Hosea 10:9

Old Testament Minor Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Hosea 10:9 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood; the battle against the children of iniquity doth not overtake them in Gibeah.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood; the battle against the children of iniquity doth not overtake them in Gibeah.
Hosea 10:9 — American Standard Version

Context — Hosea 10

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
9O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood; the battle against the children of iniquity doth not overtake them in Gibeah.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah, etc.] This has no respect, as the Targum, and others, to Gibeah of Saul, of which place he was, and the choosing him to be king; but to the affair of the Levite and his concubine at Gibeah in the days of the judges, and what followed upon it, (<071901>Judges 19:1-20:48); suggesting, that the sins of Israel were not new ones; they were the same with what were committed formerly, as early as the history referred to, and had been continued ever since; the measure of which were now filling up: or, as Aben Ezra and Abarbinel interpret it, “thou hast sinned more than the days of Gibeah”; were guilty of more idolatry, inhumanity, and impurity,…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Gibeah-- (Hos 9:9; Jdg. 19:1-20:48). They are singled out as a specimen of the whole nation. there they stood--The Israelites have, as there and then, so ever since, persisted in their sin [CALVIN]. Or, better, "they stood their ground," that is, did not perish then [MAURER]. the battle . . . did not overtake them--Though God spared you then, He will not do so now; nay, the battle whereby God punished the Gibeonite "children of iniquity," shall the more heavily visit you for your continued impenitence. Though "they stood" then, it shall not be so now. The change from "thou" to "they" marks God's alienation from them; they are, by the use of the third person, put to a greater distance from…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah - There must have been great sin, on both sides, of Israel as well as Benjamin, when Israel punished the atrocity of Gibeah, since God caused Israel so to be smitten before Benjamin. Such sin had continued ever since, so that, although God, in His longsuffering, had hitherto spared them, “it was not of late only that they had deserved those judgments, although now at last only, God inflicted them.” “There” in Gibeah, “they stood.” Although smitten twice at Gibeah, and heavily chastened, there they were avengers of the sacredness of God’s law, and, in the end, “they stood; chastened but not killed.” But now, none of the ten tribes took the…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“They - Probably the six hundred men who fled to the rock Rimmon. Overtake them - That fatal battle did not reach them; but now Israel shall be more severely punished. Hosea 10:10”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“10:9-10 The horrible events at Gibeah (Judg 19–21) set the pattern of sin for the people of the northern kingdom of Israel (see Hos 9:9). God’s punishment was that they would be overwhelmingly defeated in war, just as in the time of the judges (see Judg 2:10-15).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“from: Hos 9:9; Jdg 19:22-30, Jdg 20:5, Jdg 20:13, Jdg 20:14 the battle: Judg. 20:17-48 did: Gen 6:5, Gen 8:21; Zep 3:6, Zep 3:7; Mat 23:31, Mat 23:32 Hosea 10:10”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“After the threatening of punishment has thus been extended in Hos 10:8, even to the utter ruin of the kingdom, the prophet returns in Hos 10:9 to the earlier times, for the purpose of exhibiting in a new form and deeply rooted sinfulness of the people, and then, under cover of an appeal to them to return to righteousness, depicting still further the time of visitation, and (in Hos 10:14, Hos 10:15) predicting with still greater clearness the destruction of the kingdom and the overthrow of the monarchy. Hos 10:9. "Since the days of Gibeah hast thou sinned, O Israel: there have they remained: the war against the sons of wickedness did not overtake them at Gibeah. Hos 10:10. According to my…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification