The Bible

 

Hošea 10

Study

   

1 Bujna je loza bio Izrael, rod bogat ona je nosila. I što mu je više rodilo plodova, to je više umnažao žrtvenike; što mu je bogatija zemlja bila, to je kićenije dizao stupove.

2 Srce je njihovo prijevarno, okajat će to oni! Porušit će im On žrtvenike, polomiti stupove njihove.

3 Kazat će tada: "Mi kralja nemamo jer se Jahve bojali nismo. TÓa čemu bi nam bio kralj?"

4 Riječi prosiplju, lažno se kunu, sklapaju saveze; a pravo cvate k'o otrovno bilje u brazdama polja.

5 Za tele betavensko strepe stanovnici Samarije; da, zbog njega tuguje narod njegov, svećenici njegovi kukaju nad njim, nad slavom njegovom jer je od njega prognana.

6 A njega samog odvući će u Asiriju na dar velikome kralju. Efrajima stid će spopasti, crvenjet će se Izrael zbog svoje odluke.

7 Uništena je Samarija. Njen kralj tek trunak je vodi na površju.

8 Bit će razorene sramne uzvišice, grijeh Izraelov; trnje će i čičak rasti po žrtvenicima njihovim. Tad će govoriti brdima: "Pokrijte nas!" i bregovima: "Padnite na nas!"

9 Većma no u dane gibejske griješio si, Izraele! A da se i ondje zaustaviše, ne bi li ih zatekao rat kao bezakonike gibejske?

10 Kako mi se svidi, kaznit ću ih: sabrat će se protiv njih narodi da ih za dvostruko kazne bezakonje.

11 Efrajim je junica dobro naučena koja rado vrše; šiju ću joj lijepu ujarmiti, upregnut ću Efrajima. Juda će orati, Jakov branat'.

12 Sijte pravednost, požet ćete ljubav; krčite zemlje nove: vrijeme je da Jahvu tražite dok ne dođe i podaždi vam pravdom.

13 Orali ste bezbožnost, želi bezakonje, jeli plod prijevare. Pouzdao si se u kola svoja i u mnoštvo svojih ratnika,

14 zato će se vika bojna razlijegati tvojim gradovima i sve će ti tvrđe biti razorene k'o što Šalman razori Bet Arbel u dan ratni, kada mater smrskaše na sinovima.

15 Evo što vam Betel učini jer ste u zlu ogrezli: u zoru će zavijek nestati kralja Izraelova!

   

Commentary

 

Jacob or Israel (the man)

  

Jacob is told twice that his name will now be Israel. The first time is when he wrestles with an angel on his journey to meet Esau, and the angel tells him that his name will be changed. After he is reconciled with Esau, they go their separate ways. Jacob moves to Shechem and then on to Bethel, where he builds an altar to the Lord. The Lord appears to him there, renews the covenant He first made with Abraham and again tells him that his name will be Israel (Genesis 35). The story goes on to tell of Benjamin's birth and Rachel's death in bearing him, and then of Jacob's return to Isaac and Isaac's death and burial. But at that point the main thread of the story leaves Israel and turns to Joseph, and Israel is hardly mentioned until after Joseph has risen to power in Egypt, has revealed himself to his brothers and tells them to bring all of their father's household down to Egypt. There, before Israel dies, he blesses Joseph's sons, plus all his own sons. After his death he is returned to the land of Canaan for burial in Abraham's tomb. In the story of Jacob and Esau, Jacob represents truth, and Esau good. Jacob's stay in Padan-Aram, and the wealth he acquired there, represent learning the truths of scripture, just as we learn when we read the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount. The change of name from Jacob to Israel represents the realization that what we learn should not simply be knowledge, but should be the rules of our life, to be followed by action. This action is the good that Esau has represented in the story up to that time, but after the reconciliation between Jacob and Esau, Jacob as Israel now represents the truth and the good, together. It is interesting that even after his name change Jacob is rarely called Israel. Sometimes he is called one and sometimes the other, and sometimes he is called both Jacob and Israel in the same verse (Genesis 46:2, 5, & 8 also Psalm 14:7). This is because Jacob represents the external person and Israel the internal person, and even after the internal person comes into being, we spend much of our lives living on the external level.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 4274, 4292, 4570, 5595, 6225, 6256, Genesis 2:5, 46:8)