Hosea 13

Ephraim was the dominate tribe in the northern Jewish nation of Israel, just as Judah was in the south. Some scholars say Ephraim was doing the talking in this verse, and it wasn’t God talking. Others say the Hebrew text suggests this verse belongs at the end of chapter 12, as God’s final judgment on the sins catalogued there.

Israel broke their contract with God. For that, they incurred the penalties agreed on in the contract (Deuteronomy 28).

Literally, “from the power of Sheol.” Sheol is a word Old Testament writers used to describe the place of the dead. It is a kind of underworld where the dead are cut off from the living—and from God—and there is no coming back.

Paul paraphrased this in 1 Corinthians 15:55, when he spoke about life after death.

This is possibly a little wordplay, reminding Israel that it was God who brought them out of Egypt, and he saved baby Moses, who was floating among reeds (Exodus 2:5-10).

The east wind brought blistering heat to Israel and Judah, blown in from the deserts of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Invaders who destroyed Israel and, later, Judah both came from the east—from what is now Iraq. Assyria erased Israel from the map in 722 BC and Babylon did the same to Judah in 586 BC. Both invaders deported and exiled the rulers, officials, and many citizens. They did it, in part, to keep them from raising the Jewish nation from the dead. It worked.

Samaria was capital of the northern Jewish nation of Israel.