Hosea 10:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Hosea 10:1
Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.
to pour out · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
vine
גֶּ֤פֶןGe.fen
H1612
a vine (as twining) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
forth
יְשַׁוֶּהye.sha.veh-
H7737
properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
fruit
פְּרִ֖יpe.Ri
H6529
fruit (literally or figuratively) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
multitude
כְּרֹ֣בke.Ro
H7230
abundance (in any respect) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
fruit
לְפִרְי֗וֹle.fir.Yo
H6529
fruit (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
increased
הִרְבָּה֙hir.Bah
H7235
to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
altars
לַֽמִּזְבְּח֔וֹתla.miz.be.Chot
H4196
an altar · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
goodness
כְּט֣וֹבke.Tov
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
land
לְאַרְצ֔וֹle.'ar.Tzo
H776
the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
goodly
טוֹבṭôwb
H2895
to be (transitively
images
מַצֵּבֽוֹתma.tze.Vot
H4676
something stationed · noun, common feminine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Hosea 8:11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
Leviticus 26:1 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land,…
Isaiah 5:1-7 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
Hosea 12:11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the…
Philippians 2:21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
1 Kings 14:23 For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
Jeremiah 2:28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the numb…
Romans 14:7-8 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hosea 10:1-8
Observe, I. What the sins are which are here laid to Israel's charge, the national sins which bring down national judgment. The prophet deals plainly with them; for what good would it do them to be flattered?
1. They were not fruitful in the fruits of righteousness to the glory of God. Here all their other wickedness began (Hos 10:1): Israel is an empty vine. The church of God is fitly compared to a vine, weak, and of an unpromising outside, yet spreading and fruitful; believers are branches of that vine, and partake of its root and fatness. But this was the character of Israel, they were as an empty vine, a vine that had no sap or virtue in it, and therefore none of those good fruits produc…
Israel is an empty vine - Or, a vine that casteth its grapes.
He bringeth forth fruit - Or, he laid up fruit for himself. He abused the blessings of God to the purposes of idolatry. He was prosperous; but his prosperity corrupted his heart.
According to the multitude of his fruit - He became idolatrous in proportion to his prosperity; and in proportion to their wealth was the costliness of their images, and the expensiveness of their idol worship.
True is the homely saying of old Quarles: -
"So God's best gifts, usurp'd by wicked ones,
To poison turn, by their con-ta-gi-ons."
Another poet, of a higher order, but worse school, says: -
Effodiuntur opes, irritamenta malorum.
Ovid.
Of which th…
Israel is an empty vine,.... The people of Israel are often compared to a vine, and such an one from whence fruit might be expected, being planted in a good soil, and well taken care of; see Psalm 80:8; but proved an "empty vine", empty of fruit; not of temporal good things, for a multitude of such fruit it is afterwards said to have; but of spiritual fruit, of the fruit of grace, and of good works, being destitute of the Spirit of God, and his grace; and, having no spiritual moisture, was incapable of bringing forth good fruit: or, "an emptying vine" (o); that casts its fruit before it is ripe; these people, what fruit they had, they made an ill use of it; even of their temporal good things…
The Church Fathers
Having good shoots and fruit-bearing branches, she [Israel] produced many clusters, and the abundance of the grapes equaled the great number of the branches. But she who before was of such a kind offended God afterward, turning the abundance of the fruits into a great number of offenses. The more people she had, the more altars she built, and she overmatched the abundance of the land by the number of the idols.
"Lush vine of Israel; its fruit satisfies it; according to the abundance of its fruit, it has multiplied its altars; it has enriched itself with its idols, in proportion to the fertility of its land." LXX: "A leafy vine in Israel: abundant fruit in it: according to the multitude of its fruit it has multiplied altars: they will build titles beside the good of their land." On behalf of a leafy life," the eagle explained, "ἔνυδρον," which we can say means "watery" or "diluted" because it loses the taste of wine; Symmachus called it "ὑλομανοῦσαν," which has grown entirely in the leaves. Vines, which were not of value to the vintner, grow into whips and leaves, and destroy the moisture which they should have turned into wine, by the vain ambition of foliage and leaves: such a vine is harmful to farmers. Such was Israel, growing in the multitude of peoples, and not returning the fruits owed to the Farmer God. Let us say it differently: A leafy vine, or according to the Septuagint, a fruitful vine, brought forth many bunches, and the productivity of grapes equaled the magnitude of the branches: but this, which was such before it offended God, later turned the abundance of fruit into a multitude of offenses: so that the more people it had, the more altars it would build, and it would surpass the abundance of the land with the number of idols. For statues, the Septuagint translates "columns," which we call "statues" or "titles," which properly belong to demons or dead men. And so heretics, while they were being planted in the Church and growing in the house of God, were called the Sorec vineyard and brought forth the most bountiful fruits: but afterwards, as they became more numerous, they multiplied altars for themselves, so that for every one true altar there were built many altars of their error, and according to the abundance of their land they overflowed with idols. The land of heretics is fruitful, those who sensing the acumen and talent from God, in order to consecrate the good of nature to God, made idols for themselves. For no one can build up heresy unless they are of a passionate mind and have the gifts of nature; which were created by God the creator. Such was Valentinus, such was Marcion, whom we read to be very learned. Such was Bardesanes, whose talent even philosophers admire. Therefore, they turned the good of their land into titles for the dead,…
Dictionary and topics
Harrow — (Heb. harits), a tribulum or sharp threshing sledge; a frame armed on the under side with rollers or sharp spikes (2 Sam. 12:31; 1 Chr. 20:3). Heb. verb sadad, to harrow a field, break its clods (Job…
Vine — One of the most important products of Palestine. The first mention of it is in the history of Noah (Gen. 9:20). It is afterwards frequently noticed both in the Old and New Testaments, and in the…
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Unfaithfulness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Vine, The · Illustrative: (Unfruitful,) of the wicked — Illustrative: (Unfruitful,) of the wicked
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Hosea 10:1
1. Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.
1. Vites spoliata Israel, fructum ponet sibi: secundum multitudinem fructus sui multiplicavit altaria (in altaribus multiplicavit;) secundum bonitatem (hoc est, proventum fertilem) terrae suae benefecerunt in statuis (alii, bonas fecerunt statuas; sed prior versio mihi magis probatur.)
Interpreters explain this verse in various ways. Those who think vvqq, bukok, here applied to the vine, means "empty," are mistaken; for the Prophet means rather, that Israel was like a vine, wh…
Although Israel was God’s luxuriant, fruitful vine (see Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; Ezek 17:6), she falsely attributed her prosperity to the Canaanite fertility gods, rather than to the Lord, and she spent the riches God had given her to enhance her worship of idols. • sacred pillars: Stone pillars could be acceptable memorials (Gen 35:20; Josh 24:26-27), but God prohibited the Israelites from using them in worship as the Canaanites did (Exod 23:24; Deut 16:22).
Rashi on Hosea 10:1
Israel is a vine devoid of fruit fitting for it Israel resembles a vine that casts off all its good fruit. So did they forsake Me, Who is the good and fitting fruit for them.
fruit fitting for it The fruit that is fitting for them and good for them.
When I increased their good, they increased for the altars When I lavished good upon them, they made many calves for the altars. Another explanation Israel is a plundered vine; the produce of their deeds brought it about to them. פְּרִי יְשַׁוֶּה לוֹ means ‘will avail them’ to be plundered, for they made the altars and availed their nation for evil. This is the wording of the Targum.
they increased pillars Heb. הֵטִיבוּ מַצֵבוֹת.