Hosea 6:6

Hosea 6:6


what he really wants is true piety, expressed as love for others and knowledge of God, and not outward shows of religious zeal (v. 6).^[1]

he desires that his reader acquire the loving and compassionate heart that comes from a transformational life with God. ^[2]

In modern language one might appropriately rephrase this verse as, “I desire devotion and not hymn-singing, service and not sermons,” without thereby concluding that hymns and sermons were evil.^[3]

the former is seen in works of charity and benevolence, the latter consists in right motives and the right relation of the soul to God. ^[4]

All the prophets of the Old Testament asserted the superiority of ethical over ceremonial laws. ^[5]

But the God who is himself all holy, and who is the Searcher of hearts, must needs detest the hypocrisy that is scrupulous in all outward observances, but neglects the weightier matters of the Law.^[6]

One of the greatest dangers facing believers is the tendency to define religion in terms of formal acts of worship. ^[7]

Religious ritual apart from a personal walk with God is worthless (6:6b).^[8]

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^[1] Garret, D. A. (2001). Vol. 19A: Hosea, Joel (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (160). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

^[2] Garret, D. A. (2001). Vol. 19A: Hosea, Joel (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (161). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

^[3] Garret, D. A. (2001). Vol. 19A: Hosea, Joel (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (161). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

^[4] The Pulpit Commentary: Hosea. 2004 (H. D. M. Spence-Jones, Ed.) (169). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[5] The Pulpit Commentary: Hosea. 2004 (H. D. M. Spence-Jones, Ed.) (180). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[6] The Pulpit Commentary: Hosea. 2004 (H. D. M. Spence-Jones, Ed.) (190). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[7] Smith, J. E. (1992). The Minor Prophets. Joplin, Mo.: College Press.

^[8] Smith, J. E. (1992). The Minor Prophets. Joplin, Mo.: College Press.