Hosea 5:8

Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(8) Cornet . . . trumpet.—The two kinds of trumpet mentioned here are the cornet, made like the bent horn of an animal, and the long, straight metallic trumpet, used for sounding an alarm and convoking the congregation (Numbers 10:2). Gibeah and Ramah were lofty hills on the northern boundary of Benjamin. From the parallel passage, Isaiah 10:29, we conclude that Gibeah lay between Jerusalem and Ramah (the modern Er Ram), not far from the road which passes in a northern direction from Jerusalem to Mount Ephraim. A lofty hill, which satisfies these conditions (Tel el Ful), has been discovered by Robinson, where there is a prospect over almost the whole tribal region of Benjamin, and with this spot Gibeah is probably to be identified. Hosea does not mention the metropolis, but he reveals the imminent peril of Jerusalem if these high towers, within sight of her defenders, were giving the alarm at the approach of the Assyrian king.

After thee is obscure. Translate, He (the enemy) is behind thee, O Benjamin, the tribe in which the metropolis was situated. This combined disaster for both Israel and Judah is reiterated in a variety of ways. “The tribes of Israel “are in parallelism with “Ephraim.”

Benson Commentary

Hosea 5:8-9. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, &c. — The prophet here calls upon the watchmen of Judah and Israel to sound an alarm, and give notice of the approach of the enemy: compare Joel 2:1. It was usual in those days, when a country was invaded, or was on the point of being so, to give notice of it by sounding cornets and trumpets from the towers and high places, on which the watchmen or sentinels were placed. Gibeah and Ramah were towns in the tribe of Benjamin; and Beth-aven, or Beth-el, was in the territory of the ten tribes, so that ordering the sounding of an alarm in those places, signified that both kingdoms should be hostilely invaded. After thee, O Benjamin — Or, Look behind thee, O Benjamin: see Pococke. The words present the image of an enemy in close pursuit, ready to fall upon the rear of Benjamin. Ephraim shall be desolate — God’s judgments shall likewise overtake Israel, or the ten tribes, as well as Judah. In the day of rebuke — At the time when God shall punish them for the provocations which he has received. This seems to be intended of the invasion of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser king of Assyria. Among the tribes of Israel I have made known, &c. — I have denounced my judgments against the whole kingdom of Israel, as well as that of Judah, and given them warning, that they may escape them by a timely repentance.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:8-15 The destruction of impenitent sinners is not mere talk, to frighten them, it is a sentence which will not be recalled. And it is a mercy that we have timely warning given us, that we may flee from the wrath to come. Compliance with the commandments of men, who thwart the commandments of God, ripens a people for ruin. The judgments of God are sometimes to a sinful people as a moth, and as rottenness, or as a worm; as these consume the clothes and the wood, so shall the judgments of God consume them. Silently, they shall think themselves safe and thriving, but when they look into their state, shall find themselves wasting and decaying. Slowly, for the Lord gives them space to repent. Many a nation; as well as many a person, dies of a consumption. Gradually, God comes upon sinners with lesser judgments, to prevent greater, if they will be wise, and take warning. When Israel and Judah found themselves in danger, they sought the protection of the Assyrians, but this only helped to make their wound the worse. They would be forced to apply to God. He will bring them home to himself, by afflictions. When men begin to complain more of their sins than of their afflictions, then there begins to be some hope of them; and when under the conviction of sin, and the corrections of the rod, we must seek the knowledge of God. Those who are led by severe trials to seek God earnestly and sincerely, will find him a present help and an effectual refuge; for with him is plenteous redemption for all who call upon him. There is solid peace, and there only, where God is.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah - The evil day and destruction, denounced, is now vividly pictured, as actually come. All is in confusion, hurry, alarm, because the enemy was in the midst of them. The "cornet," an instrument made of horn, was to be blown as the alarm, when the enemy was at hand. The "trumpet" was especially used for the worship of God. "Gibeah and Ramah" were cities of Benjamin, on the borders of Ephraim, where the enemy, who had possessed himself of Israel, would burst in upon Judah. From Bethaven or Bethel, the seat of Ephraim's idolatry, on the border of Benjamin, was to break forth the outcry of destruction, "after thee, O Benjamin;" the enemy is upon thee, just behind thee, pursuing thee. God had promised His people, if they would serve Him, "I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee" Exodus 23:27, and had threatened the contrary, if they should "walk contrary to Him." Now that threat was to be fulfilled to the uttermost. The ten tribes are spoken of, as already in possession of the enemy, and he was "upon Benjamin" fleeing before them.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8. The arrival of the enemy is announced in the form of an injunction to blow an alarm.

cornet … trumpet—The "cornet" was made of the curved horn of animals and was used by shepherds. The "trumpet" was of brass or silver, straight, and used in wars and on solemn occasions. The Hebrew is hatzotzerah, the sound imitating the trumpet note (Ho 8:1; Nu 10:2; Jer 4:5; Joe 2:1).

Gibeah … Ramah—both in Benjamin (Isa 10:29).

Beth-aven—in Benjamin; not as in Ho 4:15; Beth-el, but a town east of it (Jos 7:2). "Cry aloud," namely, to raise the alarm. "Benjamin" is put for the whole southern kingdom of Judah (compare Ho 5:5), being the first part of it which would meet the foe advancing from the north. "After thee, O Benjamin," implies the position of Beth-aven, behind Benjamin, at the borders of Ephraim. When the foe is at Beth-aven, he is at Benjamin's rear, close upon thee, O Benjamin (Jud 5:14).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Blow ye the cornet; ye watchmen, or whoever have the care and custody of these fortified towns, sound the alarm, for the enemy cometh.

In Gibeah; a town of Benjamin situate on a hill, built by Asa, 1 Kings 15:22; made by him a frontier, and likely always garrisoned against the incursion of the ten tribes.

And the trumpet; add to the sound of the cornet the trumpet also, which is proper for war, and will be best understood by the people; lest they mistake the meaning of the cornet, which is, say some, a pastoral instrument, proper for shepherds, sound the trumpet.

In Ramah; of which there were three, one in Naphtali, and Rama-sophim, and this of Benjamin near Gibeah, and was an inlet into Judah, of great importance, as appears 1 Kings 15:17,21; a town of strength, built on a high hill, and fit to be as a watchtower. Be you upon your guard when the invader is so near.

Cry aloud at Beth-aven; as more concerned, cry out with more vehemency, awaken all to prepare for defence; or, howl and lament for the things that are come upon thee, O Beth-aven. The Assyrians’ march will alarm thy neighbours, but their success against thee will ruin thee utterly. Let thine inhabitants therefore cry and howl. If that Beth-aven situate in the wilderness, this passage foretells the destruction of it by the Assyrians, probably in the beginning of their invasion; if it were Beth-el, it was the chief seat of idolatry, and first or chief in miseries.

After thee, O Benjamin:

thee referred to Beth-aven speaks thus; after thy cries, when thou hast howled, let Benjamin and Judah too begin theirs, for they shall also fall for their sin.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah,.... As an alarm of war, to give notice that the enemy is at hand, just ready to invade the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and bring destruction upon them; according to the Targum, the words are directed to the prophets,

"O ye prophets, lift up your voice like a trumpet;''

to declare to the people of Judah their sins and transgressions, and the punishment that would be inflicted on them for them; or it may be, this is a call of the people to fasting, mounting, and lamentation, as in Joel 2:1. Gibeah is the same which is called "Gibeah of Saul", 1 Samuel 11:4; it being the birth place of that prince; and which Josephus (i) calls Gabathsaoule, and interprets it the hill of Saul, and says it was distant from Jerusalem about four miles; though elsewhere (k) he represents it as but two and a half miles; perhaps in the latter place there is a corruption in the number; for, according to Jerom, it was near Ramah, which was seven miles from Jerusalem; he says it is called also "Gibeah of Benjamin", 1 Samuel 13:2; because it was in that tribe, as was also Ramah; which, according to Eusebius (l), was six miles from Jerusalem; these were near to each other; see Judges 19:13; so that the calamity threatened is what respects the two tribes:

cry aloud at Bethaven; the same with Bethel, or a place near unto it, in the tribe of Benjamin, or on the borders of Ephraim; see Hosea 4:15. According to the above writer (m), it lay about twelve miles from Jerusalem; in the way to Sichem; and being upon the borders both of Benjamin and Ephraim, it sometimes belonged to Israel, and sometimes to Judah; see 2 Chronicles 13:19; and seeing, as Jerom observes, that Benjamin was at the back of it (for where the tribe of Benjamin ended, not far in the tribe of Ephraim, according to him, was this city built), it therefore very beautifully follows,

after thee, O Benjamin; that is, either the enemy is after thee, O Benjamin, is just at hand, ready to fall upon thee, and destroy thee, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; or rather, after the trumpet is blown in Gibeah and Ramah, cities which belonged to Benjamin, let it he blown, either in Bethaven, on the borders of Benjamin and Ephraim; or let it be blown in the tribe of Judah, so that all the twelve tribes may have notice, and prepare for what is coming upon them.

(i) De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 1.((k) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 8. (l) Apud Reland Palestina Illustrata, l. 3. tom. 2. p. 963. (m) Apud Reland. ib. p. 637.

Geneva Study Bible

Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O {h} Benjamin.

(h) That is, all of Israel that was included under this tribe, signifying that the Lord's plagues would pursue them from place to place until they were destroyed.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8. Blow ye the cornet … the trumpet] A usual direction on the approach of an invading army; see Hosea 8:1; Jeremiah 4:5; Jeremiah 6:1. Previously to the captivity the cornet and the trumpet were probably different names for the same instrument, as the Law (Numbers 10:1-10; Numbers 31:6) prescribes the use of the silver trumpet (khaçôçerah) in cases when, according to the prophetic and historical books, the cornet or shôfâr was used. In writings of post-Captivity origin (Psalm 98:6; 1 Chronicles 15:28; 2 Chronicles 15:14) they appear to represent different instruments, or rather slightly different varieties of the same instrument. The Mishna tells us that the shôfâr was sometimes straight, sometimes curved, and this difference would of course involve a difference of note. We may help ourselves to form an idea of the Hebrew trumpets by representations of the Egyptian (see Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, 11. 260, &c.).

Gibeah … Ramah] Both towns were situated on eminences, and therefore well adapted for signals of alarm; both apparently belonged to Judah. Gibeah (lit. ‘a hill’) is ‘Gibeah of Benjamin’ (1 Samuel 13:2; 1 Samuel 14:16), or ‘Gibeah of Saul’ (1 Samuel 11:4); the Ramah (lit. ‘height’) is the same where Samuel dwelt (1 Samuel 15:34). Both probably belonged at this time to Judah (see 1 Kings 15:21; Isaiah 10:29). Taking in Bethel, the cities are those from which the signal of alarm could be heard in both kingdoms.

after thee, O Benjamin] Rather, behind thee, O Benjamin; this is the cry of warning which the men of Beth-aven or Bethel (a border-town between Benjamin and Ephraim) are to send on to the Benjamites. Understand either ‘the sword rages’, or more simply ‘be on thy guard.’ Sept. however renders (from a different text?), ἐξέστη Βενιαμίν, ‘Benjamin is distraught.’

It is worth noticing that Hosea (the prophet of the tribes which proudly claimed the name of Israel) does not mention Jerusalem. To have mentioned the capital of Judah would perhaps have led him to widen his range of thought too much. But under the name ‘Benjamin’ he has been thought to hint obscurely at Jerusalem, for ‘the boundary between Judah and Benjamin ran at the foot of the hill on which the city stands, so that the city itself was actually in Benjamin’ (Fergusson, in Smith’s Bible-Dictionary, 1. 983).

8–15. The prophet ‘in the spirit’ sees the threatened trouble bursting upon both the separated kingdoms. In vain will Ephraim seek help from Assyria; there is no deliverance from Jehovah’s hand until Ephraim repents.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 8, 9. - Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah. Intimation had been given in the preceding verse that the period of their fast-approaching destruction was at hand; that, as Kimchi expresses it, the now moon would soon come at which their enemies would destroy them. Now he pictures them as already on the march, and just advancing to execute the work of destruction; while the terror and alarm consequent thereon are here presented with great vividness, but at the same time with much brevity. A similar scene is depicted at full length by Isaiah 10:28-32, where the line of the Assyrians' march seems to be indicated, if, indeed, it be not a poetic representation of it, which the prophet gives. Thus from Aiath (el-Tell) to the pass of Michmash, now Mukmas, where he lays up his baggage; forward to Gobs, where they quarter for the night; then on to Nob, where he halts in sight at the holy city, and scarce an hour's march distant. The alarm was to be sounded with the shophar, or far-sounding cornet, made of curved horn, and the chatsotserah, or straight trumpet, made of brass or silver, used in war or at festivals. This signal of hostile invasion was to he sounded in Gibeah, now Tuleil-el-Ful, some four miles north of Jerusalem, and in Ramah, now er-Ram, two miles further distant. Both these towns, situated on eminences, as the names denote, belong to the northern boundary of Benjamin. The overthrow of the northern kingdom is rims presented as an already accomplished fact; while the invading host has already reached the frontier of the southern kingdom. Cry aloud at Beth-avon, after thee, O Benjamin. This cry is the sound at' the war-signals already mentioned, and the repetition intensifies the nature of the alarm and the urgency of the case. Beth-avon was either Bethel, now Beitin, on the border of Benjamin, or a town nearer Michmash, belonging to Benjamin. The meaning of the somewhat obscure words in the concluding clause can give little trouble, when read in the light of the context. The sounding of the alarm of war indicates with tolerable plainness what was coming behind Benjamin; nor is there need to supply the words, "the enemy rises behind thee," with same, or" the sword rages behind thee," with others. The signals announce the foe as arrived at the frontier of Judah. The enemy is close behind thee, Benjamin, in close pursuit after thee, upon thy very heels. Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke. The day of rebuke is the season when God rebukes sin by punishment; the punishment in this case is no slight rebuke or temporary chastisement. On the contrary, it is extreme in severity and final in duration. Famine, or pestilence, or war might lay a country desolate for a time, and yet relief might soon ensue and recuperative power be vigorously developed. Not so here. Ephraim is made more than desolate partially and for a short period; it becomes a desolation - "an entire desolation," as the words literally mean. In this desolation the other tribes would be involved. Nor was the menace lightly to be regarded or treated as meaningless; it was firm - well grounded as the word of the Eternal, and irreversible as his decree. Hosea 5:8

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The prophet sees in spirit the judgment already falling upon the rebellious nation, and therefore addresses the following appeal to the people. Hosea 5:8. "Blow ye the horn at Gibeah, the trumpet at Ramah! Raise the cry at Bethaven, Behind thee, Benjamin!" The blowing of the shōphâr, a far-sounding horn, or of the trumpet

(Note: "The sophar was a shepherd's horn, and was made of a carved horn; the tuba (chătsōtserâh) was made of brass or silver, and sounded either in the time of war or at festivals." - Jerome.)

(chătsōtserâh), was a signal by which the invasion of foes (Hosea 8:1; Jeremiah 4:5; Jeremiah 6:1) and other calamities (Joel 2:1, cf. Amos 3:6) were announced, to give the inhabitants warning of the danger that threatened them. The words therefore imply that foes had invaded the land. Gibeah (of Saul; see at Joshua 18:28) and Ramah (of Samuel; see at Joshua 18:25) were two elevated places on the northern boundary of the tribe of Benjamin, which were well adapted for signals, on account of their lofty situation. The introduction of these particular towns, which did not belong to the tribe of Israel, but to that of Judah, is intended to intimate that the enemy has already conquered the kingdom of the ten tribes, and has advanced to the border of that of Judah. הריע, to make a noise, is to be understood here as relating to the alarm given by the war-signals already mentioned, as in Joel 2:1, cf. Numbers 10:9. Bethaven is Bethel (Beitin), as in Hosea 4:15, the seat of the idolatrous worship of the calves; and בּית is to be taken in the sense of בּבית (according to Ges. 118, 1). The difficult words, "behind thee, Benjamin," cannot indicate the situation or attitude of Benjamin, in relation to Bethel or the kingdom of Israel, or show that "the invasion is to be expected to start from Benjamin," as Simson supposes. For the latter is no more appropriate in this train of thought than a merely geographical or historical notice. The words are taken from the ancient war-song of Deborah (Judges 5:14), but in a different sense from that in which they are used there. There they mean that Benjamin marched behind Ephraim, or joined it in attacking the foe; here, on the contrary, they mean that the foe is coming behind Benjamin - that the judgment announced has already broken out in the rear of Benjamin. There is no necessity to supply "the enemy rises" behind thee, O Benjamin, as Jerome proposes, or "the sword rages," as Hitzig suggests; but what comes behind Benjamin is implied in the words, "Blow ye the horn," etc. What these signals announce is coming after Benjamin; there is no necessity, therefore, to supply anything more than "it is," or "it comes." The prophet, for example, not only announces in Hosea 5:8 that enemies will invade Israel, but that the hosts by which God will punish His rebellious people have already overflowed the kingdom of Israel, and are now standing upon the border of Judah, to punish this kingdom also for its sins. This is evident from Hosea 5:9, Hosea 5:10, which contain the practical explanation of Hosea 5:8.