Hosea 9:6-9

6. Already the prophet sees the people leaving the land of Jehovah to experience the deprivations of the exile pictured in Hosea 9:4-5.

They are gone The prophetic perfect in Hebrew.

Because of destruction If the text is correct, better, with the R.V., ‘“away from destruction” away from the destruction of their native land. Some alter the text so as to read “to Assyria,” chiefly because Hosea frequently joins Egypt and Assyria.

Shall gather them up In exile (Hosea 8:10); in connection with “bury” the thought seems to be of gathering for burial (Jeremiah 8:2; Jeremiah 25:33).

Memphis shall bury Memphis was the old capital of Lower Egypt, and throughout the entire history of Egypt it remained a city of great prominence. It is located on the Nile a short distance south of Cairo.

Here, as a representative city of the kingdom, it is synonymous with Egypt. The figure is taken from the numerous and extensive burial grounds in Egypt, many of which recent excavations have brought to light. One of the largest of these was uncovered at Memphis, stretching twenty miles from north to south. As the dead are gathered in these burial fields never to rise again, so Israel will be swallowed up in Egypt. Meanwhile their own land will become a wilderness, covered with nettles and thorns.

Pleasant places for their silver The treasure houses; but R.V., “pleasant things of silver” their valuable possessions made of silver. The expression cannot be limited to idols. From the parallel clause it seems that the reference is to houses decorated and filled with silver.

Nettles shall possess They will grow over them; and thorns shall cover their tabernacles Dwellings.

In Hosea 9:7-9 the text is in such confusion that the exact meaning of some parts cannot be determined. The first part of Hosea 9:7 evidently connects with Hosea 9:6.

Are come To express his assurance that the days of visitation, that is, of judgment and recompense for wrongdoing (described in 2-6), will certainly come the prophet uses the prophetic perfect, equivalent to shall surely come.

Israel shall know it Find out by experience (compare Isaiah 9:9). Shall know what? Some answer, that “the prophet is a fool,… is mad.” In other words, the people will discover that they have been deceived by the prophets who have promised continued peace and prosperity (Micah 2:11; Micah 3:5). This interpretation makes the prophet and the spiritual man, or man that hath the spirit, the false prophet. If this is the correct interpretation the words “Israel shall… mad” must be regarded as a parenthetical sentence, since the latter part of the verse, “for the abundance of thine iniquity,” must be connected with the announcement of judgment in the first part. But would a true prophet call a false prophet a spiritual man? This is at least doubtful (Ezekiel 13:3); the expression is certainly more applicable to a true prophet. If so here, the above interpretation cannot be correct. A second interpretation connects “Israel shall know it” with the preceding; Israel shall know the terrors of the judgment. With “the prophet” begins a new sentence, which continues to the end of the verse. According to this view, Hosea says that the true prophet has become a fool and madman; that is, he has become beside himself at the sight of the awful condition and the thought of the impending doom of the people. The awfulness of the expected calamity was indeed sufficient to drive mad a man with the sensitive nature of an Hosea. A third interpretation sees in the words “the prophet… mad” a defiant reply of the people. They meet the exhortations of the prophet with a contemptuous sneer that he is a fool and a madman (2 Kings 9:11; compare Acts 2:13). These words the prophet takes up and says, The prophet has indeed gone mad, but it is your sin and his yearning sympathy for you which has made him so. It may be difficult to say which of these is the right interpretation; on the whole, the last seems preferable.

The great hatred R.V., “the enmity is great”; that is, the enmity manifested against the prophet (explained further in Hosea 9:8) helps to drive him mad. Some change the text and read “greatness of thy sin,” so as to bring it in accord with the parallel clause.

Hosea 9:8 also presents serious difficulties.

The watchman of Ephraim was with my God R.V., “Ephraim was a watchman with my God.” Most commentators seem to prefer the construction adopted by the Revisers, but all recognize the difficulties of the clause. As a result there have been many translations and interpretations, and not a few emendations. Delitzsch, understanding watchman in a bad sense, interprets, “The God who speaks by the prophet has in Ephraim a malignant spy instead of a humble observer”; for this reason the prophet is persecuted. More commonly, however, the word is used in a good sense, a watchman appointed by Jehovah (Jeremiah 6:17; Ezekiel 3:17; Habakkuk 2:1, etc.). Therefore Keil and others interpret, “Ephraim (Israel) looks out for the prophecies or divine revelations with the God of the prophets, that is, at the side of Jehovah; in other words, it does not trust or follow its own prophets, who are not inspired by Jehovah.” These interpreters regard the prophets mentioned in the latter part of the verse as false prophets, who are to the people a snare of the fowler in all its ways; that is, everywhere they attempt to ensnare the people; even in the house of Jehovah they manifest their evil intentions (compare Amos 7:10-17). These are two representative interpretations of the text as it stands; of these that of Delitzsch is preferable, for after condemning so persistently the attitude of Ephraim toward Jehovah it is not probable that Hosea would describe Ephraim as a watchman waiting longingly for divine revelations. But, even admitting that the Hebrew may possibly yield the thought suggested by Delitzsch, the expression is peculiar and un-Hebraic; and it is this feeling that accounts for the many emendations proposed. Of these the most simple is that of Cheyne, which requires only the addition of one letter ( מ ), which, he assumes, has fallen out accidentally at the beginning of one word because the preceding word ends with the same consonant. In addition, he connects the first clause with the second and reads the entire verse, “The watchman of Ephraim (so A.V.), appointed by my God (literally, from my God), even the prophet a fowler’s snare is in all his ways, and enmity in the house of his God.” This gives a very satisfactory sense.

Watchman of Ephraim The prophet (compare Jeremiah 6:17).

Snare of a fowler Spread by the Israelites who seek to destroy the prophet.

The house of his God Either the sanctuary of Jehovah (Amos 7:10-17), or house may be used, as in Hosea 8:1; Hosea 9:15, in the sense of land. Nowhere in the land is the prophet safe. All other emendations require more radical changes in the text. Nowack, by means of omissions, transpositions, and other changes, gets, “Hostility to the watchman is found in the house of his God; the prophet finds fowler’s snares in all his ways.” Harper, taking “enmity” over from Hosea 9:7, connecting the latter part of Hosea 9:8 with 9a, and changing the latter, reads, “Enmity exists toward Ephraim’s watchman; the prophet (finds) the snares of the fowler in all his ways; in the (very) house of God they dig for him a deep pit.”

Hosea 9:9, as it now stands, forms a suitable conclusion. They have gone to the lowest depths of corruption.

As in the days of Gibeah Hosea refers again to this crime in Hosea 10:9 (compare Judges 19:22-30; Judges 20:46-48).

That deed of shame was severely punished. Would Israel escape? Surely not. He will remember… visit See on Hosea 7:2; Hosea 8:13.