Hosea 8:5
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; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
The calf is the idol worship set up at Bethel and Dan. It is from Israel itself, made by a workman, and therefore is not God. The verse belongs to a warning that Israel has broken God's covenant and law by turning to idolatry. It declares that the calf has brought rejection on Samaria and that God's anger is kindled against Israel for calf worship. The sentence was spoken as a dread sentence upon incurable evil after long forbearance, when the greater number refused invitations to repent and did not return to the Lord nor seek Him.
The question how long it will be before they attain to innocency means Israel remains far from innocence while it persists in apostasy and asks how long it will be before the people become innocent. The calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. The inhabitants of Samaria would fear because of the calves of Beth-aven, whose glory is departed and which shall be carried into Assyria as a present. The warning applies to those who disregard God's law and exalt human religious laws above it, especially exalting a humanly instituted Sabbath above the fourth commandment.