Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 2:8
For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, [which] they prepared for Baal.
8. For she did not know that I ] Rather, and she (the recipient of such favours) hath not taken notice that it was I who gave her the corn, and the new wine, and the fresh oil. Corn, new wine, and fresh oil, are the three great material blessings of the land of Canaan (see Deu 7:13; Deu 11:14; Deu 12:17, &c.).
silver and gold ] The fruits of commerce, then, are also the gifts of Jehovah (contrast the language of Isaiah in a different mood, Isa 2:7). The riches of N. Israel are testified to by the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser II., where ‘silver and gold, bowls of gold, cups of gold, bottles of gold, vessels of gold’ are mentioned in the tribute paid by Yahua habal Khumri (Jehu, son of Omri) to the Assyrian king.
which they prepared for Baal ] Rather, which they have used in the service of the Baal, (i.e. the pretended Baal or ‘lord’ whom they worship). This may allude partly to the overlaying of images with silver and gold, as was the practice in Judah in the time of Isaiah (Isa 30:22), but no doubt refers chiefly to the molten images in the form of a calf (i.e. a small bull), which the first Jeroboam placed on the bmth or high places at Bethel and at Dan, and doubtless elsewhere. It is possible, however, to render ‘and who multiplied silver for her, and gold, which (viz. which gold) they have used,’ &c. In this case the reference will be exclusively to the golden bulls. This view is favoured by the Hebrew accentuation.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
8 13. The offended Husband describes the compulsion which he will employ towards his faithless wife.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For she did not know – The prophet having, in summary Hos 2:5-7, related her fall, her chastisement, and her recovery, begins anew, enlarging both on the impending inflictions, and the future mercy. She did not know, because she would not; she would not retain God in her knowledge Rom 1:28. Knowledge, in Holy Scripture, is not of the understanding, but of the heart and the will.
That I gave her corn … – The I is emphatic (( ci). She did not know, that it was I who gave her. God gave them the corn, and wine, and oil, first, because He gave them the land itself. They held it of Him as their Lord. As He says, The land is Mine, and ye are strangers and sojourners with Me Lev 25:23. He gave them also in the course of His ordinary providence, wherein He also gave them the gold and silver, which they gained by trading. Silver He had so multiplied to her in the days of Solomon, that it was in Jerusalem as stones, nothing accounted of 1Ki 10:27, 1Ki 10:21, and gold, through the favor which He gave him 1Ki 9:14; 1Ki 10:10, 1Ki 10:14, was in abundance above measure.
Which they prepared for Baal – Rather, as in the English Margin, which they made into Baal (see Hos 8:4; Eze 16:17-19). Of that gold and silver, which God had so multiplied, Israel, revolting from the house of David and Solomon, made, first the calves of gold, and then Baal. Of Gods own gifts they made their gods. They took Gods gifts as from their gods, and made them into gods to them. Baal, Lord, the same as Bel, was an object of idolatry among the Phoenicians and Tyrians. Its worship was brought into Israel by Jezebel, daughter of a king of Sidon. Jehu destroyed it for a time, because its adherents were adherents of the house of Ahab. The worship was partly cruel, like that of Moloch, partly abominable. It had this aggravation beyond that of the calves, that Jezebel aimed at the extirpation of the worship of God, setting up a rival temple, with its 450 prophets and 400 of the kindred idolatry of Ashtaroth, and slaying all the prophets of God.
It seems to us strange folly. They attributed to gods, who represented the functions of nature, the power to give what God alone gives. How is it different, when people now say, nature does this, or that, or speak of the operations of nature, or the laws of nature, and ignore God who appoints those laws, and worketh hitherto Joh 5:17 those operations? They attributed to planets (as have astrologers at all times) influence over the affairs of people, and worshiped a god, Baal-Gad, or Jupiter, who presided over them. Wherein do those otherwise, who displace Gods providence by fortune or fate or destiny, and say fortune willed, fortune denied him, it was his fate, his destiny, and, even when God most signally interposes, shrink from naming Him, as if to speak of Gods providence were something superstitious? What is this, but to ascribe to Baal, under a new name, the works and gifts of God? And more widely yet. Since men have as many strange gods as they have sins, what do they, who seek pleasure or gain or greatness or praise in forbidden ways or from forbidden sources, than make their pleasure or gain or ambition their god, and offer their time and understanding and ingenuity and intellect, yea, their whole lives and their whole selves, their souls and bodies, all the gifts of God, in sacrifice to the idol which they have made? Nay, since whosoever believes of God otherwise than He has revealed Himself, does, in fact, believe in another god, not in the One True God, what else does all heresy, but form to itself an idol out of Gods choicest gift of nature, mans own mind, and worship, not indeed the works of mans own hands, but the creature of his own understanding?
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Hos 2:8-9
For she did not know.
Agnosticism
There is a theory which is known to-day by the difficult name Agnosticism. A great deal of worthless thinking may be hidden under that dark term. The meaning is supposed to be not-know-ism. Men do not now say, There is no God; they say, If there is a God, we do not know Him. If this were an intellectual doctrine only, there might appear to be about it somewhat of the charm of modesty. But it is more. What great case does the intellect wholly cover? Is man all intellect? Agnosticism cannot begin and end where it likes. God cannot be expelled from the intellect without the moral quality of the whole nature going down; without the heart also being as agnostic as the mind. Agnosticism is a larger question than any that can be limited to the mere dry intellect. And agnosticism of this kind means not only deprivation of moral sensibility, as expressed in the action of gratitude, but it makes responsibility at once frivolous and impossible. Responsible to whom? Responsibility never reaches its true realisation until it touches the point of reverence–simple, earnest, continual dependence upon God. When a man denies God he cannot do his duty to his fellow-men. The man that does not know God does not know himself. No man can love God without loving Gods image as seen in human kind. Theology–not formal and scientific, but spiritual and inspired–is the fount and origin of beneficence and exalted morality. What is Gods reply to agnosticism? See Hos 2:9. Therefore will I return, and take away My corn, etc. This is rational, just, and simple. Where God is not known, why should He continue His bounty? God never gives bread by itself. When God gives bread to the body He does not want to keep our bones together; He only feeds the body that He may get at the soul. God has therefore determined that if men do not know Him, or ask concerning Him, or recognise the purpose of His ministry, He will come down and claim His corn and wine and wool and flax. This is just. God must keep some control over things. It is good of Him now and then to send a bad harvest. Men begin to ask questions, and to wonder. And what is the issue of this agnosticism? See Hos 2:11-12. This is not vengeance, this is reason; this is not arbitrary punishment, this is a natural consequence and necessity. Divine gifts are abused, are misunderstood, are in some sense resented; what if Divine patience should be outworn, or if only through a temporary suspension of his fortunes man can be brought to consideration 7 Providence is not an arbitrary beneficence, but a critical and discriminating ministry. And there comes a time when God will say to the cloud, Rain no more on that unthankful life; and to the sun, No longer shine on ingratitude so base and desperate. This is Gods method; it is not mysterious; it is simple, frank, direct, intelligible, and just. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
The blindness of ingratitude
The superstitious sin twice, or in two ways.
1. They ascribe to their idols what rightly belongs to God alone.
2. They deprive God Himself of His own honour, for they understand not that He is the only giver of all things.
Hence the prophet now complains of this ingratitude. And this was an inexcusable stupidity in the Israelites, since they had been abundantly instructed that the abundance of all good things, and everything that supports man, flow from Gods bounty. (John Calvin.)
That I gave her corn, and wine, and oil.
The misimprovement of providential layouts
The particular offences here charged, are those of a wilful blindness with regard to the source of their temporal blessings, and a guilty perversion of them to sinful and idolatrous uses. They ascribed them to the agency of their heathen deities, to whom they were also in the habit of consecrating them in sacrifice. But the misimprovement of providential favours is very offensive to God.
I. When are men properly guilty of this conduct?
1. When they fail to recognise God as the sole bestower of them. This was the sin of Israel. Absolute ignorance of the source whence temporal blessings flow is not affirmed. It was that Gods agency was ignored. Israel rested in second causes. Men talk of their good fortune, or their luck, or their well-to-do ancestors, but God is not in all their thoughts.
2. When they withhold the due acknowledgment of them. Not to know a thing, in Scripture language, often means not to act in a manner corresponding with our knowledge. The people did not render to God according to that which they had received. For all His gifts God expects a proper return, the return of thanksgiving and service. But how universally is this withheld.
3. When they pervert them to evil and illegitimate uses. They prepared for Baal. The people took their blessings from God, and devoted them to the service of an idol. This was translating indifference into insult and defiance. And the guilt is as common now as in the olden time.
II. What are the features in it that:evince its peculiar sinfulness?
1. It involves the sin of inconsideration. It argues a mind wrapped up in utter heedlessness of all that is most adapted to awaken and engage its powers.
2. It is characterised by the basest ingratitude. This is a positive element. Ingratitude implies an actual check put upon mans feelings–a sort of moral pressure brought to bear upon them, to prevent their proper exercise and expression. And man wills it. It is not simply the negation of thankfulness; it is the deliberate exercise of its contrary. And this is the sin of the many.
3. It is a species of practical atheism. It is animated by a spirit that militates against the very being of God. Or, if it stop short of this, it yet seeks to limit the extent of His rule, and to shut Him out of this earthly province of His dominions. Atheism is but the bud of dislike to God unfolded and outspread into the garish flower.
III. What is the punishment to which this conduct justly exposes? The misimprovement, by neglect or perversion, of Divine favours incurs the danger of their resumption by their great Bestower. Blessings unimproved will not always be continued. There is a point beyond which even the patience and forbearance of the God that delighteth m mercy will not hold out. Neglect, insult, and defiance must end in condign punishment. Then let us be warned. Let us search into our ways. Let us acknowledge our transgressions, and put away our sins from us. So, in wrath will He remember mercy, and avert the punishment that we have so righteously deserved. Timely humiliation, repentance, and prayer are never ineffectual. (C. M. Merry.)
Gods hand to be acknowledged in His good gifts
This was Gods charge against His ancient people, a very heavy charge. They were unmindful of their benefactor. The thanks which they owed to Him they paid to devils. This is human nature; it is what we still see continually. It is a great part of religion to see Gods hand in everything, to trace every instance of protection to His providence, of deliverance to His care, every good gift to His love. The Bible refers everything either directly or indirectly to God.
I. God is constantly represented as the author and giver of all good things (by Jer 5:21-23). God is declared to be the author of all the fruitfulness and plenty which are so beautifully described in Psa 65:1-13. Take St. Pauls words to the people at Lystra, or Moses last charge to the Israelites (Deu 8:11-20). In these passages we have the rain, the harvest, the fruitfulness of the fields and the increase of the cattle, preservation in danger, support in want, power to get wealth, daily protection, the gift of children–all ascribed to God.
II. Examples of good men of old, who referred every blessing they enjoyed to God. Abrahams servant, Jacob, Psalmists, etc. These men had an abiding sense of Gods interference in all their concerns. They looked beyond second causes, and fixed their thoughts at once upon the great First Cause. One feels how different from theirs is the way of speaking common among ourselves. We cannot, indeed, prudently use the name of God as freely as they did. But we may err with undue reticence. If Gods name is seldom in our mouths, there is reason to fear it is seldom in our hearts. It were well that Gods name were more frequently introduced, so it were done with reverence, when we speak of the good gifts which we enjoy. The fixed habit of ascribing all our blessings to God would–
1. Be the surest way to secure the continuance of Gods mercies, and to draw down more.
2. It would keep our faith in exercise. It would enable us to realise Gods presence as our friend and benefactor. It would bring us into sensible communion with God daily. It would draw out our love to Christ. Seeing God in all things helps to make the sunshine of life. To be forward in recognising Gods hand, and blessing Him for His good gifts, is an excellent help to diligence and zeal in Gods service. It only remains that we each press home upon ourselves this blessed duty; and especially that we make sure of our interest in the greatest of all Gods gifts, the gift of His dear Son. (C. A. Hewitley, B. D.)
Misusing gilts
1. How graciously their plenty was given to them. God is a bountiful benefactor.
2. How basely was their plenty abused by them.
(1) They robbed God of the honour of them.
(2) They served and honoured His enemies with them.
3. How justly should their plenty be taken from them. Those that abuse the mercies God gives them to His dishonour cannot expect to enjoy them long. (Matthew Henry.)
All is of God
On the forefront of the Royal Exchange in London are inscribed the words, The earth is the Lords, and the fulness thereof. There is also stamped on all our coins of the realm the same acknowledgment, Dei gratis; it is all of Gods grace and goodness.
God acknowledged
Jenny Lind always kept the 7th of March most religiously. She asked her friends–and she was a Christian–always to pray for her on the 7th of March. She kept it as a trysting-day with God. What was the reason? It was that on the 7th of March she rose from her bed unaware of the God-given gift that was in her. By the evening she had realised it; she had got the baptism of her life–she realised that God had put into her a gift of song, the notes of which seemed to have been stolen from an angel in the heavenly choir; and she went to her bed conscious that God had called her to the sacred service of song. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Everything from God
The scribe is more properly said to write than the pen; and he that maketh and keepeth the clock is more properly said to make it go and strike, than the wheels and pegs that hang upon it; and every workman to effect his work, rather than the tools which he useth as his instruments. So the Lord, who is the chief agent and mover in all actions, may more fitly and properly be said to effect and bring to pass all things which are done in the earth, than any inferior or subordinate causes, as meat to nourish us, clothes to keep us warm, the sun to lighten us, friends to provide for us, etc., seeing they are all but His tools and instruments, but as they are ruled and guided by the power and providence of so heavenly a workman. (H. G. Salter.)
God overlooked
In Madeira there is a grove of camelia trees. A gentleman went to see the flowers, and returned much disappointed, as not one was visible. He made a second visit, and was delighted when, looking up, as he had been told to do, he saw a canopy of large white and scarlet flowers, forty feet overhead. In times of difficulty we are apt to look round on earthly agencies for aid, forgetting to look up to God, who in spite of all His glory, is willing to be our helper. (J. Marrat.)
The worship of fortune
Archbishop Trench says, How prone are we all to ascribe to chance or fortune those gifts and blessings which indeed come directly from God–to build altars to Fortune rather than to Him who is the author of every good thing which we have gotten. And this faith of men, that their blessings, even their highest, come to them by a blind chance, they have incorporated in a word; for happy and happiness are connected with hap, which is chance; how unworthy, then, to express any true felicity, whose very essence is that it excludes hap or chance, that the world neither gave nor can take it away. Against a similar misuse of fortunate, unfortunate, Wordsworth very nobly protests, when, of one who, having lost everything else, had yet kept the truth, he exclaims–
Call not the royal Swede unfortunate,
Who never did to Fortune bend the knee.
Success rightly ascribed
In all my career, General Gordon once wrote, I can lay no claim to cleverness, discretion, or wisdom. My success has been due to a series of (called by the world) flukes. When one knows the little one does of oneself, and any one praises you, I, at any rate, have a rising in the gorge which is a suppressed, You lie! Who is he, or who is any man, that he should be praised? I do nothing. Do not flatter yourself that you are wanted–that God could not work without you; it is an honour if He employs you. No one is indispensable, either in this worlds affairs or in spiritual works. Do not send me your paper with anything written about me, he said on parting. I do not want to see it, or to have anything to do with it. These things are not in my hands, and mind, do not forget–no gilt!
God the source of blessings
At the close of the cotton famine in Lancashire the mills in one village had been stopped for months, and the first waggon load of cotton which arrived before they recommenced, seemed to the people like the olive-branch, newly plucked off, which told of the abating waters of the deluge. The waggon was met by the women, who hysterically laughed and cried, and hugged the cotton bales as if they were dear old friends, and then ended by singing that grand old hymn–a great favourite with Lancashire people–Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
Which they prepared for Baal.–
Political and social ungodliness
The sin of the nation, the misery which Hosea here laments, was this–the people worshipped their prosperity, unmindful of the God who gave it. Baal-worship was substantially a worship of the forces of nature. Ethically, Baal-worship was the enthronement of force; it was the worship of possession. The Jewish idea in calling Jehovah Lord was that of righteous authority. The character of God was His supreme claim to government. Baal, as Lord, was simply the mysterious unknown proprietor of powers of nature: a mighty possessor, to be honoured as one who could give, propitiated as one who could withhold, or trouble and afflict. Ungodliness in Christian nations corresponds to idolatry among the Jews; the refusal to recognise any higher law than the right of possession, to acknowledge any other rule of conduct than what is prescribed by the necessity of holding and increasing what one has. Baal-worship did not displace the worship of Jehovah, the two existed side by side. Jehovah for the inspiration of their loftiest sentiment; Baal for the meaner concerns of corn and wine and oil. A similar confusion of godliness and ungodliness is found in many a man, perhaps in the most immediately influential majority of the English people to-day. The Gospel has done too much for us to be lightly abandoned. We cannot afford to dispense with the sanctity, the inspiration, the ennobling thoughts and feelings which Christianity brings into individual and family and Church life. But then, how many would confine the Gospel to individual and family and Church life? For politics and society the New Testament morality is too far-fetched, too fine-drawn. This is what we mean by political and social ungodliness. Many a man is personally godly, politically ungodly. This is a fatal mistake. No amount of personal piety will buy God over to give us national and social prosperity while we contemn the principles of righteousness, and regard for men, which the Bible reveals. There is one God, one morality, one rule; the same for nations as for individuals; the same for our social relations with the world as for our Christian relations within the Church. Political ungodliness has to be rebuked by Christian people. We are called on to be watchful, even jealous, in our criticism of public men and measures. Your judgment on political matters will affect the integrity of your personal character, the clearness of your personal faith. Indifference to righteousness in any sphere will sap the foundation of your piety, and blight your spiritual life. Deal with social ungodliness in relation to the conduct of commercial life. We do not find any such toleration of immorality as is common in political life. The conscience of the community is quick to assert itself; the supremacy of righteousness is vindicated, but we do not find godliness absolute and supreme. Deal with the morality of strikes; the utter bewilderment in which the commercial complications of the day, have found men. How is social life presented to us in the Gospel? It says, We are members one of another, Every one of us lives in a community, for the benefit of which he has been called into being, and all social advantages are conferred on him for the sake of the community. We are here in the world to be trained into spiritual manhood, and all material advantages are conferred on us for the sake of the character they help to form and develop. Consider how commercial activity and social life tend to form spiritual character. Social godliness looks for the fulfilment of Gods will in all the action of society. Social godliness and ungodliness are measured if we consider how far we habitually exercise this spirit. (A. Mackennal, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. For she did not know that I gave her corn] How often are the gifts of God’s immediate bounty attributed to fortuitous causes-to any cause but the right one!
Which they prepared for Baal.] And how often are the gifts of God’s bounty perverted into means of dishonouring him! God gives us wisdom, strength, and property; and we use them to sin against him with the greater skill, power, and effect! Were the goods those of the enemy, in whose service they are employed, the crime would be the less. But the crime is deeply engrained, when God’s property is made the instrument to dishonour himself.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For; this unexampled ignorance, or inconsiderateness, was the cause of all this lost labour, and unthankfulness to God.
She, in her rayons and prosperity, as were the days of Jeroboam, in which much of this lewdness was committed, and in which the prophet calls them to repentance,
did not know; considered not, but carried it toward God as if indeed she did not know; nor did she own it or acknowledge it by any suitable obedience and thankfulness to the God of her mercies.
That I gave, without desert or worthiness; it was mercy, and this free, from whence all she had came.
Corn; which is the stay and strength of our life; one necessary corn fort put for all the rest.
Wine and oil: these cheer the heart, and include all provision for delight and sweetness.
And multiplied her silver and gold: the treasures of gold and silver, and all precious things brought in by trade, and increased among them, were the effect of mine undiscerned and unacknowledged bounty and goodness.
Which they, the generality or body of the Jews, these idolatrous Jews,
prepared for Baal; first made the idol with the gold and silver, and next dedicated it to the service of the idol. Sottish ignorance, that with one part of the gold and silver make a god, with the other part provide for sacrifices to be offered to it. Thus one part is advanced to be a deity, the other part of the same mass consecrated to the service of its fellow lump. What absurdities will not down with such fools and sots?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. she did not know that Inotthe idols, as she thought: the “lovers” alluded to in Ho2:5.
which they prepared forBaalthat is, of which they made images of Baal, or at leastthe plate covering of them (Ho 8:4).Baal was the Phoelignician sun-god: answering to the female Astarte,the moon-goddess. The name of the idol is found in the PhoelignicianHannibal, Hasdrubal. Israel borrowed it from the Tyrians.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil,…. This is a reason, not of her resolution to return to her first husband, but to go after lovers, and of her ascribing these things to them, Ho 2:5, and why the Lord would behave towards her as he determined to do, Ho 2:6, this ignorance was wilful and affected, and therefore blameable; she might have known, but she would not; she did not set her mind to know; she did not consider who gave her these things, nor behave as if she knew, as Jarchi: or she did not own and acknowledge God to be the author and giver of them, as she should have done; which was ingratitude rather than ignorance, and is a heinous sin, and to be resented; since all good things, temporal and spiritual, as daily bread, all the necessaries of life, signified by these things, so the word, and ordinances, and spiritual gifts, which they may be emblems of, come from God, and should be acknowledged; but the Jews, as in the times of Isaiah, did not know him, and acknowledge his benefits, Isa 1:2, so, in the times of Christ, they did not know him to be the God of Israel, God over all, blessed for ever; from whom, and for whose sake, who was to be, and was born of them, they enjoyed the privileges they did, Joh 1:10.
And multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal; the relative “which” may refer to all that goes before; and the sense be, that these gifts of God, and which should have been owned as such, and employed in his service, and to his glory; some were made use of in meat and drink offerings to Baal; and others in decking themselves to appear in his worship to his honour; or in ornamenting the idol therewith, or in making it thereof, so the Targum and Syriac version: and all this may be said to be done, when these things are spent in the service of other lords than the Lord himself; when they are abused to sinful purposes, and consumed on the lusts of men, to gratify their sensuality, pride, and vanity, which the Jews did.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
God here amplifies the ingratitude of the people, that they understood not whence came such abundance of good things. She understood not, he says, that I gave to her corn and wine. The superstitious sin twice, or in two ways; — first, they ascribe to their idols what rightly belongs to God alone; and then they deprive God himself of his own honour, for they understand not that he is the only giver of all things, but think their labour lost were they to worship the true God. Hence the Prophet now complains of this ingratitude, She understood not that I gave to her corn and wine and oil. And this was an inexcusable stupidity in the Israelites, since they had been abundantly instructed, that the abundance of all good things, and every thing that supports man, flow from God’s bounty. Of this they had the clear testimony of Moses; and then the land of Canaan itself was a living representation of the Divine favour. It was then a prodigious madness in the people, that they who had been taught by word and by fact, that God alone is the Giver of all things, should yet not consider this truth. The Prophet, therefore, condemns this outrageous folly of the people, that neither experience nor the teaching of the law availed anything, She knew not, he says. There is stress to be laid on the pronoun, she; for the people ought to have been familiarly acquainted with God, inasmuch as they had been brought up in his household, as a wife, who is her husband’s companion. It was then incapable of any excuse, that the people should thus turn their minds and all their thoughts away from God.
She knew not then that I had given to her corn and wine and oil, that I had multiplied to her the silver, and also the gold she has prepared for Baal The verb עשה means specifically, to make: but here to appropriate to a certain purpose. They have, therefore, prepared gold for Baal; when they ought to have dedicated to me the first-fruits of all good things, in obedience to me and to the honour of my name, they have appropriated to Baal whatever blessings I have bestowed on them. We then see that in this verse two evils are condemned, — that the people deprived God of his just honour, — and that they transferred to their own idols what they ought to have given to God only. But he touched upon the last wickedness in the fifth verse, where he said in the person of the people, I will go after my lovers, who give my bread and my waters, my wool and my wine, etc. Here again he repeats, that they had prepared gold for Baal.
As to the word Baal, no doubt the superstitious included under this name all those whom they called inferior gods. No such madness had indeed possessed the Israelites, that they had forgotten that there is but one Maker of heaven and earth. They therefore maintained the truth, that there is some supreme God; but they added their patrons; and this, by common consent, was the practice of all nations. They did not then think that God was altogether robbed of his own glory, when they joined with him patrons or inferior gods. And they called them by a common name, Baalim, or, as it were, patrons. Baal of every kind was a patron. Some render it, husband. But foolish men, I doubt not, have ever had this superstitious notion, that inferior gods come nearer to men, and are, as it were, mediators between this world and the supreme God. It is the same with the Papists of the present day; they have their Baalim; not that they regard their patrons in the place of God: but as they dread every access to God, and understand not that Christ is a mediator, they retake themselves here and there to various Baalim, that they may procure favour to themselves; and at the same time, whatever honour they show to stones, or wood, or bones of dead men, or to any of their own inventions, they call it the worship of God. Whatever then, is worshipped by the Papists is Baal: but they have, at the same time, their patrons for their Baalim. We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet in this verse.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Hos. 2:8. Not know] Wilful ignorance and ingratitude, for she was taught by the law and the providence of God. Prepared] Made and mended images of Baal, and devoted them to the support and extension of idolatry.
Hos. 2:9. Return] As if absent from men when they abuse his gifts: turn from love to displeasure; from bestowing bounties to withholding them. Recover] Because I emphatic, the given not acknowledged. Nakedness] The result of gifts withheld. Take away] by dearth and unfruitful seasons, vermin, judgments, &c.
HOMILETICS
GOD DISHONOURED IN HIS GIFTS TO MEN.Hos. 2:8-9
Israel is still accused and threatened. God will disgust the idolatrous nation, put to shame its delusive fancy that all prosperity came from idols, and bring it to an acknowledgment of dependence upon him. In gross and affected ignorance she fathered all gifts upon her gods.
Here we have
I. The Gifts of Life bestowed in abundance. Israel was greatly blessed with corn, and wine, and oil, the fruits of the land. These productions were the foundation of the nations wealth and prosperity, and the means by which silver and gold were multiplied. Money was superabundant in Solomons reign. The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones (1Ki. 10:27). Wool and flax for clothing and ornament. God bestows necessities and luxuries upon men; honour and position, leaders and genius, upon nations. The earth yields its increase, and corn and wine, bread and water, are spread before us in the wilderness. The sun sheds forth its light and heat, flowers send forth fragrance, and herbs grow for man and beast. All our possessions and enjoyments come from him. Amid ingratitude, atheism, and vice, life springs up ever new, food is given as plentifully to sustain it, and joy and blessings are poured over all existence. God is kind unto the unthankful and the evil. He makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
II. The Gifts of Life received with ingratitude. She did not know. She would not know. It was not a mere weakness or infirmity, but wilful ignorance. God had taught her by Moses and the prophets. In their feasts and offerings of first-fruits, in their eventful history and the wonders of providence, the goodness of God was impressed upon their minds. But when the heart is not touched, the memory will fail. The ingratitude of man to man is base. Pitt was soured in temper by the ingratitude which he experienced. All the eers whom he had made deserted him, says a writer, and half of those whom he had served returned his kindness by going over to his enemies. Divine favours are frozen by human ingratitude and turned into a cause of rebellion. There was no excuse for Israel, and none for men now.
1. Ignorant of the Divine source from whence they come. I gave her corn. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. But men do not acknowledge God; attribute their comforts to secondary causes, their own skill, their fellow-men, or good luck. The ox knows its owner, and the ass his masters crib, and both are grateful for help: but intelligent beings receive gifts from God, and hoard up for posterity; forget their relation, and pay no dues to their benefactor; but live in known sin and wilful disregard of his love. What tables are spread for us without grace before meat or gratitude after.
2. Ignorant of the benevolent purpose for which they are sent. Grass for cattle, corn and wine to gladden human hearts, flax and wool to clothe and beautify human bodies, and all things richly to enjoy. God has never left himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. But we claim his bounties as our own, forget the end for which they are bestowed, and under a formal and false religion, employ them for selfish and unworthy ends. Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
III. The Gifts of Life basely abused. Israel first made golden calves, then mended or made images of Baal with the gold and silver which God had given them. Gods gifts were turned into human idols, worshipped by mens own hands, and turned into food for sinful lusts. In modern idolatry Gods blessings are abused and employed to maintain and spread the worship of Baal and Bacchus. Gold and silver, houses and land, children and earthly comforts, take the place of God; all are taken as our special right, attributed to our intellect and industry, and employed in the service of idolatry. In providence God is displaced by fortune or fate; in business talent and tact is all; in pursuit of pleasure and gain, the heart and understanding, the soul and body, are wholly devoted to unworthy objects. Covetousness is idolatry. Men are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Christians are cautioned against the worship of angels, and of some it is said their god is their belly. Self-will, excessive thirst of aggrandizement, love of applause, undue veneration of creatures, greedy indulgence in lust and animal appetite, and inordinate attachments of every kind, are dishonouring to God and injurious to man, prove a tendency to depart from God, and display the actual and continual forgetting of Gods claims, who says to each individual person, I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other god before me.
IV. The Gifts of Life justly withheld. Therefore will I return and take away my corn. These things were Gods, not theirsthey were only stewards in trust. He reserves all power to himself, and retains supreme authority over men. If they do not give him his due, unjustly withhold their gratitude and homage, then he will claim his own and take from them what he bestowed for their welfare. God is the sole proprietor, has incontestable right, and to him we must give an account.
1. Gifts abused will be taken away from men. Ingratitude and sinful appropriation will rob us of enjoyments and necessities of life. Idleness and neglect will forfeit all reward. Take from him that which he hath (Luk. 8:18; Luk. 19:24; Luk. 19:26). Keeping, hiding our talents, and non-employment of our time will bring(a) Divine denunciation, (b) Divine deprivation, and (c) Divine displeasure.
2. Gifts abused will be taken away from men unexpectedly. In the time thereof, and in the season thereof. Just when they expect them and when men think they are sure of them. God will blast the harvest when it is ready for reaping. The meat shall be taken from their mouths (Joe. 1:16); drunkards will awake and weep (Hos. 2:5; Hos. 2:11); and husbandmen howl. In the fulness of sufficiency men are put into straits (Job. 20:22-23); and when they are just about to realize their hopes they will be disappointed. Unseasonable weather, wicked men, and mysterious providences snatch away abused mercies. This punishment is more signal and severe than gradual decay or long-looked for visitation. It is not the work of chance, but a solemn, significant judgment of God which leaves the sinner in want and distress, in shame and utter destitution.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hos. 2:8. Ignorance of God.
1. Negative, inexcusable.
2. Affected, sinful.
3. Wilful, hopeless. There remaineth no sacrifice if we sin wilfully, &c.
Ingratitude.
1. Its source, wilful ignorance.
2. Its fruit, (a) forgetfulness of Divine benefits, (b) worship of idolscoarse and refined.
3. Its punishment, withdrawal of all gifts, resulting in poverty and distress. Were men but sensible of what God doth for them every day and hour, they could not in equity and common ingenuity serve him as they do. He preserveth and provideth for us all; lays us down and takes us up, commanding the best of creatures to cater for us (Hos. 2:21), and to bring us in the best of best for our subsistence (Psalms 8). Every good gift and perfect, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, cometh from the Father of lights (Jas. 1:17), as naturally and as constantly as light doth from the sun, or water from the sea. Let us therefore imitate those lights of heaven and rivers of earth, do all the good we can with those good things, corn, wine, silver and gold, &c., which God hath given us, and then reflect back towards and return all the glory and praise unto the sun of our righteousness and the sea of our salvation. Let us ever send back (as the beams of the moon and stars return to the face of the sun, which gave them their beauty) to, Gods own glorious self the honour of all his gifts, by a fruitful improvement of them and fresh songs of praise [Trapp]. God manifests great kindness, whereof little notice is taken, and wherein his hand is not seen nor acknowledged [Hutcheson].
When men will not know God as the giver of all their temporal blessings, they shall be compelled to know him as the withholder of them [Fausset]. Those who abuse the mercies God gives them to his dishonour, cannot expect to enjoy them long [Matt. Henry].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Hos. 2:8-9. Ingratitude. When I consider how the goodness of God is abused and perverted by the greatest part of mankind, I cannot but be of his mind that said, The greatest miracle in the world is Gods patience and bounty to an ungrateful man. Oh! what would God not do for his creatures, if thankful, that thus heaps the coals of his mercies upon the heads of his enemies? But think not, sinners, that you shall escape thus. Gods mill goes slow, but it grinds small; the more admirable his patience and bounty now is, the more dreadful and insupportable will that fury be which ariseth out of his abused goodness [Gurnall].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(8) Translate in the present tense: and she knows not that it is I who gave, &c. This yearning of Jehovah over the results of his chastisements is a wonderful anticipation of Luke 15.
Corn, and wine . . .Corn, wine, and oil are here mentioned as the chief indigenous products of Canaan (Gen. 27:28; Deu. 33:28, &c.). Gold was largely imported from Ophir (probably the west coast of India, where Tamil is spoken: Delitzsch, Genesis, pp. 258-9. On the other hand, Fried. Delitzsch, in his work on the Site of Paradise, p. 99, holds that Ophir was a coast or island between the north end of the Persian Gulf and the south-west corner of Arabia). Silver was obtained from Tarshish, through Phnician markets. Observe that Israel at this time abounded in the possession of precious metals. (Comp. Isa. 2:7; Wilkins, Phnicia and Israel, pp. 111-116.)
Which they . . . Baal.They have transformed Jehovahs gift into an image of Baal. Baal-worship was anterior to calf-worship (Judges 2, 3, 8), and was diametrically opposed to Jehovah-worship, as gross Pantheism is to pure and stern Monotheism.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. For Hebrew, “and.”
She The use of the Hebrew pronoun before the verb places special emphasis upon the same: “she, though my wife and enjoying countless blessings.”
Did not know To know is often used in the sense of acknowledge; it may be so here; in life and worship they failed to acknowledge; but the prophet may think of the absence of intellectual apprehension that Jehovah was the source of all blessing.
Corn (or grain), [“new”] wine, oil The chief products of Canaan (Deu 7:13; Deu 11:14; see on Joe 1:10).
Silver and gold, which they prepared [“used”] for Baal The possession of silver and gold imported from afar was, in a sense, also due to the divine favor (compare Isa 2:7); the Israelites, failing to recognize the true source, used them that the relative clause belongs to both nouns seems evident for Baal: that is, in his honor; either they made more beautiful and splendid his worship or, as the margin R.V. reads, “they made the silver and gold into the Baal,” that is, images of Baal. In view of Hos 8:4, the latter may be preferable (Isa 44:17). Several commentators reject the relative clause entirely because (1) the plural they used is peculiar. Who is the subject? Throughout this section Israel is referred to as she; (2) the singular Baal. Hosea seems to condemn throughout the worship of the Canaanitish Baalim (Hos 2:5) and not that of the one Baal, the god of Tyre; (3) the emphasis is on the giving by Jehovah, not on the use of the blessings for any specific purpose. Marti would go further and omit also “gold,” because of the peculiar order of the words in Hebrew, where silver and gold are not connected. Objection (3) is of no weight. The other peculiarities cannot be overlooked, though opinions may differ as to whether they are sufficiently serious to warrant the rejection of the words.
Hos 2:9 ff., parallel with 6, 7, announce the judgment.
Therefore will I return, and take away Equivalent to take away again; R.V., “take back.”
Corn wine wool flax See Hos 2:5; Hos 2:8. In Hos 2:5 Israel had called these things my bread, etc. Here Jehovah suggests that in reality they are his.
Time season thereof That is, at harvest time, when under ordinary conditions men may safely expect them.
Given to cover [“which should have covered”] her nakedness A reminder that without God’s mercy, in her natural condition, “Israel was utterly helpless and destitute.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
These are so many blessed expressions, to show how graciously the Lord is dealing with his people, in the bounties both of providence and grace; while our proud, unhumbled nature, overlooking the Lord’s free gifts, is always apt to ascribe every blessing to our own . attainment. Moses admonished Israel to be aware of this, and learn to give God the sole glory. Deu 8:10 to the end. We may make application of what is here said to spiritual privileges, as well as temporal mercies. The New Moons and Sabbaths, in the Jewish Church, with their feast days, bear a just correspondence to the several means of grace and ordinances in the Christian. And how often do they become unprofitable in their use from our unthinking, forgetful, and ungracious minds.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hos 2:8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, [which] they prepared for Baal.
Ver. 8. For she did not know ] i.e. She would not be known or affected, of this she was willingly ignorant, 2Pe 3:5 . Ut liberius peccet libenter ignorat, as Bernard. Her ignorance was not a mere nescience, or an invincible ignorance, such as she could not help; but it was wilful, affected, acquired: they not only desired not the knowledge of God’s ways, but hated it, spurned and scorned at it, shutting the windows lest the light should come in: and being blinded by the god of this world, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them 2Co 4:4 , lest they should see and say that which nature and Scripture do both teach them, viz. that all their accommodations and comforts come from me alone. Had this their ignorance been merely negative, yet had they not been wholly excused ( Tu aedepol, si sapis quod scis nescies. Terent.). The apostle noteth, that our Saviour laid down his precious life even for the not-knowings of the people which were such as they could not help, Heb 9:7 ( ), but their ignorance being affected, it was a high degree of ingratitude and impudence, and a very great aggravation of their sin: it made it to be sin with an accent, wickedness with a witness. Israel was herein worse than the ox and the ass (that “knows his owner and his master’s crib,” Isa 1:3 ), they fell below the stirrup of reason, nay, of sense. Hence God so stomacheth the matter both there and here. Non semel hoc peccatum carpit, saith Mercer: he cannot satisfy himself in saying how much it troubled him to be thus unkindly, ungratefully, and unreasonably dealt withal: it runneth in his thoughts, his heart is grieved at it, and he must vent himself. And when he hath told his grief, and aggravated his wrong, yet he hath not done with it: but is upon it again and again; still convincing, upbraiding; charging Israel for their foul and inexcusable unfaithfulness and unthankfulness. Eandem sententiam quia sancta et necessaria est, repetit, saith Oecolampadius here; he repeats over the same he had said before, out of the trouble of his spirit, and that they might once lay it to heart and be humbled.
That I gave her corn and wine and oil, &c.
Which they have prepared for Baal
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Hos 2:8-13
8For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they used for Baal.
9Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
Given to cover her nakedness.
10And then I will uncover her lewdness
In the sight of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her out of My hand.
11I will also put an end to all her gaiety,
Her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths
And all her festal assemblies.
12I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘These are my wages
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will make them a forest,
And the beasts of the field will devour them.
13I will punish her for the days of the Baals
When she used to offer sacrifices to them
And adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me, declares the LORD.
Hos 2:8 For she does not know it was I who gave her God’s heart (emphatic I) breaks as His bride (a segment of His covenant people) does not recognize His love and provision (cf. Jer 14:22). Therefore, in Hos 2:9, YHWH withholds His blessing on crops and herds (cf. Deuteronomy 27-29).
the grain, the new wine and the oil These three items represented the basic needs of life (cf. Deu 7:13; Deu 11:14; Joe 2:19).
silver and gold God’s blessings of valuable metals (either in the Exodus or through agricultural prosperity) were used to make idols (e.g., Deu 29:17; Isa 40:19; Isa 46:5-7; Jer 10:3-10) and jewelry (cf. Hos 2:13) in Ba’al’s honor!
used for Baal Ba’al is the main god of Tyrian fertility worship which was introduced into Israel through Jezebel. Ba’al means master, husband, lord and is the name for the Canaanite storm god (sometimes war god). In the OT his consort is Asherah or Astarte (in Ugaritic myth it is Anat).
Hos 2:9-13 This seems to refer to exile (cf. Eze 16:35-43).
NASB, NRSV,
TEV, NJBI will take back
NKJVI will return and take away
The NKJV is the more literal here. There are two VERBS, return (BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal IMPERFECT) and take back (BDB 542, KB 534, Qal PERFECT). The first VERB is one of the major Hebrew terms used of repentance. They would not return to YHWH so He returned to them and confiscated His gifts (grain, wine, oil, precious metals), which He had freely and lovingly given to His wife. He took back His gifts because she had mistakenly attributed their presence to Ba’al (cf. Hos 2:8).
I will also take away This term (BDB 664, KB 717, Hiphil PERFECT) is used of snatching away a prey from a predator (e.g., 1Sa 17:35; Psa 50:22; Hos 2:9; Hos 5:14; Amo 3:12; Mic 5:8; Eze 34:10). This same violent term is used again in Hos 2:10, where it is translated rescue (NASB, NRSV). The non-existent gods of Canaan nor Israel’s political allies can rescue Israel from YHWH’s judgment (cf. Hos 2:10; Hos 5:14)!
Hos 2:10 Israel’s lovers, neither (1) lifeless idols nor (2) foreign alliances, would be able to help her.
NASB, NKJVlewdness
NRSVshame
TEV——
NJBinfamy
The meaning of the term (BDB 615, KB 664) is uncertain because the root is uncertain. Scholars have speculated (KB 664)
1. repulsiveness
2. shamefulness
3. foolishness
Hos 2:11 Israel’s cultic life will cease! Regular, joyful worship occasions, given by God to acknowledge Him, have been so corrupted that He will cause them to cease.
Hos 2:12 I will destroy her vines and her figs The prophets are very conscious of the Deuteronomic covenant and many of their prophecies deal with the cursing and blessing sections of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 27-29.
Of which she said, These are my wages Which my lovers have given me’ This is metaphorical language related to Israel’s worship of the fertility gods of Canaan. Israel attributed the fertility of her land to the worship of these gods (cf. Hos 2:13, Ba’al – male; Asherah, Astarte – female). Since YHWH was Israel’s true husband, her association with other gods was labeled as spiritual (and in relation to fertility gods, actual) adultery or marital unfaithfulness.
David A. Hubbard, Hosea in the (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, p. 79) has speculated that there is a word play here between fig tree (BDB 1061) and wages (BDB 1071, cf. Hos 9:1).
and I will make them a forest and the beasts of the field will devour them Those who grow up in desert lands are very fearful of forests. This phrase means that Israel’s cultivated lands will return to their natural state. In this environment the animals will increase and attack. This could refer to (1) attack the crops or (2) attack people (cf. Hos 13:7-8). In context #1 fits best.
Hos 2:13 the days of Baal These are festivals of sexual orgies and imitation magic (cf. Hos 4:13-14). The term Ba’al is PLURAL, possibly referring to the fact that Ba’al was worshiped at local shrines in every town and village. There is still a scholarly debate whether the sexual aspect of Ba’al worship was characteristic of Canaanite religion or added by Israel!
NASBoffer sacrifices
NKJV, NRSV,
TEV, NJBburned incense
The VERB (BDB 882, KB 1094, Hiphil PERFECT) means smoke so it could refer to (1) incense (cf. Jer 11:13) or (2) a sacrifice (cf. Jer 7:9). The same ambiguity occurs in Hos 11:2. In 1Ki 11:8 this same term in the same form (Hiphil PERFECT) is used in conjunction with the VERB to sacrifice (BDB 256, KB 261), which seems to denote two separate acts: (1) incense and (2) sacrifice. If so, then this text should refer to incense.
her earrings and jewelry Earrings were somehow connected to idolatry (cf. Gen 35:4; Exo 32:2). This was a common practice of dressing up for worship. Some assume that the Assyrian word for earrings (or nose ring) means the holy thing and that this refers to cultic prostitution. It is used in this sense in Jer 4:30; Eze 23:40-43. This has nothing to do with wearing jewelry today!
so that she forgot Me This phrase is emphasized! YHWH is depicted (anthropomorphically) as a spurned, jealous lover. Anthropomorphically God’s feelings are affected by human choices and actions! See Special Topic: God Described As Human (anthropomorphism) .
The issue is personal relationship, here depicted as a marriage covenant. YHWH wants a fellowship with humans made in His image. This is the goal of creation. See Special Topic: YHWH’s Eternal Redemptive Plan .
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
did not know. Compare Isa 1:3.
that I = that [it was] I Who. Compare Eze 16:17-19.
wine = new wine. Hebrew. tirosh. App-27.
which they, &c. = they made offerings to Baal. Compare Hos 8:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
she: Isa 1:3, Hab 1:16, Act 17:23-25, Rom 1:28
her corn: Hos 2:5, Hos 10:1, Jdg 9:27, Jer 7:18, Jer 44:17, Jer 44:18, Eze 16:16-19, Dan 5:3, Dan 5:4, Dan 5:23, Luk 15:13, Luk 16:1, Luk 16:2
wine: Heb. new wine, Hos 4:11, Isa 24:7-9
which they prepared for Baal: or, wherewith they made Baal, Hos 8:4, Hos 13:2, Exo 32:2-4, Jdg 17:1-5, Isa 46:6
Reciprocal: Gen 1:29 – I have Deu 8:8 – vines Deu 8:11 – General Deu 8:18 – he that Deu 32:38 – eat the fat 1Ch 29:16 – all this store 2Ch 24:7 – did they bestow Psa 107:31 – Oh that men Jer 2:31 – Have I been Jer 3:24 – General Jer 8:13 – there Eze 16:19 – meat Eze 23:41 – whereupon Hos 11:3 – I healed Hos 11:4 – and I laid Luk 12:16 – The ground Luk 16:12 – in Act 12:20 – because Rom 1:21 – they glorified Rom 11:4 – Baal
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hos 2:8-9. For she did not know Or, as Bishop Horsley renders it, But she would not know, that I gave her corn, &c. She did not, or would not consider that all the necessaries she enjoyed, as well as her riches and ornaments, were my gifts, which yet she ungratefully employed in the service of her idols, and in making images of false gods to worship instead of me. Therefore Or, for the punishment of her ingratitude; will I take away my corn in the time thereof I will change my manner of acting toward her, and deprive her of the good things she hopes infallibly to enjoy. At the time when she expects to reap the fruits of the earth, her enemies shall invade her and destroy them, or unfavourable seasons shall entirely blast them, or other causes prevent her enjoying them; and will recover my wool and my flax Will take back again the proper materials I gave for clothing her. This verse, according to Bishop Horsley, speaks of calamities already begun, and the next describes the progress and increase of them. It appears from all the prophets, and particularly from Amos and Joel, that the beginning of judgment upon this refractory, rebellious people, was in unfruitful seasons, and noxious vermin, producing a failure of the crops, dearth, murrain of the cattle, famine, and pestilential diseases.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2:8 For she did not know that I {k} gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, [which] they prepared for Baal.
(k) This declares that idolaters defraud God of his honour, when they attribute his benefits to their idols.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. Judgment on Israel 2:8-13
In the section that follows, the relationship between Israel and Yahweh becomes even clearer. The mention of Baals and Israel’s feasts makes this obvious. Hosea’s relationship with Gomer recedes into the background.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Israel failed to acknowledge that it was Yahweh who had provided for her and had given her all she needed when she was pursuing pagan gods (cf. Deu 7:13; Deu 11:14; Deu 26:10). The Israelites used the silver and gold that the Lord had bestowed on them to make idols of Baal, which they credited with their agricultural blessings.
Hosea spoke frequently of knowledge. He traced Israel’s declension back to her lack of knowledge about Yahweh’s bounty in this verse. In the future the Israelites would know the Lord (Hos 2:20). The prophet bemoaned the lack of knowledge of God that presently existed in the land (Hos 4:1). The Israelites’ destruction was due to this lack of knowledge (Hos 4:6). The fact that they had not known the Lord stood in the way of their return to Him (Hos 5:4). But when repentance came, they would know and follow on to know the Lord (Hos 6:3). They would learn that knowledge of the Lord is more important to Him than burnt offerings (Hos 6:6). The last verse in the book calls the wise to know these things (Hos 14:9). [Note: Harold P. Barker, Christ in the Minor Prophets, pp. 10-11.]