like Adam
The reference to "Adam" (אָדָם, 'adam) is crucial, as it draws a parallel between the first man's disobedience and Israel's current state. Adam's transgression in the Garden of Eden is a foundational narrative of sin and broken relationship with God. By comparing Israel to Adam, the text underscores the gravity of their covenant breach, suggesting that just as Adam's sin had far-reaching consequences, so does Israel's.

have transgressed
The Hebrew word used here is "עָבְרוּ" (avru), which means to cross over or pass by, often implying a violation or breach. This term is frequently used in the context of breaking a covenant or law. The use of this word highlights the deliberate nature of Israel's disobedience, suggesting a conscious decision to go against God's commands.

the covenant
The term "covenant" (בְּרִית, berit) is central to the relationship between God and His people. In the biblical context, a covenant is a solemn agreement, often sealed with a promise or sacrifice. Israel's covenant with God, established through figures like Abraham, Moses, and David, was meant to be a binding relationship of faithfulness and obedience. By transgressing this covenant, Israel not only disobeys God but also undermines the very foundation of their identity as His chosen people.

The semicolon here serves as a pause, inviting reflection on the seriousness of the accusation. It suggests that what follows will further elaborate on the consequences or nature of this transgression. In the broader context of Hosea, this pause invites the reader to consider the implications of Israel's actions and the need for repentance and restoration.

EXCURSUS B (Hosea 6:7).

Buhl, in Zeitschrift fr Kirchliche Wissenschaft, Part 5, 1881, throws some light on the enigmatical phrase keAdam, by pointing out that Adam is employed in many places to express all the other races of mankind as opposed to Israel. Thus, he translates Jeremiah 32:20, "Thou who didst perform wonders in Israel, as well as in Adam." Similarly Isaiah 43:4, on which Delitzsch remarks that those who do not belong to the chosen people are called Adam, because they are regarded as nothing but descendants of Adam. In this passage the emphatic position of the Hebrew pronoun hemmah lends significance to the contrasted term Adam. The meaning, therefore, is--the Israelites, who should be a chosen race, belong now, through their violation of the covenant, to the heathen: have become, in fact, Lo'Ammi. (Comp. Hosea 1:9.) The word "there" in the last clause may refer to some local sanctuary, notorious for idolatrous corruption. This is confirmed by the mention of localities in the next verse. We prefer, however, to understand it (with the Targum of Jonathan) as referring to the Holy Land. . . .

(1) They like men (that is, men in general, or the rest of mankind, to whom they are in no way superior) have transgressed the covenant.

(2) They are like men who transgress a covenant; according to this rendering the word אדם is otiose, or adds nothing, nor is indeed required.

(3) They like Adam have transgressed the covenant; this rendering, supported by the Vulgate, Cyril, Luther, Rosenmüller, and Wunsche, is decidedly preferable, and yields a suitable sense. God in his great goodness had planted Adam in Paradise; but Adam violated the commandment which prohibited his eating of the tree of knowledge, and thereby transgressed the covenant of his God. Loss of fellowship with God and expulsion from Eden were the penal consequences that immediately followed. Israel, like Adam, had been settled by God in Palestine, the glory of all lands; but, ungrateful for God's great bounty and gracious gift, they broke the covenant of their God, the condition of which, as in the case of the Adamic covenant, was obedience. Thus the comparison projects the shadow of a coming event when Israel would Jose the land of promise. There is still the word "there" to be accounted for. It cannot well be rendered "therein," nor taken as a particle of time equivalent to "the," with Cyril and others. It is local, and points to the place where their breach of covenant and faithlessness had occurred. Yet this local sense is not necessarily so limited as to be referred, with some, to Bethel, as the scene of their apostasy and idolatry. "There, to Israel," says Pusey, "was not only Bethel, or Dan, or Gilgal, or Mizpah, or Gilead, or any or all of the places which God had hallowed by his mercies and they had defiled. It was every high hill, each idol-chapel, each field-altar, which they had multiplied to their idols. To the sinners of Israel it was every spot of the Lord's land which they had defiled by their sin." The word thus acquires a very suggestive significance, reminding Israel of God's goodness on the one hand, and of their own sinfulness and ingratitude on the other.

Parallel Commentaries ...