American Standard Version
Hosea 4:16
16For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.
Hosea 4:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
- New International Version (NIV)The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the Lord pasture them like lambs in a meadow?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?
- New King James Version (NKJV)“For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf; Now the Lord will let them forage Like a lamb in open country.
Context of Hosea 4:16
14I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go apart with harlots, and they sacrifice with the prostitutes; and the people that doth not understand shall be overthrown. 15Though 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, As Jehovah liveth. For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place. 17Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone. 18Their drink is become sour; they play the harlot continually; her rulers dearly love shame.
Read all of Hosea 4Hosea 4:16 word by word
כִּ֚י כְּפָרָ֣ה סֹֽרֵרָ֔ה סָרַ֖ר יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל עַתָּה֙ יִרְעֵ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה כְּכֶ֖בֶשׂ בַּמֶּרְחָֽב׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Hosea 4:16
- Hosea 11:7And my people are bent on backsliding from me: though they call them to him that is on high, none at all will exalt him.
- 1 Samuel 15:11It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And Samuel was wroth; and he cried unto Jehovah all night.
- Jeremiah 3:6Moreover Jehovah said 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.
- Jeremiah 5:6Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
- Jeremiah 7:24But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
- Jeremiah 8:5Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
- Jeremiah 14:7Though our iniquities testify against us, work thou for thy name’s sake, O Jehovah; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
- Zechariah 7:11But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
- Leviticus 26:33And you will I scatter among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you: and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.
- Isaiah 7:21And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;
- Isaiah 22:18He will surely wind thee round and round, and toss thee like a ball into a large country; there shalt thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory, thou shame of thy lord’s house.
Commentaries on Hosea 4:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Israel slideth back - They are untractable, like an unbroken heifer or steer, that pulls back, rather than draw in the yoke. Will feed them as a lamb in a large place - A species of irony. Ye shall go to Assyria, and be scattered among the nations; ye may sport yourselves in the extensive empire, wither ye shall be carried captives.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16For Israel slideth back, as a backsliding heifer - The calves which Israel worshiped were pictures of itself. They represented natural, untamed, strength, which, when put to service, started back and shrank from the yoke. “Untractable, petulant, unruly, wanton, it withdrew from the yoke, when it could; if it could not, it drew aside or backward, instead of forward.” So is it rare, exceeding rare, for man to walk straight on in God‘s ways; he jerks…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-19Verses 12-19 The people consulted images, and not the Divine word. This would lead to disorder and sin. Thus men prepare scourges for themselves, and vice is spread through a people. Let not Judah come near the idolatrous worship of Israel. For Israel was devoted to idols, and must now be let alone. When sinners cast off the easy yoke of Christ, they go on in sin till the Lord saith, Let them alone. Then they receive no more warnings, feel no more…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. backsliding--Translate, "Israel is refractory, as a refractory heifer," namely, one that throws the yoke off her neck. Israel had represented God under the form of "calves" (1Ki 12:28); but it is she herself who is one. lamb in a large place--not in a good sense, as in Is 30:23. Here there is irony: lambs like a large pasture; but it is not so safe for them as a small one, duly fenced from wild beasts. God will "feed" them, but it shall be with the…Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 4:16
In the dictionaries
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
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries