The Bible

 

Hosea 5

Study

   

1 Hear this, O ye priests, and hearken, O house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king; for unto you pertaineth the judgment; for ye have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

2 And the revolters are gone deep in making slaughter; but I am a rebuker of them all.

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; for now, O Ephraim, thou hast played the harlot, Israel is defiled.

4 Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God; for the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not Jehovah.

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

6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them.

7 They have dealt treacherously against Jehovah; for they have borne strange children: now shall the new moon devour them with their fields.

8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: sound an alarm at Beth-aven; behind thee, O Benjamin.

9 Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

10 The princes of Judah are like them that remove the landmark: I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

11 Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; because he was content to walk after [man's] command.

12 Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah [saw] his wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.

14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and there shall be none to deliver.

15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly.

   

Commentary

 

Mouth

  

In most cases, "mouth" in the Bible represents thought and logic, especially the kind of active, concrete thought that is connected with speech. The reason for this is pretty obvious, but it also holds when people, for instance, remove a stone from the mouth of a well, which represents gaining access to spiritual ideas. The mouth is used for eating as well as speaking, of course. In those circumstances, it represents our first, most external perception of a new spiritual idea or desire. This also makes sense, mirroring the way tasting food in the mouth gives us an instant impression of the quality of the food.