Hosea continues to point out the "adultery" of Israel in worshiping other gods.
Hosea 10:1-2, A deceitful vine
Israel was a spreading vine;
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;
as his land prospered,
he adorned his sacred stones.
Their heart is deceitful,
and now they must bear their guilt.
The LORD will demolish their altars
and destroy their sacred stones.
As Israel grew rich, it turned away from God. Israel, God's fruitful fine, has turned to idolatry (putting up "sacred stones" for altars) even as she has prospered. The deceitfulness of the nation will be confronted and their sacred stones pulled down.
Israel is often described as a vine that God has cultivated. See Ezekiel 15, for example. Isaiah sings of God's vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7 and Asaph sings of it in Psalm 80. Israel is described as a vine here and in Jeremiah 2:21. Joseph is described as a fruitful vine in Genesis 49:22. Messiah Yeshuah, eight centuries later, will use the vine metaphor in John 15:1-8.
Hosea 10:3-4, What good is a king?
Then they will say, "We have no king
because we did not revere the LORD.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us?"
They make many promises,
take false oaths and make agreements;
therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
The Nrthern kingdom had a poor history of kings. And the corruption of royalty, their false promises, led to laws being subverted and used against the weak.
Hosea 10:5-6a, The calf-idol of Beth Aven
The people who live in Samaria
fear for the calf-idol of Beth Aven.
Its people will mourn over it,
and so will its idolatrous priests,
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
because it is taken from them into exile.
It will be carried to Assyria as tribute for the great king.
"Beth Aven" means "house of wickedness" (a new name for Bethel, which means house of God).
The calf idol was part of the Samarian culture (1 Kings 12:26-30.) There was one at Bethel, which explains the new name Hosea gives for the town. The idol, once an elegant object, will be carried away by Assyria.
The phrase translated "great king" in verse 6 is literally "King Yareb." The Hebrew word "yareb" means "to strive" or "to contend." Kidner says that here it is a scornful term and quotes another commentator who translates the phrase as "King Pick-Quarrel."
Hosea 10:6b-8, Carried downstream like a twig
Ephraim will be disgraced;
Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.
Samaria and its king will float away
like a twig on the surface of the waters.
The high places of wickedness will be destroyed
-- it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns and thistles will grow up
and cover their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!"
and to the hills, "Fall on us!"
The royalty of Samaria/Israel will float away, like a twig on a stream, controlled by the current.
The curse of "thorns and thistles" covering the altar echoes Genesis 3:18, where the Fall leads to painful subsistence farming.
In this future judgment, the people will wish for death, asking for the mountains and hills to cover them. In the New Testament, Jesus quotes this passage in Luke 23:30 and the same phrase appears in a similar passage in Revelation 6:15-17.
Hosea 10:9-11, Remember Gibeah
"Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel,
and there you have remained.
Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah?
When I please, I will punish them;
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bonds for their double sin.
Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
Judah must plow,
and Jacob must break up the ground.
Gibeah was a place of horrible violence in the days of the judges. See Judges 19-21, where a massacre of Benjamin occurs at Gibeah, after the rape and murder of a Levite's concubine.
A cow or ox would be trained to stamp on grain while walking around the threshing floor. Some cattle ate the grain as they threshed; God will take Ephraim, put a yoke on her, and move her into the fields to pull a plow.
Hosea 10:12, Seek YHWH
Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the LORD,
until he comes and showers righteousness on you.
Hosea pauses to make his point. The northern kingdom is called to righteousness, to return and seek YHWH.
Hosea 10:13-15, Planting wickedness
But you have planted wickedness,
you have reaped evil,
you have eaten the fruit of deception.
Because you have depended on your own strength
and on your many warriors,
the roar of battle will rise against your people,
so that all your fortresses will be devastated
-- as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground
with their children.
Thus will it happen to you, O Bethel,
because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
Unfortunately, instead of turning back to God, the people of Israel have "planted" wickedness. The image is that of laying out a garden of evil, growing the "fruit of deception."
The identity of Shalman is unclear, as is the battlefield Beth Arbel. Shalman could be Shalmaneser IV. Hosea is reminding the people of a slaughter that has now been lost to history.
First published June 17, 2025; updated June 17, 2025
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