“Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet don’t let Judah offend; and don’t come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, ‘As Yahweh lives.’
Parallel Translations
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“Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet don’t let Judah offend; and don’t come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, ‘As Yahweh lives.’
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Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
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Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah become guilty; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear: 'As the LORD liveth.'
Cross-references (21)
Passages linked to Hosea 4:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hosea 9:15 “All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house! I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels.
- Hosea 12:11 If Gilead is wicked, surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.
- Amos 4:4 “Go to Bethel, and sin; to Gilgal, and sin more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days,
- Amos 5:5 but don’t seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don’t pass to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing.
- Jeremiah 5:2 Though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ surely they swear falsely.”
- Hosea 5:8 “Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!
- Hosea 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror for the calves of Beth Aven; for its people will mourn over it, Along with its priests who rejoiced over it, for its glory, because it has departed from it.
- Hosea 10:8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, “Cover us!” and the hills, “Fall on us!”
- Amos 8:14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, ‘As your god, Dan, lives;’ and, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives;’ they will fall, and never rise up again.”
- Ephesians 5:11 Have no fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even reprove them.
- 1 Kings 12:28-29 So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and behold your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” He set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
- 2 Kings 17:18-19 Therefore Yahweh was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight. There was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah didn’t keep the commandments of Yahweh their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
- Isaiah 48:1 “Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come out of the waters of Judah. You swear by Yahweh’s name, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness—
- Jeremiah 3:6-11 Moreover, Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there. I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to me;’ but she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear; but she also went and played the prostitute. Because she took her prostitution lightly, the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with wood. Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense,” says Yahweh. Yahweh said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
- Ezekiel 20:39 “ ‘As for you, house of Israel, the Lord Yahweh says: “Go, everyone serve his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but you shall no more profane my holy name with your gifts and with your idols.
- Ezekiel 23:4-8 Their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah. “Oholah played the prostitute when she was mine. She doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors, who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. She gave herself as a prostitute to them, all of them the choicest men of Assyria. She defiled herself with the idols of whoever she lusted after. She hasn’t left her prostitution since leaving Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her. They caressed her youthful nipples; and they poured out their prostitution on her.
- Hosea 4:12 My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.
- Hosea 11:12 Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit. Judah still strays from God, and is unfaithful to the Holy One.
- Amos 6:10 “When a man’s relative carries him, even he who burns him, to bring bodies out of the house, and asks him who is in the innermost parts of the house, ‘Is there yet any with you?’ And he says, ‘No;’ then he will say, ‘Hush! Indeed we must not mention Yahweh’s name.’
- Zephaniah 1:5-6 those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also swear by Malcam, those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.
- Luke 12:47-48 That servant, who knew his lord’s will, and didn’t prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes, but he who didn’t know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet here complains that Judah also was infected…
The Prophet here complains that Judah also was infected with superstitions, though the Lord had hitherto wonderfully kept them from pollutions of this kind. He compares Israel with Judah, as though he said, “It is no wonder that Israel plays the wanton; they had for a long time shaken off the yoke; their defection is well known: but it is not to be endured, that Judah also should begin to fall away into the same abominations.” We now then perceive the object of the comparison. From the time that Jeroboam led after him the ten tribes, the worship of God, we know, was corrupted; for the Israelites were forbidden to ascend to Jerusalem, and to offer sacrifices there to God according to the law. Altars were at the same time built, which were nothing but perversions of divine worship. This state of things had now continued for many years. The Prophet therefore says, that Israel was like a filthy strumpet, void of all shame; nor was this to be wondered at, for they had cast away the fear of God: but that Judah also should forsake God’s pure worship as well as Israel, — this the Prophet deplores, If then thou Israel playest the wanton, let not Judah at least offend
We here see first, how difficult it is for those to continue untouched without any stain, who come in contact with pollutions and defilements. This is the case with any one that is living among Papists; he can hardly keep himself entire for the Lord; for vicinity, as we find, brings contagion. The Israelites were separated from the Jews, and yet we see that the Jews were corrupted by their diseases and vices. There is, indeed, nothing we are so disposed to do as to forsake true religion; inasmuch as there is naturally in us a perverse lust for mixing with it some false and ungodly forms of worship; and every one in this respect is a teacher to himself: what then is likely to take place, when Satan on the other hand stimulates us? Let all then who are neighbors to idolaters beware, lest they contract any of their pollutions.
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We further see, that the guilt of those who have been rightly taught is not to be extenuated when they associate with the blind and the unbelieving. Though the Israelites boasted of the name of God, they were yet then alienated from pure doctrine, and had been long sunk in the darkness of errors. There was no religion among them; nay, they had hardly a single pure spark of divine light. The Prophet now brings this charge against the Jews, that they differed not from the Israelites, and yet God had to that time carried before them the torch of light; for he suffered not sound doctrine to be extinguished at Jerusalem, nor throughout the whole of Judea. The Jews, by not profiting through this singular kindness of God, were doubly guilty. This is the reason why the Prophet now says, Though Israel is become wanton, yet let not Judah offend
Come ye not to Gilgal, he says, and ascend not into Beth- aven. Here again he points out the superstitions by which the Israelites had vitiated the pure worship of God; they had built altars for themselves in Bethel and Gilgal, where they pretended to worship God.
Gilgal, we know, was a celebrated place; for after passing through Jordan, they built there a pillar as a memorial of that miracle; and the people no doubt ever remembered so remarkable an instance of divine favor: and the place itself retained among the people its fame and honorable distinction. This in itself deserved no blame: but as men commonly pervert by abuse every good thing, so Jeroboam, or one of his successors, built a temple in Gilgal; for the minds almost of all were already possessed with some reverence for the place. Had there been no distinction belonging to the place, he could not have so easily inveigled the minds of the people; but as a notion already prevailed among them that the place was holy on account of the miraculous passing over of the people, Jeroboam found it easier to introduce there his perverted worship: for when one imagines that the place itself pleases God, he is already captivated by his own deceptions. The same also must be said of Bethel: its name was given it, we know, by the holy father Jacob, because God appeared there to him.
‘Terrible,’ he said, ‘is this place; it is the gate of heaven,’ (Genesis 28:17.)
He hence called it Bethel, which means the house of God. Since Jacob sacrificed there to God, posterity thought this still allowable: for hypocrites weigh not what God enjoins, but catch only at the Fathers’ examples, and follow as their rule whatever they hear to have been done by the Fathers.
As then foolish men are content with bare examples, and attend not to what God requires, so the Prophet distinctly inveighs here against both places, even Bethel and Gilgal. “Come not”, he says, to Gilgal, and ascend not into Beth-aven But we must observe the change of name made by the Prophet; for he calls not the place by its honorable name, Bethel, but calls it the house of iniquity. It is indeed true that God revealed himself there to his servant Jacob; but he intended not the place to be permanently fixed for himself, he intended not that there should be a perpetual altar there: the vision was only for a time. Had the people been confirmed in their faith, whenever the name of the place was heard, it would have been a commendable thing; but they departed from the true faith, for they despised the sure command of God, and preferred what had been done by an individual, and were indeed influenced by a foolish zeal. It is no wonder then that the Prophet turns praise into blame, and allows not the place to be, as formerly, the House of God, but the house of iniquity. We now see the Prophet’s real meaning.
I return to the reproof he gives to the Jews: he condemns them for leaving the legitimate altar and running to profane places, and coveting those strange modes of worship which had been invented by the will or fancy of men. “What have you to do,” he says, “with Gilgal or Bethel? Has not God appointed a sanctuary for you at Jerusalem? Why do ye not worship there, where he himself invites you?” We hence see that a comparison is to be understood here between Gilgal and Bethel on the one hand, and the temple, built by God’s command on mount Zion, in Jerusalem, on the other. Moreover, this reproof applies to many in our day. So to those who sagaciously consider the state of things in our age, the Papists appear to be like the Israelites; for their apostasy is notorious enough: there is nothing sound among them; the whole of their religion is rotten; every thing is depraved. But as the Lord has chosen us peculiarly to himself, we must beware, lest they should draw us to themselves, and entangle us: for, as we have said, we must ever fear contagion; inasmuch as nothing is more easy than to become infected with their vices, since our nature is to vices ever inclined.
We are further reminded how foolish and frivolous is the excuse of those who, being satisfied with the examples of the Fathers, pass by the word of God, and think themselves released from every command, when they follow the holy Fathers. Jacob was indeed, among others, worthy of imitation; and yet we learn from this place, that the pretence that his posterity made for worshipping God in Bethel was of no avail. Let us then know that we cannot be certain of being right, except when we obey the Lord’s command, and attempt nothing according to men’s fancy, but follow only what he bids. It must also be observed, that a fault is not extenuated when things, now perverted, have proceeded-from a good and approved origin. As for instance the Papists, when their superstitions are condemned, ever set up this shield, “O! this has arisen from a good source.” But what sort of thing is it? If indeed we judge of it by what it is now, we clearly see it to be an impious abomination, which they excuse by the plea that it had a good and holy beginning.
Thus in baptism we see how various and how many deprivations they have mixed together. Baptism has indeed its origin in the institution of Christ: but no permission has been given to men to deface it by so many additions. The origin then of baptism affords the Papists no excuse, but on the contrary renders double their sin; for they have, by a profane audacity, contaminated what the Son of God has appointed. But there is in their mass a much greater abomination: for the mass, as we know, is in no respect the same with the holy supper of our Lord. There are at least some things remaining in baptism; but the mass is in nothing like Christ’s holy supper: and yet the Papists boast that the mass is the supper. Be it so, that it had crept in, and that through the craft of Satan, and also through the wickedness or depravity of men: but whatever may have been its beginning, it does not wipe away the extreme infamy that belongs to the mass: for, as it is well known, they abolish by it the only true sacrifice of Christ; they ascribe to their own devices the expiation which was made by the death of the Son of God. And here we have not only to contend with the Papists, but also with those wicked triflers, who proudly call themselves Nicodemians. For these indeed deny that they come to the mass, because they have any regard for the Papistic figment; but because they say that there is set forth a commemoration of Christ’s supper and of his death. Since Bethel was formerly turned into Beth-aven, what else at this day is the mass? Let us then ever take heed, that whatever the Lord has instituted may remain in its own purity, and not degenerate; otherwise we shall be guilty, as it has been said, of the impious audacity of those who have changed the truth into a lie. We now understand the design of what the Prophet teaches, and to what purposes it may be applied.
He at last subjoins, And swear not, Jehovah liveth The Prophet seems here to condemn what in itself was right: for to swear is to profess religion, and to testify our profession of it; particularly when men swear honestly. But as this formula, which the Prophet mentions, was faultless, why did God forbid to swear by his name, and even in a holy manner? Because he would reign alone, and could not bear to be connected with idols; for
“what concord,’ says Paul, ‘has Christ with Belial? How can light agree with darkness?’ (2 Corinthians 6:15:)
so God would allow of no concord with idols. This is expressed more fully by another Prophet, Zephaniah, when he says,
‘I will destroy those who swear by the living God, and swear by their king,’ (Zephaniah 1:5.)
God indeed expressly commands the faithful to swear by his name alone in Deuteronomy 6 and in other places: and further, when the true profession of religion is referred to, this formula is laid down,
‘They shall swear, The Lord liveth,’ (Jeremiah 4:2.)
But when men associated the name of God with their own perverted devices, it was by no means to be endured. The Prophet then now condemns this perfidy, Swear not, Jehovah liveth; as though he said, “How dare these men take God’s name, when they abandon themselves to idols? for God allows his name only to his own people.” The faithful indeed take God’s name in oaths as it were by his leave. Except the Lord had granted this right, it would have certainly been a sacrilege. But we borrow God’s name by his permission: and it is right to do so, when we keep faith with him, when we continue in his service; but when we worship false gods, then we have nothing to do with him, and he takes away the privilege which he has given us. Then he says, ‘Ye shall not henceforth blend the name of the only true God with idols.’ For this he cannot endure, as he declares also in Ezekial,
Go ye, serve your idols; I reject all your worship.’ [Eze 20:39]
The Lord was thus grievously offended, even when sacrifices were offered to him. Why so? Because it was a kind of pollution, when the Jews professed to worship him, and then went after their ungodly superstitions. We now then perceive the meaning of this verse. It follows —
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 God complaineth that Judah is infected, and willeth them…
God complaineth that Judah is infected, and willeth them to learn to return in time.
For albeit the Lord had honored this place in time past by his presence, yet because it was abused by their idolatry, he would not that his people should resort thither.
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He calleth Bethel, that is, the house of God, Beth Aven, that is, the house of iniquity, because of their abominations set up there, signifying that no place is holy, where God is not purely worshipped.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Hos 4:15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, [yet]…
Hos 4:15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, [yet] let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
Ver. 15. Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend] Lest if God lose his glory among them too, he lose it altogether. Judah was grown almost as bad as Israel (in the days of that stigmatic Ahaz especially, 2Ch 28:22); Aholibamah, as Aholibah, Eze 23:36. But let it not be so, saith the prophet, since not to be warned by the harms of another is a just both presage and desert of ruin. Alterius igitur perditio tua sit cautio. Therefore by their destruction, let you be warned. Seest thou another shipwreck? look well to thine own tackling. God will take that from Israel which he will not from Judah; because these had many means and privileges that the other had not; as the temple, priests, ordinances, &c. Now good turns aggravate unkindness; and men’s offences are increased by their obligations. Judah was and would be therefore the worse, because they ought to have been better. And God can better bear with aliens than with his own people, when they offend. The Philistines may cart the ark, but if David do it woe be to Uzzah. You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore (whosoever escape) I will punish you for all iniquities, Amo 3:2. The unkindness of your sins is more than all the rest: it grieves God’s Spirit, and goes near his heart.
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Come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven] Alias Bethel, the house of God, so called by Jacob, who there had visions of God, and said, "How fearful is this place! It is even the house of God and gate of heaven." But now it was become the hate of heaven, and gate to destruction, as being abused to idolatry. Corruptio optimi fit pessima. Corruption of the best become the worst. Bethel is become Bethaven, the house of iniquity and misery, of sin and of sorrow: for "their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god," Psa 16:4. The word gnatsabim, there rendered sorrows, signifieth also idols, Psa 115:4; Psa 106:36, because they that worship them are sure of sorrows.
Come not therefore to Gilgal, &c.] Gilgal was the key of Canaan, situated between Jordan and Jericho, famous for various services there performed to God, as were easy to instance; but now basely abused to idol worship. Hence this charge (and the like in Amo 5:5) not to come near it; and the rather because it was a border town, and so more dangerous. "Keep thee far from an evil matter," saith Moses, Exo 23:7; "Come not nigh the doors of the harlot’s house," saith Solomon, Pro 5:8. From such stand off, or keep aloof, saith Paul, 1Ti 6:5. Shun them as the seaman doth sands and shoals, as the same apostle’s word, στελλεσθαι, imports, 1Th 3:6. A man cannot touch such pitch but he shall be defiled; nor live any while in Mauritania but he shall be discoloured. Cum fueris Romae, &c. Let them look to it that so much affect to see Italy, Rome, the pope, the mass &c. But, "What dost thou here, Elijah?" may God well say, as 1Ki 19:9. What protection hast thou here, either from infection of sin or infliction of punishment? Saith not the heavenly oracle, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues," Rev 18:4. Mr Ascham (school master to Queen Elizabeth) was wont to thank God, that he was but nine days in Italy: wherein he saw in that one city of Venice more liberty to sin than in London he ever heard of in nine years. And is it safe pressing into such pest houses? tampering with such temptations? Tertullian tells of a Christian woman, who being at a play, was possessed of a devil. And when he was asked by those that came to cast him out, how he dared possess one that was a Christian, he answered, I found her in mine own place. Take heed, therefore, ye come not where the devil hath to do. He that doth so, and yet prays, "Lead us not into temptation," may as well thrust his finger into the fire, and then pray that it may not be burnt.
Nor swear, The Lord liveth] i.e. Swear not by God and Malcham, Zep 1:5, make not a mixture of religions; halt not between two opinions, think not to serve two masters, Mat 6:23. What agreement hath Christ with Belial, or the temple of God with idols? 2Co 6:15. Cast away (saith one to a neuter passive, Nicodemus) either thy wings or thy teeth; and loathing this bat-like nature, be what thou art, either a bird or a beast (Dr Hall, Epist. to W. Laud). There were (belike) in Judah, that thought they could both frequent places of idol worship, and serve Jehovah, swearing by his name. God will have none of that; if he be served by men at all he must be served truly, that there be no halting, and totally, that there be no halving, To swear vere, rite, iuste, truly, solomnly and justly, as Jer 4:1, is a piece of God’s service, and we may well reckon it among our good works. But to swear by idols, or before idols, made to represent the true God (as those bugs at Dan and Bethel, &c.), or by the creature, Mat 5:24, is utterly unlawful. It is a great dishonour to God, and a great dishonour to ourselves also; for we always swear by the greater, Heb 6:16.
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 This summeth up the sins, the idolatries of the…
This summeth up the sins, the idolatries of the ten tribes; and is a transition to what next follows; either by way of exhortation, or admonition, or prayer and wish, for the two tribes which stuck to the house of David, as to the temple.
Let not Judah offend; commit like sins as Israel hath done, imitate none of their idolatry: possibly the prophet saw Judah inclined to backslide, or this might be preached in the beginning of Ahaz’s reign.
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Come not ye, you of Judah, who have the temple and house of God with you, who have hitherto been preserved from Israelitish idolatry,
unto Gilgal; a place near Jordan, where the twelve stones were pitched, Jos 4:9, the camp was pitched, circumcision revived, the passover kept, Jos 5:2,10; there Joshua divided the land, Jos 14:6, there the tabernacle was at first pitched after they came over Jordan, and there they sacrificed. There was in Ahab’s time a college of prophets; and now, whether out of reverence to the place on these accounts, or for what other reasons, it matters not, but certain it is, this Gilgal was chosen out by Jeroboam, or by succeeding idolaters, for a place of public worship of their idols, and grew famous for it. Go not up to partake of their idolatry, or to learn it. It is a concise speech, which forbids all the sins committed at Gilgal.
Neither go ye up to Beth-aven; which is Beth-el, where Jacob lodged, had a vision of angels, and a more comfortable vision of God, who appeared to Jacob, who for this gave name to the place, and called it Beth-el, house of God; but when Jeroboam made it the place of his calf worship, it became, and is called, Beth-avert, house of vanity or iniquity. Go not thither to worship. It is as the former, a prohibition of being of that religion which was in use at Beth-avert, and had been the established religion for two hundred years, or thereabouts, viz. ever since Jeroboam’s time.
Nor swear, The Lord liveth this is in itself lawful oath, and may be used; but in the circumstances wherewith it is here attended it is forbidden, because many who went thither yet pretended there to sacrifice only to the true God, that they owned him the only living God, reverenced him, swore by him; though they went up to Beth-avert or Gilgal, yet they worshipped God there. This is a synecdoche, a part being put for the whole worship of God, which the prophet warns them not to blend and mix with idolatries, which yet was done before Josiah’s time, Zep 1:5, which see, with the annotations on it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not…
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend,.... That is, though the Israelites, the people of the ten tribes, committed adultery, both corporeal and spiritual, in their idolatrous worship, as before observed, to which they had been used ever since the times of Jeroboam the first, and were hardened therein, and from which there were little hopes of reforming them; yet let not the men of Judah be guilty of the same crimes, who have as yet retained the pure worship of God among them; where the house of God is, and the priests of the Lord officiate, and sacrifices are offered up to him according to his will, and all other parts of religious service are performed: or the whole seems to be directed to Israel, as an exhortation to them, that though they had given into such abominations, yet should be careful not to offend Judah, or cause them to stumble and fall, and become guilty of the same sins, and so be exposed to the same punishment; and which would be an aggravation of Israel's sin, to draw others into it with them:
and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven; to worship idols in those places; otherwise it might be lawful to go to them on any civil accounts: Gilgal was upon the borders of the ten tribes, between them and Judah, where Joshua circumcised the Israelites; kept the first passover in the land; and where the ark and tabernacle were for a time; and perhaps for these reasons was chosen for a place of idolatrous worship: Bethaven is the same with Bethel, the name Jacob gave it, signifying the house of God; but when Jeroboam set up one of his calves here, the prophets, by way of contempt, called it Bethaven, the house of iniquity, or the house of an idol; though there was a place called Bethaven near Bethel, and Ai, as Kimchi observes, and as appears from Jos 7:2, yet Bethel was sometimes so called, as it seems to be here, because of the idolatry in it; and so the Talmudists (u) say, the place called Bethel is now called Bethaven. Now the question is, whether Judah or Israel are here addressed; many interpreters carry it in the former sense, as if the men of Judah were dissuaded from going to these places for worship, when the temple, the proper place of worship, was in their own tribe; but the speech seems rather to be directed to the Israelites, to stop going to these places for worship; for being so near to Judah, they might be the means of ensnaring and drawing them into the same idolatrous practices:
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nor swear, the Lord liveth; or swear by the living God, so long as they worshipped idols; for it was not well pleasing to God to have his name used by idolaters, or joined with their idols: especially as they meant their idol when they swore by the Lord.
(u) T. Hieros Avoda Zara, fol. 43. 1.
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 Offend - Commit like sins. Gilgal - Gilgal was…
Offend - Commit like sins. Gilgal - Gilgal was chosen by Jeroboam, or by succeeding idolaters for the solemn worship of their idols. Beth-aven - Beth-el, where Jacob lodged, who called it Beth-el, the house of God; but when Jeroboam made it the place for his calf-worship, it became Beth-aven, the house of vanity or iniquity. Nor swear - This is a part put for the whole worship of God, which the prophet warns them not to blend with their idolatries.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. Let not Judah offend] Israel was totally…
Verse 15. Let not Judah offend] Israel was totally dissolute; Judah was not so. Here she is exhorted to maintain her integrity. If the former will go to what was once Beth-el, the house of God, now Beth-aven, the house of iniquity, because Jeroboam has set up his calves there, let not Judah imitate them. Gilgal was the place where the covenant of circumcision was renewed when the people passed over Jordan; but was rendered infamous by the worship of idols, after Jeroboam had set up his idolatry.
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 4:15. Though, &c. — “Here,” says Bishop Horsley,…
Hos 4:15. Though, &c. — “Here,” says Bishop Horsley, “a transition is made, with great elegance and animation, from the general subject of the whole people, in both its branches, to the kingdom of the ten tribes in particular.” Though thou, Israel, play the harlot — Though thou followest after idols; yet let not Judah offend — Let not Judah do so too: at least let her keep herself pure. Let her not join in the idolatrous worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven, or mix idolatry with the profession of the true religion. The kingdom of Judah still retained, in a great degree, the worship of the true God, and the ordinances of the temple service. Therefore the prophet exhorts that people not to be led away by the bad example of their brethren of the ten tribes. Gilgal, it must be observed, was remarkable for being the place where the Israelites renewed their rite of circumcision, when they first passed over Jordan; but after Jeroboam set up idolatry, it became famous for the worship of false gods. And it appears, from this prophet and Amos, that it was particularly so in this period of the Jewish history. Beth- aven was the same with Beth-el, and was the place where one of Jeroboam’s calves was worshipped. The word Beth-el signifies the house of God, and was the name given to that place by Jacob, because of God’s appearing to him there, Gen 28:17. But when it became a place noted for idolatrous worship, the worshippers of the true God called it, in detestation, Beth-aven, that is, the house of vanity. Nor swear, The Lord liveth — Do not mingle the worship of the true God with idolatrous rites, nor dare to swear by his name while worshipping idols, or before the calves, as if they represented him; for he abhors every such coalition.
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 Let not Judah offend - The sentence of Israel…
Let not Judah offend - The sentence of Israel had been pronounced; she had been declared incorrigible. The prophet turns from her now to Judah. Israel had abandoned God’s worship, rejected or corrupted His priests, given herself to the worship of the calves; no marvel what further excess of riot she run into! But Judah, who had the law and the temple and the service of God, let not her, (he would say,) involve herself in Israel’s sin. If Israel, in willful blindness, had plunged herself in ruin, let not Judah involve herself in her sin and her ruin. He turns (as elsewhere) incidentally to Judah.
Come ye not unto Gilgal - Gilgal lay between Jericho and the Jordan. There, ten furlongs from the Jordan, first in all the promised land, the people encamped; there Joshua placed the monument of the miraculous passage of the Jordan; there he renewed the circumcision of the people which had been intermitted in the wilderness, and the feast of the passover; there the people returned, after all the victories by which God gave them possession of the land of promise Jos 4:19-20; Jos 5:9-10; Jos 9:6; Jos 10:6-9, Jos 10:43; Jos 14:6. There Samuel habitually sacrificed, and there, “before the Lord,” i. e., in His special covenanted presence, he publicly made Saul king 1Sa 10:8; 1Sa 11:14-15; 1Sa 13:4-9; 1Sa 15:21, 1Sa 15:33. It was part of the policy of Jeroboam to take hold of all these associations, as a sort of set-off against Jerusalem and the temple, from which he had separated his people. In opposition to this idolatry, Elisha for a time, established there one of the schools of the prophets 2Ki 4:38.
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Neither go ye up to Bethaven - “Bethaven,” literally, “house of vanity,” was a city East of “Bethel” Jos 7:2, “the house of God.” But since Jeroboam had set up the worship of the calves at Bethel, Bethel had ceased to be “the house of God,” and had become “a house or temple of vanity;” and so the prophet gave it no more its own name which was associated with the history of the faith of the patriarchs, but called it what it had become. In Bethel God had twice appeared to Jacob, when he left the land of promise Gen 28:10, Gen 28:19 a to go to Laban, and when he returned Gen 35:1, Gen 35:9. There also the ark of God was for a time in the days of the judges removed from Shiloh Jdg 20:26-27, near to which on the south Jdg 21:19 Bethel lay. It too Jeroboam profaned by setting up the calf there. To these places then, as being now places of the idolatry of Israel, Judah is forbidden to go, and then to “swear, the Lord liveth.” For to swear by the Lord in a place of idolatry would be to associate the living God with idols Zep 1:5, which God expressly forbade.
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 Offend. It was more culpable for Juda to commit…
Offend. It was more culpable for Juda to commit idolatry (as they had the temple, &c., of the true God) than for Israel, whom Jeroboam hindered from going to Jerusalem, after he had set up his golden calves. (Worthington) --- Galgal and Bethaven. Places where idols were worshipped. Bethel, which signifies the house of God, is called by the prophet Bethaven, that is the house of vanity, from Jeroboam’s golden calf which was worshipped there. (Challoner) --- Galgal was on the confines of the two kingdoms, and always venerated by the Jews. Idols had been there in ancient times, and probably a sort of oracle, Judges iii. 19. If Israel be thus abandoned, let not Juda imitate them. (Calmet) --- Lord. Profane not this sacred name by giving it to idols. (Theodoret) --- Use not this expression, since you do not worship me. (St. Jerome)
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 Though Israel's ten tribes indulge in spiritual harlotry, at…
Though Israel's ten tribes indulge in spiritual harlotry, at least thou, Judah, who hast the legal priesthood, and the temple rites, and Jerusalem, do not follow her bad example.
Gilgal--situated between Jordan and Jericho on the confines of Samaria; once a holy place to Jehovah (Jos 5:10-15; Sa1 10:8; Sa1 15:21); afterwards desecrated by idol-worship (Hos 9:15; 12-11; Amo 4:4; Amo 5:5; compare Jdg 3:19, Margin).
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Beth-aven--that is, "house of vanity" or idols: a name substituted in contempt for Beth-el, "the house of God"; once sacred to Jehovah (Gen 28:17, Gen 28:19; Gen 35:7), but made by Jeroboam the seat of the worship of the calves (Kg1 12:28-33; Kg1 13:1; Jer 48:13; Amo 3:14; Amo 7:13). "Go up" refers to the fact that Beth-el was on a hill (Jos 16:1).
nor swear, The Lord liveth--This formula of oath was appointed by God Himself (Deu 6:13; Deu 10:20; Jer 4:2). It is therefore here forbidden not absolutely, but in conjunction with idolatry and falsehood (Isa 48:1; Eze 20:39; Zep 1:5).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 15. offend] Rather, become guilty, viz. by participation in…
15. offend] Rather, become guilty, viz. by participation in Israel’s idolatry.
come not ye unto Gilgal] Gilgal was one of the chief seats of the idolatrous worship of the north, see Hos_9:15, Hos_12:11; Amo_4:4; Amo_5:5. But which of the Gilgals (see Smith’s Bibl. Dict.) is meant? The Jewish commentators are agreed that it was the famous Gilgal ‘in the east border of Jericho’ where Joshua pitched his camp for the first time after crossing the Jordan (Jos_4:19), and later on ‘the true centre of the whole people’ (Ewald, History of Israel, iii. 29). Probably they are right. No doubt, we should have expected this Gilgal to have belonged to Judah, but the natural boundary of the two kingdoms was not the historical one; ‘those places which their past history had rendered most sacred or memorable—Bethel, Gilgal, Jericho—were incorporated in the northern kingdom’ (Ewald, Hist. iv. 3).
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neither go ye up to Beth-aven] A Beth-aven near Bethel is mentioned Jos_7:2; 1Sa_13:5, but this Beth-aven, ‘house of vanity’, or ‘of wickedness’, is a keenly sarcastic substitute for the desecrated name Bethel, ‘house of God’ (see Hos_10:5; Hos_10:8, and comp. Amo_4:4; Amo_5:5; 1Ki_12:29-33). ‘Go ye up’, because Bethel was situated on the slopes of a hill, comp. 1Sa_10:3, ‘going up to the Elohim (i.e. the sacred place) to Bethel.’
nor swear, The Lord liveth] Hosea may mean to say that the oath ‘As Jehovah liveth’ has been so profaned by the Israelites of the north that he wishes to see it abolished. It is more likely however (considering Deu_10:20; Jer_4:2) that he deprecates oaths by the Jehovahs of Gilgal and Bethel—oaths which in the mind of the swearer are connected with idolatrous symbols of Jehovah, precisely as Amos denounces those who say, ‘As thy God, O Dan, liveth’, and ‘As thy God, O Beer-sheba, liveth’ (Amo_8:14, corrected partly from the Sept.).
15–19. Judah is cautioned not to fall into the same ruin as Israel, of which a deterrent picture is given.
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 (15) Israel . . . Judah.—The prophet warns Judah…
(15) Israel . . . Judah.—The prophet warns Judah of Israel’s peril, and perhaps hints at the apostacy of some of her kings, as Ahaziah, Joram, and Ahaz. He returns to the symbolic use of the word “whoredom”; and Judah is exhorted not to participate in the idolatries of Gilgal or the calves of Bethel. There are three different places named Gilgal mentioned in Joshua (Jos_4:19; Jos_12:3; Jos_15:7), and a fourth seems to be mentioned in Deut. 9:30; 2Ki_2:1. The Gilgal here referred to is the first of these, which Joshua for a considerable time had made his head-quarters. In the days of Samuel it acquired some importance as a place for sacrificial worship and the dispensation of justice. Bethel had a grand history. But Hosea and Amos call it by the altered name Beth-aven (house of vanity, or idols), instead of Bethel (house of God). The LXX. in Alex. MS. read On instead of Aven in the Hebrew, On being the name for Heliopolis, the seat of sun-cultus, whence Jeroboam may have derived his calf-worship. (See Smith’s Dict. of the Bible, Art. “On.”) But the Vat. MS. has ἀδικίας, in accordance with the Masoretic tradition (similarly Aquila and Symmachus).
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 Vers. 15-17. In this section the prophet, as if…
Vers. 15-17. In this section the prophet, as if despairing of any improvement or amendment on the part of Israel, still resolutely bent on spiritual whoredom, addresses an earnest warning to Judah. From proximity to those idolatries and debaucheries so prevalent in this northern kingdom, and from the corruption at least of the court in the southern kingdom during the reigns of Joram, Ahaziah, and Ahaz, Judah was in danger; and hence the prophet turned aside, with words of earnest warning, to the sister kingdom not to involve herself in the same or similar guilt. Rashi"s brief comment here is, "Let not the children of Judah learn their ways.
And come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-avert, nor swear, The Lord liveth. From a solemn warning in general terms, he proceeds to a specific prohibition. The prohibition forbids pilgrimages to places of idol-worship, such as Gilgal and Bethaven; it also forbids a profession of Jehovah-worship to be made by persons inclined to idolatrous practices. Gilgal, now the village of Jiljilia, which had been a school of the prophets in the days of Elijah and Elisha, had, as we may rightly infer from passages in Hoses and Amos, become a seat of idolatrous worship. The Hebrew interpreters confound the Gilgal here referred to with the still more renowned Gilgal between Jericho and the Jordan, where Joshua circumcised the people a second time, and celebrated the Passover, and where, manna failing, the people ate of the old corn of the land. "And why," asks Kimchi, "to Gilgal? Because at Gilgal the sanctuary was at the first when they entered the land; therefore when they went to worship idols they built high places there for the idols. But with respect to the tribe of Judah, what need has it to go to Gilgal and to leave the house of the sanctuary which is in their own cities?" And Beth-el, now Beitin, had become Beth-avon the house of God a house of idols, after Jeroboam had set up the calf there. Judah was to eschew those places so perilous to purity of worship; also a practice hypocritical in its nature and highly dangerous in its tendency, namely, confessing Jehovah with the lips, and by a solemn act of attestation indicative of adherence to his worship, but belying that confession by complicity in idolatrous practices, like the peoples who "worshiped Jehovah, but served their own gods." Kimchi observes as follows: "For ye engage in strange worship, and yet swear by the Name of Jehovah; this is the way of incensing and despising him.
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Vers. 15-19. A passing word of warning is addressed to Judah.
The prophet pauses in his dark catalogue of Israel"s sins and sorrows, and, turning aside, speaks a word of warning to Judah, that the people of the southern kingdom might be deterred from the crimes and awed by the calamities of their northern neighbors. In the large heart and catholic spirit of the prophet both Judahite and Israelite found a place; he had a message from God for both.
I PLACES PERILOUS TO PIETY SHOULD BE SHUNNED. Judah had hitherto maintained their superiority to Israel both in religious worship and moral conduct; but their proximity to such neighbors was fraught with peril. Evil communications exercise a fearful potency in corrupting good manners; sensual indulgences, especially in the guise and under the name of religion, present strong inducements; scenes of sin have not infrequently a fatal glamour about them. If Judah would steer clear of the rocks on which the faith of Israel had been wrecked, they must keep aloof from such places of peril and scenes of dissipation as Gilgal and Beth-avon. Wantonness and crime had proved disastrous to Israel, therefore let Judah beware and take warning in time. if men are in earnest in their prayers and in their efforts to avoid temptation, they must keep away from those places and those persons that would tend to lead them into temptation. Hypocritical profession with irreligious practice was both detrimental and dangerous. After this friendly warning to Judah, Hosea resumes his complaint about Israel.
II PUNISHMENT IS OFTEN A DARK REFLECTION OF MEN"S SINS. Israel had refused God"s yoke, comparatively easy as it was, and started backward or turned sideward instead of drawing forward. They declined God"s service, and determined to have full liberty and license. They got their desire, but it was given them in judgment. The limits of the law and its straitness provoked their resistance; now they will be permitted to wander forth as captives through the wide wilderness of the East, or as exiles with all the world before them. They had been strong and stubborn as a headstrong, unmanageable heifer; now they are to become solitary as a lamb shut out from its flock or separated from its dam, and in a state as helpless as that same weak creature when exposed to savage beasts of prey, and left alone amid the wasteness of a wilderness. Ephraim, turning away her affections from her Maker as her Husband, got attached to idols, and clave fast to them; and so they are given up to their own hearts" lusts. They don"t wish to part with their beloved idols, or to be parted from them; nor shall they. They are incorrigible, and God gives the m up as beyond reproof and without hope absolutely desperate. They wished to be left to themselves and their own ways, and so they are; not even Judah is to interfere with them. They are to be let go on without check from conscience, or reproof from prophet, or warning from the Divine Word, or any interference by Providence. "It is a sad and sore judgment for any man to be let alone in sin: for God to say concerning a sinner," He is joined to his idols, the world and the flesh; he is incurably proud, covetous, or profane, an incurable drunkard or adulterer, let him alone; conscience, let him alone; minister, let him alone; providences, let him alone. Let nothing awaken him till the flames of hell do it. The father corrects not the rebellious son any more when he determines to disinherit him. "Those that are not disturbed in their sin will be destroyed for their sin.
III PERSISTENCE IN EVIL PROVOCATIVE OF DIVINE DESERTION.
1. Persistence in evil. Idolaters are so attached to their idol-gods that they will not give them up, however hideous those idols or however vile those gods may be.
(1) The people of Israel were bound to their idols; as another prophet says, "They hold fast deceit;" they are even as loath to change as to give up their idols. "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods?" The word in the original is the same as that used in Ge 14 of the kings who came together as confederates unto the valley of Siddim; and never was there a more unholy alliance than that of Israel and Israel"s idols, or that of sinners and their beloved lusts in general. The word is also used of fascination, by binding magical knots; and never was magical knot tighter or fascination stronger than that of an easily besetting sin over its victim. Men have been found to sacrifice their best and dearest interests for the sake of some low lust, some evil propensity, or some sinful habit.
(2) A great disproportion. "But," says an old writer, "will idolaters thus adhere to their idols? will their hearts be united to them? are they willing to be one spirit with them? Oh, how much more should we be joined to the Lord our God, to Jesus Christ the Savior, and to the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier the glorious triune Jehovah, to be as one spirit with him! That exhortation of Barnabas, (Act_11:23) that with full "purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord," is seasonable at all times.
2. Divine desertion. This was implied in the injunction to whomsoever it was addressed.
(1) If addressed to Judah, as it seems, it enjoins them to withdraw from Israel, though their countrymen and brethren to have nothing more to do with them, to leave them to themselves, to let them alone. Few things are worse to bear than spiritual isolation. When the saints withdraw from a man because of the stubbornness of his rebellion against God, and his incorrigible willfulness in the pursuit of sin, it is a heavy judgment from God; it is equal in bitterness to the curse pronounced on the man who loveth not the Lord Jesus Christ, and of whom it is said, "Let him be Anathema-Maranatha." As if it were said, "Let a curse rest on the devoted head of such a one; let him be left to himself, deserted by the saints and servants of God; in a word, let him alone till the coming of the Lord, and the Lord will deal with him.
(2) If the injunction is addressed to the prophet, it means that he is to take no further trouble with Ephraim, and cast no more pearls before swine; that he is to cease his ministry in that direction, and shake the very dust off his feet as a testimony against such wayward rebels. So when ministers have exhausted all their powers of persuasion, and all the varied resources of admonition, warning, entreaty, remonstrance with stout-hearted, refractory sinners, a time comes when they must just let them alone, leaving them to be dealt with by the Maser at his coming.
(3) But, worst of all, God himself lets them alone; and when he does so, it is a token of their rejection. A father has used all legitimate means to reclaim his profligate, prodigal, or rebellious son; and when all has proved in vain, he is forced to say, "I have done with him; I disown him; I will have nothing more to do with him; I will leave him to himself, and let him alone." So God lets men alone when he gives them over to themselves, leaving them to their own devices, to their lusts, to their evil ways, to their doings that are not good. "They would none of me," saith God, "so I gave them up to their own counsels." The Spirit of the living God has striven with that man to turn him away from his injustice, or profanity, or drunkenness, or impurity, or hypocrisy; but he has resisted the Spirit, stifled the voice of conscience, and gone on in his way of wickedness, till God, long-suffering though he be, and full of infinite loving-kindness, says at last, "My Spirit shall not always strive. Let him that is filthy be filthy still; let him that is unjust be unjust still.
(4) Consider the dreadful import of this brief sentence him alone." It is as if God said, "Let him alone he is rushing on ruin; let no barrier interpose to stop him; let him take his own way. Hitherto, and for long, he has been checked by the restraints of Providence; now let him alone." It is all very well when a man is at ease, in safety, or among his friends, to let him alone; but when he is rushing into the sweltering tide of ocean, or into the blazing fire of a widespread conflagration, or in among most deadly enemies, to let him alone is to consign him to destruction. It is not necessary that God should send his power to overwhelm us, in his justice to condemn us, or his wrath to consume us; he has only to let us alone, and our destruction is inevitable. When he let Adam alone, leaving him to himself, he undid himself and his posterity; when he let Hezekiah alone, what misery that good king brought upon himself and his subjects!
(5) Let the fear of this terrible Lord God awe us! Beware of committing willful sin, lest God should say, Let him alone." Dread of being thus let alone is a sure sign that God has not let us alone, and safe way of keeping us from being let alone. May the good Lord preserve us from such a fearful fate!
Vers. 15-19. Ephraim and Judah.
In this passage, as in Hos_1:7, the kingdom of Judah is presented in contrast with that of Israel. Here, for the first time in Hosea, we meet with the name "Ephraim." As the United Kingdom over which Queen Victoria reigns is often called simply "England," so the kingdom of the tea tribes sometimes receives the name of" Ephraim," that tribe being the most powerful of the ten, and having within its bounds the seat of government.
I EPHRAIM"S SIN. It consisted in the subversion of the entire moral Law.
1. General ungodliness. He had broken:
(1) The first commandment, by turning from Jehovah to serve the Baalim.
(2) The second commandment, by leaving the one rightful altar, and bowing down to Jeroboam"s graven images. Gilgal had once been a holy place to Jehovah, but it was now noted for the idolatries which were practiced there; and Beth-el, "the house of God," where Jacob had seen the stairway and the vision of the Almighty, is now for the same reason nicknamed Beth-avon, "house of iniquity" (ver. 15).
(3) The third commandment, in swearing by Jehovah while worshipping the calves (ver. 15).
2. General licentiousness. The worship of Baal and Ashtaroth became as impure and revolting as it is possible to imagine. The groves were the scenes of the foulest debaucheries. Every bond of truth and justice was broken. The judges loved to say, "Give ye;" i.e. they gaped for bribes, and sometimes sold their judicial decisions to the highest bidder. Morally, Ephraim was utterly degenerate; he had become just like "turned" or "sour" milk (ver. 18). He was constant in his sin: "They have committed whoredom continually" (ver. 18). He was refractory: in moral conduct he resembled a stubborn cow (ver. 16). And he was obdurate: a fearful and unholy union subsisted between Ephraim and the dead idols which he served (ver. 17).
II EPHRAIM"S DOOM. It will fall upon him swiftly. It will come in the form of:
1. Banishment. Israel had felt the Lord"s fold to be too tight, and the life within it too slow. So the ten tribes are to be driven into exile. They are to be exposed to danger like a timid" lamb" (ver. 16) in the wide wilderness of the world. A tempest of judgment shall suddenly seize them, lift them up, and carry them away like chaff (ver. 19).
2. Shame. (Ver. 19) As long as the northern kingdom seemed strong and prosperous, its citizens gloried in "their sacrifices" to idols. But now, in these days of conspiracy and revolution, Ephraim will be disappointed in his expectation of help from the Baalim, and will be covered with shame on account of his infamous idolatries. We know that one chief result of the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities was to thoroughly wean the Hebrew nation from its polytheism.
3. Abandonment. (Ver. 17) Judah is directed to "let Ephraim alone." God"s people within the southern kingdom are to send no missionary to reprove him, or to attempt to convert him. They are to leave him to "eat of the fruit of his own way." This word spoken to Judah is often understood as if it referred to the desertion of incorrigible sinners by the Lord the Spirit. Such, however, is at best only a secondary and inferential meaning. It is evident that in this verse God himself pronounces no decree of final abandonment, for we find him saying afterwards, (Hos_11:8) "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?" The abandonment here denotes the loss of the "kindness" and "excellent oil" which belong to the reproof of "the righteous.
III AN ADMONITION TO JUDAH. (Vers. 15, 17) The southern kingdom is cautioned to shun the contagion of Ephraim"s wicked example. For:
1. Judah"s condition was meanwhile better. Up to the time to which Hosea 4., refers, Judah was comparatively uncorrupted. There had always been a difference morally and spiritually between Ephraim and Judah. The southern kingdom possessed Jerusalem, and the temple, and the Aaronical priesthood, and the royal dynasty of" David. Many of its monarchs had been godly men, who "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord." And God"s restraining grace towards Judah had been so great, that if he had any saints just now in the world, these were in Judah. But:
2. Judah was in danger of contamination. The people of Judah were near neighbors to the ten thousands of Ephraim. They were brethren two segments of the same nationality. They possessed the same great history, and inherited the same traditions. Israel, moreover, was the larger state, and the more prosperous. Jehovah, therefore, in his anxiety about Judah, warns him to keep away flora such polluting places as Gilgal and Bethel (ver. 15). The Divine counsel to him is, "Let Ephraim alone;" i.e. have no intercourse with him, lest he pollute thee. Stand off from him, for "evil communications corrupt good manners." No effort on your part will avail to cure him of his idolatry; and perchance you may yourself become a partaker of it.
3. The effect of this admonition. Judah did remember it for a time; at least, a great theocratic revival and religious reformation took place during the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah. Afterwards, however, a deep spiritual decline set in; and Judah, too, fell into the fatal grasp of Babylon only three or four generations after the fall of Ephraim.
LESSONS.
1. We must refuse to partake of other men"s sins, if we would not share their punishment. One cannot touch pitch without being defiled.
2. We must beware of the "large place" outside of the Lord"s fold. The broad way leadeth to destruction. Men of firm Christian principle are sometimes called "narrow;" but we must dare to be as narrow as the straight line of God"s righteousness, and at no time depart from the leading of the good Shepherd.
3. We must cherish shame now for our own spiritual idolatries, and break with every idol, however dear, if we would have confidence before Christ at his coming. C. J.
Vers. 15-19. Warning to Judah.
Judah had not yet sunk so low as Israel. She was, however, far from guiltless. Her princes were like them that remove the bound. (Hos_5:10) She is included with Israel in the threatenings that follow. (Hos_5:5, Hos_5:10, 14 6:4, 11) "The people did yet corruptly," is the testimony of the history. (2Ch_27:2) Still her case was not so hopeless but that judgment might be averted by timely repentance. There was still "some good thing" in Judah to work upon; something to appeal to. The prophet bids her take warning from the sister kingdom, "Come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-avon Bethel," etc. (ver. 15). Judah should be warned
I BY ISRAEL"S INTRACTABLENESS. (Ver. 16) "Israel is intractable as an intractable heifer." The nation, that is, had proved unruly, obstinate, refractory, backsliding, unteachable. Nothing that God could do would induce it to walk quietly in his ways. This is a picture of the natural, unrenewed temper. It is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can. (Rom_8:7) In Judah, also, this temper was beginning to show itself. Let it be warned. Israel would soon have liberty enough, and more than it cared for. "Now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place." Intractableness springs from a false desire of freedom. It counts the yoke of God a bondage. The punishment would correspond. God would relieve the people of his yoke, but would relieve them at the same time of the care and protection they had enjoyed as his nation. Left, in a condition of dispersion, to realize their helplessness, they would learn to long for the yoke they had once despised.
II BY ISRAEL"S OBDURACY. (Ver. 17) Obduracy is defined as that state which implies "a total disregard of Divine calls and warnings, and an insensibility to their importance" (Miller). This is the state to which intractableness tends. In Israel it had been already reached. "Ephraim is joined to his idols: let him alone.
1. The soul has its idols its earthly objects, which it puts in the place of God.
2. There comes in time to be such a welding of the soul to the objects of its sinful pursuit, that further remonstrance is useless.
3. When this stage is reached, God "lets it alone." He ceases remonstrating. He abandons it to its sinful courses. Conscience is silent. The Spirit ceases to strive. These awful words, "Let it alone," are the soul"s death-knell. Alter this there is no recovery. How solemn the warning to Judah and to us!
III BY ISRAEL"S MORAL DEGENERACY. (Ver. 18) Everything in the kingdom had become spoiled, degenerate, corrupt like wine turned sour. The Hebrew word means literally, "to turn aside." Life, when turned aside from its right ends, speedily degenerates. So do gifts and blessings. The land is badly tilled; its fruits are wasted in gluttony and debauchery; health degenerates through the waste of the powers of life in profligacy; feasting sinks to mere animalism, etc. This was the state into which Israel had come. "Her rulers shields have loved, have loved, shame." They loved shame, and the print of shame was on them. The spectacle should deter Judah from following in their steps.
IV BY ISRAEL"S EXPERIENCE OF THE FUTILITY OF TRUST IN IDOLS. (Ver. 19) Destruction was about to descend on the nation. The tempest would carry them away on its wings. A fate
(1) swift;
(2) violent;
(3) resistless;
(4) dispersive.
Then it would be manifest how helpless their idols were to aid them. They would be ashamed of the sacrifices they had offered to them. The wicked will one day be driven out of their false confidences. J. O.
Offending.
1. We offend when we frequent places notorious for wickedness. This was the character of Gilgal and Bethel.
2. We offend when we lend countenance to impieties practiced in the name of religion. One of Jeroboam"s calves was at Bethel. Its presence changed Beth-el, the "house of God," into "Beth-aven," "house of vanity.
3. We offend when we are partners to any profanation of the Name of God. "Nor swear, The Lord liveth." An oath is so solemn a thing that it ought not to be taken except on the most solemn occasions. The light use of God"s Name in any connection especially in connection with circumstances otherwise dishonoring to him is a heinous transgression. J.O.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Hos_4:15. Come not] by pilgrimages to places of idolatrous…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Hos_4:15. Come not] by pilgrimages to places of idolatrous worship. Swear not] in temples of idols. “The confession of Jehovah is hypocrisy in the mouth of an idolater; pretended piety, which is more dangerous than open ungodliness, because it lulls the conscience to sleep” [Keel].
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Hos_4:16. Backsliding heifer] Stubborn and refractory (Jer_7:24). As a lamb] Free play. If Israel would not submit to the joke, they might go where they liked, become prey of wolves in the field, be given up to exile and dispersion.
Hos_4:17. Joined] Closely and voluntarily bound, and cannot give them up (cf. Num_25:3; 1Co_6:16-17). Alone] Lit. give him rest from all further expostulation, which he will not hear [Pusey]. Give him up as incorrigible [Boothr.]. Have nothing to do with him. He is bent on his ruin, let him suffer the consequences (Jer_7:16); punishment cannot long be delayed.
HOMILETICS
THE DOOM OF SOME A WARNING TO OTHERS.—Hos_4:15-17
A different turn is now given to the prophecy. Israel had sinned, would not heed, and must be punished; but Judah, who had the law and the temple of God, ought not to prove so stubborn and incorrigible. God specially warns his own, and if they sin their condemnation will be greater. The idea is that we must not partake of other men’s sins lest we share in their punishment.
I. The provoking sin. Israel had played the harlot, backslided from God, and continued in idolatry, heedless of Divine warning and judgment.
1. Israel were guilty of idolatry. They knew Jehovah, but set up idols. They had made graven images and worshipped golden calves in opposition to God’s command. They did not intend to worship the images themselves, but God through the images. One step led to another in the corrupting practices. Papists and Ritualists spring from ranks which some would call earnest and devout. Men make gods, honour and serve them, and fall into gross superstitions and idolatry. The proneness of the Jews to polytheism is instructive to us. Churches favoured with the purest worship, nations enriched with the oracles of God, individuals privileged with means of grace, may fall into formalism, perfect apathy in religion, and undue veneration of the creature. Formalism, corrupt worship, and entire abandonment of God are the steps which lead to idolatry. God has real claims upon all his creatures. “Thou shalt have no other gods but Me.” Obedience to his law is not merely an integral part of true morality, but essential to all religion. Regard to him, therefore, is our first and highest duty. Disregard to God accounts for idolatry in all its forms, for moral evil in all its features.
2. Israel were guilty of neglecting Divine warnings. They listened not to the prophets. Servant after servant was sent by God, but all to no purpose. They despised the message, and persecuted the messenger. A person unwarned may have some excuse; but “forewarned, forearmed,” yet Israel repented not nor turned from danger. Many sit under the sound of the gospel, but take no heed. If you despise exhortations, warnings, and reproofs, neglect privileges which exalt you to heaven, how can you escape at last? You incur sevenfold guilt by such conduct. Continuance in sin after Divine admonition will provoke God to anger. “Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.”
3. Israel were guilty of despising Divine chastisements. God not only warns, but chastises the sinner to wean him from his sins. Personal health fails, business prospects fade away, and family circumstances change, but prayer is not made to the God of our life, and comfort is not sought in him (Psa_42:8). Grievous sickness, personal and domestic troubles, do not convert men, nor turn them from the error of their ways. Trials ought to make us think, they are the strokes of a loving hand, designed to purify our hearts and lives. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without affliction. “Sweet indeed” should be “the uses of adversity,” but they often fail to correct. They do not remind of neglected duty, nor separate the sinner from his sin. Pharaoh, Jehoram, and the Jews, are solemn warnings. “O God, I have made an ill use of thy mercies,” says Bp Hall, “if I have not learnt to be content with thy correction.” The intractable ox resisting the yoke is an apt image of the impenitent casting off Divine restraints. Conviction follows upon conviction, chastening upon chastening, still he rebels, hardens his neck, and invites threatened judgments. Ahab would not be corrected, and “the bow drawn at a venture” performed its mission. Pharaoh grew more stubborn under the rod, and madly rushed to ruin. “If men will harden their hearts, God will harden his hand,” says Howe. Unheeded reproof ripens us for judgment. “He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
II. The fearful doom. “The Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.” Scatter them into exile and expose them to danger, as a lamb becomes the prey to wild beasts. And this “now.” The judgment is immediate and at hand, no longer delayed. “Ephraim is joined to idols,” in love with his sins; “let him alone,” let him rest from further correction and expostulation, and take the consequences of his folly. This is the last and most hopeless state of guilt.
1. Let alone by man. The godly must not reprove nor exhort some men. They feel on account of the sins, and are deeply anxious for the welfare, of their fellow-creatures. But there are sins beyond hope, total apostasy and final impenitence. “There is a sin unto death; I do not say that he shall pray for it.” Apostasy and idolatry are not only sins against God, but destructive to men. The intercession of Moses and Samuel would not avail (Jer_15:1), when God is angry. “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee.”
2. Let alone by God. It is sad to be without the sympathy and prayers of men; but to be left of God is a most awful condition. It is something more than being without the warnings of the minister, and the exhortations of a mother or friend. One let alone is not troubled with the power of truth, the checks of conscience, and the restraints of providence. He is undisturbed and unfettered in his course of sin. He goes from bad to worse, and his end is destruction. Like the adder, he cannot and will not hear the wisest charmer. The will is averse, the purpose is fixed, and the ear is deaf. As stones fall to the ground, sparks fly upward, and rivers roll to the ocean, so silly men run from God, and beyond the reach of mercy. “The soul that sinneth presumptuously shall have no atonement; it shall be cut off from the midst of my people.”
3. Let alone without any pity and protection. “As a lamb in a large place.” A lamb exposed to peril is a most helpless and pitiable creature. What more lamentable to behold than the sinner let alone, exposed to temptation and death. This made Christ weep over the guilty city, and Paul wish that he was accursed for his kindred in the flesh. “The large place” of Israel were the territories of the Medes, where they were deprived of temple worship, prophetic teaching, and Divine protection. The large place of the sinner is the broadway to destruction; to places where strong drink drowns reason and conscience; where sensibility is consumed by burning passions; where tender memories are quenched, conscience benumbed, and every noble feeling destroyed. The man who ruins his health and his happiness, his circumstances and his life, and who implicates his family and his fellow-creatures by the unbridled gratification of sense, is to be pitied for his folly. Woe to that man who has forsaken Christ, and whom God permits to go the downward road, unpitied, unprotected, and unsaved!
III. The kindly warning. “Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend.” Israel and Judah were at variance, and such warm sympathy could not be expected from those at enmity with each other. But the heart of the prophet beats warmly for Judah, who alone represented the people of God. God is anxious to preserve Judah from the ways of Israel. Spiritual, theocratic feelings are stronger than natural feelings, and must prevail. Christianity is not insensible to private friendship and the claims of kindred; but it kindles within us the fire of universal benevolence.
1. A needful warning. (a) Proximity to Israel endangered Judah. Temptations are near, friends and neighbours entice, and the Christian is in danger of conforming to the world. Like a rebellious province, the world has customs, statutes, and pursuits, contrary to the law of God. Friendship with it is forbidden. Its pomp and vanities must be renounced. We must “come out from the world, and be separate,” that is, be Christians wholly or not at all. (b) The mixture of idolatry with the worship of God endangered Judah. “Come not ye unto Gilgal,” &c. Gilgal and Bethaven were places of note and great resort. Here people were accustomed to “swear the Lord liveth,” or associate the living God with idols. Formulas of Christian worship were employed to justify the service of idols. Man will worship something. When the worship of Jehovah is forsaken then the devices of man are chosen. Examples and places infect. God will not divide his claims with idols. Superstitions are not more warranted or imitable because they are practised under the pretence of serving God. Aaron’s golden calf was no excuse for the neglect of Jehovah. We must have no halting, no mixture in religion. Either Baal or the Lord must be our master and God. We cannot serve two masters. To swear by idols, by heaven or earth, or any creature, dishonours our nature, offends our God, and makes us a warning to others. “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
2. A timely warning. God warns before he strikes. Spaces for repentance are given men, and they are urged to flee from the judgment before it is too late. Though Israel is given up, yet Judah must be cautioned. This indicates Divine wisdom, love, and forbearance. “Sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily.” “The long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah.” Provocations are given, yet God forbears to punish. But we must not question his providence, disregard his word, and abuse his mercy. There is clear and constant warning. The impenitent are without excuse, and the punishment will be complete. Punishment lingers long, but falls heavily at last. “Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him.”
3. A reasonable warning. Let not Judah offend, “though Israel play the harlot.” The separation of Israel from Judah was most unrighteous and disastrous in its results on both kingdoms; but Israel’s departure from God was most aggravating and hazardous. It was harlotry and wantonness. God’s service is a reasonable service, in harmony with our mental and moral constitution. God is no hard task-master, demanding impossibilities and requiring bricks without straw. “His commandments are not grievous.” He treats men as rational and responsible beings, beseeching them to repent, and warning them of the consequences of neglect.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hos_4:15. Places of good reputation become infamous, lose all honour, by connection with idolatry and immorality. Bethel, the house of God, becomes Beth-aven, the house of idols, the house of vanity. Places consecrated by the piety of our forefathers and the mercy of God are turned into scenes of corruption and vice. We are forbidden to go to such places lest we should be infected. Christians must not sanction worldly customs and amusements in which God has no place. Abstain from the very appearance of evil.
Hos_4:16. The sinner, like Israel, is often fretful under Divine restraint, impatient in the narrowness of God’s ways, and is bent on backsliding; but when God lets him alone, gives him his wish, liberty brings no security and happiness, like a lamb bleating alone, bewraying its solitude, and he wanders about to destruction. How much better to be in God’s fold, daily fed, and led into green pastures, and beside the still waters!
Hos_4:17. “Ephraim is joined,” &c.
1. The Alliance.—
1. Unholy.
2. Ruinous. II. The Abandonment.—
1. Just
2. Severe.
3. Hopeless. “A man may be given up to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the soul may be saved; but to be given up to sin is a thousand times worse, because that is the fruit of Divine anger, in order to the damnation of the soul” [John Shower]. Ah, Lord! this mercy I humbly beg, that whatever thou givest me up to, thou wilt not give me up to the ways of mine own heart; if thou wilt give me up to be afflicted, or tempted, or reproached, &c., I will patiently sit down and say, “It is the Lord; let him do with me what seems good in his own eyes.” Do anything with me, lay what burden thou wilt upon me, so that thou dost not give me up to the ways of my own heart [Brooks]. Deliver me, O Lord, from that evil man, myself [Augustine].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 4
Hos_4:15-17. If sin be fashionable, Christians should be out of fashion. If others be punished for it, we should take warning from them. Three things arise from sin, viz. fear, shame, and punishment. The first arises from the guilt of sin, the second from its defilement, and the third from its demerit. A sinful life is the death of the soul. Look at sin in its guilt, malignity, and curse. Abhor it, oppose it, and dread it more than death [Wilson].
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh is talking about Judah and Israel.
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may Judah not become guilty
God knows how sinful Israel has become and does not want Judah to do the same thing.
Do not go to Gilgal, you people; do not go up to Beth Aven
The people of Judah are being warned not to go to the cities of Gilgal or Beth Aven to worship idols in those places. Gilgal was once a place where Yahweh had been worshiped, but it had become a place of idol worship.
Beth Aven
This was a city on the border between the northern kingdom of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin in the southern kingdom. (See: How to Translate Names)
like a stubborn heifer
Israel is compared to a young cow that will not obey its master. (See: Simile)
How can Yahweh bring them to pasture like lambs in a meadow?
Yahweh uses a question to emphasize that he cannot continue to take care of the people because they are stubborn. Yahweh no longer taking care of his people is spoken of as if he were a shepherd that could not take his lambs into the field to eat because they are stubborn. AT: "Yahweh will not shepherd a rebellious people." or "Therefore Yahweh will not continue to take care of them." (See: Metaphor and Rhetorical Question)
How can Yahweh
Here Yahweh is speaking of himself in the third person. It can be stated in the first person. AT: "How can I" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
translationWords
Israel
adultery
Judah
guilt
Gilgal
people group
oath
Yahweh
life
stiff-necked
cow
lamb
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 4:15 Beth-aven refers to the wickedness being practiced at…
4:15 Beth-aven refers to the wickedness being practiced at Bethel, the most important worship center in the northern kingdom of Israel (see Amos 7:13; cp. Hos 5:8; 10:5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.