Hosea 4:6

Hosea 4:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
• New International Version (NIV)my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.
• English Standard Version (ESV)My 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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Context of Hosea 4:6

4“No one should accuse other people or bring charges against them. My case is against you priests. 5During the day you stumble, and during the night the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother, ⌞the nation of Israel⌟. I will destroy my people because they are ignorant. You have refused to learn, so I will refuse to let you be my priests. You have forgotten the teachings of your God, so I will forget your children. 7The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. So I will turn their glory into shame. 8They feed on the sins of my people, and they want them to do wicked things.

Hosea 4:6 word by word

נִדְמ֥וּ עַמִּ֖י מִבְּלִ֣י הַדָּ֑עַת כִּֽי־אַתָּ֞ה הַדַּ֣עַת מָאַ֗סְתָּ וְאֶמְאָֽסְאךָ֙ מִכַּהֵ֣ן לִ֔י וַתִּשְׁכַּח֙ תּוֹרַ֣ת אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ אֶשְׁכַּ֥ח בָּנֶ֖יךָ גַּם־אָֽנִי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• My peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• are destroyedדָּמָהdâmâh · to ceaseH1820
• for lack of knowledgeדַּ֫עַתda‛ath · knowledgeH1847
• because thou hast rejectedמָאַסmâ'as · to rejectH3988
• thee, that thou shalt be no priestכָּהַןkâhan · to ministerH3547
• to me: seeing thou hast forgottenשָׁכַחshâkach shâkêach · to forgetH7911
• the lawתּוֹרָהtôrâh tôrâh · instructionH8451
• of thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• thy childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121

Cross-references for Hosea 4:6

• Hosea 4:12My people ask their wooden idols for help. A piece of wood tells them what to do. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray. They commit adultery by giving themselves to other gods.
• Isaiah 1:3Oxen know their owners, and donkeys know where their masters feed them. But Israel doesn’t know ⌞its owner⌟. My people don’t understand ⌞who feeds them⌟.
• Isaiah 3:12“Children will oppress my people. Women will rule them. My people, your guides mislead you, and you don’t know which way to go.”
• Isaiah 5:13“My people will go into exile because they don’t understand what I’m doing. Honored men will starve, and common people will be parched with thirst.”
• Jeremiah 4:22“My people are fools. They don’t know me. They are stupid people. They don’t understand. They are experts in doing wrong, and they don’t know how to do good.”
• Jeremiah 8:7Even storks know when it’s time to return. Mourning doves, swallows, and cranes know when it’s time to migrate. But my people don’t know that I, the Lord, am urging them to return.
• Hosea 4:1Listen to the Lord’s word, you Israelites. The Lord has brought these charges against those who live in the land: “There is no faith, no love, and no knowledge of God in the land.
• Hosea 6:6I want your loyalty, not your sacrifices. I want you to know me, not to give me burnt offerings.
• 2 Chronicles 15:3For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest who taught ⌞correctly⌟, and without Moses’ Teachings.
• Job 36:12But if they don’t listen, they will cross the River ⌞of Death⌟ and die like those who have no knowledge.
• Proverbs 19:2A person without knowledge is no good. A person in a hurry makes mistakes.
• Isaiah 27:11When the branches are dried up, they will be broken off. Women will come and build a fire with them. These people don’t understand ⌞these things⌟. That is why their maker won’t have compassion on them, and their Creator won’t have pity on them.
• Isaiah 45:20Come here, you refugees from the nations. Ignorant people carry wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save ⌞anyone⌟.
• Jeremiah 5:3Lord, your eyes look for the truth. You strike these people, but they don’t feel it. You crush them, but they refuse to be corrected. They are more stubborn than rocks. They refuse to turn back.
• Matthew 15:14Leave them alone! They are blind leaders. When one blind person leads another, both will fall into the same pit.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:3So if the Good News that we tell others is covered with a veil, it is hidden from those who are dying.

Commentaries on Hosea 4:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge - They have not the knowledge of God, nor of sacred things, nor of their own interest, nor of the danger to which they are exposed. They walk on blindly, and perish. Because thou hast rejected knowledge - So they might have become wise, had they not rejected the means of improvement. Thou shalt be no priest to me - If this be the true reading, there must be reference to some particular priest, well known, to…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge - “My people are,” not, “is.” This accurately represents the Hebrew. The word “people” speaks of them as a whole; are, relates to the individuals of whom that whole is composed. Together, the words express the utter destruction of the whole, one and all. They are destroyed “for lack of knowledge,” literally, “of the knowledge,” i. e., the only knowledge, which in the creature is real knowledge, that knowledge…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
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6Since the priests refused to know the Lord, the people also did not know their God. As a result, the people were being destroyed. A main role of the priests of Israel was to know, practice, and teach the laws of God. Ironically, these guardians of the law had forgotten it.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. lack of knowledge--"of God" (Ho 4:1), that is, lack of piety. Their ignorance was wilful, as the epithet, "My people," implies; they ought to have known, having the opportunity, as the people of God. thou--O priest, so-called. Not regularly constituted, but still bearing the name, while confounding the worship of Jehovah and of the calves in Beth-el (1Ki 12:29, 31). I will ... forget thy children--Not only those who then were alive should be deprived…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 4:6

• Backsliders
• Blindness
• Forgetting God
• Ignorance
• Knowledge
• Minister, Christian
• Sin

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Languish
• Reject
• Hosea
• Moses
• Pentateuch
• Priests and Levites
• Text of the Old Testament
• Zechariah, Book of

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