Book of Hosea Chapter 5 Vs. 10

 Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah

The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. Hos. 5:10

the princes of... Judah had followed in the sinful footsteps of Israel. Hosea compared Judah’s greedy princes to those who move boundary stones in order to steal land from others. The Law condemned this practice (Deut. 19:14; 27:17).

The princes of Judah, according to the statement here, were like the apostates in Ephraim. For this cause both nations would fall.

remove the bound... Boundaries, marked by stones, could be easily moved at night. Moving them was tantamount to stealing land from a neighbor (Deut. 19:14; 27:17; Pro. 22:28; 23:10). Worse, Israel’s leaders were moving spiritual lines established by God (compare verse 11).

pour out my... This is speaking of a time when God's fury has come up in His face, and He has poured His wrath on His unfaithful. It appears, they had moved the landmarks, that God had strictly forbidden them move. This automatically brings judgment from God.

At this point (Hos. 5:10) the discourse swerves from the religious to the political leaders of Israel; but as the princes were included with the priests in the exordium (Hos. 5:1), we can hardly count this a new oracle.

The princes of Judah are like landmark-re-movers-commonest cheats in Israel-upon them the Father will pour out His wrath like water.

Even Judah would not be spared ultimately (cf., however, Hos. 1:7). Its leaders were also guilty of breach of covenant. They were like those who move boundary stones for they showed no respect for God’s commands. Moving boundary stones was clearly forbidden in the Law (Deut. 19:14) and carried a curse (Deut. 27:17). The act was tantamount to theft as it obscured the legal boundary between properties and was a way of taking some land that belonged to another. Perhaps this particular crime was cited in order to allude to the acts of social injustice being carried out by the Judean upper class (cf. Isa. 5:8; Mic. 2:1-2). On Judah’s sinful leaders the Lord would pour out His anger like a flood of water (lit., like water), possibly meaning like rainwater (cf. Amos 5:8; 9:6).