Hosea 9:8

"Ephraim was a watchman with my God; as for the prophet, a fowler's snare is in all his ways, and enmity in the house of his God."

"Ephraim was a watchman with my God ..." This clause sends the scholars scurrying to their emendations; but no emendations are needed. What is plainly said here is that Ephraim had climbed up presumptuously and seated himself with God and in the place of God as the monitor and watchman of Israel's fortunes. He has taken God's place! How incredible that a reprobate like Ephraim is here bracketed with God himself, an exclamatory witness of the unbelievable arrogance and unbelief of Ephraim.

"As for the prophet, a fowler's snare is in all his ways ..." Hosea tells us here exactly who is the prophet of Hosea 9:7, he is the false prophet, the one who is a fowler's snare to the people, who are gulled into believing his senseless lies.

McKeating, a recent, highly respected scholar, strongly affirmed the validity of the renditions given above (American Standard Version), and commented on the second half of it thus:

"The rest of the verse continues to describe how the prophets, who ought to be acting as the people's watchmen against disaster, have actually become agents of disaster themselves."[20]

Butler also accurately understood the implications of this verse thus:

"The meaning is that Israel searches out divine revelations on her own, along with the God of Hosts. In other words, Israel does not depend on Hosea to be declaring to her the revelation of God, but she trusts in her own so-called prophets, who were not inspired of God."[21]