Book of Hosea Chapter 8 Vs. 5

 Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? Hos. 8:5

Thy calf, O… Calf worship was the national religion of the northern kingdom (1 Kgs. 12:25-33; Exodus Chapter 32).

This is speaking of the calf they set up in the temple as a symbol of God. This is just plainly saying that their worship of idols had gotten them cut off from God. They must repent and turn back to God.

how long will... Question 3. Next, Hos. 9:5.

attain to innocency... Ten wonderful things to attain to:

1. Old age (Gen. 47:9)

2. A great name and fame (2Sa. 23:19, 23:23; 1Ch. 11:21, 11:25)

3. Knowledge (Psm. 139:6)

4. Wise counsels (Pro. 1:5)

5. Innocence (Hos. 8:5)

6. Righteousness by faith (Rom. 9:30)

7. Law of righteousness (Rom. 9:31)

8. Faith and sound doctrine (1Tim. 4:6)

9. The mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus (Phlp. 3:16)

10. The resurrection from out among the dead (Phlp. 3:11-12)

With their silver and their gold, they have manufactured themselves idols, only that they may be cut off-king after king, idol upon idol. He loathes thy Calf, O Samaria, the thing of wood and gold which thou callest Jehovah. And God confirms this. Kindled is Mine anger against them! How long will they be incapable of innocence? -unable to clear themselves of guilt! The idol is still in his mind. For from Israel is it also-as much as the puppet-kings; a workman made it, and no god is it.

The calf-idol of Samaria (cf. Hos. 8:6) was singled out because it epitomized Israel’s idolatrous ways. Since there is no record of such an idol being erected in Samaria, the city may stand here for the Northern Kingdom as a whole (cf. Hos. 7:1; 10:7). If so, the calf-idol was probably the image set up by Jeroboam I at Bethel (cf. 1Kgs. 12:28-30; Hos. 10:5). By setting up golden calves (one in Dan and one in Bethel), Jeroboam repeated the sins of an earlier generation (cf. Exo. 32:1-4). Probably the people associated these calves with the storm and fertility god Baal (cf. Hos. 13:1-2).

The words Throw out follow the Septuagint. However, the Hebrew is literally, He has rejected your calf, O Samaria (NASB). This third person reference to God within a divine speech is unusual but is attested elsewhere (cf. Hos. 1:7, the Lord; Hos. 2:22, the Lord; Hos. 4:6, your God; Hos. 4:10, the Lord; Hos. 4:12, their God; Hos. 8:13, the Lord and He). Rejected (in the Heb. in Hos. 8:5) makes a striking wordplay with the word rejected in Hos. 8:3. Israel had rejected (zānaḥ) what is good and turned to idols. The Lord responded appropriately by rejecting (zānaḥ) Israel’s idols. As Moses and Joshua had warned (Deut. 11:17; Jos. 23:16), the Lord’s anger burned against the idolaters. In despair the Lord asked, how long will they be incapable of purity?