Hosea 8:6

Hosea 8:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For it is from Israel; a craftsman made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For from Israel is even this: A workman made it, and it is not God; But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.
• New Living Translation (NLT)This calf you worship, O Israel, was crafted by your own hands! It is not God! Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.

Context of Hosea 8:6

4They 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. 5Samaria, throw out your calf-idol! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity? They are from Israel! This calf—a metalworker has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria. 7“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up. 8Israel is swallowed up; now she is among the nations like something no one wants.

Hosea 8:6 word by word

כִּ֤י מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְה֔וּא חָרָ֣שׁ עָשָׂ֔הוּ וְלֹ֥א אֱלֹהִ֖ים ה֑וּא כִּֽי־שְׁבָבִ֣ים יִֽהְיֶ֔ה עֵ֖גֶל שֹׁמְרֽוֹן׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For from Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• it also: the workmanחָרָשׁ, חֲרָשִׁיםchârâsh · artificerH2796
• madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• not Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• but the calfעֵ֫גֶל‛êgel · calfH5695
• of Samariaשֹׁמְרוֹןshômerôn · SamariaH8111
• shall be broken in piecesשְׁבָבִיםshâbâb · fragmentH7616

Cross-references for Hosea 8:6

• Psalms 106:19At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
• Psalms 115:4But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.
• Psalms 135:15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands.
• Isaiah 44:9All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame.
• Jeremiah 10:3For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
• Habakkuk 2:18“Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman? Or an image that teaches lies? For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
• Acts 17:29“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.
• Acts 19:26And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.
• Hosea 10:2Their heart is deceitful, and now they must bear their guilt. The Lord will demolish their altars and destroy their sacred stones.
• Jeremiah 43:12He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive. As a shepherd picks his garment clean of lice, so he will pick Egypt clean and depart.
• Jeremiah 50:2“Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say, ‘Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror. Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.’
• 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 34:6In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them,

Commentaries on Hosea 8:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6The workman made it; therefore it is not God - As God signifies the supreme eternal Good, the Creator and Upholder of all things, therefore the workman cannot make Him who made all things. This is an overwhelming argument against all idols. Nothing need be added. The workman has made them; therefore they are not God.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6For - This verse may assign the reasons of God‘s displeasure, “mine anger is kindled;” or of Israel‘s impenitency, “How long will it be?” This indeed is only going a little further back, for Israel‘s incorrigibleness was the ground of God‘s displeasure. And they were incorrigible; because they had themselves devised it; “for from Israel was it also.” Those are especially incorrigible, who do not fall into error through ignorance, but who through malice…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-10Verses 5-10 They promised themselves plenty, peace, and victory, by worshipping idols, but their expectations came to nothing. What they sow has no stalk, no blade, or, if it have, the bud shall yield no fruit, there was nothing in them. The works of darkness are unfruitful; nay, the end of those things is death. The hopes of sinners will deceive them, and their gains will be snares. In times of danger, especially in the day of judgment, all carnal…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5-6your calf: Jeroboam I was the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He ruled from 931 to 910 BC. When he became king, he set up worship places in Dan and Bethel. He did this to prevent people from traveling to the temple in Jerusalem, the capital of the southern kingdom. At each site, he placed a gold calf for the people to worship (1 Kings 12:26–30).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. from Israel was it--that is, the calf originated with them, not from Me. "It also," as well as their "kings set up" by them, "but not by Me" (Ho 8:4).Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 8:6

• Calf
• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• God
• Israel
• Samaria
• Calf, Golden
• Hosea
• Pekahiah
• Worker; Workfellow; Workman
• 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