Hosea 4:2

Hosea 4:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
• New International Version (NIV)There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
• English Standard Version (ESV)there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
• New King James Version (NKJV)By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed.

Context of Hosea 4:2

1Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land! Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another. 3Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear. 4But let no man contend; let no man offer reproof; for your people are like those who contend with a priest.

Hosea 4:2 word by word

אָלֹ֣ה וְכַחֵ֔שׁ וְרָצֹ֥חַ וְגָנֹ֖ב וְנָאֹ֑ף פָּרָ֕צוּ וְדָמִ֥ים בְּדָמִ֖ים נָגָֽעוּ׃Read the interlinear

• Cursingאָלָה'âlâh · to swearH422
• and lyingכָּחַשׁkâchash · to deceiveH3584
• murderרָצַחrâtsach · to murderH7523
• and stealingגָּנַבgânab · to stealH1589
• and adulteryנָאַףnâ'aph · to commit adulteryH5003
• are rampantפָּרַץpârats · to break throughH6555
• one act of bloodshedדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
• follows anotherנָגַעnâga‛ · to touchH5060

Cross-references for Hosea 4:2

• Isaiah 24:5The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.
• Isaiah 48:1“Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth or righteousness—
• Isaiah 59:2But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
• Jeremiah 5:1“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
• Jeremiah 6:7As a well gushes its water, so she pours out her evil. Violence and destruction resound in her; sickness and wounds are ever before Me.
• Jeremiah 7:6if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,
• Jeremiah 9:2If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.
• Jeremiah 23:10For the land is full of adulterers— because of the curse, the land mourns and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up— their course is evil and their power is misused.
• Ezekiel 22:2“As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations
• Micah 2:1Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
• Micah 3:2You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones.
• Micah 6:10Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed?
• Micah 7:2The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
• Zephaniah 3:1Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!
• Zechariah 5:3Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.
• Zechariah 7:9“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another.

Commentaries on Hosea 4:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2By swearing, and lying - Where there is no truth there will be lies and perjury; for false swearing is brought in to confirm lying statements. And when there is no mercy, killing, slaying, and murders, will be frequent. And where there is no knowledge of God, no conviction of his omnipresence and omniscience, private offenses, such as stealing, adulteries, etc., will prevail. These, sooner or later, break out, become a flood, and carry all before them…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2By swearing, and lying … - Literally, “swearing or cursing”, “and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery!” The words in Hebrew are nouns of action. The Hebrew form is very vivid and solemn. It is far more forcible than if he had said, “They swear, lie, kill, and steal.” It expresses that these sins were continual, that nothing else (so to speak) was going on; that it was all one scene of such sins, one course of them, and of nothing…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2The prophet also accused the Israelites of committing sins. These crimes are all forbidden in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3–17; Deuteronomy 5:7–21), which are the basic covenant responsibilities. Since the Israelites did not know the Lord, they failed to follow even the simplest covenant standards.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. they break out--bursting through every restraint. blood toucheth blood--literally, "bloods." One act of bloodshed follows another without any interval between (see 2Ki 15:8-16, 25; Mi 7:2).Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 4:2

• Adultery
• Crime
• Dishonesty
• Falsehood
• Homicide
• Sin
• Theft and Thieves

In the dictionaries

• Languish
• Reject
• Robbery
• Blood
• Break
• Calf, Golden
• Hosea
• Lie; Lying
• Priests and Levites
• 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