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.
• New International Version (NIV)“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.
• 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 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 revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, Though I rebuke them all. 3I know Ephraim, And Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled. “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. 5The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them. 6“With their flocks and herds They shall go to seek the Lord, But they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them.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 36:1An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes.
• Psalms 78:8And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
• John 3:19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:11And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
• Hosea 4:12My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, And their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, And they have played the harlot against their God.
• Jeremiah 50:38A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, And they are insane with their idols.
• Hosea 4:1Hear the word of the Lord, You children of Israel, For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.
• 1 Samuel 2:12Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.
• Psalms 9:10And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
• Jeremiah 9:6Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 22:15“Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
• Jeremiah 24:7Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.
• John 8:55Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.
• John 16:3And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.
• 1 John 2:3Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

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
• 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