Hosea 4:8

They eat up the sin of my people,.... That is, the priests did so, as the Targum, the priests of Jeroboam; they ate up the sacrifices which the people brought for their sins: and their fault was,

They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. They eat up the sin of my people - i:e., the sin offerings (Leviticus 6:26; Leviticus 10:17). The priests greedily devoured them.

They, the priests who minister to the idols, eat up the sin of my people; live upon with delight, maintain themselves and theirs; either by conniving at their sins, not reproving as they deserve, lest thereby they should disoblige persons, and lessen their bounty to them; or leave them to sin first, and next look for sacrifices for those sins, like some that make gain by the sins of people with whom they dispense. Or more plainly, by sin is meant sin-offering, in which the priest had his share. My people: see . And they; covetous, luxurious, idolatrous priests, the priests of Baal and the calves, set their heart on their iniquity; watch to, and earnestly desire, hope, and expect the people will sin, and bring offerings for sin, which is the iniquity as well as gain of these priests.

Hosea 4:8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.Ver. 8. They eat up the sin of my people] That is, the sin offerings, as Exodus 29:14. This they might lawfully do, Leviticus 6:16; Leviticus 6:18; Leviticus 6:23; Leviticus 6:26; Leviticus 6:29-30; Leviticus 10:17. But they were greedy dogs; and looked every one to his gain from his quarter, Isaiah 5:6; Isaiah 5:11. They winked at the people’ s sins, and cared not what evils they fell into, so that they would bring in store of fat and good expiatory sacrifices, which made for the priest’ s advantage. They ate that on earth which they were to digest in hell; they fed upon such diet as bred the worm of conscience, that never dies. Just so the Papists do at this day: they teach the people, though they sin, yet, by giving money for so many masses to be mumbled over by a greasy priest, or by so many indulgences and dirges purchased of the pope’ s pardon mongers, they shall be delivered, etiamsi, per impossibile, matrem Dei vitiassent. although impossible, they may damage the mother of God, I tremble to translate it. Tecelius told them so in Germany; and got huge masses of money for the pope’ s coffers. The common sort of Papists (for want of better teaching) will say, when we have sinned we must confess: and when we have confessed we must sin again, that we may confess again; and make work for new indulgences and jubilees. But have these "workers of iniquity no knowledge, that eat up God’ s people as they eat bread?" Psalms 14:4, that drink up the blood of souls, much more worth than the lives that David’ s men had jeopardized to procure him the water of the well of Bethlehem, which therefore he dared not drink of? This surely is that filthy lucre (αισχροκερδεια) ministers should be free from, 1 Peter 5:2. Let all non-residents look to it, that carry only forcipes et mulctrum, tongs and a milking pail, those instruments of a foolish shepherd, Zechariah 11:15 feeding themselves, but starving the flock: a heavy account will they one day make to the arch-shepherd, of their sacrilegious rapacity. And they set their hearts on their iniquity] Heb. they lift up their souls: that is, they not only prick up their ears, as Danaeus expounds it, to listen after sins and sin offerings, but they greedily desire and earnestly look after Such emoluments, such belly timber: being gulae mancipia, slaves to their guts, and wholly given up to gormandise. See the same expression, and in this sense, Jeremiah 22:27 Deuteronomy 24:15 Ezekiel 24:25, and compare the practice of Popish priests, who make infinite gain of everything almost, as their ringing of saints’ bells, places of burial, selling of licences for marriage and meats, selling of corpses and sepulchres.

(7, 8) The increase in numbers and prosperity probably refers to the priesthood, who, as they grew in numbers, became more alienated from the true God. These eat up, or fatten on, the very sins they ought to rebuke. The reference here may be either to the portion of sacrificial offerings which fell to the share of the priests, or (less probably) to the sin-money and trespass-money exacted in place of sin-offerings of 2 Kings 12:16. (On the general condition of the priesthood at this time, see W. R. Smith, Prophets of Israel pp. 99-101.)

Verse 8. They eat up the sin of my people] חטאת chattath, the sin-offering, though it be offered contrary to the law; for their hearts are set on iniquity, they wish to do whatever is contrary to God.

8. They eat up the sin of my people] The subject of the verb is evidently the priests (see Hosea 4:9), and the phrase can therefore only mean, they eat the sin-offering of my people (i.e. the portion assigned to the priests, comp. Leviticus 10:17). Here we come into collision with a theory of the radical school of criticism that the Levitical legislation (including the appointment of ‘sin-offerings’ and ‘guilt-offerings’) originated after the Babylonian captivity. There are however two earlier references to the sin-offering, viz. here and in Psalms 40:6, and one to the guilt-offering in Proverbs 14:9, not to insist on the disputable allusions in Isaiah 1:11; Micah 6:7; 2 Kings 12:16 (17). And if the dates of one or another of these passages be challenged, yet the supposed novelties are not referred to at all frequently in undoubtedly post-Captivity writings. Sin-offerings are mentioned twice (Nehemiah 10:34; 2Ma 12:43); guilt-offerings only once (if we accept a very probable emendation of Ezr 10:19, pointing ashâmîm). Next, granting a reference to the sin-offering, does the prophet mean to condemn the priests for eating of it? Certainly not; whatever were the traditional rules respecting the sin-offering, the priests would naturally have a just claim to their portion of the victim. The next clause explains the charge brought against them—it is that (like the sons of Eli, 1 Samuel 2:13-17) they greedily devoured what the people brought to atone for their sins; so that in eating the ‘sin-offering’, they also fed upon the ‘sin’ (the same word, khattath, covers both) of Jehovah’s people. Instead of trying to stem the tide of iniquity, they long for its onward march, with a view to unholy gains. set their heart] Literally, ‘lift up their soul’ (or, ‘each one his soul’), i.e. ‘direct their desires’, as Psalms 24:4; Psalms 25:1.

They eat up the sin of My people - The priests made a gain of the sins of the people, lived upon them and by them, conniving at or upholding the idolatries of the people, partaking in their

The religious leaders are chiefly responsible for the sins of the people, Hosea 4:4-8.Hosea 4:4, as it stands now, offers considerable difficulties to the interpreter, and has been variously explained.