Bible Strands
Hosea 10:9
Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not the battle in Gibeah overtake the sons of iniquity?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks through Hosea to the northern kingdom of Israel, anchoring their present condition to the historical event at Gibeah. The oracle positions their ongoing rebellion immediately before a declaration of impending divine chastisement.
The words — עָמָ֔דוּ ('a.Ma.du) = they have remained, describing Israel's persistent posture of sin rather than a temporary lapse. חָטָ֖אתָ (cha.Ta.ta) = you have sinned, marks the initial breach that established the pattern.
The thread — The Gibeah incident surfaces in Judges 19:22 and Judges 20:5 as the historical backdrop of mob violence and moral collapse. Hosea 9:9 explicitly recalls the event as a precedent for God's memory of guilt and subsequent punishment.
Why it lands — The text states that Israel's current guilt is a direct continuation of a past sin that already faced military judgment. It demands the reader acknowledge that unrepented iniquity establishes a trajectory toward inevitable consequence.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
Cross-references
- Judges 20:5 And during the night, the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house. They intended to kill me, but they abused my concubine, and she died.
- Hosea 9:9 They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.
- Judges 19:22 While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”
- Genesis 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
- Genesis 8:21 When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
- Judges 20:13 Hand over the wicked men of Gibeah so we can put them to death and purge Israel of this evil.” But the Benjamites refused to heed the voice of their fellow Israelites.
- Judges 20:17 The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior.
- Zephaniah 3:6 “I have cut off the nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have made their streets deserted with no one to pass through. Their cities are laid waste, with no man, no inhabitant.
- Matthew 23:31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.