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Selected Verse: Hosea 8:5 - Strong Concordance
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Ho 8:5 |
Strong Concordance |
Thy calf [05695], O Samaria [08111], hath cast [02186] thee off; mine anger [0639] is kindled [02734] against them: how long will it be ere [03808] they attain [03201] to innocency [05356]? |
|
King James |
Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
hath cast thee off--As the ellipsis of thee is unusual, MAURER translates, "thy calf is abominable." But the antithesis to Hos 8:3 establishes English Version, "Israel hath cast off the thing that is good"; therefore, in just retribution, "thy calf hath cast thee off," that is, is made by God the cause of thy being cast off (Hos 10:15). Jeroboam, during his sojourn in Egypt, saw Apis worshipped at Memphis, and Mnevis at Heliopolis, in the form of an ox; this, and the temple cherubim, suggested the idea of the calves set up at Dan and Beth-el.
how long . . . ere they attain to innocency?--How long will they be incapable of bearing innocency? [MAURER]. |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off - Israel had cast off God, his good. In turn, the prophet says, the "calf," which he had chosen to be his god instead of the Lord his God, "has cast" him "off." He repeats the word, by which he had described Israel's sin, "Israel hath cast off and abhorred good" in order to show the connection of his sin and its punishment. "Thy calf," whom thou madest for thyself, whom thou worshipest, whom thou lovest, of whom thou saidst, "Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt" Kg1 12:28-31; "thy" calf, in whom thou didst trust instead of thy God, it has requited thee the dishonor thou didst put on thy God; it hath "cast thee off" as a thing "abhorred." So it is with all people's idols, which they make to themselves, instead of God. First or last, they all fail a man, and leave him poor indeed. Beauty fades; wealth fails; honor is transferred to another; nothing abides, save God. Whence our own great poet of nature makes a fallen favorite say, "had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal I served my king, He would not in mine age have left me naked to mine-enemies."
Mine anger is kindled against them - Our passions are but some distorted likeness of what exists in God without passion; our anger, of His displeasure against sin. And so God speaks to us after the manner of people, and pictures His divine displeasure under the likeness of our human passions of anger and fury, in order to bring home to us, what we wish to hide from ourselves, the severe and awful side of His Being, His Infinite Holiness, and the truth, that He will indeed avenge. He tells us, that He will surely punish; as people, who are extremely incensed, execute their displeasure if they can.
How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? - Literally, "how long will they not be able innocency?" So again it is said, "him that hath an high look and a proud heart, I cannot" Psa 101:5; we supply, "suffer." "New moons and sabbaths I cannot" Isa 1:13; our version adds, "away with," i. e., endure. So here probably. As they had with abhorrence cast off God their good, so God says, "they cannot endure innocency;" but He speaks as wondering and aggrieved at their hardness of heart and their obdurate holding out against the goodness, which He desired for them. "How long will they not be able to endure innocency?" "What madness this, that when I give them place for repentence, they will not endure to return to health of soul!" |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
"Thy calf disgusts, O Samaria; my wrath is kindled against them: how long are they incapable of purity. Hos 8:6. For this also is from Israel: a workman made it, and it is not God; but the calf of Samaria will become splinters." Zânach (disgusts) points back to Hos 8:3. As Israel felt disgust at what was good, so did Jehovah at the golden calf of Samaria. It is true that zânach is used here intransitively in the sense of smelling badly, or being loathsome; but this does not alter the meaning, which is obvious enough from the context, namely, that it is Jehovah whom the calf disgusts. The calf of Samaria is not a golden calf set up in the city of Samaria; as there is no allusion in history to any such calf as this. Samaria is simply mentioned in the place of the kingdom, and the calf is the one that was set up at Bethel, the most celebrated place of worship in the kingdom, which is also the only one mentioned in Hos 10:5, Hos 10:15. On account of this calf the wrath of Jehovah is kindled against the Israelites, who worship this calf, and cannot desist. This is the thought of the question expressing disgust at these abominations. How long are they incapable of נקּין, i.e., purity of walk before the Lord, instead of the abominations of idolatry (cf. Jer 19:4); not "freedom from punishment," as Hitzig supposes. To לע יוּכלוּ, "they are unable," we may easily supply "to bear," as in Isa 1:14 and Psa 101:5. "For" (kı̄, Hos 8:6) follows as an explanation of the main clause in Hos 8:5, "Thy calf disgusts." The calf of Samaria is an abomination to the Lord, for it is also out of Israel (Israel's God out of Israel itself!); a workman made it, - what folly! והוּא is a predicate, brought out with greater emphasis by ו, et quidem, in the sense of iste. Therefore will it be destroyed like the golden calf at Sinai, which was burnt and ground to powder (Exo 32:20; Deu 9:21). The ἅπ. λεγ. שׁבבים, from Arab. sabb, to cut, signifies ruins or splinters. |
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
Thy calf - The chief idol set up in Samaria. Cast thee off - Hath provoked God to cast thee off. Against them - Idols, and idol worshippers. How long - How long will it be, ere they repent and reform? |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off - Bishop Newcome translates: "Remove far from thee thy calf, O Samaria!" Abandon thy idolatry; for my anger is kindled against thee.
How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? - How long will ye continue your guilty practices? When shall it be said that ye are from these vices? The calf or ox, which was the object of the idolatrous worship of the Israelites, was a supreme deity in Egypt; and it was there they learned this idolatry. A white ox was worshipped under the name of Apis, at Memphis; and another ox under the name of Mnevis, was worshipped at On, or Heliopolis. To Osiris the males of this genus were consecrated, and the females to Isis. It is a most ancient superstition, and still prevails in the East. The cow is a most sacred animal among the Hindoos. |
15 So [03602] shall Bethel [01008] do [06213] unto you because [06440] of your great [07451] wickedness [07451]: in a morning [07837] shall the king [04428] of Israel [03478] utterly [01820] be cut off [01820].
3 Israel [03478] hath cast off [02186] the thing that is good [02896]: the enemy [0341] shall pursue [07291] him.
13 Bring [0935] no more [03254] vain [07723] oblations [04503]; incense [07004] is an abomination [08441] unto me; the new moons [02320] and sabbaths [07676], the calling [07121] of assemblies [04744], I cannot away with [03201]; it is iniquity [0205], even the solemn meeting [06116].
5 Whoso privily [05643] slandereth [03960] [03960] his neighbour [07453], him will I cut off [06789]: him that hath an high [01362] look [05869] and a proud [07342] heart [03824] will not I suffer [03201].
28 Whereupon the king [04428] took counsel [03289], and made [06213] two [08147] calves [05695] of gold [02091], and said [0559] unto them, It is too much [07227] for you to go up [05927] to Jerusalem [03389]: behold thy gods [0430], O Israel [03478], which brought thee up [05927] out of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714].
29 And he set [07760] the one [0259] in Bethel [01008], and the other [0259] put [05414] he in Dan [01835].
30 And this thing [01697] became a sin [02403]: for the people [05971] went [03212] to worship before [06440] the one [0259], even unto Dan [01835].
31 And he made [06213] an house [01004] of high places [01116], and made [06213] priests [03548] of the lowest [07098] of the people [05971], which were not of the sons [01121] of Levi [03878].
21 And I took [03947] your sin [02403], the calf [05695] which ye had made [06213], and burnt [08313] it with fire [0784], and stamped [03807] it, and ground [02912] it very small [03190], even until it was as small [01854] as dust [06083]: and I cast [07993] the dust [06083] thereof into the brook [05158] that descended out [03381] of the mount [02022].
20 And he took [03947] the calf [05695] which they had made [06213], and burnt [08313] it in the fire [0784], and ground [02912] it to powder [01854], and strawed [02219] it upon [06440] the water [04325], and made the children [01121] of Israel [03478] drink [08248] of it.
5 Thy calf [05695], O Samaria [08111], hath cast [02186] thee off; mine anger [0639] is kindled [02734] against them: how long will it be ere [03808] they attain [03201] to innocency [05356]?
6 For from Israel [03478] was it also: the workman [02796] made [06213] it; therefore it is not God [0430]: but the calf [05695] of Samaria [08111] shall be broken in pieces [07616].
5 Whoso privily [05643] slandereth [03960] [03960] his neighbour [07453], him will I cut off [06789]: him that hath an high [01362] look [05869] and a proud [07342] heart [03824] will not I suffer [03201].
14 Your new moons [02320] and your appointed feasts [04150] my soul [05315] hateth [08130]: they are a trouble [02960] unto me; I am weary [03811] to bear [05375] them.
4 Because they have forsaken [05800] me, and have estranged [05234] this place [04725], and have burned incense [06999] in it unto other [0312] gods [0430], whom neither they nor their fathers [01] have known [03045], nor the kings [04428] of Judah [03063], and have filled [04390] this place [04725] with the blood [01818] of innocents [05355];
15 So [03602] shall Bethel [01008] do [06213] unto you because [06440] of your great [07451] wickedness [07451]: in a morning [07837] shall the king [04428] of Israel [03478] utterly [01820] be cut off [01820].
5 The inhabitants [07934] of Samaria [08111] shall fear [01481] because of the calves [05697] of Bethaven [01007]: for the people [05971] thereof shall mourn [056] over it, and the priests [03649] thereof that rejoiced [01523] on it, for the glory [03519] thereof, because it is departed [01540] from it.
3 Israel [03478] hath cast off [02186] the thing that is good [02896]: the enemy [0341] shall pursue [07291] him.
6 For from Israel [03478] was it also: the workman [02796] made [06213] it; therefore it is not God [0430]: but the calf [05695] of Samaria [08111] shall be broken in pieces [07616].