Hosea 11 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Hosea 11

The Lord’s Love for Israel

11:1   When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.
2   The more they were called,
    the more they went away;
  they kept sacrificing to the Baals
    and burning offerings to idols.
3   Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
    I took them up by their arms,
    but they did not know that I healed them.
4   I led them with cords of kindness,¹
    with the bands of love,
  and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
    and I bent down to them and fed them.
5   They shall not² return to the land of Egypt,
    but Assyria shall be their king,
    because they have refused to return to me.
6   The sword shall rage against their cities,
    consume the bars of their gates,
    and devour them because of their own counsels.
7   My people are bent on turning away from me,
    and though they call out to the Most High,
    he shall not raise them up at all.
8   How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, O Israel?
  How can I make you like Admah?
    How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
  My heart recoils within me;
    my compassion grows warm and tender.
9   I will not execute my burning anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
  for I am God and not a man,
    the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.³
10   They shall go after the LORD;
    he will roar like a lion;
  when he roars,
    his children shall come trembling from the west;
11   they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
    and like doves from the land of Assyria,
    and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD.
12   ⁴ Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
    and the house of Israel with deceit,
  but Judah still walks with God
    and is faithful to the Holy One.

Footnotes

[1] 11:4 Or humaneness; Hebrew man
[2] 11:5 Or surely
[3] 11:9 Or into the city
[4] 11:12 Ch 12:1 in Hebrew

Commentary

v1-4: See 2.14, the prophet describes the Lord's love for His people, His son. He loved them and called them, taught them to walk and healed them; He drew them with bands of love, and stooped and fed them; just as a father does for his child. Yet Israel forgot this great love and mercy.

God called them out of Egypt, and they must not go back.

Part of the reason for their present rebellion is their neglect or failure to remember the blessings of the past.

v5-7: They deserve judgment, and will suffer the dominion of Assyria.

There is some appearance of religion, and some saying of prayers, but none truly exalt the Lord; see 10.13.

v8-9: "How can I give you up?" asks the Lord, for His love for His own is so deep. Here is an indication of His sorrow and grief, yet He is God, and not man, and is not controlled by fallible emotions; we must be careful in attributing human emotion to God. Even so, these words describe a real compassion for His own.

v10-11: Future blessing; they shall walk after the Lord, and dwell in their own homes.

v12: In opening chapter 12, Hosea indicates that Judah, although not yet fallen into the depths of Israel, is not without guilt.