Hosea 4:12

Hosea 4:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
• New International Version (NIV)My 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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.
• New King James Version (NKJV)My 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.

Context of Hosea 4:12

10They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the Lord 11to worship other gods. “Wine has robbed my people of their understanding. They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God. 13They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops. They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees. “That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. 14But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery? For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes. O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed.

Hosea 4:12 word by word

עַמִּי֙ בְּעֵצ֣וֹ יִשְׁאָ֔ל וּמַקְל֖וֹ יַגִּ֣יד ל֑וֹ כִּ֣י ר֤וּחַ זְנוּנִים֙ הִתְעָ֔ה וַיִּזְנ֖וּ מִתַּ֥חַת אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• My peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• askשָׁאַלshâ'al shâ'êl · to askH7592
• counsel at their stocksעֵץ‛êts · tree: woodH6086
• and their staffמַקֵּלmaqqêl maqqelâh · rodH4731
• declarethנָגַדnâgad · to tellH5046
• unto them: for the spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
• of whoredomsזְנוּנִיםzânûn · fornicationH2183
• to errתָּעָהtâ‛âh · to go astrayH8582
• and they have gone a whoringזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
• from under their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430

Cross-references for Hosea 4:12

• Jeremiah 2:27To an image carved from a piece of wood they say, ‘You are my father.’ To an idol chiseled from a block of stone they say, ‘You are my mother.’ They turn their backs on me, but in times of trouble they cry out to me, ‘Come and save us!’
• Jeremiah 10:8People who worship idols are stupid and foolish. The things they worship are made of wood!
• Ezekiel 21:21The king of Babylon now stands at the fork, uncertain whether to attack Jerusalem or Rabbah. He calls his magicians to look for omens. They cast lots by shaking arrows from the quiver. They inspect the livers of animal sacrifices.
• Habakkuk 2:19What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols, ‘Wake up and save us!’ To speechless stone images you say, ‘Rise up and teach us!’ Can an idol tell you what to do? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside.
• Hosea 5:4Your deeds won’t let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the Lord.
• Isaiah 44:18Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.
• Micah 2:11Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you, “I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!” That’s just the kind of prophet you would like!
• 2 Thessalonians 2:9This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.
• Hosea 9:1O people of Israel, do not rejoice as other nations do. For you have been unfaithful to your God, hiring yourselves out like prostitutes, worshiping other gods on every threshing floor.
• Leviticus 17:7The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols. This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation.
• Leviticus 20:5I myself will turn against them and their families and will cut them off from the community. This will happen to all who commit spiritual prostitution by worshiping Molech.
• Numbers 15:39When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do.
• Deuteronomy 31:16The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin to worship foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I have made with them.
• 2 Chronicles 21:13Instead, you have been as evil as the kings of Israel. You have led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship idols, just as King Ahab did in Israel. And you have even killed your own brothers, men who were better than you.
• Psalms 73:27Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you.
• Jeremiah 3:1“If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to me?” says the Lord.

Commentaries on Hosea 4:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12At their stocks - They consult their wooden gods. And their staff declareth - They use divination by rods; see the note on Ezekiel 21 (note), where this sort of divination (rabdomancy) is explained.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12My people ask counsel at - (literally, “on”) their stocks They ask habitually; and that, in dependence “on their stocks.” The word “wood” is used of the idol made of it, to bring before them the senselessness of their doings, in that they asked counsel of the senseless wood. Thus Jeremiah reproaches them for “saying to a stock, my father” Jeremiah 2:27; and Habakkuk, “Woe unto him that saith to the wood, awake” Habakkuk 2:19. And their staff declareth…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-19Verses 12-19 The people consulted images, and not the Divine word. This would lead to disorder and sin. Thus men prepare scourges for themselves, and vice is spread through a people. Let not Judah come near the idolatrous worship of Israel. For Israel was devoted to idols, and must now be let alone. When sinners cast off the easy yoke of Christ, they go on in sin till the Lord saith, Let them alone. Then they receive no more warnings, feel no more…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12My people consult their wooden idols: For thousands of years, people have worshiped natural objects like wood and stones, thinking they held spirits and gods (Jeremiah 2:27). Biblical religion completely rejects these practices and beliefs (Exodus 20:4–5; Isaiah 44:19).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. Instances of their understanding ("heart") being "taken away." stocks--wooden idols (Jr 2:27; Ha 2:19). staff--alluding to divination by rods (see on Eze 21:21, 22). The diviner, says Rosenmuller, threw a rod from him, which was stripped of its bark on one side, not on the other: if the bare side turned uppermost, it was a good omen; if the side with the bark, it was a bad omen. The Arabs used two rods, the one marked God bids, the other, God forbids…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 4:12

• Idolatry
• Minister, Christian
• Sorcery

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Jeroboam
• Languish
• Reject
• Asherah
• Augury
• Crime; Crimes
• Divination
• Hosea

Commentaries on Hosea 4

• 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