And the revolters are profound to make slaughter - Literally, "They made the slaughter deep," as Isaiah says, "they deeply corupted themselves" Isaiah 31:6; and our old writers say "He smote deep." They willed also doubtless to "make it deep," hide it so deep, that God should never know it, as the Psalmist says of the ungodly, "that the inward self and heart of the worker's of iniquity is deep," whereon it follows, that God should "suddenly wound them," as here the prophet subjoins that God rebuked them. Actual and profuse murder has been already Hosea 4:2 mentioned as one of the common sins of Israel, and it is afterward Hosea 6:9 also charged upon the priests.

Though I have been a rebuker - Literally, "a rebuke," as the Psalmist says, "I am prayer" Psalm 109:4, i. e., "I am all prayer." The Psalmist's whole being was turned into prayer. So here, all the attributes of God, His mercies, love, justice, were concentrated into one, and that one, rebuke. Rebuke was the one form, in which they were all seen. It is an aggravation of crime to do it in the place of judgment or in the presence of the judge. Israel was immersed in his sin and heeded not, although God rebuked him continually by His voice in the law, forbidding all idolatry, and was now all the while, both in word and deed, rebuking him.

The revolters are profound to make slaughter - Here may be a reference to the practice of hunters, making deep pits in the ground, and lightly covering them over, that the beasts, not discovering them, might fall in, and become a prey.

Though I have been a Rebuker - "I will bring chastisement on them all." As they have made victims of others to their idolatry, I will make victims of them to my justice. Some have thought that as many as wished to depart from the idolatrous worship set up by Jeroboam, were slaughtered; and thus Jeroboam the son of Nebat Made Israel to sin.

And the revolters are profound to make slaughter,.... The revolters are the king, priests, and people, who had revolted from the true worship and ways of God unto idolatry. These formed deep laid schemes, and took crafty methods, like hawkers; who lay themselves flat upon the ground to manage their snares and nets, and observe the creatures that fall into them, and take them, and whom they artfully decoy, to which the allusion is; and that either to slay those who would not comply with their false worship; or rather to multiply the sacrifices of slain beasts, and offer them with a great show of devotion and religion, and thereby beguile, entice, and ensnare simple and unwary souls; so the Targum,

"they sacrifice to idols abundantly;''

and which, in the sight of God, was mere slaughter and butchery:

though I have been a rebuker of them all; king, priests, and prophets; those idolaters, revolters, or worshippers of Baal, as Aben Ezra calls them: this is to be interpreted either of the prophet, who had freely, faithfully, and openly reproved all orders of men for their departure from God and his worship, and for their idolatrous practices; or of the Lord himself, which comes to the same sense, who had rebuked them by his prophets, and corrected them by his judgments, but to no purpose: and therefore they could not plead ignorance, or excuse themselves upon that account.

This accusation is still further vindicated in Hosea 5:2., by a fuller exposure of the moral corruption of the nation. Hosea 5:2. "And excesses they have spread out deeply; but I am a chastisement to them all." The meaning of the first half of the verse, which is very difficult, and has been very differently interpreted by both ancient and modern expositors, has been brought out best by Delitzsch (Com. on Psalm 101:3), who renders it, "they understand from the very foundation how to spread out transgressions." For the word שׂטים the meaning transgressions is well established by the use of סטים in Psalm 101:3, where Hengstenberg, Hupfeld, and Delitzsch all agree that this is the proper rendering (see Ewald's philological defence of it at 146, e). In the psalm referred to, however, the expression עשׂה סטים also shows that shachătâh is the inf. piel, and sētı̄m the accusative of the object. And it follows from this that shachătâh neither means to slaughter or slaughter sacrifices, nor can be used for שׁחתה in the sense of acting injuriously, but that it is to be interpreted according to the shâchūth in 1 Kings 10:16-17, in the sense of stretching, stretching out; so that there is no necessity to take שׁחט in the sense of שׁטח, as Delitzsch does, though the use of עלוה for עולה in Hosea 10:9 may no doubt be adduced in its support. שׂטים, from שׂטה (to turn aside, Numbers 5:12, Numbers 5:19), are literally digressions or excesses, answering to the hiznâh in Hosea 5:3, the leading sin of Israel. "They have deepened to stretch out excesses," i.e., they have gone to great lengths, or are deeply sunken in excesses, - a thought quite in harmony with the context, to which the threat is appended. "I (Jehovah) am a chastisement to them all, to the rulers as well as to the people;" i.e., I will punish them all (cf. Hosea 5:12), because their idolatrous conduct is well known to me. The way is thus prepared for the two following verses.

And the revolters are profound to make {b} slaughter, though I have been a {c} rebuker of them all.

(b) Even though they seemed to be given altogether to holiness, and to sacrifices which here he calls slaughter in contempt.

(c) Though I had admonished them continually by my Prophets.

5:2 The revolters - All those that have cast off the law of God. Profound - Dig deep to hide their counsels, and to slay the innocent. Though I - Hosea.

though: or, and

a rebuker: Heb. a correction

2. revolters-apostates.

profound-deeply rooted [Calvin] and sunk to the lowest depths, excessive in their idolatry (Ho 9:9; Isa 31:6) [Henderson]. From the antithesis (Ho 5:3), "not hid from me," I prefer explaining, profoundly cunning in their idolatry. Jeroboam thought it a profound piece of policy to set up golden calves to represent God in Dan and Beth-el, in order to prevent Israel's heart from turning again to David's line by going up to Jerusalem to worship. So Israel's subsequent idolatry was grounded by their leaders on various pleas of state expediency (compare Isa 29:15).

to . slaughter-He does not say "to sacrifice," for their so-called sacrifices were butcheries rather than sacrifices; there was nothing sacred about them, being to idols instead of to the holy God.

though-Maurer translates, "and (in spite of their hope of safety through their slaughter of victims to idols) I will be a chastisement to them all." English Version is good sense: They have deeply revolted, notwithstanding all my prophetical warnings.

5:1-7 The piercing eye of God saw secret liking and disposition to sin, the love the house of Israel had to their sins, and the dominion their sins had over them. Pride makes men obstinate in other sins. And as Judah was treading in the same steps, they would fall with Israel. By dealing treacherously with the Lord, men only deceive themselves. Those that go to seek the Lord with their flocks and their herds only, and not with their hearts and souls, cannot expect to find him; nor shall any speed who do not seek the Lord while he may be found. See how much it is our concern to seek God early, now, while it is the accepted time, and the day of salvation.