Quick Hits on Tough Lines from Hosea

When reading through some of the prophets there can be just enough tough lines to trip up your overall understanding of what is being said. When commentaries guide you through some of these sections, however, things go a whole lot smoother. Here are what the commentaries say about some of the tough lines I encountered:

• Hosea 4:4-9 basically says that the people are wrong for not respecting the priests, yet the priests and prophets are no use as leaders because they are sinning just as badly as the people.
• In 4:14 God is saying he will not punish the daughters involved in all kinds of sins because they men were hypocritically punishing them already even though these men were involved in the same sins with prostitutes.
• In Hosea 7:4-7 "fire" is a metaphor for political intrigue. During this time a lot of scheming is going on to schmooze leaders only to then turn and assassinate them in power grabs. In fact, at this time four kings were assassinated over a 20 year period.
• The section starting with 7:8-10 is talking about unwise political policies that are chipping away at the strength of Israel while Israel fails to notice (like a cake burning on the bottom or hair turning gray).
• In 8:13 and 9:3, since we know Israel was conquered by Assyria, the references to Egypt are most likely figurative for Israel once again becoming slaves in a foreign country.
• In 9:1 it mentions Israel loving wages as a prostitute at everything threshing floor. This is saying that, when the harvest was successful, the Israelite idolaters felt Baal was paying them their due for their works (their prostituting themselves) to Baal.