Hosea 9
9:1 a do not rejoice: This is probably a reference to the Festival of Shelters, when Israel celebrated the final harvest of the year. This festival was ordained by God (Deut 16:13-15 b), but the Israelites had turned it into a wild pagan festival, behaving as other nations did.• hiring yourselves out like prostitutes (literally you have loved a prostitute’s pay): The Israelites ignorantly believed that their grain and wine were payment for their worship of the Canaanite fertility god.
9:2 c As punishment for their prostitution, the Lord would so reduce the Israelites’ harvests that they would go hungry (cp. Hag 1:3-11 d).
9:3 e God would exile the Israelites to Assyria in 722 BC. There, in an unclean land, they would eat ceremonially unclean food, further separating themselves from their covenant with the Lord.
9:4 f In exile, the Israelites could not offer legitimate sacrifices because any sacrifice in a foreign land was unclean and defiled.
9:6 g Even if some Israelites were to escape Assyrian exile by fleeing to Egypt, God’s relentless judgment would reach them there.
9:7 h Apostate Israelites refused to believe God’s words of judgment as delivered by the prophets and mockingly cried that the prophets were crazy.
9:8 i The watchman stood guard on the wall of the city to warn of any threat (e.g., 1 Sam 14:16 j). In the same way, a prophet was God’s watchman, stationed to warn Israel of her sin and of the judgment that sin would inevitably bring (see Jer 6:17 k; Ezek 3:17 l). Despite his service to the people, all the prophet received was hostility.
9:9 m what they did in Gibeah long ago: See Judg 19–21 n.
9:10 o when I first found you: Hosea, like Ezekiel (Ezek 16 p), speaks of the Lord’s finding and adopting chaste, innocent Israel in the desert. But Israel soon deserted God for idols at Baal-peor (Num 25:1-4 q). Participation in idolatry had made the Israelites vile. This strong word can also be translated “detestable” (Deut 29:17 r) or “Abominable” (Jer 7:30 s). They inevitably resembled what they worshiped.
9:11 t Israel worshiped the baals to ensure that they would have many children, but God would punish them by preventing birth, pregnancy, and even conception.
9:13 u for slaughter: Rather than gaining them more children, the Israelites’ idolatry would backfire, resulting in their children’s deaths.
9:15 v All their wickedness began at Gilgal: Gilgal was the base camp for Joshua’s army (Josh 5:10 w; 10:6 x, 43 y) and the place where Saul was made king (1 Sam 11:15 z). Saul also disobeyed God and was rejected as king at Gilgal (1 Sam 13:8-15 aa; 15:10-23 ab). Israel’s leaders, including its first king, had led the nation away from their true king, the Lord.
• I will love them no more: Although a different Hebrew word is used here, the prophetic judgment reflects the name of Hosea’s daughter (Hos 1:6 ac).
9:17 ad wanderers: God’s judgment on the Israelites would cut them off from the land, leaving them with no home.
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