Hosea 4:16

Hosea 4:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
• New International Version (NIV)The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the Lord pasture them like lambs in a meadow?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?
• New King James Version (NKJV)“For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf; Now the Lord will let them forage Like a lamb in open country.

Context of Hosea 4:16

14I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot Or your brides when they commit adultery, For the men themselves go apart with harlots And offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes; So the people without understanding are ruined. 15Though you, Israel, play the harlot, Do not let Judah become guilty; Also do not go to Gilgal, Or go up to Beth-aven And take the oath: “As the Lord lives!” Since Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn heifer, Can the Lord now pasture them Like a lamb in a large field? 17Ephraim is joined to idols; Let him alone. 18Their liquor gone, They play the harlot continually; Their rulers dearly love shame.

Hosea 4:16 word by word

כִּ֚י כְּפָרָ֣ה סֹֽרֵרָ֔ה סָרַ֖ר יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל עַתָּה֙ יִרְעֵ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה כְּכֶ֖בֶשׂ בַּמֶּרְחָֽב׃Read the interlinear

• Sinceכִּיkîy · forH3588
• Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• stubbornסָרַרsârar · to rebelH5637
• heiferפַּרpar pâr · bullockH6499
• Can the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• nowעַתָּ֫ה‛attâh · nowH6258
• pastureרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462
• Like a lambכֶּ֫בֶשׂkebeώ · lambH3532
• in a largeמֶרְחָבmerchâb · broadH4800

Cross-references for Hosea 4:16

• Hosea 11:7So My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call them to the One on high, None at all exalts Him.
• 1 Samuel 15:11“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.
• Jeremiah 3:6Then the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there.
• Jeremiah 5:6Therefore a lion from the forest will slay them, A wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, Because their transgressions are many, Their apostasies are numerous.
• Jeremiah 7:24Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.
• Jeremiah 8:5Why then has this people, Jerusalem, Turned away in continual apostasy? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return.
• Jeremiah 14:7Although our iniquities testify against us, O Lord, act for Your name’s sake! Truly our apostasies have been many, We have sinned against You.
• Zechariah 7:11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing.
• Leviticus 26:33You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste.
• Isaiah 7:21Now in that day a man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep;
• Isaiah 22:18And roll you tightly like a ball, To be cast into a vast country; There you will die And there your splendid chariots will be, You shame of your master’s house.’

Commentaries on Hosea 4:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Israel slideth back - They are untractable, like an unbroken heifer or steer, that pulls back, rather than draw in the yoke. Will feed them as a lamb in a large place - A species of irony. Ye shall go to Assyria, and be scattered among the nations; ye may sport yourselves in the extensive empire, wither ye shall be carried captives.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16For Israel slideth back, as a backsliding heifer - The calves which Israel worshiped were pictures of itself. They represented natural, untamed, strength, which, when put to service, started back and shrank from the yoke. “Untractable, petulant, unruly, wanton, it withdrew from the yoke, when it could; if it could not, it drew aside or backward, instead of forward.” So is it rare, exceeding rare, for man to walk straight on in God‘s ways; he jerks…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-19Verses 12-19 The people consulted images, and not the Divine word. This would lead to disorder and sin. Thus men prepare scourges for themselves, and vice is spread through a people. Let not Judah come near the idolatrous worship of Israel. For Israel was devoted to idols, and must now be let alone. When sinners cast off the easy yoke of Christ, they go on in sin till the Lord saith, Let them alone. Then they receive no more warnings, feel no more…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. backsliding--Translate, "Israel is refractory, as a refractory heifer," namely, one that throws the yoke off her neck. Israel had represented God under the form of "calves" (1Ki 12:28); but it is she herself who is one. lamb in a large place--not in a good sense, as in Is 30:23. Here there is irony: lambs like a large pasture; but it is not so safe for them as a small one, duly fenced from wild beasts. God will "feed" them, but it shall be with the…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 4:16

• Backsliders
• Heifer
• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Cattle
• Languish
• Reject
• Backslide
• Hosea
• Teach; Teacher; Teaching
• 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