Hoshe’a 13 | The Destruction of the Kingdom of Shomron

Our chapter includes both a description of the destruction itself and the reasons that led to it.

The destruction culminates (in the first verse of Chapter 14, which belongs to our prophecy) in a description of horrifying calamities that the Israelites have already suffered in the past (Amos 1:13; Melakhim II 8:12; 15:16), but this time, it is total and final: "Shomron will be held guilty, for she has rebelled against her God; she will fall by the sword, her young smashed to pieces, her  women with child ripped apart" (Hoshe’a 14:1).

The Assyrian enemy is the one who will strike Israel in reality, yet the prophecy emphasizes that it is truly God Himself who delivers the strike: "I will fall upon them like a bear who mourns her whelps and tears apart their sealed hearts; there I will consume them like a lion; wild beasts will shred them to pieces." (13:8) We recognize these descriptions from Eikha’s lament over the destruction of Yehuda: "He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding" (Eikha 3:10). When God Himself becomes the enemy, it is not only that His great power makes the calamity insurmountable — it is also deeply disheartening and frustrating. The natural, instinctive response to suffering — both emotionally and religiously — is to pray to God for help. But when God is the enemy, to whom is there to pray? The feeling is one of betrayal. This pain is expressed in Eikha: "Even as I cry out to be saved, He has blocked my prayer" (Eikha 3:8). Of course, in both the destruction of Yehuda, as described in Eikha, and in the destruction of Shomron in our prophecy, the punishment from God is just and comes only after repeated warnings. The challenge is to find a way to navigate back to the path of repair.

Among the reasons for the destruction, the prophet highlights one that has already appeared in our study of Hoshe’a: "But when they grazed, they became sated and satisfied; their hearts grew haughty — then they forgot Me." (13:6) Wealth and power blinded the Kingdom of Israel, causing them to forget the true source of their prosperity. Just like in the parable from Chapter 2 — the woman forgets who bestowed her gifts upon her, and uses all her abundance to betray.

This chapter marks the end of the monarchy in the Kingdom of Israel. Unlike the Kingdom of Yehuda, this monarchy failed utterly throughout its entire existence. As this period comes to an end, the prophet closes the circle with the account of Israel’s request for a king in the Book of Shmuel: "I am your king, then who will save you in all your cities, and what of your judges of whom you said, ‘appoint me a king and officers’? In My rage I give you a king, and in My wrath, and I will take him away." (13:10-11) As we noted in our study of Shmuel, the original plan was for God Himself to be our King: appointing judges when necessary, but for Him to be the One to whom we turn for the resolution of our troubles. Nevertheless, the Israelites insisted that they wanted a human king. God agreed to their request, but this shift in the model came at a cost. It is possible to live under the rule of a human king, but it requires immense effort to prevent deterioration: to ensure the pride does not go to the king’s head, that he does not become corrupt, and that the Israelites do not forget that the true King is God. The Kingdom of Israel ultimately failed this test — the king was taken, and the kingdom was destroyed.