Hosea 13:4–16

13:4–6 This section opens with the same emphatic declaration with which the previous section began (cf. 12:9): “I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt.” Since the days of their rescue from Egypt, Israel’s only God to whom they could turn has been Yahweh. There has never been a genuine savior besides this God. They “know” none but him, just as he “knew” them in the wilderness (13:5). In the book of Hosea, to “know” involves more than correct theology. It necessarily includes a warm and intimate relationship. Mutual knowing characterized the early days, in which God led them in the desert.

God pastured them, and they ate to satisfaction (v. 6). Yet that is when the relationship took a sour turn. Israel’s heart was “lifted up” in pride, and they forgot their benefactor. Once again the dilemma is stated: God cannot bless his people without their turning that blessing into something negative and thereby bringing more judgment on themselves (e.g., 4:7; 10:1; 11:2).

13:7–8 Once again in Hosea, God is likened to a savage animal (e.g., 5:14; 11:10). Four, in fact: a lion, a leopard, a bear, and a “wild beast.” God will lurk, he will stalk, he will fall upon his victim, he will eviscerate, he will devour. The bear is specifically said to be separated from its cubs, meaning it has been roused to absolute fury. God will tear open Israel’s “breast.” He will brutally rend and tear with claws and teeth until their very beating heart is exposed. Then he will continue to rip them into gobbets and eat them. Once again in Hosea, the imagery used to describe the living God conveys anything but a cool, dispassionate deity.

Israel is depicted as helpless and defenseless before a rampaging God. There is no hope in these verses. Once again, a judgment is predicted that leaves Israel dead and gone. There is no coming back from this. As a people, as a kingdom, they will be devoured.

13:9–11 Here again the argument is gleaned from sacred history. Moving on from the exodus and the wilderness, the era of the judges (“rulers”) is now in review (v. 10), specifically the end of that period, when Israel demanded of Samuel that God give them a king to rule them “like all the nations” (1 Sam. 8:5). This is elucidated in Hosea 13:10 by the addition of the request for “princes,” implying that they demanded a ruling dynasty. In 1 Samuel, God declared that this request was a rejection of God as their king—but he gave them one anyway (1 Sam. 8:7). In Hosea, Yahweh affirms that he did in fact give them a king like they wanted—but he also in righteous anger later removed that king (Hos. 13:11).

This could mean that the last king of Israel was about to be permanently removed when Israel was disseminated among the nations. Or it might speak of a recent assassination of a specific king. Alternatively, it could refer to Saul, the first king that God gave Israel and whom God later removed. In any case, the point is clear: God is sovereign over the nation. He gives and removes kings as he sees fit. The earthly king, then, is of no help on his own. To look to the human king is worthless. Only their divine King can save them. But they are against him (v. 9b) and thus have foolishly left themselves vulnerable.

13:12–13 Ephraim’s sin and iniquity are bound to him and hidden within him. There is no separating the sin from the sinner. What sin in particular is in mind? Perhaps the sin explicated in the previous verses: Israel’s evil request for a king.

The topic of wisdom is introduced briefly here, as it is again in the closing verse of the book; here Ephraim is called an “unwise son.” The prophet states that “The pangs of childbirth come for him”: Ephraim will feel the sort of pain an infant might experience while being birthed. But, because he is foolish, “at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb.” In other words, he is too lamebrained to be born! Of course, an infant who stays in the womb faces certain death. Ephraim is too foolish to know where life is; there is no future, no progeny, for him.

13:14–16 Samaria (the capital city of Israel) is consigned to the grave. She is already given over to death. The Hebrew word translated “sting” (v. 14) is elsewhere translated in the ESV as “pestilence” (Deut. 32:24) or “destruction” (Ps. 91:6). The plagues of the grave and the sting of death are called into action—they represent Assyria, which was poised to tear into Israel. Plague and destroying pestilence are invoked against Samaria. There will be no compassion from God.

The plague and sting of death come with Yahweh’s east wind, which will dry up Samaria’s spring and fountain (Hos. 13:15); in other words, she will be plundered and looted.

The final thought of this section leaves metaphor behind and speaks clearly and without the need for clarification or interpretation (v. 16). The end will be bad, very bad. When Samaria falls, those pregnant will be “ripped open.” Simply put, “They shall fall by the sword.” Could the message have been any clearer?