[CS-FSLUG] TD: CS-BibleStudy: Hosea 5

[Ed Hurst]

Timothy R. Butler wrote:

> 	1.) Are there any things you would change to improve the weekly Bible  
> study?

Probably not, since I am too lazy to rewrite it myself ;-)

> 	2.) Are you enjoying studying Hosea?

Nice to review a previous study.

> 	1.) It sounds like more of God's wrath is directed toward Ephraim than  
> the other tribes, do you think they were especially corrupt or that  
> they simply are mentioned more frequently as an example to the others?

Keep in mind that shortly after Joshua retired, we find the tribes 
already divided between North and South. Very early in the Judges 
Period, Ephraim took political primacy in the Northern Tribes. Just as 
the name of the nation -- Israel -- became the term for the Northern 
Tribes, so Ephraim was often used as a term for the whole North. Judah 
as a name covered Simeon and parts of Dan. Ephraim's pride arose from 
being the favored of Joseph's sons (Genesis 48).

They were often completely without honor, it seems. For example, in 2 
Samuel 19, we see that Ephraim throws a fit about Judah leading the 
parade to bring David back to Jerusalem, claiming it had been their idea 
in the first place. That was an outright lie. They dilly-dallied for a 
long time, and it was *David* who finally prodded Judah into action. It 
was Ephraim that led the Northern Tribes away from the Lord under 
Jeroboam of Ephraim (1 Kings 11:26; 12, especially vv. 25ff).


> 	2.) Why do you suppose only two tribes are mentioned in this passage  
> specifically?

See above.

> 	3.) The NIV, CEV and several other translations translate this in  
> poetical form, whereas the NLT and KJV seem to use a prose style for  
> the passage. Does this change make you feel differently about the  
> passage?

And NKJV does verses. No, only rarely does it make any difference. In 
Hosea, the language itself if poetic, so that comes across regardless of 
the visual layout. In other places, it can make a difference when the 
poetic form is less obvious.

-- 
Ed Hurst
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