Jun 19 2007
Notes on Hosea 5:1-7
Having indicted the priests for their guilt (4:4-14); and the people as well (4:15-19); the prophet now prepares to announce the consequences of their guilt. Before he does this however, he (speaking on behalf of God) calls for the attention of the ruling classes (5:1-2a). God, speaking through the prophet states that he will punish them (5:2b), and follows this up with the reasons why (5:3-7a). The passage ends with an announced consequence for their sinfulness (5:7b), which provides a transition to the block of material in (5:8-7:16).
5:1 Hear this, O priests, and attend, O house of Israel, and, O house of the king, give ear for the judgment is for you; for you have become a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread out over Tabor, 5:2 and a pit dug deep at Shittim; but I will chastise all of them
Hear…attend…give ear- Notice that the call to attention contains 3 imperatives directed to 3 different classes. The first two imperatives precede the class to whom they are directed (priests, house [i.e. the people] of Israel), while the last imperative comes after the class it is directed to is named (the house of the king; i.e. the royal family). Perhaps this switch is meant to call more attention to, or focus more attention upon, the house of the king. In what follows, in 5:8-7:16 the dominant theme is the sins and failure of the monarchy.
the judgment is for you- Priests, people, and royalty are all under the judgment of God. The Hebrew word mishpat (judgment) has legal connotations and reminds us of god’s rib or covenant lawsuit against Israel. The reason for a judgment being leveled against them is given in the words:
for you have become a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread out over Tabor, and a pit dug deep at Shittim- The word snare in Hebrew is pah, and it provides a word play with the place-name Mizpah. Snares, nets, and pits were instruments used for capturing animals. Because of their sins the people have entrapped themselves (see Psalm 7:15-17).
Mizpah was the place where Saul was chosen to be the first king of the twelve tribes (1 Sam 10:17-24). It was not forbidden for the people to ask for a king, so long as they understood that he was not to be a pagan-like king, but one dedicated to God’s law (see Deut 17:14-20). When the people asked for a king, they asked specifically for a king “like the other nations have” and for the same reasons for which they had them (see 1 Sam 8, especially vss 19-20), this was seen as a rejection of God. Saul ended up being a real stinker and so God replaced him with David.
The kings business was to ensure right worship and the upkeep of the temple, something none of the Northern kings did, thus they imitated Saul (1 Sam 13:2-14), apparently with the consent of both the people and the priests (see Amos 7:10-12). This was the snare they set for themselves at Mizpah.
Tabor is a reference to Mount Tabor where a famous battle took place between certain of the Tribes of Israel under the Judge Deborah, Against King Jabin of Hazor and Sisera (see Judges 4:4-6). In her victory song after the battle Deborah condemns certain tribes for not helping in the battle (see Judges 5:14-18). A penchant for a lack of unity was the “net spread on Tabor.”
Shittim was located in the trans-Jordan region, and it was there that the men of Israel sinned by worshiping the Baal of Peor (Numbers 25).
A corrupt monarchy, disunity among the covenant people, and a penchant for pagan fertility rites, these are the traps the people of the Northern Kingdom have laid for themselves. For this reason God says I will chastise all of them.
5:3 Ephraim , I know, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, you have gone a-whoring, Israel has defiled herself. 5:4 the things they do will not let them turn back to their God. For their is a spirit of harlotry within them, and they have no knowledge of the Lord.
Ephraim was the largest of the Northern tribes, and the name is often used to designate the Northern Kingdom as a whole; such is the case here. The verse exhibits typical Hebrew parallelism, with Ephraim paralleling Israel, and gone a-whoring paralleling defiled herself. Again the theme of harlotry and sexual defilement come up, reminding us of the opening chapters of the book and of the fact that the covenant was often portrayed and spoken of as a marriage. Since the word know (knew, knowledge) has sexual overtones in the Bible (see Gen 4:1) the statement that the people have no knowledge of God also should be seen in relation to the covenant. The people are portrayed as having no real desire to return to God, like the harlot wife before her punishment (see 2:6-7), they are still in lust with their false lover-gods.
5:5 To his own face Israel’s pride testifies; Israel and Ephraim trip over their perversity; and Judah tumbles with them.
to his own face- face is a Hebrew idiom meaning “presence”. Israel’s pride is know to Israel and testifies against Israel (guilty conscience?) but Israel’s pride will not allow repentance (see previous verse).
Israel and Ephraim trip over their perversity- Like someone tripping over a snare (5:1)? Perversity in Hebrew is avon, a word related to aven, which we saw was applied contemptuously to Bethel (Beth-Aven) in 4:15.
Judah tumbles with them- Apparently, the prophet sees the continuing existence of the Northern Kingdom of Israel as a temptation to Judah (see 4:15).
5:6 With their flocks and their herds they shall go and seek out the Lord, but they shall not find him, for from them he has withdrawn himself. 5:7 For against the Lord they have acted deceitfully; for they have brought forth alien children. Now the new moon shall consume them, along with their fields.
they shall go and seek out the Lord- taking their herds and flocks they will seek the Lord in sacrifice. This is the meaning of the word seek (baqash See Exodus 33:7). As will become clear in the next post, the Lord withdraws from this search for it is not done rightly (see 5:15-6:6). The statement brings up an idea already mentioned in 3:3: “You shall wait for me many days; and you shall not play the harlot, or belong to another; for myself, I will wait for you.” God wants a right repentance, not a false show. Such a show is the “spirit of harlotry which made Israel unable to turn back to God (see 5:3).
they have brought forth alien children- we are once again reminded of the programmatic narrative of chapters 1-3.
the new moon shall consume them- the pagan fertility rites they were trusting in to make their field full and themselves fat will consume them; i.e. because of them, God will bring an end to abundant harvests which were his blessings, not the Baal’s (see 2:4-13).
