Hosea 4:4

Hosea 4:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
• New International Version (NIV)“But let no one bring a charge, let no one accuse another, for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; For your people are like those who contend with the priest.

Context of Hosea 4:4

2There is nought but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood. 3Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. Yet let no man strive, neither let any man reprove; for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. 5And thou shalt stumble in the day, and the prophet also shall stumble with thee in the night; and I will destroy thy mother. 6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.

Hosea 4:4 word by word

אַ֥ךְ אִ֛ישׁ אַל־יָרֵ֖ב וְאַל־יוֹכַ֣ח אִ֑ישׁ וְעַמְּךָ֖ כִּמְרִיבֵ֥י כֹהֵֽן׃Read the interlinear

• letאַל'al · notH408
• manאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• striveרִיבrîyb rûb · to contendH7378
• reproveיָכַחyâkach · to rebukeH3198
• peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• priestכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548

Cross-references for Hosea 4:4

• Hosea 4:17Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.
• Amos 5:13Therefore he that is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.
• Amos 6:10And when a man’s uncle shall take him up, even he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is in the innermost parts of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No; then shall he say, Hold thy peace; for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD.
• Matthew 7:3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
• Deuteronomy 17:12And the man that doeth presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
• Jeremiah 18:18Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

Commentaries on Hosea 4:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Yet let no man strive - Or, no man contendeth. All these evils stalk abroad unreproved, for all are guilty. None can say, "Let me pluck the mote out of thy eye," because he knows that "there is a beam in his own." For thy people are - The people and the priest are alike rebels against the Lord; the priests having become idolaters, as well as the people. Bp. Newcome renders this clause, "And as is the provocation of the priest, so is that of my people."…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another - Literally, “Only man let him, not strive, and let not man reprove.” God had taken the controversy with His people into His own hands; the Lord, He said, “hath a controversy (rib) with the inhabitants of the land” Hosea 4:1. Here He forbids man to intermeddle; man let him not strive. He again uses the same word. The people were obstinate and would not hear; warning and reproof, being neglected, only aggravated…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-5When accused of a crime, people often blame others. However, God made it clear that Israel’s apostasy was the fault of its religious leaders, priests, and false prophets. God’s judgment on the priests and prophets was that they would stumble and fall, both in their work and in their personal lives. (The same Hebrew word is used for both kinds of stumbling.)Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. let no man ... reprove--Great as is the sin of Israel, it is hopeless to reprove them; for their presumptuous guilt is as great as that of one who refuses to obey the priest when giving judgment in the name of Jehovah, and who therefore is to be put to death (De 17:12). They rush on to their own destruction as wilfully as such a one. thy people--the ten tribes of Israel; distinct from Judah (Ho 4:1).Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 4:4

• Priest
• Sin

In the dictionaries

• Languish
• Reject
• Deuteronomy
• Hosea
• Priests and Levites
• Zechariah, Book of

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