Hosea 4:13

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hosea 4:12-19

In these verses we have, as before, I. The sins charged upon the people of Israel, for which God had a controversy with them, and they are, 1. Spiritual whoredom, or idolatry. They have in them a spirit of whoredoms, a strong inclination to that sin; the bent and bias of their hearts are that way; it is their own iniquity; they are carried out towards it with an unaccountable violence, and this causes them to err. Note, The errors and mistakes of the judgment are commonly owing to the corrupt... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hosea 4:13

They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains ,.... The highest part of them, nearest to the heavens, where they built their altars to idols, and offered sacrifice unto them, as we often read in Scripture they did: and burn incense upon the hills ; to their idols, which was one kind of sacrifice put for all others: under oaks, and poplars, and elms ; and indeed under every green tree that grew upon them, where there were groves of them raised up for this purpose; see Jeremiah 2:20 ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 4:13

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

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 4:13

Verse 13 The Prophet shows here more clearly what was the fornication for which he had before condemned the people, — that they worshipped God under trees and on high places. This then is explanatory, for the Prophet defines what he before understood by the word, fornication; and this explanation was especially useful, nay, necessary. For men, we know, will not easily give way, particularly when they can adduce some color for their sins, as is the case with the superstitious: when the Lord... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:6-14

Israel's guilt and punishment. Priests and people were guilty alike, and would be overtaken by one common doom. I. THE SIN OF THE PRIESTS . 1. They rejected the knowledge of God ( Hosea 4:6 ). They did not engage in the study of the Divine Law, and their lives were a violation of its precepts. 2. They consequently failed to teach the Law to the people ( Hosea 4:6 ). 3. They connived at the national idolatry, on account of the material profit which they obtained... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:11-14

Faults in the life breed errors in the brain, and errors ¢n the brain produce in turn faults in the life. Thus it was with Israel. Debauchery and drunkenness, and this to an extreme degree, had darkened the understanding, hardened the heart, paralyzed the will, and seared the conscience. In this enfeebled state of their intellectual and moral powers, they had recourse, in cases of doubt or difficulty, not to the high priest, or prophets of God, or Divine Word, for guidance and direction, but... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:12-14

The first of these verses exhibits the private life of the people as depraved by sin and folly; the second their public life as degraded by idolatry and lewdness; while the third points to the corresponding chastisement and its cause. My people ask counsel at their stocks (literally, wood ), and their staff declareth unto them . Rashi explains "stocks," or literally, "wood," to mean "a graven image made out of wood;" while Aben Ezra prefaces his exposition of this by an observation... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:12-14

Sin's fatuity. The people had parted with the knowledge of the true God, and had become possessed of a spirit of whoredoms. See the effects. I. THEY WEST AFTER SENSELESS FOLLIES . "My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them" ( Hosea 4:12 ). The spirit of sin is a spirit of "error." It robs men of their better judgment. No limit can be put to the wanderings of the mind under its influence. The worship of a "stock" is absurd enough, even when the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:13

They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good. The prophet here enlarges on the sin of idolatry mentioned in the preceding verse, and explains fully how it showed itself in the public life of the people. Two places are specified as scenes of idolatrous worship: one was the tops of mountains and hills; the other under every green tree, here specified as oaks, poplars, and terebinths, whether... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Hosea 4:13

They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains - The tops of hills or mountains seemed nearer heaven, the air was purer, the place more removed from the world. To worship the Unseen God upon them, was then the suggestion of natural feeling and of simple devotion. God Himself directed the typical sacrifice of Isaac to take place on a mountain; on that same mountain He commanded that the temple should be built; on a mountain, God gave the law; on a mountain was our Saviour transfigured; on a... read more

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