Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 12:11
[Is there] iniquity [in] Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars [are] as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
11. The ruin of two famous centres of idolatry, representing together the entire northern kingdom.
Is there iniquity, &c.] More probably, If Gilead is (given to) idolatry, mere vanity shall they (the Gileadites) become, i.e. apostacy from Him who is the only source of life leads to sure destruction; ‘they that make the idols become like unto them.’ The town of Gilead has already been singled out for reprobation in Hos 6:8-9. For the historical fulfilment of the prophecy, see 2Ki 15:29 ‘in the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and took Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria’ (compare Tiglath-Pileser’s own account of his expedition against Philistia in b.c. 734; G. Smith, Eponym Canon, p. 123, Schrader, The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, on 2Ki 15:29).
they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal ] Or, as it might well be stated in the margin, ‘in Heap-town’ (see next note). They affront Jehovah by sacrificing at idolatrous shrines, especially at Gilgal (see on Hos 4:15). So the Targum. Others, by a slight emendation, ‘they sacrifice to the bullocks in Gilgal’, i.e. to the steer-gods; but there is no parallel for such a use of the word ‘bullocks.’ St Jerome’s ‘bobus immolantes’ is an ungrammatical rendering of our present text (see his note).
yea, their altars are as heaps, &c.] Rather, so then their altars shall he as stone-heaps, i.e. like heaps of stones which a careful husbandman has gathered out of his ploughed field (comp. Mic 1:6). The idiom employed (lit., ‘also their altars’ &c.) indicates the correspondence between cause and effect, a sin and its retribution (comp. Isa 66:3 b, 4 a); the tense is the prophetic perfect. There is a paronomasia in Gilgal (as if ‘Heap-town’, comp. Jos 4:20), and gallim (‘heaps’); the very name of Gilgal seems to suggest its impending fate. Some think the name ‘Gilead’ is also included in the paronomasia, but in spite of the apparent support of Gen 31:47-48, this is not the more natural view of Hosea’s language. At most, there is a play upon the similarity of sound in Gilead and Gilgal; not upon any supposed similarity of meaning.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Is there iniquity in Gilead? – The prophet asks the question, in order to answer it the more peremptorily. He raises the doubt, in order to crush it the more impressively. Is there iniquity in Gilead? Alas, there was nothing else. Surely they are vanity, or, strictly, they have become merely vanity. As he said before, they become abominations like their love. For such as men make their idols, or conceive their God to be, such they become themselves. As then he who worships God with a pure heart, is made like unto God, so they who worship stocks and stones, or who make passions and lusts their idols, lose the mind of men and become like the beasts which perish. In Gilgal they have sacrificed oxen. Gilead represents all the country on its side, the East of Jordan; Gilgal, all on its side, the West of Jordan. In both, God had signally shown forth His mercies; in both, they dishonored God, sacrificing to idols, and offering His creatures, as a gift to devils.
Yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field – Their altars are like the heaps of stones, from which men clear the plowed land, in order to fit it for cultivation, as numerous as profuse, as worthless, as desolate. Their altars they were, not Gods. They did, (as sinners do,) in the service of devils, what, had they done it to God, would have been accepted, rewarded, service. Full often they sacrificed oxen; they threw great state into their religion; they omitted nothing which should shed around it an empty show of worship. They multiplied their altars, their sins, their ruins; many altars over against His one altar; : rude heaps of stones, in His sight; and such they should become, no one stone being left in order upon another. In contrast with their sins and ingratitude, the prophet exhibits two pictures, the one, of the virtues of the patriarch whose name they bore, from whom was the beginning of their race; the other, of Gods love to them, in that beginning of their national existence, when God brought those who had been a body of slaves in Egypt, to be His own people.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. Iniquity in Gilead] Gilgal and Gilead are equally iniquitous, and equally idolatrous. Gilead, which was beyond Jordan, had already been brought under subjection by Tiglath-Pileser. Gilgal, which was on this side Jordan, shall share the same fate; because it is now as idolatrous as the other.
Their altars are as heaps] They occur everywhere. The whole land is given to idolatry.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Is there iniquity in Gilead? in this concise interrogatory the prophet warns the refractory, ungodly Israelites by an example of Gods wrath on them. About A.M. 326.1, at Ahazs request and charges, Tiglath-pileser came up against Israel, and took Gilead among other towns, leading the inhabitants captives, 2Ki 15:29; now some sixteen or seventeen years after doth our prophet mind the sinful and secure Ephraimites what they must expect, and doth it in this pungent question,
Is there iniquity in Gilead? i.e. is there only? or is there more? much like that of Christs, Luk 13:2,
Suppose ye them greater sinners? Be it so, captive Gilead was all iniquity, and Gilgal is no better. They that come up to Gilgal to sacrifice are idolaters, they sin against God in offering to them, and against their own welfare in trusting to them, both ways they appear to be vanity; whilst they multiply these altars and sacrifices, they multiply their sins, Gods displeasure is increased, and the danger more near and dreadful.
Their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields: idolatrous Israel, thou aboundest in altars; but if they are for number like heaps of stones, gathered out of ploughed land and laid in furrows, they are as common too, i.e. as far from sacred, as far from commending any offering to God, or stoning his displeasure. And canst thou, Ephraim, hope to escape, whose sins exceed the sins of captive Gilead? wilt thou never be wise, never warned, never repent?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. Is there iniquity in Gilead?Heasks the question, not as if the answer was doubtful, but tostrengthen the affirmation: “Surely they are vanity”; or asMAURER translates, “Theyare nothing but iniquity.” Iniquity, especiallyidolatry, in Scripture is often termed “vanity.” Pr13:11: “Wealth gotten by vanity,” that is,iniquity. Isa 41:29:”They are all vanity . . . images.” “Gilead”refers to Mizpah-gilead, a city representing the region beyond Jordan(Hos 6:8; Jdg 11:29);as “Gilgal,” the region on this side of Jordan (Ho4:15). In all quarters alike they are utterly vile.
their altars are as heaps inthe furrowsthat is, as numerous as such heaps: namely, theheaps of stones cleared out of a stony field. An appropriate image,as at a distance they look like altars (compare Hos 10:1;Hos 10:4; Hos 8:11).As the third member in the parallelism answers to the first, “Gilgal”to “Gilead,” so the fourth to the second, “altars”to “vanity.” The word “heaps” alludes to the name”Gilgal,” meaning “a heap of stones.” The veryscene of the general circumcision of the people, and of the solemnpassover kept after crossing Jordan, is now the stronghold ofIsrael’s idolatry.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[Is there] iniquity [in] Gilead?…. Idolatry there? strange that there should be, seeing it was a city of the priests; a city of refuge; or there is none there, say the priests, who pretended they did not worship idols, but the true Jehovah in them: or, “is [there] not iniquity”, or idolatry, “in Gilead” e? verily there is, let them pretend to what they will: or, “is [there only] iniquity in it” f? that the men of it should be carried captive, as they were by TiglathPileser, before the rest of the tribes; see 2Ki 15:29; no, there is iniquity and idolatry committed in other places, as well as there, who must expect to share the same fate in time: or, “is Gilead Aven?” g that is, Bethaven, the same with Bethel; it is as that, as guilty of idolatry as Bethel, where one of the calves was set up:
surely they are vanity: the inhabitants of Gilead, as well as of Bethel, worshipping idols, which are most vain things, vanity itself, and deceive those that serve them, and trust in them:
they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal: to idols, as the Targum adds; and so Jarchi and Kimchi; according to Aben Ezra, they sacrificed them to Baal; this shows that Gilead was not the only place for idolatry, which was on the other side Jordan, but Gilgal, which was on this side Jordan, was also polluted with it. The Vulgate Latin version is,
“in Gilgal they were sacrificing to bullocks;”
to the calves there, the same as were at Dan and Bethel; so, in the Septuagint version of 1Ki 12:29; it was formerly read: and so Cyril h quotes it, “[he] (Jeroboam) set the one (calf) in Gilgal, and the other [in] Dan”; hence the fable that Epiphanius i makes mention of, that, when Elisha was born, the golden ox or heifer at Gilgal bellowed very loudly, and so loud as to be heard at Jerusalem. The Targum makes mention of an idol temple here; and as it was near to Bethel, as appears from 1Sa 10:3; and from Josephus k; and so Jerom says l, hard by Bethel; some suspect another Gilgal; hence it might be put for it; however, it was a place of like idolatrous worship; it is mentioned as such along with Bethaven or Bethel, in Ho 4:15; see also Ho 9:15;
yea, their altars [are] as heaps in, the furrows of the fields; not only in the city of Gilgal, and in the temple there, as the Targum; but even without the city, in the fields they set up altars, which looked like heaps of stones; or they had a multitude of altars that stood as thick as they. So the Targum,
“they have multiplied their altars, like heaps upon the borders of the fields;”
and the Jewish commentators in general understand this as expressive of the number of their altars, and of the increase of idolatrous worship; but some interpret it of the destruction of their altars, which should become heaps of stones and rubbish, like such as are in fields. These words respect Ephraim or the ten tribes, in which these places were, whose idolatry is again taken notice of, after gracious promises were made to Judah. Some begin here a new sermon or discourse delivered to Israel.
e “an [non in] Galaad iniquitas?” Vatablus. f “En [in] Gileade [tantum] iniquitas?” Piscator. g “Num Gilead Aven?” Schmidt. h Apud Reland. Palestina Illustrata, tom. 2. l. 3. p. 783. i De Vita & Interitu Prophet. c. 6. & Paschal. Chronic. p. 161. apud Reland. ib. k Antiqu. l. 6. c. 4. sect. 9. l De locis Hebr. fol. 91. M.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
It is an ironical question, when the Prophet says, Is there iniquity in Gilead ? and he laughs to scorn their madness who delighted themselves in vices so gross, when their worship was wholly spurious and degenerated. When they knew that they were perfidious towards God, and followed a worship alienated from his law, they yet were so perverse, that they proudly refused all admonitions. Since then they were blinded in their vices, the Prophet asks them ironically, Is there iniquity in Gilead? They are as yet doubtful, forsooth, whether they are guilty before God, whether they bear any blame. Surely, he says, they are vanity; that is, “How much soever they may seek specious pretences for themselves, and deny that they are conscious of doing wrong, and also introduce many reasons for doubt, that they may not be forced to own their sin, they yet, he says, are guilty of falsehood; all their glosses contain nothing solid, but they are mere disguises, which avail nothing before God.” We now then apprehend the meaning of the Prophet.
But there is no doubt but that he also condemns here their perverted worship, by which the Israelites at the same time thought that they rendered the best service to God. But obedience, we know, is better than all sacrifices. The Prophet then inveighs here against all fictitious modes of worship, devised without God against the authority of God’s law. But at the same time, as we have just hinted, he indirectly exposes their thoughtlessness for imagining themselves excusable, provided they set up their own good intention, as it is commonly done, and say, that they built altars with no other design than to make known everywhere the name of God, to preserve among themselves some tokens of religion. Since, then, they thus raised up a cloud of smoke to cover their impiety, the Prophet says, “They indeed still inquire, as of a doubtful thing, whether there is iniquity in Gilead; let them inquire and dispute; surely,” he says, “they are vain;” literally, surely they have been falsehood: but he means that they foolishly brought forward those frivolous excuses, by which they tried to escape the crime and its punishment. How was it that they were vain? Because God values his own law more than all the glosses of men, and he will have all men to obey, without dispute, his own word: but when they thus licentiously depart from his commandments, it is what he cannot endure. They are then false and deceive themselves, who think that their own inventions are of any value before God. He then lays down their crimes
In Gilgal, he says, have they sacrificed oxen Jerome translates, “They sacrifice to oxen,” and thinks that the Israelites are reprehended here for sacrificing to the calves: but this seems too remote from the words of the Prophet. The Prophet then mentions their sin — that they sacrificed oxen and multiplied altars. And yet it seemed to be a diligence worthy of praise, that they increased many altars, that they worshipped God everywhere, that they spared neither expense nor labour, that they were not content with few sacrifices, but added a great number; — all this seemed to deserve no common praise: but the Lord, as it has been already said, valued not these corrupt practices; for he would have himself to be alone worshipped by his people, and would have their piety to be attested by this single evidence — their obedience to his word. When we then turn aside from God’s word, nay, when we with loose reins abandon ourselves to new inventions, though we may plausibly profess that our object is to worship God, yet all this is a vain and fallacious pretence, as the Prophet here declares.
Jerome is mistaken in thinking that Gilgal was a town in the tribe of Judah; and the supposition cannot suit this place: for Judah, we know, was then free from those gross pollutions; Judah was not as yet polluted with the defilements which the Prophet here condemns in the kingdom of Israel. It is then certain, that Gilgal was a town of Israel; and we know that a celebrated temple and altar were there: hence he especially points out this place.
But he afterwards adds, Their altars are as heaps on the furrows of the field There was then we know, only one legitimate altar; and God would not have sacrifices offered to him, except in one place. Hence the more active the Israelites were in multiplying altars, the more they provoked the vengeance of God: how much soever it was their purpose to worship God, yet God spurned that foolish affectedness. We then see why the Prophet here compares the altars then erected in the kingdom of Israel to heaps of stones; as though he said “As one gathers stones into a heap, when the land is stony, that he may drive his plough more easily, so every one forms an altar for himself, as though he were raising up a hillock in his own field: thus it comes, that they perversely corrupt the pure and lawful worship which I have appointed.” We now then understand the meaning of the Prophet to be, that superstitious men gain nothing, when they boldly and openly boast that they worship God; for whatever disguise they may invent for themselves and others, the Lord yet abominates every thing that is contrary to his word: and our mode Of worshipping God is alone true and lawful, when we only follow what he prescribes, and allow to ourselves nothing but what is according to his command and appointment. This is the meaning. Let us proceed —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hos. 12:11. Vanity] The question strengthens the affirmation. All was to no purpose. Warnings unheeded, altars as numerous as heaps of stones gathered out of the field, and scenes of solemn history were corrupted and ruined.
Hos. 12:12. Jacob] was a fugitive and a servant, in a low condition (Gen. 30:31; 1Sa. 17:20); did not marry an idolatress: his honest poverty reproves your ungodly gains, and his faith in God your idolatry and unbelief.
Hos. 12:13. Israel] as represented in Jacob, the individual, and in the nation in Egypt, has been preserved (Num. 12:6; Num. 12:8; Deu. 18:15; Deu. 18:18), kept by God, as Israel kept his flock (Psa. 80:1; Isa. 63:11).
Hos. 12:14. Anger] Lit. with bitterness, instead of gratitude and praise, hence punishment. Blood] Blood-guiltiness a grave crime (Lev. 20:9). Leave] The opposite of taking away or forgiving. Return] Dishonour to God repayed to Eph. His] For God does not give up his rights, though men set aside his dominion.
HOMILETICS
SINS REPROVED BY THE VIRTUES OF PROGENITORS, AND PUNISHED BY THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.Hos. 12:11-14
Israel did not permit themselves to be warned and taught, gave themselves up to idolatry and superstition. Conduct which contrasted greatly with Jacob their ancestor. He had become rich by Gods blessing on honest toil, but they were given to wicked customs, which provoked God to anger, destroyed the nation, and banished the people out of the land.
I. Sins reproved by ancestral virtues. Jacob is again referred to that they might learn his humiliation and servitude.
1. Jacobs conduct reproves them. His faith reproved their unbelief, and his devotion to God their idolatry. He fled from an angry brother, and served a covetous uncle for a wife, rather than marry an idolatress (Gen. 28:5). He laboured with diligence, endured injustice, and trusted in God. But they were dishonest in their trade, and insolent in their behaviour. Honest poverty is better than dishonestly-gotten wealth. I have searched carefully through all the traditions of our family, said Livingstones ancestor to his children round his death-bed, and I never could discover that there was a dishonest man among our forefathers. If, therefore, any of you should take to dishonest ways, it will not be because it was in our blood. I leave this precept with youBe honest.
2. Jacobs blessing reproves them. He set out with his staff alone, and became two bands (Gen. 32:10). The Syrian ready to perish became a mighty nation (Deu. 26:19). God preserved the fugitive and exalted him to honour. But Israel, forsaking God and enriching himself, would be dishonoured and driven into exile. God alone is the source of wealth, and honest toil the spring of national prosperity. Not what I have, but what I do, is my kingdom, says Carlyle. A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent (Pro. 28:22-23; Pro. 10:22).
II. Sins punished by Gods providence. Israels ingratitude and corrupt practices brought severe judgment upon them.
1. The desert of their sins. (a) It was found in places of sacred note. In Gilead and Gilgal, sacred in history and beautiful by nature, only man was vile. Spots of signal blessing may become scenes of pollution and guilt. Home, the house of God and the closet, may be consecrated to idols. (b) It was prevalent as the stones in the field. In east and west, in palace and eottage, it abounded. Like a malignant disease, it spread around. (c) It was morally corrupting. Their altars were like heaps of dung-hills; their worship was vanity, and their sacrifices worthless. Endless gifts and innumerable altars only corrupted the morals, and cursed the people. Mere forms will not satisfy the conscience. Moral decay will bring physical decay, and worthlessness will be punished by vanity. (d) It provoked God to anger (Hos. 12:14). The provocations were most bitter and grievous. All sin is offensive to God, but sins against light and truth, sins in religious privileges and in Divine warnings, are exceeding sinful. (e) It was constantly committed. Committed against the goodness of God, in delivering them from bondage, guiding them like a shepherd, and teaching them with a prophet. God keeps and blesses men, but they despise his love, and bring condemnation upon themselves.
2. The punishment of their sins. Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him. (a) The penalty shall not be taken away. His blood shall rest upon his own head; for he is guilty and deserves death (Lev. 20:9; Jos. 2:9; 2Sa. 1:10). Blood had been shed profusely, and the guilt of his sin remained upon his soul, and punishment cannot be longer delayed. (b) The dishonour done to God shall be given to him. Idolatry is an insult to our Maker, robbing him of his glory, and giving it to the likeness of a man or a beast. Those who reproach God will be dishonoured themselves. For centuries shame and reproach have been the lot of Gods unbelieving people. What a warning to us! What an aggravation of misery to be inflicted by God who desired to bless! If his Lord turns against the sinner, who can deliver him? Shame and contempt on earth, shame and everlasting contempt hereafter! Them that honour me, I will honour; and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hos. 12:10-14. Memorials of Gods goodness to a people. I. He raised them from meanness to honour. Jacob a poor fugitive, Israel a mighty nation. II. He raised them from bondage to liberty. Brought Israel out of Egypt, and gave them freedom to worship God. He thus acquires special gratitude and service. III. He taught them by his prophets. By Moses (Hos. 12:13) and by the ministry of others (Hos. 12:10). IV. He guided them by his providence. As Jacob kept sheep, so Israel was kept and preserved by God. Special care and kindness were displayed towards them as a flock (Psa. 80:1; Isa. 63:11).
Hos. 12:11. Certain places and certain altars do not palliate guilt, but testify against it, and prove all forms to be vain and deceitful. Considering the meanness of our origin, we should magnify Gods grace in present prosperity. The Atheist expects riches from diligence alone; the slothful without it; but the true Christian from the blessing of God with it. The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
Hos. 12:12-13. Scripture narratives are useful to remind of sin, warn us of danger, and urge us to God. They were written for our learning (Rom. 15:4).
Hos. 12:13. By a prophet of the Lord. God chooses the humblest instruments to do the mightiest works. A prophet he is purposely called, and his name concealed:
1. To show that the work was done, not by might nor by power, but by Gods Spirit (Zec. 4:6).
2. To show what God will do for his people by the prayers, and for the sake of his prophets, when they are most shiftless and hopeless.
3. To let this unworthy people see how much God had done for them once by a prophet, how little soever now they set by such.
Heirs of grace may suffer humiliation and distress. In Christ the fullest measure was seen. His people must have their portion.
Hos. 12:14. Let us remember if we will not have God for our God in service, we must have him in spite of ourselves as our Lord to judge and punish us. Let us rather prove his love than his avenging justice [Fausset].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 12
Hos. 12:11-14. Vanity. In his religion. His holiness is vain conceit; his natural light, Egyptian darkness; his religious forms, a vain show in the flesh. In outward circumstances. His rank, a bauble; his beauty, a fading flower; his wealth but glittering dust. All is vanity and vexation of spirit. Jacobs life. No kind of studious entertainment doth so generally delight as history, or the tradition of remarkable examples: even those who have an abhorrency or indisposition toward other studies are yet often much taken with historical narrations. And such are those which present to us the lives and examples of holy men, abounding with wonders of providence and grace: no attempts so gallant, no exploits so illustrious as those which have been achieved by the faith and patience, by the prudence and courage of the ancient saints; they do far surpass the most famous achievements of pagan heroes. No triumphs are comparable to those of piety; no trophies are so magnificent and durable as those which victorious faith erecteth; that history therefore which reports the res gest, the acts and sufferings of most pious men, must in reason be esteemed, not only the most useful, but also the most pleasant [Barrow].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(11) Translate, If Gilead be worthless, surely they have become nought. In Gilgal they sacrificed bullocks; their altars also are like heaps upon the fields furrows, referring to a past event, the desolating invasion of Gilead by Tiglath-pileser, in 734 B.C. To this military expedition we have undoubted references in the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser II. But unfortunately they are in a very mutilated condition. From one passage we learn:The city Gil [ead] and [A] bel [Maacha] which is on this side the land Beth Omri (Samaria) the distant . . . I joined in its whole extent to the territory of Assyria. The biblical passage, 2Ki. 15:29, supplements this account by stating that Napntali and Galilee also fell victims to the victorious arms of the invader. From the verse before us we infer that Gilgal, on the western bank of the Jordan near Jericho (see Note on 4:15), likewise felt the heavy hand of the conqueror, or perhaps the inhabitants fled in panic and the local shrines became deserted ruins. From this time forth we hear no more of Gilgal as a religious centre. Nowack, however, follows Ewald in regarding the passage as prophetic of a coming calamity. (See Introduction.) In the word for heaps (gallm) there is a play on the name Gilgal.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘Is Gilead wicked?
They are altogether false.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks,
Yes, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field.’
His indictment of Israel continues. Is Gilead (representing the east of Jordan) wicked? The answer is ‘yes, they are altogether false’. In Hos 6:8 Gilead is seen as tainted with blood. Furthermore in Gilgal (compare Hos 4:15; Hos 9:15), representing Israel west of Jordan, they sacrifice bullocks on a multiplicity of altars. Indeed their altars are as numerous as piles of stones in the furrows of the field. Each field would be divided up between owners of various strips, and each owner would pile up loose stones in small piles when clearing his land. Thus a field would be dotted with a multitude of small piles. In the same way Gilgal was dotted with a multitude of altars.
There is a double emphasis on assonance. Gilead and Gilgal, which themselves assonate, both contain consonants also found in galal (heaps). This was probably one reason, along with their association with great evil (Hos 6:8; Hos 9:15), why they were selected as representative of rebellious Israel.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hos 12:11. Is there iniquity, &c. If there was a vain religion in Gilead, certainly they are vain in Gilgal: They sacrifice bullocks; therefore their altars shall be, &c. Houbigant. The tribes beyond Jordan, in one of which was Gilead, were now subdued by Tiglath-Pileser, when the prophet delivered this. He therefore denounces that such should be the case of Gilgal also, where was the same vain and idolatrous worship, on this side of Jordan.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Hos 12:11 [Is there] iniquity [in] Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars [are] as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
Ver. 11. Is there iniquity in Gilead ] What, in Gilead, a city of priests? Hos 6:8 See Trapp on “ Hos 6:8 “ yea, Gilead is a city of those that work iniquity, a very Poneropolis, a place of naughty packs, Hos 4:15 . Now there is not a worse creature on earth than a wicked priest, nor a worse place than a wicked Gilead. The Hebrew hath it thus, Is Gilead iniquity? Or as Luther, Drusius, and others, Surely it is so ( certe, vere, profecto ). Confer Mic 1:5 . Gregory Nazianzen reports of Athens, that it was the plaguiest place in the world for superstition. Our universities were so in times of Popery, and began to be so again a few years since. Revera Gilead est iniquitas, profecto vanitas sunt, they were grown so incorrigibly flagitious that they seemed to be, as it were, transformed into sin’s image. Some render the text thus: “Is there iniquity in Gilead? Are they only vanity in Gilgal? They sacrificed bullocks,” and set this sense upon it. What? think you the men of Gilead, those beyond the river of Jordan, whom Tiglathpileser spoiled and led captives, that they only were guilty of idolatry, and you not, because you remain at home, untouched of the Assyrian? Nay, saith he, the very entrance into the country, Gilgal itself, so aboundeth with idolatry, that it is not to be doubted but in the rest of the parts of the kingdom their altars are as thick as furrows in the field, that is to say, innumerable. Some think this last clause, “their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field” (or of my fields, whereof I am chief Lord, and wherein he should have served me, and not idols), hath reference to some superstitious way of theirs, of seeking God by erecting altars in the furrows, for the fructifying of their fields: the heathen did so to their Dii Terminales; boundary gods, and the Papists still do so in their solemn processions, erecting crosses and crucifixes in the bounds of their fields, and thereby thinking to get a blessing on their corn and pastures. Tarnovius noteth here, that God in the Old Testament would therefore have but one altar whereon to offer sacrifice, and that to be at Jerusalem only; to teach them that Christ, the anti-type of all their sacrifices, should once be offered up upon the altar of his cross, a propitiation for their sins, Heb 9:1-28 ; Heb 10:1-39 . This altar he also appointed to be in the temple, that the sacrificers might believe the gracious presence of God with them, and might worship him in spirit and in truth.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Is there iniquity = [Surely Gilead is] iniquity: supplying the Ellipsis (App-6) from the next clause.
iniquity. Hebrew. ‘avert. App-44. Not the same word as Hos 12:8.
Gilead . . . Gilgal . . . heaps. Heap of testimony . . . heap of heaps . . . heaps. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia (App-6). Hebrew. Gil’ad . . . Gilgal . . gallim.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
iniquity: Hos 6:8, 1Ki 17:1
surely: Jer 10:8, Jer 10:15, Jon 2:8
they sacrifice: Hos 4:15, Hos 9:15, Amo 4:4, Amo 5:5
their altars: Hos 8:11, Hos 10:1, 2Ki 17:9-11, Jer 2:20, Jer 2:28
Reciprocal: Num 23:14 – built seven 1Ki 12:31 – an house 2Ch 28:24 – he made Isa 2:8 – is full Jer 11:13 – For according Jer 17:1 – and upon Eze 16:31 – makest Hos 8:13 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hos 12:11. This verse is a general statement of the national corruptions of ilie people of God- Oilead was a large area in the vicinity of Palestine that was supposed to produce healing articles; but it had become tinctured with the germs of a false religion. They are vanity means that all of the devotions to false gods would prove to be empty of any value. The emptiness of the Idol worship la likened to the demolished condition of an altar whose sLones have been scattered over the ground.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Hos 12:11-13. Is there iniquity in Gilead? Or, Was there idolatry in Gilead? as the word often signifies. Surely they are vanity, &c., in Gilgal The tribes settled about Gilead beyond Jordan, were already captivated by Tiglath-pileser. And God declares here by the prophet, that the idolatry still practised in Gilgal was equally abominable, and would bring down similar judgments upon the remaining tribes on the west of Jordan. Yea, their altars are as heaps Notwithstanding this judgment of God upon Gilead, they continue to offer sacrifices to their idols in Gilgal; and their altars stand so thick, that they are discernible as stones gathered up, and laid in heaps in the fields. Some understand the sentence as containing a threatening that their altars should be demolished, and become so many ruinous heaps, 2Ki 19:25. But Jacob fled into the country of Syria, &c. So opposite to yours was the conduct of your father Jacob, that he fled into Syria to avoid an alliance with any of the idolatrous families of Canaan; and, in firm reliance on Gods promises, submitted to the greatest hardships. And therefore by a prophet, &c. And, in reward of his faith, God did such great things for his posterity, bringing them out of the land of Egypt, and leading them through the wilderness like sheep by the hand of his servant Moses. Horsley.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
12:11 [Is there] {k} iniquity [in] Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars [are] as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
(k) The people thought that no man dare have spoken against Gilead, that holy place, and yet the Prophet says that all their religion was but vanity.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
What was going on in Gilead was an example of Israel’s depravity (cf. Hos 6:8-9). In Gilgal, too, worthless Israelites were sacrificing bulls, expensive offerings, on numerous altars that they had built there. The use of Gilead, on the west side of the Jordan, and Gilgal, on the east side, did not just represent the whole nation. It also provided a rhetorical parallelism since the two names sound similar (assonance). The number of the pagan altars at Gilgal was as great as the piles of stones that the farmers gathered beside their furrows. These altars would become simply piles of stones. There is a play on the name "Gilgal," which sounds like the Hebrew word gallim, meaning "pile of stones."
The land that Israel occupied had very stony ground, and when farmers plowed they often hit stones that they had to remove from the fields. Evidently they would pile these stones beside their furrows.