Hosea 7
4Q166 "The Hosea Commentary Scroll", late first century B.C.
BookBook of Hosea
CategoryNevi'im
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part28

Hosea 7 is the seventh chapter of the Book of Hosea in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] In the Hebrew Bible it is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.[3][4] The book contains the prophecies attributed the prophet Hosea, son of Beeri, and this chapter is about Israel reproved for multiple sins (Hosea 7:1-10) resulting in God's wrath against them for their hypocrisy (Hosea 7:11-16).[5]

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).[6] Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q78 (4QXIIc; 75–50 BCE) with extant verses 12–13;[7][8][9][10] and 4Q82 (4QXIIg; 25 BCE) with extant verses 1, 12–16.[8][11][12][13]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century).[14][lower-alpha 1]

This chapter is divided into 16 verses.

Contents and commentary

Verse 1

When I would have healed Israel,
Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered,
And the wickedness of Samaria.
For they have committed fraud;
A thief comes in;
A band of robbers takes spoil outside.[16]

Hosea mentions Samaria here for the first time, the capital of the northern kingdom: he will refer to it again on several further occasions.[17] Albert Barnes suggests that "the name "Israel" includes the whole people; the names, Ephraim and Samaria, probably are meant to designate the chief among them, Ephraim having been their royal tribe, and being the chief tribe among them; Samaria being their royal city.[18]

Verse 11

Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart:
they call to Egypt,
they go to Assyria.[19]
  • "A silly dove": a proverbial bird for 'simplicity', for being easily deceived,[5] easily be led to evil ("like wax to be bent to evil"; Psalm 116:6), as in an Eastern proverb: "There is nothing more simple than a dove".[18] Jerome wrote that this bird does not search nor grieve for its chicks when they are missing.[20] Thus Proverbs 1:22 has "How long, you simple one, will you love simplicity?", whereas Jesus Christ uses the likeness of the dove in "be wise as serpents, harmless ('simple'; 'innocent') as doves" (Matthew 10:16).[18]
  • "Call to Egypt": for help, as when Hoshea king of Israel asked help from So (or Sabacon), king of Egypt (2 Kings 17:4).[21]
  • "Go to Assyria": paying tributes like Menahem to Pul, or Hoshea to Shalmaneser (2 Kings 15:19). The Targum interprets it not as to "go asking for help" but states that "they go captive ('are carried captive') into Assyria."[21]

See also

Notes

  1. The Book of Hosea is missing from the extant Codex Sinaiticus.[15]

References

  1. Halley, Henry H. Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary. 24th edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1965. p. 355
  2. Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
  3. Metzger, Bruce M., et al. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
  4. Keck, Leander E. 1996. The New Interpreter's Bible: Volume: VII. Nashville: Abingdon.
  5. 1 2 Robert Jamieson, Andrew Robert Fausset; David Brown. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible. 1871.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.
  7. Ulrich 2010, p. 593.
  8. 1 2 Dead sea scrolls - Hosea
  9. Fitzmyer 2008, p. 38.
  10. 4Q78 at the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library
  11. Fitzmyer 2008, p. 39.
  12. Ulrich 2010, pp. 593–594.
  13. 4Q82 at the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library
  14. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
  15. Shepherd, Michael (2018). A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The Minor Prophets. Kregel Exegetical Library. Kregel Academic. p. 13. ISBN 978-0825444593.
  16. Hosea 7:1: New King James Version
  17. Day 2007, p. 575.
  18. 1 2 3 Barnes, Albert, Notes on the Old Testament. London, Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998, accessed 28 November 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  19. Hosea 7:11: King James Version
  20. Joseph S. Exell; Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (Editors). The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  21. 1 2 John Gill. John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. Exposition of the Old and New Testament. Published in 1746-1763.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Sources

Jewish

Christian

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