Hosea 10:5 (LSB)

Passage

The dweller of Samaria will fear For the calf of Beth‑aven. Indeed, its people will mourn for it, And its idolatrous priests will cry out over it, Over its glory, since it has gone into exile from them.

Nearby Context

Hosea 10:3 Surely now they will say, “We have no king, For we do not fear Yahweh. As for the king, what can he do for us?”

Hosea 10:4 They speak mere words; With worthless oaths they cut covenants; And judgment flourishes like gall in the furrows of the field.

Hosea 10:5 The dweller of Samaria will fear For the calf of Beth‑aven. Indeed, its people will mourn for it, And its idolatrous priests will cry out over it, Over its glory, since it has gone into exile from them.

Hosea 10:6 The thing itself will be carried to Assyria As tribute to King Jareb; Ephraim will receive shame, And Israel will be ashamed of its own counsel.

Hosea 10:7 Samaria will be ruined with her king Like a stick on the surface of the water.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "dweller", "samaria", "fear", "calf", "beth", "aven", "indeed", and "people". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "dweller" and "samaria", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "They speak mere words With worthless oaths..." into verse 6's "The thing itself will be carried to...", so "dweller" and "samaria" belong inside that flow. In Hosea context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "dweller" and "samaria" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.