Hosea 8:9

Hosea 8:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
• New International Version (NIV)For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild donkey wandering alone; Ephraim has hired lovers.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey alone by itself; Ephraim has hired lovers.

Context of Hosea 8:9

7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up. 8Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel. For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers. 10Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes. 11Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.

Hosea 8:9 word by word

כִּֽי־הֵ֙מָּה֙ עָל֣וּ אַשּׁ֔וּר פֶּ֖רֶא בּוֹדֵ֣ד ל֑וֹ אֶפְרַ֖יִם הִתְנ֥וּ אֲהָבִֽיםRead the interlinear

• Forכִּיkîy · forH3588
• theyהֵ֫מָּהhêm hêmmâh · they(masc.)H1992
• have gone upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
• to Assyriaאַשּׁוּר'ashshûr 'ashshûr · AssyriaH804
• like a wild donkeyפֶּ֫רֶאpere' pereh · wild donkeyH6501
• on its ownבָּדַדbâdad · be aloneH909
• Ephraimאֶפְרַ֫יִם'ephrayim · EphraimH669
• has hiredתָּנָהtânâh · to hireH8566
• loversאַ֫הַב'ahab · loverH158

Cross-references for Hosea 8:9

• Hosea 5:13When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
• Hosea 7:11So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove— calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.
• 2 Kings 15:19Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in order to gain his support and strengthen his own grip on the kingdom.
• Ezekiel 23:5Oholah prostituted herself while she was still Mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors
• Job 39:5Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
• Jeremiah 2:24a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her.
• Hosea 2:5For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’
• Hosea 12:1Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
• Isaiah 30:6This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people of no profit to them.
• Ezekiel 16:33Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.

Commentaries on Hosea 8:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9They are gone up to Assyria - For succor. A wild ass alone by himself - Like that animal, jealous of its liberty, and suffering no rival. If we may credit Pliny and others, one male wild ass will keep a whole flock of females to himself, suffer no other to approach them, and even bite off the genitals of the colts, lest in process of time they should become his rivals. "Mares singuli faeminarum gregibus imperitant; timent libidinis aemulos, et ideo…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9For they are gone up to Assyria - The ground of this their captivity is that wherein they placed their hope of safety. They shall be presently swallowed up; “for” they went to Asshur. The holy land being then honored by the spectral presence of God, all nations are said to “go up” to it. Now, since Israel forgetting God, their strength and their glory, went to the Assyrian for help, he is said to “go up” there, where he went as a suppliant. A wild donkey…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-10Verses 5-10 They promised themselves plenty, peace, and victory, by worshipping idols, but their expectations came to nothing. What they sow has no stalk, no blade, or, if it have, the bud shall yield no fruit, there was nothing in them. The works of darkness are unfruitful; nay, the end of those things is death. The hopes of sinners will deceive them, and their gains will be snares. In times of danger, especially in the day of judgment, all carnal…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9like a wild donkey: Hosea compared Israel's worship of the Canaanite fertility gods to an animal eager to mate (see Jeremiah 2:23–24).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. gone ... to Assyria--referring to Menahem's application for Pul's aid in establishing him on the throne (compare Ho 5:13; 7:11). Menahem's name is read in the inscriptions in the southwest palace of Nimrod, as a tributary to the Assyrian king in his eighth year. The dynasty of Pul, or Phalluka, was supplanted at Nineveh by that of Tiglath-pileser, about 768 (or 760) B.C. Semiramis seems to have been Pul's wife, and to have withdrawn to Babylon in 768…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 8:9

• Ass (Donkey)
• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• Assyria
• Ephraim
• Assyria, Assyrian, Assyrian Empire
• Ephraim, Ephraimite
• Ass
• Hire
• Hosea
• Lover
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Hosea 8

• 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