Revised Webster's Bible
Hosea 4:13
13They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because their shadow is pleasant: therefore your daughters shall commit harlotry, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
Hosea 4:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
- New International Version (NIV)They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
- English Standard Version (ESV)They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery.
- New King James Version (NKJV)They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, And burn incense on the hills, Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, Because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit harlotry, And your brides commit adultery.
Context of Hosea 4:13
11Harlotry and wine and new wine take away the heart. 12My people ask counsel at their idols, and their staff declareth to them: for the spirit of harlotry hath caused them to err, and they have played the harlot departing from under their God. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because their shadow is pleasant: therefore your daughters shall commit harlotry, and your spouses shall commit adultery. 14I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for they themselves are separated with harlots, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall. 15Though thou, Israel, playest the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye to Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
Read all of Hosea 4Hosea 4:13 word by word
עַל־רָאשֵׁ֨י הֶהָרִ֜ים יְזַבֵּ֗חוּ וְעַל־הַגְּבָעוֹת֙ יְקַטֵּ֔רוּ תַּ֣חַת אַלּ֧וֹן וְלִבְנֶ֛ה וְאֵלָ֖ה כִּ֣י ט֣וֹב צִלָּ֑הּ עַל־כֵּ֗ן תִּזְנֶ֙ינָה֙ בְּנ֣וֹתֵיכֶ֔ם וְכַלּוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם תְּנָאַֽפְנָה׃Read the interlinear
- sacrificeזָבַחzâbach · to sacrificeH2076
- topsרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: topH7218
- mountainsהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
- incenseקָטַרqâţar · to offer: offerH6999
- hillsגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389
- oaksאַלּוֹן'allôn · oakH437
- poplarsלִבְנֶהlibneh · poplarH3839
- elmsאֵלָה'êlâh · oakH424
- shadowצֵלtsêl · shadowH6738
- pleasantטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
- daughtersבַּתbath · daughterH1323
- harlotryזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
- spousesכַּלָּהkallâh · daughter-in-law: brideH3618
- adulteryנָאַףnâ'aph · to commit adulteryH5003
Cross-references for Hosea 4:13
- Isaiah 1:29For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
- Isaiah 57:5Inflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks?
- Jeremiah 3:6The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she hath gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
- Ezekiel 6:13Then shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols all around their altars, upon every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they offered sweet savour to all their idols.
- Ezekiel 16:16And of thy garments thou didst take, and didst deck thy high places with various colours, and didst play the harlot upon them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so .
- Ezekiel 20:28For when I had brought them into the land, for which I lifted up my hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.
- 2 Samuel 12:10Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
- Job 31:9If my heart hath been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;
- Amos 7:17Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go from his land into captivity.
- Romans 1:23And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Commentaries on Hosea 4:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Under oaks - אלון allon, from אלל alal, he was strong. Hence, the oak, in Latin, is called robur; which word means also, strength, the oak being the strongest of all the trees of the forest. The shadow thereof is good - Their "daughters committed whoredom, and their spouses committed adultery." Their deities were worshipped by prostitution. They drank much in their idol worship, Hosea 4:11, and thus their passions became inflamed. 3. The thick groves were…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains - The tops of hills or mountains seemed nearer heaven, the air was purer, the place more removed from the world. To worship the Unseen God upon them, was then the suggestion of natural feeling and of simple devotion. God Himself directed the typical sacrifice of Isaac to take place on a mountain; on that same mountain He commanded that the temple should be built; on a mountain, God gave the law; on a mountain…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. 13Many Canaanite religious rituals took place on mountaintops and hills. On these pagan "high places," sacred trees were often used in fertility worship (1 Kings 14:23; Jeremiah 2:20). Israelite daughters and brides also engaged in sexual acts during the worship of Baal; their fathers and husbands possibly forced them to participate.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. upon ... mountains--High places were selected by idolaters on which to sacrifice, because of their greater nearness to the heavenly hosts which they worshipped (De 12:2). elms--rather, "terebinths" [Maurer]. shadow ... good--screening the lascivious worshippers from the heat of the sun. daughters ... commit whoredom ... spouses ... adultery--in the polluted worship of Astarte, the Phoenician goddess of love.Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 4:13
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
Revised Webster's Bible — 1833 — Public Domain
Commentaries