“Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn’t overtake them in Gibeah.
Parallel Translations
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“Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn’t overtake them in Gibeah.
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O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
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From the days of Gibeah thou hast sinned, O Israel; there they stood; no battle was to overtake them in Gibeah, nor the children of arrogancy.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Hosea 10:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 20:5 The men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house by night. They intended to kill me and they raped my concubine, and she is dead.
- Hosea 9:9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity. He will punish them for their sins.
- Judges 19:22-30 As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain wicked fellows, surrounded the house, beating at the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we can have sex with him!” The man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, “No, my brothers, please don’t act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, don’t do this folly. Behold, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. I will bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them what seems good to you; but to this man don’t do any such folly.” But the men wouldn’t listen to him; so the man grabbed his concubine, and brought her out to them; and they had sex with her, and abused her all night until the morning. When the day began to dawn, they let her go. Then the woman came in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her lord was, until it was light. Her lord rose up in the morning and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and behold, the woman his concubine had fallen down at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, “Get up, and let’s get going!” but no one answered. Then he took her up on the donkey; and the man rose up, and went to his place. When he had come into his house, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders of Israel. It was so, that all who saw it said, “Such a deed has not been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt to this day! Consider it, take counsel, and speak.”
- Genesis 6:5 Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil.
- Genesis 8:21 Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done.
- Judges 20:13-14 Now therefore deliver up the men, the wicked fellows who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and put away evil from Israel.” But Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the children of Israel. The children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
- Judges 20:17-48 The men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were counted four hundred thousand men who drew sword. All these were men of war. The children of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God. They asked, “Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” Yahweh said, “Judah first.” The children of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel set the battle in array against them at Gibeah. The children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day destroyed twenty-two thousand of the Israelite men down to the ground. The people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day. The children of Israel went up and wept before Yahweh until evening; and they asked of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?” Yahweh said, “Go up against him.” The children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. Benjamin went out against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men. All these drew the sword. Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before Yahweh, and fasted that day until evening; then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh. The children of Israel asked Yahweh (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?” Yahweh said, “Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand.” Israel set ambushes all around Gibeah. The children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. The children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to strike and kill of the people as at other times, in the highways, of which one goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel. The children of Benjamin said, “They are struck down before us, as at the first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let’s flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways.” All the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal Tamar. Then the ambushers of Israel broke out of their place, even out of Maareh Geba. Ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel came over against Gibeah, and the battle was severe; but they didn’t know that disaster was close to them. Yahweh struck Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men. All these drew the sword. So the children of Benjamin saw that they were struck, for the men of Israel yielded to Benjamin because they trusted the ambushers whom they had set against Gibeah. The ambushers hurried, and rushed on Gibeah; then the ambushers spread out, and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the ambushers was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city. The men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; for they said, “Surely they are struck down before us, as in the first battle.” But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and behold, the whole city went up in smoke to the sky. The men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed; for they saw that disaster had come on them. Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, but the battle followed hard after them; and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the middle of it. They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and trod them down at their resting place, as far as near Gibeah toward the sunrise. Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor. They turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. They gleaned five thousand men of them in the highways, and followed hard after them to Gidom, and struck two thousand men of them. So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword. All these were men of valor. But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and stayed in the rock of Rimmon four months. The men of Israel turned again on the children of Benjamin, and struck them with the edge of the sword—including the entire city, the livestock, and all that they found. Moreover they set all the cities which they found on fire.
- Zephaniah 3:6-7 I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant. I said, “Just fear me. Receive correction, so that her dwelling won’t be cut off, according to all that I have appointed concerning her.” But they rose early and corrupted all their doings.
- Matthew 23:31-32 Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He here reproaches Israel for having been long inured…
He here reproaches Israel for having been long inured in their sins, and not for being lately corrupted. This is the substance. He had said in the last chapter that they were deep in their sins, as in the days of Gibeah: we then explained why the Prophet adduced the example of Gibeah, and that was, because the Gibeonites had fallen away from all fear of God, as if not a word about the law had ever been heard among them. We indeed know that they abandoned themselves to filthy and monstrous lusts, like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorra. Seeing, then, that so great obscenity prevailed openly and with impunity in Gibeah, rightly did the Prophet say that the Israelites were then lost and past hope, as the case was at that time. But now he regards another thing, even this, — that from that time they had not ceased to accumulate evils on evils, and thus to spin, as it were, a continuous rope of iniquity, as it is said in another place, — From the days then of Gibeah hast thou, Israeli sinned
But this seems an unjust charge; for we know that the whole people united together against the tribe of Benjamin. Since, then, the Israelites revenged that wickedness which was committed in the city of Gibeah, why does the Prophet bring against them the crime of which they had been the avengers? But we know that it often happens, that they who execute the vengeance of God are in no respect better; and we had a remarkable example of this at the beginning in Jehu; for he had been God’s minister in punishing superstitions; yet God calls him a robber, and compares the vengeance he executed to robbery; ‘I will avenge,’ he says, ‘on the head of Jehu the blood of the house of Ahab, which he has shed.’ And yet we know that he was armed with the sword of God. This is indeed true; but he acted not with a sincere and upright heart, for he afterwards followed the same example. So now the Prophet says, that the Israelites had sinned even from that time; as though he said, “The Lord by the hand of your fathers took vengeance on the Gibeonites and on the whole tribe of Benjamin: but they were wholly like them. This corruption has from that time overwhelmed, like a deluge, the whole land of Israel. There is then no reason for you to boast that you have been better, inasmuch as it afterwards fully appeared what you were, for you imitated the Gibeonites.” We now then understand the design of the Prophet, and how justly he brings this charge against the Israelites, that they had sinned from the days of Gibeah. They indeed thought that crime was confined to a small corner of the land; but the Prophet says that the whole land was covered with it, and that they all exposed themselves to God’s judgement, and deserved the same punishment with the Gibeonites and their brethren, the whole tribe of Benjamin. ‘Thou, Israel, hast then sinned from the days of Gibeah:’ the Israelites said, that the Benjamites alone sinned; but that sin, he says was common.
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There they stood This clause is variously explained. Some think that the people are reproved for wishing to retreat after having twice fought without success. We hence see that their minds were soft and cowardly, since they so soon succumbed to their trial. They therefore think that this want of confidence is pointed out by the Prophet; ‘There they stood,’ he says, that is, retreated from the battle; for as they did not succeed as they wished, they thought that they had been deceived. Hence it is concluded, that they did not ascribe his just honour to God, and were on this account reprehensible. But others say, that God had then testified by a clear proof that the Israelites were equal in guilt to the Gibeonites; for how came it, they say, that when they engaged in battle, they were compelled twice to retreat? All Israel were armed against one tribe; how then was it that they did not immediately overcome? But the Benjamites, we know, were not at last conquered without a great loss. It is then certain that God plainly showed that the Israelites were unworthy of so honourable an office; for the Israelites wished to execute God’s judgement, when they were themselves equally wicked. The Lord then openly reminded them, that it was not for them to turn their zeal against others, when they were no less guilty themselves. It seems to others that their obstinacy is here pointed out: ‘There they stood;’ that is, from that time they have been perverse in their wickedness, and ‘the battle against the children of iniquity did not lay hold on them.’ This third exposition is what I mostly approve; that is, that the Israelites, when they became ungodly and wicked, though they professed great zeal and ardour against the tribe of Benjamin, did not yet cease from that time to conduct themselves perversely against God, so that they at last arrived at the highest pitch of impiety.
But what follows, The battle in Gibea against the children of iniquity did not lay hold on them, may also be variously explained. Some say, that the Israelites ought not to have defended themselves with this shield, that God had so severely punished the Gibeonites and their kindred. “The Lord spared you once, but what then? He has deferred his vengeance for a long time; but will he on that account deal more mildly with you now? Nay, a heavier vengeance awaits you; for from that time he has not forced repentance out of you.” But others read the sentence as a question, “Has the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity laid hold on you?” But the simple sense of the words seems to me to be this, that the battle had not laid hold on the Israelites, because they had not been touched by that example. The judgements of God, we know, are set forth before our eyes, that each of us may apply them for our own benefit. The Prophet now reproves the neglect of the Israelites in this matter, because they disregarded the event as a thing of no moment. Hence the battle did not lay hold on them; that is, they did not perceive that they were warned at the expense of others to repent, and to live afterwards a holier and purer life in subjection to God. And this view is confirmed by the last clause, “against the children of iniquity;” for why is this expressly added by the Prophet, except that the Lord testified that they should not be unpunished, who were like the Gibeonites, with whom he dealt so rigidly and severely. Since, then, the Israelites had not been touched, their stupidity was hence proved. And for the same reason Paul says, that the wrath of God shall come on the children of disobedience or of unbelief, (Ephesians 5:6:) for when God takes vengeance on one people or on one man, he doubtless shows himself in that particular judgement to be the judge of the world. This seems to me to be the genuine meaning of the Prophet.
We ought further to bear in mind, that when men go on in their wickedness, whatever sins their fathers have done are justly imputed to them. When we return to the right way, the Lord instantly buries all our sins, and reconciles us to himself on this condition, that he will pardon whatever fault there may be in us: though we may, through our whole life, have provoked his wrath against us, he will yet as I have said, instantly bury the whole. But if we repent not, the Lord will remember, not only our own sins, but also those of our fathers, as it is evident from what is here said by the Prophet.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The Israelites were not moved by their example to…
The Israelites were not moved by their example to cease from their sins.
In those days wast thou as wicked as the Gibeonites, as God there partly declared: for thy zeal could not be good in executing God’s judgments, seeing thine own deeds were as wicked as theirs.
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To wit, to fight, or the Israelites remained in that stubbornness from that time.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Hos 10:9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the…
Hos 10:9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
Ver. 9. O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah] Or, prae diebus, worse than in the days of Gibeah. What those days were, see Hos 9:9 Jdg 19:15 : when they were is not so certain; but probably before the time of the Judges, and soon after Joshua’s death; for Jebus, or Jerusalem, was not yet taken, Jdg 19:11-12 cf. Hos 1:1, and Phineas was yet alive and ministered before the Lord, Jdg 20:28, and was one of those elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, which he did for Israel, Jdg 2:7, so that these days of Gibeah were very ancient; and Israel’s sin the worse, because from those days; and yet more, because above or beyond those days. God made use of your forefathers to punish that great sin; and yet you continue to be more vile and vicious than they were, that were so punished by your forefathers; neither are ye at all warned by their harms: which is just both presage and desert of your downfall. Alterius perditio tua sit cautio. Exemplo alterius qui sapit, ille sapit.
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There they stood] Who stood? either the men of Gibeah stood stoutly to it, and slew in two battles 40,000; or, "there stood the men of Israel, and their battle did not overtake the children of iniquity"; not so overtake them at first, but that they were twice beaten by them; all which, notwithstanding, they stood it out, and prevailed at last; but so shall not you, since it is in my desire and decree, Hos 10:10, to order it otherwise, and utterly to destroy you at once. Non surget hic afflictio. This pain will not arise.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain O Israel, thou hast sinned; you of the ten…
O Israel, thou hast sinned; you of the ten tribes with such consent have sinned, that you seem to do it as one man.
From the days of Gibeah; ever since the days, so we; but, as Rivet observes, it will bear a comparative thus, thou hast sinned above, or more than. The ten tribes were greater sinners than those Gibeonites; so the prophet compareth the sins of the present age and that past. See Jdg 19, where the story is set down at large. See also Hos 5:8, the place described.
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There they stood; in that day and war some stood, who were a seed for raising up the tribe; so I refer this passage to the six hundred men who fled to the rock Rimmon.
The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them; that fatal battle did not reach them; but now Israel shall be more severely punished; for who escape the sword shall be carried captives, and they shall be no more a people or kingdom: or else thus; Israel hath sinned more than the Gibeonites, I will therefore punish them more than the Gibeonites; they stood once or twice, but Israel now shall be ever beaten and put to flight; in that war Israel had heart to rally, and after two defeats were victors in the third encounter, but it shall not be so now, a war shall overtake them now, not such to Israel as was that against the Gibeonites, for in that they had at last the better, but in this they shall be totally ruined.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here, I. They are put in mind of the…
Here, I. They are put in mind of the sins of their fathers and predecessors, for which God would now reckon with them. It was told them (Hos 9:9) that they had corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah, and here (Hos 10:9), O Israel! thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah. Not only the wickedness that was committed in that age is revived in this, and reacted, a copy from that original, but the wickedness that was committed in that age has been continued in a constant series and succession through all the intervening ages down to this; so that the measure of iniquity had been long in filling; and still there had been made additions to it. Or, "Thou has sinned more than in the days of Gibeah" (so it may be read); "the sins of this age exceed those of the worst of former ages. The case was bad then, for there they stood; the criminals stood in their own defence, and the tribes of Israel, who undertook to chastise them for their wickedness, were at a stand, when both in the first and in the second battle the malefactors were the victors; and the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them till the third engagement, and then did not overtake them all, for 600 made their escape. But thy sin is worse than theirs, and therefore thou canst not expect but that the battle against the children of iniquity should overtake thee, and overcome thee."
II. They have warning given them, fair warning, of the judgments of God that were coming upon them, Hos 10:10. God had hitherto pitied and spared them. Though they had been very provoking, he had a mind to try whether they would be wrought upon by patience and forbearance; but now, "It is in my desire that I should chastise them; it is what I have a purpose of and will take pleasure in." He will rejoice over them to do them hurt, Deu 28:63. Note, Because God does not desire the death and ruin of sinners, therefore he does desire their chastisement. And see what the chastisement it: The people shall be gathered against them, as all the other tribes were against Benjamin in the battle of Gibeah. One of the rabbin thus descants upon it: "Because they receive not chastisement from me by my prophets, who in my name rebuke them, I will chastise them by the hands of the people who shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows," that is, when they shall think to fortify themselves, as it were, within a double entrenchment. or, When I shall bind them for their two transgressions (so the margin reads it), meaning their corporal and spiritual whoredom, which they are so often charged with, or the two calves at Dan and Bethel, or those two great evils mentioned Jer 2:13. Or, When I shall bind them to their two furrows, that is, bring them into servitude to the Assyrians, who shall keep them under the yoke as oxen in the plough, who are bound to the two furrows up the field and down it, and dare not, for fear of the goad, stir a step out of them. The Chaldee says, Those that are gathered against them shall exercise dominion over them, in like manner as a pair of heifers are tied to their two furrows. Thus those that would not be God's freemen shall be their enemies' slaves, and shall be made to know the difference between God's service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries, Ch2 12:8.
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III. They are made to know that their unacquaintedness with sufferings and hardships should not excuse them from a very miserable captivity, Hos 10:11. See how nice, and tender, and delicate, Ephraim is; he is as a heifer that is taught to tread out the corn, and loves that work, because, being not allowed to be muzzled, she has liberty to eat at pleasure, and the work itself was dry and easy, and both its own diversion and its own wages. "But," says God, "I have a yoke to put upon her fair neck, fair as it is. I will make Ephraim to ride, that is, I will tame them, or cause them to be ridden by the Assyrians and other conquerors that shall rule them with rigour, as men do the beasts they ride upon (Psa 66:12); and Judah too shall be made to plough, and Jacob to break the clods," that is, they shall be used hardly, but not so hardly as Ephraim. Note, It is just with God to make those know what hardships mean that indulge themselves too much in their own ease and pleasure. The learned Dr. Pocock inclines to another sense of these words, as intimating the tender gentle methods God took with this people, to bring them into obedience to his law, as a reason why they should return to that obedience; he had managed them as the husbandman does his cattle that he trains up for service. Ephraim being as a docile heifer, fit to be employed, God took hold of her fair neck, to accustom her to the hand, harnessed her, or put the yoke of his commandments upon her, gave his people Israel a law, that, being trained up in his institutions, they might not be tempted by the usages of the heathen; he had used all fair and likely means with them to keep them in their obedience, had set Judah to plough and Jacob to break the clods, had employed them in the observance of precepts proper for them; and yet they would not be retained in their obedience, but started aside.
IV. They are invited and encouraged to return to God by prayer, repentance, and reformation, Hos 10:12, Hos 10:13. See here,
1. The duties they are called to. They are God's husbandry (Co1 3:9), and the duties are expressed in language borrowed from the husbandman's calling. If they would not be brought into bondage by their oppressors, let them return to God's service. (1.) Let them break up the fallow ground; let them cleanse their hearts from all corrupt affections and lusts, which are as weeds and thorns, and let them be humbled for their sins, and be of a broken and contrite spirit in the sense of them; let them be full of sorrow and shame at the remembrance of them, and prepare to receive the divine precepts, as the ground that is ploughed is to receive the seed, that it may take root. See Jer 4:3. (2.) Let them sow to themselves in righteousness; let them return to the practice of good works, according to the law of God, which is the rule of righteousness; let them abound in works of piety towards God, and of justice and charity towards one another, and herein let them sow to the Spirit, as the apostle speaks, Gal 6:7, Gal 6:8. Every action is seed sown. Let them sow in righteousness; let them sow what they should sow, do what they should do, and they themselves shall have the benefit of it. (3.) Let them seek the Lord; let them look up to him for his grace, and beg of him to bless the seed sown. The husbandman must plough and sow with an eye to God, asking of him rain in the season thereof.
2. The arguments used for the pressing of these duties. Consider, (1.) It is time to do it; it is high time. The husbandman sows in seed-time, and, if that time be far spent, he applies to the work with the more diligence. Note, Seeking the Lord is to be every day's work, but there are some special occasions given by the providence and grace of God when it is, in a particular manner, time to seek him. (2.) If we do our part, God will do his. If we sow to ourselves in righteousness - if we be careful and diligent to do our duty, in a dependence upon his grace - he will shower down his grace upon us, will rain righteousness, the very thing that those need most who are to sow in righteousness; for by the grace of God we are what we are. Some apply it to Christ, who should come in the fulness of time, and for whose coming they must prepare themselves; he shall come as the Lord our righteousness, and shall rain righteousness upon us, that everlasting righteousness which he has brought in; he will grant us of it abundantly. It is foretold (Psa 72:6) that he shall come down like rain. (3.) If we sow in righteousness, we shall reap in mercy, which agrees with that promise, If we sow to the Spirit, we shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. We shall reap according to the measure of mercy (so the word is); it shall be a great reward, according to the riches of mercy, such a reward, not as becomes such mean creatures as we are to receive, but as becomes a God of infinite mercy to give, a reward, not of debt, but of grace. We reap not in merit, but in mercy. It is what is sown; God gives a body as it has pleased him. (4.) We have ploughed wickedness and reaped iniquity; and the time past of our life may suffice that we have done so, Hos 10:13. "You have taken a great deal of pains in the service of sin, have laboured at it in the very fire; and will you grudge to bear the burden and heat of the day in God's service and in doing that which will be for your own advantage? You have done much to damn your souls; will you not undo it again, and do something to save them?" (5.) We never got any thing in the service of sin. They have ploughed wickedness (that is, they have done the drudgery of sin), and they have reaped iniquity, that is, they have got all that is to be got by it; they have carried it on to the harvest, and what the better? It is all a cheat. They have eaten the fruit of lies, fruit that is but a lie, which looks fair, but is rotten within; the works of darkness are unfruitful works, Eph 5:11; Rom 6:21. Even the gains of sin yield the sinner no satisfaction. (6.) As our comforts, so our confidences, in the service of sin will certainly fail us: "Thou didst trust in thy ways, in the multitude of thy mighty men; thou has stayed thyself upon creatures, thy own power and policy, and therefore hast ventured to plough wickedness, and thy hopes have deceived thee; come therefore, and seek the Lord, and thy hope in him shall not deceive thee."
V. They are threatened with utter destruction, both for their carnal practices and for their carnal confidences, Hos 10:14, Hos 10:15. Therefore, because thou has sown wickedness, and trusted in thy own way, a tumult shall arise among thy people, either by insurrections at home or invasions from abroad, either of which will put a kingdom into confusion and make a noise, much more both together. 1. Their cities and strongholds shall be a prey to the enemy: The fortresses which they confided in, and in which they had laid up their effects, shall be seized and rifled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle. This refers to some event that had lately happened, not elsewhere recorded; and probably Shalman is the same with Shalmaneser king of Assyria, who had lately put some town, or castle, or house (Beth-arbel is the house of Arbel), under military execution, which perhaps he used with severity in the beginning of his conquests, to terrify other garrisons into a speedy surrender at the first summons. God tells them that thus Samaria should be spoiled. 2. The inhabitants shall be put to the sword, as it was at Beth-arbel; when it was taken the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children, that is, they were both dashed in pieces together by the fury of the soldiers. See what cruel work war makes. Jusque datum sceleri - Wickedness has free course. It is strange that any of the human race could be so inhuman; but see what comes of sin. Homo homini lupus - Man is a wolf to man, and then, Homo homini agnus - Man is a lamb to man. 3. Even royal blood shall be mingled with common gore: In a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off, Hos 10:15. Hoshea was the last king of Israel; in him the whole kingdom was cut off and came to a period; it may refer either to him or to some of his predecessors that were cut off by treachery. It shall be done in a morning, in a very little time, as suddenly as the dawning of the morning, or at the time appointed, for so the morning comes, punctually at its time. Or in the morning, when they think the night of calamity is over, and expect a returning day, then shall all their hopes be dashed by the sudden cutting off of their king, Hos 10:7. Kings, though gods to us, are men to God, and shall die like men. And (lastly) what does all this desolation owe its rise to? What is the spring of this bloodshed? He tells us (Hos 10:15): So shall Bethel do unto you. Bethel was the place where one of the calves was; Gilgal, where all their wickedness is said to have been, was hard by; there was their great wickedness, the evil of their evil (so the word is), the sum and quintessence of their sin; and that was it that did this to them, that made all this havoc, for that was it that provoked God to bring it upon them. He does not say, "So shall the king of Assyria do to you;" but, "So shall Bethel do to you." Note, Whatever mischief is done to us it is sin that does it. Are the fortresses spoiled? Are the women and children murdered? Is the king cut off? It is sin that does all this. It is sin that ruins soul, body, estate, all. So shall Bethel do unto you. It is thy own wickedness that corrects thee and thy backslidings that reprove thee.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of…
O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah,.... This has no respect, as the Targum, and others, to Gibeah of Saul, of which place he was, and the choosing him to be king; but to the affair of the Levite and his concubine at Gibeah in the days of the judges, and what followed upon it, Jdg 19:1; suggesting, that the sins of Israel were not new ones; they were the same with what were committed formerly, as early as the history referred to, and had been continued ever since; the measure of which were now filling up: or, as Aben Ezra and Abarbinel interpret it, "thou hast sinned more than the days of Gibeah"; were guilty of more idolatry, inhumanity, and impurity, than in those times; and yet the grossest of sins, particularly unnatural lusts, were then committed:
there they stood; either the men of Gibeah continued in their sins, and did not repent of them; and stood in their own defence against the tribes of Israel, and the Benjamites stood also with them, and by them; and stood two battles, and were conquerors in them; and, though beaten in the third, were not wholly destroyed, as now the Israelites would be: or the tribes of Israel stood, and continued in, and connived at, the idolatry of the Levite; or rather stood sluggish and slothful, and were not eagar to fight with the Benjamites, who took part with the men of Gibeah; which were their sins, for which they were worsted in the two first battles, and in which the present Israelites imitated them:
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the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them; the two first battles against the men of Gibeah and the Benjamites, who are the children of iniquity, the one the actors, and the other the abettors and patrons of it, did not succeed against them, but the Israelites were overcome; and the third battle, in which they got the day, did not overtake them so as utterly to cut them off; for six hundred persons made their escape; but, in the present case prophesied of, it is suggested, that as their sins were as great or greater than theirs, their ruin should be entire and complete: or the sense is, that they were backward to go to battle; they were not eager upon it; they did not at once espouse the cause of the Levite; they did not stir in it till he had done that unheard of thing, cutting his concubine into twelve pieces, and sending them to the twelve tribes of Israel; and then they were not overly anxious, but sought the Lord, as if it was a doubtful case; which backwardness was resented in their ill success at first; and the same slow disposition to punish vice had continued with them ever since; so Schmidt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain They - Probably the six hundred men who fled…
They - Probably the six hundred men who fled to the rock Rimmon. Overtake them - That fatal battle did not reach them; but now Israel shall be more severely punished.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Thou hast sinned from the days of…
Verse 9. Thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah] This is another reference to the horrible rape and murder of the Levite's wife, Jdg 19:13-14.
There they stood] Only one tribe was nearly destroyed, viz., that of Benjamin. They were the criminals, the children of iniquity; the others were faultless, and stood only for the rights of justice and mercy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Hos 10:9. O Israel, thou hast sinned from the…
Hos 10:9. O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah — This is not the first of thy sinning, O Israel, for long ago there was the greatest corruption of manners, and the most flagrant wickedness in Gibeah; and thou hast continued to be wicked ever since that time: see Judges 19. Some render the words, Thou hast sinned more than in the days of Gibeah. Thou hast been guilty of more atrocious crimes than that committed in that place. There — That is, upon that occasion, namely, the quarrel with the tribe of Benjamin, on account of the outrage of the men of Gibeah. They stood — Israel stood there in array, prepared for the attack. This relates to the war which the rest of the Israelites made against the Benjamites, because they would not deliver up the men of Gibeah, who had so shamefully and cruelly abused the Levite’s concubine: see Judges 20. The battle in Gibeah, &c., did not overtake them — By them here is meant not the children of iniquity, but the Israelites who warred against the Benjamites, because they would not deliver up these sinners; and the sense of the expression, the battle did not overtake them, is, that they were not overcome in this their attempt to inflict a just punishment on the perpetrators of a flagrant iniquity; for, though they were overcome in two battles, yet at last they gained an entire victory, and cut off all the Benjamites but six hundred: see notes on Judges 20.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of…
O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah - There must have been great sin, on both sides, of Israel as well as Benjamin, when Israel punished the atrocity of Gibeah, since God caused Israel so to be smitten before Benjamin. Such sin had continued ever since, so that, although God, in His longsuffering, had hitherto spared them, “it was not of late only that they had deserved those judgments, although now at last only, God inflicted them.” “There” in Gibeah, “they stood.” Although smitten twice at Gibeah, and heavily chastened, there they were avengers of the sacredness of God’s law, and, in the end, “they stood; chastened but not killed.” But now, none of the ten tribes took the side of God. Neither zeal for God, nor the greatness of the guilt, nor fear of judgment, nor the peril of utter ruin, induced any to set themselves against sin so great. The sin devised by one, diffused among the many, was burnt and branded into them, so that they never parted with it. : “The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them,” i. e., it did not overtake them then, but it shall overtake them now. Or if we render, (as is more probable,) “shall not overtake them,” it will mean, not a battle like that in Gibeah, terrible as that was, “shall” now “overtake them;” but one far worse. For, although the tribe of Benjamin was then reduced to six hundred men, yet the tribe still survived and flourished again; now the kingdom of the ten tribes, and the name of Ephraim, should be utterly blotted out.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Gabaa. Septuagint, "high places;" or he alludes to the…
Gabaa. Septuagint, "high places;" or he alludes to the brutality of the citizens, Judges xx. 13. --- Stood. Those of Gabaa were speedily punished by the other tribes. Now, all are perverse. At that time one tribe was guilty, and yet some were spared; but all Israel shall be now led into captivity. (Calmet) --- From the time that Dan adored Micha’s idol, (Judges xviii. 14.) the evil has spread among the rest of the tribes, which did not punish this transgression. Hence all shall at last suffer. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Gibeah-- (Hos 9:9; Jdg. 19:1-20:48). They are singled out…
Gibeah-- (Hos 9:9; Jdg. 19:1-20:48). They are singled out as a specimen of the whole nation.
there they stood--The Israelites have, as there and then, so ever since, persisted in their sin [CALVIN]. Or, better, "they stood their ground," that is, did not perish then [MAURER].
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the battle . . . did not overtake them--Though God spared you then, He will not do so now; nay, the battle whereby God punished the Gibeonite "children of iniquity," shall the more heavily visit you for your continued impenitence. Though "they stood" then, it shall not be so now. The change from "thou" to "they" marks God's alienation from them; they are, by the use of the third person, put to a greater distance from God.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain ISRAEL’S HISTORY — ONE CONTINUOUS CRIME; ISRAEL’S DESTINY —…
ISRAEL’S HISTORY — ONE CONTINUOUS CRIME; ISRAEL’S DESTINY — DEATH AND DESTRUCTION, Hos_10:9-15.
With Hos_10:9 the prophet begins a new presentation of Israel’s guilt. In the very beginning a great crime darkened their history (Hos_10:9); from that time on they have resisted every effort to lead them into a higher and purer life; hence death and destruction await them (Hos_10:9-11). The announcement of judgment is interrupted by an exhortation to repentance (Hos_10:12), which immediately changes again into a threat (Hos_10:13-15). Hos_10:9.
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From the days of Gibeah — The reference is to the outrage in Gibeah described in Judges 19-21 (compare Hos_9:9). Beth-baal-peor (Hos_9:10) marked the beginning of religious corruption; Gibeah was the scene of the first outbreak of deep moral corruption. Since then conditions had not changed materially. This interpretation is preferable to that implied in the marginal reading, “thou hast sinned more than in the days of Gibeah.” The latter part of Hos_10:9 is open to various interpretations. For the second clause, there they stood, the margin offers a more satisfactory translation “there have they continued.” For this meaning of the verb compare Jer_32:14; Isa_47:12.
There — In Gibeah, or, rather, in the criminal conduct of Gibeah.
The battle — In which judgment was executed upon the guilty tribe (Jdg_20:1 ff.). If 9b is rendered a declaratory sentence the verb must be reproduced by a past tense, “did not overtake them.” If so, the thought is that, while the criminals of Gibeah received their reward, just punishment has not yet been visited upon Israel. But, Hos_10:10 continues, the judgment cannot be withheld forever. 9b may be translated also as a question: “Shall not the battle… overtake them?” that is, can these people, persisting in vice, believe that they will escape retribution? Hos_10:10 supplies the answer:
It is in my desire — Better, R.V., “When it is my desire.” Jehovah does not overlook the crimes; when the proper moment arrives he will execute judgment.
The verses following show that the time of vengeance has arrived. The punishment will take the form of hostile invasions by Assyria (Hos_10:6), by Egypt (Hos_9:6).
When they shall bind themselves in their two furrows — In the rendering of the last word the translators have followed the Targum. The Hebrew is uncertain; LXX. and Vulgate translate “iniquities”; so R.V., “when they are bound to their two transgressions.” The two transgressions are not the two calves at Beth-el and Dan, but the twofold sin indicated in Hos_8:4 : the setting up of kings contrary to the divine will, and the religious apostasy expressing itself in reliance upon foreign nations and in the worship of the Baals. When they are bound is of uncertain meaning. Some interpret it as a causal clause — because they are bound, inseparably devoted, to their transgressions; others, as a temporal clause — when they are bound, or, when I bind them, in punishment for their transgressions. LXX. and Peshitto render “chastise,” which favors the second interpretation; and this is to be preferred unless the text is changed. By the alteration of one consonant the whole clause may be made to read, “In order to bind (chastise) them for their two transgressions.”
Hos_10:11 contains a new figurative description of the punishment to be meted out. Now Ephraim is in peace and prosperity, but soon suffering and distress will overtake him.
Taught — Broken in to work.
Loveth to tread out the corn — A pleasant and easy task, especially since the animals were allowed to eat freely of the grain (Deu_25:4). Some consider taught inappropriate here, because, they say, the breaking in to do heavy work is a part of the punishment; for this reason they either omit it, and read, “And Ephraim is a heifer that loveth to tread out the grain” — but he will not be permitted to do this delightful work much longer — or they add not; “a heifer that is not taught.” All he has done thus far is to tread out the grain, but in the future he will be subjected to severer treatment.
But I passed over upon her fair neck — It is a disputed question whether this clause continues the description of the kind treatment — I have spared the beauty of her neck — that is, thus far the heifer has not been compelled to do any hard work; the rest of the verse would call attention to the change of treatment about to take place; or whether with it begins the threat: I placed the yoke upon her fair neck. If this interpretation, which seems preferable because it restores the parallelism, is accepted, the tense is to be understood as a prophetic perfect. The Hebrew permits either interpretation.
Make Ephraim to ride — R.V., “set a rider on Ephraim.” An even more probable rendering is, “I will make Ephraim to draw,” that is, the plow or the cart. North and south alike will share in the punishment. Instead of treading out the grain they will be compelled to do the hard work of plowing and harrowing. Since nowhere in this connection is there any reference to Judah, it is probable that in the last part of Hos_10:11 Israel should be read instead of Judah.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. thou hast sinned …] The prophet’s language is…
9. thou hast sinned …] The prophet’s language is correct from his own point of view. True, Israel as a people took summary vengeance on the Benjamites for the outrage of Gibeah. But the seed of wickedness remained, and developed into evil practices worthy only of the Gibeah of old.
there they stood … did not overtake them] The passage is open to various interpretations, but the easiest is as follows,—there they stood that the war against the sons of unrighteousness might not overtake them at Gibeah. It is a historic retrospect, with an implied application to the present. Just as the Benjamites offered a stubborn resistance to the onset of the rest of Israel at Gibeah, so the Israelites now persist in their old iniquities, and defy Jehovah to put them down.
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9–15. A fresh demonstration of Israel’s guiltiness. The prevalent depravity is comparable only to that of the men of Gibeah (see on Hos_9:9). ‘The times are out of joint’; all Israel’s doings are against nature, and the retribution must be equally exceptional.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) O Israel . . . Gibeah.—Thou didst commence…
(9) O Israel . . . Gibeah.—Thou didst commence thy obscene transgressions long before the disruption of the kingdom of Rehoboam, even at Gibeah. Gibeah is emblematic of gross and cruel sensuality, in allusion to Jdg_19:20, just as Sodom is used for unnatural vice.
There they stood.—Or rather, remained sinning after the same manner. The rest of the verse should be rendered, Shall there not overtake them in Gibeah (used mystically) the war made against the wicked? (Comp. Judges 20) But Dr. Pusey and others take it categorically, implying that though the exterminating war against the men of Gibeah did not overtake them, and has not yet, it shall now, and soon. But the former interpretation is to be preferred.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of…
O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah. Two explanations given of this clause namely, that which understands, rain comparatively, that is, "more than their sins were greater than those of the Benjamites in the days of Gibeah; and that which refers the sin here spoken of to the appointment of Saul, who was of Gibeah of Benjamin, to be king must be unhesitatingly rejected. Tile sin of the men of Gibeah was the shameful outrage committed on the Levite"s concubine by the men of Gibeah, which with its consequences is recorded in Judges 19 and Jud_1:20. That sin became proverbial, overtopping, as it did, all ordinary iniquities by its shameless atrocity and heinousness. By along-continued course of sin, even from ancient days, Ephraim has been preparing for a fearful doom.
There they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. This portion of the verse is not a little perplexing, and in consequence has called forth considerable diversity of exposition. There is
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(1) that which is implied in the Authorized Version, viz. "there they stood," smitten twice but not destroyed, chastened but not killed, the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them then so as utterly to destroy them, but it shall overtake them now. Or if the verb "overtake," which is future, be strictly rendered, the meaning is Not a battle like that in Gibeah against the children of iniquity shall overtake them, but one much more sanguinary and terrible, resulting, not in the reduction of a single tribe to six hundred men, but in the extirpation of ten tribes.
(2) That of Keil and others, though not the same, is similar. It is: "There, in Gibea, did they remain, persevering in the sin of Gibeah, and yet the war in Gibeah against the sinners has not overtaken them." This makes the meaning of the prophet to be that since the days of Gibeah the Israelites persevered in the same or like sin as the Gibeahites; and, though the Gibeahites were so severely punished, actually destroyed, because of their sin, the ten tribes of Israel, persisting in the same or similar sin, have not yet been resisted with any such exterminating war. Jehovah announces his intention now to visit them with punishment and severest chastisement for all. The meaning which Keil aims at may be better brought out by rendering the latter clause interrogatively; thus: "There they stood persisting in the criminality of Gibeah shall there not overtake them, living as they do in Gibeah, the war which exterminated the children of crime?" It is admitted that rm may have been the meaning of "persevering;" but a better sense
(3) is gained by Wunsche referring the subject of wdm to the Benjamites; the suffix of to the hlw ynb, or "children of iniquity," that is, their guilty tribesmen in Gibeah; taking the intermediate clause parenthetically; and dm with l to "stand in defense of;" thus: "Since the days of Gibeah hast thou sinned, O Israel: there they (the Benjamites) stood in defense of the children of iniquity, that the war might not reach them in Gibeah." This gives a satisfactory sense, and intimates that, by a long-continued course of iniquity and crime, the Ephraimites were preparing themselves for a fearful fate. Already from days long gone by grievous guilt cleaved to them; thus in the days of Gibeah they (the Benjamites) stood by their iniquitous brethren that the battle in Gibeah might not reach them. As this was before the disruption, the Benjamites were part and parcel of Israel here represented by them.
(4) Rosenm explanation is the following: "They (the Benjamites) survived (dm, opposed to dba, as in Psa_102:27) being severely punished, though they did not entirely perish, six hundred being left to revive the tribe." But a still severer punishment awaits the Israelites (the person being changed from the second to the third, and the prophet addressing himself to hearer or reader): not the war waged in Gibeah (or on account of the crime committed there) against the children of iniquity shall overtake them, but a far more deadly and destructive war. The word hwl is by metathesis for hlw as hwz for hwz, commotion; bck for cbk; and hmlc, for hlmci.
Vers. 9-12. A checkered picture.
These verses exhibit the continuance in sin and its consequences, chastisement and its lessons, change of circumstances and its bitter experiences, the call to repentance and the blessed promises to the penitent.
I CONTINUANCE IN SIN. Israel had corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah, (Hos_9:9) and, as we are told in Hos_10:9, had sinned from the days of Gibeah.
1. Grievous as their sin had been at first, it was greatly aggravated by being long continued. Age after age sin had run its course; one generation after another had helped to fill up the cup of iniquity until it had become brimful. A heathen complains of successive generations thus corrupting themselves, each outstripping that which preceded in iniquity: "What is there wasting time does not impair? The age of our parents, worse than our grandsires, has borne us yet more wicked, who in our turn are destined to beget a progeny more sinful still.
2. This continuance in sin shall be attended by dreadful consequences some day. This is a legitimate inference, whatever view we take of this difficult ninth verse. Whether the meaning be that the Israelites stood their ground, and did not perish though twice defeated by the men of Benjamin, and that with a loss of forty thousand slain; and that, though spared, their destruction as dreadful as deserved shall overtake them now, and that without any possibility of escape, and when it does come it shall be found all the more dreadful from having been delayed in its course; or whether the sense is that Israel, as if forsaken of God and alienated from his favor (possibly implied by the change from the second to the third person), have stood, that is, persisted in their sin as there and then so ever since; shall not the battle overtake such incorrigible offenders; persevering so long in sin like the men of Gibeah, can they expect to escape the war that of old did all but exterminate the transgressors? Or whether the sense be that the Benjamites, then an integral part of Israel, stood by the Gibeahites, defending, and so virtually abetting them in their iniquity, that the battle in Gibeah might not overtake those vile delinquents, and that Israel, resembling the Benjamites in spirit, have sinned ever since, aiding, abetting, and taking part in similar or greater atrocities and abominations. They are then left to infer that a day of reckoning still more terrible was to be expected by them.
II CHASTISEMENT AND ITS LESSONS. In the case of Israel, they were not left merely to infer the approach of chastisement, they were positively assured of it.
1. Men are forewarned that they may be forearmed. God had exercised much long-suffering and forbearance, but his goodness failed to lead them to repentance. They had abused his patience, and now his purpose is to chastise; but even in chastising them he is exercising mercy in order to prevent final and inevitable ruin. He had rejoiced over them to do them good; he now takes pleasure in correcting them it is his desire. The nature of the chastisement with which Israel is to be visited closely resembles that which had been inflicted on the Benjamites.
2. The reference to that transaction may have suggested to the prophet his description of the coming chastisement. The tribes of Israel banded themselves against Benjamin in the battle of Gibeah; so the peoples, the Assyrians and their allies, would be gathered against Israel. Kimchi has well expressed the cause of the chastisement by representing God as saying, "According to my good will and pleasure will I chastise them; because they do not receive chastisement from me by my prophets who rebuke them in my Name, I will chastise them by the hands of the peoples which shall be gathered against them.
3. When men refuse to be God"s freemen, and prefer continuing to be servants of sin, they are preparing themselves to be the bondmen of their enemies. The allusion in the last clause of ver: 10 is obscure, and yet the general sense is tolerably plain. Much depends on the one word variously rendered "eyes," "furrows," "habitations," or "sins." The figure may be taken from two oxen abreast in a yoke, plowing together side by side in two adjacent furrows; and it may indicate the combination of the Israelites to ward off the threatened danger, but to no purpose, since Jehovah had decreed their chastisement, and, in case it failed, their destruction; or the two divisions of Israel and Judah, and their respective places of habitation; or the two places of idolatrous worship, Dan and Bethel; or their two cohabitations with God and idols; or their two transgressions, which appears the preferable sense. Whichever of these we adopt, the idea of binding, that is, of thraldom or captivity, remains the same.
4. There are two kinds of service and two claimants for the soul of man: there is the service of sin, and the wages of that service is death; there is the service of God, and the fruit of that service is unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Satan claims us, but he is a usurper; besides, he is the worst of all masters keeping his servants in bondage, working them to death, and at last paying them with damnation. God claims us. His claim is just; he is the rightful Proprietor; he made us, and not we ourselves. His claim is, in fact, threefold creation, preservation, and redemption. We cannot serve two masters; we cannot obey both; and we may not attempt the unholy compromise made by the peoples brought from the regions of Assyria and planted in the lands of the dispossessed Israelites, who worshipped the Lord and served their own gods. To be the slaves of Satan or the freemen of Jehovah, that is the question; the bondage of sin or the freedom of righteousness is the alternative. There must be decision in the matter. Let our determination be like Joshua"s, that whatever others do, we will serve the Lord.
III CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES AND BITTER EXPERIENCES. When Israel had, by idolatry and other sins, bound themselves for slavery, like oxen laboring in the yoke up and down the furrows of the field, the change came. Ephraim had been treated gently and trained indulgently; their yoke had been an easy one, and their burden a light one; but they did not value their privileges, nor know the day of their merciful visitation. They had been in easy circumstances; the lines had fallen to them in pleasant places; they had long enjoyed privileges and advantages of no ordinary kind. But times are now changed, and that change, the bitter fruit of their own doings, was sad as it was sudden. A yoke is now put on the neck, a rider on the back, and drudgery becomes the lot of the once fair and delicate heifer. Subjection and slavery to foreigners, with hardships great and many, and such as they had never experienced before, now awaited Ephraim; while Judah too would come in for share of the punishment, as they had had part in the sin; and thus at last Jacob, that is, both kingdoms, the northern and the southern, having thrown off the yoke of Jehovah, fall each in turn under the galling yoke of Assyrian and Chaldean conqueror. Let men beware of exchanging the pleasant service of the Savior for the painful drudgery of Satan!
IV THE CALL TO REPENTANCE AND ITS BLESSED PROSPECTS. The severity of the foregoing threatenings is alleviated by the present call to reformation and repentance, with the accompanying promises.
1. A seed-time of righteousness must precede a reaping-time of mercy. The figures are still borrowed from husbandry; and thus every action is represented as seed sown, and every good work is seed sown in righteousness. The rule of righteousness is the Law of God, and the directions of that rule include our duty both to God and man. To sow in righteousness, therefore, is to discharge the duties of righteousness, comprehending piety towards God, justice and charity towards man, together with propriety of personal conduct.
2. The seed sown shall come up one day. If we sow tares, they will come up; if we sow wheat, it will come up. The seed of righteousness is called by the psalmist precious seed. It is not in the power of man to cause a single seed to germinate and spring up; but God in his justice will bring up the bad seed for punishment, and in his mercy the good seed for reward.
3. There is a correspondence between the seed-time and the harvest. If men sow to the flesh, they shall reap corruption; if to the Spirit, they shall reap life everlasting. As we sow we reap, and what we sow we reap. Our reaping shall be according to the measure of God"s mercy. Not a reward of merit, but of mercy; not a recompense of desert, but of grace. Men often sow in tears, but if the seed be that of righteousness, and the sowing after the right method and with the right motive, they shall reap in joy. "Blessed," says the saintly Burroughs, "are those who have sown much for God in their lifetime! Oh, the glorious harvest that these shall have! The very angels shall help them to take in their harvest at the great day; and they need not take thought for barns the very heavens shall be their barns. And oh, the joy that there shall be in that harvest! The angels will help to sing the harvest-song that they shall sing who have been sowers in righteousness.
4. Reformation is the effect and evidence-of repentance. If reformation be genuine, repentance must go before; a change of life that is real and permanent must be preceded by a change of heart. Thus, in order to sow in righteousness, the fallow ground must be broken up. If the seed is to take root in the soil, grow up and yield an abundant increase at the time of harvest, the soil must be carefully prepared. The plowing, though mentioned after the sowing, must precede it, otherwise the seed of truth will be lost or choked by the weeds of sin. Dropping the figure, or realizing the fact set forth by it, we must break up the fallow ground of the heart. The weeds and thorns and thistles that overspread it in its natural state must be rooted out; the evil passions, corrupt affections, and hateful lusts must be eradicated; the heart itself must be broken and contrite on account of sin; the spirit must be subdued by a sense of sin; shame and sorrow must penetrate the soul because of sin; like land long untilled, and so hard and difficult to plough, the hard heart must be broken with contrition and softened, and the stubborn will subdued. Thus, too, the field that had lain fallow after a first plowing must be broken up anew and made to shine (as the original word, from rWn, according to Gesenius and Ewald, signifies), and prepared for future and abundant fruitfulness.
5. The exhortation is enforced by two arguments the past loss of time, and prospective spiritual prosperity.
(1) Much time had been misspent; the duty of seeking God had been sadly and sinfully neglected. The language of the prophet here is expanded and enforced by the apostle, when he says, "The time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries." We are now called to redeem the time. It is our duty at all times to seek the Lord, but especially so after such tong delay on our part, and such forbearance and long-suffering on God"s part. And yet there is time. It is of his mercy that we are still allowed opportunity to repent and return to him. Even now is the accepted time; but soon it may be too late. Let us, then, seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is neat", before he withdraws himself, and swears in his wrath that we shall not enter into his rest.
(2) Another source of encouragement is here presented. If we seek him he shall be found of us, according to the promise, "Seek, and ye shall find." Thus encouraged, let us seek him presently, patiently, and perseveringly until he comes, as he will be sure to do, and rain righteousness upon us. In the fullness of time the Savior came, who is "the Lord our Righteousness;" he came as "a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of his people Israel." He will come to the individual soul, Gentile or Jew, that seeks him, and when he comes he will rain righteousness upon us.
6. Righteousness, like the rain, descends from above; for "every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from above, even from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." He will bestow it in great abundance, for he will rain it upon us; sending down, not merely a few drops, but a plentiful rain and copious showers. The righteousness so abundantly vouchsafed includes his righteous fulfillment of his promises; the righteousness, moreover, that is witnessed both by the Law and the prophets righteousness reckoned to us for justification, and righteousness wrought in us for sanctification. The effect of this righteousness is blessed and beneficent. As the natural seeds sown in the soil of the earth which has been ploughed and prepared for them require, besides, the rain of heaven to make them bud and bring forth the blade, the ear, and the full corn in the ear; so the spiritual seeds that men sow in righteousness require the rain of righteousness and the rich blessing of heaven to fructify and refresh.
Vers. 9-15. National prosperity and calamity.
In this passage, for the second time, (vide Hos_9:10) the prophet starts with a brief reminiscence of former days, and then proceeds to deliver an urgent exhortation to present duty; but all serves merely as a basis for more denunciation and announcement of retribution.
I THE IDEAL LIFE OF A NATION. (Ver. 12) Although this verse is in the first instance a summons to Israel to repent and reform, we may view it as indicating also what the life of every commonwealth ought to be.
1. Its activities. Foremost amongst these is:
(1) The pursuit of godliness. The ideal nation "seeks the Lord," and recognizes that always "it is time" to do so. It acknowledges Jehovah as its supreme King. It aims at making all the legislation upon its statute-book in harmony with the laws of the Bible. The Lord of hosts regards such a country as "a delightsome land". (Mal_3:12) Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord". (Psa_144:15)
(2) The cultivation of morality. "Sow to yourselves in righteousness." Plowing and sowing and reaping in this passage denote the moral conduct of the community. And the one great principle which should determine the activities of a nation should be that of "righteousness." Its supreme aim should be, not the accumulation of wealth, nor the acquisition of power and prestige, but the establishment of righteousness; it should strive after what is true and just and equitable in everything.
(3) The accomplishment of needful reforms. "Break up your fallow ground." The model nation looks out for new soil as well as for right seed, and for that Divine influence which is necessary to the harvest. As soon as it discovers any neglected portion of its own life, it will endeavor to subject that to spiritual husbandry, and bring it into cultivation. It will be continually anxious to reform, wherever it finds at any time that reform is necessary. But the life of the model nation has also:
2. Its rewards.
(1) The Lord wilt "come" to the community that seek him. He will dwell among them, and be "unto them a wall of fire round about." He will "come" in Christ, the King of nations; and by the Holy Spirit, who is the principle of the life of every godly commonwealth.
(2) The holy nation shall reap a harvest of mercy. They shall gather mercy as the fruit of the good seed of righteousness which they have sown. The best of men, when they have done their best, are unprofitable servants;" so that the rewards which shall accrue from their works of faith and love must be all of grace. But the harvest shall be a glorious one; for it shall be proportionate, not only to our humble sowing, but to God"s infinite mercy.
(3) They shall receive a rain of righteousness. Wherever the Lord Jesus comes as King, he brings with him this blessing. (Psa_72:1-7) Wherever the Holy Spirit dwells, he "creates a clean heart," and "renews a right spirit". (Psa_51:10-12) The people that sow righteousness sow "to themselves;" for to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward". (Pro_11:18) In proportion to their willingness to "do God"s will," shall they "know of the doctrine," and reap its blessed fruits in their hearts and lives. The angle of reflection shall be equal to the angle of incidence; that is, their obedience shall be the measure of their assurance and of their reward.
II THE ACTUAL LIFE OF ISRAEL This was quite the reverse of the ideal above described. Its wrongness had begun very early, for the nation had "sinned from the days of Gibeah"; (Jud_1:19,Jud_1:20) and, alas! it persisted in the sin of Gibeah still. The corruption of the community was deeply rooted in ancestral habit. In describing the actual life of Israel, Hosed refers to:
1. Its basis. (Ver. 13) The foundation of the whole lay in sinful self-confidence. Israel "trusted in his way," i.e. in his own political devices and idolatrous worship. He relied also upon "the multitude of his mighty men," as if Providence were on the side of the strong battalions.
2. Its pursuits. Ephraim led a self-indulgent life. In the days of Jeroboam II, when be was victorious and prosperous, he was "as a heifer that loveth to tread out the corn" (ver. 11). The nation was self-reliant, and it grew rich; so it became pampered and selfish. Really, however, the people all the while were following a career of laborious sin. They ploughed wickedness, and reaped iniquity" (ver. 13). Like self-made slaves, they bound themselves in their two transgressions" (ver. 10) their double sin of apostasy from Jehovah and revolt from the dynasty of David.
3. Its results. As sin is the evil of evils, the consequence of the people"s long course of iniquity could not but be ruinous. Disaster fell upon them as the outcome of natural law, and also because at last it was God"s desire to chastise them" (ver. 10). Hitherto the ten tribes, although they had lived in the commission of the sin of Gibeah, had not been destroyed in war, like the Gibeahites; now at last, however, the Divine vengeance is to descend upon them. There is to be:
(1) Invasion. (Ver. 10) The Assyrians, with their allies, "shall be gathered against them.
(2) Bondage. (Ver. 11) A heavy yoke shall be put upon the "fair neck" of the heifer Ephraim; and in her state of subjugation she shall have to perform hard labor. Judah also shall undergo a similar punishment. This threatening was fulfilled in the two captivities, the Assyrian and the Babylonish.
(3) Disappointment. (Ver. 13) Israel"s reward for his wickedness was that he had eaten the fruit of lies." The idolatry which he practiced was a lie; and this, instead of promoting the prosperity of the nation, as for a time it seemed to be doing, led to its utter humiliation and decay,
(4) National ruin. (Vers. 14, 15) The "tumult" of war is soon to arise. Shalmaneser shall overthrow the strongholds of Ephraim, as he had lately spoiled Beth-arbel." The land shall be devastated, and its inhabitants cruelly murdered. And, in consequence, the kingdom of Israel shall be destroyed forever.
LESSONS.
1. God"s long forbearance with a wicked nation before he proceeds to visit it according to its works (ver. 9).
2. The determination to which at length he must inevitably come, to vindicate his justice (ver. 10).
3. The folly of those who expect to enjoy the comforts of religion while neglecting to discharge its duties (ver. 11).
4. The history of the kingdom of the ten tribes an illustration of the truth that "pride goeth before destruction" (ver. 11).
5. The deceitfulness of sin, as being "the fruit of lies" (ver. 13).
6. This passage should lead us to cherish gratitude to Almighty God for his goodness to our nation, and should suggest to Great Britain to take warning from the doom of Ephraim. C.J.
Vers. 9-11. Past and present.
We have here,
I A PAST OF SIN A PRESENT OF RETRIBUTION. (Vers. 9, 10) Israel"s sin was:
1. Of old date. "Thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah". (cf. on Hos_9:9) The sin of Gibeah was an early and outstanding instance of wickedness. It may have taken place not long after "the days of the elders which over-lived Joshua" (Jos_24:31), and so have been the first public mark of the new departure in transgression.
2. Steadily persisted in. "There they stood." From that day on, a strain of deep corruption had run through the history of Israel
3. As yet unavenged. "The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them." Fierce as was the slaughter on both sides in that day of Gibeah, it had not sufficed to eradicate this evil strain. A seed by corruption survived which steadily propagated itself, and had now increased till it included the whole nation. The punishment of this sin was yet to come.
4. To be avenged now. "It is in my desire that I should chastise or, "band them; and the people shall be gathered against them, in the binding them for their two transgressions." The double sin for which Israel was to be punished was their departure from God, with its attendant idolatry and resultant moral corruption; and their attitude of antagonism to the house of David, to which they ought to have been willing to return at the earliest possible moment. This long-accumulating national sin God was now determined to punish, and was gathering the peoples to execute his decree, as before the tribes had assembled to avenge the sin of Gibeah. There is an entail of sin which the descendants of the wicked can only cut off by repentance. (Mat_23:35, Mat_23:36)
II A PAST OF EASE AND PLENTY A PRESENT OF HARD SERVICE. (Ver. 11.)
1. Past comfort. The people of Israel had a fat portion, and had grown accustomed to the life of ease and luxury. Like the trained heifer, which treads out the corn as a matter of habit, and feeds at its ease as it does so, they loved their prosperity, and took it as a thing of course. It is easy to settle in prosperity. We take our good things as though they came to us by right. We form habits in accordance with them. We survey the situation with lazy complacency, and conclude that this happy fortune must be what we were born to.
2. A present yoke. "I (have) passed over her fair neck." Already God had taught Israel the vanity of her complacency by subjecting her to the tribute of the kings of Assyria. This, however, had failed to lead to repentance; so worse was now in store.
3. Approaching hard service. "I will yoke Ephraim; Judah shall plough; Jacob shall break his clods." The image is taken from severe field labor, as contrasted with the easy work of the threshing heifer. Sin ends in bondage; in hard service; in the yoke and goad. The way of the transgressor is hard. (Pro_13:15) There may be ease and luxury at first, but the end is that he labors and is heavy laden". J.O. (Mat_11:28)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of…
Hos_10:9-11
O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah.
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Sin and punishment
The days of Gibeah recall the hideous story of lust and crime, which was the low-water mark of the lawless days of old. That crime had been avenged by merciless war. But its taint had lived on, and the Israel of Hoseas day stood, obstinately persistent, just where the Benjamites had been then, and set themselves in dogged resistance, as these had done, that the battle against the children of unrighteousness might not touch them. Stiff-necked setting ones self against Gods merciful fighting of evil lasts for a little while, but verse 10 tells how soon and easily it is annihilated. Gods desire brushes away all defences, and the obstinate sinners are like children, who are whipped when their father wills, struggle how they may. The instruments of chastisement are foreign armies, and the chastisement itself is described with a striking figure as binding them to their two transgressions; that is, the double sin which is the keynote of the chapter. Punishment is yoking men to their sins, and making them drag the burden like bullocks in harness. What sort of load are we getting together for ourselves? When we have to drag the consequences of our doings behind us, how shall we feel? (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
It is in My desire that I should chastise them.
Divine chastisement
This is a graphic expression; the whole meaning of it does not appear in the English tongue. God does not willingly afflict the children of men: it is not the delight of Almightiness to crush. It is the vanity of considerable strength to tyrannise, but in proportion as strength becomes complete it pities, it spares the helpless, for it knows that by one uplifting of its arm and the down-bringing of the same it could crush every opponent. Imperfect strength is a despot; Almightiness is mercy. But now there is a stirring of the Divine emotions. God says, It will be better for these people to be afflicted; they have left themselves nothing now but depletion, and they must be brought to the very point of extermination . . . The Lord is very pitiful and kind, and His eyes are full of tears, and judgment is His strange work: but there have been times in the history of providence which could only be consistently and rationally construed by granting that even the Divine Father must be stirred to the desire to chastise and humble wicked men. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Hos_10:9.] A return to earlier days to prove deeper…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Hos_10:9.] A return to earlier days to prove deeper guilt. Stood] As at the beginning, so now they stand, persisting in their sin. Others, though smitten in Gibeah, yet they avenged the sacred character of God’s law; but now none of the ten tribes took the side of God. The battle shall overtake and utterly destroy them.
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Hos_10:10. Desire] After the manner of men, God longs to punish in severity, to impress the mind. No longer joy over them (Deu_28:63), but justice without mercy. Bind] Lit. at their binding, i.e. when God would bind them like oxen ploughing side by side. Two] transgressions. Forsaking God, and revolting against the house of David. “The breach of both tables of God’s law, or as Jer_2:13” [Pusey].
IMITATING THE SINS AND SUFFERING THE PUNISHMENT OF OTHERS.—Hos_10:9-10
In the days of Gibeah, grievous sins were committed and punished. But Israel had not heeded the warning. They had now no zeal for God, nor fear of judgment. They had sinned and continued to sin in imitation of former days. The terrible battle in Gibeah did not overtake some; now not a mere battle, but something far worse shall come upon them. Though God “doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men,” yet he longs, has determined to punish, and will gather heathen nations against them in overwhelming numbers. Those who partake in other men’s sins will suffer other men’s punishment.
I. We commit other men’s sins by patronizing their works. The sins of Gibeah, the calves of Jeroboam, were all upheld and patronized by high and low in Israel. Kings and priests not only consented, but contrived to make the people sin. The people approved and carried out the bidding of their superiors. All were guilty. We may be afraid to resist and reprove, but if we silently consent and support evil deeds, we are guilty of partaking in them. Saul did not stone Stephen, but consented, approved of his death, and accused himself of the deed (Act_22:20). “Neither be partaker of other men’s sins.”
II. We commit other men’s sins by following their example. If you sin because another sins, you are guilty of your own act, and will share in the punishment of their sins. Bad examples are not landmarks to guide, but warnings to caution. Nothing forces you to walk in their steps, for then you would not be responsible and free. Examples draw men, and by imitating them they fall into habitual sin. The eye and the ear are inured. Many have fallen into habits of swearing, drinking, and scoffing by the practice of others. Young men indulge in filthy conversation, because incited by their evil companions. Infidelity is a repetition of the first lie, and imbibed by others from example. By imitating evil examples we establish and perpetuate national sins, influence national opinions and customs, and decide national destiny. “O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah.”
III. We suffer the punishment by committing the sins of others. “The people shall be gathered against them.” Israel could not escape. By their idolatry they had bound themselves in slavery. The Assyrians, with their allies, would gather against them at God’s call. God had determined to punish, and appeared to take pleasure in so doing. In every age, in every Church, those who copy the example and emulate the crimes of antiquity will be bound by their own fetters and delivered into the hands of their enemies. If nations revive in this the sins of a former age, and commit them in succeeding ages, they will fill up the measure of their iniquity. The sins of fathers and predecessors will be visited upon their children.
1. This punishment is determined by God. “It is my desire that I should chastise them.”
2. This punishment will not be avoided by their own defence. They would unite their strength, fix themselves for defence like oxen yoked together in the plough. “As the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hos_10:9. From the days, &c. I. Sin aggravated.
1. By continuance from age to age.
2. By neglect of Divine warning. (a) In preserving some, “did not overtake,” (b) in punishing others. Benjamin did not escape. Reduced to six hundred men. II. Sin ripened for punishment.
1. When imitated and propagated by posterity.
2. When provoking God to anger.
Conjunction of strength and forces to uphold sinful courses will not avail any nation against God’s wrath.
Hos_10:10. God can bring in his armies at his pleasure, for all creatures are at his beck and check. He never need want a weapon to chastise his rebels. All creatures in heaven and earth will present their service. How ready are the Assyrians here to be the rod in his hand [Trapp].
O the venomous nature of sin that maketh the merciful God to desire and to delight in men’s miseries; to take comfort in their punishments (Eze_5:13; Eze_5:15), to laugh at their destruction. And although he bear long with men’s evil manners (Act_13:18), yet he beareth them as a burden whereof he desireth to be eased (Isa_1:24), as a servitude whereof he desireth to be freed [Trapp].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 10
Hos_10:9-10. Example. For good or evil we act and influence men on earth. This influence will survive and affect others when we are gone. “Oh that my influence could be gathered up and buried with me,” cried a dying man. Men imitate and follow our example, and a bad example, a life of sin, are most pernicious to posterity. “I have thought some of nature’s journeymen had made men, and not made them well, they imitated humanity so abominably” [Shakespeare].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Kingdom Devastated
The Kingdom Devastated
v. 9. O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah, when such an abominable atrocity happened in the midst of the people of God, Cf Hos 9:9; Jdg 19:22; there they stood, continuing in the same immorality which was committed by the inhabitants of Gibeah. The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them, that is, while they were guilty of the same immorality, they were mercifully not punished in the same manner as the criminals of those early days.
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v. 10. It is in My desire that I should chastise them, the Lord had firmly made up His mind to that effect; and the people, various heathen nations, shall be gathered against them when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows, the purpose of the invasion being to place the fetters of captivity on Israel for their twofold transgression, namely, that they left Jehovah, the one true God, and that they rejected the rule of the house of David.
v. 11. And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, trained for some particular work, and loveth to tread out the corn, which was a pleasant task because the animals were permitted to eat as much as they liked during the process, Deu 25:4; but I passed over upon her fair neck, coming down upon it with the object of making a decided change. I will make Ephraim to ride, placing the yoke for drawing heavy loads upon her neck; Judah shall plow, being likewise guilty of transgressing the Lord’s will, and Jacob, here standing for the northern tribes, shall break his clods, by laboriously drawing the harrow over the plowed surface.
v. 12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, so that fairness and justice would be practiced toward all; reap in mercy, in showing the true love toward all men and thereby being assured also of a benignant acceptance on the part of God; break up your fallow ground, plowing new soil, turning a new leaf; for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you, rewarding those who are sincere in the evidence of their faith with the richest spiritual blessings, those of His salvation.
v. 13. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity, that being the harvest which one must naturally expect under the circumstances; ye have eaten the fruit of lies, of idolatrous worship, because thou didst trust in thy way, upon their own false manner of doing things, in the multitude of thy mighty men, in proud self-confidence, all this instead of relying upon Jehovah, the God of the covenant, and His Word.
v. 14. Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, namely, the noise of war against her armies, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, taken and devastated, as Shalman, very likely Shalmaneser, spoiled Betharbel, in Northern Galilee, in the day of battle; the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children, in an excess of unnatural cruelty.
v. 15. So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness, Bethel, as the main center of idolatry, being the cause of the punishment which descended upon them; in a morning, while the dawn rises, while it seems that the fortunes are turning toward the better, shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off, so that the kingdom would no longer be in existence. Such is the end of hypocrisy and unrighteousness when the patience of the Lord with the wicked is exhausted.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
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Yahweh is speaking.
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days of Gibeah
This is probably a reference to the shocking actions of the tribe of Benjamin recounted in Judges 19-21. See how you translated this in Hosea 9:9.
there you have remained
This passage probably means that the people of the present time continue to act in the same ways that their ancestors did at Gibeah. AT: "and you think just as they did" (See: Metaphor)
Will not war overtake the sons of wrong in Gibeah?
Yahweh uses a question to emphasize that those in Gibeah who do wrong will certainly have to endure war. And this speaks of the people having to endure war when their enemies come as if war were a person that would catch up with them. AT: "War will certainly come on those who do wrong in Gibeah." or "Enemies will certainly attack those who do wrong in Gibeah." (See: Rhetorical Question and Metaphor)
the sons of wrong
Here "son of" is an idiom that means "having the characteristic of." AT: "those who do wrong" or "the evildoers" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
Israel
sin
Gibeah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:9-10 The horrible events at Gibeah (Judg 19–21) set…
10:9-10 The horrible events at Gibeah (Judg 19–21) set the pattern of sin for the people of the northern kingdom of Israel (see Hos 9:9). God’s punishment was that they would be overwhelmingly defeated in war, just as in the time of the judges (see Judg 2:10-15).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.