Darby Bible
Hosea 4:12
12My people ask counsel of their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredoms causeth [them] to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their 1God:
Hosea 4:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
- New International Version (NIV)My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.
- English Standard Version (ESV)My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.
- New King James Version (NKJV)My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, And their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, And they have played the harlot against their God.
Context of Hosea 4:12
10and they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: for they have left off taking heed to Jehovah. 11Fornication, and wine, and new wine take away the heart. My people ask counsel of their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredoms causeth [them] to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God: 13they sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oak and poplar and terebinth, because the shade thereof is good; therefore your daughters play the harlot and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. 14I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your daughters-in-law for their committing adultery; for they themselves go aside with harlots, and they sacrifice with prostitutes: and the people that doth not understand shall come to ruin.
Read all of Hosea 4Hosea 4:12 word by word
עַמִּי֙ בְּעֵצ֣וֹ יִשְׁאָ֔ל וּמַקְל֖וֹ יַגִּ֣יד ל֑וֹ כִּ֣י ר֤וּחַ זְנוּנִים֙ הִתְעָ֔ה וַיִּזְנ֖וּ מִתַּ֥חַת אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Hosea 4:12
- Jeremiah 2:27saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth; for they have turned the back unto me, and not the face; and in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us!
- Jeremiah 10:8But they are one and all senseless and foolish; the teaching of vanities is a stock.
- Ezekiel 21:21For the king of Babylon standeth at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shaketh [his] arrows, he inquireth of the teraphim, he looketh in the liver.
- Habakkuk 2:19Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake! to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall it teach? Behold it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
- Hosea 5:4Their doings do not allow them to return unto their God; for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they know not Jehovah.
- Isaiah 44:18They have no knowledge, and understand not; for he hath plastered their eyes, that they may not see; and their hearts, that they may not understand.
- Micah 2:11If a man walking in wind and falsehood do lie, [saying,] I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink, he shall be the prophet of this people.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9whose coming is according to the working of Satan in all power and signs and wonders of falsehood,
- Hosea 9:1Rejoice not, Israel, exultingly, as the peoples; for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved harlot's hire upon every corn-floor.
- Leviticus 17:7And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto demons, after whom they go a whoring. This shall be an everlasting statute unto them for their generations.
- Leviticus 20:5then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
- Numbers 15:39and it shall be unto you for a tassel, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of Jehovah, and do them; and that ye seek not after [the lusts of] your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye go a whoring;
- Deuteronomy 31:16And Jehovah said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the strange gods of the land into which they enter, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
- 2 Chronicles 21:13but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, like the fornications of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren, thy father's house who were better than thyself:
- Psalms 73:27For behold, they that are far from thee shall perish; thou destroyest every one that goeth a whoring from thee.
- Jeremiah 3:1They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? Would not that land be utterly polluted? But thou hast committed fornication with many lovers; yet return to me, saith Jehovah.
Commentaries on Hosea 4:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12At their stocks - They consult their wooden gods. And their staff declareth - They use divination by rods; see the note on Ezekiel 21 (note), where this sort of divination (rabdomancy) is explained.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12My people ask counsel at - (literally, “on”) their stocks They ask habitually; and that, in dependence “on their stocks.” The word “wood” is used of the idol made of it, to bring before them the senselessness of their doings, in that they asked counsel of the senseless wood. Thus Jeremiah reproaches them for “saying to a stock, my father” Jeremiah 2:27; and Habakkuk, “Woe unto him that saith to the wood, awake” Habakkuk 2:19. And their staff declareth…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. 12My people consult their wooden idols: For thousands of years, people have worshiped natural objects like wood and stones, thinking they held spirits and gods (Jeremiah 2:27). Biblical religion completely rejects these practices and beliefs (Exodus 20:4–5; Isaiah 44:19).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. Instances of their understanding ("heart") being "taken away." stocks--wooden idols (Jr 2:27; Ha 2:19). staff--alluding to divination by rods (see on Eze 21:21, 22). The diviner, says Rosenmuller, threw a rod from him, which was stripped of its bark on one side, not on the other: if the bare side turned uppermost, it was a good omen; if the side with the bark, it was a bad omen. The Arabs used two rods, the one marked God bids, the other, God forbids…Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 4:12
In the dictionaries
Notes
- 1. Hosea 4:12 4.12 Elohim ↩
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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