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

4Yet let no one find fault, and let no one rebuke; For your people are like those who contend with a priest. 5So you will stumble by day, And the prophet also will stumble with you by night; And I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I also will forget your children. 7The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. 8They feed on the sin of My people, And long for their wrongdoing.

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

• My peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• are destroyedדָּמָהdâmâh · to ceaseH1820
• for lackאַ֫יִן'ayin · nothingH369
• of knowledgeדַּ֫עַתda‛ath · knowledgeH1847
• Sinceכִּיkîy · forH3588
• rejectedמָאַסmâ'as · to rejectH3988
• you from beingכָּהַןkâhan · to ministerH3547
• forgottenשָׁכַחshâkach shâkêach · to forgetH7911
• Lawתּוֹרָהtôrâh tôrâh · instructionH8451
• of your Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• I alsoגַּםgam · alsoH1571
• your childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121

Cross-references for Hosea 4:6

• Hosea 4:12My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them; For a spirit of infidelity has led them astray, And they have been unfaithful, departing from their God.
• Isaiah 1:3An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”
• Isaiah 3:12My people! Their oppressors treat them violently, And women rule over them. My people! Those who guide you lead you astray And confuse the direction of your paths.
• Isaiah 5:13Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their nobles are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.
• Jeremiah 4:22“For My people are foolish, They do not know Me; They are foolish children And have no understanding. They are skillful at doing evil, But they do not know how to do good.”
• Jeremiah 8:7Even the stork in the sky Knows her seasons; And the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane Keep to the time of their migration; But My people do not know The judgment of the Lord.
• Hosea 4:1Listen to the word of the Lord, you sons of Israel, Because the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, For there is no faithfulness, nor loyalty, Nor knowledge of God in the land.
• Hosea 6:6For I desire loyalty rather than sacrifice, And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
• 2 Chronicles 15:3For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without the Law.
• Job 36:12But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword, And die without knowledge.
• Proverbs 19:2Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And one who hurries his footsteps errs.
• Isaiah 27:11When its limbs are dry, they are broken off; Women come and make a fire with them, For they are not a people of discernment, Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them. And their Creator will not be gracious to them.
• Isaiah 45:20“Gather yourselves and come; Come together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge, Who carry around their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save.
• Jeremiah 5:3Lord, do Your eyes not look for honesty? You have struck them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.
• Matthew 15:14Leave them alone; they are blind guides of blind people. And if a person who is blind guides another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,

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
• Languish
• Reject
• Hosea
• Moses
• Pentateuch
• Priests and Levites
• Text of the Old Testament
• Zechariah, Book of
• multiply, multiplied, multiplication

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