Israel’s Calf and Alliances (Hosea 8:1-14)
Hosea is redundant as he returns to the themes of idolatry and political alliances. This is more than literary style; it speaks to the stopped ears of his audience, their stubbornness, and the need to hear again—as a kind of last measure appeal—the deep corruption in their society. Apparently, the message is not penetrating their hearts, and the outcome will be disastrous. Hosea repeats himself, though with different metaphors and language, to press his point: Israel is in danger. They must repent, or they will suffer the consequences of their choices. They must recognize their corruption before reconciliation is possible. In this section, Hosea highlights the idolatrous calves of the northern kingdom and their political alliance with Assyria. Neither the calves nor Assyria will save them; only Yahweh can do that.
The Destruction of the Israel’s Idol—the Calf (Hosea 8:1-6)
Blow the sophar (“trumpet”)! Typically made of a ram’s horn, it was used in both rituals and military action, and also to announce the coming of the day of the Lord, the day of judgment where God appears to confront the people. Here it is probably a combination of impending military action which itself is the day of the Lord for Israel.
The sophar announces judgment because a predator is “over the house of the Lord.” While vulture is a possible translation, it seems more appropriate that a predatory eagle is in mind because it will devour Israel. The eagle was a symbol of Assyrian kings and their god Asshur. In fact, such an eagle is part of the curse in Deuteronomy 28:49-51, which refers to a nation that will consume the people’s wealth and devastate their resources. The sophar announces the aggression of the Assyrian empire.
The reason is explicit: Israel is a covenant breaker, an adulterer. They have transgressed the Torah. They presume to know God. They cry out to God, even “my God” for deliverance. One might think of this as similar to Israel’s cry to God in Egypt (same verb in Exodus 2:23 and Hosea 8:2). But their cry is not from the heart (according to Hosea 7:14) and based on a false claim—they don’t know God. Israel has rejected the good God has offered (as in Numbers 10:29). Consequently, “the enemy” (Assyria) will overtake them and pursue them like a predatory eagle.
Instead of receiving God’s good gifts, they sought to generate their own and create their own world without Yahweh.
- They set up kings and rulers (princes) without God’s direction.
- They made idols with their precious metals.
Israel’s political system failed them. In the last years of the northern kingdom, four of the five kings were assassinated. But the primary topic in Hoses 8:4-6 is the “calf of Samaria.”
When the northern kingdom was established, Jeroboam I set up cultic sites in Bethel (in the south) and Dan (in the north), each with their own idolatrous calf. This is the same word used to describe the golden calf at Sinai in Exodus 32:4. The calves in Samaria (Ephraim, the nation of Israel) were echoes of the rebellion of Israel at Mt. Sinai—the original sin of Israel, one might say.
Yahweh rejects Samaria’s calf, just as God rejected the nation’s calf at Sinai. This does not necessarily mean there was a calf in the city of Samaria. Rather, Samaria refers to the nation because it is its capital city, where the king is enthroned. The calves are at Dan and Bethel, though it is possible there were multiple calves.
God’s anger burns against the idols. It is the work of human hands—Israelite artisans made it. The idol is not Yahweh; it is not Elohim. Rather than the work of God or representing Yahweh, the calves are headed to destruction, just as Israel itself is because of its idolatry.
The Futility of Egypt and Assyria (Hosea 8:7-14)
Hosea introduces a new metaphor—agriculture. Israel has sown what they did not want to reap. They thought they would sow prosperity but what they got was devastation. What they sow will not produce edible grain—there will be nothing to eat. Rather, it will reap the presence of foreigners (strangers) will devour the resources of the nation. Israel will be swallowed up, scattered among the nations, and will become a useless vessel. Literally, the Hebrew reads, “a vessel no one desires.”
Then Hosea switches metaphors to make his point. Ephraim has bargained for lovers, but what she became was a “wild ass wandering alone” when she appealed to Assyria into stave off her destruction. She tried to make a deal, but her attempts were laughable. Israel was out of her element, like a” wild ass wandering alone.” She has no recourse or resources. Israel’s attempts at diplomacy will fail miserably. Instead of independence, they will live under the oppressive rule of Assyrian kings and princes.
Hosea continues his sarcasm by returning to the calves—the altars where Israel sought to expiate their sin. But those altars where themselves sinful. No expiation was possible there even if they offer their sacrifices to Yahweh and eat them before the Lord. Yahweh does not accept them. They do not follow the Torah, and therefore they are not accepted. Their sacrifices are “strange” things just as the strangers who devour their nation (same Hebrew root for “strange” and “stranger”).
In contrast to the promise of Jeremiah 31:31-34 and the revelation of Yahweh in Exodus 34:6-7, Yahweh will remember their iniquity rather than forgiving it. God will punish their sins and return them to Egypt.
The return to Egypt is not a prophecy for exile in Egypt instead of Assyria. Rather, it plays on the calf-motif where at Mt. Sinai they created an idol and dreamed of a return to Egypt. The return to Egypt is a metaphor for a return to enslavement or exile. Israel is right back where they started, and their idolatrous calves are part of the reason. Hosea 8:14 brings Israel (the northern kingdom) and Judah (the southern kingdom) into view. Both are guilty, and both will suffer the consequences.
Israel will suffer because she has “forgotten” her creator and built palaces. This hints at the economic injustice of the northern kingdom (see Amos, for example). Instead of caring for the people of Yahweh, rulers built palaces for their own glory.
Judah will suffer because she “multiplied fortified cities.” This military buildup reflected a lack of faith in Yahweh’s protection. They increased fortifications just as Ephraim increased altars (Hosea 8:11—same Hebrew word).
The consequence is that neither these buildings (like palaces) nor these cities (fortified) will survive. They are symbols of covenant-breaking and rebellion against God, and therefore they will be destroyed.
Israel is consumed by her own devices. They has made her bed, and now she must iie in it. Yahweh will remember her sins.