Chapter Thirteen

1–15. Condemnation of Israel’s sins, pronouncement of impending punishment, and God’s mercy toward Israel.

Hosea 13:1. When Ephraim spoke, everyone trembled. He was exalted in Israel; but he became guilty through Baal, and perished. According to the sense of the Russian translation in verse 1, the prophet speaks of the significance of Ephraim among the tribes of Israel—a significance lost as a result of apostasy from Jehovah and turning to Baal. But the original text of verse 1 presents difficulties for translation: namely, retheth (Russian “trembled,” Greek δικαιώματα, Slavonic “ordinances”) does not occur elsewhere in the Bible, and its meaning is disputed; furthermore, the fact that elsewhere the name Ephraim serves the prophet as a designation for all of Israel causes difficulty, while in verse 1, according to the sense of the Russian translation, it is used as the name of a single tribe. In view of this, commentators translate the verse differently than in the Russian translation. Some commentators understand the Hebrew retheth in the sense of terrible, understanding by this the words of Jeroboam (1 Sam 12:28) (Rosenmüller-Hasselberg) on the introduction of calf worship or the defiling name of Baal (Umbreit), while others understand it in the sense of “tumult” (Ewald). The prophet’s words in this case represent a rebuke to Israel; either for his rebellion against the house of David, or for turning to the service of Baal. According to Hoonacker’s view, the word retheth is a proper name, namely Dathan (corrupted in retheth), known in history for his rebellion against Moses (Exod 16:7). Hoonacker translates verse 1 thus: “according to the word of Ephraim (cf. Slavonic “by the word of Ephraim”) was Dathan; he was a prince (nasa, Russian “exalted,” Slavonic “took”) in Israel; he became guilty against his master (babaal, Russian “through Baal”) and perished.”—The LXX and our Slavonic in verse 1 deviate from the original and give an unclear thought.

Hosea 13:2. And now they have added to their sin: they have made for themselves cast idols of their silver, according to their understanding—the complete work of craftsmen—and they say to those who offer sacrifice: ‘Kiss the calves!’ The former sin—rebellion against God—Ephraim increased with a new one: he made idols to which sacrifices are offered. “Cleverly made from their silver” (kitebunach azavim): Slavonic in accordance with the LXX “according to the image of idols”; the reading of the Hebrew text is confirmed both by the context and by all translations. “And they say of them who make offerings to them, ‘Kiss the calves!’” The Hebrew text of this passage (lahem hem omrim sobchej adam agalim iszszakun) is unclear and allows various translations and interpretations. (The words sobchej adam, rendered in our text as “those who make offerings to them,” are understood by some exegetes (Rosenmüller, Hitzig, Schegg) as referring to human sacrifices, and the entire sentence is translated: those who sacrifice humans say—kiss the calf; or: they are Amorites (omrim—speakers, amorim, Amorites), they offer humans in sacrifice, they kiss calves (Marti). But it is unlikely that the prophet would mention human sacrifices in passing. Furthermore, such sacrifices took place in the worship of Molech, and nothing is known about the connection of such sacrifices with calves (“kiss the calves”). Other interpreters (Scholz, Schmöller, Brodovich) take the words sobchej adam as the subject in the sentence and translate the entire utterance of the prophet thus: (to them, to the idols) the people who offer sacrifice say, calves they kiss. The verb omrim (“say”) in this case is understood in the sense of prayer to idols, and the kissing of calves is viewed as an expression of devotion to them. The LXX read the Hebrew sobchej as an imperative (sibchu) and translated it as the verb θύσατε; they derived the verb iszszakun (kiss) from sakak, to melt, waste away; from this comes the Slavonic “these say: sacrifice humans; for the calves have wasted away”—a thought unclear.

Hosea 13:4. But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt, and you should know no other god besides Me, and there is no savior but Me. Hosea 13:5. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. The prophet, as in chapter Hos 12:9-10, reminds of the mercies of Jehovah to Israel. I knew (jedathicha) “you”: (Slavonic “I tended you”); the verb used by the prophet expresses the thought of love and fatherly care with which Jehovah related to Israel in the wilderness. In verse 4 the Greek and Slavonic texts have an addition to the original, not found in other translations (the words: “who establishes heaven and creates earth, whose hand created all the host of heaven, and I did not reveal them to you so that you would follow them: and I brought you out of the land of Egypt”). These words are doubtless a gloss that entered the text from the margins.

Hosea 13:6. Having pastures, they were satisfied; and when they were full, their hearts became proud, and therefore they forgot Me. Hosea 13:7. And I will be to them like a lion, like a young lion I will lurk by the path. Hosea 13:8. I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs, and I will tear open the chamber of their hearts, and devour them there, like a lioness; the wild beasts will tear them apart. The Lord was a good shepherd of Israel, shepherding him on fair pastures. But Israel proved ungrateful and forgot the Lord. For this the Lord will now be to the people like a lion, leopard, (kenamer, like a leopard, Russian as “leopard”) and a bereaved bear, which tear their prey (cf. Hos 5:14). The prophet has in mind the beginning and impending calamities for Israel. Instead of the words “I will lurk” (aschur) beside the path in the Slavonic “on the way of the Assyrians”: The LXX (as also the Vulgate, Syriac) erroneously took aschur (from schur, to surround, lurk) as the name of the Assyrians.

Hosea 13:9. You have destroyed yourself, Israel, for only in Me is your support. The Hebrew text of verse 9 allows various translations. Most commentators translate it: “destroys you Israel (what) you (put) against Me, your help.” Others: Your destruction is Me, Israel; who will help you? (Nowack). In the Slavonic, “in your destruction, Israel, who will help you?”

Hosea 13:10. Where is your king now? Let him save you in all your cities! Where are your judges, of whom you said: ‘Give us a king and rulers’? Verse 10 does not say that Israel no longer has a king: the prophet only points to the helplessness of the Israelite kings in view of the enemy’s invasion of all the cities. “You said: Give us a king and princes,” an indication of Israel’s falling away from the house of David.

Hosea 13:11. And I gave you a king in My anger, and took him away in My wrath. The verbal forms used by the prophet (gave, took away) express an action that is often repeated and can be rendered in the present tense. The prophet speaks of royal power in general. Instead of the word took away in the Slavonic “I was strong” (Greek possibly έσχον arose from the original απέσχον—I removed).

Hosea 13:12. The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, his sin is preserved. “As in the temporal world,” says blessed Jerome in explanation of verse 12, “what is bound is kept and is not lost for the one for whom it was bound, so all the iniquities through which Ephraim sinned against God are bound for him and are kept as if hidden in a purse.” —Hebrew Zarur (bound up) the LXX read as the noun Zeror, συσιροφή—a bundle; from this comes the Slavonic “accumulation” (of iniquity).

Hosea 13:13. The pangs of childbirth will overtake him; he is an unwise son, or else he would not stand so long in the time of those being born. The coming calamities for Israel are compared with the pangs of childbirth in verse 13. At the same time the thought is given that these calamities, like the pangs of the laboring woman, will serve as the beginning of new life. “He is an unwise son, for he does not present himself at the time in the place of breaking forth of children.” The second half of the utterance from the Hebrew should more accurately be rendered: “for he at the time (et—accusative of time) does not stand in the opening of the womb,” that is, “does not enter into the opening of the mother’s womb,” slowing and hindering thereby the birth (Brodovich). The prophet wants to say that Ephraim could ease his birth into new life, could lessen through repentance the pangs of God’s judgment. But Ephraim is an unwise son. The Greek-Slavonic reading: “for he now will not stand in the breaking of the children” arose from too literal a rendering of the LXX text of the original.

Hosea 13:14. From the power of Hades I will redeem them, from death I will deliver them. Death! where is your sting? Hades! where is your victory? There will be no repentance in this for Me. Many exegetes (Schmöller, Simon, Nowack, and others) interpret verse 14 in the sense that it expresses the thought of the inevitable destruction of Israel (“relenting is hidden from My eyes”). The opening sentences of verse 14 are considered to be questions, moreover such as that presuppose a negative answer (Will I deliver? Will I redeem?). And in the second half of the verse, in the words “O death, where are your plagues? O grave, where is your destruction?” they see a summons addressed to death and the grave or an exhortation to them to destroy Israel. But the stated interpretation of verse 14 is not fully in harmony with the context of the speech. In verse 13 the prophet compares Ephraim’s condition with the pangs of the laboring woman and expresses thereby the thought that calamities will be the beginning of new life. Therefore in verse 14 we should expect speech of deliverance, not of final destruction. According to the New Testament and patristic interpretations (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Ephrem the Syrian, blessed Theodoret), in verse 14 the prophet gives a promise of the annihilation of the power and authority of death and the grave. “But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” (1 Cor 15:54-55). Immediately, the prophet’s promise relates to the liberation of Israel from captivity. In full measure it is fulfilled when all those who have become prey to the grave and death are restored to life, that is, in the fact of the resurrection of the dead. In the Slavonic text instead of the words “where are your plagues” it reads: “where is your dispute.” Hebrew dеbarejcha, meaning: ruin, pestilence, plague, the LXX translated freely with the word δίκη, in the sense of strife, lawsuit (Exod 18:16; Exod 24:14). “Where is your destruction” Slavonic “where is your sting”: Hebrew katabela (Greek κέντρον) means: ruin, destruction, pestilence (Deut 32:24; Exod 28:2). “Relenting is hidden from My eyes” (nocham—repentance), (from Hebrew opened from My eyes): that is, God’s determination of deliverance is firm and unalterable. In the Slavonic “comfort is hidden from My eyes.”

Hosea 13:15. Though Ephraim is fruitful among his brothers, yet the east wind will come, the wind of the Lord will rise from the wilderness, and his spring will be dried up, and his fountain will fail; he will plunder the storehouse of all precious vessels. The prophet again returns to the proclamation of calamities for Israel. The most fruitful (the name Ephraim means double fruit or double fruitfulness) among the tribes, Ephraim will not be spared, for the source of his fruitfulness will be dried up by the east wind. The wind in verse 15 is the image of an enemy, namely the Assyrians. Instead of the Russian “though Ephraim is fruitful among his brothers,” in the Slavonic “for this one will divide among brothers,” Hebrew japheri (fruitful) the LXX read as japherit and translated it with the word διαστελεί, will divide.