Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word
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⚙ Annotations & References ▾
Passage sections 1 ▾
Return to the LORD prophecy 6:1–6:6
Themes 6 ▾
Repentance 1 Resurrection 2 Covenant 3, 7 Faith 3 Hope 3 Justice and Mercy 6
People 3 ▾
Judah Patriarchal 4, 11 Ephraim Patriarchal 4, 10 Judah Life of Christ 4, 11
Speakers 1 ▾
Hosea human 1-11
Prophecies 1 ▾
Raised on the Third Day 2
Historic voices 13 ▾
Catechism of the Catholic Church 4× 1-6 City of God 3× 2, 6 Against Heresies (Adversus Haereses) 1× 6 Homilies on Matthew 2× 6 Homilies on the Gospel of John 1× 6 Homilies on the First Epistle to the Corinthians 1× 6 Homilies on the Epistle to the Hebrews 1× 6 Sayings of the Desert Fathers (Apophthegmata Patrum) 1× 6 Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible 1× 1-11 John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible 1× 1-11 Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament 1× 1, 4-6, 8-9, 11 Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary 1× 1, 4 Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary 1× 2-11
Manuscript witnesses 5 ▾
Codex Sinaiticus Aleph c. AD 330-360 Codex Vaticanus B c. AD 300-325 Codex Alexandrinus A c. AD 400-440 Aleppo Codex (Crown of Aleppo) c. AD 930 Leningrad Codex (Codex Leningradensis) AD 1008
Cross-references 121 ▾
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What is Hosea 6 about?

Picking up that hope of a people who seek God's face, the chapter opens with a summons to return: "Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for He hath torn, and He will heal us... in the third day He will raise us up." Israel's resolve, however, proves as fleeting as a morning cloud and the early dew, and the LORD answers that He desires mercy and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Like Adam they have broken the covenant, and Gilead and Shechem are stained with the treachery and blood of the priests. The chapter exposes how shallow repentance cannot satisfy a God who looks for steadfast love, an early foreshadowing of the resurrection hope fulfilled when the true Israel is raised on the third day.

Historical backdrop

The Neo-Assyrian war machine was on the march again under Tiglath-Pileser III, and the northern kingdom of Israel was living its last decades. After the long prosperity of Jeroboam II, Samaria's throne turned over six times in about twenty years, four of its kings murdered by the men who replaced them, while Assyria perfected the policy that would erase the nation: the mass deportation of conquered peoples. The world Hosea walked was the fertile hill country of grain, new wine, and oil, where the Baal fertility cult had wound itself into the rhythm of the farming year. In 722 BC Sargon II took Samaria and carried Israel away.

Matthew Henry on Hosea 6
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Hosea 6
The Church Fathers on Hosea 6

Hosea 6

Hosea Chapter 6
6

1Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

2After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him.

3And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. 4O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth early away.

5Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. 6For I desire goodness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings. 7But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me. 8Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity; it is stained with blood. 9And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem; yea, they have committed lewdness. 10In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: there whoredom is found in Ephraim, Israel is defiled. 11Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for thee, when I bring back the captivity of my people.

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What is Hosea 6 about?

Picking up that hope of a people who seek God's face, the chapter opens with a summons to return: "Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for He hath torn, and He will heal us... in the third day He will raise us up." Israel's resolve, however, proves as fleeting as a morning cloud and the early dew, and the LORD answers that He desires mercy and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Like Adam they have broken the covenant, and Gilead and Shechem are stained with the treachery and blood of the priests. The chapter exposes how shallow repentance cannot satisfy a God who looks for steadfast love, an early foreshadowing of the resurrection hope fulfilled when the true Israel is raised on the third day.