New Living Translation
Hosea 7:9
9Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don’t even know it. Their hair is gray, but they don’t realize they’re old and weak.
Hosea 7:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
- New International Version (NIV)Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Strangers devour his strength, and he knows it not; gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Aliens have devoured his strength, But he does not know it; Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, Yet he does not know it.
Context of Hosea 7:9
7Burning like an oven, they consume their leaders. They kill their kings one after another, and no one cries to me for help. 8“The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners, making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake! Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don’t even know it. Their hair is gray, but they don’t realize they’re old and weak. 10Their arrogance testifies against them, yet they don’t return to the Lord their God or even try to find him. 11“The people of Israel have become like silly, witless doves, first calling to Egypt, then flying to Assyria for help.
Read all of Hosea 7Hosea 7:9 word by word
אָכְל֤וּ זָרִים֙ כֹּח֔וֹ וְה֖וּא לֹ֣א יָדָ֑ע גַּם־שֵׂיבָה֙ זָ֣רְקָה בּ֔וֹ וְה֖וּא לֹ֥א יָדָֽע׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Hosea 7:9
- Hosea 8:7“They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind. The stalks of grain wither and produce nothing to eat. And even if there is any grain, foreigners will eat it.
- 2 Kings 13:3So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and he allowed King Hazael of Aram and his son Ben-hadad to defeat them repeatedly.
- 2 Kings 15:19Then King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria invaded the land. But Menahem paid him thirty-seven tons of silver to gain his support in tightening his grip on royal power.
- Proverbs 23:35And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?”
- Isaiah 42:22But his own people have been robbed and plundered, enslaved, imprisoned, and trapped. They are fair game for anyone and have no one to protect them, no one to take them back home.
- Isaiah 57:1Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.
Commentaries on Hosea 7:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not - The kingdom is grown old in iniquity; the time of their captivity is at hand, and they are apprehensive of no danger. They are in the state of a silly old man, who through age and infirmities is become nearly bald, and the few remaining hairs on his head are quite gray. But he does not consider his latter end; is making no provision for that eternity on the brink of which he is constantly…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not - Like Samson, when, for sensual pleasure, he had betrayed the source of his strength and God had departed from him, lsrael knew not how or wherein his alliancs with the pagan had impaired his strength. He thought his losses at the hand of the enemy, passing wounds, which time would heal; he thought not of them, as tokens of God‘s separation from him, that his time of trial was coming to its…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-16Verses 8-16 Israel was as a cake not turned, half burnt and half dough, none of it fit for use; a mixture of idolatry and of the worship of Jehovah. There were tokens of approaching ruin, as grey hairs are of old age, but they noticed them not. The pride which leads to break the law of God leads to self-flattery. The mercy and grace of God are the only refuge to which obstinate sinners never think of fleeing. Though they may howl forth their terrors in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9Foreigners: Israel's political relationships with other nations had damaged their spiritual health.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. Strangers--foreigners: the Syrians and Assyrians (2Ki 13:7; 15:19, 20; 17:3-6). gray hairs--that is, symptoms of approaching national dissolution. are here and there upon--literally, "are sprinkled on" him. yet he knoweth not--Though old age ought to bring with it wisdom, he neither knows of his senile decay, nor has the true knowledge which leads to reformation.Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 7:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Hosea 7
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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