Hosea 2:4

Hosea 2:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
• New International Version (NIV)I will not show my love to her children, because they are the children of adultery.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Upon her children also I will have no mercy, because they are children of whoredom.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“I will not have mercy on her children, For they are the children of harlotry.

Context of Hosea 2:4

2Contend with your mother (nation); contend, For she is not my wife and I am not her husband; And have her remove her [marks of] prostitution from her face And her adultery from between her breasts 3Or I will strip her naked And expose her as on the day she was born, And make her like a wilderness And make her like a parched land And slay her with thirst. Also, I will have no mercy on her children, Because they are the children of prostitution. 5For their mother has played the prostitute; She who conceived them has acted shamefully, For she said, ‘I will pursue my lovers Who give me my food and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my [refreshing] drinks.’ 6Therefore, behold, I [the Lord God] will hedge up her way with thorns; And I will build a wall against her [shutting off her way] so that she cannot find her paths.

Hosea 2:4 word by word

וְאֶת־בָּנֶ֖יהָ לֹ֣א אֲרַחֵ֑ם כִּֽי־בְנֵ֥י זְנוּנִ֖ים הֵֽמָּה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And I will not have mercyרָחַםrâcham · to have compassionH7355
• upon her childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• of whoredomsזְנוּנִיםzânûn · fornicationH2183

Cross-references for Hosea 2:4

• Hosea 1:6Then Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-Ruhamah (not shown mercy), for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them.
• Isaiah 27:11When its branches are dry, they are broken off; The women come and make a fire with them. For they are not a people of understanding, Therefore He who made them will not have compassion on them, And He who created them will not be gracious to them.
• Jeremiah 13:14I will smash them one against another, both the fathers and the sons together,” says the Lord. “I shall destroy them [nothing will restrain Me]; I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion.” ’ ”
• Jeremiah 16:5For thus says the Lord, “Do not enter a house of mourning, nor go to lament (express grief) or bemoan [the dead], for I have taken My peace away from this people,” says the Lord, “even My lovingkindness and compassion.
• Ezekiel 8:18Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare [them]; and though they cry loudly in My ears, yet I will not listen to them.”
• Ezekiel 9:10But as for Me, My eye will have no pity, nor will I spare, but I will bring their [wicked] conduct upon their [own] heads.”
• Zechariah 1:12Then the Angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will You withhold mercy and compassion from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which You have had indignation and anger these seventy years [of the Babylonian captivity]?”
• Romans 9:18So then, He has mercy on whom He wills (chooses), and He hardens [the heart of] whom He wills.
• Romans 11:22Then appreciate the gracious kindness and the severity of God: to those who fell [into spiritual ruin], severity, but to you, God’s gracious kindness—if you continue in His kindness [by faith and obedience to Him]; otherwise you too will be cut off.
• James 2:13For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; but [to the one who has shown mercy] mercy triumphs [victoriously] over judgment.
• Hosea 1:2When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and have children of [her] prostitution; for the land commits great acts of prostitution by not following the Lord.”
• 2 Kings 9:22When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Do you come in peace, Jehu?” And he answered, “What peace [can exist] as long as the fornications of your mother Jezebel and her sorceries are so many?”
• Isaiah 57:3“But come here, you sons of a sorceress [raised in deception and superstition], Offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute.
• John 8:41You are doing the works of your [own] father.” They said to Him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one [spiritual] Father: God.”

Commentaries on Hosea 2:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4They be the children of whoredoms - They are all idolaters; and have been consecrated to idols, whose marks they bear.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-23Rebuke your mother, rebuke her: At first glance, the Lord, like an upset husband, seems to be giving a divorce to his unfaithful wife, Israel (see Deuteronomy 24:1). However, as the passage continues, it becomes clear that God’s goal in this lawsuit is not divorce, but reconciliation (Hosea 2:14–23). God’s case against Israel aims to make Israel aware of her sin and offer her a chance to return to her true husband. The Lord’s desire for reconciliation…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. her children--Not even her individual members shall escape the doom of the nation collectively, for they are individually guilty.Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 2:4

• Idolatry
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning

In the dictionaries

• Fornication
• Hedge
• Thorn
• Crime; Crimes
• Envy
• Hosea
• Mother
• Song of Songs
• Zechariah, Book of
• conceive, conceived, conception

Commentaries on Hosea 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings