Hosea 4:2 Komentář

Prophets were sent to be reprovers, to tell people of their faults, and to warn them of the judgments of God, to which by sin they exposed themselves; so the prophet is employed in this and the following chapters. He is here, as counsel for the King of kings, opening an indictment against the people of Israel, and labouring to convince them of sin, and of their misery and danger because of sin, that he might prevail with them to repent and reform. I. He shows them what were the grounds of God's controversy with them, a general prevalency of vice and profaneness (Hos 4:1, Hos 4:2), ignorance and forgetfulness of God (Hos 4:6, Hos 4:7), the worldly-mindedness of the priests (Hos 4:8), drunkenness and uncleanness (Hos 4:11), using divination and witchcraft (Hos 4:12), offering sacrifice in the high places (Hos 4:13), whoredoms (Hos 4:14, Hos 4:18), and bribery among magistrates (Hos 4:18). II. He shows them what would be the consequences of God's controversy. God would punish them for these things (Hos 4:9). The whole land should be laid waste (Hos 4:3), all sorts of people cut off (Hos 4:5), their honour lost (Hos 4:7), their creature-comforts unsatisfying (Hos 4:10), and themselves made ashamed (Hos 4:19). And, which is several times mentioned here as the sorest judgment of all, they should be let alone in their sins (Hos 4:17), they shall not reprove one another (Hos 4:4), God will not punish them (Hos 4:14), nay, he will let them prosper (Hos 4:16). III. He gives warning to Judah not to tread in the steps of Israel, because they saw their steps went down to hell (Hos 4:15).

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 4 This chapter contains a new sermon or prophecy, delivered in proper and express words, without types and figures, as before; in which the people of Israel are summoned to appear at the tribunal of God, to hear the charge brought against them, and the sentence to be pronounced upon them, and which would be executed. They are charged with sins of omission and commission; with want of truth and mercy to men, and with ignorance of God; with swearing, lying, murder, theft, and adultery, Hos 4:1, the punishment threatened is the sword, famine, and pestilence; which should affect the whole land, and all creatures in it, men, beasts, fowls, and fishes, Hos 4:3, then the priests and false prophets are threatened with falling into calamities along with the people, and with rejection from their office, and forgetfulness of their posterity, and a taking away their glory from them, because of their striving with the true prophets; their rejection of knowledge; forgetfulness of the law of God; covetousness, adultery, and drunkenness, Hos 4:4, then the discourse is turned to the people again, who are charged with divination and idolatry, which is spiritual adultery; and therefore, by way of retaliation, their wives and daughters would be left to commit adultery and fornication, Hos 4:12, and the chapter is concluded with advice to Israel not to tempt Judah to sin; or to Judah not to do the like, after the example of Israel, who were backsliders, idolaters, left of God and alone; guilty of bribery, and the like shameful things, and would be suddenly filled with shame, Hos 4:15.

By swearing, and lying,.... Which some join together, and make but one sin of it, false swearing, so Jarchi and Kimchi; but that swearing itself signifies, as the Targum interprets it; for it not only takes in all cursing and imprecations, profane oaths, and taking the name of God in vain, and swearing by the creatures, but may chiefly design perjury; which, though one kind of "lying", may be distinguished from it here; the latter intending "lying" in common, which the devil is the father of, mankind are incident unto, and which is abominable to God, whether in civil or in religious things: "and killing, and stealing and committing adultery"; murders, thefts, and adulteries, were very common with them; sins against the sixth, eighth, and seventh commandments: they break out; through all the restraints of the laws of God and man, like an unruly horse that breaks his bridle and runs away; or like wild beasts, that break down the fences and enclosures about them, and break out, and get away; or like a torrent of water, that breaks down its dams and banks, and overflows the meadows and plains; such a flood and deluge of sin abounded in the nation. Some render it, "they thieve" (o); or act the part of thieves and robbers: and the Targum, "they beget sons of their neighbours' wives;'' and so Abarbinel interprets it of breaking through the hedge of another man's wife; but these sins are observed before: and blood toucheth blood; which some understand of sins in general, so called, because filthy and abominable; and of the addition and multiplication of them, there being as it were heaps of them, or rather a chain of them linked together. So the Targum, "and they add sins to sins.'' Others interpret it of impure mixtures, of incestuous lusts, or marriages contrary to the ties of blood, and laws of consanguinity, Lev 18:6, or rather it is to be understood of the great effusion of blood, and frequency of murders; so that there was scarce any interval between them, but a continued series of them. Some think respect is had to the frequent slaughter of their kings; Zachariah the son of Jeroboam was slain by Shallum, when he had reigned but six months; and Shallum was slain by Menahem when he had reigned but one month; and this Menahem was a murderer of many, smote many places, and ripped up the women with child; Pekahiah his son was killed by Pekah the son of Remaliah, and he again by Hoshea, Kg2 15:8. (o) "latrocinantur, vel latrones agunt", Schmidt.

"Hear the word of the Lord, sons of Israel; for judgment is for the Lord with the inhabitants of the earth: for there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. Cursed, and lying, and murder, and theft, and adultery have overflowed: and blood has touched blood." LXX: "Hear the word of the Lord, sons of Israel; for judgment is for the Lord with the inhabitants of the earth: for there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God over the earth. Curse, and lying, and murder, and theft, and adultery have been spilt over the earth, and they have mixed blood with blood." From the beginning of the prophet to this point, under the description of a prostitute and an adulteress, whose punishment is severe and long-lasting, a later restoration to their former or a better state is made for the ten tribes or two, and the sins of all are counted. Again now to Israel, that is, the speech turns to the ten tribes, explaining that God, angered, does not threaten and inflict such great punishments in vain: lest perhaps the sentence be not seen to have been passed justly, but by the power of God on those who have not sinned. Hear, said the prophet, the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel: for the Lord desires to judge with his people and to expose the reasons for his anger. There is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God in the land. For truth cannot be sustained without mercy, and mercy without truth makes the negligent; therefore, the one is mingled with the other, and whoever does not have either also does not have knowledge of God. But on the contrary, for truth there is falsehood, and for mercy there is cursing, murder, theft, adultery. He did not say, "there is"; but to demonstrate the abundance of sins, he uses the expression, "they have inundated" (Al. "they have overflowed"); and for the knowledge of God, which is not on earth, blood touched blood, or blood mingled with blood, so that they could increase sins with sins and add new ones to old. Indeed, those who are inhabitants of the earth and not sojourners are called to judgment: for from the face of the North evils blaze forth upon the inhabitants of the earth. And in the Apocalypse of John: Woe, woe, woe is said to the inhabitants of the earth. But he who is able to say with the prophet: “I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were” (Psa. 38:13), and passes through this world like a stranger and a sojourner, follows after truth and mercy and the knowledge of God, lest he be overwhelmed by an inundation of curses and falsehood, of murder, and theft, and adultery, and of blood.

After Moses, prophets were sent to heal Israel. But in their exercise of healing they deplored the fact that they could not overcome evil, so that one of them says, “The faithful are gone from the earth, among men the upright are no more,” and again, “All alike have gone astray; they have become perverse; there is not one who does good, not even one.” And again, “Cursing, and theft, and adultery, and killing have overflowed” upon the land. “They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.” They engaged themselves in auguries and enchantments and divinations; and again, “they fastened their garments with cords and hung veils next to the altar.”

The prophet charges his people with their enormous sins, Hos 4:1, Hos 4:2; in consequence of which they are threatened with heavy judgments, Hos 4:3-5. God himself is then introduced complaining of the ignorance and obstinacy of Israel; and as their priests had a large share in the common guilt, it is declared that they shall be visited with a proportionable share of the common ruin, Hos 4:6-11. The sins of idolatry and divination are then particularly reproved, Hos 4:12-14; and Judah admonished to beware of these sins, which would leave her rebellious sister Israel helpless and desolate as a lamb in a desert, Hos 4:15, Hos 4:16. In the remaining verses the style is varied, but the subject is the same. Ephraim is given up to idolatry, and the necessary consequence declared to be a bitter draught! Immediately we see him bound in the wings of a mighty tempest, and driven as chaff before the wind, either to destruction or captivity, Hos 4:17-19.

By swearing, and lying - Where there is no truth there will be lies and perjury; for false swearing is brought in to confirm lying statements. And when there is no mercy, killing, slaying, and murders, will be frequent. And where there is no knowledge of God, no conviction of his omnipresence and omniscience, private offenses, such as stealing, adulteries, etc., will prevail. These, sooner or later, break out, become a flood, and carry all before them. Private stealing will assume the form of a public robbery, and adulteries become fashionable, especially among the higher orders; and suits of crim. con. render them more public, scandalous, and corrupting. By the examination of witnesses, and reading of infamous letters in a court of justice, people are taught the wiles and stratagems to be used to accomplish these ends, and prevent detection; and also how to avoid those circumstances which have led to the detection of others. Every report of such matters is an experimental lecture on successful debauchery. Blood toucheth blood - Murders are not only frequent, but assassinations are mutual. Men go out to kill each other; as in our duels, the frenzy of cowards; and as there is no law regarded, and no justice in the land, the nearest akin slays the murderer. Even in our land, where duels are so frequent, if a man kill his antagonist, it is murder; and so generally brought in by an honest coroner and his jury. It is then brought into court; but who is hanged for it? The very murder is considered as an affair of honor, though it began in a dispute about a prostitute; and it is directed to be brought in manslaughter; and the murderer is slightly fined for having hurried his neighbor, perhaps once his friend, into the eternal world, with all his imperfections on his head! No wonder that a land mourns where these prevail; and that God should have a controversy with it. Such crimes as these are sufficient to bring God's curse upon any land. And how does God show his displeasure? See the following verse.

HENCEFORTH THE PROPHET SPEAKS PLAINLY AND WITHOUT SYMBOL, IN TERSE, SENTENTIOUS PROPOSITIONS. (Hos. 4:1-19) In this chapter he reproves the people and priests for their sins in the interregnum which followed Jeroboam's death; hence there is no mention of the king or his family; and in Hos 4:2 bloodshed and other evils usual in a civil war are specified. Israel--the ten tribes. controversy--judicial ground of complaint (Isa 1:18; Jer 25:31; Mic 6:2). no . . . knowledge of God--exhibited in practice (Jer 22:16).

they break out--bursting through every restraint. blood toucheth blood--literally, "bloods." One act of bloodshed follows another without any interval between (see Kg2 15:8-16, Kg2 15:25; Mic 7:2).

II. The Ungodliness of Israel. Its Punishment, and Final Deliverance - Hosea 4-14 The spiritual adultery of Israel, with its consequences, which the prophet has exposed in the first part, and chiefly in a symbolical mode, is more elaborately detailed here, not only with regard to its true nature, viz., the religious apostasy and moral depravity which prevailed throughout the ten tribes, but also in its inevitable consequences, viz., the destruction of the kingdom and rejection of the people; and this is done with a repeated side-glance at Judah. To this there is appended a solemn appeal to return to the Lord, and a promise that the Lord will have compassion upon the penitent, and renew His covenant of grace with them. The Depravity of Israel, and Its Exposure to Punishment - Hosea 4-6:3 The first section, in which the prophet demonstrates the necessity for judgment, by exposing the sins and follies of Israel, is divided into two parts by the similar openings, "Hear the word of the Lord" in Hos 4:1, and "Hear ye this" in Hos 5:1. The distinction between the two halves is, that in ch. 4 the reproof of their sins passes from Israel as a whole, to the sins of the priests in particular; whilst in Hos 5:1-15 it passes from the ruin of the priesthood to the depravity of the whole nation, and announces the judgment of devastation upon Ephraim, and then closes in Hos 6:1-3 with a command to return to the Lord. The contents of the two chapters, however, are so arranged, that it is difficult to divide them into strophes. The Sins of Israel and the Visitation of God - Hosea 4

"Swearing, and lying, and murdering, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break in, and blood reaches to blood." The enumeration of the prevailing sins and crimes commences with infin. absoll., to set forth the acts referred to as such with the greater emphasis. 'Alâh, to swear, in combination with kichēsh, signifies false swearing (= אלוה שׁוא in Hos 10:4; compare the similar passage in Jer 7:9); but we must not on that account take kichēsh as subordinate to 'âlâh, or connect them together, so as to form one idea. Swearing refers to the breach of the second commandment, stealing to that of the eighth; and the infinitives which follow enumerate the sins against the fifth, the seventh, and the sixth commandments. With pârâtsū the address passes into the finite tense (Luther follows the lxx and Vulg., and connects it with what precedes; but this is a mistake). The perfects, pârâtsū and nâgâ‛ū, are not preterites, but express a completed act, reaching from the past into the present. Pârats to tear, to break, signifies in this instance a violent breaking in upon others, for the purpose of robbery and murder, "grassari as פריצים, i.e., as murderers and robbers" (Hitzig), whereby one bloody deed immediately followed another (Eze 18:10). Dâmı̄m: blood shed with violence, a bloody deed, a capital crime.