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Hosea 6:7
But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.

2 Kings 17:3,4
Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents…

Ezekiel 17:13-19
And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land: …

thus.

Deuteronomy 29:18
Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to goand serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

Isaiah 5:7
For the vineyard of the LORD of hostsis the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

Isaiah 59:13-15
In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood…

with false oaths they make covenants.
The Israelites are accused of making covenants with deceitful intentions, which is a violation of the commandment against bearing false witness (Exodus 20:16). In the ancient Near Eastern context, covenants were solemn agreements often sealed with oaths invoking divine witnesses. The false oaths indicate a breach of trust not only with fellow humans but also with God, who is the ultimate witness to all covenants. This behavior is reminiscent of the treachery condemned inZechariah 8:17, where God calls for truth and justice.

So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
The imagery of judgment as "poisonous weeds" suggests something that is both inevitable and destructive. In an agrarian society, weeds were a common threat to crops, symbolizing sin's pervasive and corrupting influence. This metaphor indicates that the consequences of Israel's deceitful actions are as natural and unavoidable as weeds overtaking a field. The idea of judgment as a natural outgrowth of sin is echoed inGalatians 6:7, where Paul warns that a man reaps what he sows.

in the furrows of a field.
The "furrows of a field" represent the places where seeds are sown, intended for growth and fruitfulness. However, instead of a bountiful harvest, the Israelites' actions have led to the growth of judgment and destruction. This agricultural metaphor underscores the principle that the moral and spiritual choices of a nation or individual have tangible outcomes. The imagery is similar to the parable of the sower inMatthew 13, where the condition of the soil determines the fruitfulness of the seed, highlighting the importance of a receptive and obedient heart.

“They speak mere words” exposes talk that is hollow, disconnected from obedience.

• Israel’s leaders offered flowery speeches but had no intention of following through (cf.Psalm 12:2;Jeremiah 12:2).

• God weighs every word (Matthew 12:36) and delights in truth spoken from the heart (Psalm 51:6).

• Empty words reveal empty hearts; Jesus said, “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Matthew 15:8-9).

“with false oaths they make covenants” highlights sworn promises that were never meant to be kept.

• Swearing falsely breaks the third commandment (Exodus 20:7) and tramples God’s name (Leviticus 19:12).

• Israel made alliances with Egypt and Assyria, thinking treaties would secure them (Hosea 7:11; 12:1). God called those pacts “falsehood and deceit.”

• The Lord expects integrity: “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it” (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5).

• Jesus echoed Hosea’s charge by forbidding manipulative oaths altogether (Matthew 5:33-37).

“So judgment springs up” shows that divine discipline is immediate and certain.

• Sowing deceit inevitably reaps disaster (Hosea 8:7;Galatians 6:7).

• God’s justice is pictured as sprouting—fast-growing, unstoppable, visible to all (Psalm 7:15-16;Proverbs 11:19).

• What looked like a clever political strategy produced national ruin: exile under Assyria (2 Kings 17:6).

“like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field” paints vivid agricultural judgment.

• The furrows—meant for healthy crops—become channels for deadly growth (Job 31:40).

• Poisonous weeds spread quickly and choke life (Deuteronomy 29:18;Hebrews 12:15).

• Jesus’ parable of the weeds among wheat (Matthew 13:38) echoes the danger: corruption ruins the harvest God desires.

Hosea 10:4 exposes a people whose talk was cheap, whose promises mocked God, and whose sin produced swift, pervasive judgment. Empty words led to false treaties; false treaties invited divine justice; justice sprang up like lethal weeds, contaminating what should have been a fruitful field. God still calls His people to truthful speech, faithful commitments, and hearts aligned with His Word, knowing that integrity yields blessing while deception sows destruction.

(a) "empty words," "false words," only words and no more, like the Latinverba alicui dare. Thus their vain, deceitful, lying words in private transactions and common affairs of everyday life would correspond to their perjury in public treaties and covenants. Their words were deceitful and their oaths falsehood. In their ordinary business transactions they used words, empty words, words without truth, corresponding thereto; in international concerns they had pursued the same course of falsifying and covenant-breaking. After entering into an engagement with the Assyrian king Shalmaneser, they made a covenant with So King of Egypt, as we read in2 Kings 17:4, "And the King of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So King of Egypt, and brought no present to the King of Assyria, as he had done year by year." In this latter case they acted as covenant-breakers, and at the same time contravened the Divine command, which forbade them entering into covenants with foreigners. The first clause, however, is understood by some

(b) in the sense of "deliberating.' Thus Kimchi understands it, erroneously referring it to Jeroboam and his countrymen; thus: "Jeroboam and his companions took counsel what they should do in order to strengthen the government in his hand, and they deliberated (or held consultation) that the people should not go up to Jerusalem to the house of the sanctuary; and for this purpose they bound themselves by oath and made a covenant. But their oath was a vain one, because their oath was intended to frustrate the words of the Law and the command of God, and to make images for their worship." The wordsאָללֺוֹת ָשוְא have been explained by some

(1)as "oaths of vanity," that is, oaths by vanity or an idol, as an oath of Jehovah is an oath by Jehovah,אָלות being taken for a noun in the plural; . . .

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