Hosea 5:1

O priests Hosea addresses the priests of the high places in N. Israel.

O house of the king i.e. the king and his courtiers, whether of the royal family or not.

judgment is toward you Rather, the judgment is for you.

a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor Tabor is the well-known mountain of the name in Galilee (see Judges 4:6), and may be taken as the representative of the region on the west of the Jordan (as Psalms 89:12); Mizpah (a common name = place of watch) is most probably Mizpah in Gilead (Judges 10:17; Judges 11:11; Judges 11:29), also called Ramoth-Gilead (Joshua 20:8; Joshua 21:36; 2 Kings 9:1; 2 Kings 9:4; 2 Kings 9:14), and consecrated by Jacob (Genesis 31:45-54). Probably these places (comp. next note) are mentioned because the idolatrous worship was most dangerously seductive there. The worshippers were like the deluded birds who sought shelter in the woods and ravines (comp. Genesis 26:20; Psalms 11:1).