Hosea 5:3(v10)I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute. Israel is defiled.
Hosea 12:11(v8)If Gilead is wicked, surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the…
Hosea 5:1(vv8–9)“Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; for you have been…
Proverbs 1:11-19(v9)If they say, “Come with us. Let’s lay in wait for blood. Let’s lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. Let’s swallow them up alive…
Jeremiah 5:30-31(v10)“An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority;…
Show all 41 cross-references
Jeremiah 23:14(v10)In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of…
Ezekiel 23:5(v10)“Oholah played the prostitute when she was mine. She doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors,
Hosea 7:1(v9)When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, also the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the…
Zephaniah 3:3(v9)Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.
Matthew 26:15-16(v8)and said, “What are you willing to give me, that I should deliver him to you?” They weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver. From that…
Luke 22:2-6(v9)The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death, for they feared the people. Satan entered into Judas, who was…
Acts 25:3(v8)asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem; plotting to kill him on the way.
Joshua 21:38(v8)Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Mahanaim with its pasture…
2 Samuel 3:27(v8)When Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him quietly, and struck him there in the…
2 Samuel 20:8(v8)When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was clothed in his apparel of war that he had put on,…
1 Kings 2:5(v8)“Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the…
1 Kings 12:8(v10)But he abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who…
1 Kings 15:30(v10)for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked Yahweh,…
2 Kings 17:7(v10)It was so because the children of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the…
Ezra 8:31(v9)Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he…
Job 1:15-17(v9)and the Sabeans attacked, and took them away. Yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to…
Psalms 10:8(v8)He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.
Psalms 59:2(v8)Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Save me from the bloodthirsty men.
Isaiah 59:6(v8)Their webs won’t become garments. They won’t cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of iniquity, and acts of violence are…
Jeremiah 2:12-13(v10)“Be astonished, you heavens, at this and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate,” says Yahweh. “For my people have committed two evils: they…
Jeremiah 3:6(v10)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…
Jeremiah 7:9-10(v9)Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come…
Jeremiah 11:9(v9)Yahweh said to me, “A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 11:19(v8)But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they had devised plans against me, saying, “Let’s destroy the…
Jeremiah 18:13(v10)Therefore Yahweh says: “Ask now among the nations, ‘Who has heard such things?’ The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.
Ezekiel 22:9(v9)Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood. In you they have eaten on the mountains. They have committed lewdness among you.
Ezekiel 22:27(v9)Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
Hosea 4:2(v8)There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.
Hosea 4:11(v10)Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
Hosea 4:17(v10)Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!
Micah 3:9(v9)Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity.
Micah 7:2(v8)The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his…
Mark 14:1(v9)It was now two days before the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might…
John 11:47(v9)The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, “What are we doing? For this man does many signs.
Acts 23:12-15(v8)When it was day, some of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until…
1 Kings 12:25(v9)Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived in it; and he went out from there, and built Penuel.
41 distinct cross-references across this passage (42 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv8–10I shall first speak of the subject, and then…
I shall first speak of the subject, and then something shall be added in its place of the words. The Prophet here notices, no doubt, something special against Gilead, which through the imperfection of history is now to us obscure. But in the first place, we must remember, that Gilead was one of the cities of refuge; and the Levites possessed these cities, which were destined for fugitives. If any one killed a man by chance, that the relatives might not take revenge, the Lord provided that he should flee to one of these cities appointed for his safety. He was there safe among the Levites: and the Levites received him under their protection, the matter being previously tried; for a legal hearing of the cause must have preceded as to whether he who had killed a man was innocent. We must then first remember that this city was occupied by the Levites and the priests; and they ought to have been examples to all others; for as Christ calls his disciples the light of the world, so the Lord had chosen the priests for this purpose, that they might carry a torch before all the people. Since then the highest sanctity ought to have shone forth in the priests, it was quite monstrous that they were like robbers, and that the holy city, which was as it were the sanctuary of God, became a den of thieves.
It was then for this reason that the Prophet especially inveighs against the city Gilead, and says Gilead is a city of the workers of iniquity, and is covered with blood But if Gilead was so corrupt, what must have been the case with the other cities? It is then the same as if the Prophet had said, “Where shall I begin? If I reprove the people indiscriminately, the priests will then think that they are spared, because they are innocent; yea, that they are wholly without blame: nay,” he says, “the priests are the most abandoned, they are even the ringleaders of robbers. Since then so great corruptions prevail among the order of priests, in whom the highest sanctity ought to have shone forth, how great must be the licentiousness of the people in all kinds of wickedness? And then what must be said of other cities, since Gilead is so bad, which God has consecrated for a peculiar purpose, that it might be a sort of sanctuary? Since then Gilead is a den of robbers, what must be the other cities?” We now comprehend the meaning of the Prophet.
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“Polluted with blood,” עקובה מדם, okube medam: עקב, okob, in Hebrew, means “to deceive,” and also, “to hold” or “retain.” עקב, okob, is the sole of the foot; hence עקב, okob, signifies “to supplant.” And there is no doubt but that “to deceive” is its meaning metaphorically. I will now come to the meaning of the Prophet; he says that the city was עקובה מדם, okube, medan; some say, “deceptive in blood,” because they did not openly kill men, but by lying in wait for them; and hence they elicit this sense. But I approve more of what they hold who say, that the city was “full of blood;” not that such is the strict sense of the Hebrew word; but we may properly render it, “occupied by blood.” Why so? Because עקב, okob, as I have said, means sometimes to hold, to stay, and to hinder. We may then properly and fitly say, that Gilead was “occupied” or “possessed by blood.” But here follows a clearer and a fuller explanation of this sentence —
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 translators1599 · Public DomainOn v8Which was the place where the Priests dwelt, and…
Which was the place where the Priests dwelt, and which should have been best instructed in my word.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv8–10Hos 6:8 Gilead [is] a city of them that…
Hos 6:8 Gilead [is] a city of them that work iniquity, [and is] polluted with blood.
Ver. 8. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity] Another πονηροπολις; such a city there was in Greece, and so called by King Philip, for the naughtiness of the inhabitants. This Gilead was one of those ten cities of refuge beyond Jordan, given to the priests for a possession, Jos 21:38, &c., and probably the chief city, which therefore bare the name of the whole country, as Athens was called the Greece of Greece (’Eλλας ‘Eλλαδος). The inhabitants thereof (though Levites) were the worst of men, workers of iniquity, such as did wickedly with both hands, earnestly wearying themselves in the devil’s drudgery; and then sitting down to rest them in the chair of pestilence. There is not a worse creature upon earth, or so fit for hell, as a profane priest, a debauched minister, Mat 5:13. Corruptio optimi pessima, as the sweetest wine makes the sourest vinegar, as the finest flesh is resolved into the vilest earth, and as the whitest ivory burnt becomes the blackest coal. Who would have looked for so much wickedness at Gilead, at Shiloh, at Anathoth, at Jerusalem, where the priests and scribes bare sway, and did dominari in suggestis? And yet that once faithful city was "become a harlot; it was full of judgment, righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers," Isa 1:21. In our Saviour’s time it was prophetarum macellum, the slaughter house of the saints, as now Rome is, and once London was in bloody Bonner’s days: whom a certain good woman once told in a letter, that he was deservedly called the common cut-throat and general slaughter slave to all the bishops of England. At his death he boasted (as Stokesley had done before him) how many heretics he had burned: seven hundred saints in four or five years’ time those bloody and deceitful men sent to heaven in fiery chariots. There are none so cruel to the lives of men as wicked clergy.
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Gilead was polluted with blood] Not only with the blood of souls (by their default drowned in perdition and destruction, Eze 33:7; Eze 3:18), but of bodies too, destroyed by their hands or means. The priests of these times may seem, by what is said of them in the next verse, to have been men of their hands, the sworn swordmen of the devil, such as was Timotheus Herulus, Bishop of Alexandria, A.D. 467. Pope Innocent, who threw Peter’s keys into the river Tiber, and took up Paul’s sword, as he called it, and that Philip, Bishop of Beauvieu, in France, taken in a skirmish by our Richard I, who sent his armour to the pope with these words engraved on it, Vide num filii tui tunica sit, vel non, See whether this be the coat of thy son, or of a son of Mars. These, and their like in their several generations, were non Pastores sed Impostores, non Doctorcs sed Seductores, non Episcopi sed Aposcopi, not ministers but imposters, not teachers but seducers, not bishops but apostates, as an ancient hath it; and indeed, the Church hath ever been so pestered with lewd and lazy ministers (those dehonestamenta Cleri) that Chrysostom thought there were scarcely any of that order in his time that could be saved; Jerome saith that the paucity of such as were good had made them very precious; and Campian cries out, not altogether without cause (malice may be a good informer though an ill judge), Ministris eorum nihil vilius, There is nothing vile to their ministers. Now this is here instanced as an odious transgression of the covenant, when such as made such a show of sacrifice to God should exercise so little mercy to men; when such as should be teachers were turned tyrants and blood suckers.
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 Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv8–10Gilead; one of the six cities of refuge, situate…
Gilead; one of the six cities of refuge, situate in the country of that name, on a high hill, whence it is called Ramoth-gilead: now as a city of refuge it was a city pertaining to the priests and Levites, as all the cities of refuge did, in what tribe soever they were, Num 35:6.
Is a city of them that work iniquity; a sacerdotal city, where priests did, and religion, i.e. knowledge of God and mercy to man, should, dwell; but Gilead is a city full of most notorious transgressors, the inhabitants, though Levites and priests, are a generation of men that work all manner of wickedness.
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And is polluted with blood; murders committed there have polluted it, or murderers protected there against the law of God, who provided these cities a relief for such as unawares, without malice, by chance slew his neighbour, not for wilful murderers; yet these for money or interest got in and were secured there; and probably many were kept out or delivered up to the avenger of blood contrary to the law: thus Gilead by name, and all the rest of the cities of refuge intended too, were polluted with blood.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv8–10Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity,....…
Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity,.... The chief city in the land of Gilead, which lay beyond Jordan, inhabited by Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh; and so belonged to the ten tribes, whose sins are here particularly observed. It had its name from the country, or the country from that, or both from the mountain of the same name. It is thought to be Ramothgilead, a city of refuge, and put for all the cities of refuge in those parts, which were inhabited by priests and Levites; and who ought to have had knowledge of the laws, and instructed the people in them, and observed them themselves, and set a good example to others; but, instead of this, the whole course of their lives, was vicious; they made a trade of sinning, did nothing else but work iniquity; and this was general among them, the city or cities of them consisted of none else; and all manner of iniquity was committed by them, particularly idolatry; for so the words may be rendered, "a city of them that serve an idol" (a); not only at Dan and Bethel, but in the cities of the priests, idols were set up and worshipped; this shows the state to be very corrupt:
and is polluted with blood; with the blood of murderers harboured there, who ought not to have been admitted; or with the blood of such who were delivered up to the avenger of blood, that ought to have been sheltered, and both for the sake of money; or with the blood of children, sacrificed to Mo: the word used has the signification of supplanting, lying in wait, and so is understood of a private, secret, shedding of blood, in a deceitful and insidious way: hence some render it, "cunning for blood" (b); to which the Targum seems to agree, calling it a city
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"of them that secretly or deceitfully shed innocent blood.''
It has also the signification of the heel of a man's foot, and is by some rendered, "trodden by blood" (c); that is, by bloody men: or "footed" or "heeled by blood" (d); that is, such an abundance of it was shed, that a man could not set his foot or his heel any where but in blood.
(a) "civitas operantium idolum", V. L. (b) "callida et astuta sanguine", so some in Vatablus; "callida sanguine", Castslio. (c) "Calcata a sanguine", Piscator. (d) "Vestigiata a sanguine", Capellus, Tarnovius; "vestigis sanguinolentis", Juuius & Tremellius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv8–10A city - A city full of notorious transgressors,…
A city - A city full of notorious transgressors, the inhabitants though Levites and priests, work all manner of wickedness. With blood - Murders committed there.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv8–10Verse 8. Gilead is a city of them that…
Verse 8. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity] In this place Jacob and Laban made their covenant, and set up a heap of stones, which was called Galeed, the heap of testimony; and most probably idolatry was set up here. Perhaps the very heap became the object of superstitious adoration.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10Hos 6:8-9. Gilead is a city of them that…
Hos 6:8-9. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, &c. — Archbishop Newcome translates these two verses very literally thus: Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity: she is marked with footsteps of blood. And as bands wait for a man, a company of priests murder in the way to Shechem. “If Gilead be put here for Ramoth-gilead, (and I know not,” says Bishop Horsley, “what other city can be meant,) it was a city of refuge, Deu 4:43; and such also was Shechem, or Sichem, Jos 20:7; both, therefore, inhabited by priests and Levites. By describing the first of these two cities as polluted with blood, and the high-road to the other as beset with knots of priests, like robbers, intent on blood, and murdering on the whole length of the way, up to the very walls of the town, the prophet means to represent the priests as seducers of the people to that idolatry which proved the ruin of the nation. Insomuch that, like a man who should be murdered in a place of religious retreat, or upon his way to it, the people, under the influence of such guides, met their destruction in the quarter where, by God’s appointment, they were to seek their safety.” The word שׁכמה, rendered by consent, in Hos 6:9, signifies toward Shechem. For they commit lewdness — Hebrew, זמה עשׁו, they work enormity, or that which is wicked and abominable.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv8–10Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity…
Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity - If we regard “Gilead,” (as it elsewhere is,) as the country beyond Jordan, where the two tribes and a half dwelt, this will mean that the whole land was banded in one, as one city of evil-doers. It had an unity, but of evil. As the whole world has been pictured as divided between “the city of God” and the city of the devil, consisting respectively of the children of God and the children of the devil; so the whole of Gilead may be represented as one city, whose inhabitants had one occupation in common, to work evil. Some think that there was a city so called, although not mentioned elsewhere in Holy Scripture, near that Mount Gilead, dear to the memory of Israel, because God there protected their forefather Jacob. Some think that it was Ramoth in Gilead , which God appointed as “a city of refuge,” and which, consequently, became a city of Levites and priests Jos 21:38.
Here, where God had preserved the life of their forefather, and, in him, had preserved them; here, where He had commanded the innocent shedder of blood to be saved; here, where he had appointed those to dwell, whom He had hallowed to Himself, all was turned to the exact contrary. It, which God had hallowed, was become “a city of workers of iniquity,” i. e., of people, whose habits and custom was to work iniquity. It, where God had appointed life to be preserved, was “polluted” or “tracked with blood.” Everywhere it was marked and stained with the bloody footsteps of those, who (as David said) “put” innocent “blood in their shoes which were on their feet” 1Ki 2:5, staining their shoes with blood which they shed, so that, wherever they went, they left marks and signs of it.” “Tracked with blood” it was, through the sins of its inhabitants; “tracked with blood” it was again, when it first was taken captive 2Ki 15:29, and “it, which had swum with the innocent blood of others, swam with the guilty blood of its own people.” It is a special sin, and especially avenged of God, when what God had hallowed, is made the scene of sin.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv8–9Supplanted with blood. That is, undermined and brought to…
Supplanted with blood. That is, undermined and brought to ruin for shedding of blood; and, as it is signified in the following verse, for conspiring with the priests, (of Bethel) like robbers, to murder in the way such as passed out of Sichem to go towards the temple of Jerusalem. Or else supplanted with blood signifies flowing in such a manner with blood, as to suffer none to walk there without embruing the soles of their feet in blood. (Challoner) --- Thus they would become unclean, and might easily slip. (Haydock) --- Galaad was famous for the treaty between Laban and Jacob; and all such places were chosen for altars in the latter times of the two kingdoms. Maspha or Ramoth were the usual resorts. Theodoret reads, "Galgal," chap. iv. 15. (Calmet)
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 Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv8–10Gilead . . . city--probably Ramoth-gilead, metropolis of the…
Gilead . . . city--probably Ramoth-gilead, metropolis of the hilly region beyond Jordan, south of the Jabbok, known as "Gilead" (Kg1 4:13; compare Gen 31:21-25).
work iniquity-- (Hos 12:11).
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polluted with blood--"marked with blood-traces" [MAURER]. Referring to Gilead's complicity in the regicidal conspiracy of Pekah against Pekahiah (Kg2 15:25). See on Hos 6:1. Many homicides were there, for there were beyond Jordan more cities of refuge, in proportion to the extent of territory, than on this side of Jordan (Num 35:14; Deu 4:41-43; Jos 20:8). Ramoth-gilead was one.
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. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn v10Hos_6:10-11 sum up the accusation. Wherever the eye of…
Hos_6:10-11 sum up the accusation. Wherever the eye of Jehovah falls, he sees a horrible thing… whoredom — The former signifies abominations and crimes of every kind (Jer_18:13); the second, the one outstanding sin, spiritual and literal whoredom.
Israel is defiled — Compare Hos_5:3. In Hos_6:11 the prophet turns to Judah. This verse and Hos_7:1 a, are thought by some to be a later addition; so that Hos_7:1 b, “uncovered is the iniquity of Ephraim,” would be the continuation of Hos_6:10. The omitted words might, indeed, be left out without affecting seriously the thought of the prophet, but that is not sufficient reason for rejecting them. LXX. differs from the Hebrew, and in some respects is to be preferred. Following LXX. part of Hos_6:11 should probably be connected with Hos_7:1, chapter vi, closing, “Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed to thee.”
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Harvest — Figure of judgment (Joe_3:13; Jer_51:33). Judah, as corrupt as Israel, must share the latter’s fate. 11b, in the same construction as the opening words of Hos_7:1, should be taken with the latter and rendered, “When I would turn the fortune of my people, when I would heal Israel.”
Returned [“bring back”] the captivity — The Hebrew phrase which is frequently thus rendered in the Old Testament is literally turn a turning. In some cases the turning involved is the restoration from exile; in others a more general idea is expressed, a turning in the fortunes of the people, of calamity into prosperity; and this latter meaning is suitable in every place where the phrase occurs (Amo_9:14; Zep_2:7, etc.). So here, “When I would turn the fortunes of my people.”
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 Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv8–108. Gilead] Here alone, and probably in Jdg_10:17, mentioned…
8. Gilead] Here alone, and probably in Jdg_10:17, mentioned as the name of a town. We still find the name of Gilead (in its Arabic form Jil‘âd) lingering at various parts of the ancient Gilead, but we cannot venture on a combination with the prophet’s Gilead. Ramoth-Gilead would seem, from its importance, a not unlikely place to be meant.
polluted with blood] Rather, tracked with bloody foot-prints; comp. the striking expression used of Joab in 1Ki_2:5. The Gileadites, half-civilized mountaineers, seem to have been distinguished for their ferocity (comp. 2Ki_15:25). From the next verse we may perhaps infer that at Gilead too the priests were foremost in lawlessness.
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8, 9. Two spots of specially ill fame are singled out—Gilead and the road to Shechem.
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 Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv8–10(8) Polluted . . .—More accurately, betrodden (or foot-tracked)…
(8) Polluted . . .—More accurately, betrodden (or foot-tracked) with blood. We infer from Jdg_10:17 that there was a town called Gilead east of the Jordan distinct altogether from Mizpah (identified by many with the city of refuge Ramoth-Gilead), and this is confirmed by notices in Eusebius and Cyril. Murder in a “city of refuge” adds to the horror. On the murderous propensities of the Gileadites see 2Ki_15:25.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10Vers. 8, 9. In these two verses the prophet…
Vers. 8, 9. In these two verses the prophet adduces proof of that faithlessness with which he had just charged Israel. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood. The latter clause is more literally rendered, foot-printed or foot-tracked from blood. Two things require consideration here the place and its pollution. Gilead is sometimes a mountain range, and sometimes the mountainous region east of the Jordan; it has Bashan on the north, the Arabian plateau on the east, and Moab on the south. It stretches from the south end of the Sea of Galilee to the north end of the Dead Sea some sixty miles in length by twenty in breadth. The part of Gilead between the Hieromax and the Jabbok is now called Jebel Ajlun; while the section south of the Jabbok forms the province of Belka. In the New Testament it is spoken of under the name of Pertea, or beyond Jordan. Sometimes the whole trans-Jordanic territory belonging to Israel is called Gilead. In the passage before us it is the name of a city, though some take it to mean the whole land of Gilead. The men of Gilead and the Gileadites in general seem to have been fierce, wild mountaineers; and yet they are represented as still worse in this Scripture. They are nut only barbarous and wicked, but murderous and infamous for homicidal atrocities. As evidence in some sort of the justness of this dark picture, the murder of Pekahiah by Pekah with "fifty men of the Gileadites." as recorded in 2Ki_15:25, may be specified. The word hBWq is taken
(1) by some as the feminine of the adjective bwq, crafty, cunning, wily; thus Rashi explains it: "Gilead is full of people who lie in wait for murder;" and Kimchi likewise has, "Gilead is a city of evil-doers, who are crafty to murder men." But
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(2) it is rather the Qal Pual participle feminine from bq, to seize the heel of any one, hold, tread in the footsteps, follow, go after; which is the right meaning, viz. "tracked," as given above. We retain the Authorized Version of the first clause of ver. 9, slightly modified, viz.
(1) As troops of robbers wait for a man, so is the company of priests; yKej equivalent to hKej, wait, being an anomalous form of the infinitive Piel for hwOKj; thus Kimchi says, "The yod stands in the place of he, and the form is the infinitive." Both Aben Ezra and Kimchi translate the first clause as above; the former beg, "The sense is, As robber-troops wait for a man who is to pass along the way, that they may plunder him, so is (or so does) the company of the priests;" the latter explains, "As troops of robbers wait for a man passing along the way to plunder him, so is the company of priests, he means to say, as the priests of the high places who combine to plunder those who pass along the way. There is
(2) another translation, which, connecting ish taken collectively with gedhudhim, and making it the subjective genitive of the infinitive k, is, "Like the lurking of the men of the gang, s is the company of the priests." This first clause is
(3) quite misread and not rendered by the LXX: Kai h iscuv sou andron , "And thy strength is that of a robber: the priests have hid the way." Instead of yKejK they read and for dbj they read wbj or wabj. In the second clause we prefer decidedly the translation which is intimated in the margin of the Authorized Version; thus: Along the way they murder even go Shechem. The word derekh is an adverbial accusative of place; and Sichem, the present Nablus, was situated on Mount Ephraim between Ebal and Gerizim. It was a Levitical city and a city of refuge; it thus lay on the west as Gilead on the east of Jordan, and both cities, thus perhaps nearly parallel in place on opposite sides of the river, were equal in crime and infamy. The prophet does not tell us who the wayfarers were, or whither they were bound; he only intimates that they fell victims to certain miscreant priests located in these quarters. As this city lay on the main route from the north to Jerusalem, pilgrims to the annual feasts passed along this way. The priests of the calf-win, ship, being in general persons taken from the dregs of the people, waylaid those pilgrims, whether for plunder, or through hostility to the purer worship still maintained in the holy city, or from sheer cruelty. Or it is even possible that the wayfarers referred to may have been persons going from Samaria, the northern capital, to the idolatrous worship at Bethel. In either case, on the way to their destination or on the return journey they were set upon and robbed, or, in the event of resistance, they were murdered. For they commit lewdness; rather, yea, they have committed enormity . The zimmah, or infamy, here mentioned is referred
(1) by some to unnatural wickedness; (comp. Lev_18:17 Lev_19:29) it is rather
(2) a designation of wickedness and abominations in general; thus Kimchi explains it of "evil and abominable work of every kind." He further remarks: "The prophet says, Net this alone have they done; but all their works are zimmah. And perhaps zimmah may be explained of thought, as if he said, As they have thought in their heart so they have acted." On this verse generally it may be briefly remarked
(1) that "by consent" of the Authorized Version would require dja to be joined with "shoulder;
(2) the connection of the first and second clauses in the Authorized Version is much the same with that of Ewald: "And as troops lie in wait the company of priests murder along the way to Sichem.
(3) His explanation is that the priests murdered those that fled by the way before they reached the refuge, perhaps at the command of some leading persons ill disposed towards them.
Divine institutions corrupted.
"Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood." It is supposed that Gilead here means Ramoth-gilead, the metropolis of the mountainous region beyond Jordan and south of the fiver Jabbok, known by the name of Gilead. (Jos_21:28 1Ki_6:18) It was here that Jacob and Laban entered into a sacred covenant with each other. It was once a very sacred place; it was one of the celebrated cities of refuge. (Deu_20:2-3Jo Deu_23:2-8) The place, which was once a city of refuge, an institution of the God of heaven, had now been desecrated by wicked men, and become the scene of iniquity" and "blood." Observe two things I That Divine institutions, specially designed for man"s good, ARE OFTEN CORRUPTED BY HIM. Gilead, as a city of refuge, was of Divine ordinance, designed for special good. It was set apart for protecting men from the injustice of being put to death as murderers where the motive to murder did not exist, and thus preventing the shedding of innocent blood. But this very place for justice had now become the scene to "work iniquity," the place of mercy the scene that was now "polluted with blood." Thus men may nay, they have done and still do corrupt God"s special ordinances for good. We say special ordinances, for all God"s ordinances are for good. Whilst all places on earth are for the good of man, Gilead had a specific appointment.
1. The Bible is a special ordinance of God for good. Men have corrupted that, they do so sometimes by denying its truth altogether, but oftener by perverting its doctrines.
2. The gospel ministry is a special ordinance of God for good. From the beginning almost God set apart men for the special work of indoctrinating their fellow-men with the principles of everlasting rectitude and the doctrines of redemptive mercy prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, etc. But men have sadly corrupted this Divine institution; few things on earth have been more corrupted by man than the ministry.
II That Divine institutions specially designed for man"s good, when corrupted, BECOME THE WORST OF ALL EVILS. Holy Gilead, once the scene of Divine mercy, was now filled with "iniquity" and "blood.
1. A corrupted Bible is the worst of all books. It does more mischief than any infidel productions. Political tyrannies, slaveries, wars, persecutions, have all been sanctioned and encouraged by a corrupted Bible. Alas l the millions of Christendom hate the Bible not the Bible that God gave, but man"s corrupted version of that Bible.
2. A corrupted pulpit is the worst of all ministries. Popes, archbishops, bishops, and the clergy in every grade in all Churches, have been found amongst the most intolerant despots and the most bloody persecutors of all times. They consecrate the banners of the warriors, they advocate the cause of slavery, they have ever been the prime obstructors to the promotion of liberty and the advancement of the universal rights of man. An old expositor has said, "The clergy, when wicked, are the worst of all men; none so cruel and bloody." It is time for the people to be taught that a pulpit is not necessarily a Christian or a useful thing. It may be alas! it sometimes is the corruptest and the most pernicious thing in the neighborhood in which it has a place. A man is not a saint because he calls himself a Christian; a building is not the "house of God" because it is called a church, a chapel, or a tabernacle; a forum is not sacred to the utterance of gospel truth because it is called a pulpit. Things called sermons" may sometimes have more wickedness in them than infidel tracts; places called the "houses of God" may sometimes serve more effectually the cause of the devil than the theatres of pleasure-seekers or lecture-halls of skeptics. Mere names must not rule our judgment. It is the policy of the devil in these days to baptize his instruments with Christian titles. He is never more powerful than when he occupies the sacred desk, writes religious books, and quotes the Word of God. There are wolves in sheep"s clothing, and false prophets now as ever. D.T.
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 Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v8Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity,…
Hos_6:8
Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.
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Divine institutions corrupted
It is supposed that Gilead here means Ramoth Gilead: the metropolis of the mountainous region beyond Jordan and south of the river Jabbok, known by the name of Gilead (Jos_21:28; 1Ki_4:18). It was here that Jacob and Laban entered into a sacred covenant with each other. It was once a very sacred place; it was one of the celebrated cities of refuge (Deu_20:23; Jos_23:28). The place, which was once a city of refuge, an institution of the God of heaven, had now been desecrated by wicked men, and become the scene of iniquity and blood.
I. That Divine institutions, specially designed for mans good, are often corrupted by him. Whilst all places on earth are for the good of man, Gilead had a specific appointment.
1. The Bible is a special ordinance of God for good. Men have corrupted that by perverting its doctrines.
2. The Gospel ministry is a special ordinance of God for good.
II. That Divine institutions specially designed for mans good, when corrupted become the worst of all evils. Holy Gilead, once the scene of Divine mercy, was now filled with iniquity and blood.
1. A corrupted Bible is the worst of all books. Political tyrannies, slaveries, wars, persecutions, have all been sanctioned and encouraged by a corrupted Bible.
2. A corrupted pulpit is the worst of all ministries. (Homilist.)
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 Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v8Hos_6:8. Gilead] A city of refuge, the residence of…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Hos_6:8. Gilead] A city of refuge, the residence of priests, and the centre or metropolis of the hilly region beyond Jordan, yet polluted and the leader of ruin!
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Hos_6:9.] Even priests acted like predatory bands, to murder and surprise travellers on the way. Destruction was met where safety was sought. By consent] Lit. with one shoulder, as oxen yoked together (Zep_3:9). The sanctity of the place and the privileges of the priesthood did not check them in banding together for mischief. Lewdness] Heb. from a root to form deliberate purpose; deliberate crime, enormity (Marg.). “The word literally means, a thing thought of, especially an evil, and so, deliberate wickedness, be thought of and contrived. They did deliberate wickedness, gave themselves to do it, and nothing else” [Pusey],
Hos_6:10. Horrible thing] Heb. from a word meaning to shudder, be astonished. Whoredom] spiritual and literal singled out as the chief sin—“In another nation, idolatry was error. In Israel, which had the knowledge of the one true God, and had received the law, it was horror” [Pusey].
Hos_6:11. Harvest] Not a harvest of joy, a promise of ingathering of Israel, but a ripeness for Divine judgments to be inflicted by Assyrians. When] I would, upon their repentance, have turned away the captivity of my people. Judgment might have been averted, but will end in captivity. The Heb. is used of restoration also (Deu_30:3; Psa_14:7); hence many take it in this sense, as in harmony with the beginning of the chapter—“a promise of restoring their captivity in due time, which yet imports a sentence of banishment tor sin to be inflicted before” [Hutcheson].
HOMILETICS
A SAD TRANSFORMATION.—Hos_6:8-11
We have now particular proofs of the charges brought against Israel. Special places, certain persons, and the whole people are faithless and polluted. The best become the worst.
I. Sacred places become polluted with sin. Regarding Gilead as a city of refuge, or the country beyond Jordan, it “is a city of them that work iniquity.” God had hallowed the place, and made it a city of safety; an institution of heaven, designed for special good. But this place of justice and protection, the glory of the land and the centre of distinguished privileges, was polluted with crime. Its inhabitants had stained its name and filled it with blood. Cities are blessed or cursed by the character and conduct of the inhabitants. Wealth and population, genius and prosperity, fade away by vice and debauchery. Great cities may be filled with great sins; exalted to heaven with privileges, they may be cast down to hell for abusing them. Rome and Paris have been by-words, and Nero and Robespierre have left a stain in history. “By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted; but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.”
II. Ministers of religion become abettors of murder. The priests, who should have been examples of virtue, fostered abominable sins and were guilty of murder. It was their duty to save life, but they killed both body and soul. They were—
1. cruel in their designs. They sought to lie in wait and murder pilgrims on their way to the city.
2. Crafty in their designs. They plot “as troops of robbers wait for a man.”
3. Deliberate in their designs. They thought of their schemes, and deliberately adopted and carried them out.
4. Confederate in their designs. “By consent.” They were one in sympathy, agreed in sentiment, and banded together in purpose. They were taken from the lowest of the people, intruders in office, and were a curse to the land. Of all societies of men, none are more vile and mischievous than ministers corrupted by office or evil. The sweetest wine becomes the sourest vinegar, the whitest ivory burnt becomes the blackest coal; so the best men, the noblest institutions, may be transformed into the most disgraceful and criminal. “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane.”
III. The noblest design perverted to destruction. The way to the cities of refuge, by God’s command, was to be prepared (Deu_19:3); clear and kept open without hindrance or danger to fugitives; but it was filled with robbers and tracked with blood. Those who fled for life met with death. What power in the human will and in human conduct to corrupt the ordinances and hinder the designs of God! Means of grace perverted to motives of crime, and sacred places changed to scenes of corruption. The devil gets into the church, and the foulest crimes are committed in the garb of religion and a good name. In Christendom now we see religion made the tool of priests and governments: its sanctions brought to support schemes of aggrandizement and oppression; and plans that display God’s wisdom and benevolence employed to prostrate our nature, to pollute the land, and make it “desolate and a perpetual hissing.”
IV. A chosen people degraded with punishment. All these crimes were done “in the house of Israel,” an elect nation. Whoredom was widespread, and the whole land was defiled.
1. The enormity of their sin was great. “An horrible thing,” enough to make one shudder; “a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth shall tingle.” Ordinary sins are evil, but the sins of Israel were gross abominations. Sins against light and privileges, the warnings of prophets and the judgments of God. Heathen nations could not commit such crimes, the greatness of which can only be estimated by God. But ancient Israel and modern Churches, pre-eminent above other peoples, exchange God for vain idols. Holy heaven is amazed at the monstrous folly of men. “Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be ye horribly afraid; be ye very desolate, saith the Lord.”
2. The punishment of their sin was disgraceful. The people of God were bereft of their glory and defence; carried captives and humbled by a foreign foe. The seed was reaped in an awful “harvest” of punishment by both Ephraim and Judah. God is no respecter of persons—the highest and the lowest, the priest and the peasant, are alike judged for their sins. He makes them “base and contemptible before all the people.” Sin sinks the most exalted to the most degraded. It is a blot in the escutcheon of the mightiest nation which no worldly glory can efface. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
The substance of these verses may be summed up in few words.
1. Man has a tendency to abuse the best and highest things. This is proved from history, Scripture, and observation.
2. When the best and highest things are abused they become the worst. Moral order and distinctions are confounded. A downward course is begun. Conscience must be quieted, moral feelings be suppressed, and bold extravagance required to cover and defend sin.
3. Abuse of the best and highest things greatly increases the guilt. When men check religious impulse and resist good they go at a faster rate than merely doing wrong. The effect of sin must be measured by the power of moral sensibility. Perfection of guilt and punishment is gained by using the truth and ordinances of God, to do the bidding of selfishness and lust.
I have seen an horrible thing. God discerns sin when covered by craft and counsel, by excuse and ignorance. The smallest sins and the most horrible crimes are detected by him, and will be discovered to the perpetrators. Men may cover their ways and hide their sins, but they cannot prosper.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 6
Hos_6:8-11. Best and worst. The best things when abused become the worst: there is no devil like a fallen angel; no enemy to the gospel like an apostate Christian; no hate like the “theological hate;” no war like a religious war; and no corruption like religious corruption. The reasons are not far to seek. The best things are the strongest: they can do most always, most evil when used in an evil way. Bad men know this: Simon the magician was not the only one that has cast a covetous look at Christianity and said, “Give me also this power” [A. J. Morris].
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 translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv8, 10General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh is speaking.
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Gilead is a city ... with footprints of blood
"Footprints of blood" probably represents the evildoers and their acts of murder. (See: Metonymy)
the priests band together to commit murder on the way to Shechem
We do not know what this refers to. Were priests actually guilty of attacking people on their way to Shechem, which was an important religious and political center? Or is the prophet saying that the priests have "killed" true knowledge and worship of Yahweh? It is best to translate this expression as plainly as possible.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv8–10 I shall first speak of the subject, and then…
I shall first speak of the subject, and then something shall be added in its place of the words. The Prophet here notices, no doubt, something special against Gilead, which through the imperfection of history is now to us obscure. But in the first place, we must remember, that Gilead was one of the cities of refuge; and the Levites possessed these cities, which were destined for fugitives. If any one killed a man by chance, that the relatives might not take revenge, the Lord provided that he should flee to one of these cities appointed for his safety. He was there safe among the Levites: and the Levites received him under their protection, the matter being previously tried; for a legal hearing of the cause must have preceded as to whether he who had killed a man was innocent. We must then first remember that this city was occupied by the Levites and the priests; and they ought to have been examples to all others; for as Christ calls his disciples the light of the world, so the Lord had chosen the priests for this purpose, that they might carry a torch before all the people. Since then the highest sanctity ought to have shone forth in the priests, it was quite monstrous that they were like robbers, and that the holy city, which was as it were the sanctuary of God, became a den of thieves.
It was then for this reason that the Prophet especially inveighs against the city Gilead, and says Gilead is a city of the workers of iniquity, and is covered with blood But if Gilead was so corrupt, what must have been the case with the other cities? It is then the same as if the Prophet had said, “Where shall I begin? If I reprove the people indiscriminately, the priests will then think that they are spared, because they are innocent; yea, that they are wholly without blame: nay,” he says, “the priests are the most abandoned, they are even the ringleaders of robbers. Since then so great corruptions prevail among the order of priests, in whom the highest sanctity ought to have shone forth, how great must be the licentiousness of the people in all kinds of wickedness? And then what must be said of other cities, since Gilead is so bad, which God has consecrated for a peculiar purpose, that it might be a sort of sanctuary? Since then Gilead is a den of robbers, what must be the other cities?” We now comprehend the meaning of the Prophet.
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“Polluted with blood,” עקובה מדם, okube medam: עקב, okob, in Hebrew, means “to deceive,” and also, “to hold” or “retain.” עקב, okob, is the sole of the foot; hence עקב, okob, signifies “to supplant.” And there is no doubt but that “to deceive” is its meaning metaphorically. I will now come to the meaning of the Prophet; he says that the city was עקובה מדם, okube, medan; some say, “deceptive in blood,” because they did not openly kill men, but by lying in wait for them; and hence they elicit this sense. But I approve more of what they hold who say, that the city was “full of blood;” not that such is the strict sense of the Hebrew word; but we may properly render it, “occupied by blood.” Why so? Because עקב, okob, as I have said, means sometimes to hold, to stay, and to hinder. We may then properly and fitly say, that Gilead was “occupied” or “possessed by blood.” But here follows a clearer and a fuller explanation of this sentence —
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 On v8 Which was the place where the Priests dwelt, and…
Which was the place where the Priests dwelt, and which should have been best instructed in my word.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–10 Hos 6:8 Gilead [is] a city of them that…
Hos 6:8 Gilead [is] a city of them that work iniquity, [and is] polluted with blood.
Ver. 8. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity] Another πονηροπολις; such a city there was in Greece, and so called by King Philip, for the naughtiness of the inhabitants. This Gilead was one of those ten cities of refuge beyond Jordan, given to the priests for a possession, Jos 21:38, &c., and probably the chief city, which therefore bare the name of the whole country, as Athens was called the Greece of Greece (’Eλλας ‘Eλλαδος). The inhabitants thereof (though Levites) were the worst of men, workers of iniquity, such as did wickedly with both hands, earnestly wearying themselves in the devil’s drudgery; and then sitting down to rest them in the chair of pestilence. There is not a worse creature upon earth, or so fit for hell, as a profane priest, a debauched minister, Mat 5:13. Corruptio optimi pessima, as the sweetest wine makes the sourest vinegar, as the finest flesh is resolved into the vilest earth, and as the whitest ivory burnt becomes the blackest coal. Who would have looked for so much wickedness at Gilead, at Shiloh, at Anathoth, at Jerusalem, where the priests and scribes bare sway, and did dominari in suggestis? And yet that once faithful city was "become a harlot; it was full of judgment, righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers," Isa 1:21. In our Saviour’s time it was prophetarum macellum, the slaughter house of the saints, as now Rome is, and once London was in bloody Bonner’s days: whom a certain good woman once told in a letter, that he was deservedly called the common cut-throat and general slaughter slave to all the bishops of England. At his death he boasted (as Stokesley had done before him) how many heretics he had burned: seven hundred saints in four or five years’ time those bloody and deceitful men sent to heaven in fiery chariots. There are none so cruel to the lives of men as wicked clergy.
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Gilead was polluted with blood] Not only with the blood of souls (by their default drowned in perdition and destruction, Eze 33:7; Eze 3:18), but of bodies too, destroyed by their hands or means. The priests of these times may seem, by what is said of them in the next verse, to have been men of their hands, the sworn swordmen of the devil, such as was Timotheus Herulus, Bishop of Alexandria, A.D. 467. Pope Innocent, who threw Peter’s keys into the river Tiber, and took up Paul’s sword, as he called it, and that Philip, Bishop of Beauvieu, in France, taken in a skirmish by our Richard I, who sent his armour to the pope with these words engraved on it, Vide num filii tui tunica sit, vel non, See whether this be the coat of thy son, or of a son of Mars. These, and their like in their several generations, were non Pastores sed Impostores, non Doctorcs sed Seductores, non Episcopi sed Aposcopi, not ministers but imposters, not teachers but seducers, not bishops but apostates, as an ancient hath it; and indeed, the Church hath ever been so pestered with lewd and lazy ministers (those dehonestamenta Cleri) that Chrysostom thought there were scarcely any of that order in his time that could be saved; Jerome saith that the paucity of such as were good had made them very precious; and Campian cries out, not altogether without cause (malice may be a good informer though an ill judge), Ministris eorum nihil vilius, There is nothing vile to their ministers. Now this is here instanced as an odious transgression of the covenant, when such as made such a show of sacrifice to God should exercise so little mercy to men; when such as should be teachers were turned tyrants and blood suckers.
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 On vv8–10 Gilead; one of the six cities of refuge, situate…
Gilead; one of the six cities of refuge, situate in the country of that name, on a high hill, whence it is called Ramoth-gilead: now as a city of refuge it was a city pertaining to the priests and Levites, as all the cities of refuge did, in what tribe soever they were, Num 35:6.
Is a city of them that work iniquity; a sacerdotal city, where priests did, and religion, i.e. knowledge of God and mercy to man, should, dwell; but Gilead is a city full of most notorious transgressors, the inhabitants, though Levites and priests, are a generation of men that work all manner of wickedness.
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And is polluted with blood; murders committed there have polluted it, or murderers protected there against the law of God, who provided these cities a relief for such as unawares, without malice, by chance slew his neighbour, not for wilful murderers; yet these for money or interest got in and were secured there; and probably many were kept out or delivered up to the avenger of blood contrary to the law: thus Gilead by name, and all the rest of the cities of refuge intended too, were polluted with blood.
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 On vv8–10 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity,....…
Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity,.... The chief city in the land of Gilead, which lay beyond Jordan, inhabited by Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh; and so belonged to the ten tribes, whose sins are here particularly observed. It had its name from the country, or the country from that, or both from the mountain of the same name. It is thought to be Ramothgilead, a city of refuge, and put for all the cities of refuge in those parts, which were inhabited by priests and Levites; and who ought to have had knowledge of the laws, and instructed the people in them, and observed them themselves, and set a good example to others; but, instead of this, the whole course of their lives, was vicious; they made a trade of sinning, did nothing else but work iniquity; and this was general among them, the city or cities of them consisted of none else; and all manner of iniquity was committed by them, particularly idolatry; for so the words may be rendered, "a city of them that serve an idol" (a); not only at Dan and Bethel, but in the cities of the priests, idols were set up and worshipped; this shows the state to be very corrupt:
and is polluted with blood; with the blood of murderers harboured there, who ought not to have been admitted; or with the blood of such who were delivered up to the avenger of blood, that ought to have been sheltered, and both for the sake of money; or with the blood of children, sacrificed to Mo: the word used has the signification of supplanting, lying in wait, and so is understood of a private, secret, shedding of blood, in a deceitful and insidious way: hence some render it, "cunning for blood" (b); to which the Targum seems to agree, calling it a city
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"of them that secretly or deceitfully shed innocent blood.''
It has also the signification of the heel of a man's foot, and is by some rendered, "trodden by blood" (c); that is, by bloody men: or "footed" or "heeled by blood" (d); that is, such an abundance of it was shed, that a man could not set his foot or his heel any where but in blood.
(a) "civitas operantium idolum", V. L. (b) "callida et astuta sanguine", so some in Vatablus; "callida sanguine", Castslio. (c) "Calcata a sanguine", Piscator. (d) "Vestigiata a sanguine", Capellus, Tarnovius; "vestigis sanguinolentis", Juuius & Tremellius.
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 On vv8–10 A city - A city full of notorious transgressors,…
A city - A city full of notorious transgressors, the inhabitants though Levites and priests, work all manner of wickedness. With blood - Murders committed there.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8–10 Verse 8. Gilead is a city of them that…
Verse 8. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity] In this place Jacob and Laban made their covenant, and set up a heap of stones, which was called Galeed, the heap of testimony; and most probably idolatry was set up here. Perhaps the very heap became the object of superstitious adoration.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 Hos 6:8-9. Gilead is a city of them that…
Hos 6:8-9. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, &c. — Archbishop Newcome translates these two verses very literally thus: Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity: she is marked with footsteps of blood. And as bands wait for a man, a company of priests murder in the way to Shechem. “If Gilead be put here for Ramoth-gilead, (and I know not,” says Bishop Horsley, “what other city can be meant,) it was a city of refuge, Deu 4:43; and such also was Shechem, or Sichem, Jos 20:7; both, therefore, inhabited by priests and Levites. By describing the first of these two cities as polluted with blood, and the high-road to the other as beset with knots of priests, like robbers, intent on blood, and murdering on the whole length of the way, up to the very walls of the town, the prophet means to represent the priests as seducers of the people to that idolatry which proved the ruin of the nation. Insomuch that, like a man who should be murdered in a place of religious retreat, or upon his way to it, the people, under the influence of such guides, met their destruction in the quarter where, by God’s appointment, they were to seek their safety.” The word שׁכמה, rendered by consent, in Hos 6:9, signifies toward Shechem. For they commit lewdness — Hebrew, זמה עשׁו, they work enormity, or that which is wicked and abominable.
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 On vv8–10 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity…
Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity - If we regard “Gilead,” (as it elsewhere is,) as the country beyond Jordan, where the two tribes and a half dwelt, this will mean that the whole land was banded in one, as one city of evil-doers. It had an unity, but of evil. As the whole world has been pictured as divided between “the city of God” and the city of the devil, consisting respectively of the children of God and the children of the devil; so the whole of Gilead may be represented as one city, whose inhabitants had one occupation in common, to work evil. Some think that there was a city so called, although not mentioned elsewhere in Holy Scripture, near that Mount Gilead, dear to the memory of Israel, because God there protected their forefather Jacob. Some think that it was Ramoth in Gilead , which God appointed as “a city of refuge,” and which, consequently, became a city of Levites and priests Jos 21:38.
Here, where God had preserved the life of their forefather, and, in him, had preserved them; here, where He had commanded the innocent shedder of blood to be saved; here, where he had appointed those to dwell, whom He had hallowed to Himself, all was turned to the exact contrary. It, which God had hallowed, was become “a city of workers of iniquity,” i. e., of people, whose habits and custom was to work iniquity. It, where God had appointed life to be preserved, was “polluted” or “tracked with blood.” Everywhere it was marked and stained with the bloody footsteps of those, who (as David said) “put” innocent “blood in their shoes which were on their feet” 1Ki 2:5, staining their shoes with blood which they shed, so that, wherever they went, they left marks and signs of it.” “Tracked with blood” it was, through the sins of its inhabitants; “tracked with blood” it was again, when it first was taken captive 2Ki 15:29, and “it, which had swum with the innocent blood of others, swam with the guilty blood of its own people.” It is a special sin, and especially avenged of God, when what God had hallowed, is made the scene of sin.
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 On vv8–9 Supplanted with blood. That is, undermined and brought to…
Supplanted with blood. That is, undermined and brought to ruin for shedding of blood; and, as it is signified in the following verse, for conspiring with the priests, (of Bethel) like robbers, to murder in the way such as passed out of Sichem to go towards the temple of Jerusalem. Or else supplanted with blood signifies flowing in such a manner with blood, as to suffer none to walk there without embruing the soles of their feet in blood. (Challoner) --- Thus they would become unclean, and might easily slip. (Haydock) --- Galaad was famous for the treaty between Laban and Jacob; and all such places were chosen for altars in the latter times of the two kingdoms. Maspha or Ramoth were the usual resorts. Theodoret reads, "Galgal," chap. iv. 15. (Calmet)
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 On vv8–10 Gilead . . . city--probably Ramoth-gilead, metropolis of the…
Gilead . . . city--probably Ramoth-gilead, metropolis of the hilly region beyond Jordan, south of the Jabbok, known as "Gilead" (Kg1 4:13; compare Gen 31:21-25).
work iniquity-- (Hos 12:11).
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polluted with blood--"marked with blood-traces" [MAURER]. Referring to Gilead's complicity in the regicidal conspiracy of Pekah against Pekahiah (Kg2 15:25). See on Hos 6:1. Many homicides were there, for there were beyond Jordan more cities of refuge, in proportion to the extent of territory, than on this side of Jordan (Num 35:14; Deu 4:41-43; Jos 20:8). Ramoth-gilead was one.
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 On v10 Hos_6:10-11 sum up the accusation. Wherever the eye of…
Hos_6:10-11 sum up the accusation. Wherever the eye of Jehovah falls, he sees a horrible thing… whoredom — The former signifies abominations and crimes of every kind (Jer_18:13); the second, the one outstanding sin, spiritual and literal whoredom.
Israel is defiled — Compare Hos_5:3. In Hos_6:11 the prophet turns to Judah. This verse and Hos_7:1 a, are thought by some to be a later addition; so that Hos_7:1 b, “uncovered is the iniquity of Ephraim,” would be the continuation of Hos_6:10. The omitted words might, indeed, be left out without affecting seriously the thought of the prophet, but that is not sufficient reason for rejecting them. LXX. differs from the Hebrew, and in some respects is to be preferred. Following LXX. part of Hos_6:11 should probably be connected with Hos_7:1, chapter vi, closing, “Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed to thee.”
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Harvest — Figure of judgment (Joe_3:13; Jer_51:33). Judah, as corrupt as Israel, must share the latter’s fate. 11b, in the same construction as the opening words of Hos_7:1, should be taken with the latter and rendered, “When I would turn the fortune of my people, when I would heal Israel.”
Returned [“bring back”] the captivity — The Hebrew phrase which is frequently thus rendered in the Old Testament is literally turn a turning. In some cases the turning involved is the restoration from exile; in others a more general idea is expressed, a turning in the fortunes of the people, of calamity into prosperity; and this latter meaning is suitable in every place where the phrase occurs (Amo_9:14; Zep_2:7, etc.). So here, “When I would turn the fortunes of my people.”
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 On vv8–10 8. Gilead] Here alone, and probably in Jdg_10:17, mentioned…
8. Gilead] Here alone, and probably in Jdg_10:17, mentioned as the name of a town. We still find the name of Gilead (in its Arabic form Jil‘âd) lingering at various parts of the ancient Gilead, but we cannot venture on a combination with the prophet’s Gilead. Ramoth-Gilead would seem, from its importance, a not unlikely place to be meant.
polluted with blood] Rather, tracked with bloody foot-prints; comp. the striking expression used of Joab in 1Ki_2:5. The Gileadites, half-civilized mountaineers, seem to have been distinguished for their ferocity (comp. 2Ki_15:25). From the next verse we may perhaps infer that at Gilead too the priests were foremost in lawlessness.
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8, 9. Two spots of specially ill fame are singled out—Gilead and the road to Shechem.
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 On vv8–10 (8) Polluted . . .—More accurately, betrodden (or foot-tracked)…
(8) Polluted . . .—More accurately, betrodden (or foot-tracked) with blood. We infer from Jdg_10:17 that there was a town called Gilead east of the Jordan distinct altogether from Mizpah (identified by many with the city of refuge Ramoth-Gilead), and this is confirmed by notices in Eusebius and Cyril. Murder in a “city of refuge” adds to the horror. On the murderous propensities of the Gileadites see 2Ki_15:25.
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 On vv8, 10 Vers. 8, 9. In these two verses the prophet…
Vers. 8, 9. In these two verses the prophet adduces proof of that faithlessness with which he had just charged Israel. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood. The latter clause is more literally rendered, foot-printed or foot-tracked from blood. Two things require consideration here the place and its pollution. Gilead is sometimes a mountain range, and sometimes the mountainous region east of the Jordan; it has Bashan on the north, the Arabian plateau on the east, and Moab on the south. It stretches from the south end of the Sea of Galilee to the north end of the Dead Sea some sixty miles in length by twenty in breadth. The part of Gilead between the Hieromax and the Jabbok is now called Jebel Ajlun; while the section south of the Jabbok forms the province of Belka. In the New Testament it is spoken of under the name of Pertea, or beyond Jordan. Sometimes the whole trans-Jordanic territory belonging to Israel is called Gilead. In the passage before us it is the name of a city, though some take it to mean the whole land of Gilead. The men of Gilead and the Gileadites in general seem to have been fierce, wild mountaineers; and yet they are represented as still worse in this Scripture. They are nut only barbarous and wicked, but murderous and infamous for homicidal atrocities. As evidence in some sort of the justness of this dark picture, the murder of Pekahiah by Pekah with "fifty men of the Gileadites." as recorded in 2Ki_15:25, may be specified. The word hBWq is taken
(1) by some as the feminine of the adjective bwq, crafty, cunning, wily; thus Rashi explains it: "Gilead is full of people who lie in wait for murder;" and Kimchi likewise has, "Gilead is a city of evil-doers, who are crafty to murder men." But
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(2) it is rather the Qal Pual participle feminine from bq, to seize the heel of any one, hold, tread in the footsteps, follow, go after; which is the right meaning, viz. "tracked," as given above. We retain the Authorized Version of the first clause of ver. 9, slightly modified, viz.
(1) As troops of robbers wait for a man, so is the company of priests; yKej equivalent to hKej, wait, being an anomalous form of the infinitive Piel for hwOKj; thus Kimchi says, "The yod stands in the place of he, and the form is the infinitive." Both Aben Ezra and Kimchi translate the first clause as above; the former beg, "The sense is, As robber-troops wait for a man who is to pass along the way, that they may plunder him, so is (or so does) the company of the priests;" the latter explains, "As troops of robbers wait for a man passing along the way to plunder him, so is the company of priests, he means to say, as the priests of the high places who combine to plunder those who pass along the way. There is
(2) another translation, which, connecting ish taken collectively with gedhudhim, and making it the subjective genitive of the infinitive k, is, "Like the lurking of the men of the gang, s is the company of the priests." This first clause is
(3) quite misread and not rendered by the LXX: Kai h iscuv sou andron , "And thy strength is that of a robber: the priests have hid the way." Instead of yKejK they read and for dbj they read wbj or wabj. In the second clause we prefer decidedly the translation which is intimated in the margin of the Authorized Version; thus: Along the way they murder even go Shechem. The word derekh is an adverbial accusative of place; and Sichem, the present Nablus, was situated on Mount Ephraim between Ebal and Gerizim. It was a Levitical city and a city of refuge; it thus lay on the west as Gilead on the east of Jordan, and both cities, thus perhaps nearly parallel in place on opposite sides of the river, were equal in crime and infamy. The prophet does not tell us who the wayfarers were, or whither they were bound; he only intimates that they fell victims to certain miscreant priests located in these quarters. As this city lay on the main route from the north to Jerusalem, pilgrims to the annual feasts passed along this way. The priests of the calf-win, ship, being in general persons taken from the dregs of the people, waylaid those pilgrims, whether for plunder, or through hostility to the purer worship still maintained in the holy city, or from sheer cruelty. Or it is even possible that the wayfarers referred to may have been persons going from Samaria, the northern capital, to the idolatrous worship at Bethel. In either case, on the way to their destination or on the return journey they were set upon and robbed, or, in the event of resistance, they were murdered. For they commit lewdness; rather, yea, they have committed enormity . The zimmah, or infamy, here mentioned is referred
(1) by some to unnatural wickedness; (comp. Lev_18:17 Lev_19:29) it is rather
(2) a designation of wickedness and abominations in general; thus Kimchi explains it of "evil and abominable work of every kind." He further remarks: "The prophet says, Net this alone have they done; but all their works are zimmah. And perhaps zimmah may be explained of thought, as if he said, As they have thought in their heart so they have acted." On this verse generally it may be briefly remarked
(1) that "by consent" of the Authorized Version would require dja to be joined with "shoulder;
(2) the connection of the first and second clauses in the Authorized Version is much the same with that of Ewald: "And as troops lie in wait the company of priests murder along the way to Sichem.
(3) His explanation is that the priests murdered those that fled by the way before they reached the refuge, perhaps at the command of some leading persons ill disposed towards them.
Divine institutions corrupted.
"Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood." It is supposed that Gilead here means Ramoth-gilead, the metropolis of the mountainous region beyond Jordan and south of the fiver Jabbok, known by the name of Gilead. (Jos_21:28 1Ki_6:18) It was here that Jacob and Laban entered into a sacred covenant with each other. It was once a very sacred place; it was one of the celebrated cities of refuge. (Deu_20:2-3Jo Deu_23:2-8) The place, which was once a city of refuge, an institution of the God of heaven, had now been desecrated by wicked men, and become the scene of iniquity" and "blood." Observe two things I That Divine institutions, specially designed for man"s good, ARE OFTEN CORRUPTED BY HIM. Gilead, as a city of refuge, was of Divine ordinance, designed for special good. It was set apart for protecting men from the injustice of being put to death as murderers where the motive to murder did not exist, and thus preventing the shedding of innocent blood. But this very place for justice had now become the scene to "work iniquity," the place of mercy the scene that was now "polluted with blood." Thus men may nay, they have done and still do corrupt God"s special ordinances for good. We say special ordinances, for all God"s ordinances are for good. Whilst all places on earth are for the good of man, Gilead had a specific appointment.
1. The Bible is a special ordinance of God for good. Men have corrupted that, they do so sometimes by denying its truth altogether, but oftener by perverting its doctrines.
2. The gospel ministry is a special ordinance of God for good. From the beginning almost God set apart men for the special work of indoctrinating their fellow-men with the principles of everlasting rectitude and the doctrines of redemptive mercy prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, etc. But men have sadly corrupted this Divine institution; few things on earth have been more corrupted by man than the ministry.
II That Divine institutions specially designed for man"s good, when corrupted, BECOME THE WORST OF ALL EVILS. Holy Gilead, once the scene of Divine mercy, was now filled with "iniquity" and "blood.
1. A corrupted Bible is the worst of all books. It does more mischief than any infidel productions. Political tyrannies, slaveries, wars, persecutions, have all been sanctioned and encouraged by a corrupted Bible. Alas l the millions of Christendom hate the Bible not the Bible that God gave, but man"s corrupted version of that Bible.
2. A corrupted pulpit is the worst of all ministries. Popes, archbishops, bishops, and the clergy in every grade in all Churches, have been found amongst the most intolerant despots and the most bloody persecutors of all times. They consecrate the banners of the warriors, they advocate the cause of slavery, they have ever been the prime obstructors to the promotion of liberty and the advancement of the universal rights of man. An old expositor has said, "The clergy, when wicked, are the worst of all men; none so cruel and bloody." It is time for the people to be taught that a pulpit is not necessarily a Christian or a useful thing. It may be alas! it sometimes is the corruptest and the most pernicious thing in the neighborhood in which it has a place. A man is not a saint because he calls himself a Christian; a building is not the "house of God" because it is called a church, a chapel, or a tabernacle; a forum is not sacred to the utterance of gospel truth because it is called a pulpit. Things called sermons" may sometimes have more wickedness in them than infidel tracts; places called the "houses of God" may sometimes serve more effectually the cause of the devil than the theatres of pleasure-seekers or lecture-halls of skeptics. Mere names must not rule our judgment. It is the policy of the devil in these days to baptize his instruments with Christian titles. He is never more powerful than when he occupies the sacred desk, writes religious books, and quotes the Word of God. There are wolves in sheep"s clothing, and false prophets now as ever. D.T.
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 On v8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity,…
Hos_6:8
Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.
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Divine institutions corrupted
It is supposed that Gilead here means Ramoth Gilead: the metropolis of the mountainous region beyond Jordan and south of the river Jabbok, known by the name of Gilead (Jos_21:28; 1Ki_4:18). It was here that Jacob and Laban entered into a sacred covenant with each other. It was once a very sacred place; it was one of the celebrated cities of refuge (Deu_20:23; Jos_23:28). The place, which was once a city of refuge, an institution of the God of heaven, had now been desecrated by wicked men, and become the scene of iniquity and blood.
I. That Divine institutions, specially designed for mans good, are often corrupted by him. Whilst all places on earth are for the good of man, Gilead had a specific appointment.
1. The Bible is a special ordinance of God for good. Men have corrupted that by perverting its doctrines.
2. The Gospel ministry is a special ordinance of God for good.
II. That Divine institutions specially designed for mans good, when corrupted become the worst of all evils. Holy Gilead, once the scene of Divine mercy, was now filled with iniquity and blood.
1. A corrupted Bible is the worst of all books. Political tyrannies, slaveries, wars, persecutions, have all been sanctioned and encouraged by a corrupted Bible.
2. A corrupted pulpit is the worst of all ministries. (Homilist.)
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 On v8 Hos_6:8. Gilead] A city of refuge, the residence of…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Hos_6:8. Gilead] A city of refuge, the residence of priests, and the centre or metropolis of the hilly region beyond Jordan, yet polluted and the leader of ruin!
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Hos_6:9.] Even priests acted like predatory bands, to murder and surprise travellers on the way. Destruction was met where safety was sought. By consent] Lit. with one shoulder, as oxen yoked together (Zep_3:9). The sanctity of the place and the privileges of the priesthood did not check them in banding together for mischief. Lewdness] Heb. from a root to form deliberate purpose; deliberate crime, enormity (Marg.). “The word literally means, a thing thought of, especially an evil, and so, deliberate wickedness, be thought of and contrived. They did deliberate wickedness, gave themselves to do it, and nothing else” [Pusey],
Hos_6:10. Horrible thing] Heb. from a word meaning to shudder, be astonished. Whoredom] spiritual and literal singled out as the chief sin—“In another nation, idolatry was error. In Israel, which had the knowledge of the one true God, and had received the law, it was horror” [Pusey].
Hos_6:11. Harvest] Not a harvest of joy, a promise of ingathering of Israel, but a ripeness for Divine judgments to be inflicted by Assyrians. When] I would, upon their repentance, have turned away the captivity of my people. Judgment might have been averted, but will end in captivity. The Heb. is used of restoration also (Deu_30:3; Psa_14:7); hence many take it in this sense, as in harmony with the beginning of the chapter—“a promise of restoring their captivity in due time, which yet imports a sentence of banishment tor sin to be inflicted before” [Hutcheson].
HOMILETICS
A SAD TRANSFORMATION.—Hos_6:8-11
We have now particular proofs of the charges brought against Israel. Special places, certain persons, and the whole people are faithless and polluted. The best become the worst.
I. Sacred places become polluted with sin. Regarding Gilead as a city of refuge, or the country beyond Jordan, it “is a city of them that work iniquity.” God had hallowed the place, and made it a city of safety; an institution of heaven, designed for special good. But this place of justice and protection, the glory of the land and the centre of distinguished privileges, was polluted with crime. Its inhabitants had stained its name and filled it with blood. Cities are blessed or cursed by the character and conduct of the inhabitants. Wealth and population, genius and prosperity, fade away by vice and debauchery. Great cities may be filled with great sins; exalted to heaven with privileges, they may be cast down to hell for abusing them. Rome and Paris have been by-words, and Nero and Robespierre have left a stain in history. “By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted; but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.”
II. Ministers of religion become abettors of murder. The priests, who should have been examples of virtue, fostered abominable sins and were guilty of murder. It was their duty to save life, but they killed both body and soul. They were—
1. cruel in their designs. They sought to lie in wait and murder pilgrims on their way to the city.
2. Crafty in their designs. They plot “as troops of robbers wait for a man.”
3. Deliberate in their designs. They thought of their schemes, and deliberately adopted and carried them out.
4. Confederate in their designs. “By consent.” They were one in sympathy, agreed in sentiment, and banded together in purpose. They were taken from the lowest of the people, intruders in office, and were a curse to the land. Of all societies of men, none are more vile and mischievous than ministers corrupted by office or evil. The sweetest wine becomes the sourest vinegar, the whitest ivory burnt becomes the blackest coal; so the best men, the noblest institutions, may be transformed into the most disgraceful and criminal. “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane.”
III. The noblest design perverted to destruction. The way to the cities of refuge, by God’s command, was to be prepared (Deu_19:3); clear and kept open without hindrance or danger to fugitives; but it was filled with robbers and tracked with blood. Those who fled for life met with death. What power in the human will and in human conduct to corrupt the ordinances and hinder the designs of God! Means of grace perverted to motives of crime, and sacred places changed to scenes of corruption. The devil gets into the church, and the foulest crimes are committed in the garb of religion and a good name. In Christendom now we see religion made the tool of priests and governments: its sanctions brought to support schemes of aggrandizement and oppression; and plans that display God’s wisdom and benevolence employed to prostrate our nature, to pollute the land, and make it “desolate and a perpetual hissing.”
IV. A chosen people degraded with punishment. All these crimes were done “in the house of Israel,” an elect nation. Whoredom was widespread, and the whole land was defiled.
1. The enormity of their sin was great. “An horrible thing,” enough to make one shudder; “a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth shall tingle.” Ordinary sins are evil, but the sins of Israel were gross abominations. Sins against light and privileges, the warnings of prophets and the judgments of God. Heathen nations could not commit such crimes, the greatness of which can only be estimated by God. But ancient Israel and modern Churches, pre-eminent above other peoples, exchange God for vain idols. Holy heaven is amazed at the monstrous folly of men. “Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be ye horribly afraid; be ye very desolate, saith the Lord.”
2. The punishment of their sin was disgraceful. The people of God were bereft of their glory and defence; carried captives and humbled by a foreign foe. The seed was reaped in an awful “harvest” of punishment by both Ephraim and Judah. God is no respecter of persons—the highest and the lowest, the priest and the peasant, are alike judged for their sins. He makes them “base and contemptible before all the people.” Sin sinks the most exalted to the most degraded. It is a blot in the escutcheon of the mightiest nation which no worldly glory can efface. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
The substance of these verses may be summed up in few words.
1. Man has a tendency to abuse the best and highest things. This is proved from history, Scripture, and observation.
2. When the best and highest things are abused they become the worst. Moral order and distinctions are confounded. A downward course is begun. Conscience must be quieted, moral feelings be suppressed, and bold extravagance required to cover and defend sin.
3. Abuse of the best and highest things greatly increases the guilt. When men check religious impulse and resist good they go at a faster rate than merely doing wrong. The effect of sin must be measured by the power of moral sensibility. Perfection of guilt and punishment is gained by using the truth and ordinances of God, to do the bidding of selfishness and lust.
I have seen an horrible thing. God discerns sin when covered by craft and counsel, by excuse and ignorance. The smallest sins and the most horrible crimes are detected by him, and will be discovered to the perpetrators. Men may cover their ways and hide their sins, but they cannot prosper.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 6
Hos_6:8-11. Best and worst. The best things when abused become the worst: there is no devil like a fallen angel; no enemy to the gospel like an apostate Christian; no hate like the “theological hate;” no war like a religious war; and no corruption like religious corruption. The reasons are not far to seek. The best things are the strongest: they can do most always, most evil when used in an evil way. Bad men know this: Simon the magician was not the only one that has cast a covetous look at Christianity and said, “Give me also this power” [A. J. Morris].
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 On vv8, 10 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh is speaking.
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Gilead is a city ... with footprints of blood
"Footprints of blood" probably represents the evildoers and their acts of murder. (See: Metonymy)
the priests band together to commit murder on the way to Shechem
We do not know what this refers to. Were priests actually guilty of attacking people on their way to Shechem, which was an important religious and political center? Or is the prophet saying that the priests have "killed" true knowledge and worship of Yahweh? It is best to translate this expression as plainly as possible.
translationWords
Gilead
blood
priest
Shechem
shame
crime
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 On vv9–10 6:9 Priests form bands of robbers: Hosea again condemns…
6:9 Priests form bands of robbers: Hosea again condemns the religious leaders for their crimes (see 4:4-8).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.