Hosea 7:16

Hosea 7:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
• New International Version (NIV)They do not turn to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
• New King James Version (NKJV)They return, but not to the Most High; They are like a treacherous bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword For the cursings of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
• New Living Translation (NLT)They look everywhere except to the Most High. They are as useless as a crooked bow. Their leaders will be killed by their enemies because of their insolence toward me. Then the people of Egypt will laugh at them.

Context of Hosea 7:16

14They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me. 15Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against me. They return, but not upward; they are like a treacherous bow; their princes shall fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Hosea 7:16 word by word

יָשׁ֣וּבוּ׀ לֹ֣א עָ֗ל הָיוּ֙ כְּקֶ֣שֶׁת רְמִיָּ֔ה יִפְּל֥וּ בַחֶ֛רֶב שָׂרֵיהֶ֖ם מִזַּ֣עַם לְשׁוֹנָ֑ם ז֥וֹ לַעְגָּ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• not to the most Highעַל‛al · heightH5920
• they are like a deceitfulרְמִיָּהremîyâh · deceitH7423
• bowקֶ֫שֶׁתqesheth · bowH7198
• their princesשַׂרώar · rulerH8269
• shall fallנָפַלnâphal · to fall: killH5307
• by the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
• for the rageזַ֫עַםza‛am · indignationH2195
• of their tongueלָשׁוֹןlâshôn lâshôn leshônâh · tongueH3956
• thisזוֹzô · thisH2097
• their derisionלַ֫עַגla‛ag · derisionH3933
• in the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• of Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714

Cross-references for Hosea 7:16

• Hosea 6:4What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.
• Hosea 8:14For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces, and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; so I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour her strongholds.
• Hosea 11:7My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all.
• Psalms 78:37Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.
• Jeremiah 3:10Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord."
• Luke 8:13And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.
• Luke 11:24"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'
• Psalms 78:57but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow.
• Hosea 7:13Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me.
• Psalms 12:4those who say, "With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?"
• Psalms 52:2Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
• Psalms 57:4My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts— the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
• Psalms 73:9They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.
• Isaiah 3:8For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence.
• Jeremiah 18:18Then they said, "Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words."
• Matthew 12:36I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

Commentaries on Hosea 7:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16They return, but not to the Most High - They go to their idols. They are like a deceitful bow - Which, when it is reflexed, in order to be strung, suddenly springs back into its quiescent curve; for the eastern bows stand in their quiescent state in a curve; and in order to be strung must be beaded back in the opposite direction. This bending of the bow requires both strength and skill; and if not properly done, it will fly back, and regain its former…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16They return, but not to the most High - God exhorts by Jeremiah, “If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto Me” Jeremiah 4:1. They changed, whenever they did change, with a feigned, hypocritical conversion, but not to God, nor acknowledging His Majesty. Man, until truly converted, turns to and fro, unstably, hither and thither, changing from one evil to another, from the sins of youth to the sins of age, from the sins of prosperity to the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-16Verses 8-16 Israel was as a cake not turned, half burnt and half dough, none of it fit for use; a mixture of idolatry and of the worship of Jehovah. There were tokens of approaching ruin, as grey hairs are of old age, but they noticed them not. The pride which leads to break the law of God leads to self-flattery. The mercy and grace of God are the only refuge to which obstinate sinners never think of fleeing. Though they may howl forth their terrors in…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16A faulty or loose bow cannot shoot an arrow to the target. This represents Israel's failure without God (see Hosea 7:8, 11).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. return, but not to the Most High--or, "to one who is not the Most High," one very different from Him, a stock or a stone. So the Septuagint. deceitful bow--(Psa 78:57). A bow which, from its faulty construction, shoots wide of the mark. So Israel pretends to seek God, but turns aside to idols. for the rage of their tongue--their boast of safety from Egyptian aid, and their "lies" (Ho 7:13), whereby they pretended to serve God, while worshipping idols…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 7:16

• Anger
• Confidence
• Hypocrisy

In the dictionaries

• Egypt
• Egypt, Egyptian
• Most High
• Bow
• Troop
• Hosea
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Hosea 7

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings