Hosea 4:11

Whoredom, &c. -The heart", not -their heart" (as the Targum and Peshito). It is a moral adage, showing that Hosea was not more inclined than Isaiah to abandon simple moral teaching to the class of -wise men", who -sat in the gate" and conveyed practical lessons in the form of proverbs. It is literal whoredom that is meant, as, even apart from Hosea 4:13, the juxtaposition with -wine and new wine" shows. The impure rites of nature-worship had destroyed the reverence for the marriage-bond. Heart here means -the spiritual understanding", -a heart to know Me" (Jeremiah 24:7); -sons of Belial" cannot -know Jehovah" (2 Samuel 2:12). For the drunkenness of Samaria comp. Isaiah 28:1.