Hosea 13 Study Notes: Judgment on Ephraim's Idolatry
The LORD announces judgment on Ephraim, which turned to Baal and calf idols and will vanish like mist and smoke. He recalls caring for Israel since Egypt, condemns their pride and their demand for kings, and speaks of ransom from death before a wind from Him dries up Ephraim and Samaria falls in war.
General
In 13:9, what reason does the LORD give for Israel's destruction?
Answer: They had set themselves against Him, their helper
After recalling how He once cared for Israel, the LORD now pictures Himself as a dangerous wild animal: a lion ready to pounce and a leopard lying in wait beside the road (13:7), and a bear whose cubs have been taken (13:8). These are pictures of severe judgment, and Hosea used the lion image before (5:14). Verse 9 gives the reason: Israel is ruined because it has turned against the very God who was its helper. Moses had called Israel blessed as a people the LORD had rescued and shielded (Deuteronomy 33:29), and the psalmist confesses that the LORD, who made heaven and earth, is the source of true help (Psalm 121:1-2). Israel's ruin came not from any weakness in God but from rebellion against their only help.
- Hosea 13:7 (BSB)“So like a lion I will pounce on them; like a leopard I will lurk by the path.”The LORD pictures Himself as a lion and a leopard watching for Israel, an image of coming judgment.
- Hosea 13:9 (BSB)“You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me—against your helper.”The LORD states that Israel is destroyed because it has turned against Him, its helper.
- Hosea 5:14 (BSB)“For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them.”Hosea earlier used the lion picture for the LORD's judgment on Ephraim and Judah, showing the image means God's own action against them.
- Deuteronomy 33:29 (BSB)“Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.””Moses blessed Israel as a people the LORD rescued and shielded, showing that God was meant to be their protector, not their foe.
- Psalm 121:1-2 (BSB)“A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”The psalmist confesses that the LORD, the Creator of all, is the source of his aid, the very helper Israel had turned against.
Theological
What ground does 13:9 give for the destruction pictured in 13:7-8?
Answer: They had set themselves against Him, their helper
The predator images of 13:7-8 (lion, leopard, a bear whose cubs are taken) present the LORD Himself as the agent of judgment, as in 5:14. Verse 9 supplies the ground: Israel's destruction is its own doing, because it has set itself against the One who was its helper. The covenant God who had been Israel's shield and deliverer (Deuteronomy 33:29), the source of all true help (Psalm 121:1-2), now meets His rebellious people as their adversary. The tragedy is not divine inconstancy but human rebellion against the only Help Israel had.
- Hosea 13:7 (BSB)“So like a lion I will pounce on them; like a leopard I will lurk by the path.”The LORD pictures Himself as a lion and a leopard watching for Israel, an image of coming judgment.
- Hosea 13:9 (BSB)“You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me—against your helper.”The LORD states that Israel is destroyed because it has turned against Him, its helper.
- Hosea 5:14 (BSB)“For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them.”Hosea earlier used the lion picture for the LORD's judgment on Ephraim and Judah, showing the image means God's own action against them.
- Deuteronomy 33:29 (BSB)“Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.””Moses blessed Israel as a people the LORD rescued and shielded, showing that God was meant to be their protector, not their foe.
- Psalm 121:1-2 (BSB)“A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”The psalmist confesses that the LORD, the Creator of all, is the source of his aid, the very helper Israel had turned against.
General
According to 13:5-6, what happened once Israel had plenty to eat?
Answer: They grew proud and forgot the LORD
The LORD cared for Israel in the wilderness, a dry and barren land (13:5). Yet when they reached good pasture and were full, their prosperity turned into pride, and pride led them to forget Him (13:6). Moses had warned of exactly this danger before Israel entered the land: full stomachs, fine houses, and growing wealth could swell the heart and make them forget the God who rescued them from slavery (Deuteronomy 8:11-14). The Song of Moses pictures Israel growing fat and turning from his Maker (Deuteronomy 32:15), and Proverbs asks God for daily bread rather than wealth, since too much could lead to denying the LORD (Proverbs 30:8-9).
- Hosea 13:5-6 (BSB)“I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.”God cared for Israel in the wilderness, but once they were full they became proud and forgot Him.
- Deuteronomy 8:11-14 (BSB)“Be careful not to forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments and ordinances and statutes, which I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”Moses warned that full stomachs and growing wealth could make Israel proud and lead it to lose sight of its God, the very sequence Hosea describes.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 (BSB)“But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.”The Song of Moses foretold Israel growing fat and abandoning its Maker, the Rock who saved it.
- Proverbs 30:8-9 (BSB)“Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion. Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.”The wise man asks to be kept from riches because abundance can lead to denying the LORD.
Theological
What sequence does 13:5-6 trace from Israel's prosperity to its apostasy?
Answer: They grew proud and forgot the LORD
The LORD's knowing care in the barren wilderness (13:5) was repaid by a downward sequence: pasture led to fullness, fullness to a proud heart, and pride to forgetting God (13:6). Hosea is showing the very pattern Moses forecast in Deuteronomy, where satisfaction and increasing wealth would breed pride and forgetfulness of the Redeemer from Egypt (Deuteronomy 8:11-14), and where Jeshurun grows fat and abandons his Maker (Deuteronomy 32:15). Proverbs voices the same awareness that abundance tempts the heart to deny the LORD (Proverbs 30:8-9). God's gifts, received without gratitude, became the occasion of rebellion.
- Hosea 13:5-6 (BSB)“I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.”God cared for Israel in the wilderness, but once they were full they became proud and forgot Him.
- Deuteronomy 8:11-14 (BSB)“Be careful not to forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments and ordinances and statutes, which I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”Moses warned that full stomachs and growing wealth could make Israel proud and lead it to lose sight of its God, the very sequence Hosea describes.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 (BSB)“But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.”The Song of Moses foretold Israel growing fat and abandoning its Maker, the Rock who saved it.
- Proverbs 30:8-9 (BSB)“Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion. Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.”The wise man asks to be kept from riches because abundance can lead to denying the LORD.
General
According to 13:1-2, what brought Ephraim down from its former place of honor?
Answer: Guilt incurred through Baal worship and idols
Ephraim, the leading tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel, once spoke with such weight that others trembled, and it held a high place among the tribes (13:1). But it became guilty through Baal, a Canaanite god, and Hosea says it died, meaning it fell under God's sentence of death. Instead of turning back, the people kept adding to their sin, shaping images from their silver and kissing the calf idols (13:2). King Ahab had brought Baal worship into Samaria (1 Kings 16:31-32), and Hosea has already said the calf of Samaria is no god but something a workman made (8:6). The Psalms add that idols are only metal shaped by human hands, and those who make and trust them grow as lifeless as they are (Psalm 115:4, 8).
- Hosea 13:1-2 (BSB)“When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal, and he died. Now they sin more and more and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say of them, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves!””Ephraim, once honored in Israel, became guilty through Baal and kept multiplying silver images and calf idols.
- 1 Kings 16:31-32 (BSB)“And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then proceeded to serve and worship Baal. First, Ahab set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria.”Ahab's building of an altar and temple for Baal in Samaria shows how deeply Baal worship took hold in the northern kingdom.
- Hosea 8:6 (BSB)“For this thing is from Israel—a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria.”Hosea has already said the calf of Samaria is a human craft and no god at all, the same charge pressed in 13:2.
- Psalm 115:4 (BSB)“Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.”The psalmist describes idols as metal shaped by human hands, exactly what Ephraim was crafting from its silver.
- Psalm 115:8 (BSB)“Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.”Those who trust idols grow lifeless like them, which explains why Ephraim's idolatry ended in death.
Theological
What does 13:1-2 identify as the cause of Ephraim's fall from its former prominence?
Answer: Guilt incurred through Baal worship and idols
Ephraim's earlier standing was such that its word made others tremble (13:1), yet guilt incurred through Baal brought death, the covenant sentence on idolatry. The decline then accelerated: silver images, skilled craftsmanship devoted to idols, and the kissing of the calves (13:2). Baal worship had been entrenched in Samaria since Ahab (1 Kings 16:31-32), and Hosea has already exposed the calf as a human product, not God (8:6). Idolatry assimilates the worshiper to the idol (Psalm 115:4, 8), so a people who gave themselves to lifeless gods shared their lifelessness.
- Hosea 13:1-2 (BSB)“When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal, and he died. Now they sin more and more and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say of them, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves!””Ephraim, once honored in Israel, became guilty through Baal and kept multiplying silver images and calf idols.
- 1 Kings 16:31-32 (BSB)“And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then proceeded to serve and worship Baal. First, Ahab set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria.”Ahab's building of an altar and temple for Baal in Samaria shows how deeply Baal worship took hold in the northern kingdom.
- Hosea 8:6 (BSB)“For this thing is from Israel—a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria.”Hosea has already said the calf of Samaria is a human craft and no god at all, the same charge pressed in 13:2.
- Psalm 115:4 (BSB)“Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.”The psalmist describes idols as metal shaped by human hands, exactly what Ephraim was crafting from its silver.
- Psalm 115:8 (BSB)“Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.”Those who trust idols grow lifeless like them, which explains why Ephraim's idolatry ended in death.
General
What does the LORD say in 13:11 about the king Israel had demanded?
Answer: He gave the king in anger and removed him in wrath
In 13:10 the LORD asks where Israel's king is now, the one who was supposed to rescue them in all their towns, along with the rulers they had demanded. Long before, Israel had asked Samuel for a king like the other nations, and God told Samuel that in asking they had rejected Him as their king (1 Samuel 8:5-7; 12:13). In the northern kingdom, kings were set up without God's approval (8:4). So in 13:11 the LORD says He gave them a king in His anger and took him away in His wrath. Human kings could not save a people who had rejected the LORD, their true King and only Savior (13:4).
- Hosea 13:10-11 (BSB)“Where is your king now to save you in all your cities, and the rulers to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”? So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away.”The LORD asks where Israel's king is now to save them and says He gave and removed their king in His anger.
- 1 Samuel 8:5-7 (BSB)““Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.” But when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” their demand was displeasing in the sight of Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.”When Israel first demanded a king, the LORD told Samuel they were rejecting Him as their King, the root of the demand Hosea recalls.
- 1 Samuel 12:13 (BSB)“Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you.”Samuel presents Saul as the king the people chose and asked for, the same kind of demanded king 13:10 mentions.
- Hosea 8:4 (BSB)“They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.”Hosea has already said Israel set up kings and princes without the LORD's approval.
Theological
How does 13:10-11 describe the LORD's dealings with Israel's monarchy?
Answer: He gave the king in anger and removed him in wrath
The question of 13:10 exposes the emptiness of Israel's royal hopes: the king and princes they demanded cannot deliver them in any of their cities. The demand itself echoes 1 Samuel, where asking for a king meant rejecting the LORD's own kingship (1 Samuel 8:5-7; 12:13), and Hosea has already charged the north with crowning kings without divine sanction (8:4). The LORD's sovereignty stands over the whole institution: He gave the king in anger and took him away in wrath (13:11), granting the request as judgment and removing it as judgment. No human ruler can replace the only Savior of 13:4.
- Hosea 13:10-11 (BSB)“Where is your king now to save you in all your cities, and the rulers to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”? So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away.”The LORD asks where Israel's king is now to save them and says He gave and removed their king in His anger.
- 1 Samuel 8:5-7 (BSB)““Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.” But when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” their demand was displeasing in the sight of Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.”When Israel first demanded a king, the LORD told Samuel they were rejecting Him as their King, the root of the demand Hosea recalls.
- 1 Samuel 12:13 (BSB)“Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you.”Samuel presents Saul as the king the people chose and asked for, the same kind of demanded king 13:10 mentions.
- Hosea 8:4 (BSB)“They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.”Hosea has already said Israel set up kings and princes without the LORD's approval.
General
What claim does the LORD make about Himself in 13:4?
Answer: He alone is God to Israel, and none else can save
In 13:4 the LORD reminds Israel that He has been their God ever since He led them out of Egypt. They were to acknowledge Him as their only God, because no one else is able to save. This echoes the opening words of the Ten Commandments, where God names Himself as the one who freed Israel from slavery and forbids any other gods (Exodus 20:2-3). Isaiah records the same claim that the LORD alone is Savior (Isaiah 43:11), and the apostles proclaim that salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone (Acts 4:12). Salvation is God's own work, which is why turning to idols for help is both foolish and faithless.
- Hosea 13:4 (BSB)“Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me.”The LORD reminds Israel that He has been their God since Egypt and that no other savior exists.
- Exodus 20:2-3 (BSB)““I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”At Sinai God named Himself as the one who freed Israel from Egypt and forbade any other gods, the same basis Hosea appeals to.
- Isaiah 43:11 (BSB)“I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no Savior but Me.”Through Isaiah the LORD makes the same exclusive claim to be the only one who saves.
- Acts 4:12 (BSB)“Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.””Peter proclaims that salvation is found only in the name of Jesus Christ, showing that the one true Savior is revealed in Him.
Theological
What exclusive claim does the LORD make in 13:4 against Israel's idolatry?
Answer: He alone is God to Israel, and none else can save
Over against the calves of 13:2, the LORD grounds His claim in the exodus: He has been Israel's God from Egypt onward, Israel was to acknowledge no other God, and no other savior exists (13:4). The wording recalls the preface to the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-3) and matches Isaiah's declarations that the LORD alone saves (Isaiah 43:11). The apostolic preaching locates that exclusive saving work in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). Salvation belongs to the LORD alone, so idolatry is not merely misguided worship but a denial of the only Savior.
- Hosea 13:4 (BSB)“Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me.”The LORD reminds Israel that He has been their God since Egypt and that no other savior exists.
- Exodus 20:2-3 (BSB)““I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”At Sinai God named Himself as the one who freed Israel from Egypt and forbade any other gods, the same basis Hosea appeals to.
- Isaiah 43:11 (BSB)“I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no Savior but Me.”Through Isaiah the LORD makes the same exclusive claim to be the only one who saves.
- Acts 4:12 (BSB)“Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.””Peter proclaims that salvation is found only in the name of Jesus Christ, showing that the one true Savior is revealed in Him.
General
Where does the New Testament take up the words of 13:14 addressed to Death?
Answer: Paul's triumph over death in 1 Corinthians 15
Just before this, Ephraim's iniquity is said to be bound up and his sin kept in store, and he is pictured as a foolish child who will not come out when the moment of birth arrives (13:12-13). In 13:14 the LORD speaks of ransoming His people from Sheol, the realm of the dead, and redeeming them from Death, then calls out to Death and Sheol, asking where their plagues and sting are. The verse closes by saying compassion is concealed from His sight, and readers differ on whether the opening lines are a promise of rescue or a summons of death's powers against Ephraim in judgment. Paul takes up this cry in his great chapter on the resurrection: when believers are raised imperishable, death will be utterly defeated, and he asks Death where its victory and sting have gone (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). Christ shared our humanity and through dying broke the devil's grip on death and freed those enslaved by fear of it (Hebrews 2:14-15), and the risen Christ holds authority over Death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). Through the resurrection of Jesus, God overturns death itself for His people.
- Hosea 13:14 (BSB)“I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.”The LORD speaks of ransom from Sheol and Death and calls out to Death and Sheol about their plagues and sting.
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (BSB)“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”Paul takes up Hosea's cry to Death in celebrating the resurrection victory God gives through Jesus Christ.
- Hebrews 2:14-15 (BSB)“Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”Christ took on human nature so that by dying He would defeat the devil's power over death and free those enslaved by fear of it.
- Revelation 1:18 (BSB)“the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.”The risen Christ declares that He lives forever and holds authority over Death and Hades.
Theological
Which New Testament passage appropriates the taunt against Death in 13:14?
Answer: Paul's triumph over death in 1 Corinthians 15
After 13:12-13 pictures Ephraim's sin as kept in store and Ephraim as an unwise child who does not present himself for birth at the due moment, 13:14 speaks of ransom from Sheol and redemption from Death, followed by the challenge to Death's plagues and Sheol's sting, and closes with compassion hidden from the LORD's eyes; interpreters differ on whether the first lines are promise or a summons of death's powers in judgment. Paul's use is not in doubt: in 1 Corinthians 15 he joins the words to Isaiah's promise that death will be swallowed up and sings them over the resurrection of believers, adding that the victory is given through the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). Christ's incarnation and death broke the devil's grip on death and freed its captives (Hebrews 2:14-15), and the risen Lord holds authority over Death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). Through Christ's death and resurrection, God ransoms His people from death.
- Hosea 13:14 (BSB)“I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.”The LORD speaks of ransom from Sheol and Death and calls out to Death and Sheol about their plagues and sting.
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (BSB)“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”Paul takes up Hosea's cry to Death in celebrating the resurrection victory God gives through Jesus Christ.
- Hebrews 2:14-15 (BSB)“Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”Christ took on human nature so that by dying He would defeat the devil's power over death and free those enslaved by fear of it.
- Revelation 1:18 (BSB)“the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.”The risen Christ declares that He lives forever and holds authority over Death and Hades.
General
According to 13:16, why will Samaria bear her guilt?
Answer: She had rebelled against her own God
Verse 15 says that although Ephraim thrives among the tribes, an east wind sent by the LORD will rise from the desert, drying up his water sources and stripping his storehouse of all its valuables. Since this wind is sent by the LORD and robs Ephraim of his wealth, it pictures God's own judgment stripping the nation bare. Hosea had already said Ephraim chased the east wind, in the same verse that condemns its treaty with Assyria and its gifts to Egypt (12:1), and through Jeremiah the LORD threatens to scatter His people ahead of their foes as an east wind does (Jeremiah 18:17). Verse 16 names the cause plainly: Samaria, the capital, must answer for her guilt in rebelling against her God, and her people will die in war, with not even children and expectant mothers spared. This came to pass when the Assyrians took Samaria and led Israel away into exile because of Israel's sin against the LORD (2 Kings 17:6-7). The judgment is the penalty of the covenant (God's binding agreement with His people) for long, stubborn rebellion.
- Hosea 13:15 (BSB)“Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.”An east wind sent by the LORD will dry up Ephraim's water and strip his treasury, despite his prosperity among the tribes.
- Hosea 12:1 (BSB)“Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.”Hosea has already pictured Ephraim pursuing the east wind, alongside its covenant with Assyria and its olive oil sent to Egypt.
- Jeremiah 18:17 (BSB)“I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.””The LORD threatens to scatter Judah before the enemy like the east wind, another picture of the east wind as His judgment.
- 2 Kings 17:6-7 (BSB)“In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods”The history records Assyria capturing Samaria and exiling Israel because of their sin against the LORD, the fulfillment of 13:16.
Theological
What reason does 13:16 give for the judgment that will fall on Samaria?
Answer: She had rebelled against her own God
The east wind of 13:15, rising from the desert at the LORD's command, dries up Ephraim's springs and plunders his treasury despite his prosperity among the tribes; the wind is the LORD's own judgment, answering Ephraim's pursuit of the east wind in the verse that also condemns its dealings with Assyria and Egypt (12:1), and Jeremiah 18:17 likewise pictures the LORD scattering His people ahead of their foes as an east wind does. Verse 16 states the ground: Samaria must answer for her guilt, since she revolted against her God, and the sentence is death in war that spares neither children nor expectant mothers. The fall of Samaria to Assyria and the exile of the north are explained in Kings in the same terms, as the consequence of Israel's sin against the LORD (2 Kings 17:6-7). This is covenant sanction, God's justice executed on persistent rebellion.
- Hosea 13:15 (BSB)“Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.”An east wind sent by the LORD will dry up Ephraim's water and strip his treasury, despite his prosperity among the tribes.
- Hosea 12:1 (BSB)“Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.”Hosea has already pictured Ephraim pursuing the east wind, alongside its covenant with Assyria and its olive oil sent to Egypt.
- Jeremiah 18:17 (BSB)“I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.””The LORD threatens to scatter Judah before the enemy like the east wind, another picture of the east wind as His judgment.
- 2 Kings 17:6-7 (BSB)“In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods”The history records Assyria capturing Samaria and exiling Israel because of their sin against the LORD, the fulfillment of 13:16.
General
True or False: In 13:3 the idolaters are said to be like a deep-rooted oak that stands firm for generations.
Answer: False
This is false. Verse 13:3 piles up four pictures of things that disappear almost at once: a morning mist, dew that soon dries up, chaff carried off a threshing floor by the wind, and smoke drifting out a window. Because the people have given themselves to idols, they will not last. The LORD earlier used the same mist and dew pictures for Israel's loyalty, which never lasted (6:4), and now the people themselves will vanish the same way. The Psalms likewise compare the wicked to chaff the wind blows off (Psalm 1:4) and to smoke that drifts away before God (Psalm 68:2).
- Hosea 13:3 (BSB)“Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window.”Four images of things that vanish quickly picture the fate of the idolaters.
- Hosea 6:4 (BSB)“What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes.”The LORD earlier used the same mist and dew pictures for Israel's short-lived loyalty, so the people now share the fate of their fickle devotion.
- Psalm 1:4 (BSB)“Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.”The wicked are compared to chaff the wind carries away, the same picture of something with no weight or permanence.
- Psalm 68:2 (BSB)“As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.”The wicked vanish before God like drifting smoke, matching the smoke image in 13:3.
Theological
True or False: 13:3 likens the idolaters to something lasting, such as a deep-rooted oak that stands for generations.
Answer: False
This is false. The four similes of 13:3 (morning mist, dew that soon evaporates, chaff swept from the threshing floor, smoke escaping a window) all express transience: an idolatrous people has no permanence before God. The mist and dew language deliberately recalls 6:4, where Israel's loyalty itself evaporated; those whose devotion was fleeting now share its fleeting end. The same imagery marks the wicked throughout the Psalms (Psalm 1:4; 68:2).
- Hosea 13:3 (BSB)“Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window.”Four images of things that vanish quickly picture the fate of the idolaters.
- Hosea 6:4 (BSB)“What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes.”The LORD earlier used the same mist and dew pictures for Israel's short-lived loyalty, so the people now share the fate of their fickle devotion.
- Psalm 1:4 (BSB)“Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.”The wicked are compared to chaff the wind carries away, the same picture of something with no weight or permanence.
- Psalm 68:2 (BSB)“As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.”The wicked vanish before God like drifting smoke, matching the smoke image in 13:3.