New English Translation
Hosea 3:4
4For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.
Hosea 3:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
- New International Version (NIV)For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.
Context of Hosea 3:4
2So I paid fifteen shekels of silver and about seven bushels of barley to purchase her. 3Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or have sexual intercourse with another man, and I also will wait for you.” For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols. 5Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings in the future.
Read all of Hosea 3Hosea 3:4 word by word
כִּ֣י׀ יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֗ים יֵֽשְׁבוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֵ֥ין מֶ֙לֶךְ֙ וְאֵ֣ין שָׂ֔ר וְאֵ֥ין זֶ֖בַח וְאֵ֣ין מַצֵּבָ֑ה וְאֵ֥ין אֵפ֖וֹד וּתְרָפִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- shall abideיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- manyרַבrab · manyH7227
- daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- without a kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- and without a princeשַׂרώar · rulerH8269
- and without a sacrificeזֶ֫בַחzebach · sacrificeH2077
- and without an imageמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676
- and without an ephodאֵפוֹד'êphôd 'êphôd · ephodH646
- teraphimתְּרָפִיםterâphîym · teraphimH8655
Cross-references for Hosea 3:4
- Hosea 10:3Very soon they will say, “We have no king since we did not fear the Lord. But what can a king do for us anyway?”
- Genesis 49:10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will obey him.
- Jeremiah 15:4I will make all the people in all the kingdoms of the world horrified at what has happened to them because of what Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.”
- John 19:15Then they shouted out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked, “Shall I crucify your king?” The high priests replied, “We have no king except Caesar!”
- 2 Chronicles 15:2He met Asa and told him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are loyal to him. If you seek him, he will respond to you, but if you reject him, he will reject you.
- Daniel 8:11It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army, from whom the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary was thrown down.
- Daniel 9:27He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. On the wing of abominations will come one who destroys, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”
- Daniel 12:11From the time that the daily sacrifice is removed and the abomination that causes desolation is set in place, there are 1,290 days.
- Matthew 24:1Now as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings.
- Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away as captives among all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Acts 6:13They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place and the law.
- Hebrews 10:26For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us,
- Isaiah 19:19At that time there will be an altar for the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, as well as a sacred pillar dedicated to the Lord at its border.
- Exodus 28:4Now these are the garments that they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a fitted tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and for his sons, that they may minister as my priests.
- Leviticus 8:7Then he put the tunic on Aaron, wrapped the sash around him, and clothed him with the robe. Next he put the ephod on him and placed on him the decorated band of the ephod, and fastened the ephod closely to him with the band.
- Judges 8:27Gideon used all this to make an ephod, which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
Commentaries on Hosea 3:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Many days without a king - Hitherto this prophecy has been literally fulfilled. Since the destruction of the temple by the Romans they have neither had king nor prince, nor any civil government of their own, but have lived in different nations of the earth as mere exiles. They have neither priests nor sacrifices nor urim nor thummim; no prophet, no oracle, no communication of any kind from God. Without an image ephod - teraphim - The Septuagint read…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4For the children of Israel shall abide many days - The condition described is one in which there should be no civil polity, none of the special temple-service, nor yet the idolatry, which they had hitherto combined with it or substituted for it. “King and prince” include both higher and lower governors. Judah had “kings” before the captivity, and a sort of “prince” in her governors after it. Judah remained still a polity, although without the glory of her…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-5Verses 4-5 Here is the application of the parable to Israel. They must long sit like a widow, stripped of all joys and honours; but shall at length be received again. Those that would seek the Lord so as to find him, must apply to Christ, and become his willing people. Not only are we to fear the Lord and his greatness, but the Lord and his goodness; not only his majesty, but his mercy. Even Jewish writers apply this passage to the promised Messiah…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4Just as Hosea’s wife had to live many days without sexual relations, Israel would be without its key institutions, practices, and objects. These included the king or prince, sacrifices, and sacred pillars or idols, which were central to its life and worship.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. The long period here foretold was to be one in which Israel should have no civil polity, king, or prince, no sacrifice to Jehovah, and yet no idol, or false god, no ephod, or teraphim. Exactly describing their state for the last nineteen centuries, separate from idols, yet without any legal sacrifice to Jehovah, whom they profess to worship, and without being acknowledged by Him as His Church. So Kimchi, a Jew, explains it. The ephod was worn by the…Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 3:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Hosea 3
- 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
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