◄ Hosea 5:1 ►
"Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O royal house! For this judgment is against you because you have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.
Study Bible
Hear this, O priests!
The call to "hear" is a summons to heed and obey, a common prophetic introduction in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew word for "hear" is "שׁמע" (shema), which implies not just listening but also understanding and acting upon what is heard. The priests, as spiritual leaders, are being directly addressed, highlighting their responsibility in guiding the people. Historically, priests were mediators between God and Israel, and their failure to lead righteously is a central theme in Hosea's prophecy.

Pay attention, O house of Israel!
"Pay attention" is a call to focus and consider carefully the message being delivered. The "house of Israel" refers to the collective people of the northern kingdom, emphasizing their identity as God's chosen people. The Hebrew root "קשׁב" (qashab) for "pay attention" suggests an active engagement with the message. This phrase underscores the communal responsibility of the Israelites to adhere to God's covenant, a recurring theme in the prophetic literature.

Listen, O house of the king!
The "house of the king" refers to the royal family and the political leadership of Israel. The Hebrew word "אזן" (azan) for "listen" conveys a sense of obedience and submission to divine authority. This call to the monarchy highlights the accountability of political leaders in maintaining justice and righteousness. Historically, the kings of Israel often led the nation into idolatry and injustice, which Hosea condemns.

For judgment is against you
The word "judgment" (משׁפט, mishpat) in Hebrew denotes a legal decision or decree. It signifies God's righteous verdict against the leaders and people of Israel. This phrase serves as a warning of impending divine retribution due to their unfaithfulness. The concept of divine judgment is central to the prophetic message, emphasizing God's holiness and justice.

because you have been a snare at Mizpah
A "snare" (פח, pach) is a trap used for catching animals, symbolizing deceit and entrapment. Mizpah was a significant location in Israel's history, often associated with covenant renewal and judgment. The imagery of a snare suggests that the leaders have led the people into sin and idolatry, betraying their covenant with God. This metaphor highlights the destructive influence of corrupt leadership.

and a net spread out on Tabor
A "net" (רשׁת, reshet) is another trapping device, reinforcing the theme of entrapment and deception. Mount Tabor was a prominent landmark in Israel, possibly a site of idolatrous worship during Hosea's time. The spreading of a net implies a deliberate and widespread effort to lead the people astray. This imagery underscores the pervasive nature of sin and the leaders' role in facilitating it.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Priests
Religious leaders in Israel responsible for spiritual guidance and maintaining the covenant with God. They are called out for their failure to lead the people righteously.

2. House of Israel
Refers to the entire nation of Israel, God's chosen people, who are being addressed collectively for their disobedience and idolatry.

3. House of the King
The ruling monarchy in Israel, responsible for leading the nation in accordance with God's laws. They are implicated in the nation's moral and spiritual decline.

4. Mizpah
A location in Israel, possibly a site of idolatrous worship or political intrigue, symbolizing the nation's entrapment in sin.

5. Tabor
Another geographical location, likely used metaphorically to represent the widespread nature of Israel's sin and the leaders' role in ensnaring the people.
Teaching Points
Responsibility of Leadership
Leaders, both spiritual and political, bear a significant responsibility for the moral and spiritual direction of their people. Their failure can lead to widespread consequences.

The Danger of Idolatry
Idolatry is not just the worship of physical idols but can also be seen in misplaced priorities and allegiances. Believers must guard against anything that takes precedence over God.

Call to Repentance
God's judgment is not without purpose; it is a call to repentance and a return to righteousness. Believers should be quick to heed God's warnings and turn back to Him.

Listening to God's Voice
The repeated call to "hear" and "listen" emphasizes the importance of being attentive to God's word and instructions. Believers must cultivate a heart that is open to God's guidance.

Community Accountability
The collective address to the "house of Israel" underscores the communal aspect of faith. Believers are part of a larger body and must hold each other accountable in love and truth.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the role of the priests in Hosea 5:1 challenge our understanding of spiritual leadership today?

2. In what ways can modern believers fall into the "snares" and "nets" mentioned in this verse, and how can we avoid them?

3. How does the call to "hear" and "listen" in Hosea 5:1 relate to Jesus' teachings in the New Testament about hearing and obeying God's word?

4. What parallels can you draw between the judgment against Israel's leaders in Hosea 5:1 and the responsibilities of leaders in the church today?

5. How can we, as a community of believers, ensure that we are not complicit in the sins of our culture, as the house of Israel was in Hosea's time?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Samuel 15:22-23
This passage highlights the importance of obedience over sacrifice, connecting to the priests' failure to lead Israel in true worship.

Isaiah 1:10-17
Similar to Hosea, Isaiah calls out the leaders of Israel for their hypocrisy and empty rituals, emphasizing the need for genuine repentance and justice.

Micah 3:9-12
This passage condemns the leaders of Israel for their corruption and injustice, paralleling Hosea's message of judgment against the ruling class.
Sermons
God in Ways of JudgmentJeremiah Burroughs.Hosea 5:1
God's Judicial Process and SentenceGeorge Hutcheson.Hosea 5:1
Mizpah and TaborE. B. Pusey, D. D.Hosea 5:1
Nets to Catch SoulsJeremiah Burroughs.Hosea 5:1
National DepravityD. Thomas Hosea 5:1-3
God and ManJ. Orr Hosea 5:1-7
National Sin and PunishmentC. Jerdan Hosea 5:1-10
People
Benjamin, Hosea, Israelites, Jareb
Places
Assyria, Beth-aven, Gibeah, Mizpah, Ramah, Tabor
Topics
Attention, Ear, Israelites, Judgment, Listen, Mizpah, Net, O, Pay, Priests, Royal, Snare, Spread, Tabor
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Hosea 5:1

     5425   net
     5589   trap
     8739   evil, examples of

Library
'Physicians of no Value'
'When Ephralm saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither shall he cure you of your wound.'--HOSEA v. 13 (R.V.). The long tragedy which ended in the destruction of the Northern Kingdom by Assyrian invasion was already beginning to develop in Hosea's time. The mistaken politics of the kings of Israel led them to seek an ally where they should have dreaded an enemy. As Hosea puts it in figurative fashion, Ephraim's …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

An Obscured vision
(Preached at the opening of the Winona Lake Bible Conference.) TEXT: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."--Proverbs 29:18. It is not altogether an easy matter to secure a text for such an occasion as this; not because the texts are so few in number but rather because they are so many, for one has only to turn over the pages of the Bible in the most casual way to find them facing him at every reading. Feeling the need of advice for such a time as this, I asked a number of my friends who …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

The Call and Feast of Levi
"And He went forth again by the seaside; and all the multitude resorted unto Him, and He taught them. And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the place of toll, and He saith unto him, Follow Me. And he arose and followed Him. And it came to pass, that He was sitting at meat in his house, and many publicans and sinners sat down with Jesus and His disciples: for there were many, and they followed Him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that He was eating with the …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

That None Should Enter on a Place of Government who Practise not in Life what they have Learnt by Study.
There are some also who investigate spiritual precepts with cunning care, but what they penetrate with their understanding they trample on in their lives: all at once they teach the things which not by practice but by study they have learnt; and what in words they preach by their manners they impugn. Whence it comes to pass that when the shepherd walks through steep places, the flock follows to the precipice. Hence it is that the Lord through the prophet complains of the contemptible knowledge …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Ramah. Ramathaim Zophim. Gibeah.
There was a certain Ramah, in the tribe of Benjamin, Joshua 18:25, and that within sight of Jerusalem, as it seems, Judges 19:13; where it is named with Gibeah:--and elsewhere, Hosea 5:8; which towns were not much distant. See 1 Samuel 22:6; "Saul sat in Gibeah, under a grove in Ramah." Here the Gemarists trifle: "Whence is it (say they) that Ramah is placed near Gibea? To hint to you, that the speech of Samuel of Ramah was the cause, why Saul remained two years and a half in Gibeah." They blindly …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Ripe for Gathering
'Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2. And He said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon My people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. 4. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Meditations for the Sick.
Whilst thy sickness remains, use often, for thy comfort, these few meditations, taken from the ends wherefore God sendeth afflictions to his children. Those are ten. 1. That by afflictions God may not only correct our sins past, but also work in us a deeper loathing of our natural corruptions, and so prevent us from falling into many other sins, which otherwise we would commit; like a good father, who suffers his tender babe to scorch his finger in a candle, that he may the rather learn to beware …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Of Civil Government.
OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. This chapter consists of two principal heads,--I. General discourse on the necessity, dignity, and use of Civil Government, in opposition to the frantic proceedings of the Anabaptists, sec. 1-3. II. A special exposition of the three leading parts of which Civil Government consists, sec. 4-32. The first part treats of the function of Magistrates, whose authority and calling is proved, sec. 4-7. Next, the three Forms of civil government are added, sec. 8. Thirdly, Consideration …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

That the Employing Of, and Associating with the Malignant Party, According as is Contained in the Public Resolutions, is Sinful and Unlawful.
That The Employing Of, And Associating With The Malignant Party, According As Is Contained In The Public Resolutions, Is Sinful And Unlawful. If there be in the land a malignant party of power and policy, and the exceptions contained in the Act of Levy do comprehend but few of that party, then there need be no more difficulty to prove, that the present public resolutions and proceedings do import an association and conjunction with a malignant party, than to gather a conclusion from clear premises. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Arguments Usually Alleged in Support of Free Will Refuted.
1. Absurd fictions of opponents first refuted, and then certain passages of Scripture explained. Answer by a negative. Confirmation of the answer. 2. Another absurdity of Aristotle and Pelagius. Answer by a distinction. Answer fortified by passages from Augustine, and supported by the authority of an Apostle. 3. Third absurdity borrowed from the words of Chrysostom. Answer by a negative. 4. Fourth absurdity urged of old by the Pelagians. Answer from the works of Augustine. Illustrated by the testimony …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Hosea
The book of Hosea divides naturally into two parts: i.-iii. and iv.-xiv., the former relatively clear and connected, the latter unusually disjointed and obscure. The difference is so unmistakable that i.-iii. have usually been assigned to the period before the death of Jeroboam II, and iv.-xiv. to the anarchic period which succeeded. Certainly Hosea's prophetic career began before the end of Jeroboam's reign, as he predicts the fall of the reigning dynasty, i. 4, which practically ended with Jeroboam's …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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