Hosea 3:4

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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, 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.

Context of Hosea 3:4

2So I bought her for 23 ounces of silver and 10 bushels of barley. 3Then I told her, “You must wait for me a long time. Don’t be a prostitute or offer yourself to any man. I will wait for you.” In the same way, the Israelites will wait a long time without kings or officials, without sacrifices or sacred stones, and without ephods or family idols. 5After that, the Israelites will turn and look to the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord for his blessings in the last days.

Hosea 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 10:3So they’ll say, “We have no king because we didn’t fear the Lord. Even if we had a king, he couldn’t do anything for us.”
• Genesis 49:10A scepter will never depart from Judah nor a ruler’s staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes and the people obey him.
• Jeremiah 15:4I will make these people a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms on the earth. This will happen because of what Judah’s King Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, did in Jerusalem.
• John 19:15Then the Jews shouted, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Should I crucify your king?” The chief priests responded, “The emperor is the only king we have!”
• 2 Chronicles 15:2Azariah went to Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all you men from Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you will dedicate your lives to serving him, he will accept you. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
• Daniel 8:11Then it attacked the commander of the army so that it took the daily burnt offering from him and wrecked his holy place.
• Daniel 9:27He will confirm his promise with many for one set of seven time periods. In the middle of the seven time periods, he will stop the sacrifices and food offerings. This will happen along with disgusting things that cause destruction until ⌞those time periods⌟ come to an end. It has been determined that this will happen to those who destroy ⌞the city⌟.”
• Daniel 12:11From the time the daily burnt offering is taken away and the disgusting thing that causes destruction is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
• Matthew 24:1As Jesus left the temple courtyard and was walking away, his disciples came to him. They proudly pointed out to him the temple buildings.
• Luke 21:24Swords will cut them down, and they will be carried off into all nations as prisoners. Nations will trample Jerusalem until the times allowed for the nations ⌞to do this⌟ are over.
• Acts 6:13Some witnesses stood up and lied about Stephen. They said, “This man never stops saying bad things about the holy place and Moses’ Teachings.
• Hebrews 10:26If we go on sinning after we have learned the truth, no sacrifice can take away our sins.
• Isaiah 19:19When that day comes, an altar for the Lord will be in the middle of Egypt, and a stone marker for the Lord will be near its border.
• Exodus 28:4These are the clothes they will make: a breastplate, an ephod and the robe that is worn with it, another specially woven linen robe, the chief priest’s turban, and a cloth belt. They will make these holy clothes for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they can serve me as priests.
• Leviticus 8:7He put the linen robe on Aaron and fastened the belt around him. He also dressed him in the robe that is worn with the ephod. He fastened the ephod to it.
• Judges 8:27Then Gideon used the gold to make an idol and placed it in his hometown, Ophrah. All Israel chased after it there as though it were a prostitute. It became a trap for Gideon and 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

• Ephod
• Symbols and Similitudes

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Children of Israel
• Jew
• Teraphim
• Thummim
• Ephod (1)
• God
• Gomer (2)

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