“Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!
Parallel Translations
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“Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!
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Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O Benjamin.
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Blow ye the horn in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah; sound an alarm at Beth-aven: 'Behind thee, O Benjamin!'
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Hosea 5:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hosea 4:15 “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.’
- 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.
- Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand:
- 1 Samuel 15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
- Jeremiah 4:5 Declare in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, ‘Blow the trumpet in the land!’ Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves! Let’s go into the fortified cities!’
- Judges 5:14 Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim, after you, Benjamin, among your peoples. Governors come down out of Machir. Those who handle the marshal’s staff came out of Zebulun.
- Isaiah 10:29 They have gone over the pass. They have taken up their lodging at Geba. Ramah trembles. Gibeah of Saul has fled.
- Hosea 8:1 “Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house, because they have broken my covenant, and rebelled against my law.
- Joshua 7:2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the land.” The men went up and spied out Ai.
- Judges 19:12-15 His master said to him, “We won’t enter into the city of a foreigner that is not of the children of Israel; but we will pass over to Gibeah.” He said to his servant, “Come and let’s draw near to one of these places; and we will lodge in Gibeah, or in Ramah.” So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. They went over there, to go in to stay in Gibeah. He went in, and sat down in the street of the city; for there was no one who took them into his house to stay.
- Judges 20:4-6 The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, “I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 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. I took my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel.
- 1 Samuel 7:17 His return was to Ramah, for his house was there; and he judged Israel there; and he built an altar to Yahweh there.
- 1 Samuel 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel to Ramah.
- 2 Samuel 21:6 let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them up to Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Yahweh.” The king said, “I will give them.”
- 1 Kings 12:29 He set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
- Jeremiah 6:1 “Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the middle of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem, for evil looks out from the north with a great destruction.
- 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 10:8-9 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!” “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.
- Joel 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet speaks here more emphatically, and there is…
The Prophet speaks here more emphatically, and there is in these words a certain lively representation; for the Prophet assumes here the character of a herald, or he introduces heralds who declare and proclaim war. The truth itself ought indeed to storm not only our ears, but also our hearts, and be more powerful than any trumpet: but we yet see how unconcerned we are. Hence the Lord is constrained here to clothe his servant with the character of a herald, or at least he bids his servant to send forth heralds to proclaim war everywhere throughout the whole kingdom of Israel. This was not, properly speaking, the office of a Prophet; but we see that Ezekiel was ordered by the Lord to besiege Jerusalem for a time, — and why? Because his whole teaching, after the Jews had been a thousand times threatened, became frigid: God then added visions, which more effectually roused torpid men. So also does Hosea in this place, Shout with the trumpet in Gibeah, blow the cornet in Ramah, and sound the horn in Beth-aven; for God, as we have said, is pursuing Israel, and will not suffer them to rest; so that the Israelites might know that God threatens not in vain, that his reproofs are not bugbears, but that he deals in earnest when he reproves the ungodly, and that execution, as they say, will follow what he teaches. In the same manner does Paul also say,
‘Vengeance is prepared by us, and is in readiness against all those who extol themselves against the greatness of Christ, how great soever they may be,’ (2 Corinthians 10:5,6.)
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As, then, the ungodly are wont to make this objection, that the Prophets preach nothing but words, Hosea here testifies that he did not in vain terrify men, but that the effect, as they say, would immediately follow, unless they reconciled themselves to God.
Now, as we perceive the Prophet’s purpose, let us take care to receive by faith that peace which the Lord daily proclaims to us by his messengers. For what is the Gospel but what Paul declares it to be?
‘We discharge the office of ambassadors,’ he says, ‘for Christ, that ye may be reconciled to God, and in Christ’s name we exhort you to return into favor with God,’ (2 Corinthians 5:20.)
We then see that all the ministers of the Gospel are God’s heralds, who invite us to peace, and promise that God is ready to grant us pardon, if with the heart we seek him. But if we receive not this message and this embassy, there will remain for us the dreadful judgment, of which the Prophet now speaks, and our impiety will procure for us this awful doom. As though God then were now declaring war against all the ungodly and the despisers of his grace, the Prophet says that they shall find that God is armed for vengeance.
Moreover, the Prophet doubtless has here mentioned Gibeah, Ramah, and “Beth-aven”, because in these places great assemblies usually met; and it may be also that they were strong fortresses. Since then the Israelites thought themselves unconquerable, because they had invincible strongholds against their enemies, the Prophet here expressly declares war against them. Everywhere then sound ye the trumpet, or blow the horn, or blow the cornet, especially in the chief places of the kingdom.
After thee, O Benjamin. Benjamin is here to be taken, by a figure of speech, for the whole of Israel, because he was a brother of Joseph by the same mother: the tribe of Benjamin is therefore everywhere joined with Ephraim. It is at the same time certain, that the Prophet confines not here his address to one tribe, but includes, under one tribe or one part, the whole kingdom of Israel. 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 That is, all Israel comprehended under this part, signifying…
That is, all Israel comprehended under this part, signifying that the Lord’s plagues should pursue them from place to place till they were destroyed.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Hos 5:8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, [and]…
Hos 5:8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, [and] the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud [at] Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.
Ver. 8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah] Clangite, clamate, not with the inverse trumpets of Furius Fulvius, which sounded a retreat when they should have sounded an alarm. But blow ye the cornet; give notice to all the country, that Hannibal est ad portas, the enemy is at the very gates, sending a summons, and sounding for a surrender. The desolation of war had been denounced in the former verse; here it is proclaimed, as it were, by sound of trumpet; the prophet acting the part of a herald; and, by a rhetorical hypotyposis, representing the enemies’ approach, as if it were already under view; and not foretold, but acted before their eyes. Rhetoric, we see here, is an art sanctified by God’s Spirit; and may lawfully be used in handling of God’s word. The Scripture is full of it in every part; and happy is that minister that thereby can make himself master of his hearers’ affections; as potent in his Divine rhetoric as Pericles or Cicero were in their human. Let him (by our prophet’s example) strive to make the things whereof he preacheth to the people as real before their eyes as possibly he can. The power of a ministry consisteth much in this: to set forth sin, Christ, heaven, hell, in such lively colours that the hearer (though unlearned) may be convinced of all, judged of all, and having the secrets of his heart made manifest, he may fall down on his face, worship God, and report that God is in the minister of a truth, 1Co 14:24-25; lo, this is preaching indeed. For as every sound is not music, so neither is every pulpit discourse preaching. Nihil frigidius est doctore verbis solummode philosophante (Chrysostom). Ezekiel must lay siege to Jerusalem, portraying it upon a tile, Eze 4:1. So did Jeremiah and other prophets use signs and similitudes. St Paul’s speech and preaching was not indeed with enticing words of man’s wisdom (he did not so paint the window as to keep out the light), but yet in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power, close to the conscience, 1Co 2:4.
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Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah] That is, in the bounds of the kingdom of Judah, Gibeah of Benjamin, Gibeah of Saul.
And the trumpet in Ramah] Samuel’s country, afterward called Arimathaea, Joseph’s country: this is said to be in the borders of Israel. Strong garrisons they were both, and places of great resort: they are now alarmed, and bidden to prepare for the approach of the Assyrian.
Cry aloud at Bethaven] Or Bethel, as Hos 10:15, a city (as it is said of Athens, κατειδωλος, Act 17:16) wholly given to idolatry; and therefore more stupid and stubborn than the rest. Here, therefore, the prophet cries louder than ordinary, classicum canit, sic clamat ut stentora vincere possit, he sets up his note, that he may the sooner awaken them, and cause them to apprehend their danger, as present and real. Bethaven was the great place of superstition, and now Rome is the nest of Antichrist, "the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, a cage of every unclean and hateful bird": therefore the angel crieth mightily with a strong voice, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen," certo, cito, penitus, surely, suddenly, utterly, Rev 18:2.
After thee, O Benjamin] Who art at the back of Bethaven, and farest the worse for her neighbourhood: like as Hamath did for Damascus, Zec 9:2. {See Trapp on "Zec 9:2"} Some understand Hostis adest, the enemy is at thy heels; make away, or stand upon thy guard; for thou art like to be put to it. And this concise kind of warning here given implies a mind moved and disturbed, either with fear or anger.
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 Blow ye the cornet; ye watchmen, or whoever have…
Blow ye the cornet; ye watchmen, or whoever have the care and custody of these fortified towns, sound the alarm, for the enemy cometh.
In Gibeah; a town of Benjamin situate on a hill, built by Asa, 1Ki 15:22; made by him a frontier, and likely always garrisoned against the incursion of the ten tribes.
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And the trumpet; add to the sound of the cornet the trumpet also, which is proper for war, and will be best understood by the people; lest they mistake the meaning of the cornet, which is, say some, a pastoral instrument, proper for shepherds, sound the trumpet.
In Ramah; of which there were three, one in Naphtali, and Rama-sophim, and this of Benjamin near Gibeah, and was an inlet into Judah, of great importance, as appears 1Ki 15:17,21; a town of strength, built on a high hill, and fit to be as a watchtower. Be you upon your guard when the invader is so near.
Cry aloud at Beth-aven; as more concerned, cry out with more vehemency, awaken all to prepare for defence; or, howl and lament for the things that are come upon thee, O Beth-aven. The Assyrians’ march will alarm thy neighbours, but their success against thee will ruin thee utterly. Let thine inhabitants therefore cry and howl. If that Beth-aven situate in the wilderness, this passage foretells the destruction of it by the Assyrians, probably in the beginning of their invasion; if it were Beth-el, it was the chief seat of idolatry, and first or chief in miseries.
After thee, O Benjamin:
thee referred to Beth-aven speaks thus; after thy cries, when thou hast howled, let Benjamin and Judah too begin theirs, for they shall also fall for their sin.
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 is, I. A loud alarm sounded, giving notice…
Here is, I. A loud alarm sounded, giving notice of judgments coming (Hos 5:8): Blow you the cornet in Gibeah and in Ramah, two cities near together in the confines of the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel, Gibeah a frontier-town of the kingdom of Judah, Ramah of Israel; so that the warning is hereby sent into both kingdoms. "Cry aloud at Beth-aven, or Bethel, which place seems to be already seized upon by the enemy, and therefore the trumpet is not sounded there, but you hear the outcries of those that shout for mastery, mixed with theirs that are overcome." Let them cry aloud, "After thee, O Benjamin! comes the enemy. The tribe of Ephraim is already vanquished, and the enemy will be upon thy back, O Benjamin! in a little time; thy turn comes next. The cup of trembling shall go round." The prophet had described God's controversy with them as a trial at law (Hos 4:1); here he describes it as a trial by battle; and here also when he judges he will overcome. Let all therefore prepare to meet their God. He had before spoken of the judgments as certain; here he speaks of them as near; and, when they are apprehended as just at the door, they are very startling and awakening. The blowing of this cornet is explained, Hos 5:9. Among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be, that which is true or certain, so the word is. Note, The destruction of impenitent sinners is a thing which shall surely be; it is not mere talk, to frighten them, but it is an irrevocable sentence. And it is a mercy to us that it is made known to us, that we have timely warning given us of it, that we may flee from the wrath to come. It is the privilege of the tribes of Israel that, as they are told their duty, so they are told their danger, by the oracles of God committed to them.
II. The ground of God's controversy with them. 1. He has a quarrel with the princes of Judah, because they were daring leaders in sin, Hos 5:10. They are like those that remove the bound, or the ancient land-marks. God has given them his law, to be a fence about his own property; but they have sacrilegiously broken through it, and set it aside; they have encroached even upon God's rights, have trampled upon the distinctions between good and evil, and the most sacred obligations of reason and equity, thinking, because they were princes, that they might do any thing, Quicquid libet, licet - Their will was a law. Or it may be understood of their invading the liberty and property of the subject for the advancing of the prerogative, which was like removing the ancient land-marks. Some have observed that the princes of Judah were more absolute, and assumed a more arbitrary power, than the princes of Israel did; now, for this, God has a controversy with them: I will pour out my wrath upon them like water, in great abundance, like the waters of the flood, which were poured upon the giants of the old world, for the violence which the earth was filled with through them, Gen 6:13. Note, There are bounds which even princes themselves must not remove, bounds both of religion and justice, which they are limited by, and, if they break through them, they must know that there is a God above them that will call them to account for it. 2. He has a quarrel with the people of Ephraim, because they were sneaking followers in sin (Hos 5:11): He willingly walked after the commandment, that is, the commandment of Jeroboam and the succeeding kings of Israel, who obliged all their subjects by a law to worship the calves at Dan and Bethel, and never to go up to Jerusalem to worship. This was the commandment; it was the law of the land, and backed with reasons of state; and the people not only walked after it in a blind implicit obedience to authority, but they willingly walked after it, from a secret antipathy they had to the worship of idols. Note, An easy compliance with the commandments of men that thwart the commandments of God ripens a people for ruin as much as any thing. And the punishment of the sequacious disobedience (if I may so call it) answers to the sin; for it is for this that Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, has all his civil rights and liberties broken in upon and trodden down; and, (1.) It is just with God that it should be so, that those who betray God's property should lose their own, that those who subject their consciences to an infallible judge, and an arbitrary power, should have enough of both. (2.) There is a natural tendency in the thing itself towards it. Those that willingly walk after the commandment, even when it walks contrary to the command of God, will find the commandment an encroaching thing, and that the more power is given it the more it will claim. Note, Nothing gives greater advantage to a mastiff-like tyranny, that is fierce and furious, than a spaniel-like submission, that is fawning and flattering. Thus is Ephraim oppressed and broken in judgment, that is, he is wronged under a face and colour of right. Note, It is a sad and sore judgment upon any people to be oppressed under pretence of having justice done them. This explains the threatening Hos 5:9, Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke. Note, Daring sinners must expect that a day of rebuke will come, and such a day of rebuke as will make them desolate, will deprive them of the comfort of all they have and all they hope for.
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III. The different methods that God would take both with Judah and Ephraim, sometimes one method and sometimes the other, and sometimes both together, or rather by which, first the one and then the other, he would advance towards their complete ruin.
1. He would begin with less judgments, which should sometimes work silently and insensibly (Hos 5:12): I will be (that is, my providences shall be) unto Ephraim as a moth; nay (as it might better be supplied), they are unto Ephraim as a moth, for it is such a sickness as Ephraim now sees, Hos 5:13. Note, The judgments of God are sometimes to a sinful people as a moth, and as rottenness, or as a worm. The former signifies the little animals that breed in clothes, the latter those that breed in wood; as these consume the clothes and the wood, so shall the judgments of God consume them. (1.) Silently, so as not to make any noise in the world, nay, so as they themselves shall not be sensible of it; they shall think themselves safe and thriving, but, when they come to look more narrowly into their state, shall find themselves wasting and decaying. (2.) Slowly, and with long delays and intervals, that he may give them space to repent. Many a nation, as well as many a person, in the prime of its time, dies of a consumption. (3.) Gradually. God comes upon sinners with less judgments, so to prevent greater, if they will be wise and take warning; he comes upon them step by step, to show he is not willing that they should perish. (4.) The moth breeds in the clothes, and the worm or rottenness in the wood; thus sinners are consumed by a fire of their own kindling.
2. When it appeared that those had not done their work he would come upon them with greater (Hos 5:14): I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and to the house of Judah as a young lion, though Judah is himself, in Jacob's blessing, a lion's whelp. Lest any should think his power weakened, because he was said to be as a moth to them, he says that he will now be as a lion to them, not only to frighten them with his roaring, but to pull them to pieces. Note, If less judgments prevail not to do their work, it may be expected that God will send greater. Christ is sometimes a lion of the tribe of Judah, here he is a lion against that tribe. See what God will do to a people that are secure in sin: Even I will tear. He seems to glory in it, as his prerogative, to be able to destroy, as the alone lawgiver, Jam 4:12. "I, even I, will take the work into my own hands; I say it that will do it." There is a more immediate work of God in some judgments than in others. I will tear, and go away. He will go away, (1.) As not fearing them; he will go away in state, and with a majestic face, as the lion from his prey. (2.) As not helping them. If God tear by afflicting providences, and yet by his graces and comforts stays with us, it is well enough; but our condition is sad indeed if he tear and go away, if, when he deprives us of our creature comforts, he does himself depart from us. When he goes away he will take away all that is valuable and dear, for, when God goes, all good goes along with him. He will take away, and none shall rescue him, as the prey cannot be rescued from the lion, Mic 5:8. Note, None can be delivered out of the hands of God's justice but those that are delivered into the hands of his grace. It is in vain for a man to strive with his Maker.
IV. The different effects of those different methods. 1. When God contended with them by less judgments they neglected him, and sought to creatures for relief, but sought in vain, Hos 5:13. When God was to them as a moth, and as rottenness, they perceived their sickness and their wound; after a while they found themselves going down the hill, and that they were behind - hand in their affairs, their estate was sensibly decaying, and then they sent to the Assyrian, to come in to their assistance, made their court to king Jareb, which some think, was one of the names of Pul, or Tiglathpileser, kings of Assyria, to whom both Israel and Judah applied for relief in their distress, hoping by an alliance with them to repair and re-establish their declining interests. Note, Carnal hearts, in time of trouble, see their sickness and see their wound, but do not see the sin that is the cause of it, nor will be brought to acknowledge that, no, nor to acknowledge the hand of God, his mighty hand, much less his righteous hand, in their trouble; and therefore, instead of going the next way to the Creator, who could relieve them, they take a great deal of pains to go about to creatures, who can do them no service. Those who repent not that they have offended God by their sins are loth to be beholden to him in their afflictions, but would rather seek relief any where than with him. And what is the consequence? Yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. Note, Those who neglect God, and seek to creatures for help, will certainly be disappointed; those who depend upon them for support will find them, not foundations, but broken reeds; those who depend upon them for supply will find them, not fountains, but broken cisterns; those who depend upon them for comfort and a cure will find them miserable comforters, and physicians of no value. The kings of Assyria, whom Judah and Israel sought unto, distressed them and helped them not, Ch2 28:16, Ch2 28:22. Some make king Jareb to signify the great, potent, or magnificent king, for they built much upon his power; others the king that will plead, or should plead, for they built much upon his wisdom and eloquence, and in his interesting himself in their affairs. They had sent him a present (Hos 10:6), a good fee, and, having so retained him of counsel for them, they doubted not of his fidelity to them; but he deceived them, as an arm of flesh does those that trust in it, Jer 17:5, Jer 17:6. 2. When, to convince them of their folly, God brought greater judgments upon them, then they would at length be forced to apply to him, Hos 5:15. When he has torn as a lion, (1.) He will leave them: I will go and return to my place, to heaven, or to the mercy-seat, the throne of grace, which is his glory. When God punishes sinners he comes out of his place (Isa 26:21); but, when he designs them favour, he returns to his place, where he waits to be gracious, upon their submission. Or he will return to his place when he has corrected them, as not regarding them, hiding his face from them, and not taking notice of their troubles or prayers; and this for their further humiliation, till they are qualified in some measure for the returns of his favour. (2.) He will at length work upon them, and bring them home to himself, by their afflictions, which is the thing he waits for; and then he will no longer withdraw from them. Two things are here mentioned as instances of their return: - [1.] Their penitent confession of sin: Till they acknowledge their offence; marg. Till they be guilty, that is, till they be sensible of their guilt, and be brought to own it, and humble themselves before God for it. Note, When men begin to complain more of their sins than of their afflictions then there begins to be some hope of them; and this is that which God requires of us, when we are under his correcting hand, that we own ourselves in a fault and justly corrected. [2.] Their humble petition for the favour of God: Till they seek my face, which, it may be expected, they will do when they are brought to the last extremity, and they have tried other helpers in vain. In their affliction they will seek me early, that is, diligently and earnestly, and with great importunity; and if they seek him thus, and be sincere in it, though it might be called seeking him late, because it was long ere they were brought to it, yet it is not too late, nay, he is pleased to call it seeking him early, so willing is he to make the best of true penitents in their return to him. Note, When we are under the convictions of sin, and the corrections of the rod, our business is to seek God's face; we must desire the knowledge of him, and an acquaintance with him, that he may manifest himself to us, and for us, in token of his being at peace with us. And it may reasonably be expected that affliction will bring those to God that had long gone astray from him, and kept at a distance. Therefore God for a time turns away from us, that he may turn us to himself, and then return to us. Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray.
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 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet…
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah,.... As an alarm of war, to give notice that the enemy is at hand, just ready to invade the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and bring destruction upon them; according to the Targum, the words are directed to the prophets,
"O ye prophets, lift up your voice like a trumpet;''
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to declare to the people of Judah their sins and transgressions, and the punishment that would be inflicted on them for them; or it may be, this is a call of the people to fasting, mounting, and lamentation, as in Joe 2:1. Gibeah is the same which is called "Gibeah of Saul", Sa1 11:4; it being the birth place of that prince; and which Josephus (i) calls Gabathsaoule, and interprets it the hill of Saul, and says it was distant from Jerusalem about four miles; though elsewhere (k) he represents it as but two and a half miles; perhaps in the latter place there is a corruption in the number; for, according to Jerom, it was near Ramah, which was seven miles from Jerusalem; he says it is called also "Gibeah of Benjamin", Sa1 13:2; because it was in that tribe, as was also Ramah; which, according to Eusebius (l), was six miles from Jerusalem; these were near to each other; see Jdg 19:13; so that the calamity threatened is what respects the two tribes:
cry aloud at Bethaven; the same with Bethel, or a place near unto it, in the tribe of Benjamin, or on the borders of Ephraim; see Hos 4:15. According to the above writer (m), it lay about twelve miles from Jerusalem; in the way to Sichem; and being upon the borders both of Benjamin and Ephraim, it sometimes belonged to Israel, and sometimes to Judah; see Ch2 13:19; and seeing, as Jerom observes, that Benjamin was at the back of it (for where the tribe of Benjamin ended, not far in the tribe of Ephraim, according to him, was this city built), it therefore very beautifully follows,
after thee, O Benjamin; that is, either the enemy is after thee, O Benjamin, is just at hand, ready to fall upon thee, and destroy thee, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; or rather, after the trumpet is blown in Gibeah and Ramah, cities which belonged to Benjamin, let it he blown, either in Bethaven, on the borders of Benjamin and Ephraim; or let it be blown in the tribe of Judah, so that all the twelve tribes may have notice, and prepare for what is coming upon them.
(i) De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 1. (k) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 8. (l) Apud Reland Palestina Illustrata, l. 3. tom. 2. p. 963. (m) Apud Reland. ib. p. 637.
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 Blow ye - Ye watchmen, sound the alarm, the…
Blow ye - Ye watchmen, sound the alarm, the enemy cometh. After thee, O Benjamin - After thy cries. After thee, O Beth-aven, let Benjamin also cry aloud: for they shall also fall for their sin.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah] Gibeah…
Verse 8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah] Gibeah and Ramah were cities of Judah, in the tribe of Benjamin.
After thee, O Benjamin] An abrupt call of warning. "Benjamin, fly for thy life! The enemy is just behind thee!" This is a prediction of the invasion of the Assyrians, and the captivity of the ten tribes.
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 5:8-9. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, &c.…
Hos 5:8-9. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, &c. — The prophet here calls upon the watchmen of Judah and Israel to sound an alarm, and give notice of the approach of the enemy: compare Joe 2:1. It was usual in those days, when a country was invaded, or was on the point of being so, to give notice of it by sounding cornets and trumpets from the towers and high places, on which the watchmen or sentinels were placed. Gibeah and Ramah were towns in the tribe of Benjamin; and Beth-aven, or Beth-el, was in the territory of the ten tribes, so that ordering the sounding of an alarm in those places, signified that both kingdoms should be hostilely invaded. After thee, O Benjamin — Or, Look behind thee, O Benjamin: see Pococke. The words present the image of an enemy in close pursuit, ready to fall upon the rear of Benjamin. Ephraim shall be desolate — God’s judgments shall likewise overtake Israel, or the ten tribes, as well as Judah. In the day of rebuke — At the time when God shall punish them for the provocations which he has received. This seems to be intended of the invasion of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser king of Assyria. Among the tribes of Israel I have made known, &c. — I have denounced my judgments against the whole kingdom of Israel, as well as that of Judah, and given them warning, that they may escape them by a timely repentance.
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 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah - The evil…
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah - The evil day and destruction, denounced, is now vividly pictured, as actually come. All is in confusion, hurry, alarm, because the enemy was in the midst of them. The “cornet,” an instrument made of horn, was to be blown as the alarm, when the enemy was at hand. The “trumpet” was especially used for the worship of God. “Gibeah and Ramah” were cities of Benjamin, on the borders of Ephraim, where the enemy, who had possessed himself of Israel, would burst in upon Judah. From Bethaven or Bethel, the seat of Ephraim’s idolatry, on the border of Benjamin, was to break forth the outcry of destruction, “after thee, O Benjamin;” the enemy is upon thee, just behind thee, pursuing thee. God had promised His people, if they would serve Him, “I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee” Exo 23:27, and had threatened the contrary, if they should “walk contrary to Him.” Now that threat was to be fulfilled to the uttermost. The ten tribes are spoken of, as already in possession of the enemy, and he was “upon Benjamin” fleeing before them.
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 Back. Bethel lay northwest of Benjamin. The two tribes…
Back. Bethel lay northwest of Benjamin. The two tribes would hear the distress of Israel, that they might beware and avoid the like misconduct. (Calmet) --- The captivity is here described. (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 The arrival of the enemy is announced in the…
The arrival of the enemy is announced in the form of an injunction to blow an alarm.
cornet . . . trumpet--The "cornet" was made of the curved horn of animals and was used by shepherds. The "trumpet" was of brass or silver, straight, and used in wars and on solemn occasions. The Hebrew is hatzotzerah, the sound imitating the trumpet note (Hos 8:1; Num 10:2; Jer 4:5; Joe 2:1).
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Gibeah . . . Ramah--both in Benjamin (Isa 10:29).
Beth-aven--in Benjamin; not as in Hos 4:15; Beth-el, but a town east of it (Jos 7:2). "Cry aloud," namely, to raise the alarm. "Benjamin" is put for the whole southern kingdom of Judah (compare Hos 5:5), being the first part of it which would meet the foe advancing from the north. "After thee, O Benjamin," implies the position of Beth-aven, behind Benjamin, at the borders of Ephraim. When the foe is at Beth-aven, he is at Benjamin's rear, close upon thee, O Benjamin (Jdg 5:14).
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 The time of mercy is past, Hos_5:8-15.
The time of mercy is past, Hos_5:8-15.
The hopelessness of the situation is manifest: Jehovah can show mercy no longer, judgment is inevitable; it is about to break upon the sinful nations. The prophet, summons them to prepare for it, and declares that Assyria and Egypt can offer no effective help; there can be no salvation until the people with heartfelt repentance return to Jehovah.
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8. The danger signal is to be given. Cornet (or, horn)… trumpet — The two words are synonymous here; ordinarily they designate two different instruments. The former is the curved horn of a cow or ram which seems to have been used in early Israel chiefly, if not exclusively, for secular purposes: to give signals in war, to warn of approaching danger, to announce important public events, etc. When its sound was heard everyone was expected to drop work and take his place in the ranks. In later times it appears to have been used also for sacred purposes. The trumpet is long and straight, made of metal; it is rarely mentioned as being used for secular purposes, and seems to have been primarily a sacred instrument; it is pictured on Jewish coins, and representations of it were placed on the Arch of Titus. (Compare article “Trumpet” in Hastings’s Dictionary of the Bible, and the richly illustrated article “Music” in the Encyclopaedia Biblica.)
Gibeah… Ramah… Beth-aven — On the last see Hos_4:15. As a religious center, to which people crowded in great numbers, Beth-el would be a most appropriate place in which to sound the warning. The two other places, as their names indicate — Gibeah, hill; Ramah, height — were situated on elevations, and for this reason were well adapted for giving signals. The former is Gibeah of Benjamin or of Saul (1Sa_13:2; 1Sa_11:4), now Tel-el-Ful; the latter, a little to the north, was the home of Samuel (1Sa_15:34), now er-Ram. His summons to sound the alarm would seem to indicate that the prophet expected a foreign invasion, but the literal interpretation must not be pressed.
After thee, O Benjamin — As in Jdg_5:14, where LXX. reads a different text, G.A. Smith suggests that this may have been an ancient battle cry of Benjamin, and he renders 8b, “Raise the slogan, Beth-aven: ‘After thee, Benjamin!’” R.V., by rendering “behind thee,” seems to imply another conception, that of a call of warning to Benjamin: “The enemy is already behind thee.” LXX. reads, “Let Benjamin tremble,” which gives excellent sense and is probably original.
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 8. Blow ye the cornet … the trumpet] A…
8. Blow ye the cornet … the trumpet] A usual direction on the approach of an invading army; see Hos_8:1; Jer_4:5; Jer_6:1. Previously to the captivity the cornet and the trumpet were probably different names for the same instrument, as the Law (Num_10:1-10; Num_31:6) prescribes the use of the silver trumpet (khaçôçerah) in cases when, according to the prophetic and historical books, the cornet or shôfâr was used. In writings of post-Captivity origin (Psa_98:6; 1Ch_15:28; 2Ch_15:14) they appear to represent different instruments, or rather slightly different varieties of the same instrument. The Mishna tells us that the shôfâr was sometimes straight, sometimes curved, and this difference would of course involve a difference of note. We may help ourselves to form an idea of the Hebrew trumpets by representations of the Egyptian (see Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, 11. 260, &c.).
Gibeah … Ramah] Both towns were situated on eminences, and therefore well adapted for signals of alarm; both apparently belonged to Judah. Gibeah (lit. ‘a hill’) is ‘Gibeah of Benjamin’ (1Sa_13:2; 1Sa_14:16), or ‘Gibeah of Saul’ (1Sa_11:4); the Ramah (lit. ‘height’) is the same where Samuel dwelt (1Sa_15:34). Both probably belonged at this time to Judah (see 1Ki_15:21; Isa_10:29). Taking in Bethel, the cities are those from which the signal of alarm could be heard in both kingdoms.
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after thee, O Benjamin] Rather, behind thee, O Benjamin; this is the cry of warning which the men of Beth-aven or Bethel (a border-town between Benjamin and Ephraim) are to send on to the Benjamites. Understand either ‘the sword rages’, or more simply ‘be on thy guard.’ Sept. however renders (from a different text?), ἐξέστη Βενιαμίν, ‘Benjamin is distraught.’
It is worth noticing that Hosea (the prophet of the tribes which proudly claimed the name of Israel) does not mention Jerusalem. To have mentioned the capital of Judah would perhaps have led him to widen his range of thought too much. But under the name ‘Benjamin’ he has been thought to hint obscurely at Jerusalem, for ‘the boundary between Judah and Benjamin ran at the foot of the hill on which the city stands, so that the city itself was actually in Benjamin’ (Fergusson, in Smith’s Bible-Dictionary, 1. 983).
8–15. The prophet ‘in the spirit’ sees the threatened trouble bursting upon both the separated kingdoms. In vain will Ephraim seek help from Assyria; there is no deliverance from Jehovah’s hand until Ephraim repents.
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 (8) Cornet . . . trumpet.—The two kinds of…
(8) Cornet . . . trumpet.—The two kinds of trumpet mentioned here are the cornet, made like the bent horn of an animal, and the long, straight metallic trumpet, used for sounding an alarm and convoking the congregation (Num_10:2). Gibeah and Ramah were lofty hills on the northern boundary of Benjamin. From the parallel passage, Isa_10:29, we conclude that Gibeah lay between Jerusalem and Ramah (the modern Er Ram), not far from the road which passes in a northern direction from Jerusalem to Mount Ephraim. A lofty hill, which satisfies these conditions (Tel el Ful), has been discovered by Robinson, where there is a prospect over almost the whole tribal region of Benjamin, and with this spot Gibeah is probably to be identified. Hosea does not mention the metropolis, but he reveals the imminent peril of Jerusalem if these high towers, within sight of her defenders, were giving the alarm at the approach of the Assyrian king.
After thee is obscure. Translate, He (the enemy) is behind thee, O Benjamin, the tribe in which the metropolis was situated. This combined disaster for both Israel and Judah is reiterated in a variety of ways. “The tribes of Israel “are in parallelism with “Ephraim.”
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. 8, 9. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah,…
Vers. 8, 9. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah. Intimation had been given in the preceding verse that the period of their fast-approaching destruction was at hand; that, as Kimchi expresses it, the now moon would soon come at which their enemies would destroy them. Now he pictures them as already on the march, and just advancing to execute the work of destruction; while the terror and alarm consequent thereon are here presented with great vividness, but at the same time with much brevity. A similar scene is depicted at full length Isa_10:28-32, where the line of the Assyrians" march seems to be indicated, if, indeed, it be not a poetic representation of it, which the prophet gives. Thus from Aiath (el-Tell) to the pass of Michmash, now Mukmas, where he lays up his baggage; forward to Gobs, where they quarter for the night; then on to Nob, where he halts in sight at the holy city, and scarce an hour"s march distant. The alarm was to be sounded with the shophar, or far-sounding cornet, made of curved horn, and the chatsotserah, or straight trumpet, made of brass or silver, used in war or at festivals. This signal of hostile invasion was to he sounded in Gibeah, now Tuleil-el-Ful, some four miles north of Jerusalem, and in Ramah, now er-Ram, two miles further distant. Both these towns, situated on eminences, as the names denote, belong to the northern boundary of Benjamin. The overthrow of the northern kingdom is rims presented as an already accomplished fact; while the invading host has already reached the frontier of the southern kingdom. Cry aloud at Beth-avon, after thee, O Benjamin. This cry is the sound at" the war-signals already mentioned, and the repetition intensifies the nature of the alarm and the urgency of the case. Beth-avon was either Bethel, now Beitin, on the border of Benjamin, or a town nearer Michmash, belonging to Benjamin. The meaning of the somewhat obscure words in the concluding clause can give little trouble, when read in the light of the context. The sounding of the alarm of war indicates with tolerable plainness what was coming behind Benjamin; nor is there need to supply the words, "the enemy rises behind thee," with same, or" the sword rages behind thee," with others. The signals announce the foe as arrived at the frontier of Judah. The enemy is close behind thee, Benjamin, in close pursuit after thee, upon thy very heels. Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke. The day of rebuke is the season when God rebukes sin by punishment; the punishment in this case is no slight rebuke or temporary chastisement. On the contrary, it is extreme in severity and final in duration. Famine, or pestilence, or war might lay a country desolate for a time, and yet relief might soon ensue and recuperative power be vigorously developed. Not so here. Ephraim is made more than desolate partially and for a short period; it becomes a desolation entire desolation," as the words literally mean. In this desolation the other tribes would be involved. Nor was the menace lightly to be regarded or treated as meaningless; it was firm well grounded as the word of the Eternal, and irreversible as his decree.
An earnest ministry.
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"Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O Benjamin." The prophet in vision sees Divine judgment coming on the rebellious nation, and commands an alarm to be given of the approach of the enemy. Gileah (Jos_18:28) and Ramah (Jos_18:25) were two elevated places in the tribe of Benjamin, and were well adapted for signals on account of their lofty elevation. The introduction of these particular towns, which did not belong to the tribe of Israel, but to Judah, is intended to indicate that the enemy had already conquered the ten tribes, and had advanced to that on the border of Judah. The idea of the passage is Give an earnest warning of the judgment about to break on the people, sound the alarm, and startle the population, The subject suggested is that of an earnest ministry. Notice
I THE NATURE OF AN EARNEST MINISTRY. "Cry aloud." Let the whole soul go forth in the work. Let us not mistake the nature of earnestness. It is not noise. Ignorant people imagine that the minister who makes the greatest noise, roars and raves the most in the pulpit, or parades his doings most in journals and reports, is the earnest man. "A celebrated preacher, distinguished for the eloquence of his pulpit preparations, exclaimed on his death-bed, "Speak not to me of my sermons. Alas! I was fiddling whilst Rome was burning. It is not frightening people. Often he who is the most successful by graphic and impassioned descriptions of the judgment day and hell fires, in terrifying men, is considered the most earnest. This is a mistake a popular and fatal mistake. It is not bustle. He who is always on the "go," whose limbs are always on the stretch, into this house and that house, into this meeting and that, who is never at rest, men are always disposed to regard as an earnest man. Genuine earnestness is foreign to all these things. It has nothing in it of the noise and rattle of the fussy brook; it is like the deep stream rolling its current silently, resistlessly, and without pause. An earnest ministry is living. It is not mere preaching or service, occasional or even systematic; it is the influence of the whole man. It is the "Word" made flesh; so permeating the whole man that every word, act, and expression are as the blasts of a Divine trumpet, rousing sinners to a sense of their moral danger. Such a ministry is a matter of necessity. The Divine thing in the man becomes irrepressible, it breaks out as sunbeams through the clouds: "Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel." Such a ministry is constant. It is not a professional service; it is as regular as the functions of life; it is a thing that is "in season and out of season in shops and in sanctuaries, on hearths as well as in pulpits. Such a ministry is mighty. Men can stand before the most thunderous words and violent attitudinizations, but they cannot stand before such a ministry as this; they are before it as snow before the sun. Oh! let all the soul within you For the truth"s sake go abroad! Strike! let every nerve and sinew Tell on ages tell for God.
II THE NEED OF AN EARNEST MINISTRY. Why was the "comet" to be now blown in Gibeah, and the" trumpet" in Ramah? Because there was danger. The moral danger to which souls around us are exposed is great. There is the danger of losing, not existence, but all that makes existence worth having love, hope, power, friendship, etc. "To be carnally minded is death." It is near. It is not the danger of an invading army heard in the distance. The enemy has entered the soul, and the work of devastating has commenced. It is increasing. The condition of the unregenerate soul gets worse and worse every hour. Brothers, let us be earnest in our work, always "abounding in the work of the Lord!" Time is earnest, passing by; Death is earnest, drawing nigh; Life is earnest; when "tis o"er Thou returnest nevermore. D.T.
Vers. 8-12. Ephraim and Judah.
The judgment is represented in these verses as already fallen. Shrill cornet and trumpet blasts announce the presence of the invaders. They fill the land. They are at the borders of Judah. They menace Benjamin.
I IS THE GRASP OF THE DESTROYER. (Vers. 8, 9)
1. Ephraim"s destruction came upon him suddenly. It was on him before he was aware. Ere almost he could realize the fact, the land was in possession of invaders. It is thus that God"s judgments commonly overtake transgressors. While they are saying to themselves, "Peace and safety," "sudden destruction cometh upon them". (1Th_5:3) They mocked at the warning and professed to disbelieve it. Now, to their amazement, they find God"s word come true. They are caught in the wave of judgment. The sorrows of death compass them, the pains of hell get hold upon them." It was so at the Flood; (Mat_24:38, 39 Luk_17:28, Luk_17:29) at the destruction of Jerusalem; (Luk_17:30, Luk_17:31) and shall be so at the Lord"s second advent. (Mat_24:48-51)
2. When Ephraim"s hour came he was powerless to save himself. He might blow his trumpets; he might raise cries of frantic distress; he might warn Benjamin; but he could not deliver his own soul. So, in the day of judgment, the haughtiest of those who now exalt themselves against God will find themselves to be impotent. They will find their foe to be one against whom there is no contending. They may cry for mercy; may shout to the mountains and rocks to fall on them; (Rev_6:16) may plead, like Dives, for their "five brethren"; (Luk_17:27, Luk_17:28) but they will know that for themselves there is no hope in resistance.
3. Ephraims desolation would be complete. "Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke," etc.
(1) The judgment would fall in successive strokes. The land was frequently overrun by the Assyrians, prior to the final overthrow. There is an evolution in God"s judgments. They run on till they are fulfilled. "That which shall surely be.
(2) It would be entire. The land would be reduced to utter desolation.
(3) It would be lasting plagues, and of long continuance". (Deu_28:59) So the last clause may be rendered, "I have declared what is lasting.
II THE DANGER TO JUDAH. (Vers. 8, 10)
1. The ruin of one sinner is a warning to others. Judah was partaker in Israel"s sins. The destruction of Ephraim was therefore of very special significance to the sister state. It portended judgment to it also. When the northern kingdom was in the hands of the foe, the cry might well be raised, After thee, O Benjamin.
(1) The sinner overtaken by judgment gives warning. He is now conscious, if he was not previously, that" it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God". (Heb_10:31) Transgressors have often died warning those related to them against drinking, sabbath-breaking, bad company, and whatever else brought them to their shameful end.
(2) Conscience gives warning. When judgment is seen descending on another, conscience is quick to interpret the meaning for one s self. "After thee, O Benjamin.
2. The ruin of one sinner foretells judgment on others. It not merely warns of it; it predicts it. It says, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish". (Luk_13:3) Judah"s punishment was as certain as Ephraim"s.
(1) Judah"s sins called for punishment. "The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound." They changed God"s commandments. They refused to be bound by the Law God had given them. They altered the limits of conduct to suit themselves. They called that good which God called evil. They were thus like boundary-removers. All sin is a boundary-removing. It is the refusal to abide within prescribed limits. It is transgression," a stepping across. It is "lawlessness". (1Jn_3:4)
(2) God had threatened Judah with punishment. That threatening he now ratifies and repeats. Ephraim"s overthrow was a pledge of its fulfillment. "I will pour out my wrath upon them like water." The judgment predicted is not of so fatal a kind as that on Ephraim, but it would be still very terrible. It is well to remember that there is wrath in God; that it is roused against sin; and that, in its effects, when poured forth, it is dreadful and overwhelming. Here it is figured as a flood which carries all before it.
III MORAL CAUSATION. (Vers. 11, 12) The moral state of Ephraim and Judah, and the judgments which overtook them, stand in the relation of cause and effect. There is nothing arbitrary in the Divine government. God but gives to the sinner what his own doings have earned. (Hos_4:9)
1. Judah"s sin and Ephraims sin were practically the same sin.
(1) Judah"s princes removed the bound; but this also was the sin of Ephraim. What was the institution of the calves but a removing of bouncer set by God"s commandments? It was the substituting of a human statute for a Divine the setting aside of a prohibition of the Decalogue.
(2) The people of Ephraim "walked willingly after the commandment," i.e. after the man-made statute; but so also did the people of Judah. They followed the example of their princes. Both kingdoms were antinomian.
2. Judah"s punishment and Ephraims punishment would accordingly be alike. "Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness." The agency at work in their destruction, while supernatural in origin, would work through natural causes and in accordance with natural laws. Destruction is prepared for by a process of internal decay. This decay is gradual, secret, sure, ruinous. It affects all parts of the social fabric. It so eats away its substance that it needs but a touch to make it fall in pieces. This is precisely what happens in a state when moral laws are tampered with. 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 Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah.
Hos_5:8
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah.
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An earnest ministry
The idea of the passage is, Give an earnest warning of the judgment about to break on the people, sound the alarm and startle the population.
I. The nature of an earnest ministry. Cry aloud. Let the whole soul go forth in the work. Earnestness is not noise. A celebrated preacher, distinguished for the eloquence of his pulpit preparations, exclaimed on his death-bed, Speak not to me of my sermons: alas! I Was fiddling whilst Rome was burning:
1. It is not frightening people.
2. It is not bustle. He is always on the go. Genuine earnestness is foreign to all these things. It has nothing in it of the noise and rattle of the fussy brook, it is like the deep stream rolling its current silently, resistlessly, and without pause.
3. An earnest ministry is living. It is the influence of the whole man.
4. Such a ministry is a matter of necessity. The Divine thing in the man becomes irrepressible, it breaks out as sunbeams through the clouds.
5. Such a ministry is constant. It is not a professional service; it is as regular as the functions of life.
6. Such a ministry is mighty.
II. The need of an earnest ministry. Why was the cornet to be now blown in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah? Because there was danger.
1. The moral danger to which souls around us are exposed is great.
2. It is near. It is not the danger of an invading army heard in the distance. The enemy has entered the soul and the work of devastating has commenced.
3. It is increasing. The condition of the unregenerate soul gets worse and worse every hour. (Homilist.)
Cry aloud
But after much observation and many deep yearnings over those who are going astray as sheep without a shepherd, it is my firm conviction that here is at least one key to the situation. This was the method of the great evangelical revival of the last century. Whitefield took his place on Kensington Common; where the bodies of executed criminals were left dangling on the gallows, and there, with twenty or thirty thousand of the lowest rabble before him, he would point to the gallows, and, with that voice which was like the sound of many waters, exclaim: If you want to know what wages the devil pays his servants, look yonder. Such methods at first grated on the fine sensibilities of Wesley. He says: I could scarce reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, having been till lately so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order that I should have thought the saving of souls a sin if it had not been done in a Church. Can we reconcile ourselves to such irregular methods? Can we accept the twofold requirement and preach the Gospel not only in season but in season, out of season? (A. J. Gordon, D. D.)
Earnest Christian effort
Godly Baxter says of himself, I confess, to my shame, that I remember no one sin that my conscience doth so much accuse and judge me for, as for doing so little for the salvation of men s souls, and dealing no more earnestly and fervently with them for their conversion. I confess that, when I am alone, and think of the ease of poor ignorant, worldly, earthly, unconverted sinners, that live not to God, nor set their hearts on the life to come, my conscience telleth me that I should go to as many of them as I can, and tell them plainly what will become of them if they do not turn, and beseech them, with all the earnestness that I can, to come to Christ, and change their course, and make no delay. And though I have many excuses, from other business and from disability and want of time, yet none of them all do satisfy my own conscience when I consider what heaven and hell are, which will one of them be the end of every mans life. My conscience telleth me that I should follow them with all possible earnestness night and day, and take no denial till they return to God.
After thee, O Benjamin.
Front-rank men
There is good reason to believe that this was the tribal battle-cry. The R.V., in its margin, favours this idea It there reads, After thee, Benjamin! (see Jdg_5:14). The reference is to the passage in the Song of Deborah: After thee, Benjamin, among thy people. Many commentators interpret this as addressed to Ephraim; e.g., Delitzsch: Behind thee,! i.e., Ephraim, there followed Benjamin among thy (Ephraims) people (hosts). On the other hand, the Pulpit Commentary reads, Following thee, O Benjamin, with thy people; and Dean Stanley (Jewish Church, vol. 1.) renders, After thee, Benjamin, in thy people. Psa_68:1-35, seems to corroborate this interpretation. This psalm is a glorious song of triumph. It refers to past history; it recalls to mind Gods wondrous dealings with His favoured people; the miracles He had wrought for them, the victories He had enabled them to win. The allusion to Zebulun and Naphtali in verse 27 seems to be a direct reference to the Song of Deborah, where these two tribes receive honourable mention (verse 18): Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field. But first among the four tribes mentioned in the psalm we have Benjamin: There is little Benjamin, their ruler, or leader; i.e., ruling or leading the procession. But why thus ruling or leading the festal procession? Perhaps with some reference to the fact that the first judge and the first king had sprung from their tribe. But also, no doubt, because this was the position that its warriors had taken on many a hard-fought field. Though a small tribe, it was famous for its warlike character, and bore out the prediction of Jacob: Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil (Gen_49:27).
I. A noble motto. Lead the way. To be among the first in things that are good is a grand ambition. Emulation is praiseworthy if a man strive lawfully. It is not to be confounded with envy, which seeks to outstrip another from mere jealousy; nor with self-exaltation, which springs from vanity; nor with that meanness which seeks to make ones self great by lowering or debasing another. It is the desire to be in the front rank in what is good; to be zealous and active for the right. After thee, then, O my soul, let others be, in striving to do good. After thee, in helping the oppressed, in succouring the needy. Not holding back, but pressing to the front. After thee, in time of danger and difficulty. Lead the way; join the forlorn hope.
II. A noble motto, without Gods blessing, is unavailing. Hosea depicts the invading hosts in the midst of Benjamin. The evil day and destruction denounced, is now vividly pictured as actually come. All is confusion, hurry, alarm, because the enemy was in the midst of them. The cornet, an instrument made of horn, was to be blown as an alarm, when the enemy was at hand. The trumpet was especially used for the worship of God. Gibeah and Ramah were cities of Benjamin, on the borders of Ephraim, where the enemy, who had possessed himself of Israel, would burst in upon Judah. (Pusey). Then in this supreme moment of danger and anxiety an endeavour is made to rally the warriors of the tribe; their battle-cry is raised, After thee, O Benjamin. But in vain. The hand of the Lord is against them (verses 9, 10). Without God no effort can be successful. He alone can give the strength. The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich. Without it there is no true prosperity; high aspirations cannot be reached; lofty ideals, great efforts will not avail. Against God who can be successful? Learn--We must have Gods blessing on our efforts, otherwise they are in vain. Therefore, Seek ye the Lord.
III. A noble motto, when transferred to the cause of sin, becomes doubly disastrous. It is very sad to see splendid opportunities wasted. This is sad. But it is more sad to see noble abilities, precious opportunities, large means used for evil purposes, against God and what is good. To sin is bad enough; but to be a leader and teacher of sin is satanic. The right use of the noble Benjamite motto demands, therefore, the preliminary inquiry in the council chamber of the soul, In what direction am I going? In what things do I desire to be found amongst the first? (J. S. S. Sheilds, 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_5:8. The evil denounced is vividly described as actually…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Hos_5:8. The evil denounced is vividly described as actually come.
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Hos_5:9. Shall surely be] Lit. established or well grounded in God’s purpose. On lofty summits the invasion of the enemy is announced, Jud. is menaced, and Isa. is occupied, destruction is sure and permanent. The kingdom shall be overcome and for ever laid waste.
Hos_5:10. Bound] Removers of land-marks were to be cursed (Deu_19:14; Deu_27:17). Princes of Jud. had removed the boundaries of truth between Jehovah and Baal, the worship of God and idolatry. “If he who removes his neighbour’s boundary is cursed, how much more he who removes the border of his God” [Hengsten.]. God’s anger would fall upon them like water in full stream (Psa_69:25; Jer_10:25).
Hos_5:11. Oppressed] with heavy calamity. Broken] Crushed in contest with God. Command.] The statutes of Jeroboam and Omri (1Ki_12:28; Mic_6:16).
HOMILETICS
“AN EARNEST MINISTRY THE WANT OF THE TIMES.”—Hos_5:8-11
The prophet is now commanded to warn the people—to sound the horn, and stand upon the most prominent places on the borders of Benjamin. The judgment is certain; the enemy is near, and the nation must be roused from its slumbers. With intense feeling and earnestness the alarm is given. Hence the title of our subject borrowed from Angell James.
I. The nature of an earnest ministry. Life is earnest and happy only in the degree in which it is consecrated to action. Action and enjoyment are contingent upon each other. When we are unfit for work we are incapable of pleasure and success. Hence the advice, “Be in earnest.” Earnestness in the Christian ministry is not mere activity, noise, and bustle. It is the pursuit of a certain object, and the determination to accomplish it; an endeavour to realize our aspirations. “This one thing I do.”
1. It is specific in design. One thing filled and fired the mind of Hosea. He saw the danger, and longed to deliver his people from it. Amid many inferior designs, the preacher has one chiefly in view. His mind is not intently employed nor his heart deeply engaged on a multiplicity of objects. He has not energy and time thus to divide. He has selected his object, made up his mind, and cannot be driven from it. His sermons are preached and his efforts directed to the conversion of sinners. When a few friends stood round the bed of Dr Beecher, one put the question, “Dr B., you know a great many things, tell us which is the greatest of all things.” In a moment he brightened up and replied, “It is not theology, it is not controversy, but it is to save souls.” No earnest minister will be satisfied without this. Applause, honour, and position sink into insignificance. He cries out, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you.”
2. It is enthusiastic in feeling. “O Benjamin,” cried the prophet. The heart yearns “when thought” is “enkindled to a high degree.” The abstractions of the intellect kindle the affections of the heart. Where there is no feeling, there can be no fervour of spirit. “We want men with burning hearts,” said a heathen to a missionary. Ministers are the best orators when they feel. The spring of power is within, and the life that quickens dwells in the soul. Feeble preachers result from feeble Christians. There is often cold orthodoxy without fire. The soul is not poured into duty, and all is routine and form. “The wildest enthusiasm is more rational than indifference,” says Paley. It is said of Baxter when he preached, “you might find his very spirit drenched therein.” Noise and display may attract attention, just as Eastern mourners wailing for the dead stir the sympathies of the multitude. But the man whose soul is profoundly moved is “pressed in spirit” and often of “silent tears.” He speaks in words that burn and thoughts that breathe. “O that I was all heart and soul and spirit,” said Rowland Hill, “to tell the glorious gospel of Christ to perishing multitudes.”
3. It is conducted under Divine guidance. We all feel the need of direction in the choice of a sphere and the discharge of duty. But in the ordinary and the special work, in the cottage and in the pulpit, the minister must seek Divine aid. In the study of the word and the discovery of truth: in matter, manner, and results, our sufficiency must come from God. God directed the prophet to speak. The Spirit guided the apostles to persons and places, and in public and private efforts “the hand of the Lord was with them.” We must not only recognize, but honour the Holy Spirit by seeking his direction and speaking under his inspiration. If Pericles never ascended the rostrum without imploring a blessing from the gods, does he not condemn many Christian ministers? “I forgot explicitly and expressly, when I began, to crave help from God, and the chariot-wheels drove accordingly. Lord, forgive my omissions, and keep me in the way of duty,” wrote Philip Henry. In a large town or a country village, in the beginning and at the end of our ministry, we must “stand and wait,” eager for work—
“Ready to run at his command;
At his command stand still.”
4. It is characterized by constant activity. Work is the law of our being, the living principle that carries men and nations onward. Nothing but constant toil maintains their authority and extends their dominion. “We must work (Laboremus),” said the Emperor Severus on his death-bed at York, where he had been carried on a litter from the foot of the Grampians. A fervent spirit will prompt to active life. Hearty relish for our work, and a sense of its importance, will inspire with ardour. The nation requires a living ministry, earnest men, men that will pray and labour, watch and weep for souls. “Oh that I were a flame of fire in my Master’s cause,” cried Brainerd.
“Wake, ere the earthly charm unnerve thee quite,
And be thy thoughts to work Divine addrest:
Do something, do it soon—with all thy might!
An angel’s wing would droop if long at rest,
And God himself inactive were no longer blest.”
III. The necessity of an earnest ministry. Ephraim was not merely to be chastised, wasted by famine, but destroyed; to become a desolation, an entire waste. When Judah had removed the bounds, broken through all restraints human and Divine, then destruction like a flood would overwhelm the land. Yet they were careless and insensible to danger. Men now are asleep in sin, heedless of Divine warning. Ministers must “cry aloud and spare not.” “I love those that thunder out the word,” said Whitfield. “The Christian world is in a deep sleep. Nothing but a loud voice can awaken them out of it.”
1. Earnestness is demanded by the spiritual condition of men. “Ephraim shall be desolate;” “I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.” God rebuked, judgments were threatened, but they were impenitent and presumptuous.
(1) The danger is real. It is not imaginative, not an alarm to frighten. Sin and punishment, heaven and hell, are awful realities. The truth must be told. Without Christ the sinner cannot escape—will be lost, eternally lost.
(2) The danger is near: Not like an enemy afar off, but on the borders, in the land, spreading desolation on every hand. Sin enters the heart, exposes to present danger and eternal death.
(3) The danger is overwhelming. “Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment,” crushed by his own folly and oppressed by captivity. Danger within and without, nothing but danger! Who can withstand when God pours out his wrath like a deep and irresistible flood? (a) It was severe—“a flood.” (b) It was fixed—“which shall surely be.” (c) It was perpetual—the desolation was for ever, the grandeur of the nation was never restored. “Flee from the wrath to come.”
2. Earnestness is demanded by the activity of the age. The features of the age are peculiar and not a little hostile to the gospel, notwithstanding great revivals. Earnestness marks every department of life. Restlessness and energy are found in trade and commerce, science and literature. Rationalism, Ritualism, and Scepticism are seen in battle arrayed. We must meet this activity, which is the boast, before it becomes the bane, of the age; direct it to its proper ends; and turn its turbid currents into streams of life. What but an earnest ministry can intone society, rouse and help God’s people to bear up against Mammon and the selfish spirit of the day? Energy in politics, education, and philanthropy necessitate deeper feeling in the preacher. Tame and spiritless sermons, common-place performances on Sunday, will not break the spell of six days’ excitement and influence. We require a Whitfield and a Wesley, sons of thunder, the spirit of Luther, to rebuke this material and utilitarian age. “Nothing is more indecent,” says Baxter, “than a dead preacher speaking to dead sinners the living truth of the living God.” The earnestness of this holy man was exemplified in his own lines—
“I’ll preach as though I ne’er should preach again;
And as a dying man to dying men!”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hos_5:9. I. Days of rebuke.
1. Days of solemn warning;
2. Days of grievous affliction;
3. Days of actual calamities, to individuals and families, churches and nations. II. Days of rebuke unheeded. Followed by—
1. Severer threatening—
2. Awful destruction. The scattered sons of Israel were made preachers to the nations around, Divine warnings to all people. Or, I. The cause of rebuke—“iniquity” (Hos_5:5). God pronounced sentence upon the nation; individuals contribute to national guilt, and must feel their responsibility. God is angry with sin, and seeks to purge his people from it, to take away the evils, not the comforts of life; the dross, not the gold. II. The design of rebuke. Trials are not penal afflictions to God’s people, but fatherly corrections, friendly rebukes. III. The effect of rebuke—“desolate in the day of rebuke.” Ephraim was not restored. The wicked are consumed, utterly destroyed, when rebuked in wrath and hot displeasure. The believer is chastened, but not destroyed; treated not as an enemy, but as an erring child. “God may rebuke when he is angry, and yet restrain in his anger; but to rebuke in his anger, is to let loose the reins to his anger, and to make it outrun his mercy. Then what a miserable case to be in! to have his anger assault me and not his mercy relieve me.”
Hos_5:10. Bounds. The land-mark was a memorial of antiquity and the rights of man (Pro_22:28). Its removal was forbidden as selfish and unjust invasion of property (Deu_19:4); irreverence for well-established principles; love for rash innovation; branded with a curse (Deu_27:17); and regarded as the cause of national provocation. The heathen admitted the sanctity of land-marks, and honoured them as gods, without which every field would be subject to contention. God himself has set bounds in the physical and moral world; locating each nation; restraining each part; and governing the whole. Hence removal of bounds is—
1. Encroachment upon Divine authority;
2. Destruction of moral distinctions;
3. Exposure to moral guilt. Some remove, bounds and set up others. Israel removed the law of God and set up their own will (Hos_5:11). Rome takes away Scripture and sets up tradition. Philosophy rejects the gospel and substitutes science. The application must not be absolute and universal. We are not to be too conservative in politics and religion, nor yet too rash with innovations; but seek the mean between blind reverence for antiquity and love of novelties.
Hos_5:11. Notice—I. The object of pursuit—“the commandment.” An object sinful, ensnaring, and dangerous. II. The method of pursuit—“willingly.” A method easy to comply with, fashionable, and upheld by State authority. III. The results of pursuit—“oppressed” from without, “broken in judgment.” from within, (a) A natural result; (b) A just result. “Ephraim preferred man’s commands and laws to God’s; they obeyed man and set God at nought, therefore they should suffer at man’s hands, who, while he equally neglected God’s will, enforced his own. For this sin God judged them justly, even through the unjust judgment of man. God mostly punishes, thro’ their own choice, those who choose against his. The Jews said, We have no king but Cæsar, and Cæsar destroyed them [Pusey].
The commandment of men, though enforced by authority, terror, and danger, is no excuse for sin. Sin does not cease to be voluntary, inexcusable, and aggravating on that account. Oppressors corrupt the worship of God, flatter and carry away the people, till their own ends be accomplished, but they will crush them in the long run. Jeroboam carried on the rent under pretence of ridding the people of great oppressions, and invented a way of religion pretending the people’s ease, yet by him and his successors “Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment;” not only in the righteous judgment of God, but in the administration of justice they were crushed by corrupt rulers, who were great bribers (ch. Hos_4:18) [Hutcheson].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 5
Hos_5:8-11. Brainerd had such intense compassion for souls, and was so earnest for their salvation, that he said, “I cared not where or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could but gain souls to Christ. While I was asleep I dreamed of these things, and when I awoke the first thing I thought of was this great work. All my desire was for the conversion of the heathen, and all my hope was in God.” It is amazing what difference heat makes on both mental and material objects. The only difference between ice and steam is, that the one has less and the other more heat. Now earnestness converts ordinary qualities into powerful and elastic forces. It enhances everything it touches, turns bricks to marble, and copper into gold. It changes liking into love, joy into ecstasy, and expectation into hope. It stamps on every virtue its currency, whether in heaven or in earth. Love, pity, kindness are all cold and worthless unless they bear the impress of a fervent spirit [Dulce Domum].
Hos_5:11-14. Vice is sometimes punished instantly and sometimes gradually. This seems to be the method of Divine procedure. We have slow and rapid consumption in the bodies of men. We have the gradual decay and the sudden overthrow of empires, the seed-time of evil and the harvest of judgment. The changes of circumstances are so various and frequent, so great and sudden, that the same person, the same people, afford an example of the greatest prosperity and the greatest misery. Henry the Fourth of France was despatched by a sacrilegious hand in his carriage, in the midst of popular applause and the triumphs of peace. Like Herod, the grandson of Herod the Great, he found but one step between adoration and oblivion. The ruin which God inflicts upon the impenitent and presumptuous sinners is often beyond precedent most sudden and most fearful. What folly, then, to trust in man, when God can easily destroy him!
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 Threat of Punishment
The Threat of Punishment
v. 8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, the ancient city of Saul, and the trumpet in Ramah, another city located on an eminence, both of them most suitable for giving signals on account of their lofty situation; cry aloud at Bethaven, or Bethel, on the border of the northern kingdom. After thee, O Benjamin! that is, the danger is coming, the enemy is close behind.
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v. 9. Ephraim, the entire country of the ten tribes, shall be desolate in the day of rebuke, namely, when the Lord’s punishment would strike them; among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be, continuous plagues, a lasting punishment. Cf Deu 28:59.
v. 10. The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound, Cf Deu 19:14, namely, by removing the boundary between the worship of the true God and idolatry, which should have been kept apart forever; therefore I will pour out My wrath upon them like water, in an overwhelming degree, in proportion to the greatness of their offense.
v. 11. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, cut to pieces by the punishment of the Lord, because he willingly walked after the commandment, it thought good to follow idol-images, it clung to the calf-worship of Jeroboam throughout its existence.
v. 12. Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth and to the house of Judah as rottenness, both of these being figurative of destructive powers, which steadily eat into the very marrow of things.
v. 13. When Ephraim saw his sickness, becoming aware of the illness of the body politic, and. Judah saw his wound, realizing that something was rotten in the nation, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, looking for assistance from the heathen instead of consulting the Lord, and sent to King Jareb, to the warlike monarch through whose intervention the kingdom hoped to recover; yet could he not heal you nor cure you of your wound, for the help of men is vain in such cases.
v. 14. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion and as a young lion to the house of Judah, who takes hold of his prey and tears it to pieces; I, even I, will tear and go away, as a lion withdrawing to his den; I will take away, and none shall rescue him, for with the Lord’s merciful presence removed, there is no hope of deliverance.
v. 15. I will go and return to My place, as though shutting Himself up in heaven and withdrawing His favor entirely, till they acknowledge their offense and seek My face, this being the hope which is held before them. In their affliction they will seek Me early. This is a truth which is found also in other passages of the Bible, namely, that men seek out the Lord when they are in trouble, they pour out a prayer when His chastening is upon them. Cf Isa 26:16.
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:
General Information:
Yahweh is talking about Israel.
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Blow the horn in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah
Here "horn" and "trumpet" mean the same thing. This command is given to the people of Gibeah and Ramah to emphasize that the enemy is coming. (See: Doublet)
Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven: 'We will follow you, Benjamin!'
Here "Benjamin" represents the soldiers from the tribe of Benjamin. This may be a request for them to lead the people into battle. But modern versions make various attempts to interpret this expression. (See: Synecdoche)
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 you translated this in Hosea 4:15. (See: How to Translate Names)
Among the tribes of Israel I have declared what is certain to happen
"I will do to the tribes of Israel what I have declared"
translationWords
Gibeah
trumpet
Ramah
Benjamin
Ephraim
desolate
punish
twelve tribes of Israel
declare
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 5:8-9 Hosea sounded the alarm to warn the Israelites…
5:8-9 Hosea sounded the alarm to warn the Israelites of God’s coming judgment. Because of their sins, the Lord had become Israel’s enemy and would punish them. • Gibeah, Ramah, and Beth-aven (Bethel) are all cities in the tribal territory of Benjamin.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.