Hosea 8:4

Hosea 8:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
• New International Version (NIV)They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them. From their silver and gold They made idols for themselves— That they might be cut off.

Context of Hosea 8:4

2They cry out to Me, “My God, we of Israel know You!” 3Israel has rejected the good; The enemy will pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by Me; They have appointed officials, but I did not know it. With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, So that they will be eliminated. 5He has rejected your calf, Samaria, saying, “My anger burns against them!” How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6For from Israel comes even this! A craftsman made it, so it is not God; Assuredly, the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces.

Hosea 8:4 word by word

הֵ֤ם הִמְלִיכוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א מִמֶּ֔נִּי הֵשִׂ֖ירוּ וְלֹ֣א יָדָ֑עְתִּי כַּסְפָּ֣ם וּזְהָבָ֗ם עָשׂ֤וּ לָהֶם֙ עֲצַבִּ֔ים לְמַ֖עַן יִכָּרֵֽת׃Read the interlinear

• They have setמָלַךְmâlak · to reignH4427
• They have appointedשָׂרַרώârar · to ruleH8323
• but I did not knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• silverכֶּ֫סֶףkeseph · silver: moneyH3701
• and goldזָהָבzâhâb · goldH2091
• they have madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• idolsעָצָב‛âtsâb · idolH6091
• Soמַ֫עַןma‛an · becauseH4616
• they will be eliminatedכָּרַתkârath · to cut: eliminateH3772

Cross-references for Hosea 8:4

• 1 Kings 12:16When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people replied to the king, saying, “What share do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; To your tents, Israel! Now look after your own house, David!” So Israel went away to their tents.
• 2 Kings 15:10Then Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and struck him in the presence of the people and killed him, and reigned in his place.
• Matthew 25:12But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’
• Luke 13:25Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin standing outside and knocking on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ and He then will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
• John 10:14I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me,
• Galatians 4:9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again?
• Hosea 2:8“Yet she does not know that it was I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they used for Baal.
• Hosea 13:2And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves cast metal images, Idols skillfully made from their silver, All of them the work of craftsmen. They say of them, “Let the people who sacrifice kiss the calves!”
• 1 Kings 12:28So the king consulted, and he made two golden calves; and he said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
• 1 Kings 16:31And as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.
• Hosea 13:9It is to your own destruction, Israel, That you are against Me, against your help.
• 1 Kings 13:34This event also became a sin of the house of Jeroboam, even to wipe it out and eliminate it from the face of the earth.
• Jeremiah 44:7Now then, this is what the Lord God of armies, the God of Israel says: “Why are you doing great harm to yourselves, to eliminate from yourselves man and woman, child and infant from among Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant,
• Ezekiel 18:31Hurl away from you all your offenses which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why should you die, house of Israel?

Commentaries on Hosea 8:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4They have set up kings, but not by me - Properly speaking, not one of the kings of Israel, from the defection of the ten tribes from the house of David, was the anointed or the Lord. I knew it not - It had not my approbation. In this sense the word know is frequently understood. That they may be cut off - That is, They shall be cut off in consequence of their idolatry.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4They have set up kings, but not by ME - God Himself foretold to Jeroboam by Ahijah the prophet, that He would “rend the kingdom out of the hands of Solomon, and give ten tribes” to him, “and” would “take” him, “and” he “should reign according to all that” his soul desired and” should “be king over Israel” 1 Kings 11:31, 1 Kings 11:37; and, after the ten tribes had made Jeroboam king, God said by Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam and the two tribes, “Ye…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4They make princes, but without My approval: They quickly removed one king and chose another if they believed it would save their nation (see Hosea 7:7). They did all of this without consulting their true king, the Lord.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. kings ... not by me--not with My sanction (1Ki 11:31; 12:20). Israel set up Jeroboam and his successors, whereas God had appointed the house of David as the rightful kings of the whole nation. I knew it not--I approved it not (Psa 1:6). of ... gold ... idols--(Ho 2:8; 13:2). that they may be cut off--that is, though warned of the consequences of idolatry, as it were with open eyes they rushed on their own destruction. So Jr 27:10, 15; 44:8.Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 8:4

• Government
• Idol
• King

In the dictionaries

• Hosea
• Pekahiah
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Hosea 8

• 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