Jun 12 2007
Notes on Hosea 4:1-14
4:1 Hear this word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy against the inhabitants of the land; for there is no truth, no Mercy (fidelity), no knowledge of God in the land. 4:2 Swearing, lying, murdering, stealing and adultery multiplied, and bloodshed follows on bloodshed. 4:3 For this reason the land withers, and all its inhabitants mourn. The beasts of the field, the birds in the heavens, and the fishes in the sea perish.Verse 1a represents a standard call to attention formula found throughout the Bible; usually, but not always in prophetic contexts. Verse 1b tells us what the call to attention concerns: the Lord has a controversy against the inhabitants of the land. The word controversy is rib (reeb), and is a word sometimes used to describe a disagreement (Gen 26:20-22). Often it is used in legal cases to denote a lawsuit (Dt 21:5). As will become clear, God has a covenant contention against his people, for they have broken the covenant they agreed to accept. The remainder of verse 1 supplies the reasons for this contention: for there is no truth, no fidelity, no knowledge of God in the land. These three failing are manifest in the sins mentioned in verse 2: Swearing, lying , murdering, stealing and adultery are multiplied, and bloodshed follows on bloodshed. The first two sins show a lack of truth manifesting itself in speech. The remaining sins (note murder is mentioned twice) manifest a lack of mercy, in the Biblical sense of hesed. Besides meaning mercy, it can also denote fidelity to a relationship (note the reference to adultery. See Jer 2:2). All of this can be summed up as a lack of knowledge of God. Knowledge is a word often used by Hosea and, as often in the Bible, it denotes a close personal relationship seen in the fact that when used of male/female relations it refers to sexual relations. At this point we should recall the marital image of the first three chapters of this book. The result of these sins, which show themselves as a lack of the knowledge of God is that: the land withers and all its inhabitants mourn; the beasts of the field, the birds in the heavens, and the fishes in the sea perish. Once again the theme of the Covenant curses of Dt 28 comes up.
PROPHETIC JUDGMENT AGAINST THE PRIESTS 4:4-14
4:4 Let no man contend, and let no man rebuke, for your people are like those who contend with the priest.
The Lord’s complaint against the priests is a difficult passage, as the varying translations show. As the next verse shows the words are being directed to the priests, the “man” mentioned in this passage. The priests cannot contend with the Lord for they are without excuse; for they are no better than the lawbreakers (those who contend with the priest) it was their duty to keep out of the temple. (Note the use of the word contention, rib, used also in verse 1).
4:5 For this reason you shall stumble by day, and the prophets along with you will stumble in the night; I will destroy your mother.
The first consequences from the Lord’s complaint. Both priest and prophet will fall, apparently meaning they will be rejected from further ministry to the people (see vs 6b). This is a very Johnnine sounding passage (see John 12:35-36).
If I was correct in interpreting the harlot mother of the previous chapters as the political and religious Rulers of Israel, then that image has changed slightly. Here the mother stands for the kingdom itself, which the priests were meant to serve. Perhaps this was the meaning of the mother figure all along.
4:6a My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.
The Lord’s second complaint. Note that the word destroyed used here is the same word used of the mother in the previous verse. Also, note that the word people is, in Hebrew am. This word formed the root of the name for the illegitimate child Lo Ammi in 1:8-9. Recall also that in 2:2-4 both mother and children were threatened with punishment. Here one is threatened (the mother vs 5) and one is being destroyed (am, the people). The lack of knowledge seems to be attributed not to the people, but to the priests (see vs 6b). Certainly the people lack knowledge too, but it is rooted in the priest’s rejection of it (see Mal 2:7-8)
4:6b Since you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from being a priest to me; and since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will forget your sons.
A consequence flowing from what was said in vs 6a. Note it parallels the consequence of vs 5 (stumble=reject). I will forget your sons- the Hebrew word ben, can mean simply “sons”, however, when used in the plural it can mean children of either gender, however the priesthood was hereditary only through the males.
4:7-11a The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against me; their glory I will turn into shame. They consume the sin of my people, they desire their iniquity. And so it will be like people, like priest, and I will attend to their ways, and requite them for the deeds they have done. Though they eat, they will not be satisfied, though they go a-whoring, they will not multiply; for they have failed to give heed to the Lord and gone a-whoring.
Note how the content of these verse alternate between sin (the reason for their stumbling), and the consequences. An abundance of children was considered a blessing, but this blessing they have perverted; thus their glory God will turn into shame. This apparently refers to verse 6b: I will forget your sons. The priesthood will be taken form their lineage. On this see the Doom of the House of Eli in 1 Sam 2:27-36. Note especially verse 30 which speaks of honor (literally, glory).
they consume the sin of my people- The word for sin was also used to mean the sin offering which had to be made by people who had transgressed the law (see Lev 4). The priest was to be given a share of that offering as a payment for their service (see Lev 6:17-20 NAB; or 6:24-26 NRSV). they desire their iniquity- the word iniquity could also be translated as guilt, or guilt offering. The two phrases serve to highlight the hypocrisy of the priests. They have helped cause the sins they are living off of; and So it shall be like priests, like people, which means God will attend to their ways, and requite them for the deeds they have done, just as they have demanded the people give satisfaction for their sins. As a result, they will eat and not be satisfied. Since they are to be taken out of the priestly service, this may mean that they will have to beg for food. Again, recall the punishment of Eli’s family (see 1 Sam 2:36). All of this is the result of their failing to give heed to the Lord,so that they might go a-whoring. The word translated here as “give heed” is shamar. This word is often used to denote priestly service (Num 3:7-8; 8:26; 18:5-6). It is also used of Adam’s care of the garden in genesis 2:15. Recall that Adam was a priest who got himself into trouble by eating.
4:11b-14 Old wine and new wine steal away the understanding of my people. My people ask a staff for counsel, from a divining rod they seek an oracle. For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, they have played the whore and forsaken their God. They sacrifice on the top of the mountains, and kindle incense upon the hills, under the oak, poplar, and terebinth because the shade is good there. For this reason your daughters go a-whoring, and your daughter-in-laws practice adultery. I will not strike your daughters for playing harlots, nor your daughter-in-laws for their adulteries; For you yourselves go after whores, and offer sacrifice with prostitutes; so a people lacking understanding comes to ruin.
Old wine and new wine steal away the understanding of my people- probably not a reference to drunkenness, but rather to the libation rites of wine used to worship Canaanite gods.
My people ask a staff for counsel, from a divining rod they seek an oracle- “Staff” reads literally as “wood”. This is probably a reference to Asherah, the consort goddess of Baal (see footnote 1 to Ex 34:13 in the NAB). These devices of pagan idolatry are a spirit of harlotry that has led the people astray, to play the whore and forsake their God. Further manifestations of this are the worship on the mountaintops and in the tree groves on the hills (see 1 Kings 14:23).
I will not strike your daughters for playing harlots, nor your daughter-in-laws for their adulteries; For you yourselves go after whores, and offer sacrifice with prostitutes; so a people lacking understanding comes to ruin- “Because of the fertility cults, licentiousness flourishes among the people; however the priests have the greater guilt because they lead the people to sin by consorting with hierodules (temple prostitutes) as part of religious functions. To get the full force here we must remember that unchastity was severely punished in women, not in men; Hosea reverses the idea.” (The Jerome Biblical Commentary)
So a people lacking understanding comes to ruin- All because the priests rejected their knowledge of God (vs 6).
