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10. Punishment for Israel

¹ Israel was a spreading vine;
   he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
   he built more altars;
as his land prospered,
   he adorned his sacred stones.
² Their heart is deceitful,
   and now they must bear their guilt.
The LORD will demolish their altars
   and destroy their sacred stones.

    ³ Then they will say, “We have no king
   because we did not revere the LORD.
But even if we had a king,
   what could he do for us?”
⁴ They make many promises,
   take false oaths
   and make agreements;
therefore lawsuits spring up
   like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
⁵ The people who live in Samaria fear
   for the calf-idol of Beth Aven. Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
Its people will mourn over it,
   and so will its idolatrous priests,
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
   because it is taken from them into exile.
⁶ It will be carried to Assyria
   as tribute for the great king.
Ephraim will be disgraced;
   Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances.
⁷ Samaria’s king will be destroyed,
   swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
⁸ The high places of wickedness Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see verse 5. will be destroyed—
   it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns and thistles will grow up
   and cover their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
   and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

    ⁹ “Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel,
   and there you have remained. Or there a stand was taken
Will not war again overtake
   the evildoers in Gibeah?
¹⁰ When I please, I will punish them;
   nations will be gathered against them
   to put them in bonds for their double sin.
¹¹ Ephraim is a trained heifer
   that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke
   on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
   Judah must plow,
   and Jacob must break up the ground.
¹² Sow righteousness for yourselves,
   reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
   for it is time to seek the LORD,
until he comes
   and showers his righteousness on you.
¹³ But you have planted wickedness,
   you have reaped evil,
   you have eaten the fruit of deception.
Because you have depended on your own strength
   and on your many warriors,
¹⁴ the roar of battle will rise against your people,
   so that all your fortresses will be devastated—
as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
   when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
¹⁵ So will it happen to you, Bethel,
   because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
   the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

The Prophet here denounces punishment, having before exposed to view the sins of the people, and sufficiently proved them guilty, who by subterfuges avoided judgement. He now adds, that God would be a just avenger. A tumult then shall arise among thy people Thou hast hitherto satiated thyself with falsehood; for hope in thine own courage has inebriated thee, and also a false notion of wisdom; but the Lord will suddenly stir up tumults among thy people; that is, a tumult shall in one moment arise on every side. He intimates that its progress would not be slow, but that the tumult would be each as would confound things from one corner of the land to the other. A tumult then, or perdition, shall arise among thy people; for the word שאון, shaun, “on” means perdition or destruction; but I prefer “tumult,” as the verb, קאם“kam” seems to require. “Every one of thy fortresses,” he says, “shall be demolished.” He shows that whatever strength the people had would be weak and wholly useless, when the Lord had begun to raise a tumult; for this tumult would reduce to ruin all their fortified cities.

He then adds an instance, which some refer to Shalmanezar. He only mentions Shaman; and Shalmanezar is indeed a compound name; but it is not known whether the Prophet had put down here his name in its simple form, Shaman: and then he mentions Betharbel, a city, referred to in some parts of Scripture, which was, with respect to Judea, beyond Jordan. If we receive this opinion, it seems that the Prophet wished to revive the memory of a recent slaughter, “Ye know what lately happened to you when Shalmanezar marched with so much cruelty through your country, when he laid waste your villages and towns and cities, and ye especially know how fierce the battle was in Betharbel, when a carnage was made, when mothers were violently thrown on their children, when the enemy spared neither sex nor age, which in the worst wars is a most cruel thing.” Such, then, may have been the meaning of the Prophet. But others think that he relates a history, which is nowhere else to be told. However this may be, it appears that the Prophet spake of some slaughter which was in his day well known. Then the report of it was common enough, whether it was a slaughter made by Shalmanezar, or any other, of which there is no express mention found. We now see the meaning of the Prophet; but we cannot finish to-day.