Hosea 4:1

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hosea 4:1-5

Here is, I. The court set, and both attendance and attention demanded: ?Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for to you is the word of this conviction sent, whether you will hear or whether you will forbear.? Whom may God expect to give him a fair hearing, and take from him a fair warning, but the children of Israel, his own professing people? Yea, they will be ready enough to hear when God speaks comfortably to them; but are they willing to hear when he has a controversy with... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hosea 4:1

Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel ,.... The people of the ten tribes, as distinct from Judah, Hosea 4:15 , the prophet having finished his parables he was ordered to take up and deliver, and his explanations of them, and concluded with a gracious promise of the conversion of the Jews in the latter day, enters upon a new discourse, which begins with reproof for various sins; since what had been delivered in parables and types had had no effect upon them, they are called upon... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 4:1

The Lord hath a controversy - ריב rib , what we should call a lawsuit, in which God is plaintiff, and the Israelites defendants. It is Jehovah versus Israel and Judah. But when has God a controversy with any land? - Answer. When there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. These refer to the minds of the people. But wherever these righteous principles are wanting, there will soon be a vicious practice; hence it is added, read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 4:1

Verse 1 This is a new discourse by the Prophet, separate from his former discourses. We must bear in mind that the Prophets did not literally write what they delivered to the people, nor did they treat only once of those things which are now extant with us; but we have in their books collected summaries and heads of those matters which they were wont to address to the people. Hosea, no doubt, very often descanted on the exile and the restoration of the people, forasmuch as he dwelt much on all... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:1

EXPOSITION A new and distinct division of the book commences with this fourth chapter and continues till the close. What had previously been presented in figure and symbol is now plainly and literally stated. The children of Israel are summoned in the first verse of this chapter to hear the charge preferred against them and the sentence pronounced. Having convened, as it were, a public assembly and cited the persons concerned, the prophet proceeds to show cause why they are bound to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:1

Hear the word of the Lord! The Hebrew prophets were distinguished from other politicians and moralists in this respect, that they did not address the people upon their own authority, or convey to them the counsels of their own wisdom. It was their practice to keep themselves in the background, and to summon their countrymen, in the language of the text, to "hear the word of the Lord." This language implies— I. THAT GOD HAS SPOKEN TO MAN . 1. This is opposed to the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:1

A controversy. Language such as this shows how readily the inspired writers made use of human relationships in order to impress upon the minds of the people great moral facts and lessons. There is, of course, great difference between the disputes and controversies which arise among men, and any matter of estrangement between God and men; yet how vigorously and effectively does this language set forth human sin and Divine righteousness! I. THE PARTIES TO THIS CONTROVERSY . On... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:1-2

A corrupt people and an expostulating God. "Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood." In the previous chapters the prophet's language had been highly and somewhat perplexingly symbolical. It is so much so in the short chapter... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:1-5

Israel's sin and consequent suffering. The prophet is Jehovah's mouth-piece, and as such he calls on his fellow-men to hear the word of the Lord; he thus speaks by commission and with authority. Having thus claimed an attentive hearing in his Master's Name, he denounces Israel's sins, and declares the judgments that await them. In this discharge of his duty the prophet has a twofold object in view. By his timely and truthful warning he hopes to reclaim some, at least, of his countrymen, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:1-5

The Lord's lawsuit. The introduction to the Book of Hoses consists of a symbolical narrative, contained in Hosea 1-3. The body of the book is occupied with discourses, which are full of mingled reproaches, threatenings, and promises. Hosea 4:1-19 . evidently reflects the condition of the nation during the interregnum which followed the death of Jeroboam II . The key-word of the first strophe ( Hosea 4:1-5 ) is the word "controversy" ( Hosea 4:1 ), used in the sense of a legal... read more

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