strictly nothingness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Gilead
גִּלְעָ֥דgil.'Ad
H1568
Gilad · proper noun, a place name
vanity
שָׁ֣וְאshav'
H7723
evil (as destructive) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sacrifice
זִבֵּ֑חוּzi.Be.chu
H2076
to slaughter an animal (usually in sacrifice) · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
bullocks
שְׁוָרִ֣יםshe.va.Rim
H7794
a bullock (as a traveller) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Gilgal
בַּגִּלְגָּ֖לba.gil.Gal
H1537
Gilgal · preposition with the article + proper noun, a place name
altars
מִזְבְּחוֹתָם֙miz.be.cho.Tam
H4196
an altar · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
heaps
כְּגַלִּ֔יםke.ga.Lim
H1530
something rolled · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
furrows
תַּלְמֵ֥יtal.Mei
H8525
a bank or terrace · noun, common masculine plural construct
fields
שָׂדָֽיsa.Dai
H7704
a field (as flat) · noun, common masculine singular 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 4:15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, The L…
Hosea 6:8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.
Hosea 8:11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
Hosea 9:15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will lo…
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; accordi…
1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there…
2 Kings 17:9-11 And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all…
Jeremiah 2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under eve…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hosea 12:7–end
Here are intermixed, in these verses,
I. Reproofs for sin. When God is coming forth to contend with a people, that he may demonstrate his own righteousness, he will demonstrate their unrighteousness. Ephraim was called to turn to his God and keep judgment (Hos 12:6); now, to show that he had need of that call, he is charged with turning from his God by idolatry, and breaking the laws of justice and judgment.
1. He is here charged with injustice against the precepts of the second table, Hos 12:7, Hos 12:8. Here observe,
(1.) What the sin is wherewith he is charged: He is a merchant. The margin reads it as a proper name, He is Canaan, or a Canaanite, unworthy to be denominated from Jacob and I…
Is there iniquity in Gilead?--He asks the question, not as if the answer was doubtful, but to strengthen the affirmation: "Surely they are vanity"; or as MAURER translates, "They are nothing but iniquity." Iniquity, especially idolatry, in Scripture is often termed "vanity." Pro 13:11 : "Wealth gotten by vanity," that is, iniquity. Isa 41:29 : "They are all vanity . . . images." "Gilead" refers to Mizpah-gilead, a city representing the region beyond Jordan (Hos 6:8; Jdg 11:29); as "Gilgal," the region on this side of Jordan (Hos 4:15). In all quarters alike they are utterly vile.
their altars are as heaps in the furrows--that is, as numerous as such heaps: namely, the heaps of stones clear…
Iniquity in Gilead - Gilgal and Gilead are equally iniquitous, and equally idolatrous. Gilead, which was beyond Jordan, had already been brought under subjection by Tiglath-Pileser. Gilgal, which was on this side Jordan, shall share the same fate; because it is now as idolatrous as the other.
Their altars are as heaps - They occur everywhere. The whole land is given to idolatry.
John Gill on Hosea 12:11
The Church Fathers
"If Galahad was an idol, then they were sacrificing their cattle in vain at Galgal; for even their altars were like heaps on the furrows of the field." LXX: "If it is not Galahad, then the princes sacrificing at Galgala were false, and their altars were like tortoises on the desert of the field." Because we have translated "bobus," which is called Surim in Hebrew, the LXX translated it as "princes," which are called Sarim, being deceived by the similarity and ambiguity of the word. Again when we placed ourselves, 'acervos,' which in Hebrew are called Gallim and properly signify 'θῖνας,' that is, tumps gathered from sand, which are mostly increased or decreased in the desert and on the shores where the wind blows, the 70 translators translated to "testudines" (turtles): for which Symmachus interpreted "piles of stones": Theodotio "hills." And truly if you look at θῖνας, they have a similarity to the great tortoises in a desert field, or on the banks and shores slightly prominent from the ground. Therefore, what He says, "if in Gilead," about which it is written, "Gilead is a city of idolaters, overturned with blood," false gods and perverse religion, and it is across the Jordan where two tribes live, Reuben and Gad, and half a tribe of Manasseh, therefore even Galgal of which we read in this same prophet: "All their malice is in Galgal, which is behind Bethaven;" whoever worships idols does not sacrifice to gods but offers sacrifices to cattle, imitating the error of Samaria. For at the time when these things were prophesied, Galaad was in the kingdom of the ten tribes; and Galgal, under the rule of the two tribes which were called Juda. Therefore, both the ten tribes and the two, deceived by equal idolatrous error, and their altars gathered from stones, or from sands, like heaps and hills. And when both of them have been brought into captivity, the former altars of theirs will have the similarity of tortoise shells or hills without cultivators. Because truly "Galaad" is interpreted as "a translation of testimony," and "Galgal, of rolling things," we can say this, that the leaders of the heretics transfer the testimonies of truth into lies, and whatever they worship is an idol, and their sacrifices are similar to heaps of stones or turtles. For just as θίνες and heaps are gathered from stones and sand here and there, so too heretics compose idols from…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Agriculture — Tilling the ground (Gen. 2:15; 4:2, 3, 12) and rearing cattle were the chief employments in ancient times. The Egyptians excelled in agriculture. And after the Israelites entered into the possession…
Bullock — (1.) The translation of a word which is a generic name for horned cattle (Isa. 65:25). It is also rendered “cow” (Ezek. 4:15), “ox” (Gen. 12:16). (2.) The translation of a word always meaning an…
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).
Is there iniquity in Gilead?.... Idolatry there? strange that there should be, seeing it was a city of the priests; a city of refuge; or there is none there, say the priests, who pretended they did not worship idols, but the true Jehovah in them: or, "is there not iniquity", or idolatry, "in Gilead" (e)? verily there is, let them pretend to what they will: or, "is there only iniquity in it" (f)? that the men of it should be carried captive, as they were by TiglathPileser, before the rest of the tribes; see 2 Kings 15:29; no, there is iniquity and idolatry committed in other places, as well as there, who must expect to share the same fate in time: or, "is Gilead Aven?" (g) that is, Bethaven,…
Hosea 12:11
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 fields.
11. An in Gilead iniquitas? (vel, an Gilead coepit peccare?) certe vanitas (vel, mendacium) fuerunt in Gilgal (alii disjungunt istud vglgl, ut contexant cum sequentibus) boves sacrificarunt, etiam altaria eorum sicut acervi super sulcos agrorum.
It is an ironical question, when the Prophet says, [25]Is there iniquity in Gilead? and he laughs to scorn their madness who delighted themselves in vices so gross, when their worship was wholly spurious and degenerated. When they knew that they were perfidious towards God, and followe…
"Yet am I Jehovah thy God, from the land of Egypt hither: I will still cause thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the feast. Hos 12:10. I have spoken to the prophets; and I, I have multiplied visions, and spoken similitudes through the prophets. Hos 12:11. If Gilead (is) worthlessness, they have only come to nothing: in Gilgal they offered bullocks: even their altars are like stone-heaps in the furrows of the field." The Lord meets the delusion of the people, that they had become great and powerful through their own exertion, by reminding them that He (ואנכי is adversative, yet I) has been Israel's God from Egypt hither, and that to Him they owe all prosperity and good in both past and…
Gilead and Gilgal were Israelite cities in which Baal was worshiped instead of the Lord (see 4:15; 6:8; 9:15).
Rashi on Hosea 12:11
And I spoke to the prophets to admonish you and to bring you back to do good.
and to the prophets I assumed likenesses I appeared to them in many likenesses. Another explanation. I gave My words likenesses to them through allegories in order to make them comprehensible to their listeners.