THE BOOK OF HOSEA
Part Two: Lesson 4
Chapter 4
Innocent blood
they shed, the blood of their sons and daughters; offering them to the idols of
Canaan, they polluted the country with blood. They defiled themselves by such
actions; their behavior was that of a harlot. Yahweh's anger blazed out at his
people, his own heritage filled him with disgust.
Psalm 106:38-40 NJB
+ + +
Like other Old Testament prophets, Hosea used traditional marriage imagery in Hosea chapters 1-3 (also see Isaiah chapters 54 and 62; Jeremiah 2:3; 31; Ezekiel chapters 16 and 23, and Malachi 2:13-17) as a fitting comparison to the covenant bond between Yahweh and Israel. The nuptial covenant between God and His covenant people prepared the way for understanding the New and Eternal Covenant in which God the Son, by becoming incarnate, gave His life and united to Himself to all humanity saved by His sacrifice. His act of love prepared the way for the Wedding Feast of the Lamb and His Bride the Church at the end of time (Revelation 19:7, 9).
Part Two: The Sins and Punishment of Israel (Hosea 4:1-14:9)
Chapter 4 begins the second part of the book. The theme of Chapters 4-14 is a covenant lawsuit (riv) announced by Yahweh against Israel (see 4:1-3). Chapters 4:1-11:11 contain a series of oracles arranged by subject and not chronology. Like the central poem in Hosea 2:2-23 and the last section in 11:12-14:8, it begins with a covenant lawsuit and ends with the promise of future restoration (11:1-11). Chapters 4-14 recapitulate the central theme of sin, judgment, and renewal.
Most of what follows in 4:4-1:11 is a variation of the theme of Israel and Judah's culpability in their rebellion against Yahweh, the Divine Bridegroom, and their coming judgment. However, in 11:8-9, Yahweh declares Himself moved with compassion for His people and His desire to take back His repentant covenant Bride. Chapter 4 can be divided into two sections: 4:1-3 introduces God's riv (covenant lawsuit) against Israel for her violations of the Sinai Covenant, and 4:4-19 elaborate on those violations. The first group of oracles ends with God reprimanding the covenant people of Israel for their covenant infidelity in Hosea 7:13-16.
II: THE SINS AND PUNISHMENT OF ISRAEL of Israel CHAPTERS 4-14
CHAPTER 4
The General Corruption of the Northern Kingdom of Israel
Hosea 4:1-3 ~ Yahweh's Covenant Lawsuit Against His People
1 Israelites, hear what Yahweh says, for Yahweh
indicts [riv] the citizens of the country: there is no loyalty, no faithful
love [hesed], no knowledge of God in the country, 2 only perjury and
lying, murder, theft, adultery and violence, bloodshed after bloodshed.
3 This is why the country is in mourning and
all its citizens pining away, the wild animals also and birds of the sky, even
the fish in the sea will disappear.
The portrayal of Hosea's household (wife and children) is left behind, and the remainder of the book is addressed to the nations of Israel and Judah, whose citizens are members of God's household. Yahweh initiates a covenant lawsuit against the citizens of Israel who, like Gomer, have no loyalty or hesed covenant love for God. They do not "know" Yahweh in the sense of knowing God in the covenant relationship. Verse 2 accuses the people of six sins, including violations of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:10-17; Dt 5:17-20): perjury/lying (giving false testimony, the eighth commandment), murder (the fifth commandment), theft (the seventh commandment), adultery (the sixth commandment) violence, and bloodshed.
The first three sins (lying, murder, and theft), listed in the Ten Commandments, are transgressions against members of the human family, while the next five harms the community, and all are an affront to God. Perjury and lying [kahes] probably refer to the ninth commandment of false testimony that condemns another person (also see Lev 6:2-3; 19:11; Josh 24:27; Job 31:28.
Murder [rasoah] is the unlawful shedding of innocent blood and is the same term used in the Decalogue. The repeated use of the word "bloodshed" [damim] at the end of verse 2 indicates the crime's frequency. Hosea will attribute it to a priestly failure in Hosea 6:9. The literal translation of "bloodshed after bloodshed" is "bloodshed touches bloodshed," characterizing the dissolution of society resulting from the vices listed. Psalm 106 (see the quote at the beginning of the lesson) and the Book of Hosea has several related themes and share a common vocabulary (as in Ps 106:38) where bloodshed is common to both. The reference to bloodshed in Psalm 106:38-40 is to the murder of innocent children sacrificed to the gods of Canaan and could be included in the repeated "bloodshed" of Hosea 4:2 since "murder" is already listed. Hosea 4:2, Jeremiah 7:9, Matthew 19:18-19, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20, and Romans 13:9, like Exodus 20:3-17 and Deuteronomy 5:7-21, list the sins of adultery, theft/covetousness, and murder.
Theft [ganob] describes stealing goods or persons (Ex 21:16-17). The homeowner who strikes back, killing the thief, has no guilt attached to his action (Ex 22:2).
Adultery [na'op] is not only a violation of marital fidelity but a term the prophets used in a metaphorical sense, referring to the covenant faithlessness of the people toward Yahweh, as Hosea has used the word in 4:13-14 to refer to the covenant people's participation in pagan cultic rituals.
3 This is why the country is in mourning and
all its citizens pining away, the wild animals also and birds of the sky, even
the fish in the sea will disappear.
The sinful acts of the covenant people contaminate the
people and the Promised Land. After a survey of the evidence against the
covenant people of Israel, God's riv (covenant lawsuit) against them and their
land results in the dissolution of the people affecting its four categories of
life: the people, the animals who inhabit the land, the birds, and fish. The environment
is physically disordered and depleted, a reversal of what God promised for
blessings of obedience (Ps 8:7-8) and calls to mind the curse on Eden after the
Fall of Adam (Gen 3:17-19).
Question: What do God's judgments on the people
and the land resulting from the people's sins remind us?
Answer: It is a reminder that sins have consequences
beyond the individual sinner. It permeates society and nature, even resulting
in diseases that plague the human family.
The "Spirit of Harlotry" (4:4-5:7)
Priesthood and the people (4:4-19)
Hosea 4:4-11 ~ Yahweh Denounces the Priests
4 But let no one denounce, no one rebuke;
it is you, priest, that I denounce. 5 Priest, you will stumble [kasal]
in broad daylight, and the prophet will stumble [kasal] with you in the dark,
and I will make your mother perish.* 6 My people perish for want of
knowledge. Since you yourself have rejected knowledge, so I shall reject you
from my priesthood; since you have forgotten the teaching of your God, I in my
turn shall forget your children. 7 The more of them there have been,
the more they have sinned against me; they have bartered their Glory for Shame.
8 They feed on the sin of my people, they are greedy for their
iniquity. 9 But as with the people, so with the priest, I shall
punish them for their conduct, I shall pay them back for their deeds. 10 They
will eat but never be satisfied, they will play the whore but not grow more
prolific, since they have deserted Yahweh to give themselves
up 11 to whoring.
* The literal Hebrew term in verse 5 is kasal,
a verb meaning "to stumble."
Hosea 4:4-19 is the start of a section that addresses the condition of "spiritual harlotry." It continues to 5:7. In keeping with the marriage analogy throughout the book, idolatry is referred to as harlotry, whoring/whoredom, or adultery (CCC 2380). The first oracle begins with the widespread corruption in the Northern Kingdom of Israel addressed to priests and prophets (4:4-8), the unfaithful people (4:9-19), the ruling house, and the wealthy (5:1-7). They are guilty of the sins of immorality, idolatry, drunkenness, and other religious aberrations, including forming treaties with pagan nations (5:8-15). Their covenant failure in turning to pagan gods is imaged symbolically as adultery and sexual immorality: they have deserted Yahweh to give themselves up 11 to whoring.
Question: What command did Moses give the children of Israel concerning making treaties with their pagan neighbors, including marriages? What were the dangers of forming such alliances? See Deuteronomy 7:1-6.
Question: What happened soon after the Israelites took
possession of the Promised Land concerning Moses's command against treaties
with foreigners, and what was the result? See Judges 3:1-6.
Answer: After conquering the Promised Land and continuing to
Hosea's time, the people's activities led to the sin of pride and forgetfulness
of Yahweh.
Question: What term does Hosea use to accuse the priests
and prophets in verse 5?
Answer: He describes them as "stumbling." They do not walk
firmly in the path God has set for them and, therefore, they lead the people
astray.
Hosea 5:5 will use the same term when speaking about covenant failure.
8 They feed on the sin of my people, they
are greedy for their iniquity.
In verses 4-11, God holds the priests and prophets accountable
for the people's failures. The priests and prophets were responsible for
instructing the people in the knowledge of God and His commands and
prohibitions in the Law of the Sinai Covenant (Dt 33:10; Mi 2:5-8). Instead,
they have taken advantage of the people and "bartered their Glory (i.e.,
Yahweh) for Shame (i.e., the Baals and other false gods). The priests received
a part of every sin victim offered at Yahweh's sacrificial altar (Lev 6:19-22;
7:7). By not admonishing the people continually concerning their transgressions,
as the people's sins increased and they, without conscience made expiation for
them, and the priests profited.
Hosea 4:11b-14 ~ Worship in Israel is Idolatrous and Debauched
11b Old wine and new wine addle my people's wits, 12 they
consult their block of wood, and their stick explains what they should do. For
an urge to go whoring* has led them astray and whoring they go and desert their
God; 13 they offer sacrifice on the mountain tops, they burn incense
on the hills, under oak and poplar and terebinth, for pleasant is their shade.
So, although your daughters play the whore and your
daughters-in-law commit adultery, 14 I shall not punish your
daughters for playing the whore nor your daughters-in-law for committing
adultery, when the men themselves are wandering off with whores and offering
sacrifice with sacred prostitutes [qedesa], for a people with no understanding
is doomed.
* The literal translation is "For the spirit of harlotry has led
them astray..."
A life of prosperity led the people to forget God and turn to false pagan gods. To become drunk (verse 11b) was to abuse God's gift of wine.
Question: What was the first such abuse of wine recorded in Scripture? See Genesis 9:18-23.
The people use occult items like sticks (verse 12) to practice divination to seek guidance instead of trusting in Yahweh's will for their lives. They worship at shrines to false gods in the desert and on high places, where they burn incense to idols. Their false gods have caused them to abandon Yahweh and have presented a bad example to their children.
13b So, although your daughters play the whore and your daughters-in-law
commit adultery, 14 I shall not punish your daughters for playing
the whore nor your daughters-in-law for committing adultery, when the men themselves
are wandering off with whores and offering sacrifice with sacred prostitutes,
for a people with no understanding is doomed.
The bad behavior of their fathers, husbands, and brothers presented a bad
example that encouraged the younger women to commit sexual sins. For this
reason, God holds the men more accountable.
These verses not only refer to metaphorical infidelity toward Yahweh but probably to some of the cultic activities under trees and on mountain tops (verse 13) that were cultic sexual rites of fertility and "sacred" prostitution with women who served as pagan temple prostitutes. There are two different terms for prostitute or harlot in this verse. The first is zona (used frequently in Hosea), and the second is qedesa, which appears only here in verse 14. The etymology of qedesa refers to one who is "holy," "set apart." It likely refers to women or men set apart for sacred prostitution as in Deuteronomy 23:18-19 (17-18), There must be no sacred prostitute [qedesa] among the women of Israel, and no sacred prostitute [qedesa] among the men of Israel. You must not bring the wages of a prostitute [zona] or the earnings of a dog to the house of Yahweh your God, whatever vow you may have made; both are detestable to Yahweh your God. "Dog" was an opprobrious term for a male prostitute. Sacred prostitution was a feature of Canaanite religion. See its effect on the Israelites at Baal of Peor in Numbers 25 (also 1 Kng 14:24; 22:47; 2 Kng 33:7).
for a people with no understanding is doomed.
Verse 14 ends with a short proverb cited to illustrate that thoughtless
and careless persons, who do not understand the good of God's guiding laws,
will come to ruin.
Hosea 4:15-19 ~ A Warning to Judah and Israel
15 Though you, Israel, play the whore, there is no need for
Judah to sin too. Do not go to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-Aven, do not swear
oaths by Yahweh's life,' 16 for Israel is as stubborn as a stubborn
heifer; so is Yahweh likely to pasture him like a lamb in a broad meadow?
17 Ephraim has made a pact with idols "let him
alone! 18 Their drunken orgy over, they do nothing but play the whore,
preferring Shame to their Pride; 19 the wind with its wings will
carry them off, and their sacrifices will bring them nothing but disgrace.
Hosea accuses the people of Israel of collectively playing the role of a harlot, but there is no need, Hosea says, for the Southern Kingdom of Judah to follow Israel's bad example. He says they should not go to the Israelite shrines at Gilgal or Beth-Aven ("wicked-house"), Hosea's nickname for Bethel. He is saying even a prostitute would become corrupted going to those sinful places.
The location of Gilgal, a Hebrew word meaning "circle of stones," is unknown, but from Joshua 4:1-24, we know it was near Jericho and the first place where the tribes of Israel camped on the west side of the Jordan after crossing the river into Canaan. There God commanded them to set up twelve stones to represent the tribes of Israel and to circumcise the new generation of Israelite men. Hosea will mention Gilgal again in 9:15.
Bethel ("house/place of God") was founded by Jacob (Gen 28:10-22; 35:1-7). Jeroboam I, the first king of the separated Northern Kingdom, built a shrine at Bethel and an altar for worshipping the golden calf idol (Ex 32:1-6; 1 Kng 12:25-33). Shortly after the pagan altar was established, God sent a prophet to curse it for turning the "house/place of God" into a wicked place/house (1 Kng 13:1-10).
Oath swearing is another religious practice mentioned at the end of verse 15. Swearing an oath by Yahweh or Yahweh's name was the most powerful, binding oath a person could make. However, breaking such an oath resulted in a self-curse, a judgment likely to happen to foolish people like the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom, most of whom no longer believed in Yahweh's power. The answer to the rhetorical question at the end of verse 16 is "No," Yahweh would not see to the protection and care of such a person or a people.
17 Ephraim has made a pact with idols "let him alone!
Question: Why was Ephraim a name often used for the Northern Kingdom? See
1 Kings 11:26 and 12:20.
Answer: Jeroboam I, the first king of the Northern Kingdom after the ten
northern tribes separated from the Davidic heir to form a separate kingdom, was
a prince from the tribe of Ephraim.
Question: How did Ephraim make a pact with idols? See 1 Kings 12:26-33.
Answer: Jeroboam I introduced idol worship into the kingdom, establishing
the worship of the golden calf at Bethel in the south of the kingdom and at Dan
in the north.
18 Their drunken orgy over, they do nothing but play the whore,
preferring Shame to their Pride; 19 the wind with its wings will
carry them off, and their sacrifices will bring them nothing but disgrace.
The suggestion is that overindulgence in alcoholic beverages takes away
good sense and encourages bad behavior like harlotry. These sinful people (men
and women) prefer "Shame" or dishonor to "Pride" or upright conduct. However, perhaps
they prefer the "Shame" of idol worship over knowing Yahweh, "the pride of
Israel."
Questions for reflection or group discussion:
Question: What is the responsibility of one who
cooperates in or encourages the sins of others? See CCC 1868.
Question: What is the root of sin? See CCC 1853.
Question: What are the consequences of sin? What losses are to be expected? See CCC 705, 761, 1472.
Question: How does one obtain the forgiveness of sin? See CCC 1434-39.
Question: Why was the symbolic metaphor of adultery a fitting image for the covenant people's infidelity to God and His covenant?
Catechism references (* indicates Scripture quoted
or paraphrases in the reference):
Hosea 4:2 (CCC 2056*)
The definition of adultery (CCC 2380*, 2381)
God's commandments concerning adultery (CCC 2052*, 2055*, 2196*)
The gravity of the mortal sin of adultery (CCC 1756, 1856, 1858*, 2380*, 2400)
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