Hosea 5:5

And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face,.... Or, "does" or "shall answer to his face" (h); contradicts him, convicts him, and fills him with shame; the pride of his heart, and of his

And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

The pride of Israel: it might have been rendered, the excellency or glory of Israel; and so, referred to God, it would be a prediction that God himself would witness against Israel. God is said to swear by the excellency of Jacob, , i.e. by himself. Thus interpreted, it would very well accord with what follows in this and the following verse. But as it is here rendered, it is the haughtiness, carnal confidence of Israel, grown great under the long and prosperous reign of Jeroboam the Second, that they thought it impossible such calamities as foretold by the prophet should overtake them, or that God should think so ill of that worship they thought so well of; they neither confess their sins, nor fear God’ s judgments. Doth testify; is so full and evident witness against Israel, that no other testimony need be produced. To his face; to convince and silence the most impudent and shameless among them. Therefore shall Israel and Ephraim, the nine tribes, and the head of them, Ephraim, fall in their iniquity; be ruined for their sins of which they are guilty, but repent not. Judah, the two tribes under Ahaz, now lapsed to idolatry, also shall fall with them; be captivated too ere long, soon after sin will undo them.

Hosea 5:5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.Ver. 5. And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face] Pride is the great pockmark of the soul; it will bud, and cannot be hidden, Ezekiel 7:10. It is the grandiabolo, that filthy spirit is gotten into the midst of men, into the very heart of the country as it were. It is the leprosy of the soul that breaks forth in the very forehead, and so testifieth to his face. It proceeds from ignorance of God and his will, of a man’ s self and his duty; hence that connection of this verse and the former. They "know not the Lord"; and the "pride of Israel testifieth to his face." The Laodiceans were therefore proud, because ignorant: thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, &c. So those question-sick fantastics in St Paul were "proud, knowing nothing," 1 Timothy 6:4. "And I would not have you ignorant of this mystery," saith he to the Romans, Romans 11:25, "lest ye should be puffed up in your own conceits." Humble Agur, though full of heavenly light, yet vilifies and nullifies himself to the utmost, Proverbs 30:2, and so exemplifies that proverb of Solomon, "with the lowly is wisdom," Proverbs 11:2. And as wisdom maketh the face to shine, and humility rendereth a man lovely, so pride, on the contrary, sitteth in the face, and deformeth it. The proud man flattereth himself in his own lies, till his iniquity be found to he hateful, Psalms 36:2, till his swelling break forth in loathsome ulcers. Thus Miriam’ s pride testified to her face, and Uzziah’ s, and Sodom’ s, Isaiah 3:9; the show of their countenance witnessing against them. Pride is a foolish sin, it cannot keep in, it will be aboveboard, and discover itself by lofty looks, big swollen words, proud gait, ridiculous gestures, garish attire, that nest of pride; but especially by stoutness and stubbornness against God and his ways (as here in this text it is to be taken), when men commit sin with a high hand, and, as it were, in despite of God, and on purpose to cross him. Hence it is that God so hateth this sin above other; for whereas all other sins flee from God, pride lets fly at him, nay, flies in his face, saying, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey him?" Hence he will be a swift witness against such, and a severe judge. Learned Mr Levely reads this text thus: "The excellency of Israel" (that is, God, as Amos 8:7 2 Samuel 1:19) "will testify to Ephraim’ s face," give in evidence against them.

(5) The pride of Israel may be either the true object of pride and boasting, viz., Jehovah Himself (comp. Amos 8:7), or the false object of pride to which they had yielded. The latter interpretation is to be preferred, and is supported by Amos 6:8. Arrogance led Ephraim, on numerous occasions in earlier sacred history, to resent the supremacy of Judah. This jealousy culminated in the rebellion of Jeroboam I., and characterised their history till the reign of Ahab. Arrogance will be their ruin now; and in this Judah is represented as likewise involved. This last feature is a new note in prophetic utterance. (Comp Hosea 4:15.) We are therefore justified in regarding Hosea 5 as delivered at a later time than the oracle standing immediately before it.

Verse 5. The pride of Israel doth testify to his face] The effrontery with which they practise idolatry manifests, not only their insolence, but the deep depravity of their heart; but their pride and arrogance shall be humbled.

5. And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face] Rather, But … shall testify to his face. ‘The pride of Israel’ is capable of two interpretations. It may mean Israel’s vainglorious self-confidence, which is so hateful to Jehovah, and as it were testifies against Israel on the day of Jehovah’s assize (Isaiah 2:12). But it is more natural to take the phrase as a title of Jehovah (see on Hosea 4:18 ‘her rulers’, &c.), borrowed probably from Amos 8:7. How does Jehovah ‘testify against’ any one? The answer is furnished by Rth 1:21, ‘Jehovah hath testified against me, and Shaddai hath afflicted me.’ An objection of small weight has been raised, viz. that Jehovah, in the prophetic figure, is the complainant and the judge, but not the witness. The answer is that the Hebrew ‘ânâh is not exactly ‘to witness’ but ‘to meet with words or a declaration’; hence it can be used of a judicial sentence. Hosea means that Jehovah has spoken one of those words which kill (comp. Hosea 6:5)—has delivered a judgment by which Israel shall ‘fall.’ The rendering ‘Israel’s pride shall be humbled’ adopted in the ‘Speaker’s Commentary’ from the Sept., the Targum, and the Peshito, scarcely suits the following words ‘to (lit. in) his face.’ Still less suitable is it in Hosea 7:10, where the phrase is repeated. Israel and Ephraim] i.e., Israel and especially Ephraim; like ‘Judah and Jerusalem’ (Isaiah 2:1). shall fall] Rather, shall stumble. A figure for calamity (as Isaiah 8:15; Isaiah 31:3, and often). In Hosea 4:15 the prophet uses less distinct language with regard to Judah’s punishment; she is warned not to offend rather than threatened with punishment. Perhaps this chapter represents the utterances of a later period than the preceding chapter.

And the pride of Israel - Pride was from the first the leading sin of Ephraim.

2. And the revolters are profound to make slaughter — R.V., “And the revolters are gone deep in making slaughter.” For the last three words margin suggests “in corruption,” which is to be preferred,