Hosea 4:13

Hosea 4:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
• New International Version (NIV)They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery.
• New King James Version (NKJV)They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, And burn incense on the hills, Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, Because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit harlotry, And your brides commit adultery.

Context of Hosea 4:13

11Old and new wine take away the understanding of my people. 12They consult their wooden idols, and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle. The wind of prostitution blows them astray; they commit spiritual adultery against their God. They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery! 14I will not punish your daughters when they commit prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men consort with harlots, they sacrifice with temple prostitutes. It is true: “A people that lacks understanding will come to ruin!” 15Although you, O Israel, commit adultery, do not let Judah become guilty! Do not journey to Gilgal! Do not go up to Beth Aven! Do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives!”

Hosea 4:13 word by word

עַל־רָאשֵׁ֨י הֶהָרִ֜ים יְזַבֵּ֗חוּ וְעַל־הַגְּבָעוֹת֙ יְקַטֵּ֔רוּ תַּ֣חַת אַלּ֧וֹן וְלִבְנֶ֛ה וְאֵלָ֖ה כִּ֣י ט֣וֹב צִלָּ֑הּ עַל־כֵּ֗ן תִּזְנֶ֙ינָה֙ בְּנ֣וֹתֵיכֶ֔ם וְכַלּוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם תְּנָאַֽפְנָה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They sacrificeזָבַחzâbach · to sacrificeH2076
• upon the topsרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: topH7218
• of the mountainsהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
• and burn incenseקָטַרqâţar · to offer: offerH6999
• upon the hillsגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389
• under oaksאַלּוֹן'allôn · oakH437
• and poplarsלִבְנֶהlibneh · poplarH3839
• and elmsאֵלָה'êlâh · oakH424
• because the shadowצֵלtsêl · shadowH6738
• goodטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
• therefore your daughtersבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• shall commit whoredomזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
• and your spousesכַּלָּהkallâh · daughter-in-law: brideH3618
• shall commit adulteryנָאַףnâ'aph · to commit adulteryH5003

Cross-references for Hosea 4:13

• Isaiah 1:29Indeed, they will be ashamed of the sacred trees you find so desirable; you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards where you choose to worship.
• Isaiah 57:5you who practice ritual sex under the oaks and every green tree, who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs.
• Jeremiah 3:6When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods.
• Ezekiel 6:13Then you will know that I am the Lord – when their dead lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and all the mountaintops, under every green tree and every leafy oak, the places where they have offered fragrant incense to all their idols.
• Ezekiel 16:16You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places; you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his.
• Ezekiel 20:28I brought them to the land which I swore to give them, but whenever they saw any high hill or leafy tree, they offered their sacrifices there and presented the offerings that provoke me to anger. They offered their soothing aroma there and poured out their drink offerings.
• 2 Samuel 12:10So now the sword will never depart from your house. For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!’
• Job 31:9If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
• Amos 7:17“Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the streets and your sons and daughters will die violently. Your land will be given to others and you will die in a foreign land. Israel will certainly be carried into exile away from its land.’”
• Romans 1:23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

Commentaries on Hosea 4:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Under oaks - אלון allon, from אלל alal, he was strong. Hence, the oak, in Latin, is called robur; which word means also, strength, the oak being the strongest of all the trees of the forest. The shadow thereof is good - Their "daughters committed whoredom, and their spouses committed adultery." Their deities were worshipped by prostitution. They drank much in their idol worship, Hosea 4:11, and thus their passions became inflamed. 3. The thick groves were…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains - The tops of hills or mountains seemed nearer heaven, the air was purer, the place more removed from the world. To worship the Unseen God upon them, was then the suggestion of natural feeling and of simple devotion. God Himself directed the typical sacrifice of Isaac to take place on a mountain; on that same mountain He commanded that the temple should be built; on a mountain, God gave the law; on a mountain…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
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13Many Canaanite religious rituals took place on mountaintops and hills. On these pagan "high places," sacred trees were often used in fertility worship (1 Kings 14:23; Jeremiah 2:20). Israelite daughters and brides also engaged in sexual acts during the worship of Baal; their fathers and husbands possibly forced them to participate.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. upon ... mountains--High places were selected by idolaters on which to sacrifice, because of their greater nearness to the heavenly hosts which they worshipped (De 12:2). elms--rather, "terebinths" [Maurer]. shadow ... good--screening the lascivious worshippers from the heat of the sun. daughters ... commit whoredom ... spouses ... adultery--in the polluted worship of Astarte, the Phoenician goddess of love.Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 4:13

• Elm
• Idolatry
• Minister, Christian
• Mountain
• Poplar
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Elm
• Jeroboam
• Languish
• Poplar
• Reject
• Spouse
• Teil tree
• Deuteronomy
• Harlot
• Hill; Mount; Mountain

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