English Standard Version
Hosea 4:8
8They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity.
Hosea 4:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
- New International Version (NIV)They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)They eat up the sin of My people; They set their heart on their iniquity.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed. So the priests are glad when the people sin!
Context of Hosea 4:8
6My 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. 7The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. 9And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. 10They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the Lord to cherish
Read all of Hosea 4Hosea 4:8 word by word
חַטַּ֥את עַמִּ֖י יֹאכֵ֑לוּ וְאֶל־עֲוֹנָ֖ם יִשְׂא֥וּ נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Hosea 4:8
- Leviticus 6:26The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting.
- Leviticus 7:6Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.
- 1 Samuel 2:29Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?'
- Psalms 24:4He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
- Psalms 25:1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
- Isaiah 56:11The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.
- Ezekiel 14:3"Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?
- Micah 3:11Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, "Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us."
- Malachi 1:10Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.
- Romans 16:18For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- 2 Peter 2:3And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
Commentaries on Hosea 4:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8They eat up the sin of my people - חטאת chattath, the sin-offering, though it be offered contrary to the law; for their hearts are set on iniquity, they wish to do whatever is contrary to God.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8They eat up the sin of My people - The priests made a gain of the sins of the people, lived upon them and by them, conniving at or upholding the idolatries of the people, partaking in their idol-sacrifices and idolatrous rites, which, as involving the desertion of God, were “the sin of the people,” and the root of all their other sins. This the priests did knowingly. True or false, apostate or irregularly appointed, they knew that there was no truth in…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
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. eat ... sin of my people--that is, the sin offerings (Le 6:26; 10:17). The priests greedily devoured them. set their heart on their iniquity--literally, "lift up the animal soul to lust after," or strongly desire. Compare De 24:15, Margin; Psa 24:4; Jr 22:27. The priests set their own hearts on the iniquity of the people, instead of trying to suppress it. For the more the people sinned, the more sacrificial victims in atonement for sin the priests…Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 4:8
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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Commentaries