Hosea 5:4

Hosea 5:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.
• New International Version (NIV)“Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the Lord.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“They do not direct their deeds Toward turning to their God, For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, And they do not know the Lord.

Context of Hosea 5:4

2The revolters have gone deep in depravity, But I will chastise all of them. 3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot, Israel has defiled itself. Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, And they do not know the Lord. 5Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also has stumbled with them. 6They will go with their flocks and herds To seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them.

Hosea 5:4 word by word

לֹ֤א יִתְּנוּ֙ מַ֣עַלְלֵיהֶ֔ם לָשׁ֖וּב אֶל־אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֑ם כִּ֣י ר֤וּחַ זְנוּנִים֙ בְּקִרְבָּ֔ם וְאֶת־יְהוָ֖ה לֹ֥א יָדָֽעוּ׃Read the interlinear

• Their deedsמַעֲלָלma‛ălâl · deedH4611
• will not allowנָתַןnâthan · to give: allowH5414
• To returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• to their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
• of harlotryזְנוּנִיםzânûn · fornicationH2183
• is withinקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
• do not knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Hosea 5:4

• Psalms 36:1Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes.
• Psalms 78:8And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
• John 3:19This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:11For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,
• Hosea 4:12My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them; For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, And they have played the harlot, departing from their God.
• Jeremiah 50:38A drought on her waters, and they will be dried up! For it is a land of idols, And they are mad over fearsome idols.
• Hosea 4:1Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, For the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land.
• 1 Samuel 2:12Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord
• Psalms 9:10And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
• Jeremiah 9:6Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.
• Jeremiah 22:15Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
• Jeremiah 24:7I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.
• John 8:55and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word.
• John 16:3These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.
• 1 John 2:3By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

Commentaries on Hosea 5:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4They will not frame their doings - They never purpose to turn to God, they have fully imbibed the spirit of idolatry.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4They will not frame their doings … - They were possessed by an evil spirit, impelling and driving them to sin; “the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them,” i. e., in their very inward self, their center, so to speak; in their souls, where reside the will, the reason, the judgment; and so long as they did not, by the strength of God, dislodge him, they would and could not frame their acts, so as to repent and turn to God. For a mightier impulse…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Israel’s worship of idols was so deeply rooted that the people seemed unable to return to the Lord. the spirit of prostitution is within them: Israel’s sin was not only an action. It had become part of the nation’s basic character. The people naturally chose what was corrupt instead of what was pure. Only through God’s saving work could Israel be freed from this.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. They--Turning from a direct address to Ephraim, he uses the third person plural to characterize the people in general. The Hebrew is against the Margin, their doings will not suffer them" the omission of "them" in the Hebrew after the verb being unusual. The sense is, they are incurable, for they will not permit (as the Hebrew literally means) their doings to be framed so as to turn unto God. Implying that they resist the Spirit of God, not suffering…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 5:4

• Backsliders
• Blindness
• Impenitence
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• God
• Profound
• Rebuke
• Frame
• Hosea
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Hosea 5

• 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