Hosea 5:3

"The rebels are deep in slaughter, but I discipline all of them."

Key Reflection

Hosea 5:3 addresses a time when Israel was deeply divided and rebellious against God. The original audience would have recognized "rebels" as referring to those who had strayed from the covenant, engaging in idolatry and other sins that brought divine judgment. The statement that these rebels were "deep in slaughter" suggests their involvement in violent conflicts or perhaps self-inflicted strife, while "I discipline all of them" indicates God's intention to bring about retribution and correction through these very actions, reflecting His commitment to restoring the nation despite its rebellion.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

I know Ephraim -There is much emphasis on the “I.” It is like our, “I have known,” or “I, I, have known.” God had known him all along, if we may so speak. However deep they may have laid their plans of blood, however they would or do hide them from man, and think that no eye seeth them, and say, “Who seeth me? and who knoweth me? I, to whose eyes all things are naked and openedHebrews 4:13, have all along known them, and nothing of them has been hid from Me. For, He adds, even now, now when, under a fair outward show, they are veiling the depth of their sin, now, when they think that their way is hid in darkness, I know their doings, that they are defiling themselves.

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