension, these are an horrific indictment against the modern body of believers, given that these same things are ratified and practiced prolifically throughout the modern “Church” under the guise of syncretism.
 
Ephraim is an alternative name for the northern kingdom (Israel). This is because Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:26) the northern kingdom’s first king and founder was from Ephraim.

19 Tzarar Bind her ruach otah with a miraculous sign of wind, spirit, breath bichnafeyah that wraps them in her wings, ve’yeivoshu And they will be ashamed mizivchotam because of their sacrifices.
 
19 Bind her with a miraculous sign of wind that wraps them in her wings,
And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
 
The traditional Jewish and Christian scholarship interpretations of this verse see the wind as likened to the sifting of wheat on a threshing floor. That wind being the invading Assyrian Empire and the resulting shame brought upon Israel as she’s dragged into exile. However, the Hebrew text indicates something quite different and in a plain sense presents the wind as a redemptive sign which convicts unto godly sorrow rather than a punishing wind that forces shame upon the people.
 
I have researched this extensively and find that my interpretation is unique. However, as I read the Hebrew text I find it difficult to conclude otherwise (it is of course quite possible that I’ve misunderstood what is meant, given that so many others have concluded a contrary interpretation).
 
“Bind her” is reminiscent of the binding of Torah and of tefillin in order to remember and act righteously. This is a binding that produces freedom.
 
“With a miraculous sin of spirit that wraps them in her wings” How could this refer to the threshing floor or to a destructive wind, except by way of refining. The wind “wraps them” it does not agitate them or thresh them.
 
“And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices” This is a godly repentant response to a manifest garment of God’s Spirit. The sacrifices are the defiled, syncretised and idolatrous sacrifices of the northern kingdom. As a result of the coming of this miraculous sign of “Ruach” (Spirit, Wind, Breath) Israel becomes ashamed, seeing the wickedness of her idolatry for what it really is.
 
To follow this rhythm of redemptive hope after stern rebuke fits the pattern of Hosea and indeed of Isaiah and numerous other prophetic voices of the Tanakh.
 

1. The Comforter, Who is called the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit), the Spirit of the Father and of the Son (Galatians 4:6; 1 Peter 1:10-12), is given as a miraculous sign of God to enwrap Israel and bring her into a godly state of sorrow. This Breath, Spirit, Wind says “While we were yet sinners Messiah died for us (Romans 5:8)”. Therefore, the coming of the Spirit births godly shame which leads to repentance/reconciliation.

 
“Put to shame” is a poor translation that infers shame forced upon them. This is not what the Hebrew is saying. It literally reads “and they will be ashamed”. This is a response born of sober self-reflection and not one forced upon them. It is to be a genuine form of shame leading to repentance and not forced shame leading to a return to shame. Artificial shame is a satanic separation, whereas godly shame (sorrow over a sin act) leads to reconciliation.
 
“For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance [a]without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” -2 Corinthians 7:10 NASB
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

Introduction:
 
This chapter reads as prose and employs the couplets, triplets and word play of Hebrew poetic literature in order to emphasise the firmly established nature of the fallen condition of the people and the immutable redemptive purposes of God for His wayward bride Israel.
 
Biblical Hebrew poetic couplets and repetitions often use synonymous terms to reinforce concepts, practices, motivations, principles, outcomes etc. The use of this poetic mechanism strengthens the emotion and application of the text, which was to be proclaimed to the wayward children of Israel (northern tribes) and Judah (including Benjamin [the southern kingdom]).
 
Within the Hebrew text of Hosea 2 numerous word plays are employed to create juxtaposition that conveys the redemptive purposes of God in restoring that which has been defiled by idolatry (adultery).
 
As is so often the case in the rhythm of Biblical prophetic literature, this proclamation of God shows us yet again that Mercy (YHVH) precedes judgement, and is the result of it. This portion of Hosea begins (v.3 [1]) and ends (v.25 [23]) in right relationship.
 
2:3 Say to your brothers, “Amiy My people,” and to your sisters, “Ruchamah mercy, love, compassion, tenderness.”
 
1 Say to your brothers, “Amiy (My people),”
And to your sisters, “Ruchamah (Mercy).”
 
These couplets convey equity between the sexes (brother and sister) and link Belonging and identity (My people) to mercy (YHVH). This correlates to the hope of redemption of all Israel from her fallen state, as alluded to in chapter 1:6 (Lo-Ruchamah) and 1:9 (Lo-Amiy). The outcome of Israel’s self-imposed separation from the LORD will be her future reconciliation to Him purchased by the actions of His sacrificial love.
 
The opening instruction is to be spoken to Hosea’s brothers and sisters. Not merely blood related but spiritually kindred. God is affirming through Hosea those who like him are part of the remnant of the righteous of his generation, including but not limited to Amos, Micah and Isaiah. Therefore, those who belong to God through their acceptance of His mercy are contrasted against the adulterous mother (Israel as a whole), those who have rejected God and have followed after false gods (other husbands, masters, rulers).
 
Both Hosea and his righteous brothers and sisters are then instructed to bring an indictment based on Torah, against their mother (Israel, northern kingdoms), and proclaim to her that indictment and call her to repentance by saying “she must remove her whoredoms from her face, countenance, and her adultery from between her breasts”.
 
4 “Riyvu strive, wrestle, contend, quarrel, bring a law suit ve’imchem with/in your (plural) mother, Riyvu strive, wrestle, contend, quarrel, bring a law suit, because hiy she is lo ishtiy not My wife (woman), and I am lo ishah not her husband; and she must ve’taseir turn aside from, depart from zenuneiha her whoredoms, adulteries, fornications, infidelities, remove them mipaneyah from her face, sight, presence, intimate person ve’na’afupeyah and her adultery mibeiyn from between shadeyah her breasts,
 
2 “Quarrel with your mother, 
Bring a law suit against her,
 
These couplets emphasise the weight of Law [Torah] (law suit) as an indictment carried in the mouth of the prophet (quarrel) at the instruction of God.

Because she is not My wife (woman),
And I am not her husband (man);
 
These couplets emphasise the disconnect between husband (God) and wife (Israel, northern kingdom) and reveal the order in which the separation was manifest. In short, the wife first rejected the husband. “I am not her husband because she has first chosen not to be my wife.”

But she must remove her whoredoms from her face, countenance,
And her adultery from between her breasts,
 
These couplets emphasise the diverse sexual immorality (whoredoms [paid], adulteries[wanton]) participated in by the wife (Israel, northern kingdom) and the intimate exposure (face, breasts) of her person to lovers other than her husband.
 
This intimate connection with her lovers must be severed entirely in order for the wife to be able to begin her journey of redemption and purification. In short, holding on to even the smallest aspects of intimacy with her illegitimate lovers (false husbands, gods) will prevent her from being restored to her true husband (YHVH).
 
Although God has every right to divorce His wayward wife Israel due to her adultery, He none the less seeks to reconcile her to Himself.

3 Or else, afshiytenah I will strip her arumah naked And expose her kiy’yom for the day hivaldah of her birth, ve’samtiyha and will appoint her chamidbar (cha [from], mi [from], d’bar [word]) for a wilderness, veshatiha and set her ke’eretz for a land tziyah of drought, vahamitiyha And put her to death batzama in thirst.
 
3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked
And expose her for the day she was born

The couplets denoting complete vulnerability (naked, exposed) are followed by a sign pointing to the recollection of Israel’s past [desert wandering through disobedience] (the day she was born [out of Egypt]).
 
Ancient Biblical Jewish (Israelite) wedding custom places the responsibility for clothing a “faithful” wife entirely upon the husband (Exodus 21:10; Ezekiel 16:10). This is still practiced today by certain Orthodox and Haredi communities. In traditional ancient custom the ketubah (written marriage agreement) is signed only by the husband and is given to the wife as assurance of provision, providing she does not break the blood covenant (breaking of the hymen) of the marriage.
 
The faithful husband has the Biblical moral right to take back clothing and provision from an unfaithful wife (Jeremiah 13:26; Ezekiel 16:39).
 
“The day she was born” refers to God’s delivering her as a people from her naked vulnerable state as a slave in Egypt. This is affirmed by the following allusions to Israel’s wandering in the desert through disobedience.
 
I will also make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land,
And put her to death with thirst.

This triplet emphasises the fruit of Israel’s past disobedience (desert wandering through a refusal to obey God’s instruction to enter the land of Israel) as a figure for what is about to happen (exile at the hand of the Assyrian empire).
 
Death resulting from dehydration “thirst” refers to both physical and spiritual death. Elsewhere, through a contemporary of Hosea, the LORD speaks of thirst for His Word:
 
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“When I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
But rather for hearing the words of the Lord.” -Amos 8:11 (NASB)
 
The Targum Yonatan on Hosea affirms this understanding:
 
"lest I remove my Shechinah from her, and take away her glory, and set her forsaken, as in the days of old, before she came to my worship; and my fury shall remain upon her, as it remained upon the people of that generation that transgressed my law in the wilderness; and I will set the land desolate, and kill her with thirst.'' -Hosea 2:5 Targum Yonatan Ben Uzziel (2nd Centruy CE Aramaic paraphrase translation)

4 Ve’et-baneyah And her children, will experience lo aracheim no mercy kiy-veneiy for the children zenuniym of whoredoms, fornications, prostitutions, heimah are they.
 
4 Also, I will take no pity on her children,
Because they are children of infidelity.
 
The children are known as the fruit of their mother’s sin and by their fruit (infidelity). Therefore, this refers to those who are not of the righteous remnant.
 
The Targum affirms the interpretation that understands the children of Israel (northern kingdom) as practisers of idolatry (adultery) and not merely the fruit of it.
 
"for they are children that commit idolatry;'' -Hosea 2:6 Targum Yonatan Ben Uzziel (2nd Centruy CE Aramaic paraphrase translation)
 
5 Kiy For zanetah a fornicator, harlot is imam their mother; hoviyshah dried up (acted shamefully) horatam She who conceived them. Kiy For amerah she said, ‘Eilechah I will walk achareiy after (become a follower of) me’ahavay my lovers, noteneiy who give lachmiy my bread umeiymay and my water, tzamriy my wool ufishtiy and my linen, shamniy my oil veshikuyay and my drink, irrigation, moisture.’

5 For their mother has committed prostitution;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.’
 
Israel (northern kingdom) a sinful mother of sinful children, has not just committed an act of prostitution but is committed to a lifestyle of prostitution. There is a distinction to be made here between someone who has sinned and is repentant and someone who has sinned, pretended repentance but is committed to continue to sin. The former is forgiven, the latter has refused forgiveness.
 
“My lovers” (Ba’aliym, husbands, masters, false gods) are those to whom I look for my sustenance, clothing, shelter and luxury items. In practical terms these lovers were the Canaanite deities and other nations, empires and their gods.
 
This is a haughty and rebellious statement by Israel (northern kingdom) because it spits on the ketubah (written marriage agreement) given to her by HaShem and says that she doesn’t need His provision, clothing etc. because she has plenty of other lovers who she can get provisions and luxuries from. This is of course a delusion, given that the provisions given to all peoples are given by God, we are caretakers, owning nothing of ourselves.

6 lachen Therefore, hin’niy behold, pay attention, now, I make sach a hedge, fence et-dar’keikh a way to you basiyriym in thorns, hooks, vegadartiy And I will close her off gederah with a double wall against her, unetiyvoteyha her paths she lo will not timtza find, attain.
 
6 Therefore, behold, I will obstruct her way with thorns,
And I will build a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.
 
Her way (derekh), both physical and spiritual, will be obstructed by God. In fact, obstruction will become her way. Thorns and a wall are synonymous obstacles that will both imprison her and scare her.
 
Her way will become a hidden path. This will happen based on her own actions. Those she looks to and follows after will become thorns and a wall to her. In short, by giving her over to her own sinful lifestyle God allows her to become blind to His way for a period of time unto repentance.
 
Remember, all of this is pretext. This is a warning that is heard by all Israel (both northern kingdom and Judah) prior to their respective captivities, and yet, God has already witnessed Israel’s (collective) disobedience outside of time and space, seeing the end from the beginning He speaks her future into time and space through the prophet.
 
7 Veridefah And she will pursue, follow after et that me’ahaveiyha which is from her lovers, v’lo and not tasiyg take hold of them; Uvikshatam And she will seek, desire them, v’lo and will not timtza find, attain them. And she will say, ‘Eilechah I will walk veashuvah and return to ishiy my husband hariyshon the first, head, kiy for (it was) tov good (morally perfect) liy for me az then meiatah (better) than now!’

7 And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband,
Because it was better for me then than now!’
 
Like a common man lusting after a naked movie star, Israel will long for sexual gratification (idolatry) but will not be satiated. When she needs the support of the ones she has chased after she will not receive it from them, nor will they be found by her because they only ever sought to use and discard her, as all wanton hedonists do.
 
Seeing that she has been left vulnerable and without help she will long to “shuvah” return (repent) to her first husband (YHVH), she will remember how good her days in His care were.
 
"I will go and return to the service of my first master, for it was well with me when I served him; henceforth I will not serve idols:'' -Hosea 2:9 Targum Yonatan Ben Uzziel (2nd Centruy CE Aramaic paraphrase translation)
 
8 “Ve’hiy And she lo does not yadeah know, perceive, understand kiy for Anochiy I Myself natatiy I gave lah her hadagan the grain, ve’hatiyrosh the new wine, vehayitzhar and the fresh oil, vekesef And silver, hirbeiytiy and multiplied it lah to her, vezahav and  gold, Which they asu fashioned laba’al into a husband, master, false god. 9 Lachen Therefore, ashuv I will return velakachtiy and take back deganiy My grain beito in the time (of harvest) vetiyroshiy and My new wine bemoado in its appointed time (season), vehitzaltiy and snatch away, rescue, take tzamriy My wool ufishtiy and My linen given lechasot to cover et-ervatah her nakedness, shame, undefended condition.
 
8 “Yet she does not know that it was I myself who gave her the grain,
the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they used for Baal.
9 Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My linen
That I gave to cover her nakedness.
 
This stanza begins with Israel’s lack of knowledge of God which points to her resulting nakedness (vulnerability) at the end of the stanza.
 
“I myself” is the counterpoint to “Ba’al” (a false husband, a Canaanite deity believed to control the weather and fertility of crops, animals and human beings), both the provisions given for the sustaining of life and the luxuries of comfort are to be taken back at a prime time in season when the loss of them will be felt most. Why? Because Israel has given to gods of stone where demons gather, that which God had given to her for her good. Like a woman who, having received a beautiful necklace from her husband, proceeds to melt it down and turn it into a ring for her illegitimate lover.

10 Veatah And now agaleh I will uncover et-navlutah her genitals, immodesty, shame le’eiyneiy before the eyes me’ahaveyha of her lovers, veiysh and a man lo will not yatziylenah rescue, snatch, strip her miyadiy from My hand. 11 Vehishbatiy And I will put an end to kol-mesosah all her joy, chagah her festivals, chadeshah her new moons, veshabatah and her sabbaths, vekhol moadah and all her appointed times.
 
10 So now I will uncover her lewdness
Before the eyes of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her from My hand.
11 I will also put an end to all her joy,
Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths,
And all her festivals.

Her lewdness is the compound of her nakedness in the previous verse and it will be looked upon with distain by her lovers who have used her and tossed her aside.
 
Her joy was false joy found in temporal things. Her festivals were hers and not HaShem’s. Therefore, God will put an end to them.
 
Note, “her festivals” and not “My festivals” or “the festivals of the Lord”. Further notice, “her new moons”, “her sabbaths”. The qualifier “her” denotes a desecration and therefore misapplication of the holy festivals of YHVH as commanded to Israel. These celebrations were defiled, syncretised versions of the holy convocations and not the convocations as practiced by the righteous remnant with godly integrity. An end will be put to the misapplication of HaShem’s festivals when Israel (northern kingdom) is sent into exile at the hand of the Assyrian Empire.
 
It is important to note that the northern kingdom, being separated from the Temple mount by proximity, and being in rebellion against the line of David (the line of the King Messiah), had developed alternative practices in association with the moedim (sacred times) commanded by God. God had commanded that the sacrifices of Israel be made at the Temple mount where He had placed His Name. The northern tribes acted in disobedience to this commandment for years before God brought judgement upon them.

12 Va’hashimotiy And I will make desolate gafnah her vines ute’einatah and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘They are my etnah reward which natenu-liy given to me meahavay by my lovers.’ And I will make them into a forest, and the animals of the field will devour them.
 
12 And I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will turn them into a forest,
And the animals of the field will devour them.

The vines and fig trees are both literal and figurative. They are a payment from Israel’s political friends (fake friends) and are figurative of the false teaching of the apostate priests and teachers of the northern kingdom. Therefore, God will allow both the literal plants and the seat of false teaching to be consumed.

13 I will punish her for the days of ha-baaliym the masters, husbands, gods when she taktiyr burned incense to them vata’ad and removed nizmah her nose ring vecheyatah and jewellery, vateilekh and walked achareiy after meahaveyha from her lovers, ve’otiy and being with Me was something shachechah she forgot,” ne’um YHVH declares the Lord.
 
13 I will punish her for the days of the Baaliym
When she used to offer sacrifices to them
And removed from herself with her nose ring and jewellery,
And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,” declares the Lord.
 
Punishment comes in established terms because the sin of Israel is twofold. She has gone after other lovers and she has worshipped them with sacrifices made of provisions given by her true Husband HaShem.
 
“Ba’aliym” is plural and denotes numerous false gods, idols, shrines etc.
 
The common English mistranslation of the second clause is unfortunate. The text does not say she “adorns” herself, rather the Hebrew describes the wife (Israel) removing her nose ring (a sign of betrothal) and following after lovers, rejecting her true husband.
 
Using the metaphor of marriage God speaks to Israel elsewhere saying:
 
“I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.” -Ezekiel 16:12
 
The use of a nose ring as a sign of betrothal continues today among certain Mizrachi (eastern) Jewish communities.
 
14 “Lachen Therefore, hineih behold, now, pay attention, I am going to persuade her, veholachtiyha and walk her into ha-midbar (ha, the, mi, from, d’bar, word) the wilderness, vedibartiy and I will speak al upon her comfort for her libah heart, inner being. 15 Venatatiy And I will give her, kerameyah her vineyards misham from there,
 ve’et-eimek and the valley of Achor (trouble, disturbance) lepetach to be a door tikvah of hope. Veanetah And she will respond, shouting there kiymeiy for the days of her youth, vichyom and for the day alotah when she went up mei’eretz-mitzrayim from the land of Egypt (Mitzrayim, double distress). 
 
14 “Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her,
Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak kindly to her.
15 Then I will give her, her vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will respond there as in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she went up from the land of Egypt.
 
Here there are couplets of corresponding experiences past and future. God will persuade Israel by returning her to the thirst of a desert experience like that of her wandering after leaving Egypt, and there He will speak redemption to her and provide her with streams in the desert. In the valley of trouble (Achor) He will open a door of Hope (Tikvah).
 
"and I will do for her wonders and great things, as I did for her in the wilderness; and by the hand of my servants the prophets I will speak comforts to her heart.'' -Hosea 2:16 Targum Yonatan Ben Uzziel (2nd Centruy CE Aramaic paraphrase translation)
 
Some of our sages interpret these verses as referring to the King Messiah. They ask “Will he (Messiah) lead them (Redeemed Israel)?” One of their answers is “Into the desert of Sihon and Og (the wilderness passed through on Israel’s escape from Egypt) [Shirhashhirim Rabba, fol. 11. 2. Midrash Ruth, fol. 33. 2.].

16 Vehayah And it has come about vayom in the day,” declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord, “That you will tikreiy proclaim Me ‘Ishiy, my Man (Husband)’ velo and no longer tikreiy proclaim Me ‘my Baaliy (master, husband, god)’. 17 For I will remove the shemot names of ha-baaliym the masters, husbands, gods from her mouth, So that they will od never again, be yizacheru mentioned, remembered by their names.
 
16 And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord,
“That you will call Me my husband
And no longer call Me my Baal.
17 For I will remove the names of the Baaliym from her mouth,
So that they will no longer be mentioned by their names.
 
YHVH (Mercy) the true Husband of Israel will be her Man (as it were) and will not put up with being called by the title Ba’al (master, husband, god), as if He were one of many masters. Therefore, He will remove the many names of the false gods and place One Name on the tongue of Israel, “Ishiy” my Man (Husband) YHVH alone!
 
It is important to note that Ba’al is used by king David to describe YHVH elsewhere in Scripture (2 Samuel 5:20; 1 Chronicles 14:11), in and of itself it is simply a title, what’s important is the qualifying factors associated with its use. Therefore, it is foolish to say that one shouldn’t use the word in modern Hebrew to describe one’s husband. On the other hand, nowhere in Scripture does God instruct Israel to call Him Ba’al, though He is her true Master.

18 Vecharatiy And I will cut lahem with them berit a covenant bayom in the day hahu the he im-chayat with the creatures hasadeh of the field veim and with the fowls hashamayim of the heavens veremez and creeping things haadamah of the ground. Vekeshet And the bow vecherev and sword umilchamah and battle eshbor I will break min-haaretz from the land, And will cause them to lie down lavetach in safety, security.
 
18 On that day I will also cut a covenant for them
With the animals of the field,
The birds of the sky,
And the crawling things of the ground.
And I will eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land,
And will let them lie down in safety.
 
This speaks of a time when war will cease. Therefore, it has yet to find its fullness. This covenant which God cuts will make it possible for death to be conquered. It is a reference to the sacrificial death of the King Messiah.
 
We note that the language correlates to the first creation and denotes a new creation unaffected by sin and death.

19 Ve’erastiykh And I will betroth you liy to Me le’olam forever; Ve’erastiykh And I will betroth you liy to Me betzedek in righteousness uvemishpat and in justice, uvechesed and in kindness, goodness, unmerited favour uverachamiym and in compassion (womb), 20 Ve’erastiykh And I will betroth you liy to Me be’emunah in faith, trust, fidelity, firmness. Veyada’at And you will know Et – YHVH (The Mercy) the Lord.
 
19 I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice,
In favor and in compassion,
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will know the Lord.
 
Here the couplet becomes a triplet and convey the eternal nature of God’s betrothal to Israel through the covenant He will cut, as mentioned in the previous verses.
 
The threefold repetition of betrothal denotes more than just firmly established temporal reality. It denotes everlasting transcendent reality.
 
The betrothal will be forever, as will righteousness and justice, favour and compassion, fidelity and the knowledge of YHVH (Mercy). Thus, the couplets within the triplet are afforded eternal emphasis by the Hebrew poetic voice of Hosea in the Spirit of YHVH.
 
Contrary to the popular Christian scholarship interpretation the threefold betrothal phrasing does not denote a “bride price”, that price has been noted as paid by cutting a covenant in the previous verses. To the contrary, the text says “in righteousness and justice”, “in favour and compassion”, “in faithfulness”. This is an expression of the security and space created within the betrothal and not a reference to the price paid in order for the betrothal to take place.
 
These words are recited by Jewish men while wrapping the strap of the Tefillin Shel Yad (Prayer boxes of the hand) around the middle (wedding fingers connecting blood flow to the heart) fingers of the left hand (for right handed people). They are a reminder of Israel’s betrothal to God and His connection to our inner being (heart, lev).
 
21 “Vehayah And it has come about bayom in the day e’eneh that I will answer,” neum declares YHVH (Mercy) the Lord. “E’eneh I will answer et-hashamayim the heavens, vehem and they ya’anu will answer et ha-aretz to the earth/land, 22 Veha-aretz And the earth/land ta’aneh answers et ha-dagan to the grain, ve’et hatiyrosh and to the new wine, ve’et ha-yitzhar and to the oil, vehem and they ya’anu will answer to Yizre’el (the sowing of God).
 
21 “And it will come about on that day that I will answer,” declares the Lord.
“I will answer to the heavens, and they will answer to the earth,
22 And the earth will answer to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil,
And they will answer to Jezreel.
 
Ultimately in the day everlasting God will answer the fallen world with a new creation through Yizre’el (the One seeded by God) and Yizre’el (the King Messiah) will answer in kind back to the Father crying “Abba” (Romans 8:15). This answer will resonate in the inner being of all who believe and in that day wayward Israel (all 12 tribes) will answer in, from and to the Lord (Mercy) through Yeshua (Yizre’el), from the renewed earth and below the renewed heavens. God will dwell with His creation as Husband (Ish) and all Ba’aliym (masters of subjugation) will be heard of no more.
 
“18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, [a]in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body.” -Romans 8:18-23 (NASB)

23 Vezeratiyha And I will sow her liy for Myself ba’aretz in the land/earth. Verichamtiy And I will have compassion, deep love, mercy on she who et-lo ruchamah had not obtained compassion, deep love, mercy, ve’amartiy and I will say lelio-amiy to those called ‘Not My people’, ‘Amiy atah You are My people!’ Vehu And he yomeir will say, ‘Elohay my God!’”
 
23 I will sow her for Myself in the land.
I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion,
And I will say to those who were not My people,
‘You are My people!’
And they will say, ‘My God!’”
 
This stanza employs the sowing metaphor to bring the redemptive purposes of God in full circle, made whole through Yizre’el the seeded One.
 
The Targum translates:
 
“I will establish you before me in the land of my Shechinah (manifest feminine light presence of God)” -Hosea 2:25 Targum Yonatan Ben Uzziel (2nd Centruy CE Aramaic paraphrase translation)
 
God will have compassion on those, who by their own choice had previously rejected His compassion and suffered greatly as a result. He will say to those who determined not to be His people, “You are My people!” And they will repent of denying Him and say, “My God!”
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

Scroll of the Twelve Prophets:
 
The book of Hosea is the first of twelve books collected into a single scroll some time prior to the second century BCE (ref. Dead Sea Scrolls 4QXII; Sirach [Ecclesiasticus] 49:10). The orthodox Jewish order of the books within the scroll of the twelve prophets is: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah (from the period of Assyrian empire), Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (from during the decline of the Assyrian empire), Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (dating from the post exilic era).
 
Given what we know from extra-Biblical textual sources, it is likely that the twelve prophets were combined into one scroll within a century of the completion of the book of Malachi. Thus, the scroll of the twelve prophets has taken its place alongside the other canonical Jewish prophetic books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Daniel is considered part of the Ketuvim [poetry books] in the Jewish canon [TaNaKH].
 
Author and Dating of the book of Hosea:
 
Regardless of the specific date of writing (be it by a scribe or by Hosea himself), Hosea prophesied sometime in the mid eighth century BCE. His ministry began in tandem with that of Amos, who threatened God’s judgement at the hands of an unnamed foreign power which Hosea identifies as Assyria (7:11; 8:9; 10:6; 11:11).
 
Given the kings mentioned in Hosea 1:1, Hosea would have ministered for approximately 60 years. The Talmud calls Hosea the greatest prophet of his generation (Pesachim 87a), a bold claim given that Isaiah was one of his contemporaries. Hosea is unique in that he is the only one of the writing prophets to come from the northern kingdom (10 tribes/Israel). His prophecy is addressed to the northern kingdom. However, his work references the kings of Judah as a means of dating and is therefore, most likely to have been written in the territory of Judah following the fall of the northern capital, Shomron (Samaria) (722-721 BCE) [1:7, 11; 4:15; 5:5, 10, 13; 6:4, 11; 10:11; 11:12; 12:2]. This means that Hosea’s warnings to the northern kingdom were also intended as a warning to Judah. While Judah continued to dwell in the land under the repentant king Hezekiah, the southern kingdom was eventually taken into captivity by the Babylonian empire in 586 BCE (136 years after the demise of the northern kingdom) through a succession of invasions and as a result of political intrigue. This exile, while leaving a remnant of Judah in the land, nonetheless (generally speaking) meant the fullness of the exile of the entire nation (12 tribes) and was a judgement decreed by God of seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10) which ended in 516 BCE (there are varied scholarship estimations of the dating of the Babylonian exile).
 
Context:
 
Hosea lived in the final days of the northern kingdom, during which six kings reigned within a 25 year period (2 Kings 15:8-17:41). These kings are said to have been given by God “in anger” and taken away “in wrath” (13:11). The Assyrian empire was expanding to the west and Menachem king of Israel submitted the northern kingdom to the Assyrian empire, and paid tribute (2 Kings 15:19-20). Shortly afterward in 733 BCE Assyria dismembered the northern kingdom following the murder of Pekahiah, Menachem’s son by Pekah. Leaving only the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh. Then, due to the disloyalty of Pekah’s successor Hoshea (the king), Shomron (Samaria) was captured and its people exiled from 722 - 721 BCE. This was the end of the northern kingdom, but it was not the end of Israel.
 
Message:
 
Like the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, Hosea’s ministry proclaims a message of judgement and redemption pretexted by the holiness and love of God. The rhythm of the book is consistent with the redemptive meta-narrative of the Bible as a whole. Hosea’s book is essentially a Gospel (Good News) message. One that calls out the evil deeds of those to whom the offer of redemption is given. Like the Gospel, the book of Hosea recognizes the need for labeling and rebuking sinful behavior and exposing its consequences in order to inspire its hearers to return to God and receive His redemptive sacrificial love.
 
Throughout the book loving discipline is followed by the offer of unmerited favor, grace, mercy, and a return to right relationship. Hosea, like all God’s prophets, demands that the wicked acknowledge and repent of their sinful lifestyles and return to God. This too is the message of the Gospel. All are offered forgiveness but only the repentant receive it. Those who present God as love but fail to convey the message of repentance, turning away from evil, are enablers of the wicked. A Gospel devoid of rebuke is a false Gospel, nothing more than a vehicle carrying souls to torment. Like Hosea we are tasked with a message that exposes wickedness and requires repentance in order to receive redemption through the sacrificial love of God.
 
The first three chapters tell of Hosea’s family life, an historical account that also acts as an allegory for God’s relationship with Israel. Chapter 3 is likely a sequel to Chapter 1, making chapter 2 the observation of the actions of the wayward woman Gomer. Chapters 4 through 14 detail the idolatrous practices of Israel and her adoption of Canaanite deities. Hosea calls Israel to return to HaShem (YHVH). Hosea observes that it is Israel’s failure to acknowledge God which is at the root of her suffering and spiritual darkness (4:6; 13:4). God’s relationship with Israel is one of immutable love (2:19), likened to that of husband and wife, and later compared to the relationship between Father and child (11:1-4). Israel’s disloyalty toward God is likened to the behavior of a promiscuous woman and is a metaphor for idolatrous worship (4:13-14; 5:4; 9:1). Hosea details Israel’s worship of the Baalim (masters/husband gods) of the Canaanites and their sacrificing at high places used for the worship of false gods. Israel had also been worshipping the calf deity at Shomron (Samaria) [8:5; 10:5-6; 13:2], a return to the sin at Sinai (Exodus 32).
 
Ultimately the message of Hosea is one of God’s love for Israel and based on His character, a story relating His inability to utterly forsake her even when He has cause.
 
“I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them.” -Hosea 14:4 (NIV)
 
Hosea in Jewish liturgy:
 
It is interesting to note that Hosea plays a special role in orthodox Jewish liturgy. Hosea 14:2-10 is read in the afternoon service of Tish’ah b’av (the ninth day of the month of Av [coincides with July and/or August], and is the major day of communal mourning in the Jewish calendar. Although a large number of disasters are said to have befallen the Jews on this day, the major commemoration is of the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E., respectively. Central to the observance of this day is fasting) by Sephardi and Yemenite communities. On Shabbat Shuvah (Sabbath of turning/returning) between Rosh HaShanah (New Year a.k.a Yom Teruah [Day of soundings]) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Hosea 2:1-22 is read as haftarah (completion of the Torah) for the parashah B’midbar (Num. 1:1-4:20). Additionally, Hosea 2:21-22 (19-20) is prayed while binding Tefillin shel Yad (Prayer box of the hand) to the wedding finger (fingers) on the left hand.
 
“I will betroth you to me in perpetuity;
    I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
    in immutable love and compassion.
 I will betroth you in fidelity,
    and you will acknowledge YHVH.” -Hosea 2:21-22 (19-20)
 
Hosea Transported in to Today’s Context:
 
Some things worth considering…
 
In the midst of today’s immoral world, and given the fact that even in ancient Israel during her days of immorality there were still a remnant community who were faithful to God, what would it be like for a righteous man who has been asked by God to marry a promiscuous woman for the purpose of revealing the love of God? Then to be instructed not to divorce her (though he had cause), and further to take her back and remain faithful to her in spite of her unrepentant nature.
 
How would such a man be viewed by the righteous remnant community of today’s world?
 
Consider the difficulties faced by such an individual as a result of his obedience and devotion toward HaShem (YHVH). Some among his righteous pairs in ancient Israel may well have challenged Hosea’s choices with sound Biblical reasoning. Others among the immoral majority may have used Hosea’s choice to marry the wayward woman as an excuse to take on promiscuous partners and even become promiscuous themselves. How we view and apply the lessons of Hosea to our lives today will directly influence our walk before HaShem, for better or worse.
 
Remember that for all intents and purposes Hosea was marrying a woman of his own ethnic religious faith community and was therefore not becoming unequally yoked (according to Torah). The indictment issued by this prophetic work is not against Hosea but against the hypocrisy of Gomer (Israel). Many righteous people among the faith community of today marry fellow believers in good conscience only to discover that a true heart change within that person has yet to occur.
 
Hosea’s calling should not be considered an excuse for believers as a whole to marry promiscuous people (of the same faith). However, nor does it negate the very real principle that teaches a salvation offered to all, including those who seem least likely or able to receive it. In truth, even the most hardened sinner can be redeemed through Yeshua our King Messiah. A lifestyle of sin can be incinerated by the blood of our King, and a new creation made from the ashes. It is important to recognize that new actions are the evidence of a person made new in Messiah.
 
The Text
 
Hosea Chapter 1:1-2:2 (1:1-11)
 
1 1 A Word, Essence, Substance (Devar) of the Lord (YHVH: Mercy) which happened (hayah) to, through Hosheia (Salvation) the son of Be’eiriy (My well/spring) , during the days of UziYah (My might is YHVH), Yotam (YHVH is perfect, complete), Achaz (grasp, seize), and YechizkiYah (Hezekiah: My strength has been YHVH), kings of Y’hudah (praised), and during the days of Yarav’am (Jeroboam: quarrelling people) the son of Yoash (YHVH fire), king of Israel (Yisra: overcome, El: in God).
 
In the Hebrew text the opening phrasing reveals the Word of God as the substance of God’s mind present and happening to and through Hosea, whose name is salvation. The beauty here is that the Word (Ha-Davar [John 1:1]), Who is Salvation Himself, the King Messiah, is manifest in substance upon the tongue of Salvation (Hosea). This book of prophecy begins and reaches its goal with Salvation, the son of Mayiym Chayiym (living waters), Be’eiriy “My wellspring”.
 
The Word, Essence, Substance of God doesn’t just come to Hosea, He (the Word) happens in Hosea.
 
HaShem, Who is the source of Israel’s living waters has been forsaken by the majority of Israel’s people. Therefore, out of love for Israel He has sent yet another prophet to draw their attention to their spiritual dehydration which has resulted from their rejection of Him.
 
“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” -Jeremiah 2:13
 
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” -Isaiah 12:3
 
“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.” -Zechariah 13:1
 
Yeshua answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” -John 4:10
 
“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Yeshua stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified.” -John 7:37-39
 
The kings of Judah and the king of Israel who collectively spanned the ministry of Hosea are listed as they are for a number of reasons. By listing them this way the scribe gives us an approximation of the length of Hosea’s prophetic ministry and the historical period in which the prophet lived God’s Word in the presence of the people of Israel and Judah. As previously stated Hosea ministered for approximately 60 years in the mid eighteenth century BCE. We know this because the reigns of the kings listed begin in 793 BCE and span to 686 BCE, making it possible for Hosea to have lived to be over 100 years old. It is likely that Hosea began his ministry around the age of 25 years. Hosea was a contemporary of Isaiah, Amos and Micah. Therefore, it’s good to be aware of the messages of these three prophets when considering the message of Hosea.
 
We note that the kings of Judah are listed first and with some detail, while the king of Israel is listed last. The prophet clearly intends that the people of Judah take the demise of the northern kingdom seriously and repent of their own wickedness and unfaithfulness toward God. The destruction of the northern kingdom was inevitable at this point in time and acted as a dire warning to Judah, lest she too fall at the hands of a foreign power (Babylon 586 BCE).
 
Jeroboam II died during the reign of Uzziah (2 Kings 15:8). Therefore, from the Israelite perspective the book is understood from the last period of the northern kingdom’s waning strength. Whereas from the perspective of Judah, according to the listing of the kings of Judah, the book finds its context in the slightly earlier period where Israel first began to move from a position of political strength into one of political demise. Each perspective is relevant and the Hebrew text clearly intends to make the words of the prophet poignant for both Israel (northern kingdom) and Judah.
 
Additionally, the names of the kings have prophetic significance past, present, future, and when reading the text according to the meaning of the names one sees the redemptive purposes of God conveyed.
 
NB: In order to help non Hebrew readers understand the depth of meaning within the Hebrew text the following is an allegorical [drash (comparative), remez (hint) & sod (mystery)] reading, utilizing the Hebrew meanings of words and names:
 
A Word essence of Mercy happened through Salvation the son of My well-spring, during the days of my might is Mercy, Mercy is perfectly complete, grasping, my strength has been Mercy, kings of praise during the days of a quarrelling people, the son of Mercy’s fire, king of those who overcome in God. (Authors Paraphrase)
 
The allegorical reading presents a message of fire (judgement, purification) and Salvation (overcoming in God). Therefore, the literal, literary and allegorical interpretations are convergent. This is an excellent example of how one should utilize the rabbinic method of interpretation PaRDeS (P’shat [Plain meaning], Remez [hint], Drash [comparative], Sod [mystery]). All the components of PaRDeS that proceed from the P’shat (plain meaning) must submit to the plain meaning, which is precisely what occurs here when each sub-method of interpretation is applied to the text.
 
2 Beginning (Techilat) a Word, Essence, Substance (Diber) of the Lord (YHVH: Mercy) in Hosheia (be’Hosheia), and said (vayomer) the Lord (YHVH: Mercy) to (el) Hosheia (Salvation), “Go (leich), take (kach) to yourself (lecha) a woman (eishet) of promiscuities, fornications (zenuniym), and children (veyaldeiy) of promiscuities, fornications (zenuniym); for (kiy) a whore, fornicator, promiscuous woman (zanoh) of whoredom (tizneh) is the land (Ha-Aretz: Israel), from ceasing to follow after (mei’achareiy) the Lord (YHVH: Mercy).”
 
The command to marry (legitimize) a promiscuous woman presents Hosea with an opportunity to empathize with the grief of God regarding His promiscuous wife Israel. Hosea’s marriage to the promiscuous woman is not mere allegory as some suggest. The false choice between allegory and practical reality is unnecessary (Rashi & Abravanel say that this is literal [Pes. 87a], whereas Ibn Ezra, Radak & Maimonides claim that it is a prophetic vision, this is supported by the Targum). Hosea literally marries a promiscuous woman and this reality acts as a vehicle for allegory reflecting God’s relationship to wayward Israel. This verse sets the stage for the remainder of the book.
 
“Techilat” is not a new beginning, as in the case of “Bereishit”, but a beginning that takes place mid journey. The Word begins in Hosea in the midst of a faltering people who having begun in God have now stepped off the path and gone after other gods. Therefore, God sends His messenger to call Israel to return to right relationship with Himself.
 
The imagery of the marriage between God and Israel is also seen in the works of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
 
In Biblical Hebrew narrative the repetition of something denotes that it is firmly established. In this verse the Hebrew root “zanah” (fornicator, harlot, whore) is employed four times, emphasising the fact that the idolatry of Israel has exceeded even the most debauched practices of the godless. This is a tragic indictment. One that could well be levelled at the community of believers today.
 
Hosea is instructed to take not only a promiscuous wife but also the children who are the fruit of her promiscuity. In light of the figurative application regarding God and Israel it is important to understand and sympathise with Hosea’s appointed task and the spiritual, emotional and practical turmoil that he must certainly have experienced. He is choosing to marry (legitimize) an unrepentant fornicator and to welcome her unrepentant children, who have grown in the knowledge of sexual sin (idolatry) as seed of that same sexual sin. We see this generational sin at work in the modern world. The reality of generational sexual sin is palpable. In fact, our movie and tv screens advocate for it. This present reality reflects the idolatrous spiritual condition of today’s secular world, but more poignantly, it reflects the present syncretised condition of the body of believers. After all, the message of Hosea is to the people of God (Israel), those who claimed to have overcome in God but were in fact hypocrites, idolaters, fornicators. This was no foreign harlot Hosea was marrying, but an Israelite woman. Sadly the modern body of believers is in no position to say “Thank God we are not like the whoring nation of Israel during the time of Hosea!” To the contrary, we are. Many claim to be followers of Messiah while practicing sexual sin, superstition, idolatry, debauchery, and the list goes on. Therefore, we to must repent or suffer the discipline of God.
 
The land of Israel is intrinsically linked to the people and the condition of the land is therefore affected by the behaviour of the people. Therefore, when God speaks through the prophet saying that the land of Israel is full of fornication (idolatry) and the fruit thereof, He is speaking of both physical and spiritual consequences. The disease of the spirit is reflected in the sexual diseases and the death that results from them. The people are weakened by their sin and are unable to resist their enemies, as a result of the physical condition of the people the land is unfruitful and unable to provide nutrition for the people, and so the cycle of sin and death are perpetuated. All this is happening among a people who have been afforded the instruction of God and the living waters that flow from Him.
 
So how has all this come about? The text is clear, it is the result of a people “ceasing to follow after the Lord”.
 
Why is the body of believers in such disarray today? Are we not guilty of this same cycle of perdition. If so, how have we arrived here? The same way Israel did, by turning away from devotion to God. We have made our religious practice just another app on our home screens, and we wonder why the world is turning to custard.
 
Rav Shaul (Paul) illuminates the abhorrent reality of Hosea’s experience when he writes to the early believers at Corinth:
 
“Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually members of Messiah? Should a man take his body, which is part of Messiah, and join it to a prostitute? Never!” -1 Corinthians 6:15
 
To say that God’s instruction to Hosea contradicts His Word is a lie. While it was forbidden for a priest to take a promiscuous woman as a wife, it was not a sin for a prophet to take a once promiscuous woman to wife. It was in fact an opportunity for that woman to be redeemed through the sacred unity of godly marriage. However, any subsequent act of adultery by that same woman was punishable by death. Hosea’s long suffering was to reflect the fact that in spite of Israel’s continued adulteries (idolatries) God had shown patience and great mercy toward her.
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
When a Word essence of Mercy in Salvation began to speak through Salvation, He said “Go, take to yourself a woman of promiscuous lifestyle and the children who are the fruit of her promiscuity, for the land of Israel is like a whore of whoring because they stopped following after Mercy. (Authors Paraphrase)
 
3 So he (Hosea: Salvation) went and took the certain, specific, definite (et) Gomer (complete, perfect, end, goal) the daughter (bat) of Divlayim (multiple pressed figs), and she conceived and bore him (lo) a son (ben).
 
It is worth noting that Gomer means “perfect, goal etc.” and that we can understand this to convey the idea that Salvation (Hosea, a figure for Messiah) sees the yet to be redeemed Israel (Gomer) as perfect outside of time and space, in the sense that he knows she will eventually repent through discipline and receive the atoning work of God. This reflects the meta-narrative of God’s redemptive purpose which finds its ultimate fullness in the redemptive work of Messiah Yeshua’s substitutionary sacrifice and the eternal covering blood of God.
 
We also note that Gomer is the daughter of sweet and abundant provision. The fig is the fruit of the tree which symbolises the seat of Israel’s teachers and commentators. This means that Gomer (Israel) is without excuse because she has been brought up in the ways of God’s Torah instruction and in the fruitfulness of godly life but has chosen to reject good instruction and turn aside to other gods.
 
The Hebrew “lo (him)” referring to Hosea is omitted in verses 6 and 9, making it more than likely that the two subsequent children were the progeny of adulterous relationships with other Israelite men, relationships entered into by Gomer while she was married to Hosea.
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
Salvation went and took a chosen woman Whom He saw perfect, in spite of her sinful lifestyle, she was the daughter of the abundant sweet fruit of the land, and she conceived and bore him a son. (Authors Paraphrase)
 
4 And the Lord (YHVH: Mercy) said to him (Hosea: Salvation), “Name him Yizre’el (sown by God); for in a little while I will visit, reckon, punish, care for (ufakadtiy) the (et) shed blood (demeiy) of Yizre’el (sown by God) upon (al) the house (beit) of Yeihu (YHVH is He), and I will cause to cease (vehishbatiy) the kingdom (mamlechut) of the house (beit) of Israel (the northern kingdom, Yisra: overcome, El: God). 5 And it will happen (v’hayah) in that day (be’yom) of the him (hahu) that I will break into pieces (veshavartiy) the (et) bow, (keshet) of Israel (Yisra: overcome, El: God) in the Valley (be’eimek) of Yizre’el (sown by God).”
 
The literal historical outworking of this prophecy sees the just punishing of Yeihu for the blood his house shed and the demise of the northern kingdom at the hand of the Assyrian Empire. Subsequently (136 years later) Judah also went into exile, however a remnant of Judah remained in Judea throughout the Babylonian exile. The allusion to the valley of Yizre’el (a plain in central Israel and a city on its perimeter [Joshua 17:16]) likely refers to the events described in 1 Kings 21:1-24; 2 Kings 9:21-35 (The demise of Jezebel [Baal exalts]).
 
In addition to the literal historic fulfilment of the prophecy there are the far reaching Messianic implications and the seeding of Messiah into time and space followed by the dispersion and return of Israel (the Jewish people) and the coming of God’s kingdom.
 
The name Yizre’el means “Seeded by God” and conveys both judgement and redemption. Seed is scattered and so the tribes of the north will be scattered in judgement against their idolatry. In addition a son seeded by God will bring both retribution and redemption to Israel as a whole (born of Judah), making the seeding a means of salvation.
 
This, Hosea’s firstborn son to Gomer is according to the previous verse “his” (Hosea’s) son, that is, of his seed. It is important to recognise that the name of this son denotes direct connection to God in a figurative sense and that this one seeded by God (Yizre’el) is a figure for justice and restoration. This son is a figure for One yet future (at the time of Hosea’s prophecy) seeded by God through the Jewish people, Who will put an end to apostate faith and break Israel into pieces, eventually sending all Israel into exile and then returning all the tribes of Israel to Judea where Israel in her entirety now known as Y’hudiym (Jews) will be reconciled to God through Him. This is why a distinction is made later in Hosea’s prophecy between the northern kingdom (Israel) and Y’hudah (Judah). Messiah will be seeded in Judah in the line of David.
 
We note that an end is to be put to the northern kingdom (Israel) but not to Israel/Jacob/Judah as a whole. This is of the utmost importance given the misuse of this text by the satanic “Continuationist” (Supersessionist, Replacement etc.) ideology of many modern Christian scholars and practitioners.
 
As alluded to in my commentary of the previous verse, there is no indication that the subsequent two children (v.6, v.9) were of Hosea’s seed, possibly denoting their illegitimacy.
 
“In that day” is an ambiguous phrase referring to the day, days, time period of God’s work of redemption and judgement through the One seeded by YHVH (Yizre’el), who is a figure for the King Messiah Yeshua, the only human being born of a woman to be directly seeded of God (Yizre’el).
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
And Mercy said to Salvation, “Name your son ‘Sown by the Judge’”; for in a little while I will require blood for the shed blood of he who I have sown from the house of the one who pretends that I AM his God, and I will put an end to the hypocritical kingdom of the house of those who claim to overcome in Me but do not. And it will come to pass that in the day of Him (Messiah) I will break into pieces the strength of those who claim to overcome in Me but do not, in the valley of the One Whom I have sown. (Authors Paraphrase)
 
6 Then she (Gomer) conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And He (YHVH) said to him (Hosea), “Call, declare (kera) her name (shemah) Lo-ruchamah (no mercy, love, compassion, tenderness), for I will no longer have mercy (arachem) on the house of Israel (Yisra: overcome, El: God), nor (kiy) will I lift them up, carry them (naso), take them away (esa).
 
As mentioned previously Gomer conceived again but it is not said that she conceived by “him” Hosea. It is possible that lo-ruchamah was the daughter of another man (another Israelite).
 
We note that while the firstborn son was “named” the daughter and the subsequent son are “Declared by name”. In other words, the firstborn son is named without proclamation, whereas the children of judgement are declared as a warning to all who have ears to hear. This reflects the nature of Messiah’s (Yizre’el) first earthly ministry and the present declaration that warns our people in order to redeem all Israel (ethnic, religious, chosen) through Yeshua upon His return (Rom. 11:25-27).
 
“I will no longer have mercy” is directed toward the apostate among Israel. We must remember that in every generation Israel and Judah had a faithful remnant who served God, or else where did the prophets come from?
 
“Nor will I lift them up” is a statement of deep love and beautiful saving irony. God will give of Himself, not lifting up Israel but lifting up His Son the King Messiah Who is of her, seeded by Him, making the King Messiah (Yizre’el, Yeshua) to become accursed and hanging on a tree for the sake of Israel’s sins. Therefore, “He Who was without sin became a sin offering for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
Then the one perfect in Salvation conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Mercy instructed Salvation to call the daughter “No Mercy” for Mercy said “I will no longer have mercy on those who claim to overcome in Me but have instead rejected Me. Nor will I lift them up, or help them escape the fruit of their own wickedness.”  (Authors Paraphrase)
 
7 And on the (ve’et) house (beit) of Y’hudah (praised) I will have mercy (arachem) and save (ve’hoshatiym) them in the Lord (Ba’YHVH: Mercy) the Judge (Elohim: God), and will not save them (oshiyeim) by bow, (be’keshet) or sword (uvecherev), or battle (uvemilchamah), by horses (be’sosiym), or horsemen (uve’farashiym).”
 
This reference is first to the temporal salvation of Judah during the Assyrian Empire but does not negate the later exile of Judah due to her sin (Babylonian exile 586 BCE). It is also a prophetic allusion to the fact that salvation Himself (Yeshua, Yizre’el) will come through the line of David of the tribe of Judah. Therefore, “Not by might or by power but by My Spirit says the Lord Who goes warring.” (Zechariah 4:6)
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
“And upon the house of praise I will have mercy and save them in Mercy the Judge, and will not save them by the strength of temporal things.” (Authors Paraphrase)
 
8 When she (Gomer) had weaned Lo-ruchamah (no mercy, love, compassion, tenderness), she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 And He (YHVH) said to him (Hosea), “Call, declare (kera) his name (shemo) Lo-amiy (not My people), because you are not My people, and I (ve’anochiy) have not existed (lo Ehyeh) to you (lachem).”
 
Once again this child is not attributed to the seed of Hosea and is likely the progeny of an adulterous relationship with another Israelite.
 
NB: “Ehyeh asher Eyeh” is “I AM that I AM”, “I Exist for I Exist”. Therefore, when the Hebrew text of Hosea records HaShem’s words as “lo Eyeh lachem” it translates literally as “I don’t exist to you” rather than the popular English mistranslation “I am not your God”.
 
YHVH has never ceased to be Israel’s God.
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
When the one perfect in Salvation had weaned no mercy, she conceived again and gave birth to a son. Mercy instructed Salvation to call the son “’Not my people’ because you are not My people, I don’t exist to you”.  (Authors Paraphrase)
 
I cannot emphasize enough the fact that God’s declaration “You are not My people” (Hosea 1:9) is not Him denying His people but an observation of their denial of Him. It is the inverse of the fact that the statement “He is our God” does not mean He belongs to us but that we belong to Him. The former is idolatry, the latter is, right relationship.
 
2:1 [1:10] And it will happen (ve’hayah) that the number (mispar)
of the children of Israel (beneiy Yisrael)
Will be like the sand (kechol) of the body of water (hayam),
Which cannot be measured (yimad) or counted, recorded (yisafeir);
And it will happen (ve’hayah) in the place (bimkum: the temple mount, hamakum)
Where it is said to them,
“Lo-amiy Not My people,”
It will be said to them,
“Beneiy El-Chay Children of the God of life.”
 
Almost as if in the same breath that issued the disappointment of God at the rejection shown Him by His people, He issues the promise born of His deep love for them.
 
In the first verse of the second chapter God immediately reverses the name and fate of His people Israel. Where He had said that He would put an end to her He now numbers her offspring as the sands of the waters. Where He had said “Not My people” He now says “Children of the God of Life!”
 
How is this possible? Through the seeded One (Yiz’re’el). Those who once chose to put an end to themselves through sin will repent and be numbered exponentially, and those who chose not to be called the people of God will repent and through the seeded One become Children of the God (Judge) of Life.
 
The God of Israel is God of Merciful Judgement. We know Him as Adonai (YHVH: Merciful) Elohim (Judge). His Mercy precedes His judgement. Put another way “Mercy triumphs over judgement”. (Yaakov [James] 2:13)
 
The rhythm of mercy, judgement, mercy fulfilled is the rhythm of all Scripture, the redemptive story of God and His creation.
 
In Israel’s sin we see our own sin and our desperate need to repent and be restored to right relationship with God. As Messiah followers we cannot afford to sit in judgement of Israel but must instead ask God to judge us and in sober self-examination, by His Spirit, allow Him to cleanse us of that which defiles Him in us (Imanu El) as our Groom, our Husband to be. We open ourselves to Him in the knowledge that “through one sacrifice Messiah has made perfect (Gomer) those who are being made holy (sanctification through discipline: Gomer in transition).” (Hebrews 10:14)
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
“And it will happen that the children of those who truly overcome in God will be as immeasurable as the sand of every body of water on earth. And it will happen that on the temple mount where I declared you ‘Not My people’ you will be declared ‘Children of the God of Life’”.  (Authors Paraphrase)

2:2 [1:11] And gathered (ve’nikbetzu) shall be the children (beneiy) of Y’hudah (praised) and the children (beneiy) of Israel (Yisra: overcome, El: God), they will be gathered together (yachdav), And they will appoint, ordain, permanently fix (vesamu) to themselves (lahem) a Head, First, Leader (Rosh) Who is One (Echad: a complex unity) and they will ascend (ve’alu) from the land (min-ha-aretz: Israel),
For (kiy) great (gadol) is the day (yom) of Yizre’el (the sowing of God).
 
Many of our modern commentators claim that this prophecy was never fulfilled, and in part they are right, but not in full. This prophecy began its fulfilment at the first coming of the King Messiah Yeshua (Whom, in the first century CE, tens of thousands of Jews/Israelis received and followed as the ordain Son of David and High Priest over all peoples), and will reach its fullness at the end of days when on His return we Jews (all the tribes of ethnic, religious, chosen Israel) will look upon the One Whom we have pierced and mourn in repentance, receiving Him as the means of our redemption and restoration to right relationship with El Elohay Yisrael (Zechariah 12:10; John 19:37).
 
“They will appoint to themselves a Head Who is One” means, “They will submit themselves to the authority of the Head Who is One”. “The Head Who is One” is God the Father and His King Messiah Imanu El (God with us) Yeshua, in the power of the unified Spirit of God. We need not make the false choice between this representing God or the King Messiah. God is One.
 
A local Chabad Rebbee says, “I’m okay with you believing Yeshua is the Messiah, but I am not okay with you believing Yeshua is a manifestation of God.” To which I respond, “If Yeshua is the Messiah, and we know that the Messiah will not lie concerning either Himself or the nature of God, then Yeshua is also God with us, for Yeshua says of Himself ‘I and the Father are Echad’, and when called ‘My Lord and My God’ by His disciple, Yeshua does not rebuke His disciple (T’oma) but says, ‘Because you have seen you have believed’. Therefore, if as you say, it is okay to believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, it is also okay to believe what Yeshua says of Himself. Thus, your statement both contradicts itself while also agreeing that Yeshua is Imanu (with us) El (God), according to the prophet Yishayahu (Isaiah)!”
 
“They will ascend from the land”. To date Israel has returned in part to our land physically speaking. However, because over 7 million Jews still live outside of the land of Israel it is not true to say that the prophecy in question has been fully filled as yet. Therefore, this is ultimately a reference to all the tribes of Israel ascending from their various allotments of land to celebrate HaShem in the later days at the redemption of our people through Yeshua our King Messiah. “Land” may also refer to the land of our exile [to sin] and correlate to Isaiah 11:16. Regardless, this speaks of the unity of our people in Messiah and the perpetual day called the Olam Haba (world to come) when God will manifestly dwell with us and us with Him forever. In one sense this day began before the creation of the world and again with the first coming of our King Messiah Yeshua.
 
See Ezekiel 37:15-28 for another prophecy regarding the reunification of Israel’s tribes under the reign of David (the Messiah) in the Olam Haba (world to come).
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
And the children of praise will be gathered and the children of those who truly overcome in God will also be gathered, the two gathered together in praise and overcoming, and they will appoint over, submit themselves to the Head Who is One, the King Messiah under God, and they will ascend from all parts of the land of Israel to go up to the LORD of Mercy, for great will be the day that brings to perfection all that the Judge of the Universe has seeded.  (Authors Paraphrase)
 
The first eleven verses of the book of Hosea reveal the whole of God’s redemptive purpose. These verses, which act as an overview to the remainder of the book, conclude with the goal. That being the appointment of the King Messiah and His rule over all Israel. This wonderful outcome made great through the seeding of Elohim (God and Judge).
 
The Mercy of God both precedes Judgement and is the result of it.
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

Recently, being unable to refute my answers to their Anti-Christmas rhetoric, logical fallacies and misinterpretations, one such Anti-Christmas proponent attacked my use of Romans 14:5-6, saying that the context concerned fasting and not observances in general.
 
Here’s why this objection is a lie, born of illogic, a contextual fallacy, and just plain error!
 
Scriptural context is determined by examining surrounding text, identifying qualifying terms, and looking at the meta-narrative (notwithstanding the essential need for the Holy Spirit).
 
Fasting is not mentioned in Romans 14. Deciding to refrain from eating certain foods is, and eating only vegetables is, but the context denotes a general principle regarding disputations over practices that have arisen from foolish arguments and false teaching present in the community of faith as a result of being hyper-gracious toward “weak” (immature) believers.
 
Here are some excerpts from Romans 14 that in and of themselves refute the false teaching that says “Romans 14 is about fasting”.
 
IMPORTANT: Let me be clear, the modern “Daniel fast” (vegetables only) nonsense perpetuated by modern evangelicals is not based on first century Jewish practice but on modern revisionist misinterpretation of the book of Daniel. First century Jews had no such fast.
​
14:1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of disputes about opinions.

The theme here is the strength of a person's faith. We are told to accept “weak” that is, immature believers but we are not to allow them to influence the community through disputes about opinions over non-core doctrine.

2 One person has faith to eat anything, but the weak eats only vegetables.

Here we see that the disputes are not over fasting (as is foolishly suggested by people desperate to prove an untenable position), but over foods sacrificed to idols (meat) and those who have the faith to eat them, knowing that idols are nothing, and those that superstitiously think that by eating them (meat) they will become demon possessed or otherwise. Thus, they eat only vegetables. This is supported by Paul’s teaching elsewhere (1 Corinthians 8).
So we see that the issue is the eating or not eating of meat (sacrificed to idols). The text says “One person has faith to eat anything, but the weak eats only vegetables.” In short, some eat meat and vegetables and some eat only vegetables (just in case the meat purchased in the market has been sacrificed to idols), both eat, so not remotely to do with fasting.

Later, when we read “one eats unto the Lord and the other abstains unto the Lord” it is to be understood in the context of verse 2. As referring to eating or abstaining from meat (sacrificed to idols or not) and not to eating or abstaining from food in general.

3 Don’t let the one who eats disparage the one who does not eat, and don’t let the one who does not eat judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. Yes, he shall stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

In short, don’t waste time arguing over eating or not eating all foods. God is Judge. Again, the context relies on the previous verse and relates to eating meat and vegetables or only eating vegetables.

​Note that the mature believer is not to mock the ignorance of the immature and that the immature believer is the one admonished not to pass judgement. In other words it is the immature (weak) believer who is in error and more often guilty of presumptive judgement against the mature (stronger) believer. This is self-evident in many pseudo learned arguments regarding theology.

Therefore, the following verse is a general principle regarding different types of observances as they pertain to arguments over whether a believer should or should not practice them, and not a reference to fast days, which have not been alluded to at all in this chapter up to this point.

5 One person esteems one day over another while another judges every day alike.

“Every day alike” denotes all days. There is no recorded practice within first century Judaism or the growing Messiah following community regarding fasts that covered the whole of the year. Therefore, “all days” must by nature of the context denote the numerous observances of sacred days practiced within Judaism and the growing body of believers at the time. There were many “sacred days” observed, both Biblically commanded and otherwise, the only explicit Biblically (Torah) commanded fast being Yom Kippur. It is likely then given that this letter is written to Roman believers, that the days in question were morally neutral extra-biblical observances. In keeping with concerns of the nature of foods, as mentioned in verse 2. The present verses regard morally neutral food consumption and not fasting.

Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

Double mindedness regarding conscience is challenged.

6 The one who observes that day does so to the Lord.

What day? Any or “all days” (v.5). Again, fasting is not even inferred or remotely applicable.

The one who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and the one who abstains, abstains to the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.

Eats what? Verse 2 tells us “all forms of food meat and vegetables”. Abstains from what? Verse 2 tells us from meat, “eats only vegetables”. So is this about fasting? No!

7 For none of us lives for himself, and none dies for himself. 8 For if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this reason Messiah died and lived again, so that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

The remainder of the chapter concerns passing judgement that is reserved for God. It is not as some foolishly suggest, saying that we should not judge at all, Yeshua commands us to “make a right judgement”.
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The point being that not once in Romans 14 does Rav Shaul (Paul the Apostle) refer to or insinuate, infer or otherwise, that fasting is the issue.

Copyright 2020 Yaakov Brown