God’s Word Translation
Hosea 7:8
8“Ephraim mixes with other nations. Ephraim, you are like a half-baked loaf of bread.
Hosea 7:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.
- New International Version (NIV)“Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned.
Context of Hosea 7:8
6They become hot like an oven while they lie in ambush. All night long their anger smolders, but in the morning it burns like a raging fire. 7They are all as hot as an oven. They consume their judges ⌞like a fire⌟. All their kings die in battle, and none of them calls to me. “Ephraim mixes with other nations. Ephraim, you are like a half-baked loaf of bread. 9Foreigners are using up your strength, but you don’t realize it. You have become a gray-haired, old man, but you don’t realize it. 10Israel, your arrogance testifies against you, but even after all this, you don’t turn to the Lord your God or look to him for help.
Read all of Hosea 7Hosea 7:8 word by word
אֶפְרַ֕יִם בָּעַמִּ֖ים ה֣וּא יִתְבּוֹלָ֑ל אֶפְרַ֛יִם הָיָ֥ה עֻגָ֖ה בְּלִ֥י הֲפוּכָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Hosea 7:8
- Hosea 5:7They have been unfaithful to the Lord, because their children do not belong to him. Now their New Moon ⌞Festivals⌟ will devour them and their fields.
- Hosea 9:3The people of Ephraim won’t stay in the Lord’s land. They will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
- Ezra 9:1After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have failed to keep themselves separate from the neighboring groups of people and from the disgusting practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.
- Nehemiah 13:23In those days I saw some Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
- Psalms 106:35Instead, they intermarried with other nations. They learned to do what other nations did,
- Ezekiel 23:4“The older girl was named Oholah, and the younger girl was named Oholibah. I married them, and they gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah represents Samaria, and Oholibah represents Jerusalem.
- Malachi 2:11Judah has been unfaithful! A disgusting thing has been done in Israel and Jerusalem. Judah has dishonored the holy place that the Lord loves and has married a woman who worships a foreign god.
- Hosea 8:2They cry out to me, ‘We acknowledge you as our God.’
- 1 Kings 18:21Elijah stood up in front of all the people and asked them, “How long will you try to have it both ways? If the Lord is God, follow him; if Baal is God, follow him.” The people didn’t say a word.
- Zephaniah 1:5I will remove those who worship all the stars in the sky on their rooftops and those who worship by swearing loyalty to the Lord while also swearing loyalty to the god Milcom.
- Matthew 6:24“No one can serve two masters. He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and wealth.
- Revelation 3:15I know what you have done, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot.
Commentaries on Hosea 7:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8A cake not turned - In the East having heated the hearth, they sweep one corner, put the cake upon it, and cover it with embers; in a short time they turn it, cover it again, and continue this several times, till they find it sufficiently baked. All travelers into Asiatic countries have noted this.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people - i. e., with the pagan; he “mixed” or “mingled” himself among or with them, so as to corrupt himself, as it is said, “they were mingled among the pagan and learned their works” Psalm 106:35. God had forbidden all intermarriage with the pagan Exodus 34:12-16, lest His people should corrupt themselves: they thought themselves wiser than He, intermarried, and were corrupted. Such are the ways of those who put…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. 8Ephraim mixes with the nations: By trusting foreign nations instead of God for safety, the Israelites lost their purity and holiness, which set them apart for the Lord. Flatbread needs turning at the right time to bake evenly on both sides. Otherwise, it burns on one side and stays raw on the other. Israel was like a half-baked cake and thus became worthless.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. mixed ... among the people--by leagues with idolaters, and the adoption of their idolatrous practices (Ho 7:9, 11; Psa 106:35). Ephraim ... cake not turned--a cake burnt on one side and unbaked on the other, and so uneatable; an image of the worthlessness of Ephraim. The Easterners bake their bread on the ground, covering it with embers (1Ki 19:6), and turning it every ten minutes, to bake it thoroughly without burning it.Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 7:8
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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