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Hosea 8 General Notes
Structure and formatting
This chapter continues to use the poetic form to communicate several other ways the people of Israel have sinned against God. First, Yahweh notes that they have set up a king without consulting him. Next, they set up or reinstalled the golden calves of Samaria. Last, they were seeking help from other nations like Egypt and Assyria. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin)
Special concepts in this chapter
This chapter contains some references to the "calf of Samaria." This most likely refers to an image that was set up by an earlier king of Israel. He did this in order to discourage his people from going to Jerusalem, which was part of the southern kingdom of Judah.