Hosea 5:4

Hosea 5:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the Lord.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“They do not direct their deeds Toward turning to their God, For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, And they do not know the Lord.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Your deeds won’t let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the Lord.

Context of Hosea 5:4

2The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them. 3I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt. “Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the Lord. 5Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them. 6When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.

Hosea 5:4 word by word

לֹ֤א יִתְּנוּ֙ מַ֣עַלְלֵיהֶ֔ם לָשׁ֖וּב אֶל־אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֑ם כִּ֣י ר֤וּחַ זְנוּנִים֙ בְּקִרְבָּ֔ם וְאֶת־יְהוָ֖ה לֹ֥א יָדָֽעוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They will not frameנָתַןnâthan · to give: allowH5414
• their doingsמַעֲלָלma‛ălâl · deedH4611
• to turnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• unto their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• for the spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
• of whoredomsזְנוּנִיםzânûn · fornicationH2183
• in the midstקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
• of them, and they have not knownיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Hosea 5:4

• Psalms 36:1I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
• Psalms 78:8They would not be like their ancestors— a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
• John 3:19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:11For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
• Hosea 4:12My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.
• Jeremiah 50:38A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.
• Hosea 4:1Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
• 1 Samuel 2:12Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.
• Psalms 9:10Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
• Jeremiah 9:6You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the Lord.
• Jeremiah 22:15“Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.
• Jeremiah 24:7I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
• John 8:55Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word.
• John 16:3They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.
• 1 John 2:3We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.

Commentaries on Hosea 5:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4They will not frame their doings - They never purpose to turn to God, they have fully imbibed the spirit of idolatry.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4They will not frame their doings … - They were possessed by an evil spirit, impelling and driving them to sin; “the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them,” i. e., in their very inward self, their center, so to speak; in their souls, where reside the will, the reason, the judgment; and so long as they did not, by the strength of God, dislodge him, they would and could not frame their acts, so as to repent and turn to God. For a mightier impulse…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Israel’s worship of idols was so deeply rooted that the people seemed unable to return to the Lord. the spirit of prostitution is within them: Israel’s sin was not only an action. It had become part of the nation’s basic character. The people naturally chose what was corrupt instead of what was pure. Only through God’s saving work could Israel be freed from this.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. They--Turning from a direct address to Ephraim, he uses the third person plural to characterize the people in general. The Hebrew is against the Margin, their doings will not suffer them" the omission of "them" in the Hebrew after the verb being unusual. The sense is, they are incurable, for they will not permit (as the Hebrew literally means) their doings to be framed so as to turn unto God. Implying that they resist the Spirit of God, not suffering…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 5:4

• Backsliders
• Blindness
• Impenitence
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Profound
• Rebuke
• Frame
• Hosea
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Hosea 5

• 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