Verse 11
"Is Gilead iniquity? they are altogether false; in Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field."
"Gilead ..." is mentioned in Hosea 6:8 and was one of the places in Israel associated with wickedness and false worship. Altars and shrines devoted to the bull-gods had been multiplied there, and this verse pronounces a judgment against them.
"Is Gilead iniquity ...?" This is a sarcastic question designed to say that, "Of course, Gilead IS iniquity!"
"In Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks ..." There was one altar where the Jews were commanded to worship God, but they had perverted that by multiplying and setting up altars all over the nation. Gilgal was especially associated with the worship of the bull-gods; see under Hosea 4:15, above.
"Their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field ..." This is the judgment, uttered in the prophetic tense. It is already a fact, as much so as if it had already happened. All of those altars upon which Israel had lavished wealth and adoration would finally be nothing more than rubble that a farmer had to plow around when working his field.
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