Hosea 5:8

Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, [and] the trumpet in Ramah,.... As an alarm of war, to give notice that the enemy is at hand, just ready to invade the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and bring

Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah. The arrival of the enemy is announced in the form of an injunction to blow an alarm.

Blow ye the cornet; ye watchmen, or whoever have the care and custody of these fortified towns, sound the alarm, for the enemy cometh. In Gibeah; a town of Benjamin situate on a hill, built by Asa, ; made by him a frontier, and likely always garrisoned against the incursion of the ten tribes. And the trumpet; add to the sound of the cornet the trumpet also, which is proper for war, and will be best understood by the people; lest they mistake the meaning of the cornet, which is, say some, a pastoral instrument, proper for shepherds, sound the trumpet. In Ramah; of which there were three, one in Naphtali, and Rama-sophim, and this of Benjamin near Gibeah, and was an inlet into Judah, of great importance, as appears ,21; a town of strength, built on a high hill, and fit to be as a watchtower. Be you upon your guard when the invader is so near. Cry aloud at Beth-aven; as more concerned, cry out with more vehemency, awaken all to prepare for defence; or, howl and lament for the things that are come upon thee, O Beth-aven. The Assyrians’ march will alarm thy neighbours, but their success against thee will ruin thee utterly. Let thine inhabitants therefore cry and howl. If that Beth-aven situate in the wilderness, this passage foretells the destruction of it by the Assyrians, probably in the beginning of their invasion; if it were Beth-el, it was the chief seat of idolatry, and first or chief in miseries. After thee, O Benjamin: thee referred to Beth-aven speaks thus; after thy cries, when thou hast howled, let Benjamin and Judah too begin theirs, for they shall also fall for their sin.

Hosea 5:8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, [and] the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud [at] Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.Ver. 8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah] Clangite, clamate, not with the inverse trumpets of Furius Fulvius, which sounded a retreat when they should have sounded an alarm. But blow ye the cornet; give notice to all the country, that Hannibal est ad portas, the enemy is at the very gates, sending a summons, and sounding for a surrender. The desolation of war had been denounced in the former verse; here it is proclaimed, as it were, by sound of trumpet; the prophet acting the part of a herald; and, by a rhetorical hypotyposis, representing the enemies’ approach, as if it were already under view; and not foretold, but acted before their eyes. Rhetoric, we see here, is an art sanctified by God’ s Spirit; and may lawfully be used in handling of God’ s word. The Scripture is full of it in every part; and happy is that minister that thereby can make himself master of his hearers’ affections; as potent in his Divine rhetoric as Pericles or Cicero were in their human. Let him (by our prophet’ s example) strive to make the things whereof he preacheth to the people as real before their eyes as possibly he can. The power of a ministry consisteth much in this: to set forth sin, Christ, heaven, hell, in such lively colours that the hearer (though unlearned) may be convinced of all, judged of all, and having the secrets of his heart made manifest, he may fall down on his face, worship God, and report that God is in the minister of a truth, 1 Corinthians 14:24-25; lo, this is preaching indeed. For as every sound is not music, so neither is every pulpit discourse preaching. Nihil frigidius est doctore verbis solummode philosophante (Chrysostom). Ezekiel must lay siege to Jerusalem, portraying it upon a tile, Ezekiel 4:1. So did Jeremiah and other prophets use signs and similitudes. St Paul’ s speech and preaching was not indeed with enticing words of man’ s wisdom (he did not so paint the window as to keep out the light), but yet in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power, close to the conscience, 1 Corinthians 2:4. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah] That is, in the bounds of the kingdom of Judah, Gibeah of Benjamin, Gibeah of Saul. And the trumpet in Ramah] Samuel’ s country, afterward called Arimathaea, Joseph’ s country: this is said to be in the borders of Israel. Strong garrisons they were both, and places of great resort: they are now alarmed, and bidden to prepare for the approach of the Assyrian. Cry aloud at Bethaven] Or Bethel, as Hosea 10:15, a city (as it is said of Athens, κατειδωλος, Acts 17:16) wholly given to idolatry; and therefore more stupid and stubborn than the rest.

(8) Cornet . . . trumpet.—The two kinds of trumpet mentioned here are the cornet, made like the bent horn of an animal, and the long, straight metallic trumpet, used for sounding an alarm and convoking the congregation (Numbers 10:2). Gibeah and Ramah were lofty hills on the northern boundary of Benjamin. From the parallel passage, Isaiah 10:29, we conclude that Gibeah lay between Jerusalem and Ramah (the modern Er Ram), not far from the road which passes in a northern direction from Jerusalem to Mount Ephraim. A lofty hill, which satisfies these conditions (Tel el Ful), has been discovered by Robinson, where there is a prospect over almost the whole tribal region of Benjamin, and with this spot Gibeah is probably to be identified. Hosea does not mention the metropolis, but he reveals the imminent peril of Jerusalem if these high towers, within sight of her defenders, were giving the alarm at the approach of the Assyrian king. After thee is obscure. Translate, He (the enemy) is behind thee, O Benjamin, the tribe in which the metropolis was situated. This combined disaster for both Israel and Judah is reiterated in a variety of ways. “The tribes of Israel “are in parallelism with “Ephraim.”

Verse 8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah] Gibeah and Ramah were cities of Judah, in the tribe of Benjamin. After thee, O Benjamin] An abrupt call of warning. "Benjamin, fly for thy life! The enemy is just behind thee!" This is a prediction of the invasion of the Assyrians, and the captivity of the ten tribes.

8–15. The prophet ‘in the spirit’ sees the threatened trouble bursting upon both the separated kingdoms. In vain will Ephraim seek help from Assyria; there is no deliverance from Jehovah’s hand until Ephraim repents.

Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah - The evil day and destruction, denounced, is now vividly pictured, as actually come. All is in confusion, hurry, alarm, because the enemy was in the midst of them.

8. The danger signal is to be given. Cornet (or, horn)… trumpet — The two words are synonymous here; ordinarily they designate two different instruments.