Hosea 5
5:1 a Hosea again condemns the religious and political leaders of Israel. They have led the people into idolatry as hunters trap wild animals in a snare.• The specific sins at Mizpah and Tabor are not known.
5:2 b I will settle with you: God’s judgment (Hebrew musar, “discipline”) would inevitably fall upon Israel’s leaders. God did not judge Israel simply to punish them, but to correct them so that his people would return to him.
5:3 c you are utterly defiled: The word translated defiled is used frequently in the Pentateuch to describe ritual uncleanness, a physical condition that disqualified a person from worshiping God in the Temple (Lev 11–15 d). The prophets used the concept as a metaphor for Israel’s moral uncleanness as the result of her idolatry (Isa 6:5 e; Mic 2:10 f).
5:4 g Israel’s idolatrous practices were so ingrained that they were apparently powerless to return to the Lord.
• You are a prostitute through and through (literally the spirit of prostitution is within them): Israel’s sin was not simply a behavior; it was the nation’s essential nature. They instinctively preferred the corrupt to the pure. Only through God’s work of salvation could Israel escape.
Summary for Hos 5:6-7: 5:6-7 h The people might think that they could win God’s favor with their sacrifices, but Hosea warned them that they would not find him; God had left them to the consequences of their sin.
Summary for Hos 5:8-9: 5:8-9 i Hosea sounded the alarm to warn the Israelites of God’s coming judgment. Because of their sins, the Lord had become Israel’s enemy and would punish them.
• Gibeah, Ramah, and Beth-aven (Bethel) are all cities in the tribal territory of Benjamin.
5:10 j thieves (literally those who move a boundary marker): The Lord was the owner of the land, which he entrusted to the tribes following the conquest (see Josh 13:8–19:51 k). To move a boundary marker and change God’s allotted boundaries was to steal from God (Deut 19:14 l). Such an act rightly invoked divine punishment (Deut 27:17 m).
5:12 n as a moth ... rotten wood: Sin can destroy the very fabric and foundation of a people while leaving them unaware that the destruction has taken place.
5:13 o In a final effort to avoid complete destruction, the Israelites overthrew King Pekah and placed a new king, Hoshea, on the throne. Hoshea then appealed to the Assyrian king Shalmaneser for peace (2 Kgs 15:29-30 p; 17:3 q), but these diplomatic maneuvers could neither help nor cure Israel—they would soon be destroyed by Assyria.
5:15 r Hosea again reminded Israel that divine judgment was not merely punitive. God’s purpose was to convince Israel to admit their guilt and return to the Lord (see 2:2 s, 14 t).
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