Hosea 4:13

Hosea 4:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
• New International Version (NIV)They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery.
• New King James Version (NKJV)They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, And burn incense on the hills, Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, Because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit harlotry, And your brides commit adultery.

Context of Hosea 4:13

11to promiscuity, wine, and new wine, which take away understanding. 12My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God. They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery. 14I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go off with prostitutes and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes. So a people without understanding will come to ruin. 15Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’

Hosea 4:13 word by word

עַל־רָאשֵׁ֨י הֶהָרִ֜ים יְזַבֵּ֗חוּ וְעַל־הַגְּבָעוֹת֙ יְקַטֵּ֔רוּ תַּ֣חַת אַלּ֧וֹן וְלִבְנֶ֛ה וְאֵלָ֖ה כִּ֣י ט֣וֹב צִלָּ֑הּ עַל־כֵּ֗ן תִּזְנֶ֙ינָה֙ בְּנ֣וֹתֵיכֶ֔ם וְכַלּוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם תְּנָאַֽפְנָה׃Read the interlinear

• They sacrificeזָבַחzâbach · to sacrificeH2076
• onעַל‛al · uponH5921
• the mountaintopsרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: topH7218
• the mountaintopsהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
• and burn offeringsקָטַרqâţar · to offer: offerH6999
• the hillsגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389
• underתַּחַתtachath · underneath: underH8478
• oakאַלּוֹן'allôn · oakH437
• poplarלִבְנֶהlibneh · poplarH3839
• and terebinthאֵלָה'êlâh · oakH424
• becauseכִּיkîy · forH3588
• their shadeצֵלtsêl · shadowH6738
• is pleasantטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
• And soכֵּןkên · soH3651
• your daughtersבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• turn to prostitutionזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
• and your daughters-in-lawכַּלָּהkallâh · daughter-in-law: brideH3618
• to adulteryנָאַףnâ'aph · to commit adulteryH5003

Cross-references for Hosea 4:13

• Isaiah 1:29Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be embarrassed by the gardens that you have chosen.
• Isaiah 57:5who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
• Jeremiah 3:6Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there.
• Ezekiel 6:13Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and leafy oak—the places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols.
• Ezekiel 16:16You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!
• Ezekiel 20:28When I brought them into the land that I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, presented offerings that provoked Me, sent up their fragrant incense, and poured out their drink offerings.
• 2 Samuel 12:10Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
• Job 31:9If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,
• Amos 7:17Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring line, and you yourself will die on pagan soil. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”
• Romans 1:23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Commentaries on Hosea 4:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Under oaks - אלון allon, from אלל alal, he was strong. Hence, the oak, in Latin, is called robur; which word means also, strength, the oak being the strongest of all the trees of the forest. The shadow thereof is good - Their "daughters committed whoredom, and their spouses committed adultery." Their deities were worshipped by prostitution. They drank much in their idol worship, Hosea 4:11, and thus their passions became inflamed. 3. The thick groves were…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains - The tops of hills or mountains seemed nearer heaven, the air was purer, the place more removed from the world. To worship the Unseen God upon them, was then the suggestion of natural feeling and of simple devotion. God Himself directed the typical sacrifice of Isaac to take place on a mountain; on that same mountain He commanded that the temple should be built; on a mountain, God gave the law; on a mountain…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
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13Many Canaanite religious rituals took place on mountaintops and hills. On these pagan "high places," sacred trees were often used in fertility worship (1 Kings 14:23; Jeremiah 2:20). Israelite daughters and brides also engaged in sexual acts during the worship of Baal; their fathers and husbands possibly forced them to participate.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. upon ... mountains--High places were selected by idolaters on which to sacrifice, because of their greater nearness to the heavenly hosts which they worshipped (De 12:2). elms--rather, "terebinths" [Maurer]. shadow ... good--screening the lascivious worshippers from the heat of the sun. daughters ... commit whoredom ... spouses ... adultery--in the polluted worship of Astarte, the Phoenician goddess of love.Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 4:13

• Elm
• Idolatry
• Minister, Christian
• Mountain
• Poplar
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Elm
• Jeroboam
• Languish
• Poplar
• Reject
• Spouse
• Teil tree
• Deuteronomy
• Harlot
• Hill; Mount; Mountain

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