Go
Articles on

Hosea 4

Hos. 4:15 KJV (With Strong’s)

+
15
Though thou, Israel
Yisra'el (Hebrew #3478)
from 8280 and 410; he will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity: --Israel.
Pronounce: yis-raw-ale'
, play the harlot
zanah (Hebrew #2181)
to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment); figuratively, to commit idolatry (the Jewish people being regarded as the spouse of Jehovah)
KJV usage: (cause to) commit fornication, X continually, X great, (be an, play the) harlot, (cause to be, play the) whore, (commit, fall to) whoredom, (cause to) go a-whoring, whorish.
Pronounce: zaw-naw'
Origin: a primitive root (highly-fed and therefore wanton)
, yet let not Judah
Yhuwdah (Hebrew #3063)
celebrated; Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory
KJV usage: Judah.
Pronounce: yeh-hoo-daw'
Origin: from 3034
offend
'asham (Hebrew #816)
a primitive root; to be guilty; by implication to be punished or perish
KJV usage: X certainly, be(-come, made) desolate, destroy, X greatly, be(-come, found, hold) guilty, offend (acknowledge offence), trespass.
Pronounce: aw-sham'
Origin: or mashem {aw-shame'}
; and come
bow' (Hebrew #935)
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
KJV usage: abide, apply, attain, X be, befall, + besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, X certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, X doubtless again, + eat, + employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, + follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, + have, X indeed, (in-)vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, X (well) stricken (in age), X surely, take (in), way.
Pronounce: bo
Origin: a primitive root
not ye unto Gilgal
Gilgal (Hebrew #1537)
Gilgal, the name of three places in Palestine
KJV usage: Gilgal. See also 1019.
Pronounce: ghil-gawl'
Origin: the same as 1536 (with the article as a properly, noun)
f, neither go ye up
`alah (Hebrew #5927)
to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literal and figurative (as follow)
KJV usage: arise (up), (cause to) ascend up, at once, break (the day) (up), bring (up), (cause to) burn, carry up, cast up, + shew, climb (up), (cause to, make to) come (up), cut off, dawn, depart, exalt, excel, fall, fetch up, get up, (make to) go (away, up); grow (over) increase, lay, leap, levy, lift (self) up, light, (make) up, X mention, mount up, offer, make to pay, + perfect, prefer, put (on), raise, recover, restore, (make to) rise (up), scale, set (up), shoot forth (up), (begin to) spring (up), stir up, take away (up), work.
Pronounce: aw-law'
Origin: a primitive root
to Beth-aven
Beyth (Hebrew #1007)
house of vanity; Beth- Aven, a place in Palestine
KJV usage: Beth-aven.
Pronounce: 'Aven
Origin: from 1004 and 205
, nor swear
shaba` (Hebrew #7650)
propr. to be complete, but used only as a denominative from 7651; to seven oneself, i.e. swear (as if by repeating a declaration seven times)
KJV usage: adjure, charge (by an oath, with an oath), feed to the full (by mistake for 7646), take an oath, X straitly, (cause to, make to) swear.
Pronounce: shaw-bah'
Origin: a primitive root
, The Lord
Yhovah (Hebrew #3068)
(the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God
KJV usage: Jehovah, the Lord. Compare 3050, 3069.
Pronounce: yeh-ho-vaw'
Origin: from 1961
g liveth
chay (Hebrew #2416)
alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively
KJV usage: + age, alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life(-time), live(-ly), living (creature, thing), maintenance, + merry, multitude, + (be) old, quick, raw, running, springing, troop.
Pronounce: khah'-ee
Origin: from 2421
.
f
Amos 4:4• 4Come to Beth-el, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: (Amos 4:4)
;
Amos 5:5• 5But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought. (Amos 5:5)
g
Zeph. 1:5• 5And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham; (Zeph. 1:5)

More on:

+
Beth-aven,
Gilgal,
Harlot,
Israel,
Judah,
Swearing

Cross References

+

Ministry on This Verse

+
play.
Hos. 4:12• 12My 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. (Hos. 4:12)
;
Jer. 3:6‑10• 6The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
 7And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
 8And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
 9And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
 10And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord. (Jer. 3:6‑10)
;
Ezek. 23:4‑8• 4And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.
 5And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors,
 6Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
 7Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.
 8Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her. (Ezek. 23:4‑8)
yet.
Hos. 11:12• 12Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints. (Hos. 11:12)
;
2 Kings 17:18‑19• 18Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
 19Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. (2 Kings 17:18‑19)
;
Jer. 3:10‑11• 10And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.
 11And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. (Jer. 3:10‑11)
;
Luke 12:47‑48• 47And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
 48But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:47‑48)
;
Eph. 5:11• 11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. (Eph. 5:11)
Gilgal.
Hos. 9:15• 15All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters. (Hos. 9:15)
;
Hos. 12:11• 11Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields. (Hos. 12:11)
;
Amos 4:4• 4Come to Beth-el, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: (Amos 4:4)
;
Amos 5:5• 5But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought. (Amos 5:5)
Beth-aven.
Hos. 5:8• 8Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O Benjamin. (Hos. 5:8)
;
Hos. 10:5,8• 5The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
 8The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us. (Hos. 10:5,8)
;
1 Kings 12:28‑29• 28Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
 29And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. (1 Kings 12:28‑29)
nor.
Isa. 48:1• 1Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. (Isa. 48:1)
;
Jer. 5:2• 2And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely. (Jer. 5:2)
;
Ezek. 20:39• 39As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols. (Ezek. 20:39)
;
Amos 6:10• 10And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord. (Amos 6:10)
;
Amos 8:14• 14They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. (Amos 8:14)
;
Zeph. 1:5‑6• 5And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham;
 6And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him. (Zeph. 1:5‑6)
• The allusion is to the notorious idolatry of Israel and its chief seats, where God had once given the nation to judge their own evil, or near the spot where their father, prince with God, received promises of grace from Himself. It was now, however, not Bethel (house of God) but the neighboring pollution, Beth-aven (house of vanity). (“Hosea 4” by W. Kelly)
• “As the Lord liveth!” the attempt to mingle Jehovah with what was contrary to Jehovah, form the gravamen of their guilt. (“Hosea 4” by W. Kelly)

J. N. Darby Translation

+
15
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah trespass; and come ye not unto Gilgal, neither go up to Beth-avenf, nor swear As Jehovah liveth!

JND Translation Notes

+
f
Meaning, "House of idols," or "of iniquity" -- irony for Beth-El, "House of God." see Amos 5.5.