Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 6:7
But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
7. The contrast between Israel’s conduct and Jehovah’s requirements.
But they like men ] Literally, But they they like (other) men transgress the covenant (or, perhaps, the ordinance, see on Hos 8:1). The word rendered ‘men’ ( ’dm) means ordinary or less privileged men, as in Psa 82:7 and most probably Job 31:33, ‘If I covered like (common) men my transgressions.’ It is assumed (as in Job l.c.) that ordinary men are addicted to certain vices, and that such privileged persons as Job or the Israelites ought to act up to a higher standard. The mention of the transgressions of ‘(other) men’ reminds us of Isa 24:5, where the inhabitants of the world are said to have ‘transgressed commandments, violated the statute, broken the perpetual covenant’, partly perhaps with reference to the ‘law written in the heart’, and partly to Gen 9:1-16. The Targum, the Talmud, and the Vulgate (followed by Delitzsch on Job 31:33) render, ‘like Adam’, but the Book of Genesis says nothing of a ‘covenant’ with Adam.
there ] Implying a gesture of indignation. The divine speaker points to the northern kingdom as the scene of the unfaithfulness (comp. ‘there’ in Hos 6:10).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But they like men – Or (better as in the E. M) like Adam, have transgressed the covenant. As Adam our first parent, in Paradise, not out of any pressure, but wantonly, through self-will and pride, broke the covenant of God, eating the forbidden fruit, and then defended himself in his sin against God, casting the blame upon the woman: so these, in the good land which God had given them, that they should therein keep His covenant and observe His laws Psa 105:44, wantonly and petulantly broke that covenant; and then obstinately defended their sin. Wherefore, as Adam was cast out of Paradise, so shall these be cast out of the land of promise.
There have they dealt treacherously against Me – There! He does not say, where. But Israel and every sinner in Israel knew full well, where. There, to Israel, was not only Bethel or Dan, or Gilgal, or Mizpah, or Gilead, or any or all of the places, which God had hallowed by His mercies, and they had defiled. It was every high hill, each idol-chapel, each field-altar, which they had multiplied to their idols. To the sinners of Israel, it was every spot of the Lords land which they had defiled by their sin. God points out to the conscience of sinners the place and time, the very spot where they offended Him. Wheresoever and whensoever they broke Gods commands, there they dealt treacherously against God Himself. There is much emphasis upon the against Me. The sinner, while breaking the laws of God, contrives to forget God. God recalls him to himself, and says, there, where and when thou didst those and those things, thou didst deal falsely with, and against, Me. The sinners conscience and memory fills up the word there. It sees the whole landscape of its sins around; each black dark spot stands out before it, and it cries with David, there, in this and this and this, against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight Psa 51:4.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Hos 6:7
But they, like men, have transgressed the covenant.
The breach of the covenant of works
General defection is a cause and presage of a sweeping stroke.
1. The crime charged on them. Covenant breaking. This is a crime of a high nature; it strikes at the root of society among men, and therefore is scandalous and punishable though it be but a mans covenant. How much more atrocious is the crime where God is the one party! God took the Israelites into covenant with Himself when He brought them out of Egypt.
2. Whom they resembled in breach of covenant. They acted like men. They were vain, light, fickle, and inconsistent as men. It may however be read, like Adam. And he broke his covenant. Doctrine. Our father Adam broke the covenant of works.
I. The fatal step by which that covenant was transgressed and broken. It was the eating of the forbidden fruit. Consider the progress, the ingredients, and the aggravations of this act. As to the ingredients, notice the unbelief, pride, ingratitude, contempt of God, and the breaking of the whole law of God at once. As to the aggravations, notice that it was righteous Adam. The object by which he was enticed–a morsel of fruit. The smaller the thing was, the greater the sin. The nature of the thing. It was theft and sacrilege. The place where it was committed, and the time when it was committed.
II. How was this fatal step brought about?
1. The instrument of the temptation was a serpent; a true and real serpent.
2. It was acted by the devil.
3. Satan set upon the woman first, she being the weaker vessel
4. He moveth a doubt concerning the command.
5. Then he falls on the threatening and contradicts it.
6. He proceeds as one that wished well to her and her husband, and pretends to show how they might both arrive at a high pitch of happiness speedily.
7. She being ensnared, he makes use of her to tempt her husband, and prevails. God left man to the freedom of his own will in this matter. He was not the cause of his fall. But why was not man set beyond the possibility of change? It is to he remembered that absolute immutability is the peculiar prerogative of God Himself, and every creature, in as far as it is a creature, is incapable of being so immutable. Man abused his own liberty, or freedom of will, and so broke the covenant.
III. How was the covenant of works broken by this fatal step?
1. The command was violated.
2. The right and title to the promised benefit by that covenant was undermined.
3. He fell under the penalty of the covenant, became liable to death in its utmost extent.
(1) The soul of man died spiritually, losing the image of God and the favour of God.
(2) The body of man became mortal, death working within it and without it.
(3) Soul and body were subjected and bound over to eternal death in hell. Learn–
1. The nothingness of the creature when left to itself.
2. The hopelessness of salvation by works.
3. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.
4. Take heed of forgetting the covenant of your God.
5. Here is a demonstration of the absolute necessity of being united to the second Adam, who kept the second covenant, and thereby fulfilled the demands of the first covenant. (T. Boston, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. But they like men ( keadam, “like Adam”) have transgressed the covenant] They have sinned against light and knowledge as he did. This is sense, the other is scarcely so. There was a striking similarity in the two cases. Adam, in Paradise, transgressed the commandment, and I cast him out: Israel, in possession of the promised land, transgressed my covenant, and I cast them out, and sent them into captivity.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I told them by my prophets what I required of them by covenant, but I could not obtain it, they regarded not what I said.
Like men; or, like Adam: some take it for a proper name, and so refer it unto the first man, and his breaking covenant; and, for aught I see, it may well enough refer to him, who forgot or slighted the threat, who judged of what he did by what it appeared, as a small matter; and so these forget and slight my threats, and judge of the place where, and the persons by whom, and the times when, sacrifices are to be offered as no material circumstances, and therefore do choose what places they please, and appoint what priest liketh them best to offer; or else transgress the covenant, as if it were the covenant of a man like themselves.
The covenant; the law of their God, which directed and encouraged their obedience, and which threatened their disobedience, and cursed it.
There; in that very place, the good land, which by covenant I gave them, they have broken my covenant; or in the things in which they thought they kept covenant, in their sacrifices, and observing of feasts, in these things they transgress the covenant.
Dealt treacherously against me; very frowardly, and with wilful resolutions perverted my law; their transgressing was a designed perfidiousness. I told them, Obedience, not sacrifice; they reply, Sacrifice, and stop there; they give no obedience, though they offer many sacrifices.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. like menthe common sort ofmen (Ps 82:7). Not as Margin,“like Adam,” Job 31:33.For the expression “covenant” is not found elsewhereapplied to Adam’s relation to God; though the thing seemsimplied (Ro 5:12-19).Israel “transgressed the covenant” of God as lightly as menbreak everyday compacts with their fellow men.
therein the northernkingdom, Israel.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But they, like men, have transgressed the covenant,…. The false prophets, as Aben Ezra, whom he threatened to cut off and slay, Ho 6:5; or rather Ephraim and Judah, whose goodness was so fickle and unstable; and who, instead of doing acts of mercy, and seeking after the true knowledge of God and his worship, which are preferable to all sacrifices, they transgressed the law of God, which they promised at Mount Sinai to obey; the precepts of the moral law, even of both tables, which concern both God and man; and also the ceremonial law, by appointing priests to sacrifice who were not of the tribe of Levi, as did Ephraim or the ten tribes under Jeroboam; and by offering sacrifices to their calves, and by not observing the solemn feasts; and the precepts relating to both these laws constitute the covenant made with the children of Israel at Sinai, Ex 24:3; which they transgressed, either “like Adam” y the first man, as Jarchi; who transgressed the covenant of works in paradise God made with him, and all mankind in him: or like the men of old, the former generations, as the Targum; meaning either the old inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites; or the men of the old world at the time of the flood, who were a very wicked and abandoned generation of men; or like men in common, depraved and degenerated, fickle and inconstant, vain and deceitful, and not at all to be depended upon; especially like the lower sort of men, the common people, who have no regard to their word, covenant, and agreement; or particularly like such men that are given to penury, and make no conscience of oaths and covenants ever so solemnly made: or, as others read the words, “but they have transgressed the covenant like man’s” z; making no more account of it than if it was a man’s covenant;
there have they dealt treacherously against me; in the covenant they entered into, by breaking it, not performing their promises; and eve in the very sacrifices they offered, and were so fond of, and put their confidence in; either by offering such sacrifices as were not legal, or by offering them to idols, under a pretence of offering them to God, which was dealing treacherously against him; and in all other acts of religion, in which they would be thought to have regard to the covenant of God, his laws and precepts, and to be very serious and devout, yet acted the hypocritical part, were false and deceitful, and devoid of all sincerity: or there, in the promised land, where the Lord had so largely bestowed his favours on them; so Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, agreeably to the Targum, which paraphrases it thus,
“and in the good land, which I gave unto them to do my will, they have dealt falsely with my word.”
y “sicut Adam”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Castilio, Grotius, Cocceius. z “Tanquam hominis, [sub.] pectum”, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Zanchius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
God then subjoins a complaint, — But they like men have transgressed the covenant; there have they dealt treacherously against me. Here God shows that the Israelites boasted in vain of their sacrifices and of all the pomps of their external worship, for God did not regard these external things, but only wished to exercise the faithful in spiritual worship. Then the import of the whole is this, “My design was, when I appointed the sacrifices and the whole legal worship, to lead you so to myself, that there might be nothing carnal or earthly in your sacrificing; but ye have corrupted the whole law; you have been perverse interpreters; for sacrifices have been nothing else among you but mockery as if it were a satisfaction to me to have an ox or a ram killed. You have then transgressed my covenant; and it is nothing that the people say to me, that they have diligently performed the outward ceremonies, for such a worship is not in the least valued by me.”
And he proceeds still farther and says, There have they dealt treacherously against me. He had said before, ‘They have transgressed the covenant;’ as though he said, “If they wished to keep my covenant, this was the first thing, — to worship me spiritually, even in faith and love; but they, having despised true worship, laid hold only on what was frivolous: they have therefore violated my covenant.” But now he adds, that “there” appeared their perfidy; yea, that they were convicted of violating their faith, and shown to be covenant-breakers, by this, — that they abused the sacred marks by which God had sanctioned his covenant, to cover their own perfidy. There is then great importance in the adverb שם, shim, as if he had said, “In that particular you have acted perfidiously:” for the Prophet means, that when hypocrites especially raise their crests, they are convicted of falsehood and perjury. But how? Because they set forth their own ceremonies, as we see them introduced as speaking thus in Isa 58:0, (36) ‘Wherefore have we fasted, and thou hast not regarded?’ In this passage they accuse God of too much rigor, because they lost all their toil when they worshipped so laboriously, “We have then in vain spent labour and so diligently worshipped him.” God answers: ‘Who has required this at your hands?’ So also in this place the Prophet says, and more sharply, There have they dealt treacherously against me: that is, “They think that my mouth would be stopped by this defense only, when they brought forward their sacrifices, and, after their manner, made a great display, as if they were the best observers of religion; but I will show that in this very thing they are covenant-breakers.” How? “Because there is no falsehood worse than to turn the truth of God into a lie, and to adulterate his pure doctrine.” And this is what all hypocrites do, when they thus turn sacraments into gross abuses and false worship, when they build temples, when they imagine that God is rightly worshipped whenever an ox or a ram is offered. Since then hypocrites so grossly mock God and turn away sacrifices from Christ, they turn away from the doctrine of repentance and faith; in a word, they regard God only as a dead idol. When then they thus deprave the whole worship of God and adulterate it, when they so impiously corrupt the word of God and pervert his institutions, are they not covenant-breakers? There then they perfidiously acted against me. This ought to be carefully observed, because it has not been noticed by interpreters.
Some thus render the word אדם, adam, — “As the covenant of man have they transgressed it,” transferring it to the genitive case, “And they have transgressed the covenants as if it was that of man;” that is, as if they had to do with a mortal man, so have they despised and violated my holy covenant; and this exposition is not very unsuitable, except that it somewhat changes the construction; for in this case the Prophet ought to have said, “They have transgressed the covenant as that of a man;” but he says, ‘They as a man,’ etc. (37) But this rendering is far from being that of the words as they are, ‘They as men have transgressed the covenant.’ I therefore interpret the words more simply, as meaning, that they showed themselves to be men in violating the covenant.
And there is here an implied contrast or comparison between God and the Israelites; as though he said, “I have in good faith made a covenant with them, when I instituted a fixed worship; but they have been men towards me; there has been in them nothing but levity and inconstancy.” God then shows that there had not been a mutual concord between him and the Israelites, as men never respond to God; for he sincerely calls them to himself, but they act unfaithfully, or when they have given some proof of obedience, they soon turn back again, or despise and openly reject the offered instruction. We then see in what sense the Prophet says that they had transgressed the covenant of God as men.
Others explain the words thus, “They have transgressed as Adam the covenant.” But the word, Adam, we know, is taken indefinitely for men. This exposition is frigid and diluted, “They have transgressed as Adam the covenant;” that is, they have followed or imitated the example of their father Adam, who had immediately at the beginning transgressed God’s commandment. I do not stop to refute this comment; for we see that it is in itself vapid. Let us now proceed —
(36) Isa 58:3. — fj.
(37) The words of the original are these, — והמה כאדם עברו ברית. The transposition as proposed above is wholly impossible; no such meaning can be made of the words. The translation preferred by Calvin is the only one that can be admitted. The word אדם is commonly taken for men or mankind: the literal rendering is, — “But they like men have transgressed the covenant.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Critics differ much as to the interpretation of this verse. The marginal rendering supplies the strongest meaning. God made a covenant with Adam, and promised him the blessings of Paradise on condition of obedience. He broke the condition, transgressed the covenant, and was driven from his Divine home. So Israel had violated all the terms on which the goodly land of conditional promise had been bestowed. For the other references to Adam in the Old Testament see Psa. 82:7; Job. 31:33. (See Excursus.)
EXCURSUS B (Hosea 6:7).
Buhl, in Zeitschrift fr Kirchliche Wissenschaft, Part 5, 1881, throws some light on the enigmatical phrase keAdam, by pointing out that Adam is employed in many places to express all the other races of mankind as opposed to Israel. Thus, he translates Jer. 32:20, Thou who didst perform wonders in Israel, as well as in Adam. Similarly Isa. 43:4, on which Delitzsch remarks that those who do not belong to the chosen people are called Adam, because they are regarded as nothing but descendants of Adam. In this passage the emphatic position of the Hebrew pronoun hemmah lends significance to the contrasted term Adam. The meaning, therefore, isthe Israelites, who should be a chosen race, belong now, through their violation of the covenant, to the heathen: have become, in fact, LoAmmi. (Comp. Hos. 1:9.) The word there in the last clause may refer to some local sanctuary, notorious for idolatrous corruption. This is confirmed by the mention of localities in the next verse. We prefer, however, to understand it (with the Targum of Jonathan) as referring to the Holy Land.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘But they like Adam (or ‘men’) have transgressed the covenant.
There have they dealt treacherously against me.
Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity,
It is stained with blood.
Three views are taken of the interpretation of these verses. The first is that ‘adam’ refers to Adam, the original man, the second that it refers to men in general (adam is a word for ‘man’), and the third is that it refers to the city of Adam (Jos 3:16), thus paralleling the mention of the city Gilead.
The first interpretation describes Israel as being like Adam who transgressed his original covenant with God and acted in a treacherous way against Him, possibly with the implication that the city of Gilead was like Cain, his murderous ‘son’. This would tie in with the language in Hos 7:2 b where Israel’s behaviour is openly revealed ‘before the face’ of YHWH in a similar way to Adam’s, for Adam hid among the trees from ‘before His face’ (Gen 3:8). The problem this then raises is as to what the ‘there’ refers to in the second line. This is not too much of a problem, however, as it may simply be a general indication and refer to wherever they were.
This interpretation is very forceful and would have been very telling. All were aware of how Adam had been faithless and disobeyed God. Thus they were being warned that by breaking YHWH’s covenant with them they were repeating the sin of Adam in being faithless and disobedient. They were having their part in the first gross sin. This interpretation also fits well with the idea of treachery. And it is made even more vivid by the fact that it is connected with a city of spilt blood, in the same way as Cain spilled the blood of Abel.
The second interpretation sees men in general as having transgressed the covenant, and Israel having therefore done so ‘as men’. It lacks both force and vividness (although it could still be right).
The third interpretation sees it as referring to the city of Adam near the River Jordan (Jos 3:16). It is argued that this makes a good parallel to the city Gilead mentioned in the third line. However, it can conversely be argued that Gilead in fact parallels Shechem as a city of blood (Hos 6:8-9), rather than ‘Adam’. It can also be argued that it is difficult to see why an obscure city like Adam would have been chosen by Hosea, while everyone would know who the man Adam was. Some who hold this interpretation translate as ‘at Adam’, but this requires altering the Hebrew consonants which is not to be encouraged.
An example of the breach of covenant is then given with reference to the city Gilead. This may have been Ramoth-gilead, or the Gat-gilead mentioned in the Ugaritic texts. Or it may have been some other city in the area of Gilead. And it is described as a city where there was much iniquity and where murder was commonplace. Alternatively it may be referring to a particularly hideous murder which had stained its reputation. This may have been the murder of Pekahiah by Pekah and ‘fifty men of Gilead’ (2Ki 15:25).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Sinfulness Of Israel/Ephraim Is Totally Exposed And Judah Is Briefly Warned Of What Will Come On Them As Well ( Hos 6:7 to Hos 7:2 ).
The sinfulness of Israel is now exposed commencing from Gilead (Hos 6:8), and moving through Shechem (Hos 6:9) to Samaria (Hos 7:1). They are revealed as covenant breakers (seen as a gross sin in those days) and murderers (Hos 6:7-8), their priests are exposed as murderers, highway robbers and perpetrators of ‘mischief or ‘heinous crime’ (Hos 6:8), the house of Israel is found to be guilty of ‘whoredom’, both literal and spiritual, and Samaria is described as a place of ‘wickedness’ where falsehood abounds, theft is commonplace, and bandits await any who leave the city. But what they overlook is that YHWH remembers all their wickedness, and that what they do so gathers round them as a spectacle that it is openly apparent before the face of YHWH.
And this occurs despite YHWH’s desire to restore them (Hos 6:11 to Hos 7:1 a), a desire which proves futile because it only helps to reveal their sinfulness. Judah also are warned in a brief aside that they too have a harvest of judgment to reap (compare Mat 13:30 for the idea of a harvest of judgment).
Analysis of Hos 6:7 to Hos 7:2 .
a
b Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity, it is stained with blood (Hos 6:8).
c And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way towards Shechem. Yes, they have committed mischief (Hos 6:9).
d In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing, there whoredom is found in Ephraim (Hos 6:10 a).
e Israel is defiled (Hos 6:10 b).
f Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you (Hos 6:11 a).
e In my bringing back the captivity of my people, when I would heal Israel (Hos 6:11 to Hos 7:1 a).
d Then is the iniquity of Ephraim uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria (Hos 7:1 b).
c For they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in, and the troop of robbers ravages without (Hos 7:1 c).
b And they consider not in their hearts, that I remember all their wickedness (Hos 7:2 a).
a Now have their own doings beset them about, they are before my face (Hos 7:2 b).
Note that in ‘a’ they have, like Adam, transgressed God’s covenant, and have dealt treacherously against Him, and in the parallel their own doings beset them about, and they are ‘before His face’ (compare how though Adam hid ‘from the face of YHWH’ in Gen 3:8, he too had necessarily been ‘before His face’). In ‘b’ the iniquity of Gilead is revealed, and in the parallel their wickedness is remembered by God. In ‘c’ the priests are like troops of robbers, and they commit ‘indecency’, and in the parallel a troop of robbers ravages without, and Ephraim commit falsehood. In ‘d’ whoredom is found in Ephraim, and in the parallel the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered. In ‘e’ Israel is defiled, and in the parallel YHWH desired to heal Israel from her defilement. Centrally in ‘f’ a harvest of judgment is also appointed for Judah.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hos 6:7. Like men It should be rendered, Like Adam. As Adam transgressed a plain command; so the Israelites transgressed the plainest and the easiest precepts. As Adam’s crime was not to be excused by any necessity or want; so the Israelites, secure under the protection of Jehovah, had they continued faithful to him, had no excuse in seeking other aids. Adam revolted from God to Satan; so the Israelites forsook God to worship devils. Adam broke that one command, on which the justification of himself and his posterity depended; so the Israelites broke the one precept of love. See Bishop Horsley.
There And in that; namely, in transgressing the covenant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1157
OUR TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE COVENANT
Hos 6:7. But they, like men, have transgressed the covenant.
THE merciful nature of Gods dispensations greatly aggravates our guilt in violating his commandments. The law indeed which he imposed upon the Jews was in some respects an intolerable burthen; but in other points of view it was replete with love and mercy: for though its requirements were many, yet its provisions for the unintentional violation of its precepts were also numerous, and peculiarly suited to the character and condition of his people. He required of them sacrifices and burnt offerings; but that which he principally desired, was the exercise of holy affections towards himself, and towards each other: and while they were observant of their duties, he pledged himself to watch over them, to protect them, to bless them. But they were by no means sensible of their privileges, or duly affected with his love: on the contrary, they, like men, transgressed the covenant.
In the margin of our Bibles, the text is translated, They, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant: and this seems the more proper translation. The words which are translated, like men, occur only in two other passages of the Bible: in one of which it is actually translated, like Adam [Note: Job 31:33.]; and in the other, that sense is evidently most agreeable to the context [Note: Psa 82:7. Ye shall die like Adam, whose honours were once so great, but were quickly ruined.]. Thus in the text also it were far better to render the words, They, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant. It is in this sense we propose to interpret them; and in this sense they are well applicable to ourselves. We shall take occasion from them to shew,
I.
What covenant we have transgressed
The peculiar covenant under which the Jews were, is altogether abrogated: and, as we have never been under it, we, of course, have never transgressed it. But we have transgressed,
1.
The covenant of works
[Under this covenant all are by nature: we are born under it: and it is as much in force against us at this time, as it ever was against those to whom it was first given. It requires perfect and perpetual obedience to the two tables of the moral law: and it denounces an everlasting curse against every the smallest violation of Gods commandments [Note: Gal 3:10.]. It is needless to shew that we have transgressed this covenant; for there has not been one day of our lives, wherein we have not transgressed it in ten thousand instances.]
2.
The covenant of grace
[This is the new covenant which God has made with us, to remedy our breaches of the former covenant. The old covenant said, Do this, and live;but the new covenant says, Believe, and be saved. It proposes to us a Saviour, who has made atonement for our sins, and wrought out a righteousness for us by his own obedience unto death. In, and through, Him reconciliation is offered to us; and God engages to restore to everlasting happiness and glory all who will come to him in the name of Christ.
Now one would imagine that all should eagerly embrace this covenant, and hold it fast, with a determination never to lose the benefits it so freely offers. But the fact is, that men are even more averse to this covenant than to the covenant of works. They cannot endure to depend so entirely on another for their acceptance with God. They think they can make some compensation for their violations of the former covenant, and in some way or other fulfil its conditions so as to secure its rewards. They perhaps will borrow somewhat from the new covenant, just to supply their deficiencies; but they cannot be prevailed upon to renounce the old covenant altogether, and to accept salvation by faith alone.
Let every one look back upon his past experience; and see whether he himself has not been leaning thus to something which he either has done, or has purposed to do, instead of prostrating himself at the Saviours feet, and imploring mercy solely through his blood and righteousness? Yes; whatever we may imagine, this has really been the experience of every living man; such transgressors have we been against the new covenant itself, and against Christ the Mediator of it.]
3.
The special covenants which we ourselves have individually made with God
[In our baptism we entered into covenant with God; and engaged to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh. At other times also, either at our confirmation by the bishop, or at the Lords supper, or in a time of sickness, or under conviction of sin, we have resolved that we would repent, and turn unto God in newness of heart and life. But have not the practices of every day contradicted these professions? Have we not broken all our vows and resolutions? And have not the world, the flesh, and the devil, yet too great an ascendency over our hearts? Behold then, We are transgressors of the covenant; and we have been transgressors even from the womb.]
To discover more fully the guilt of violating the covenant, let us consider,
II.
With what aggravations we have transgressed it
The having sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression greatly enhances our guilt; since, in so doing, we have sinned,
1.
Against the greatest obligations to obedience
[The obligations which had been conferred on Adam in Paradise, ought to have kept him steadfast in his obedience. He was endued with faculties superior to any other being upon earth. He was made capable of knowing, loving, and enjoying God; yea, was admitted to the most familiar converse with the Deity. But notwithstanding all these favours, he transgressed. Thus have we also done. Indeed the obligations conferred on us have been infinitely greater than any which Adam enjoyed, even in his state of innocence: for God has given us his only-begotten Son, to take upon him our nature, and to expiate our guilt by his own blood. Who can ever appreciate this favour, or compute its value? The tongue of an archangel cannot fully declare it; nor can any finite mind fully comprehend it. Yet, notwithstanding this obligation, we have sinned: yes; we have transgressed against a redeeming God; and have trampled on that very blood which he shed for our redemption. O what a fearful aggravation is this of all the guilt we have contracted!]
2.
Against the strongest motives to obedience
[Adam had not only his own salvation, but also the salvation of all his posterity, involved in his obedience. According to the covenant made with him. all his seed, to the very end ot time, were to live in him, or in him to die. In this view it must be confessed, that his motives to steadfastness were more powerful than any which can operate on us; unless indeed we balance a regard for the Saviours glory against his concern for his childrens welfare. But, however this may be, our motives to obedience are unspeakably great: the everlasting happiness or misery of our souls is now at stake: heaven with all its glory, or hell with all its torments, must be our portion: and upon our present conduct our eternal state depends. Now can any one reflect a moment on these considerations, and not stand amazed that ever he should be induced to violate the covenant of his God? Is it not astonishing that any thing in the whole universe should prevail upon us to transgress under such circumstances, and to withstand such motives as these?]
3.
Under the slightest possible temptations to disobedience
[There was nothing wanting to Adam in Paradise that could at all conduce to his happiness. Nothing was denied him, but the fruit of one single tree, as a test of his obedience. And what temptation was this to him, who already possessed all that he could reasonably desire? But, slight as the temptation was, he yielded to it. And let us inquire, what our temptations are? A little money, a breath of honour, a momentary gratification, this is all that we can promise ourselves by transgressing the covenant: and what is this when set against eternity? What are we the happier at this moment for all our past transgressions? What is left to us from them all, but shame and remorse? And have we any reason to expect that the gratifications of sin in future will be more solid and permanent than those which we have enjoyed in times past? Behold then, this is the price for which we forego the hopes of heaven, and entail upon ourselves the miseries of hell! What desperate, what incredible infatuation!]
Infer
1.
How striking a contrast is there between God and us!
[We violate our covenant continually upon the most trifling temptations, and that too in spite of the strongest motives and obligations to the contrary. But does God ever violate his covenant? He has engaged to receive every returning prodigal, that comes to him in the name of Jesus: and did we ever hear of so much as one whom he spurned from his footstool? He has engaged also to keep the feet of his saints, and to perfect that which concerneth them. And can we adduce one single instance of a real saint whom he has finally, and for ever, forsaken? No: he may have left hypocrites, to shew all that was in their hearts; and may have punished his own people with a temporary suspension of his favours; but he has sworn once by his holiness that he will not lie unto David, or cast off his people for ever: and this covenant he never has broken, nor ever will. Yet what motives has he had, or what obligations have been laid upon him, to keep covenant and mercy with us? Truly none. But has he not had temptations enough to abandon us? Yes; such temptations as none but a God of infinite perfections could have withstood. Every day, every hour, every moment, we have been provoking him to anger; but he is the unchangeable Jehovah, and therefore it is that we are not consumed.
O admire then the faithfulness of your God; and abase yourselves before him, as vile, faithless, and rebellious creatures!]
2.
How thankful should we be for the covenant of grace!
[The covenant of works made no provision for one single breach of its commands: it instantly, and irreversibly, doomed the transgressor to destruction. But the covenant of grace makes provision for all the offences that ever were committed, provided we seek an interest in it. Here at this moment we may obtain all that we stand in need of. Here is pardon for all our sins; strength against all our temptations; peace to comfort us in all trials: in short, here is grace and glory, and whatever we can desire for body or for soul, for time or for eternity: and all is offered to us freely in the name of Jesus: we have only to believe in Jesus, and all is ours. O Brethren, be thankful for this covenant, which is ordered in all things and sure; and embrace it with your whole hearts. Then, notwithstanding your past transgressions of it have been more numerous than the sands upon the sea-shore, they shall all be forgiven; and you shall stand before God without spot or blemish.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
We find here the same melancholy account, as in the other parts of this prophecy; the Lord complaining of his people’s apostacy; Gilead and the house of Israel; Ephraim and Judah; all alike transgressors. Alas! what but the blood of Christ can expiate the offences of the Lord’s people!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hos 6:7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
Ver. 7. But they like men ] Heb. like Adam, that archrebel, that old , after the similitude of whose transgressions these men had sinned, Rom 5:14 , and so deserved in like sort to be punished, by being cast out of their country, as he was out of paradise. Thus some sense it; as if the prophet would here reduce these covenant breakers to that frst transgressor Adam, in whom they all were; as the whole country is in a parliament man, and as Levi was in Abraham’s loins, and paid tithes in him, Heb 7:9 . Others take Adam for an appellative, and give a reason for it out of the text, because it is Keadam , and not Kahadam, with emphatic. And of these some again read it thus, Illi tanquam hominis transgressi sunt foedus, they transgressed the covenant, as if it had been a man’s covenant ( perinde ae foedus alicuius hominis infimi et infirmi, Polan.); they made no more of breaking it than as if they had had to do with dust and ashes like themselves, with their fellow creatures, and not with the great God: and might therefore deal by their covenants, as monkeys do by their collars, which they fit on for their master’s pleasure, and slip off again for their own. Others read it, as we do; “They like men have transgressed,” &c., sorry men, fickle and false hearted men, such as David pointed at when he said, “All men are liars,” Psa 116:11 , and Paul, 1Co 3:3 . Are ye not carnal, and walk as men, that is, as profane men, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel? Singular things are expected from God’s peculiar, Mat 5:47 , as to be eminent in good works, Tit 3:14 , to get above others, as Saul was above the people by head and shoulders; to get to the very top of godliness, as the apostle’s phrase importeth, , Eph 5:15 , to keep God’s covenant as the apple of the eye, as Solomon saith, Pro 7:2 , that little man in the eye, Ishon, that cannot be touched but he will be distempered. This the world counts preciseness, and makes nothing of transgressing, of leaping over the hedge of any commandments, so they may shun a piece of foul way. Lo, this is the manner of most men, yea, of all men by nature; they make no bones about transgressing the law, of changing the ordinance, of breaking the everlasting covenant, Isa 24:5 . And this when they do, they work de suo et secundum hominem; for Homo est inversus Decalogus, the natural man stands across to the law of God, to the whole Decalogue; the two tables whereof are called the tables of the covenant, Deu 9:9 ; Deu 9:11 . Neither is this any excusing or extenuation of their sin, that they do but their kind, they do it as men. It is an aggravation rather, q.d. they not only transgress my covenant, but they do it naturally, and out of the vileness of their proper inclinations; like as the devil, when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh de suo, of his own, Joh 8:44 , he can do no otherwise. It is as impossible for those that are carnal and walk as men to keep covenant with God as for a toad to spit cordials. If at any time they make an overture of doing it, if they make an essay, it is but as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that goeth away, as Hos 6:5 , with which this verse applies; Hos 6:6 coming in between as it were by a parenthesis.
There have they dealt treacherously against me
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
like men. Hebrew like Adam.
men. Hebrew. ‘adam. App-14. Compare Job 31:33. Psa 49:12; Psa 82:7.
transgressed = rebelled. Heb ‘abar. App-44.
the covenant. See Jos 24:1, Jos 24:25.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
men: or, Adam, Gen 3:6, Gen 3:11, Job 31:33
transgressed: Hos 8:1, 2Ki 17:15, Isa 24:5, Jer 31:32, Eze 16:59-61, Heb 8:9
they dealt: Hos 5:7, Isa 24:16, Isa 48:8, Jer 3:7, Jer 5:11, Jer 9:6
Reciprocal: Deu 17:2 – in transgressing Jos 5:5 – they had not Jos 7:11 – transgressed 1Ki 19:14 – forsaken Ecc 5:1 – give Isa 59:13 – lying Jer 3:20 – so have Jer 9:2 – an assembly Jer 11:10 – the house of Israel Jer 12:1 – deal Jer 34:18 – have transgressed Hos 10:4 – swearing Mal 2:11 – and hath 1Co 3:3 – and walk 1Pe 4:2 – the lusts
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hos 6:7. The lexicon of Strong defines men as follows: “Ruddy, i. e., a human being (an individual, or the species, mankind, etc.) In most Bibles the marginal reading gives the rendering “like Adam, In Job 31:33 the text says, “as Adam,” and the margin at that place says, after the manner of men. The thought in the verse is that Israel had followed the trend of mankind in general instead of conducting themselves as the servants of God, There means, with reference to the covenant; there is where they had dealt treacherously against Him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Hos 6:7. But they like men have transgressed the covenant That is, as all corrupt men are prone to do; and as other men, who are not under such strong obligations to keep covenant with me, use to do. In the Hebrew it is, like Adam: and it would have been better, it seems, to have rendered it so; the sense appearing to be, that their transgression of the covenant God had made with them, or of the commandments which he had given them, was very similar to the transgression of Adam in paradise. As Adam transgressed a plain command, so the Israelites transgressed the plainest and the easiest precepts. As Adams crime was not to be excused by any necessity or want, so the Israelites, secure under the protection of Jehovah, had they continued faithful to him, had no excuse in seeking other aids. Adam revolted from God to Satan; so the Israelites forsook God to worship devils. Adam broke that one command, on which the justification of himself and his posterity depended; so the Israelites broke the one precept of charity, on their observing which depended their continuance in the divine favour, and their right to the blessings of the Mosaic covenant: see Horsley. There have they dealt treacherously against me There, even in that very delightful and plentiful land, which I gave them to encourage them to obedience, a land like unto Eden itself, they have transgressed my law, as Adam did in paradise, and have behaved themselves falsely and ungratefully toward me; and that even with all the advantages of the prophetic teaching, and in spite of all admonition and all warning.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
6:7 But they {g} like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
(g) That is, like small and weak persons.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Like Adam, the first and typical man in an endless stream of human beings, the Israelites had violated God’s loving directions even though His blessings had been abundant. The AV translation "like men" (Heb. ’adam) highlights Adam’s typical significance. The covenant that Adam transgressed was not the Mosaic Covenant, which the Israelites and Judahites had violated. It was the arrangement with Adam that God had specified for life within the Garden of Eden, the Adamic Covenant (Gen 2:16-17). Ever since Adam, all people, including God’s people, dealt treacherously with Him by trying to seize the sovereignty from God because they doubted His love for them.