The fourth view, following the Vulgate, holds that Hosea 6:7 refers to the covenant that Adam broke in Eden. C. F. Keil says, “the local expression ‘there,’ refers to the place where the faithless apostasy occurred, as in Ps. xiv.5.” Robertson concludes, “it is difficult to settle on one of these last two interpretations. But in either case, something would be implied about the relation of the non-Israelite man to his creator God.”
Without opting to emend the Masoretic text, postulating an historical situation based on the word “there,” or choosing questionable lexical definitions for the Hebrew words, we are left with two viable options, both of which speak of God’s covenantal relationship with man, and thereby “apply covenantal terminology to the relation of God to man established by creation.”
Without wanting to assert too much, it is safe to say that Hosea 6:7 cannot be simply dismissed as illegitimate proof of a covenant of works. Furthermore, as illustrated above using 2 Samuel 7, the word “covenant” is not necessary for a covenantal relationship to be present. Should one choose, however, to dismiss Hosea 6:7 as proof for the covenant between Adam and God; it must be observed as Berkhof points out, that all the elements of a covenant are present in Genesis 1–3.
Ligon Duncan, “Recent Objections to Covenant Theology: A Description, Evaluation and Response,” in J. Ligon Duncan, ed., The Westminster Confession into The 21st Century: Essays in Remembrance of the 350th Anniversary of the Westminster Assembly (Mentor, 2009), 3:491–92.
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