Hosea 14 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Hosea 14

A Plea to Return to the Lord

14:1   Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
    for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2   Take with you words
    and return to the LORD;
  say to him,
    “Take away all iniquity;
  accept what is good,
    and we will pay with bulls
    the vows¹ of our lips.
3   Assyria shall not save us;
    we will not ride on horses;
  and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
    to the work of our hands.
  In you the orphan finds mercy.”
4   I will heal their apostasy;
    I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
5   I will be like the dew to Israel;
    he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
6   his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7   They shall return and dwell beneath my² shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
  they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8   O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you.³
  I am like an evergreen cypress;
    from me comes your fruit.
9   Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
  for the ways of the LORD are right,
    and the upright walk in them,
    but transgressors stumble in them.

Footnotes

[1] 14:2 Septuagint, Syriac pay the fruit
[2] 14:7 Hebrew his
[3] 14:8 Hebrew him

Commentary

v1-3: Words of repentance, bringing a restored relationship with God.

Forgive all our sins; repentance, Ps 51.2;

Receive us graciously; receiving, John 6.37;

We may offer the fruit of our lips; rejoicing, John 4.24; Heb 13.15.

Repentance puts other things away;

trust in Assyria, a foreign power;
trust in horses, a physical power;
trust in idols, an alternative spiritual power.

The reference to the fatherless indicates that many were already orphaned.

v4-7: God's blessings on the repentant. He has no remembrance of past sins, for He remembers their sins and iniquities no more. "I will love them freely," He declares, for His love is not earned.

v8: The testimony of God's people, no longer having anything to do with idols.

v9: The prophet's summary; the lesson for all succeeding generations; God's way is best, and always right. Whatever the cost, the best way is always obedience.