Hosea 13
Ephraim's Apostasy and Decline 1–3
God is the Only Savior 4–6
The Fierce Judgment of God 7–8
Israel's Self-Destruction and Failed Kings 9–11
Judgment, Unwisdom, and Redemption 12–14
Final Destruction of Samaria 15–16
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Study Notes for Hosea 13
Verse 1
he offended in Baal, he died — Ephraim had been set above his elder brother by Jacob: ‘his younger brother shall be greater than he’ (Gen 48:19). ‘Trembling’ (rethet) occurs only here. ‘Offended’ is asham, to incur guilt, which returns in v.16 as ‘become desolate’. Baal’s altar stood in Samaria, built by Ahab (1 Kgs 16:32).
Verse 2
kiss the calves — Jeroboam made ‘two calves of gold’ and set them in Bethel and Dan (1 Kgs 12:28–29). To kiss an image was homage, as ‘every mouth which hath not kissed him’ marks those who had not bowed to Baal (1 Kgs 19:18). The idols are ‘the work of the craftsmen’, as in 8:6, ‘the workman made it; therefore it is not God’.
Verse 3
morning cloud… early dew — The first two images are those used of Ephraim’s goodness in 6:4, ‘as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away’. The chaff recalls ‘the chaff which the wind driveth away’ (Ps 1:4). ‘Chimney’ is arubbah, a lattice or opening, rendered ‘windows’ in Mal 3:10.
Verse 4
no saviour beside me — ‘I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt’ echoes the words of 12:9. ‘Saviour’ comes from yasha, to save, as in Isa 43:11, ‘beside me there is no saviour’. The name Jesus is given for the same reason: ‘he shall save his people from their sins’ (Matt 1:21).
Verse 5
I did know thee — Yada, to know, is the knowing of care: ‘he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness… thou hast lacked nothing’ (Deut 2:7). It is the word of ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth’ (Amos 3:2). ‘Great drought’ (talubah) occurs only here.
Verse 6
they were filled — The steps of Deut 8:12–14 are all here in the same verbs: ‘art full’ (saba), ‘lifted up’ (rum) and ‘forget’ (shakach), as in ‘thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God’. ‘Pasture’ (mir’it) is a flock’s feeding, as in ‘the sheep of his pasture’ (Ps 100:3).
Verse 7
a lion… a leopard — The LORD who fed them as a flock in v.6 now takes the part of the beasts that attack flocks, as ‘a lion’ in 5:14. ‘Lion’ is shachal, ‘leopard’ is namer, and ‘observe’ is shur, to watch, the verb used again in 14:8 where he ‘observed’ the returning Ephraim.
Verse 8
a bear that is bereaved — A bear ‘robbed of her whelps’ is the picture of fierce anger (2 Sam 17:8; Prov 17:12). ‘Caul of their heart’ is segor, the enclosure around it. ‘Tear’ is baqa, the verb of v.16 (‘ripped up’), and the ‘wild beast’ is literally the ‘beast of the field’, as in 2:12, ‘the beasts of the field shall eat them’.
Verse 9
thou hast destroyed thyself — Shachat is to ruin or corrupt, and the ruin is Israel’s own. ‘In me is thine help’ uses ezer, the word of ‘My help cometh from the LORD’ (Ps 121:2) and of ‘the shield of thy help’ (Deut 33:29).
Verse 10
I will be thy king — ‘Save’ is yasha, the verb of ‘saviour’ in v.4. The ‘judges’ and the request ‘Give me a king and princes’ recall 1 Sam 8:5–6, answered with ‘they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them’ (1 Sam 8:7). ‘I will be’ (ehi) is the same word as ‘I will be thy plagues’ in v.14.
Verse 11
I gave thee a king in mine anger — Samuel told the people, ‘ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you’ (1 Sam 10:19). Of the northern kings the LORD says, ‘They have set up kings, but not by me’ (Hos 8:4), and ‘all their kings are fallen’ (7:7). ‘Anger’ is aph and ‘wrath’ is ebrah, an outburst of rage.
Verse 12
bound up… hid — Tsarar is to bind up and tsaphan to hide away by storing, so Ephraim’s iniquity is kept like treasure. ‘Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?’ (Deut 32:34). Job says, ‘My transgression is sealed up in a bag’ (Job 14:17), and Paul, ‘treasurest up unto thyself wrath’ (Rom 2:5).
Verse 13
the sorrows of a travailing woman — Birth pangs are Scripture’s picture of coming judgment (Isa 13:8; Mic 4:9–10). ‘Sorrows’ is chebel, the word of Isa 13:8. The ‘unwise son’ does not come forth in time, as in ‘the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth’ (Isa 37:3). ‘Place of the breaking forth’ is mishber, the opening of the womb.
Verse 14
O death, I will be thy plagues — Paul echoes the words in the resurrection chapter: ‘O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’ (1 Cor 15:55). ‘Ransom’ is padah, the verb of ‘God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave’ (Ps 49:15). ‘Plagues’ is deber, as in Amos 4:10, and ‘repentance’ (nocham) occurs only here.
Verse 15
fruitful among his brethren — ‘Fruitful’ (para) echoes the name Ephraim, ‘double fruit’, given because ‘God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction’ (Gen 41:52). The ‘east wind’ (qadim) is the wind Ephraim followed in 12:1. Here it is ‘the wind of the LORD’, and it dries the spring as the east wind ‘dried up her fruit’ in Ezek 19:12.
Verse 16
Samaria shall become desolate — Asham, the verb of ‘offended’ in v.1, is here ‘become desolate’, so guilt and desolation share one word. The fall came when ‘the king of Assyria took Samaria’ (2 Kgs 17:6). ‘Ripped up’ is baqa, as of what Menahem did at Tiphsah (2 Kgs 15:16) and what Ammon is judged for in Amos 1:13.