About Hosea

Hosea's marriage to an unfaithful wife pictures God's persistent love for unfaithful Israel.

Author: HoseaWritten: c. 755-715 BCReading time: ~2 minVerses: 19

UnfaithfulnessCovenant LoveJudgmentRestorationRepentanceKnowledge of God

Places in This Chapter

Beth-aven 2(Settlement)Gilgal 1(Settlement)

King James Version

Hosea 4

19 verses with commentary

The Charge Against Israel

1

Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The divine lawsuit: 'Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.' The Hebrew רִיב (riv, 'controversy') is legal terminology—a covenant lawsuit where God prosecutes His people for breach of covenant. The triple indictment identifies core failures: no אֱמֶת ...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(1) **Controversy.**—A judicial suit, in which Jehovah is plaintiff as well as judge (Isaiah 1:23; Isaiah 41:21). By the “children of Israel” we are to understand the northern kingdom of the ten tribes, as distinguished from Judah. **Mercy.**—Better rendered *love.* The Hebrew word *chésed* expresses (1) the love of God for Israel under covenant relationship; (2) the corresponding quality in man e...

Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**24. Elam--**placed next, as having been an auxiliary to Assyria. Its territory lay in Persia. In Abraham's time an independent kingdom (Ge 14:1). Famous for its bowmen (Is 22:6). **borne their shame--**the just retribution of their lawless pride. Destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (Jr 49:34-38).

2

By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. blood: Heb. bloods

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

This verse catalogs covenant violations using the Decalogue's structure: 'swearing' (false oaths, violating God's name—3rd commandment), 'lying' (false witness—9th commandment), 'killing' (6th commandment), 'stealing' (8th commandment), 'committing adultery' (7th commandment). The Hebrew rhythm emphasizes comprehensive lawlessness: 'aloh we-kahhesh we-ratsohh we-ganobh we-na'oph (cursing and lying...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(2) **Blood toucheth blood**—*i.e.*, murder is added to murder with ghastly prevalence. References to false swearing and lying are repeated in terrible terms by Amos 2:6-8 and Micah 7:2-8; and the form of the charge suggests the Decalogue and pre-existing legislation (Exodus 20:13-15).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**25. a bed--**a sepulchral niche. **all ... slain by ... sword, &c.--**(Eze 32:21, 23, 24). The very monotony of the phraseology gives to the dirge an awe-inspiring effect.

3

Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Ecological judgment: 'Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.' Human sin produces cosmic consequences. The land 'mourns' (אָבַל, aval—dries up, withers), all inhabitants 'languish' (אֻמְלַל, umlal—grow weak, fade), and creation itself suff...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(3) The mourning of the land is the judgment of famine, which follows not only upon the living men, but upon all living things (the LXX. have introduced into the enumeration the creeping things of the earth). Even the fishes of the sea are swept away. There is plague on fish as well as murrain on cattle, and starvation of the birds of heaven.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**26. Meshech, Tubal--**northern nations: the Moschi and Tibareni, between the Black and Caspian Seas. Herodotus [3.94], mentions them as a subjugated people, tributaries to Darius Hystaspes (see Eze 27:13).

4

Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The silenced accusation: 'Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.' God forbids mutual accusation because collective guilt prevails—everyone stands condemned. The phrase 'as they that strive with the priest' (כִּמְרִיבֵי כֹהֵן, kimrivei kohen) likely means 'like those contending with a priest' or possibly 'your people are my quarrel, O pri...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(4) **Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another.**—Better, *Nevertheless, let no one contend, let no one reprove,* for the voices of wise counsel, the warnings of the prophet, will be silenced. Ephraim will in his obstinate wrong-doing be left alone. The last clause of the verse is rendered by nearly all versions and commentators, *Though thy people are as those who contend with a priest*—*i.e.*,...

Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**27. they shall not lie with the mighty--**that is, they shall not have separate tombs such as mighty conquerors have: but shall all be heaped together in one pit, as is the case with the vanquished [Grotius]. Havernick reads it interrogatively, "Shall they not lie with the mighty that are fallen?" But English Version is supported by the parallel (Is 14:18, 19), to which Ezekiel refers, and which...

Read full commentary →

5

Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. destroy: Heb. cut off

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Judgment on religious leaders: 'Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.' Priests and prophets—twin pillars of spiritual leadership—both face judgment. The temporal contrast ('day'/'night') may indicate constant judgment or distinguish their fates. 'Thy mother' likely refers to the nation (mother of the people) or ...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(5) The priest’s function is discharged in the day, and the prophet dreams in the night. Both will totter to their fall. **Thy mother—***i.e.*, thy nation.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**28. Yea, thou--**Thou, too, Egypt, like them, shalt lie as one vanquished.

6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. destroyed: Heb. cut off

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

<strong>My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge</strong> (מִבְּלִי הַדָּעַת)—Not ignorance but rejection: <strong>because thou hast rejected knowledge</strong> (מָאַסְתָּ דָּעַת). The priests failed to teach Torah, causing national ruin. <strong>Knowledge</strong> (דַּעַת, da'at) is covenant relationship, not mere information—the same 'knowing' of marriage intimacy. <strong>Thou hast forgott...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(6) **For lack** **of** **knowledge,** which you, O priest, should have kept alive in their hearts. The knowledge of God is life eternal. (Comp. John 17:3.) The Lord’s “controversy” repudiates the entire priesthood, as they had rejected the true knowledge of God. They had inclined to calf-worship, had been vacillating respecting Baal, and had connived at moral offences. If, on the other hand, with...

Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**29. princes--**Edom was not only governed by kings, but by subordinate "princes" or "dukes" (Ge 36:40). **with their might--**notwithstanding their might, they shall be brought down (Is 34:5, 10-17; Jr 49:7, 13-18). **lie with the uncircumcised--**Though Edom was circumcised, being descended from Isaac, he shall lie with the uncircumcised; much more shall Egypt, who had no hereditary right t...

Read full commentary →

7

As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Perverse prosperity: 'As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.' Numerical and material growth fueled pride rather than gratitude. The more God blessed, the more Israel forgot their benefactor—prosperity breeding apostasy (Deuteronomy 8:10-14 warned of precisely this). The Hebrew suggests priestly multiplication: as priests increased, sin in...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(7, 8) The increase in numbers and prosperity probably refers to the priesthood, who, as they grew in numbers, became more alienated from the true God. These eat up, or fatten on, the very sins they ought to rebuke. The reference here may be either to the portion of sacrificial offerings which fell to the share of the priests, or (less probably) to the sin-money and trespass-money exacted in place...

Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**30. princes of the north--**Syria, which is still called by the Arabs the north; or the Tyrians, north of Palestine, conquered by Nebuchadnezzar (Eze 26:1-28:26), [Grotius]. **Zidonians--**who shared the fate of Tyre (Eze 28:21). **with their terror they are ashamed of their might--**that is, notwithstanding the terror which they inspired in their contemporaries. "Might" is connected by Maur...

Read full commentary →

8

They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. set: Heb. lift up their soul to

View commentary (2 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Feeding on sin: 'They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.' The priests economically benefit from people's sin—the more offerings for sin, the more priestly income (Leviticus 6:26, 10:17). This creates perverse incentive: priests profit from perpetuating sin rather than eliminating it. They 'set their heart' (literally 'lift up their soul,' נָשָׂא נַפְשׁוֹ, nasa...

Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**31. comforted--**with the melancholy satisfaction of not being alone, but of having other kingdoms companions in his downfall. This shall be his only comfort--a very poor one!

9

And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings. punish: Heb. visit upon reward: Heb. cause to return

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Like people, like priest: 'And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.' The proverb כָּעָם כַּכֹּהֵן (ka'am kakohen, literally 'as people, as priest') indicates both share equal guilt and equal judgment. When priests fail to maintain distinctiveness, God treats them identically to laypeople—both judged for covenant breach. This...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(9, 10) As the people will be punished, so will the priest. The latter will not be saved by wealth or dignity. *And I will visit upon him his ways* (observe here the collective singular in the pronoun), *and cause* *his doings to return upon him.* The form of the punishment is to be noticed. The eating of the sin of the people shall leave them hungry, and their licentiousness shall leave them chil...

Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**32. my terror--**the Margin or Keri. The Hebrew text or Chetib is "his terror," which gives good sense (Eze 32:25, 30). "My terror" implies that God puts His terror on Pharaoh's multitude, as they put "their terror" on others, for example, under Pharaoh-necho on Judea. As "the land of the living" was the scene of "their terror," so it shall be God's; especially in Judea, He will display His glor...

Read full commentary →

For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.

View commentary

KJV Study Commentary

God's ironic judgment declares 'they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase.' The Hebrew structure emphasizes futility: eating without satisfaction, sexual activity without fruitfulness. This inverts Levitical covenant blessings (Leviticus 26:5, 'you shall eat your bread to the full') and applies covenant curses (Leviticus 26:26, Deuteronomy 28:38-41). T...

Read full commentary →

Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

View commentary (2 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Intoxication and harlotry: 'Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.' The triad—sexual immorality (זְנוּת, zenut) and intoxication (יַיִן, yayin; תִּירוֹשׁ, tirosh)—'take away the heart' (יִקַּח־לֵב, yiqqach-lev), meaning steal understanding/judgment. These sins particularly characterized Baal fertility cult worship: ritual prostitution and drunken revelries. The 'heart' (לֵב, lev) in H...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(11) **Heart.**—The whole inner life, consumed by these licentious indulgences.

My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Divination and idolatry: 'My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.' The irony is devastating: God's people consult wooden idols ('stocks,' עֵץ, ets—literally 'wood/tree') and staffs (מַקֵּל, maqqel—divination rod) instead of the living God. This refers to pract...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(12) **Their stocks.—**Blocks of wood fashioned into idols (Heb., *his wood,* the collective singular being maintained). **Their staff.**—Cyril regarded this as referring to divinations by means of rods (ῥαβδομαντεία), which were placed upright, and after the repetition of incantations, allowed to fall, the forecast of the future being interpreted from the manner in which they fell. But perhaps th...

Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 33 Eze 33:1-33. Renewal of Ezekiel's Commission, Now that He Is Again to Address His Countrymen, and in a New Tone. Heretofore his functions had been chiefly threatening; from this point, after the evil had got to its worst in the overthrow of Jerusalem, the consolatory element preponderates. **2. to the children of thy people--**whom he had been forbidden to address from Eze 24:26, 27...

Read full commentary →

They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Mountain shrine immorality: 'They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.' High place worship (בָּמוֹת, bamot), condemned throughout Scripture, combined false worship with immorality. The pleasant shade under...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(13) The tops of the hills were continually chosen for idolatrous temples, *i.e.*, “high places.” **Poplar**—*i.e.*, the white poplar, not the *storax* of the LXX., which is a shrub only a few feet high. **Elms** should be “terebinth tree” (’*ēlah*).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**3. the sword--**invaders. An appropriate illustration at the time of the invasion of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar.

I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall. I will not: or, Shall I not fall: or, be punished

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

God's shocking statement 'I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery' isn't approval but devastating irony: judgment on the men makes their women's punishment irrelevant. The indictment continues: 'for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots' (ki-hem im-ha-zonot yepharedu we-im-ha-qedeshov yezabbehu). The rel...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(14) Jehovah threatens to visit no punishment on the women for their licentiousness, because they are more sinned against than sinning. **Sacrifice with harlots.—**Referring to the sensuality of the religious rites, as represented by the women (*q’dēshôth*) who dedicated themselves to these impurities.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**4. blood ... upon his own head--**metaphor from sacrificial victims, on the heads of which they used to lay their hands, praying that their guilt should be upon the victims.

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.

View commentary (2 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Warning to Judah: 'Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.' Despite pronouncing judgment on northern Israel, God warns southern Judah to avoid identical sin. Gilgal and Beth-aven (scornful name for Bethel, meaning 'house of vanity' instead of 'house of God') were major northern shrines. ...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(15) **Israel . . . Judah.**—The prophet warns Judah of Israel’s peril, and perhaps hints at the apostacy of some of her kings, as Ahaziah, Joram, and Ahaz. He returns *to* the symbolic use of the word “whoredom”; and Judah is exhorted not to participate in the idolatries of Gilgal or the calves of Bethel. There are three different places named Gilgal mentioned in Joshua (Joshua 4:19; Joshua 12:3;...

Read full commentary →

For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Stubborn backsliding: 'For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.' The imagery contrasts stubborn heifer refusing yoke with lamb in open pasture. Israel, like untrained heifer (פָּרָה סוֹרֵרָה, parah sorerah—rebellious cow), resists God's discipline. The consequence is ironic: God will feed them 'as lamb in large place' (כֶּבֶשׂ בַּמֶּר...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(16) **Slideth back.**—More correctly, *is stubborn as* *a stubborn cow.* **Will feed them as a lamb in a large place.—**An expression of tender commiseration (so Ewald). But most commentators understand it in an unfavourable sense, *i.e.,* will lead them forth into the desolate wilderness, a prey to wild beasts, or into the loneliness that a lamb would feel in a boundless pasture.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**6. his iniquity--**his negligence in not maintaining constant watchfulness, as they who are in warfare ought to do. The thing signified here appears from under the image.

Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Ephraim's attachment to idols: 'Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.' The stark command חֲבוּר עֲצַבִּים אֶפְרָיִם הַנַּח־לוֹ (chavur atsabbim Ephraim hanach-lo): 'Ephraim is bound to idols, leave him alone.' The verb חָבַר (chavar, 'joined/bound') suggests marriage or covenant bond—Ephraim wedded to false gods. The response 'let him alone' (הַנַּח־לוֹ, hanach-lo) is judicial abandonment: Go...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(17) **Ephraim** . . . **idols.—**The prophet calls on Judah to leave Ephraim to himself. The Jewish interpreters Rashi and Kimchi understand this as the appeal of Jehovah to the prophet to leave Israel to her fate, that so perhaps her eyes might be opened to discern her doom.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**7. I have set thee a watchman--**application of the image. Ezekiel's appointment to be a watchman spiritually is far more solemn, as it is derived from God, not from the people.

Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye. sour: Heb. gone rulers: Heb. shields

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Corrupt worship and degraded leadership: 'Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.' The text is difficult but suggests drunkenness ('drink is sour,' סָר סָבְאָם, sar sov'am—their drinking bouts have ended/turned sour), persistent harlotry (spiritual and literal), and rulers who 'love shame' (אָהֲבוּ הֵבוּ קָלוֹן, ahavu hevu qalon) or 'l...

Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(18, 19) The Authorised version is here very defective. Translate, *Their carousal hath become degraded; with whoring they whore. Her shields love shame. A blast hath seized her in its wings, so that they are covered with shame for their offerings. “*Shields” mean the princes of the people, as in Psalm 47:9. The fern. “her” in these verses refers to Ephraim, in accordance with the common Hebrew id...

Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**8. thou shalt surely die--**by a violent death, the earnest of everlasting death; the qualification being supposed, "if thou dost not repent."

The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

View commentary (2 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The wind has bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.' The imagery shifts to wind binding Israel in its wings - carrying them away to exile, unable to escape. 'Ashamed because of sacrifices' means their idolatrous worship will prove worthless, bringing shame instead of blessing. This fulfills covenant curses: trusting false gods leads to humiliation. Jeremi...

Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. Blood had by this time been shed (Eze 33:21), but Ezekiel was clear.

Test Your Knowledge

Hosea 4 QuizTest your knowledge of this chapter

Hosea Book QuizComprehensive quiz for the entire book

Continue Your Study

Read Hosea 5 All Hosea Chapters Hosea 4 Quiz Complete Hosea Quiz All Bible Quizzes Bible Characters Bible Topics Nave's Topical Bible