Hos 2:8, 13:2 | JFB | STEP | 8. she did not know that I —not the idols, as she thought: the "lovers" alluded to in . which they prepared for Baal —that is, of which they made images of Baal, or at least the plate covering of them ( ). Baal was the Ph nician sun-god: answering to the female Astarte, the moon-goddess. The name of the idol is found in the Ph nician Hannibal, Hasdrubal. Israel borrowed it from the Tyrians.

Hosea 2:8

8. she did not know that I—not the idols, as she thought: the "lovers" alluded to in Ho 2:5.

which they prepared for Baal—that is, of which they made images of Baal, or at least the plate covering of them (Ho 8:4). Baal was the Ph nician sun-god: answering to the female Astarte, the moon-goddess. The name of the idol is found in the Ph nician Hannibal, Hasdrubal. Israel borrowed it from the Tyrians.

Hosea 13:2

2. according to their own understanding—that is, their arbitrary devising. Compare "will-worship," Col 2:23. Men are not to be "wise above that which is written," or to follow their own understanding, but God's command in worship.

kiss the calves—an act of adoration to the golden calves (compare 1Ki 19:18; Job 31:27; Ps 2:12).