English Standard Version
Hosea 3:4
4For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.
Hosea 3:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
- New International Version (NIV)For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.
- New Living Translation (NLT)This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols!
Context of Hosea 3:4
2So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3And I said to her, "You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you." For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
Read all of Hosea 3Hosea 3:4 word by word
כִּ֣י׀ יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֗ים יֵֽשְׁבוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֵ֥ין מֶ֙לֶךְ֙ וְאֵ֣ין שָׂ֔ר וְאֵ֥ין זֶ֖בַח וְאֵ֣ין מַצֵּבָ֑ה וְאֵ֥ין אֵפ֖וֹד וּתְרָפִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- shall abideיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- manyרַבrab · manyH7227
- daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- without a kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- and without a princeשַׂרώar · rulerH8269
- and without a sacrificeזֶ֫בַחzebach · sacrificeH2077
- and without an imageמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676
- and without an ephodאֵפוֹד'êphôd 'êphôd · ephodH646
- teraphimתְּרָפִיםterâphîym · teraphimH8655
Cross-references for Hosea 3:4
- Hosea 10:3For now they will say: "We have no king, for we do not fear the Lord; and a king—what could he do for us?"
- Genesis 49:10The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
- Jeremiah 15:4And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.
- John 19:15They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."
- 2 Chronicles 15:2and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
- Daniel 8:11It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown.
- Daniel 9:27And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator."
- Daniel 12:11And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.
- Matthew 24:1Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.
- Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Acts 6:13and they set up false witnesses who said, "This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law,
- Hebrews 10:26For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
- Isaiah 19:19In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border.
- Exodus 28:4These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests.
- Leviticus 8:7And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band.
- Judges 8:27And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.
Commentaries on Hosea 3:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Many days without a king - Hitherto this prophecy has been literally fulfilled. Since the destruction of the temple by the Romans they have neither had king nor prince, nor any civil government of their own, but have lived in different nations of the earth as mere exiles. They have neither priests nor sacrifices nor urim nor thummim; no prophet, no oracle, no communication of any kind from God. Without an image ephod - teraphim - The Septuagint read…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4For the children of Israel shall abide many days - The condition described is one in which there should be no civil polity, none of the special temple-service, nor yet the idolatry, which they had hitherto combined with it or substituted for it. “King and prince” include both higher and lower governors. Judah had “kings” before the captivity, and a sort of “prince” in her governors after it. Judah remained still a polity, although without the glory of her…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-5Verses 4-5 Here is the application of the parable to Israel. They must long sit like a widow, stripped of all joys and honours; but shall at length be received again. Those that would seek the Lord so as to find him, must apply to Christ, and become his willing people. Not only are we to fear the Lord and his greatness, but the Lord and his goodness; not only his majesty, but his mercy. Even Jewish writers apply this passage to the promised Messiah…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4Just as Hosea’s wife had to live many days without sexual relations, Israel would be without its key institutions, practices, and objects. These included the king or prince, sacrifices, and sacred pillars or idols, which were central to its life and worship.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. The long period here foretold was to be one in which Israel should have no civil polity, king, or prince, no sacrifice to Jehovah, and yet no idol, or false god, no ephod, or teraphim. Exactly describing their state for the last nineteen centuries, separate from idols, yet without any legal sacrifice to Jehovah, whom they profess to worship, and without being acknowledged by Him as His Church. So Kimchi, a Jew, explains it. The ephod was worn by the…Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 3:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Hosea 3
- 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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