Christian Standard Bible
Hosea 4:6
6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as my priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your sons.
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
4But let no one dispute; let no one argue, for my case is against you priests. 5You will stumble by day; the prophet will also stumble with you by night. And I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as my priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your sons. 7The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against me. I will change their honor into disgrace. 8They feed on the sin of my people; they have an appetite for their iniquity.
Read all of Hosea 4Hosea 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 wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray; they act promiscuously in disobedience to their God.
- Isaiah 1:3The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feeding trough, but Israel does not know; my people do not understand.”
- Isaiah 3:12Youths oppress my people, and women rule over them. My people, your leaders mislead you; they confuse the direction of your paths.
- Isaiah 5:13Therefore my people will go into exile because they lack knowledge; her dignitaries are starving, and her masses are parched with thirst.
- Jeremiah 4:22“For my people are fools; they do not know me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing what is evil, but they do not know how to do what is good.”
- Jeremiah 8:7Even storks in the sky know their seasons. Turtledoves, swallows, and cranes are aware of their migration, but my people do not know the requirements of the Lord.
- Hosea 4:1Hear the word of the Lord, people of Israel, for the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land!
- Hosea 6:6For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- 2 Chronicles 15:3For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without instruction,
- Job 36:12But if they do not listen, they will cross the river of death and die without knowledge.
- Proverbs 19:2Even zeal is not good without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily sins.
- Isaiah 27:11When its branches dry out, they will be broken off. Women will come and make fires with them, for they are not a people with understanding. Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them, and their Creator will not be gracious to them.
- Isaiah 45:20“Come, gather together, and approach, you fugitives of the nations. Those who carry their wooden idols and pray to a god who cannot save have no knowledge.
- Jeremiah 5:3Lord, don’t your eyes look for faithfulness? You have struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They made their faces harder than rock, and they refused to return.
- Matthew 15:14Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
- 2 Corinthians 4:3But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled 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
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
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