The Vine and the Calf
1Israel is a lush vine; j
it yields fruit for itself.
The more his fruit increased,
the more he increased the altars. k
The better his land produced,
the better they made the sacred pillars. l
2 Their hearts are devious; ,m
now they must bear their guilt. n
The LORD will break down their altars o
and demolish their sacred pillars.
3 In fact, they are now saying,
“We have no king!
For we do not fear the LORD. p
What can a king do for us? ”
4 They speak mere words,
taking false oaths while making covenants. q
So lawsuits break out
like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field. r
5 The residents of Samaria s will have anxiety
over the calf t of Beth-aven. u
Indeed, its idolatrous priests rejoiced over it;
the people will mourn over it,
over its glory. v
It will certainly go into exile.
6 The calf itself will be taken to Assyria w
as an offering to the great king. ,x
Ephraim will experience shame; y
Israel will be ashamed of its counsel. z
7 Samaria’s king will disappear ,a
like foam on the surface of the water.
8 The high places b of Aven, the sin of Israel, c
will be destroyed;
thorns and thistles will grow over their altars. d
They will say to the mountains, e “Cover us! ”
and to the hills, “Fall on us! ” f
Israel’s Defeat because of Sin
9 Israel, you have sinned
since the days of Gibeah; g
they have taken their stand there.
Will not war against the unjust
overtake them in Gibeah?
10 I will discipline h them at my discretion; i
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bondage
for their double iniquity. j
11 Ephraim is a well-trained calf k
that loves to thresh,
but I will place a yoke on her fine neck. l
I will harness Ephraim; m
Judah will plow;
Jacob will do the final plowing.
12 Sow righteousness for yourselves n
and reap faithful love;
break up your unplowed ground. o
It is time to seek the LORD p
until he comes q and sends righteousness
on you like the rain. r
13 You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; s
you have eaten the fruit of lies. t
Because you have trusted in your own way
and in your large number of soldiers, u
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
and all your fortifications will be demolished v
in a day of war,
like Shalman’s destruction of Beth-arbel.
Mothers will be dashed to pieces
along with their children. w
15 So it will be done to you, Bethel, x
because of your extreme evil.
At dawn the king of Israel will be totally destroyed.
10:1–4. The last major sermon in this punishment section is divided into two halves. First, Hosea reminds his audience that because of their sins God will destroy all the detestable altars where the people worship (10:1–8). Hosea compares Israel to a vine that has produced much fruit, because for many years they were a prosperous nation (10:1). But the richer the people became, the more they built pagan altars and standing stones that represented pagan gods. Therefore, God will destroy all these pagan altars and standing stones to stop this unfaithful worship (10:2). This may be a prophetic prediction of the final fall of the nation in 721 BC.
10:5–8. One of the central deceptions in Israel is the worship of the golden calves at temples at Dan and Bethel (referred to as Beth-aven, 10:5a). It appears that when the gold from the golden calf was used to pay the tribute owed to the Assyrians, both the priests who loved to serve at that temple and the people who worshiped there mourned because of the humiliating demise of this idol (10:5b–6). People will be ashamed because this great idol of gold that they worshiped could not save them or even itself.
10:9–10. The second half of this chapter describes the devastating war that will end the nation (10:9–15). Hosea suggests that part of the nation’s sinfulness goes back to their earlier sinful deeds at Gibeah (10:9; cf. Hs 9:9; Jdg 19–20), which resulted in violence and war. The problems of the past continue at Gibeah (cf. Hs 5:8), and they are about to develop into further warfare for the nation of Israel. God’s punishing judgment will come because of two sins, but they are not identified (10:10). Possibly Hosea is referring to the sin of worshiping the two golden calves, two sins at Gibeah, or possibly both idol worship and a false trust in their army.
10:11–15. Hosea finds another creative way of expressing what is about to happen to Israel by comparing Israel to a calf trained to do agricultural work (10:11). God put his covenant yoke on this calf and asked her to work plowing the field. God wanted Israel to plant righteousness and to have faithful covenant love so that he could shower those who would seek him with his righteousness and blessings (10:12). Unfortunately things did not work out this way; his people planted evil seeds instead of righteous seeds, so naturally they have reaped evil results (10:13a). Part of this is explained as their consumption of the poisonous fruit of lies, deception, and false beliefs. One cannot expect the blessings of God’s wonderful fruit by depending on human strength or large armies instead of on God (10:13b).