New King James Version
Hosea 8:6
6For from Israel is even this: A workman made it, and it is not God; But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.
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.
- New International Version (NIV)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.
- 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 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
4“They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them. From their silver and gold They made idols for themselves— That they might be cut off. 5Your calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them— How long until they attain to innocence? 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. 7“They sow the wind, And reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud; It shall never produce meal. If it should produce, Aliens would swallow it up. 8Israel is swallowed up; Now they are among the Gentiles Like a vessel in which is no pleasure.
Read all of Hosea 8Hosea 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 106:19They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped the molded image.
- Psalms 115:4Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.
- Psalms 135:15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.
- Isaiah 44:9Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
- Jeremiah 10:3For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
- Habakkuk 2:18“What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it, To make mute idols?
- Acts 17:29Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.
- Acts 19:26Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands.
- Hosea 10:2Their heart is divided; Now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars; He will ruin their sacred pillars.
- Jeremiah 43:12I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment, and he shall go out from there in peace.
- Jeremiah 50:2“Declare among the nations, Proclaim, and set up a standard; Proclaim—do not conceal it— Say, ‘Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken in pieces; Her idols are humiliated, Her images are broken in pieces.’
- 2 Kings 23:15Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image.
- 2 Chronicles 31:1Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the sacred pillars in pieces, cut down the wooden images, and threw down the high places and the altars—from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh—until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned to their own cities, every man to his possession.
- 2 Chronicles 34:6And so he did in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around, with axes.
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
In the dictionaries
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries