Hosea 10:8

Hosea 10:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. Thorn and thistle shall grow up on their altars, and they shall say to the mountains, "Cover us," and to the hills, "Fall on us."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, Shall be destroyed. The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars; They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”
• New Living Translation (NLT)And the pagan shrines of Aven, the place of Israel’s sin, will crumble. Thorns and thistles will grow up around their altars. They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!” and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!”

Context of Hosea 10:8

6It will be carried to Assyria as tribute for the great king. Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances. 7Samaria’s king will be destroyed, swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters. The high places of wickedness will be destroyed— it is the sin of Israel. Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!” 9“Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel, and there you have remained. Will not war again overtake the evildoers in Gibeah? 10When I please, I will punish them; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bonds for their double sin.

Hosea 10:8 word by word

וְנִשְׁמְד֞וּ בָּמ֣וֹת אָ֗וֶן חַטַּאת֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל ק֣וֹץ וְדַרְדַּ֔ר יַעֲלֶ֖ה עַל־מִזְבְּחוֹתָ֑ם וְאָמְר֤וּ לֶֽהָרִים֙ כַּסּ֔וּנוּ וְלַגְּבָע֖וֹת נִפְל֥וּ עָלֵֽינוּ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The high placesבָּמָהbâmâh · high placeH1116
• also of Avenאָ֫וֶן'âven · AvenH206
• the sinחַטָּאתchaţţâ'âh chaţţâ'th · sinH2403
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• shall be destroyedשָׁמַדshâmad · to destroyH8045
• the thornקוֹץqôts qôts · thornH6975
• and the thistleדַּרְדַּרdardar · thistleH1863
• shall come upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
• on their altarsמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
• and they shall sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• to the mountainsהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
• Coverכָּסָהkâsâh · to coverH3680
• us; and to the hillsגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389
• Fallנָפַלnâphal · to fall: fallH5307

Cross-references for Hosea 10:8

• Hosea 10:5The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol of Beth Aven. Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile.
• Hosea 4:15“Though you, Israel, commit adultery, do not let Judah become guilty. “Do not go to Gilgal; do not go up to Beth Aven. And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’
• Hosea 5:8“Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, Benjamin.
• Deuteronomy 9:21Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.
• 1 Kings 12:28After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
• 1 Kings 13:34This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.
• 1 Kings 14:16And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”
• Amos 8:14Those who swear by the sin of Samaria— who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.”
• Micah 1:5All this is because of Jacob’s transgression, because of the sins of the people of Israel. What is Jacob’s transgression? Is it not Samaria? What is Judah’s high place? Is it not Jerusalem?
• Hosea 9:6Even if they escape from destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, and thorns will overrun their tents.
• Isaiah 32:13and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers— yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry.
• Isaiah 34:13Thorns will overrun her citadels, nettles and brambles her strongholds. She will become a haunt for jackals, a home for owls.
• 1 Kings 13:2By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’ ”
• 2 Kings 23:15Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also.
• 2 Chronicles 31:1When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property.
• 2 Chronicles 34:5He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and so he purged Judah and Jerusalem.

Commentaries on Hosea 10:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8The high-places - Idol temples. Of Aven - Beth-aven. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars - Owing to the uncultivated and unfrequented state of the land, and of their places of idol worship, the people being all carried away into captivity. "And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, And to the hills, Fall on us." "This sublime description of fear and distress our Lord had in view, Luke 23:30, which may be a reference, and not a…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8The high places of Aven - that is, of vanity or iniquity. He had before called “Bethel, house of God,” by the name of “Bethaven, house of vanity;” now he calls it “Aven, vanity” or “iniquity,” as being the concentration of those qualities. Bethel was situated on a “hill,” the “mount of Bethel,” and, from different sides, people were said to “go up” (Joshua 16:1; 1 Samuel 13:2; above Hosea 4:13; Genesis 35:1; Judges 1:22; 1 Samuel 10:3; 2 Kings 2:23) to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8The Israelites who survived the disaster would only be able to cry out to the mountains and hills, Cover us! … Fall on us!Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. Aven--that is, Beth-aven. the sin--that is, the occasion of sin (De 9:21; 1Ki 12:30). they shall say to ... mountains, Cover us--So terrible shall be the calamity, that men shall prefer death to life (Lu 23:30; Re 6:16; 9:6). Those very hills on which were their idolatrous altars (one source of their confidence, as their "king," Ho 10:7, was the other), so far from helping them, shall be called on by them to overwhelm them.Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 10:8

• Aven
• Despondency
• Quotations and Allusions
• Thistle
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Ashamed
• Bethel
• Hosea, Prophecies of
• Plow
• Reap
• Thistle
• Altar
• Calf, Golden
• Captivity

Commentaries on Hosea 10

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings