Book of Hosea Chapter 6 Vs. 10

Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant 

I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled. Hos. 6:10

I have seen... This phrase means Ephraim and Judah subsequently discriminated.

an horrible thing... The horrible thing refers to polluting idolatry. This peculiar word occurs again in Jeremiah. According to the punctuation of the Hebrew the reciter hesitates before pronouncing the horrible thing which grated through his teeth. Yea, crime have they done. In the house of Israel I have seen horrors: there Ephraim hath played the harlot: Israel is defiled-Judah as well.

there is the... In the house of Israel is the whoredoms of Jeroboam, who was of the tribe of Ephraim, and caused Israel to sin, to go a whoring after idols. Or the whoredoms of the tribe of Ephraim, which belonged to the house of Israel, and even of all the ten tribes. Both corporeal and spiritual whoredoms, or idolatry, are here meant.

רָאָה

rā’āh, רֹאֶה

rō’eh: A verb meaning to see. Its basic denotation is to see with the eyes (Gen. 27:1). It can also have the following derived meanings, all of which require the individual to see physically outside of himself or herself: to see so that one can learn to know, whether it be another person (Deu. 33:9) or God (Deu. 1:31; 11:2); to experience (Jer. 5:12; 14:13; 20:18; 42:14); to perceive (Gen. 1:4, 1:10, 1:12, 1:18, 1:21, 1:25, 1:31; Exo. 3:4); to see by volition (Gen. 9:22-23; 42:9, 42:12); to look after or to visit (Gen. 37:14; 1Sam. 20:29); to watch (1Sam. 6:9); to find (1Sam. 16:17); to select (2Kgs. 10:3); to be concerned with (Gen. 39:23). It is also possible for this verb to require the individual to make a mental observation. As an imperative, it can function as an exclamation similar to hinnēh, which means to behold (Gen. 27:27; 31:50). Further, it can denote to give attention to (Jer. 2:31); to look into or inquire (1Sam. 24:15,16); to take heed (Exo. 10:10); to discern (Ecc. 1:16; 3:13); to distinguish (Mal. 3:18); to consider or reflect on (Ecc. 7:14). It can also connote a spiritual observation and comprehension by means of seeing visions (Gen. 41:22; Isa. 30:10).

an horrible thing...

שַׁעֲרוּר

ša‛^arûr, שַׁעֲרוּרָה

ša‛^arûrāh, שַׁעֲרוּרִי

ša‛^arûriy, שַׁעֲרוּרִיָה

ša‛^arûriyyāh: A feminine noun meaning horror, a horrible thing. It is used to describe how bad the apostasy and apathy of the Israelites was. What they did in worshiping idols and prophesying falsely were truly horrible things in the eyes of God and the prophets who denounced them (Jer. 5:30; 23:14). There are two variant spellings of this word. One, ša‛^arûriyyāh, is found in Hos. 6:10 and another, ša‛^aruriṯ, is found in Jer. 18:13. The uses of these variant spellings are exactly the same as the most common spelling. In every instance of the use of this word, it refers to the horror of the things that Israel was doing and the sins they were committing against the Lord.

The horrible thing they had done was the worship of false gods. The whoredoms they had committed was spiritual adultery. As we will see in the next verse, these are all 12 tribes of Israel, which got caught up in idolatry, not just Ephraim. Ephraim is mentioned separately, because he received the right hand (spiritual), blessing from Jacob.

In the house...

בַּיִת

bayiṯ: A noun meaning house, dwelling, family, temple, palace. It is used basically to denote a building in which a family lives (Deu. 20:5) but can also refer to the family or household itself (Gen. 15:2; Jos. 7:14; 24:15). It often is used of a clan such as "house of Aaron" (Psm. 115:10, 115:12; 118:3). Sometimes it means palace or dynasty when employed in the Hebrew phrase "house of the king" (Gen. 12:15; 1Kgs. 4:6; Jer. 39:8). When the Old Testament speaks of the house of the Lord, it obviously refers to the Temple or Tabernacle (Exo. 23:19; Dan. 1:2). The word is also found in place names: Bethel, meaning "house of God" (Gen. 12:8); Beth-shemesh, meaning "house of the sun" (Jos. 15:10); and Bethlehem, meaning "house of bread" (Gen. 35:19).

of Israel...

יִשְׂרָאֵל

yiśrā’ēl: A proper noun designating Israel:

A. The name given to Jacob after he successfully wrestled with the messenger of God (Gen. 32:28). The name means "he (who) struggles with God." It was used of the descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt (70 in all) but was applied to the nation that developed from those descendants (Exo. 1:1, 1:7). This name is explained again in Gen. 35:10. The name Jacob had been interpreted in context as well (Gen. 25:26), "he deceives."

B. The persons descended from Jacob who was renamed Israel (Gen. 35:10; see A above). His descendants became known as Israel (Exo. 1:1, 1:7). They were known as the "twelve tribes of Israel [Jacob]" (Gen. 49:7, 49:16, 49:28). The Lord became "the Rock of Israel (Gen. 49:24).

The land of Israel was ideally the territory first described to Abraham. It stretched from the river of Egypt (El-Arish) to the great Euphrates River and encompassed the territory of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites (Gen. 15:17-21; cf. also Gen. 10:15-18). The full expanse of this territory was occupied during the reign of David and Solomon and approached during the time of Israel-Judah under the respective contemporary reigns of Jeroboam II in Israel and Azariah (Uzziah) in Judah. Most often, however, the land of Israel in the Old Testament is designated as the territory from Dan (north) to Beersheba (south). After Israel divided into two kingdoms in 930 B.C., the name refers still to all of Israel but most often to northern Israel. After the return from exile in 538 B.C., the term is used of the whole restored community again regularly.

there...

שָׁם

šām: An adverb meaning there, where, in that direction. It indicates a place or the place where: there (Gen. 2:8, 2:12); where (Job 39:30); where, when preceded with the relative ’^ašer (Gen. 2:11; Exo. 20:21); to where, thither after motion verbs (Deu. 1:37; Jdg. 19:15). It often has a he (ה) on the end indicating motion there, to a place (Gen. 19:20; Deu. 1:38). With min on the front, it means from there (miššām) (Gen. 2:10; 11:8-9; 12:8). It can express the source or origin of something, e.g., man from the ground (Gen. 3:23); Philistines from . . . (Gen. 10:14; Jdg. 19:18); a goat from the flock (Gen. 27:9).

is the whoredom...

זְנוּת

z^enûṯ: A feminine noun meaning fornication. In the literal sense, this word refers to sexual sin that violates the marriage covenant (Hos. 4:11). Most often, however, this word is figuratively applied to God's nation Israel for their wickedness (Hos. 6:10). This fornication is usually associated with the worship of other gods (Jer. 3:2, 3:9; 13:27; Ezk. 23:27), but it can describe outright rebellion (Num. 14:33) or general iniquities (Ezk. 43:7, 43:9). This word comes from the common verb zānāh, meaning to commit fornication.

Of Ephraim...

אֶפְרַיִם

’ep̱rayim: A proper noun designating Ephraim:

A. The second son of Joseph. The name is a dual form and indicates fruitfulness (Gen. 41:52). He was born in Egypt as was Manasseh (Gen. 46:20) by Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, Priest of On (Heliopolis, "city of the sun"). Jacob recognized the two boys as his by adoption (Gen. 48:5). Jacob blessed Ephraim, the younger, ahead of Manasseh, the elder (Gen. 48:20). His descendants were numerous (Num. 26:28; 1Chr. 7:20, 7:22).

B. The name refers to the territory allotted to Ephraim (A above), the tribe formed by his descendants. The tribe became tens of thousands (Deu. 33:17). The location of the tribal land was in central Israel, bordered on the north by Manasseh, the west by Dan, the south by Dan-Benjamin, the east by Manasseh (Josh. 16). The name "Ephraim" became synonymous for Northern Israel. Ephraim and the north broke away from Judah and the line of David after Solomon's death (1Kgs. 12:12-19). The prophets saw a day when Ephraim would be reunited with David and Judah, one nation Israel, again (Ezk. 37:15-17; Zec. 9:10, 9:13; 10:7). The Lord never cast off Ephraim (N. Israel) fully, for he loved them (Hos. 11:8).

Israel is defiled... With whoredoms of both kinds; it had spread itself all over the ten tribes. They were all infected with it, and polluted by it (see Hos. 5:3).

Israel... see above.

Is defiled...

טָמֵא

ṭāmē’, טָמְאָה

ṭām’āh: A verb meaning to be unclean, to desecrate, to defile, to make impure. The main idea of the action was that of contaminating or corrupting, especially in the sight of God. The Levitical Law often spoke in terms of sexual, religious, or ceremonial uncleanness. Any object or individual who was not clean could not be acceptable to the Holy God of Israel. Examples of actions that caused a state of impurity would include eating forbidden food (Hos. 9:4); worshiping idols (Psm. 106:39; Hos. 5:3); committing adultery or engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage (Gen. 34:5; Num. 5:13; Ezk. 18:6); touching unclean objects or individuals (Lev. 5:3; 18:24; 19:31); and any action that violated the sacredness of the Lord (Jer. 32:34). It was the duty of the priesthood to discern matters of impurity (Lev. 13:3; Hag. 2:13) and to see that the strict rituals of purification were followed.

The nation’s sin is described in powerful figurative language. The widespread breach of covenant (Hos. 6:6-7) was a horrible thing. Jeremiah used a related term to describe rotten figs that are inedible (Jer. 29:17). Israel had become defiled by her prostitution, that is, her unfaithfulness to the Lord (cf. Hos. 5:3).