Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 11:2
[As] they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
2. As they called them, &c.] Or, The more they called them, &c. (comp. Hos 4:7). Since Israel disobeyed the first call by Moses, prophets were sent to repeat the call, but their preaching only seemed to increase Israel’s obstinacy (comp. Isa 6:9-10; Jer 7:25-26). What, then, was the good of prophecy? It kept up a church within the nation, and it developed ideas which bore fruit in due time.
unto Baalim, &c.] Rather, to the Baalim (see on Hos 2:13) to the graven images.
As they called them, so they went from them – The prophet changes his tone, no longer speaking of that one first call of God to Israel as a whole, whereby He brought out Israel as one man, His one son; which one call he obeyed. Here he speaks of Gods manifold calls to the people, throughout their whole history, which they as often disobeyed, and not disobeyed only, but went contrariwise. They called them. Whether God employed Moses, or the judges, or priests, or kings, or prophets, to call them, it was all one. Whenever or by whomsoever they were called, they turned away in the opposite direction, to serve their idols. They proportioned and fitted, as it were, their disobedience to Gods long-suffering. : Then chiefly they threw off obedience, despised their admonitions, and worked themselves up the more franticly to a zeal for the sin which they had begun. They, Gods messengers, called; so, in like manner, they went away from them. They sacrificed unto Baalim, i. e., their many Baals, in which they cherished idolatry, cruelty, and fleshly sin. : So when Christ came and called them manifoldly, as in the great day of the feast, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink, the more diligently He called them, the more diligently they went away from Him, and returned to their idols, to the love and possession of riches and houses and pleasures, for whose sake they despised the truth. Hos 11:2
They sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
Graven images
We read frequently of graven images and of molten images, and the words are become so familiar as names of idolatrous images that, although they axe not well chosen to express the Hebrew names, it seems not advisable to change them for others that might more exactly correspond with the original. The graven imago was not a thing wrought in metal by the tool of the workman we should now call an engraver; nor was the molten image an image made of metals or any ether substance, melted and shaped in a mould. In fact, the graven image and the molten image are the same thing under different names. The images of the ancient idolaters were first cut out of wood by the carpenter, as is very evident from the prophet Isaiah. This figure of wood was overlaid with plates either of gold or silver, or sometimes perhaps of an inferior metal, and in this finished state it was called a graven image (i.e., a carved image)
, in reference to the inner solid figure of wood, and a molten (i.e., an overlaid or covered)
image, in reference to the outer metalline case or cover. Sometimes both epithets are applied to it at once (Nah 1:14; Hab 2:18). The English word molten conveys a notion of melting or fusion. But this is not the case with the Hebrew word for which it is given. The Hebrew signifies to spread, or cover all over, either by pouring forth a substance in fusion, or in spreading a cloth over or before, or by hammering on metalline plates. (Bishop Horsley.)
As they; Moses and Aaron, and other prophets, and holy, zealous judges and priests, as Samuel, &c. Called; advised, persuaded, entreated, and urged by exhortations. Them; the whole house of Israel, and among these the ten tribes, or Ephraim. So they Israelites, called and entreated, especially they of that age when the division was made, and ever since. Went from; frowardly and most disingenuously apostatized more and more, as the prophet, Isa 1:5. Horrible ingratitude so to requite God! From them; from the prophets counsel and commands, delivered as they came from God. They sacrificed unto Baalim; in the desert they began this apostacy, joined themselves to Baal-peor, Num 25:3, and worshipped the calf, Exo 32:4-6, and held on with obstinacy in it. Graven images; images of their gods, before which they performed another part of religious worship, burning incense before them. 2. As they called them“they,”namely, monitors sent by Me. “Called,” in Ho11:1, suggests the idea of the many subsequent calls by theprophets. went from themturnedaway in contempt (Jer 2:27). Baalimimages of Baal,set up in various places. [As] they called them, so they went from them,…. That is, the prophets of the Lord, the true prophets, called Israel to the worship and service of God; but they turned a deaf ear to them, and their backs upon them; and the more they called to them, the further they went from them, and from the way of their duty; see Ho 11:7. So the Targum,
“I sent the prophets to teach them, but they wandered from them;”
Moses and Aaron were sent unto them, and called them out of Egypt, but they hearkened not unto them; see Ex 6:9; in later times the prophets were sent unto them, to exhort them to their duty, and to reclaim them from their evil ways, but they despised and refused to attend to their advice and instructions; and this was continued to the times of Israel, or the ten tribes, departing from the house of David, and setting up idolatrous worship; and during their revolt and apostasy: but all in vain. So after Christ was called out of Egypt, he and his apostles, and John the Baptist before them, called them to hearken to him, but they turned away from them. Aben Ezra interprets it of the false prophets, who called them to idolatry, and they went after them. Schmidt understands it of the Israelites calling one another to it, and going after it, for their own sakes, and because it pleased them, and was agreeable to them;
they sacrificed to Baalim, and burnt incense to graven images: they joined themselves to Baalpeor, and worshipped the golden calf, fashioned with a graving tool, in the wilderness; they sacrificed to Baalim, one or another of them, in the times of the judges, and of Ahab, and committed idolatry with other graven images, of which burning incense is a part. And the Jews in Christ’s time, instead of hearkening to him and his apostles, followed the traditions of the elders, and the dictates of the Scribes and Pharisees, who were their Baals, their lords and masters and they sought for life and righteousness by their own works, which was sacrificing to their net, and burning incense to their drag; all this was great ingratitude. Next follows a narrative of other benefits done to this people.
The Prophet now repeats the ingratitude of the people in neglecting to keep in mind their redemption. The word, “called,” is here to be taken in a different sense. For God effectually called, as they say, the people, or his Son, from Egypt: he has again called by the outward voice or teaching through his Prophets. Hence, when he said before that he called his Son from Egypt, it ought to be understood, as they say, of actual liberation: but now when he says, They have called them, it is to be understood of teaching. The name of the Prophets is not expressed; but that they are intended is plain. And the Prophet seems designedly to have said in an indefinite manner, that the people had been called, that the indignity might appear more evident, as they had been called so often and by so many, and yet had refused. Hence they have called them When he thus speaks, he is not to be understood as referring to one or two men, or to a few, but as including a great number of men, doing this everywhere. Even thus now have they called them; that is, this people have been called, not once or twice, but constantly; and God has not only sent one messenger or preacher to call them, but there have been many Prophets, one after the other, often thus employed, and yet without any benefit. We now perceive what the Prophet meant.
They have called them, he says, so they went away from their presence (74) The particle so, כן, can, is introduced here to enliven the description; for the Prophet points out, as by the fingers how wickedly they conspired to execute their own counsels, as if they wished purposely to show in an open manner their contempt. So they went away; when the Prophets called them to one course, they proceeded in an opposite one. We then see, that to point out thus their conduct was not superfluous, when he says, that they in this manner went away: and then he says, from their face Here he shows that the people sought hiding-places and shunned the light. We may indeed conclude from these words, that so great was the perverseness of the people, that they not only wished to be alienated from God, but also that they would have nothing to do with the Prophets. It is indeed a proof of extreme wickedness, when instruction itself is a weariness, and ministers cannot be endured; and no doubt the Prophet meant to set forth this sin of the people.
He afterwards says, that they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burnt incense to graven images In the former clause, he shows the contumacy of the Israelites, that they deigned not to give ear to God’s servants. He now adds, that they made incense to graven images, and also offered worship to their idols. By Baalim, as it has been already stated, the Prophet means the inferior gods. For no such stupidity prevailed among the people as not to think that there is some chief deity; nay, even profane Gentiles confessed that there is some supreme God. But they called their advocates ( patronos ) Baalim, as we see to be the case at this day under the Papacy, this same office is transferred to the dead; they are to procure for men the favour of God. The Papists then have no grounds for seeking an evasion by words; for the very same superstition prevails at this time among them, as prevailed formerly among Gentiles and the people of Israel. Here the Prophet enhances the wickedness of the people; for they not only contemptuously neglected every instruction in religion, but also openly perverted the whole worship of God, and abandoned themselves to all abominations, so as to burn incense to their own idols. Let us go on —
(74) Horsley, Newcome, and others, have unnecessarily divided here the compounded word, מפניהם, “from their presence,” and have thereby destroyed the force of the passage, as it appears from subsequent remarks. — Ed.
(2) As they (i.e., the prophets) called them, so they (Israel) went from them.Sought to avoid the voice and presence of the men of God.
2. Jehovah’s love was met with bitter ingratitude.
As they called R.V., “The more the prophets called.” The prophets is not in the Hebrew, but the Revisers were correct in supplying it as the subject (compare Hos 11:7). Jehovah did not cease calling when the efforts of Moses proved a partial failure; he raised up prophets (Amo 2:11-12), but the more earnestly these labored the more stubborn the resistance of the people (compare Isa 6:9-10; Jer 7:25-26). Notwithstanding the people’s obstinacy, the activity of the prophets was not a failure; it resulted in the preservation of a remnant out of which might grow a new nation of God.
Much did the prophets expect of this remnant, and much did it accomplish, though not all that the prophets expected. Nevertheless it prepared the way for him who alone was able to finish the work. A very slight change in the text, supported in part by LXX. and Peshitto, would give, “The more I called them, the more they went from me.”
Baalim See on Hos 2:5.
Burned incense See on Hos 2:13.
Graven images See on Mic 5:13. Hos 11:1-2 aptly describe the religious history from the Exodus to the days of Hosea; on the one hand, the intense love and care of Jehovah, on the other, the persistent rebellion of the people.
Hos 11:3 presents the tender care of Jehovah under the figure of a parent’s gentle dealings with his child. I Emphatic in Hebrew; in contrast to the Baalim.
Ephraim The northern kingdom.
Taught to go Directed their footsteps in a providential way, kept them from falling and, when they did fall, helped them to rise again. Taking them by their arms Literally (though the Hebrew form is peculiar), he took them upon his arms. R.V., following most ancient versions, “I took them on my arms.” A climax to the preceding. I lovingly taught the young child to walk, and when he grew weary I lovingly took him upon my arms and carried him (Isa 63:9; Deu 1:31).
They knew not See on Hos 2:8.
That I healed them A common figure in Hosea (Hos 5:13; Hos 6:1; Hos 7:1; compare Exo 15:26). To get the full meaning it is necessary to supply the thought, “When in their attempt to walk they fell and hurt themselves.”
Hos 11:4 contains a new figure of the fatherly care of Jehovah. “Israel is no longer the wanton young cattle of the previous chapter (Hos 10:11), which needs the yoke firmly fastened on the neck but a team of toiling oxen mounting some steep road.” Jehovah acted not the part of a cruel driver, but in a humane manner assisted the animal to accomplish its task.
Drew Not drove; he lent a helping hand to the weary beast.
Cords of a man Such as are adapted to a human being; these are bands (cords) of love Used in a spirit of love. Through love he sought to control and guide.
Take off [“lift up”] the yoke on their jaws While he gladly assisted the animal, he did not and could not take the whole task upon himself. The yoke remained upon the animal, but he placed it so it would not press too heavily upon the neck and jaws (cheeks) and make them sore. The manner of easing the yoke to which the prophet refers is not quite clear, since we do not know sufficiently the form of the ancient yoke.
I laid meat unto them [“food before them”] Literally, and gently I laid food before them, or, better still, And I bent toward him and gave him food. The task done, plenty of food was given to the animal. Thus in an indulgent and compassionate manner Jehovah supplied the needs of his people.
‘The more they called them,
The more they went from them,
They sacrificed to the Baalim,
And burned incense to graven images.’
But it is made clear that Israel in fact never came out of Egypt in their hearts, for the more that ‘they’ (the prophets) called them the more they deserted what they had been taught, and sacrificed to Baalim and graven images. It was made clear by this that idolatry and the ways of thinking of Egypt still possessed their hearts. In their hearts they had never left Egypt. ‘Burned incense to graven images.’ As well as the offering of sacrifices, the burning of incense in their many sanctuaries was a regular feature of Egyptian/Canaanite worship, and some of these incense altars have been discovered in what was Canaan.
Hos 11:2. As they called them As I called them, so they went from me. Houbigant.
Graven images We read frequently, in our English bibles, of graven images, and of molten images: and the words are become so familiar, as names of idolatrous images, that although they are not well chosen to express the Hebrew names, it seems not advisable to change them for others which might more exactly correspond with the original.
The graven image was not a thing wrought in metal by the tool of the workman whom we should now call an engraver; nor was the molten image an image made of metal, or any other substance melted, and shaped in a mould. In fact, the graven image and the molten image are the same thing, under different names. The images of the ancient idolaters were first cut out of wood, by the carpenter, as is very evident from the prophet Isaiah. This figure of wood was overlaid with plates either of gold or silver, or, sometimes perhaps, of an inferior metal. And in this finished state it was called a graven image (that is to say, a carved image), in reference to the inner solid figure of wood, and a molten (that is to say, an overlaid, or covered) image, in reference to the outer metalline case or covering. And sometimes both epithets are applied to it at once. I will cut off the graven and molten image; Nah 1:14. Again, What profiteth the graven and molten image? Hab 2:18. The English word molten conveys a notion of melting, or fusion. But this is not the case with the Hebrew word pesel, for which it is given. The Hebrew word signifies generally to overspread, or cover all over, in whatever manner, according to the different subject, the overspreading or covering be effected; whether by pouring forth a substance in fusion, or by spreading a cloth over or before, or by hammering on metalline plates. It is on account of this metalline case, that we find a founder employed to make a graven image, Jdg 17:3 and that we read in Isaiah of a workman that melteth a graven image; Isa 40:19.: and in another place we find the question, who hath molten a graven image? Isa 44:10. In these two passages the words should be overlayeth, and overlaid.
I beg the Reader, as a further confirmation to what I have observed in the first verse, that the Lord by his servant the Prophet, is here speaking of them, and not as before of him. Whereas, had the first verse referred to Israel in Egypt, there needed no change of numbers here; for the Lord is evidently now speaking of Israel in the plural, even the Lord’s Israel the Church. (And this by the way of a change of persons, so frequently to be met with in the sacred writings, ought always to be closely attended to, as a faithful guide to the proper apprehension of the word of God.) The strange propensity of Israel to the worship of the dunghill gods of Egypt, and the nations around need not be mentioned. The Lord makes many gracious expostulations with Israel on this account all the way through; so that it is only to refer to their history everywhere to find instances of it. Reader! what saith the heart of God’s Israel even now, after the wonderful calls of grace? Dearest Jesus! how prone are thy people to backslide?
Hos 11:2 [As] they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
Ver. 2. As they called them ] i.e. As the prophets and ministers (whose names are here concealed, that the Word only may be glorified, as Act 13:48 ) called to them, to come out of spiritual Egypt, out of darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among the saints, by faith that is in Christ, Act 26:18 .
So they went from them
They sacrificed unto Baalim, and burnt incense to graven images they. The callers: i.e. the prophets, &c. who called to them.
them. The Septuagint and Syriac read “Me”.
they. Israel.
sacrificed = kept sacrificing. Compare Hos 2:13; Hos 13:2. 2Ki 17:16.
they called: Hos 11:7, Deu 29:2-4, 1Sa 8:7-9, 2Ki 17:13-15, 2Ch 36:15, 2Ch 36:16, Neh 9:30, Isa 30:9-11, Jer 35:13, Jer 44:16, Jer 44:17, Zec 1:4, Zec 7:11, Luk 13:34, Joh 3:19, Act 7:51, 2Co 2:15, 2Co 2:16
they sacrificed: Hos 2:13, Hos 13:1, Hos 13:2, Jdg 2:13, Jdg 3:7, Jdg 10:6, 1Ki 16:31, 1Ki 16:32, 1Ki 18:19, 2Ki 17:16
burned: 1Ki 12:33, Isa 65:7, Jer 18:15, Jer 44:15
Reciprocal: Isa 50:2 – when I came Jer 1:16 – and have Jer 7:13 – and I called Jer 32:33 – turned Hos 4:17 – Ephraim Hos 7:13 – fled Mat 22:3 – and they would not Mat 23:37 – and ye
Hos 11:2. God sent the call to Israel, but it was done through representatives, and the pronoun they refers to them. The entire history of Israel is a record of rebellion against the true prophets and other leaders sent by the Lord to warn them against the evil nations around them. Baalim was the name of the invisible or imaginary gods, and the graven images were the ones carved out of wood, stone and metal.
Hos 11:2. As they called them, so, &c. Or, The more they called them, or, they were called, so much the more they went from him; that is, the more earnestly the prophets called upon them to cleave steadfastly to the true God, (see Hos 11:7,) the more they were bent to depart from him to the worship of idols. They sacrificed to Baalim See note on Hos 2:13. And burned incense to graven images We read frequently, in our English Bibles, of graven images, and of molten images. And the words are become so familiar, as names of idolatrous images, that, although they are not well chosen to express the Hebrew names, it seems not advisable to change them for others, that might more exactly correspond with the original. The graven image was not a thing wrought in metal by the tool of the workman we should now call an engraver; nor was the molten image an image made of metal, or any other substance melted, and shaped in a mould. In fact, the graven image and the molten image are the same thing under different names. The images of the ancient idolaters were first cut out of wood by the carpenter, as is very evident from the Prophet Isaiah. The figure of wood was overlaid with plates, either of gold or silver, or sometimes, perhaps, of an inferior metal. And in this finished state it was called a graven image, (that is, a carved image,) in reference to the inner solid figure of wood, and a molten (that is, an overlaid, or covered) image in reference to the outer metalline case, or covering. And sometimes both epithets are applied to it at once: see Nah 1:14; Hab 2:18, and Bishop Horsley.
11:2 [As] they called them, so they {b} went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
(b) They rebelled and went a contrary way when the Prophets called them to repentance.
God continued to call the Israelites after they left Egypt. He did so through His prophets. But the more the prophets appealed to the people to follow the Lord, the more the people turned aside from following Him. They kept sacrificing to Baal and kept burning incense to idols (cf. Jdg 2:11-13).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
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Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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