Hosea 10:8-9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hosea 10:1-8

Observe, I. What the sins are which are here laid to Israel's charge, the national sins which bring down national judgment. The prophet deals plainly with them; for what good would it do them to be flattered? 1. They were not fruitful in the fruits of righteousness to the glory of God. Here all their other wickedness began (Hos. 10:1): Israel is an empty vine. The church of God is fitly compared to a vine, weak, and of an unpromising outside, yet spreading and fruitful; believers are branches... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hosea 10:9-15

Here, I. They are put in mind of the sins of their fathers and predecessors, for which God would now reckon with them. It was told them (Hos. 9:9) that they had corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah, and here (Hos. 10:9), O Israel! thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah. Not only the wickedness that was committed in that age is revived in this, and reacted, a copy from that original, but the wickedness that was committed in that age has been continued in a constant series and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hosea 10:8

The high places also of Aven ,.... Bethel, which is not only as before called Bethaven, the house of iniquity; but Aven, iniquity itself; the high places of it were the temple and altars built there for idolatrous service, which were usually set on hills and mountains: the sin of Israel shall be destroyed ; that is, which high places are the sin of Israel, the occasion of sin unto them; and where they committed sin, the sin of idolatry, in worshipping the calves; these should be thrown... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hosea 10:9

O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah ,.... This has no respect, as the Targum, and others, to Gibeah of Saul, of which place he was, and the choosing him to be king; but to the affair of the Levite and his concubine at Gibeah in the days of the judges, and what followed upon it, Judges 19:1 ; suggesting, that the sins of Israel were not new ones; they were the same with what were committed formerly, as early as the history referred to, and had been continued ever since; the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 10:8

The high-places - Idol temples. Of Aven - Beth-aven. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars - Owing to the uncultivated and unfrequented state of the land, and of their places of idol worship, the people being all carried away into captivity. "And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, And to the hills, Fall on us." "This sublime description of fear and distress our Lord had in view, Luke 23:30 , which may be a reference, and not a quotation. However, the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 10:9

Thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah - This is another reference to the horrible rape and murder of the Levite's wife, Judges 19:13 , Judges 19:14 . There they stood - Only one tribe was nearly destroyed, viz., that of Benjamin. They were the criminals, the children of iniquity; the others were faultless, and stood only for the rights of justice and mercy. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 10:8

Verse 8 We see how much the Prophet dwells on one thing: but, as I have already said, there was need of a strong hammer to beat this iron; for the hearts of the people were iron, or even steel. This hardness could not then be broken except with violence. This is the reason why the Prophet goes on with his threatening and places before their eyes in so many forms the vengeance of God; of which it would have been enough for him briefly to remind them, had they not been so perverse. And first he... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 10:9

Verse 9 He here reproaches Israel for having been long inured in their sins, and not for being lately corrupted. This is the substance. He had said in the last chapter that they were deep in their sins, as in the days of Gibeah: we then explained why the Prophet adduced the example of Gibeah, and that was, because the Gibeonites had fallen away from all fear of God, as if not a word about the law had ever been heard among them. We indeed know that they abandoned themselves to filthy and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 10:1-8

The calves and the kings. The "burden" is still the same—Israel's guilt and punishment. But in the verses before us these are dealt with mainly in their external and national aspects. The most prominent thought of the passage centers in the calves and the kings. I. THE NATIONAL SIN . Although the prophet handles his theme in this strophe for the most part on its external side, yet in one or two expressions he refers to the root of the evil in the hearts of the people. "We feared... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 10:4-8

Israel's sin, sorrow, shame, and suffering. These verses exhibit them with marvelous conciseness and great impressiveness. I. ISRAEL 'S SIN OF UNFAITHFULNESS . Israel's unfaithfulness at the period of which the prophet speaks was of the most reckless kind. It took the form By their idolatry they renounced the covenant of their God, which had the seal of circumcision; their promises of reformation, when they made such, were falsified; the vows wrung from them in distress or... read more

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