Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off. Since the ellipsis of "thee" is unusual, Maurer translates, 'Thy, calf is abominable.' But the antithesis to Hosea 8:3 establishes the English version, "Israel hath cast off the thing that is good;" therefore, in just retribution, "thy calf hath cast thee off" - i:e., the calf is made by God the cause of thy being cast off (Hosea 10:15). Jeroboam, during his sojourn in Egypt, saw Apis worshipped at Memphis, and Mnevis at Heliopolis, in the form of an ox; this, and the temple cherubim, suggested the idea of the calves set up at Dan and Bethel. Thy calf - whom thou madest for thyself, whom thou lovest, in whom thou trustedst, instead of in thy God. Since the two calves, one at Dan the other at Bethel, represent the same thing, they are called, in the singular, "the calf," not calves.
How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? - How long will they be incapable of bearing innocency? (Maurer.)