Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:2
Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.
2. Their heart is divided ] viz., between Jehovah and idols. But this, which involves an alteration of the points, gives too weak a sense for such a context. It is better to keep the ordinary pointing, and render, Their heart is slippery (or deceitful; lit. ‘is smooth’; comp. Eze 12:24 smooth, i.e. flattering, divination).
be found faulty ] Rather, be dealt with as guilty (as Hos 13:16).
he shall break down, &c.] The phrase is a bold one; it is literally ‘he shall break the necks of the altars’, i.e. perhaps strike off their horns (Amo 3:14), and so destroy them. ‘He’ is emphatically expressed in the Hebrew, to indicate the unseen observer of their thoughts and actions.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Their heart is divided – Between God and their idols, in that they would not wholly part with either, as Elijah upbraided them, How long halt ye between the two opinions? 1Ki 18:21. When the pagan, by whom the king of Assyria replaced them, had been taught by one of the priests whom the king sent back, in order to avert Gods judgments, they still propagated this division. Like Jeroboam 2Ki 17:32-33, 2Ki 17:41, they became fearers of the Lord, His worshipers, and made to themselves out of their whole number (i. e., indiscriminately) priests of the high places. They were fearers of the Lord, and they were servers of their gods, according to the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. These nations were fearers of the Lord, and they were servers of their idols, both their children and their childrens children. As did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
This divided allegiance was their hereditary worship. These pagan, as taught by one of the priests of Israel, added the service of God to that of their idols, as Israel had added the service of the idols to that of God. But God rejecteth such half service; from where he adds, now, in a brief time, all but come, they shall be found faulty, literally, they shall be guilty, shall be convicted of guilt and shall bear it. They thought to serve at once God and Mammon; but, in truth, they served their idols only, whom they would not part with for God. God Himself then would turn away all their worship, bad, and, as they thought, good. He, from whom their heart was divided, He Himself, by His mighty power which no man can gain-say, shall break down their altars, literally, shall behead them. As they out of His gifts multiplied their altars and killed their sacrifices upon them against His will, so now should the altars themselves, be demolished; and the images which they had decked with the gold which He had given, should, on account of that very gold, tempt the spoiler, through whom God would spoil them.
He shall break down – He Himself. The word is emphatic. : God willeth not that, when the merited vengeance of God is inflicted through man, it should be ascribed to man. Yea, if anyone ascribeth to himself what, by permission of God, he hath power to do against the people of God, he draweth down on him the displeasure of God, and, at times, on that very ground, can hurt the less (see Deu 32:26, Deu 32:7; Isa 10:5 ff). The prophet then says very earnestly, He Himself shall break, meaning us to understand, not the lofty hand of the enemy, but that the Lord Himself did all these things.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Hos 10:2
Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty.
A divided heart
It is one grievous fault with the Church of Christ at the present day, that it is not merely divided somewhat in its creed, and somewhat also in the practice of its ordinances, but, alas! it is also somewhat divided in heart. When our doctrinal divisions grow to so great a head that we cease to co-operate, when our opinions upon mere ordinances become so acid towards each other that we can no longer extend the right hand of fellowship to those who differ from us, then indeed is the Church of God found faulty. Even Beelzebub, with all his craft, cannot stand when once his hosts are divided. The smallest church in the world is potent for good when it hath but one heart and one soul; when pastor, elders, deacons, and members are bound together by a threefold cord which cannot be broken. Union is strength. By union we live, and by disunion we expire. Apply the text to our individual condition.
I. A fearful disease. Their heart is divided.
1. The seat of the disease. It affects a vital part, a part so vital that it affects the whole man. There is no power, no passion, no motive, no principle which does not become vitiated when once the heart is diseased.
2. The disease touches this vital part after a most serious fashion. The heart is cleft in twain. Nothing can go right when that which should be one organ becomes two; when the one motive power begins to send forth its life-floods into two diverse channels, and so creates intestine strife and war.
3. It is a division in itself peculiarly loathsome. Men who are possessed of it do not feel themselves unclean; they will venture into the church, they will propose to receive her communion, and they will afterwards go and mingle with the world; and they do not feel that they have become dishonest. Take the glass and look into that mans heart, and you will discern that it is loathsome, because Satan and sin reign there. All the while that he is living in sin he is pretending that he is a child of God. Stand out in thy true colours. If thou art a worldling, be a worldling.
4. It is a disease always difficult to cure, because it is chronic. It is not an acute disease, which brings pain and suffering and sorrow with it. But it is chronic, it has got into the very nature of the man. What physician can join together a divided heart?
5. This disease is a very difficult one to deal with, because, it is a flattering disease. The most cunning of all flatterers is a mans own heart. A mans own heart will flatter him, even about his sins. He is contented and self-satisfied.
II. The usual symptoms of the disease.
1. Formality in religious worship. These men have no faith; they have only a creed. They have no life within, and they supply its place with outward ceremony. What wonder, therefore, that we fiercely defend that!
2. Inconsistency. You must not see him always if you would have a good opinion of him. You must be guarded as to the days on which you call upon him. You must have a divided heart if you live an inconsistent life.
3. Variableness in object. There are men who run first in one direction then in another. Their religion is all spasmodic. They are taken with it as men are taken with the ague. They take up with religion, and then they lay it down again.
4. Frivolity in religion is often a token of a divided heart. It is perhaps too common a sin with young persons to treat religion with a light and frivolous air. There is a seriousness which is well-becoming, especially in youthful Christians.
III. The sad effects of a divided heart. When a mans heart is divided he is at once everything that is bad.
1. With regard to himself, he is an unhappy man. Men who are neither this nor that, neither one thing nor another, are always uneasy and miserable.
2. He is useless in the Church. Of what good is such a man to us? We cannot put him in a pulpit or make him a deacon. We cannot commit to his charge spiritual matters, because we discern that he is not spiritual himself. We know that no man who is not united in his heart vitally and entirely to Christ can ever be of the slightest service to the Church of God.
3. He is dangerous to the world. He is like a leper going abroad in the midst of healthy people; he spreads the disease. Though outwardly whitewashed like a sepulchre, he is more dangerous to the world than the most vicious of men.
4. He is contemptible to everybody. When he is found out nobody receives him; scarcely will the world own him, and the Church will have nothing to administer to him but censure.
5. He is reprobate in the sight of God. To the eye of infinite purity he is one of the most obnoxious and detestable of beings. The holy God both hates his sin and the lies with which he endeavours to cover it.
IV. The future punishment of the man whose heart is divided. Unless he is rescued by a great salvation. Let me describe the terrible condition of the hypocrite when God shall come to judge the world. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The divided heart
The root of the evil in Israel was, as always, a heart divided,–that is, between God and Baal,–or, perhaps, smooth, that is, dissimulating and insincere. In reality, Baal alone possesses the heart which its owner would share between him and Jehovah. All in all, or not at all is the law. Whether Baals or calves were set beside God, He was equally deposed. Then with a swift turn Hosea proclaims the impending judgment, setting himself and the people as if down in the future. He hears the first peal of the storm, and echoes it in that abrupt now. The first burst of the judgment scatters dreams of innocence, and the cowering wretches see their sin by the lurid light. That discovery awaits every man whose heart has been divided. To the gazers and to himself masks drop, and the true character stands out with appalling clearness. What will that light show us to be? The ruin of their projects teaches godless men at last that they have been fools to take their own way; for all defences, resources, and protectors, chosen in defiance of God, prove powerless when the strain comes. It is a dismal thing to have to bear the brunt of chastisement for what we see to have been a blunder as well as a crime. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Antagonistic principles
Solomon wanted to live a life of self-indulgence while posing as a servant of God. His offering costly sacrifices, and building a magnificent temple, and making a beautiful prayer, could not rectify the inconsistency. The two could not exist together in one person. It was like the ice palace built for an empress of Russia, which was beautiful as a dream, with elaborate architecture, and glistening like a jewel in the sun. But it was intensely cold, and the empress ordered a fire to be built in it. The architect had to explain to her that the fire would destroy the building. She could not have an ice palace and warmth at the same time. Neither can any one have a heart of icy selfishness along with the warmth of Gods love. (Christian Herald.)
A divided heart
You know there is what is called changeable silk, which looks now green and now brown, just as the light chances to strike it. It is neither brown nor green, as a matter of fact, but a commingling and compromise of the two: therefore you can get whichever colour you like, according as you present it to the sun. And I am sorry to say that it is so with a good many Christians. You can get a worldly shade or a heavenly shade on their piety, just according to the company they are in. (A. J. Gordon.)
Divided hearts
We are told that some of our scientists have recently been trying a very doubtful experiment. They take a section of one creature and fasten it upon another creature of an altogether different type. This is done by a delicate surgery when the creature is immature, and when it comes to perfection you have a strange monster. For instance, it is said that they fasten a section of a spider on the butterfly, and by and by you get an alarming and tragical organism. You may imagine what becomes of those antagonistic impulses and instincts. The creature has a feeling for the light and a passion for the darkness; it has a taste for blood, and loves the scent of roses; is afraid of itself and worries itself. Now, when you have seen the spider and the butterfly blended into one organism, you have seen a pale reflection of your own personality. One part of us sympathises with the low and another part with the lofty; one part of us looks into the firmament and another part cleaves to the dust. (W. L. Watkinson.)
A divided heart
In every age and country there are some found with divided hearts on the subject of religion. Such was Hiram, King of Tyre, who, while he blessed the Lord that Solomon was king, and gladly traded with him for some of the materials for building a temple to Jehovah, also contributed one hundred and twenty talents of gold towards its erection. And yet, in his own country, he dedicated a golden pillar to Jupiter, built the temples of Hercules and Astarte, the Ashtaroth of the Zidonians, and enriched the shrines of the god and goddess with valuable gifts. So Redwald, the King of East Anglia, when converted to Christianity, is said to have kept two altars, the one to the God of the Christians, the other to Woden, a Saxon idol, being afraid of the imaginary god whom he had so long worshipped. So there are some now, who appear very religious at times, and yet their hearts go after covetousness, and they are quite at home in the circles of the gay and in the indulgence of sinful pleasure.
Judgment on the divided heart
1. As the heart is a vital part, which cannot be divided without death, so men can have no life of God, nor acknowledgment of Him, when they are not solely and wholly for Him and His way.
2. When men do fall from Gods way, it is just with Him to give them up to start and multiply divisions without end in their own way.
3. Civil dissensions and commotions are the just fruits of mens divisions in the matter of God and His worship. (George Hutcheson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. Their heart is divided] They wish to serve God and Mammon, Jehovah and Baal: but this is impossible. Now GOD will do in judgment what they should have done in contrition, “break down their altars, and spoil their images.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Their heart is divided from God and his worship, or between God and Baal, such as Zep 1:5 speaks of, or else divided one from another by parties, and factions, and civil wars, which tended to their ruin.
Now shall they be found faulty; as this was their sin, so the effects hereof should manifestly prove them faulty.
He, either God, or the king of Assyria stirred up by God to invade and destroy Ephraim,
shall break down their altars; utterly pull down those altars which they had multiplied to their idols: the Assyrians shall, as other conquering heathen idolaters, rage against the gods of the people they conquer, as well as against the people; such was the pride and atheism of these men.
He shall spoil their images; waste or destroy them; how goodly soever they had seemed to be, yet they should be broken to pieces; and where made of rich materials, as silver and gold, or if adorned with it, the enemy should the sooner spoil them; and then it will appear how sottish this people were to trust in them, or ascribe any praise to them, when Baal cannot defend his own images or people.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. heart . . . divided(1Ki 18:21; Mat 6:24;Jas 4:8).
nowthat is, soon.
heJehovah.
break down“cutoff,” namely the heads of the victims. Those altars, which werethe scene of cutting off the victims’ heads, shall bethemselves cut off.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Their heart is divided,…. Some say from Hoshea their king, who would have reformed them from their idolatry, and returned them to the true worship of God; but of that there is no proof; better from one another, their affections being alienated from each other, by their discords and animosities, their conspiracies against their kings, and the murders of them, and the civil wars among themselves; they also not being of one mind, but disagreeing in their sentiments about their idols; some being for one, and some for another: or rather from God himself, from the fear of him, from his worship and service; or from the law, as the Targum; or their hearts were divided between God and their idols, as in Ahab’s time between God and Baal; they pretended to worship God when they worshipped the calves, and so shared the service between them; or it may be rendered, “their heart flatters” r them; as if they had done that which was right and good, and were guilty of no evil, nor would any punishment be inflicted on them:
now shall they be found faulty; be convicted of their sin and folly, and appear guilty; when they shall be punished for their idolatry, and their idols not able to save them, as the destruction of them next mentioned will fully evince: or, “now shall they become desolate” s their land shall be desolate, and they carried captive:
he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images: that is, the king of Assyria shall do all this, or God by him: or, “behead their altars” t; take off the top of them, as the Targum; the horns of them, which might be made of gold, or other ornaments which were of value; and therefore became the plunder of the enemy; and who also would break in pieces their images, for the sake of the metal, gold or silver, of which they were made; as was usually done by conquerors, and to show their entire power over the conquered, that even their gods could not deliver them out of their hands.
r “adblanditur cor eorum”, Schmidt. s “nunc desolabuntur”, Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Drusius; so Kimchi and Ben Melech. t “decollabit”, Drusius, Piscator, Tarnovius, De Dieu; “decervicabit”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He says first that their heart was divided, that is, from God; for this, we know, is principally required, that people should faithfully cleave to their God. “And now Israel, what does thy God require of thee, but to cleave to him with the whole heart?” Since God then binds us to himself by a holy union, it is the summit of all wickedness, when our heart is divided from him, as it is when an unchaste and perfidious wife alienates her affection from her husband. For as long as the husband keeps the heart of his wife, as it were, tied to himself, conjugal fidelity and chastity continue; but when her heart is divided from her husband, it is all over, and she abandons herself to lewdness. So also the Prophet says here that the heart of the people was divided from God; for they did not devote themselves to God with a pure and sincere affection, as they ought to have done. “This people then have withdrawn their heart from me.”
But he says, Now they shall be guilty; that is I will now show what they deserve, so that they shall not hereafter, as they are wont to do, sport with their cavils; for the verb אשם, ahsem, is not to be referred to the deeds but rather, as, they say, to its manifestation. Then he says that they shall be guilty, for they shall be convicted: as, to be justified means to be absolved, so also to be guilty means to be condemned. The meaning is, that as this people could not perceive the Lord’s wrath as long as their condition was easy to be borne, he would inflict such dreadful punishment as would convince them, so that they might no longer deceive and flatter themselves. They shall then be now condemned. How? For the Lord will overturn their altars. This may be referred to the minister of vengeance; but as no name is expressed, I prefer to understand God as being meant. God then shall overturn their altars and destroy, or reduce to nothing, their statues
This was added, because ungodly men, we know, trust in their own devices, and can never be brought to serious fear, except when they understand that they have been deceived by the crafts of Satan, while they gave themselves up to superstitions and idolatry. Hence the Prophet declares that their altars shall be overturned, and their statues reduced to nothing, that hypocrites might lay aside the confidence by which they had hitherto grown proud against God. But a confirmation of this view follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) Their heart is divided is the rendering of the LXX., Raschi, Aben-Ezra, and most ancient versions. But modern expositors prefer to translate Their heart is treacherous (smooth). The rest of the verse should run thus:Now shall they suffer punishment. He shall break (the horns of) their altars; he shall destroy their pillars.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘Their heart is divided (or ‘smooth, deceitful’).
Now will they be found guilty.
He will smite their altars,
He will destroy their pillars.’
But Hosea warned that it would not go on for ever. Their hearts were divided between YHWH and Baal, with YHWH demoted to a mere nature god, and as a result they were about to be found guilty, guilty of dishonouring and ignoring YHWH’s covenant and His special claim on them. And as a consequence He was about to smite their altars and destroy their pillars. For He had not overlooked Assyria. Indeed He was about to use Assyria as the rod of His anger (Isa 10:5).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hos 10:2. Now shall they be found faulty Now shall they undergo their punishment.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Alas! how often do the Lord’s people still find a divided heart! Precious Jesus! though I am fully convinced that there can be no happiness but in thee, yet how frequently is my poor heart going after idols! Jesus! do thou exercise thy lawful sovereignty over my affections, and by thy Holy Spirit so bring every thought into obedience, that I may know no Lord but thee!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hos 10:2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.
Ver. 2. Their heart is divided ] sc. from God; whose soul therefore is justly disjointed from them, Jer 6:8 . They professed to worship the true God, and yet they transferred the honour due to him alone upon dumb idols; they halted between two, and would needs serve two lords; but God would have none of that. “Be the gods of the heathen good fellows,” saith one, “the true God is a jealous God, and will not part stakes with another.” The double-minded man is not for his service; for he will be served truly, that there be no halting; and, totally, that there be no halving. Good therefore and worthy of all acceptation is the counsel of St James to such, Jas 4:8 , “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded,” or ye cloven-hearted, . Out with the corruption that cleaveth to your hearts; and then there will be a constance and evenness in your minds, mouths, and manners; which is absolutely necessary to such as draw nigh to God in holy duties, and the contrary abominable, Isa 29:13 .
Now shall they be found faulty
He shall break down their altars
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Their heart is divided. Compare 1Ki 18:21. 2Ki 17:32, 2Ki 17:33, 2Ki 17:41.
found faulty = held guilty. Referring back to Hos 9:17.
he shall, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 23:24; Exo 34:13. Deu 7:5; Deu 12:3).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Their heart is divided: or, He hath divided their heart, Hos 7:8, 1Ki 18:21, Isa 44:18, Zep 1:5, Mat 6:24, Luk 16:13, 2Th 2:11, 2Th 2:12, Jam 1:8, Jam 4:4, 1Jo 2:15, Rev 3:15, Rev 3:16
break down: Heb. behead, Hos 10:5-8, Hos 8:5, Hos 8:6, 1Sa 5:4, Jer 43:13, Mic 5:13, Zec 13:2
Reciprocal: Exo 8:28 – I will 2Ki 17:33 – They feared 2Ch 25:2 – but not Psa 78:37 – their heart Psa 86:11 – unite Psa 119:10 – my whole Isa 17:8 – the work Eze 6:6 – your altars Eze 14:5 – I may Hos 8:11 – many 1Co 6:7 – there Rev 14:5 – without
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hos 10:2. Heart is divided denotes that Israel mixed his devotions, giving most of them to the idols but professing to be serving the true God. Continuing the illustration of a vine, this nation produced faulty or objectionable fruit An owner of a vineyard would reject such a plant and remove it from his soil. Likewise the Lord threatened to break down the altars of the idolaters.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Hos 10:2-3. Their heart is divided Between God and their idols, or between God and the world. Now shall they be found faulty As this was their sin, so it is here threatened, that the effects thereof should prove, and be an open manifestation of their guilt. The Hebrew , may be rendered, now shall they be punished, or, treated as guilty. So the Vulgate, nunc interibunt, now, that is, forthwith, shall they perish. He shall break down their altars, &c. That is, God shall cause their idolatrous altars to be broken down, namely, by the Assyrians. For now they shall say They shall see and feel, and be compelled to own; We have no king Absolutely none, or no such king as we need and expected. This is thought by some commentators to relate to the time of anarchy, or the interregnum which continued for eight or nine years between the murder of Pekah and the settlement of Hoshea on the throne; because we feared not the Lord They shall be sensible that their forsaking the Lord for idols, and their casting off his fear, is the true cause of all their calamities; and particularly of their being deprived of the blessing of a wise, just, and good civil government. What then Or rather, But what should a king do for us? A king could not save us without the help of God. The verse, however, seems rather to refer to the time of their captivity, and the sense probably is, After Israel shall be carried captive into the country of their enemies, and shall have no king over their nation, they shall then acknowledge that this misfortune has happened to them through their own fault, and because they have not feared the Lord. And they shall acknowledge that it would profit them nothing to have kings, without having also the protection of God. Calmet.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10:2 Their heart is {c} divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.
(c) That is, from God, by serving their false gods.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Such behavior indicated an unfaithful (Heb. halaq, flattering, hypocritical, lit. slippery) heart that rendered the Israelites guilty before God. He would do away with the altars and pillars that they had erected.