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 Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices in the morning, your tithes every three days, (Amos 4:4)
;
Amos 5:5• 5And seek not Bethel, neither go to Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought. (Amos 5:5)
g
Zeph. 1:5• 5and them that bow down to the host of the heavens upon the housetops; and them that bow down to Jehovah, that swear by him, and 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 of their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredoms causeth them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God: (Hos. 4:12)
;
Jer. 3:6‑10• 6And Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel hath done? She hath gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath committed fornication.
 7And I said, After she hath done all these things, she will return unto me; but she returned not. And her sister Judah, the treacherous, saw it.
 8And I saw that when for all the causes wherein backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce, yet the treacherous Judah, her sister, feared not, but went and committed fornication also.
 9And it came to pass through the lightness of her fornication that she polluted the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
 10And even for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith Jehovah. (Jer. 3:6‑10)
;
Ezek. 23:4‑8• 4And their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister; and they were mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.
 5And Oholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians her neighbours,
 6clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them attractive young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
 7And she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, all of them the choice of the children of Asshur; and with all after whom she lusted, with all their idols she defiled herself.
 8Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt; for in her youth they had lain with her, and had handled the breasts of her virginity, and poured their fornication upon her. (Ezek. 23:4‑8)
yet.
Hos. 11:12• 12Ephraim encompasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah yet walketh with *God, and with the holy things of truth. (Hos. 11:12)
;
2 Kings 17:18‑19• 18Therefore Jehovah was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there remained but the tribe of Judah only.
 19Also Judah kept not the commandments of Jehovah their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they had made. (2 Kings 17:18‑19)
;
Jer. 3:10‑11• 10And even for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith Jehovah.
 11And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath shewn herself more just than treacherous Judah. (Jer. 3:10‑11)
;
Luke 12:47‑48• 47But that bondman who knew his own lord's will, and had not prepared himself nor done his will, shall be beaten with many stripes;
 48but he who knew it not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. And to every one to whom much has been given, much shall be required from him; and to whom men have committed much, they will ask from him the more. (Luke 12:47‑48)
;
Eph. 5:11• 11and do not have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather also reprove them, (Eph. 5:11)
Gilgal.
Hos. 9:15• 15All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them: because of the wickedness of their doings, I will drive them out of my house, I will love them no more: all their princes are rebellious. (Hos. 9:15)
;
Hos. 12:11• 11If Gilead is iniquity, surely they are but 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 Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices in the morning, your tithes every three days, (Amos 4:4)
;
Amos 5:5• 5And seek not Bethel, neither go to Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought. (Amos 5:5)
Beth-aven.
Hos. 5:8• 8Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; cry aloud at Beth-aven: behind thee, O Benjamin! (Hos. 5:8)
;
Hos. 10:5,8• 5The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calf of Beth-aven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the idolatrous priests thereof shall tremble for it, for its glory, because it is departed from it.
 8And the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up upon 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• 28And the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!
 29And he set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. (1 Kings 12:28‑29)
nor.
Isa. 48:1• 1Hear ye this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of Jehovah, and make mention of the God of Israel, not in truth, nor in righteousness. (Isa. 48:1)
;
Jer. 5:2• 2And if they say, As Jehovah liveth! surely they swear falsely. (Jer. 5:2)
;
Ezek. 20:39• 39As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Go ye, serve every one his idols henceforth also, if none of you will hearken unto me; but profane my holy name no more with your gifts and with your idols. (Ezek. 20:39)
;
Amos 6:10• 10And a man's uncle, and he that should burn him, shall take him up to bring out the bones from the house, and shall say unto him that is in the inner parts of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, None. And he will say, Silence! for we may not make mention of Jehovah's name. (Amos 6:10)
;
Amos 8:14• 14they that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As thy god, O Dan, liveth! and, As the way of Beer-sheba liveth! even they shall fall, and never rise up again. (Amos 8:14)
;
Zeph. 1:5‑6• 5and them that bow down to the host of the heavens upon the housetops; and them that bow down to Jehovah, that swear by him, and swear by Malcham;
 6and them that turn back from after Jehovah, and that do not seek Jehovah, nor inquire 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.