Hosea 4:12

Hosea 4:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
• New International Version (NIV)My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.
• New King James Version (NKJV)My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, And their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, And they have played the harlot against their God.

Context of Hosea 4:12

10They have eaten but will not be satisfied. They have fornicated but will not increase. For they stopped giving heed to Adonai. 11Prostitution and wine—even new wine— it takes away understanding. My people consult their wooden idol and their divining rod informs them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have been a prostitute— out from under their God. 13They sacrifice on the mountaintops and on the high places they burn incense under oak poplar, and terebinth— for its shade is good. Therefore your daughters are prostitutes and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. 14Will I not punish your daughters for prostitution or your daughters-in-law for adultery? For they consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with cult prostitutes. A people without understanding will be thrust down.

Hosea 4:12 word by word

עַמִּי֙ בְּעֵצ֣וֹ יִשְׁאָ֔ל וּמַקְל֖וֹ יַגִּ֣יד ל֑וֹ כִּ֣י ר֤וּחַ זְנוּנִים֙ הִתְעָ֔ה וַיִּזְנ֖וּ מִתַּ֥חַת אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• My peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• askשָׁאַלshâ'al shâ'êl · to askH7592
• counsel at their stocksעֵץ‛êts · tree: woodH6086
• and their staffמַקֵּלmaqqêl maqqelâh · rodH4731
• declarethנָגַדnâgad · to tellH5046
• unto them: for the spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
• of whoredomsזְנוּנִיםzânûn · fornicationH2183
• to errתָּעָהtâ‛âh · to go astrayH8582
• and they have gone a whoringזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
• from under their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430

Cross-references for Hosea 4:12

• Jeremiah 2:27They say to wood, ‘You are my father’ and to a stone, ‘You birthed me.’ They have turned their back to Me and not their face. Yet when they are in trouble they say, ‘Rise up and save us!’
• Jeremiah 10:8They are totally stupid and foolish. Discipline is useless—it’s wood!
• Ezekiel 21:21Slash to the right, turn to the left—wherever your blade is meeting!
• Habakkuk 2:19Oy to one who says to wood: “Awake!” To a dumb stone: “Rouse yourself!” Can it teach? Look, it is plated with gold and silver, but it has no spirit within it.
• Hosea 5:4They will not give up their evil deeds to return to their God. For a spirit of prostitution is in them, and Adonai they have not known.
• Isaiah 44:18They do not know or understand! For He smeared over their eyes, so they cannot see, and their hearts, so they cannot understand.
• Micah 2:11If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood speaks lies—“I will prophesy for you of wine and strong drink”—then he would be a spokesman of this people.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:9The coming of the lawless one is connected to the activity of satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
• Hosea 9:1Do not rejoice, O Israel, do not celebrate like the peoples— for so you have gone whoring away from your God. You have loved a prostitute’s pay, on every grain-threshing-floor.
• Leviticus 17:7They are no longer to offer their sacrifices to the goat-demons after which they play the prostitute. This will be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.
• Leviticus 20:5then I will set My face against that man and against his family, and will cut him off, along with all who play the prostitute after him with Molech, from among their people.
• Numbers 15:39It will be your own tzitzit—so whenever you look at them, you will remember all the mitzvot of Adonai and do them and not go spying out after your own hearts and your own eyes, prostituting yourselves.
• Deuteronomy 31:16Adonai said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon Me and break My covenant that I cut with them.
• 2 Chronicles 21:13but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, leading Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into prostitution just as the house of Ahab committed prostitution and you have also slain your brothers—your own family, who were better than you—
• Psalms 73:27For behold, those far from You will perish. You put an end to all who like a harlot are unfaithful to You.
• Jeremiah 3:1“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to be with another man, will he return to her again? Would not such a land be totally polluted? You are a prostitute with many lovers. Now are you returning to Me?” It is a declaration of Adonai.

Commentaries on Hosea 4:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12At their stocks - They consult their wooden gods. And their staff declareth - They use divination by rods; see the note on Ezekiel 21 (note), where this sort of divination (rabdomancy) is explained.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12My people ask counsel at - (literally, “on”) their stocks They ask habitually; and that, in dependence “on their stocks.” The word “wood” is used of the idol made of it, to bring before them the senselessness of their doings, in that they asked counsel of the senseless wood. Thus Jeremiah reproaches them for “saying to a stock, my father” Jeremiah 2:27; and Habakkuk, “Woe unto him that saith to the wood, awake” Habakkuk 2:19. And their staff declareth…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. 12My people consult their wooden idols: For thousands of years, people have worshiped natural objects like wood and stones, thinking they held spirits and gods (Jeremiah 2:27). Biblical religion completely rejects these practices and beliefs (Exodus 20:4–5; Isaiah 44:19).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. Instances of their understanding ("heart") being "taken away." stocks--wooden idols (Jr 2:27; Ha 2:19). staff--alluding to divination by rods (see on Eze 21:21, 22). The diviner, says Rosenmuller, threw a rod from him, which was stripped of its bark on one side, not on the other: if the bare side turned uppermost, it was a good omen; if the side with the bark, it was a bad omen. The Arabs used two rods, the one marked God bids, the other, God forbids…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 4:12

• Idolatry
• Minister, Christian
• Sorcery

In the dictionaries

• God
• Jeroboam
• Languish
• Reject
• Asherah
• Augury
• Crime; Crimes
• Divination
• Hosea
• Spirit

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