New Living Translation
Hosea 4:16
16Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the Lord feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture?
Hosea 4:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
- New International Version (NIV)The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the Lord pasture them like lambs in a meadow?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?
- New King James Version (NKJV)“For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf; Now the Lord will let them forage Like a lamb in open country.
Context of Hosea 4:16
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. 15“Though you, Israel, are a prostitute, may Judah not be guilty of such things. Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven, and do not take oaths there in the Lord’s name. Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the Lord feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture? 17Leave Israel alone, because she is married to idolatry. 18When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking, off they go to find some prostitutes. They love shame more than honor.
Read all of Hosea 4Hosea 4:16 word by word
כִּ֚י כְּפָרָ֣ה סֹֽרֵרָ֔ה סָרַ֖ר יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל עַתָּה֙ יִרְעֵ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה כְּכֶ֖בֶשׂ בַּמֶּרְחָֽב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Hosea 4:16
- Hosea 11:7For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don’t truly honor me.
- 1 Samuel 15:11“I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night.
- Jeremiah 3:6During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what fickle Israel has done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree.
- Jeremiah 5:6So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many.
- Jeremiah 7:24“But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.
- Jeremiah 8:5Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path? Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back? They cling tightly to their lies and will not turn around.
- Jeremiah 14:7The people say, “Our wickedness has caught up with us, Lord, but help us for the sake of your own reputation. We have turned away from you and sinned against you again and again.
- Zechariah 7:11“Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing.
- Leviticus 26:33I will scatter you among the nations and bring out my sword against you. Your land will become desolate, and your cities will lie in ruins.
- Isaiah 7:21In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left.
- Isaiah 22:18crumple you into a ball, and toss you away into a distant, barren land. There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless. You are a disgrace to your master!
Commentaries on Hosea 4:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Israel slideth back - They are untractable, like an unbroken heifer or steer, that pulls back, rather than draw in the yoke. Will feed them as a lamb in a large place - A species of irony. Ye shall go to Assyria, and be scattered among the nations; ye may sport yourselves in the extensive empire, wither ye shall be carried captives.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16For Israel slideth back, as a backsliding heifer - The calves which Israel worshiped were pictures of itself. They represented natural, untamed, strength, which, when put to service, started back and shrank from the yoke. “Untractable, petulant, unruly, wanton, it withdrew from the yoke, when it could; if it could not, it drew aside or backward, instead of forward.” So is it rare, exceeding rare, for man to walk straight on in God‘s ways; he jerks…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
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. backsliding--Translate, "Israel is refractory, as a refractory heifer," namely, one that throws the yoke off her neck. Israel had represented God under the form of "calves" (1Ki 12:28); but it is she herself who is one. lamb in a large place--not in a good sense, as in Is 30:23. Here there is irony: lambs like a large pasture; but it is not so safe for them as a small one, duly fenced from wild beasts. God will "feed" them, but it shall be with the…Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 4:16
In the dictionaries
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
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