The Meaning of Hosea 5:8 Explained

Hosea 5:8

KJV: Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.

YLT: Blow ye a cornet in Gibeah, a trumpet in Ramah, Shout, O Beth-Aven, after thee, O Benjamin.

Darby: Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; cry aloud at Beth-aven: behind thee, O Benjamin!

ASV: Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: sound an alarm at Beth-aven; behind thee, O Benjamin.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Blow  ye the cornet  in Gibeah,  [and] the trumpet  in Ramah:  cry aloud  [at] Bethaven,  after  thee, O Benjamin. 

What does Hosea 5:8 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Blowing trumpets in cities announced the coming of an invader. Throughout Israel"s towns the sentries would blow alarms: in Gibeah and Ramah in northern Judah and in Beth-aven (Bethel) in southern Israel. Throughout the territory of Benjamin, which was home to all these towns at one time or another, news of war would come. Rather than leading Ephraim into battle, as the tribe of Benjamin did in Deborah"s day ( Judges 5:14), the invader would pursue Benjamin as it did Ephraim. Benjamin should have been particularly watchful because of its close geographical proximity to Israel.
"This verse describes an invasion of the territory of Benjamin from the south, i.e, from Judah. The enemy is portrayed as advancing along the main mountain road from Jerusalem through Bethel and thereafter into the heart of Ephraim. Gibeah, only three miles north of Jerusalem, is the first to be attacked; then Ramah, five miles north of Jerusalem; and finally Bethel, eleven miles north of Jerusalem, on the northern border of Benjamin." [1]

Context Summary

Hosea 5:1-15 - God's Rebuke Of Apostasy
The prophet continues his grave indictment of his people. The court and the priesthood were chiefly responsible for the awful degeneracy that was eating out the national heart. The seductions of idolatry that abounded everywhere resembled the snares and nets set by hunters on the wooded heights of Gilead and Tabor.
Suddenly, within a month, Hosea 5:7, an alarm sounds from hill to hill. The foreign invader has entered the country and is slowly marching southward. Even Benjamin is threatened. Ephraim must suffer because of the institutions of Omri and Ahab, Hosea 5:11; and Judah, because her princes were grasping and fraudulent. Though message after message was sent to procure the help of Jareb-a symbolical name for Assyria, "the warlike," he would not be able to avert the approaching dissolution of the Jewish state. You cannot stop the dry-rot by grand alliances. Nothing can save a nation in whose heart the worst forms of corruption are being nourished, except a wholesale return of God and a seeking of His face. It is certain that if this lesson were profoundly learned and then practiced, the horrors of a world in arms would come to a speedy and a blessed end. [source]

Chapter Summary: Hosea 5

1  The judgments of God are denounced against the priests, people, and princes,
9  both of Israel and Judah, for their manifold sins
15  An intimation is given of mercy on their repentance

What do the individual words in Hosea 5:8 mean?

Blow the ram's horn in Gibeah the trumpet in Ramah Cry aloud [at] Beth Aven [Look] behind you Benjamin
תִּקְע֤וּ שׁוֹפָר֙ בַּגִּבְעָ֔ה חֲצֹצְרָ֖ה בָּרָמָ֑ה הָרִ֙יעוּ֙ בֵּ֣ית אָ֔וֶן אַחֲרֶ֖יךָ בִּנְיָמִֽין

תִּקְע֤וּ  Blow 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: תֹּוקְעִים 
Sense: to blow, clap, strike, sound, thrust, give a blow, blast.
שׁוֹפָר֙  the  ram's  horn 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֹׁופָר  
Sense: horn, ram’s horn.
בַּגִּבְעָ֔ה  in  Gibeah 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: גִּבְעָה  
Sense: a city in the mountain district of Judah.
חֲצֹצְרָ֖ה  the  trumpet 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֲצֹצְרָה  
Sense: trumpet, clarion.
בָּרָמָ֑ה  in  Ramah 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: רָמָה 
Sense: a town in Benjamin on the border of Ephraim about 5 miles (8 km) from Jerusalem and near to Gibeah.
הָרִ֙יעוּ֙  Cry  aloud 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: רוּעַ  
Sense: to shout, raise a sound, cry out, give a blast.
בֵּ֣ית  [at] 
Parse: Preposition
אָ֔וֶן  Beth  Aven 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: בֵּית אָוֶן  
Sense: a city east of Bethel, site unknown.
אַחֲרֶ֖יךָ  [Look]  behind  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine singular
Root: אַחַר 
Sense: after the following part, behind (of place), hinder, afterwards (of time).
בִּנְיָמִֽין  Benjamin 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: בִּנְיָמִין 
Sense: Jacob’s and Rachel’s youngest son, Joseph’s full brother.