They eat up the sin of my people - חטאת chattath , the sin-offering, though it be offered contrary to the law; for their hearts are set on iniquity, they wish to do whatever is contrary to God. read more
Like people, like priest - "The priest a wanderer from the narrow way; The silly sheep, no wonder that they stray." I will punish them - Both priest and people; both equally bad. read more
They shall eat, and not have enough - Whatever means they may use to satisfy or gratify themselves shall be ineffectual. read more
Whoredom and wine - These debaucheries go generally together. Take away the heart - Darken the understanding, deprave the judgment, pervert the will, debase all the passions, etc. read more
At their stocks - They consult their wooden gods. And their staff declareth - They use divination by rods; see the note on Ezekiel 21 (note), where this sort of divination (rabdomancy) is explained. read more
Under oaks - אלון allon , from אלל alal , he was strong. Hence, the oak, in Latin, is called robur ; which word means also, strength, the oak being the strongest of all the trees of the forest. The shadow thereof is good - Their "daughters committed whoredom, and their spouses committed adultery." Their deities were worshipped by prostitution. They drank much in their idol worship, Hosea 4:11 , and thus their passions became inflamed. 3. The thick groves were favorable... read more
I will not punish - Why should you be stricken any more; ye will revolt more and more. When God, in judgment, removes his judgments, the case of that people is desperate. While there is hope, there is correction. Themselves are separated - There is a reference here to certain debaucheries which should not be described. The state of the people at this time must have been abominable beyond all precedent; animal, sensual, bestial, diabolical: women consecrating themselves to serve their... read more
Verse 7 Here the Prophet amplifies the wickedness and impiety of the people, by adding this circumstance, that they the more perversely wantoned against God, the more bountiful he was to them, yea, when he poured upon them riches in full exuberance. Such a complaint we have before noticed: but the Prophets, we know, did not speak only once of the same thing; when they saw that they effected nothing, that the contempt of God still prevailed, they found it necessary to repeat often what they had... read more
Verse 8 This verse has given occasion to many interpreters to think that all the particulars we have noticed ought to be restricted to the priests alone: but there is no sufficient reason for this. We have already said, that the Prophet is wont frequently to pass from the people to the priests: but as a heavier guilt belonged to the priests, he very often inveighs against them, as he does in this place, They eat, he says, the sin of my people, and lift up to their iniquity his soul, that is,... read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 4:7
Will I change their glory into shame - As the idolaters at Dan and Bethel have changed my glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass, ( Romans 1:23 ;), so will I change their glory into shame or ignominy. In the day of my wrath, their calf-gods shall not deliver them. read more