Hosea 3:4

Hosea 3:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
• New International Version (NIV)For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.

Context of Hosea 3:4

2So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: 3And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: 5Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek Yhwh their God, and David their king; and shall fear Yhwh and his goodness in the latter days.

Hosea 3:4 word by word

כִּ֣י׀ יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֗ים יֵֽשְׁבוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֵ֥ין מֶ֙לֶךְ֙ וְאֵ֣ין שָׂ֔ר וְאֵ֥ין זֶ֖בַח וְאֵ֣ין מַצֵּבָ֑ה וְאֵ֥ין אֵפ֖וֹד וּתְרָפִֽים׃Read the interlinear

• For the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• shall abideיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• manyרַבrab · manyH7227
• daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• without a kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• and without a princeשַׂרώar · rulerH8269
• and without a sacrificeזֶ֫בַחzebach · sacrificeH2077
• and without an imageמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676
• and without an ephodאֵפוֹד'êphôd 'êphôd · ephodH646
• teraphimתְּרָפִיםterâphîym · teraphimH8655

Cross-references for Hosea 3:4

• Hosea 10:3For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not Yhwh; what then should a king do to us?
• Genesis 49:10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
• Jeremiah 15:4And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
• John 19:15But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cæsar.
• 2 Chronicles 15:2And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; Yhwh is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
• Daniel 8:11Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
• Daniel 9:27And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
• Daniel 12:11And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
• Matthew 24:1And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
• Luke 21:24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
• Acts 6:13And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
• Hebrews 10:26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
• Isaiah 19:19In that day shall there be an altar to Yhwh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Yhwh.
• Exodus 28:4And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.
• Leviticus 8:7And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.
• Judges 8:27And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

Commentaries on Hosea 3:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Many days without a king - Hitherto this prophecy has been literally fulfilled. Since the destruction of the temple by the Romans they have neither had king nor prince, nor any civil government of their own, but have lived in different nations of the earth as mere exiles. They have neither priests nor sacrifices nor urim nor thummim; no prophet, no oracle, no communication of any kind from God. Without an image ephod - teraphim - The Septuagint read…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4For the children of Israel shall abide many days - The condition described is one in which there should be no civil polity, none of the special temple-service, nor yet the idolatry, which they had hitherto combined with it or substituted for it. “King and prince” include both higher and lower governors. Judah had “kings” before the captivity, and a sort of “prince” in her governors after it. Judah remained still a polity, although without the glory of her…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-5Verses 4-5 Here is the application of the parable to Israel. They must long sit like a widow, stripped of all joys and honours; but shall at length be received again. Those that would seek the Lord so as to find him, must apply to Christ, and become his willing people. Not only are we to fear the Lord and his greatness, but the Lord and his goodness; not only his majesty, but his mercy. Even Jewish writers apply this passage to the promised Messiah…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4Just as Hosea’s wife had to live many days without sexual relations, Israel would be without its key institutions, practices, and objects. These included the king or prince, sacrifices, and sacred pillars or idols, which were central to its life and worship.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. The long period here foretold was to be one in which Israel should have no civil polity, king, or prince, no sacrifice to Jehovah, and yet no idol, or false god, no ephod, or teraphim. Exactly describing their state for the last nineteen centuries, separate from idols, yet without any legal sacrifice to Jehovah, whom they profess to worship, and without being acknowledged by Him as His Church. So Kimchi, a Jew, explains it. The ephod was worn by the…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 3:4

• Ephod
• Symbols and Similitudes

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Children of Israel
• Jew
• Teraphim
• Thummim
• Ephod (1)
• God
• Gomer (2)

Commentaries on Hosea 3

• 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