by
Rev. Mark Perkins, Pastor
Denver Bible Church
326 E. Colorado Ave.
Denver, Colorado 80210
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I. Translation.
And I shall personally devastate her vine and her fig tree, about
which she said, "They are just a hire to me, which my lovers
gave to me." And I shall make them a forest and the animals
of the field will eat them.
II. The Meaning of the Verse and Hebrew Notes.
A. The verse starts with the verb WA HASHIMMOTHI, which is in
the hiphil causative stem, which shows God's personal involvement
in the matter of the woman's discipline. This is not delegated
- it is personal. The perfect tense shows just how sure that
this act is to come to pass. It is an absolute. The verb has
a double meaning of both devastation, and the reaction to it,
which is shock and horror. You could say that her vine and fig
tree will be devastated, and she will be devastated by the loss.
B. The verse then turns back to her previous life of prostitution.
The things were gotten by just a hire. This phrase is a simple
straightforward statement, using the verb to be and nouns in
the subject and predicate. With this statement the woman's pride
comes through. To get those things was a snap, just a hire, and
her lovers gave them to her.
C. In the last phrase of the verse, God communicates that the
things will be just fodder for the beasts of the fiel.
I. Translaton
And so I will pass in review for her the days of the Baals, on
which she personally made smoke to them, and so she decked herself
with her rings and her jewelry and then she went after her lovers.
But me she had forgotten: an utterance of Yahweh.
II. Hebrew Notes and the Meaning of the Verse.
A. The verse begins with the verb WEPHAQADETI, which is in its
basic dictionary form.
1. It means to visit someone or something; to muster an army or pass in review; or to punish.
2. Here it denotes the pass in review of the woman's days of idolatry.
3. The days are passed in review before her eyes, and looking back after the disaster of the destruction of Israel, she will consider them with regret.
4. A military pass in review is a victory parade; it is a time in which the unit can show its stuff to their commanders and their public.
B. The next verb is the hiphil imperfect of QAT.AR, which means
to offer or burn sacrifices. This is often used to tell of the
sacrifice to a foreign god.
1. Whereas the burnt offering to Yahweh is a sweet smell, and it represents the righteousness of Christ, the one to a false god literally goes up in smoke, and that is what the word means here.
2. The idea of incompleteness shown from the imperfect tense gives us the notion of an act that accomplishes nothing, and so it is with idolatry.
C. The verb `ADHAH means to ornament or embellish or adorn or
really deck out someone or something. It reaches the height of
virtue when it talks about a bride who has really adorned herself
for her groom. It is contrasted with some lesser things:
1. This word describes the trappings of a horse: an ornate saddle, a bejewelled bridle and stirrups, perhaps a golden breastplate,but still all for a dumb and often mean animal.
2. It also describes a scab as the ornamentation for a wound, and thus is used in the context of gore and healing.
3. Finally, it is used to denote the covering slab for a grave.
4. In this context, we must take the negative aspects of the word.
a. The woman wears the trappings, but she is just a nasty old nag of a horse.
b. The rings and jewels themselves are really an unseemly, gross scab, covering the open wound of a woman.
c. The things are a covering over the woman, who is a grave.
D. The next two verbs, HALAQ and SHAKH.AH, are both in the qal
perfect, and they tell us about two past actions of the woman.
1. First, that she went after her lovers (to get the things, to participate in the idolatry).
2. Second, she forgot about God, she did not even know God in the least.
E. Finally, there is the name YHWH, which is a way of putting
an end to the discourse on the discipline of the woman/Israel.
III. The Impact and Summary of the Verse.
A. This is the final verse in God's discourse on His discipline
of the woman/Israel. Hosea is the mouthpiece, but God is the
speaker.
B. The final statement is particularly poignant. "But me
she had forgotten."
1. She was so involved in her adultery and idolatry that she had completely forgotten about God.
2. God, whom she loved and cherished, was no longer in her consciousness.
3. God, who treated her with patience and understanding had gone from her mind.
4. God, who forgave her and forgave her was remembered no more.
5. She had forgotten about the best thing that ever happened to her.
C. So, God brings to her mind something else, after all the discipline
has come down the memory of her idolatry
1. All those years with the idols and the adultery have resulted in utter ruin.
2. Now she remembers them, and realizes that they have all gone up in smoke, and that she did not gain a single bit of benefit from them.
End of Hosea Lesson 8
Warren Doud [ Grace Notes ]
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