Hosea 4:6

Hosea 4:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.
• English Standard Version (ESV)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
• New King James Version (NKJV)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Context of Hosea 4:6

4Yet let no one find fault, nor let any rebuke [others]; For your people are like those who contend with the priest. 5So you will stumble in the daytime, And the [false] prophet will also stumble with you in the night; And I will destroy your mother (Israel). My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [of My law, where I reveal My will]. Because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children. 7The more they multiplied [in numbers and increased in power], the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. 8They (the priests) feed on the sin offering of My people And set their heart on their wickedness.

Hosea 4:6 word by word

נִדְמ֥וּ עַמִּ֖י מִבְּלִ֣י הַדָּ֑עַת כִּֽי־אַתָּ֞ה הַדַּ֣עַת מָאַ֗סְתָּ וְאֶמְאָֽסְאךָ֙ מִכַּהֵ֣ן לִ֔י וַתִּשְׁכַּח֙ תּוֹרַ֣ת אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ אֶשְׁכַּ֥ח בָּנֶ֖יךָ גַּם־אָֽנִי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• My peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• are destroyedדָּמָהdâmâh · to ceaseH1820
• for lack of knowledgeדַּ֫עַתda‛ath · knowledgeH1847
• because thou hast rejectedמָאַסmâ'as · to rejectH3988
• thee, that thou shalt be no priestכָּהַןkâhan · to ministerH3547
• to me: seeing thou hast forgottenשָׁכַחshâkach shâkêach · to forgetH7911
• the lawתּוֹרָהtôrâh tôrâh · instructionH8451
• of thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• thy childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121

Cross-references for Hosea 4:6

• Hosea 4:12My people consult their [lifeless] wooden idol, and their [diviner’s] wand gives them oracles. For a spirit of prostitution has led them astray [morally and spiritually], And they have played the prostitute, withdrawing themselves from their God.
• Isaiah 1:3The ox [instinctively] knows its owner, And the donkey its master’s feeding trough, But Israel does not know [Me as Lord], My people do not understand.”
• Isaiah 3:12O My people! Children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Your leaders lead you astray And confuse (destroy, swallow up) the direction of your paths.
• Isaiah 5:13Therefore My people go into exile because they lack knowledge [of God]; And their honorable men are famished, And their common people are parched with thirst.
• Jeremiah 4:22“For My people are stupid and foolish,” [says the Lord to Jeremiah]; “They do not know Me; They are foolish children And have no understanding. They are shrewd [enough] to do evil, But they do not know [how] to do good.”
• Jeremiah 8:7Even the stork in the sky Knows her seasons [of migration], And the turtledove, the swallow and the crane Observe the time of their return. But My people do not know The law of the Lord.
• Hosea 4:1Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, For the Lord has a [legal] case with the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness [no steadfast love, no dependability] or loyalty or kindness Or knowledge of God [from personal experience with Him] in the land.
• Hosea 6:6For I desire and delight in [steadfast] loyalty [faithfulness in the covenant relationship], rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
• 2 Chronicles 15:3Now for a long time Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest, and without [God’s] law.
• Job 36:12But if they do not hear and obey, they will die by the sword [of God’s destructive judgments] And they will die [in ignorance] without [true] knowledge.
• Proverbs 19:2Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And he who hurries with his feet [acting impulsively and proceeding without caution or analyzing the consequences] sins (misses the mark).
• 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.
• Isaiah 45:20“Assemble yourselves and come; Come together, you survivors of the nations! They are ignorant, Who carry around their wooden idols [in religious processions or into battle] And keep on praying to a god that cannot save them.
• Jeremiah 5:3O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You [have seen their faithless heart and] have stricken them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to take correction or instruction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent and return to You.
• Matthew 15:14Leave them alone; they are blind guides [leading blind followers]. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:3But even if our gospel is [in some sense] hidden [behind a veil], it is hidden [only] to those who are perishing;

Commentaries on Hosea 4:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge - They have not the knowledge of God, nor of sacred things, nor of their own interest, nor of the danger to which they are exposed. They walk on blindly, and perish. Because thou hast rejected knowledge - So they might have become wise, had they not rejected the means of improvement. Thou shalt be no priest to me - If this be the true reading, there must be reference to some particular priest, well known, to…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge - “My people are,” not, “is.” This accurately represents the Hebrew. The word “people” speaks of them as a whole; are, relates to the individuals of whom that whole is composed. Together, the words express the utter destruction of the whole, one and all. They are destroyed “for lack of knowledge,” literally, “of the knowledge,” i. e., the only knowledge, which in the creature is real knowledge, that knowledge…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-11Verses 6-11 Both priests and people rejected knowledge; God will justly reject them. They forgot the law of God, neither desired nor endeavoured to retain it in mind, and to transmit the remembrance to their posterity; therefore God will justly forget them and their children. If we dishonour God with that which is our honour, it will, sooner or later, be turned into shame to us. Instead of warning the people against sin, from the consideration of the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6Since the priests refused to know the Lord, the people also did not know their God. As a result, the people were being destroyed. A main role of the priests of Israel was to know, practice, and teach the laws of God. Ironically, these guardians of the law had forgotten it.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. lack of knowledge--"of God" (Ho 4:1), that is, lack of piety. Their ignorance was wilful, as the epithet, "My people," implies; they ought to have known, having the opportunity, as the people of God. thou--O priest, so-called. Not regularly constituted, but still bearing the name, while confounding the worship of Jehovah and of the calves in Beth-el (1Ki 12:29, 31). I will ... forget thy children--Not only those who then were alive should be deprived…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 4:6

• Backsliders
• Blindness
• Forgetting God
• Ignorance
• Knowledge
• Minister, Christian
• Sin

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Languish
• Reject
• Hosea
• Moses
• Pentateuch
• Priests and Levites
• Text of the Old Testament
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Hosea 4

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings