Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend - though Israel's ten tribes indulge in spiritual harlotry, at least thou, Judah, who hast the legal priesthood, and the temple rites, and Jerusalem, do not follow her bad example.
And come not ye unto Gilgal - situated between Jordan and Jericho, on the confines of Samaria; once a holy place to Yahweh. There Israel encamped and kept the Passover on their entrance into the Holy Land, afar having first had all their males circumcised who had been born in the wilderness, whence the place was called "Gilgal," or rolling, God having on that day rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off Israel (Joshua 5:4-7; Joshua 5:10-15); and the place of sacrifice in the days of Samuel (1 Samuel 10:8; 1 Samuel 15:21); afterward desecrated by idol-worship, Jeroboam craftily availing himself of its past holy associations as a counterpoise to the hallowed attractions of the temple at Jerusalem (Hosea 9:15, "all their wickedness as in Gilgal;" Hosea 12:11; Amos 4:4, "at Gilgal multiply transgression;" Amos 5:5; cf. Judges 3:19, 'the graven images that were by Gilgal,' margin.)
Neither go ye up to Beth-aven - i:e., the house of vanity or idols; a name substituted in contempt for Bethel, the house of God; once sacred to Yahweh, where He had appeared to Jacob in a dream when he was fleeing from Esau, and where the ark of God had been for a time (Judges 20:26-27; Genesis 28:17; Genesis 28:19; Genesis 35:7), but made by Jeroboam the seat of the worship of the calves (1 Kings 12:28-33; 1 Kings 13:1; Amos 3:14, "In the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Beth-el; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground:" a prophecy fulfilled according to Jeremiah 48:13, "The house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence;" Amos 7:13, "Beth-el is the king's chapel ... the king's court"). How awful the degeneracy that the places consecrated by the piety of their forefathers to the Lord, as scenes where especially He had manifested His mercy, should not be the chief seats of idolatry and immorality! "Go up" refers to the fact that Bethel was on a hill (Joshua 16:1, "mount Beth-el").
Nor swear, The Lord liveth. This formula of oath was appointed by God Himself (Deuteronomy 6:13; Deuteronomy 10:20; Jeremiah 4:2, "Thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory"); it is therefore here forbidden, not absolutely, but in conjunction with calf-worship, idolatry, and falsehood (Isaiah 48:1, "Ye which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness;" Ezekiel 20:39; Zephaniah 1:5).