Bible Strands
Hosea 9:15
All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks through the prophet Hosea to the northern kingdom of Israel during a period of covenant violation. The declaration is delivered as a pronouncement of impending judgment following the nation's idolatrous practices.
The words — The verb שְׂנֵאתִי/ם (se.ne.Ti/m) includes a third-person masculine plural suffix, yielding the literal sense "I hated them." This grammatical marker explicitly ties the divine rejection to the collective actions of the people and their officials.
The thread — The charge that leaders are "rebellious" parallels Isaiah 1:23, which describes rulers as friends of thieves who pursue bribes. The condemnation of worship at Gilgal directly recalls Hosea 4:15, which forbids pilgrimage to that same site.
Why it lands — The text records Yahweh's withdrawal of favor and expulsion of the people from His house because of their persistent rebellion. It demands recognition that covenant privileges are forfeited when leadership and community persist in active defiance.
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
All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 1:23 Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Hosea 4:15 Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
- 1 Samuel 7:16 Every year he would go on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all these places.
- Hosea 12:11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
- Amos 5:5 Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.
- Joshua 4:19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.
- Micah 6:5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”
- Zephaniah 3:3 Her princes are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, leaving nothing for the morning.
- Leviticus 26:30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
- Joshua 5:2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel once again.”