Verse 14
Because the Israelites trusted in their own army, turmoil rather than tranquillity would mark their life. Their fortresses would suffer destruction rather than protecting the Israelites from destruction. Hosea compared this future loss to one in Israel’s past, but what past event is uncertain.
"Shalman" may refer to King Shalmaneser III, an Assyrian who conducted campaigns in the West in the ninth century B.C. Another identification of "Shalman" is King Salamanu, a Moabite ruler who was a contemporary of King Hoshea of Israel, whose name appears in a list of kings who paid tribute to the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III. [Note: Ellison, pp. 140-41.] A third possibility is the Assyrian king Shalmaneser V who prepared the way for Israel’s captivity by invading the land (cf. 2 Kings 17:3-6). [Note: See Harper, p. 358.] "Beth-arbel" could refer to the town of Arbela about 18 miles southeast of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) or to Mt. Arbel two miles west of that sea. In any case, the battle had been a bloody one that the Israelites of Hosea’s day remembered vividly. The enemy had slaughtered mothers and their children without mercy.
Be the first to react on this!
