Hosea 4:1–5:7

4:1–3 Hosea cries out, “Hear the word of the LORD, . . . for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land” (v. 1). His accusation is simple: “There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land.” The term translated “faithfulness” can also be translated “truth”: there is no fidelity, no honesty, no commitment to the truth of God in the land. “Steadfast love” translates the Hebrew term hesed, which connotes covenant fidelity or loyalty. The passionate God desires such love from his beloved and is righteously angered when they are lukewarm toward him. Finally, the “knowledge of God” refers to more than correct theology; it describes those who show they know God through their faithfulness to his covenant (6:6; cf. also 4:6; 5:4). Yet these traits are absent among God’s people.

Instead, the people of God break his Ten Commandments by swearing (the 3rd commandment), lying (9th), murdering (6th), stealing (8th), and committing adultery (7th).¹ Notice that God’s first complaint is not that Israel is worshiping Baal; instead, he addresses Israel’s moral compass. To deviate from the revealed moral code is to lose any connection or relationship with the Lord. Bloodshed has become a defining characteristic of God’s people. Near the end of the northern kingdom (and Hosea’s ministry), kings followed kings in rapid succession, usually through assassination. Violence had become the order of the day.

In light of this sin, the Lord brings his justice to bear. The consequences are severe enough that the land “mourns” (4:3), which is the usual use of this word, although in some contexts it can refer to drought in particular (cf. Amos 1:2). If the same is true here, this is a direct swipe at the storm god Baal. In any case, the punishment will be so severe that even the animals will experience its consequences (cf. Deut. 28:18).

This passage may be considered the opening statement of a legal case, in which the defendant is called to the stand and charges are read (Hos. 4:1–3). Next is a list of suspects, with more specific charges against them (vv. 4–6). What is driving this trial is the heart of God, who desires love and fidelity from him people.

4:4–6 The verbal form of the term translated “controversy” in verse 1 (Hb. rib) is used twice in verse 4, highlighting that the ongoing monologue is in the context of legal accusation. There is some question concerning how to translate the second part of verse 4. The main text of the ESV involves a slight emendation of the Hebrew, with the result that the Lord begins to address the priests in particular. In favor of this, the word “you” clearly refers to the priests in verse 6, and the priests seem to be the focus of this section.

The so-called priests of the northern kingdom had been appointed by Jeroboam at the founding of the nation many generations before (1 Kings 13:33). This non-Levitical caste had never served in accordance with the law of Moses, instead ministering before golden calves representing Yahweh and established by Jeroboam at Bethel and Dan. Scripture is united in its witness that this was a counterfeit cult, worthy of nothing but contempt from a true worshiper of God (2 Kings 17:21–22; 2 Chron. 11:14).

The judgment of the Lord is then announced: the priest “shall stumble by day,” and the prophet “shall stumble with you by night” (Hos. 4:5). The word “stumble” is often used to refer to the Lord’s judgment that comes on the unfaithful in such a way that their ultimate end is to fall and be destroyed (Isa. 3:8; 31:3). “Day . . . [and] night” is a figure of speech called a merism, in which two opposites convey a complete whole. The phrase is used here to indicate that priests and prophets will have no chance to escape their deserved fate.

Prophets are lumped together with priests as those who claim to know but in fact only deceive. Both Israel and Judah were filled with false prophets. Their spiritual state of affairs was so bad that, in the Minor Prophets, Amos was embarrassed to be called a prophet (Amos 7:14), while Micah soundly critiqued them (Mic. 3:11). Zephaniah also treated prophets and priests as particularly guilty before God (Zeph. 3:4). Zechariah predicts a time when prophets will be ashamed to call themselves prophets (Zech. 13:4–5).²

The passage then returns to the priests in particular and gets to the heart of the issue: a fundamental rejection of true knowledge of God (Hos. 4:6). A substitute savior, a cheap knockoff of the real thing, is all they represent to the people. The very officials who took upon themselves the mantle of teachers do not know the truth about God, and as a result the people suffer: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Thus the spiritual adultery and religious guilt accrued by the nation can be laid at their door. God’s response is that since they have forgotten his law, he will “forget [their] children”: he will disown the priests from participation in his promises and protection.

These verses condemn priest and prophet, the people and the nation. The whole religious and political system has failed to preserve the knowledge of God and has in fact rejected him. The defendants have been named, and specific crimes delineated, in this lawsuit.

4:7–11 The previous passage featured second-person direct address, while here the priests are spoken of in the third person. Consider how deeply the living God despises the “ministry” of those who purport to speak for him: he will convert their “glory” (v. 7)—the honor and respect they enjoy in the community—into shame. In the end, their misrepresentations and foolish assertions will be exposed for what they are. They spoke of divine matters about which they had no real knowledge.

The priests are said to “feed on the sin of my people” (v. 8)—they eat from the worthless sacrifices (probably offered at the shrines of the golden calf). This iniquity literally is their bread and butter. The people and the priest are alike, the Lord declares; together the whole culture is corrupt and must go. Israel’s jealous lover will make sure they face the consequences of their deviant behavior. Indeed, as a judgment for sin, the activities they engage in will not have their normal effects: they will “eat” but find no satisfaction; they will fornicate “but not multiply” (v. 10).

The priests have abandoned the One who loves and provides for them and have instead kept faith with spiritual whoredom and wine—ruining the understanding of God’s people (v. 11).³ It is as if an unscrupulous marriage counselor, the priest, has for his own benefit ruined the marriage by lying about the husband. Jesus declared that special judgment was in store for anyone who “causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin” (Matt. 18:6). Those with authority over others will face increased scrutiny for the ways in which they use that authority.

4:12–14 The terms “piece of wood” and “staff” (v. 12) may allude to the worship of Asherah, the Canaanite goddess of erotic love often represented by a wooden pole. The phrase “spirit of whoredom” probably does not imply the work of literal spirits but instead most likely refers to a shared attitude that influences the people in a certain deviant way, leading them to spiritual unfaithfulness and to seeking guidance from cultic objects, perhaps Asherah poles.

Apparently, actual fornication and harlotry are occurring at some places of worship (vv. 13–14). It has been suggested that prostitution was an element of cultic worship practice, and verse 13 thus connects cultic activities with women who “play the whore.” But they are not the only guilty ones. Male worshipers are the ones who hire the prostitutes as part of their idolatry (v. 14). These activities show that the people lack “understanding” (v. 14; cf. v. 6), and the result of such activities will be utter “ruin” for those who practice them.

4:15–16 These verses include a rare mention of Judah in the book of Hosea. Apparently, Judah is not (yet) guilty of this particular form of idolatry. Although a calf is not specifically cited, the illegal cult of the golden calf is mentioned here for the first time (on the golden calf in Hosea, cf. comment on 8:4b–6). In order to make the heinous nature of the sin clear, the name of the city housing the shrine has been purposefully changed from “Bethel” (“House of God”), to the more accurate “Beth-aven” (“House of Iniquity”). Another shrine has apparently been set up in Gilgal. Yahweh wants nothing to do with this idolatrous worship, in which he is represented as a calf: “Swear not, ‘As the LORD lives!’” The true and living God rejects this idolatry; he simply cannot stand their so-called worship. Their cult and their conduct is so far from what the holy God desires in his people that he wants nothing to do with them.

It is not God who is like a calf—it is Israel (4:16). Like a heifer, they are stubborn and headstrong. It would be better if Israel were compliant like a lamb, allowing her master to lead her (v. 16b). Instead, because of Israel’s waywardness, stubbornness, idolatry, and spirit of whoredom, she cannot be pastured or led to a better condition. God will not bless such a recalcitrant people. The accused criminal will have no plea to make before the court.

4:17–19 Here, for the first of thirty-two times in the book, Hosea uses his favorite synonym for Israel: “Ephraim.” Ephraim was a “half-tribe” that stretched across the center of the Promised Land, serving as the heartland of Israel. Near its border was Bethel (the shrine of the golden calf) and Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been set up in earlier days. Ephraim represented the wayward heart of the people; it was the stubborn stronghold of prevailing idolatry and appropriately described as being “joined to idols.”

5:1–2 Judgment is pronounced specifically against the priesthood, king, and (apparently) the nobles of Israel. These leaders have spiritually entrapped people throughout the land (namely at Mount Tabor and Mizpah, perhaps sites where Israel worshiped false gods). The privileged class led the land in apostasy.

The first part of verse 2 is difficult to translate. The ESV renders it as “And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter,” while the RSV reads, “And they have made deep the pit of Shittim.” In this latter reading, the listing of place names from verse 1 is continued. Shittim is where Israel “began to whore” by joining themselves with Baal (Num. 25:1–5). Thus the evil of this idolatry has been compounded with murder (“slaughter”), warranting a harsh response. The worthless, rebellious priesthood and the short-lived kings will be treated as they deserve: the Lord will discipline them all (Hos. 5:2). The word for “discipline” used here (musar) often refers to instruction designed to correct bad behavior, using painful means (cf. Isa. 26:16; Jer. 5:3; Job 5:17; Prov. 3:11).

5:3–4 This unit is set apart by the device of inclusio, whereby the same word in Hebrew (“know”) begins and ends the unit. Yahweh knows Ephraim/Israel, but they do not “know” him. He knows their deeds, which prevent their returning (shub) to the Lord. Due to their spirit of whoredom, the Israelites are incapable of either knowing or pursuing their covenant partner.

Theologically speaking, this may be labeled “total depravity,” in the sense that no aspect of the people’s collective personality is untouched by the spirit of spiritual apostasy. Their inner minds lead to visible deeds, which make impossible any sense of repentance or turning to God. It is this state of reprobation that they cannot change and, apart from an act of providential grace on God’s part, can never change. At this stage, no simple appeal to listen will be heard, for they cannot listen. In other words, the call to hear in verse 1 stands as a rhetorical witness against the people. Their inability to heed is part of the complex of hardened rebellion. It is as if they were criminally insane, psychopaths with no conscience, unable to function normally. It takes more than prophetic appeal to reason with such people. Other measures are required to wake them from their deathly stupor.

5:5–7 The “pride” of Israel “testifies” against it (v. 5)—yet another witness to the guilt of the accused. The sentencing portion of the trial is stated here in part: Israel will fall and will take Judah with it.

The worst part of this judgment is that when it falls, Israel will seek after Yahweh in vain. The people will take flocks and herds to make sacrifices and seek the Lord but will be unable to find him (v. 6). He will have left, sick of their treachery and their religious festivals that ignored his revealed truth. Because of their unfaithfulness, God’s people have become an “alien” generation (v. 7). They are foreign to God and for all practical purposes are Gentiles.

The section ends with an obscure word of judgment: “the new moon shall devour them with their fields.” Perhaps the subject of the verb is implied to be Yahweh himself, yielding, “Now he will consume their portion at the new moon.”⁴ In this alternative reading, a judgment of God is prophesied for the very near future, perhaps at the time of an idolatrous holy day connected with the new moon. However verse 7b is translated, this section as a whole makes clear that the people are completely alienated from the Lord.