Chapter Five

1–15. Exposure of Israel’s wickedness and threats of punishment.

Hosea 5:1. Hear this, O priests, and pay attention, O house of Israel, and listen, O house of the king, for judgment belongs to you, because you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor. The prophet addresses those who led the people into sin and guided it to destruction. “Hear this,” meaning the accusations and threats spoken in the preceding chapter. Among the representatives of the people, the prophet names the priests of calf worship and the royal house, meaning the king (probably Menahem, cf. Hos 5:13) and those around him. The guilt of the representatives of the people is that they were a “snare” (pach, παγίς — a trap, net — Slavonic “a snare”) for the people “at Mizpah and a net” (Slavonic: “a net”), “spread upon Tabor.” By Mizpah, as can be concluded from comparison of the locality with Mount Tabor, the prophet understands Mizpah or Mizpeh of Gilead, which lay in the trans-Jordanic region, within the Gilead range (Judg 10:17), also called Ramoth of Gilead (Josh 20:8; 2 Sam 9:1), identified with es-Salt, near Jebel-Osh. Mount Tabor is a well-known mountain in the Jezreel Valley (Josh 19:22; Judg 4:12). In antiquity the places mentioned by the prophet apparently abounded in birds and were favorite hunting places for bird catchers. From this the prophet borrows his image. Furthermore, by mentioning two important places in the country — one in the eastern part and the other in the western — the prophet wished to designate the entire country. The prophet’s thought is thus: just as bird catchers set their nets in Mizpah and on Tabor, so the representatives of the people throughout the country ensnare the people in idolatry and unchastity. The Slavonic text’s reading “like a snare you were a watchtower” arose because the LXX understood the Hebrew lemizpah (Russian “at Mizpah”) in an appellative sense — a watchtower (τή σκοπια, Slavonic watchtower), which meaning the word has. The Hebrew “on Tabor” is rendered by the LXX as επι το Ιταβύριον, Slavonic “on Itabyrion.”

Hosea 5:2. Deep they have sunk in depravity, but I will discipline all of them. The original text is unclear. The Russian translation represents only one understanding of the original. In the Slavonic text according to the LXX, the beginning of verse 2, “which they hunted, they struck” (κατέπηξαν) is connected to the end of verse 1.

Hosea 5:3. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me, for you have played the harlot, Ephraim, and Israel has become unclean. Hosea 5:4. Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is within them, and they do not know the Lord. Israel will be punished for the fact that the “spirit of harlotry” has taken possession of its heart, making it impossible to return to Jehovah.

Hosea 5:5. And the pride of Israel is humbled in their eyes, and Israel and Ephraim shall fall in their guilt, and Judah shall fall with them. Slavonic text: “the shame of Israel will be humbled.” And the shame of Israel will be humbled.

Hosea 5:7. They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord, for they have borne foreign children; now the new moon will devour them with their fields. Some commentators understand the words “borne illegitimate children” to mean that, having turned away from the service of the Lord, the Israelites also entered into marriages with pagan women, from whom they bore children. But the prophet’s words can also be understood in a general moral and religious sense. By the words “now the new moon will devour them along with their fields,” the prophet wishes to express the idea that the sacrifices offered on the days of the new moon will not bring salvation to the hypocritical, idol-worshipping people, but will instead lead to their ruin, “will devour them along with their fields” (cf. Jer 3:23-24) or according to the Slavonic text with their “allotments,” meaning their lands. Instead of the Russian “new moon” the Slavonic has “rust” (ἑρυσίβη), since the LXX apparently read cheres (scourge) instead of chodesch.

Hosea 5:8. Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; sound the alarm in Beth-aven: “After you, Benjamin! The prophet already foresees the invasion of enemies into the land. Therefore he commands alarm signals to be given in the cities. The prophet speaks of Gibeah and Ramah. The Bible mentions several localities with these names. The prophet probably has in mind the Gibeah of Saul (1 Sam 10:16; cf. Josh 15:57; 1 Sam 13:16; 1 Sam 15:22; Josh 18:24; Judg 19 and Judg 20:1), located between Ramah and Jerusalem, 20–80 stadia from Jerusalem, and the Ramah of Benjamin, lying near Gibeah (Judg 19:13; Isa 10:29; 1 Sam 15:17; cf. Josh 18:25). Both cities mentioned by the prophet were on the southern border of the Northern Kingdom and already belonged to the southern kingdom. By naming precisely Gibeah and Ramah, the prophet wishes to say that enemies have already reached the southern border of the kingdom, having occupied its entire territory. “Sound the alarm at Bethel,” Slavonic “preach in the house of the gods”: Bethel is meant (cf. note to Hos 4:15). The words “we are with you, Benjamin” are apparently taken from Judg 5:14. Their meaning is not entirely clear and is rendered variously. According to some commentators, the prophet indicates by these words the danger threatening Israel from Benjamin; according to others, the words contain a warning to Benjamin itself (the words acharecha, “we are with you,” — considered a special form of the accusative and translated “beware, Benjamin”) or express the idea that the enemies not only passed through the Northern Kingdom but also the territory of Benjamin’s tribe and are already behind (after) Benjamin. Instead of the words “we are with you, Benjamin” the Slavonic has “Benjamin was terrified” εξέστη B. It is thought that instead of the Masoretic acharecha (“we are with you”) the LXX read jeherad from harad, “to tremble.”

Hosea 5:9. Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of punishment; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure. “Ephraim” — not the single tribe of Ephraim alone, but the entire Northern Kingdom.

Hosea 5:10. The princes of Judah have become like those who move the boundary; I will pour out My wrath upon them like water. Cf. Deut 19:14. The prophet accuses the leaders of Judah of violating the law — more specifically of participating in Israel’s idolatry, of shifting the boundaries of the law, and of becoming like those who seize the fields of others.

Hosea 5:12. And I will be like a moth to Ephraim and like rottenness to the house of Judah. The prophet wishes to point to the inevitability of divine punishment. The difference between the Slavonic and Russian texts in verse 12 arose because the LXX expressed the thought of the original figuratively: “I am like a moth (asch — a moth) to Ephraim, and like a thorn (κέντρον — thorn, sting, Hebrew rapy — worm) to the house of Judah.”

Hosea 5:13. And when Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to the great king; but he is not able to cure you, nor can he heal your wound. Wishing to free himself from the hardships that have befallen him, Ephraim and Judah seek help not from God but from men: Ephraim sends messengers to the Assyrians and to the king Jareb (jarev LXX ῾Ιαρείμ). An Assyrian king with the name Jareb is not known; furthermore, the word mechech (“to the king”) is used in the verse without the article. From this it is concluded that the prophet uses the word jarev (Jareb) not in the sense of a proper name but in an appellative sense, deriving it from the verb riv, to contend, to judge, to defend: to the king the defender. The prophet ironically calls the Assyrian king Jareb, from whom Ephraim vainly hopes to receive help.

Hosea 5:14. For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah; I, I will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. Instead of the Russian “like a lion” (schachal) the Slavonic has: “like a leopard.” The word schachal is rendered variously by the LXX: λέων (Job 4:10) ασιης (Ps 90:13), πανθηρ (Hos 5:14; Hos 13:7). The Hebrew keph’ir “young lion” is rendered by the LXX both as σκύμνος and as λέων as in verse 14.

Hosea 5:15. I will go and return to My place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face. After executing judgment on the people, the Lord will return “to His place,” meaning He will turn away His face from Israel, will deprive it of His presence until the people recognize its guilt and turns to the Lord. In the Slavonic text instead of the words “until they acknowledge their guilt” it reads: “until they perish,” έως ού αφανισθώσι. It is probable that the LXX read ascham, (to sin, to bear punishment, to repent, cf. Lev 4:3; Hos 4:15; Isa 24:6) instead of schamam (to perish, cf. Hos 10:2).