Hosea 8:4

Hosea 8:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
• New International Version (NIV)They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them. From their silver and gold They made idols for themselves— That they might be cut off.

Context of Hosea 8:4

2Will they cry out to Me, ‘My God, we—Israel—knew You’? 3Israel has rejected goodness— an adversary will pursue him. They crowned kings, but not by Me. They appointed princes I did not approve. Their silver and gold they made into idols— just so they would be cut down. 5Samaria! Your calf is thrown down! My anger is kindled against them! How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6For a craftsman from Israel made it, so it is no god. For the calf of Samaria will be splinters.

Hosea 8:4 word by word

הֵ֤ם הִמְלִיכוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א מִמֶּ֔נִּי הֵשִׂ֖ירוּ וְלֹ֣א יָדָ֑עְתִּי כַּסְפָּ֣ם וּזְהָבָ֗ם עָשׂ֤וּ לָהֶם֙ עֲצַבִּ֔ים לְמַ֖עַן יִכָּרֵֽת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They have set up kingsמָלַךְmâlak · to reignH4427
• but not by me: they have made princesשׂוּרώûr · to reignH7786
• and I knewיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• not: of their silverכֶּ֫סֶףkeseph · silver: moneyH3701
• and their goldזָהָבzâhâb · goldH2091
• have they madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• them idolsעָצָב‛âtsâb · idolH6091
• that they may be cut offכָּרַתkârath · to cut: eliminateH3772

Cross-references for Hosea 8:4

• 1 Kings 12:16But when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king saying: “What share have we in David? No inheritance in Jesse’s son! To your tents, O Israel! Now look at your own house, David!” So the Israelites departed to their tents.
• 2 Kings 15:10Then Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him and smote him before the people, killed him, and became king in his place.
• Matthew 25:12“But he replied, ‘Amen, I tell you, I do not know you.’
• Luke 13:25Once the Master of the household gets up and shuts the door, and you’re standing outside and begin knocking on the door, saying, ‘Master, open up for us,’ then He will say to you, ‘I don’t know where you come from.’
• John 10:14“I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me,
• Galatians 4:9But now you have come to know God—or rather you have come to be known by God. So how can you turn back again to those weak and worthless principles? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?
• Hosea 2:8Therefore see, I will hedge her in with thorns, and I will build a wall around her so she cannot find her paths.
• Hosea 13:2But now, they sin more and more. They made themselves molten images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say about them: “Let those who sacrifice kiss the calves.”
• 1 Kings 12:28So the king sought counsel and made two golden calves. He said to them, “You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough! Here are your gods O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
• 1 Kings 16:31Now, as if it was a trifling thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he also took as wife Jezebel the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him.
• Hosea 13:9It has corrupted you, O Israel, for you are against Me— against your Helper!
• 1 Kings 13:34So this matter became sin against the house of Jeroboam, in the end, wiping it out and destroying it from the face of the earth.
• Jeremiah 44:7So now, thus says Adonai, Elohim-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Why are you committing this great evil against your own souls? You cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child, from the midst of Judah, to leave yourself without a remnant.
• Ezekiel 18:31Cast off from you all your transgressions that you have committed. Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, house of Israel?

Commentaries on Hosea 8:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4They have set up kings, but not by me - Properly speaking, not one of the kings of Israel, from the defection of the ten tribes from the house of David, was the anointed or the Lord. I knew it not - It had not my approbation. In this sense the word know is frequently understood. That they may be cut off - That is, They shall be cut off in consequence of their idolatry.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4They have set up kings, but not by ME - God Himself foretold to Jeroboam by Ahijah the prophet, that He would “rend the kingdom out of the hands of Solomon, and give ten tribes” to him, “and” would “take” him, “and” he “should reign according to all that” his soul desired and” should “be king over Israel” 1 Kings 11:31, 1 Kings 11:37; and, after the ten tribes had made Jeroboam king, God said by Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam and the two tribes, “Ye…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4They make princes, but without My approval: They quickly removed one king and chose another if they believed it would save their nation (see Hosea 7:7). They did all of this without consulting their true king, the Lord.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. kings ... not by me--not with My sanction (1Ki 11:31; 12:20). Israel set up Jeroboam and his successors, whereas God had appointed the house of David as the rightful kings of the whole nation. I knew it not--I approved it not (Psa 1:6). of ... gold ... idols--(Ho 2:8; 13:2). that they may be cut off--that is, though warned of the consequences of idolatry, as it were with open eyes they rushed on their own destruction. So Jr 27:10, 15; 44:8.Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 8:4

• Government
• Idol
• King

In the dictionaries

• Hosea
• Pekahiah
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Hosea 8

• 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