Tree of Life Version
Hosea 8:9
9For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey alone by itself. Ephraim has hired lovers.
Hosea 8:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
- New International Version (NIV)For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild donkey wandering alone; Ephraim has hired lovers.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey alone by itself; Ephraim has hired lovers.
Context of Hosea 8:9
7“For they sow wind, and reap a whirlwind. There is no mature grain— the sprout yields no meal. Should it produce anything, strangers would swallow it up. 8Israel has been swallowed up! Now they are among the nations, like an ornament with no delight in it. For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey alone by itself. Ephraim has hired lovers. 10Although they hire among the nations, I will now round them up. So they will begin to decrease under the burden of king and princes. 11“When Ephraim multiplied altars for making sin offerings, they became his altars for sinning.
Read all of Hosea 8Hosea 8:9 word by word
כִּֽי־הֵ֙מָּה֙ עָל֣וּ אַשּׁ֔וּר פֶּ֖רֶא בּוֹדֵ֣ד ל֑וֹ אֶפְרַ֖יִם הִתְנ֥וּ אֲהָבִֽיםRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Hosea 8:9
- Hosea 5:13When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria and sent envoys to a warring king. But he cannot heal you nor will he cure your wound.
- Hosea 7:11Ephraim is like a senseless silly dove, they call to Egypt; they go to Assyria.
- 2 Kings 15:19Then King Pul of Assyria invaded the country, so Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to strengthen his hold on the kingdom.
- Ezekiel 23:5“Oholah prostituted herself, though she was Mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians, warriors,
- Job 39:5“Who sent the wild donkey free? Who released the bonds of the wild ass,
- Jeremiah 2:24a wild donkey used to the wilderness— sniffing the wind in her passion— in her heat, who can restrain her? All males that pursue her will not tire themselves. At mating time they will find her.
- Hosea 2:5Or else I will strip her naked and expose her as on the day she was born. Then I will make her like a wilderness. Yes, I will make her like desert land, and I will let her die of thirst.
- Hosea 12:1“Ephraim surrounded Me with lies and the house of Israel with deceit.” Though Judah roams restlessly with God, yet he is faithful with holy things.
- Isaiah 30:6The burden concerning the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of trouble and anguish, in which are lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent, they are carrying their riches on the backs of young donkeys, their treasures on camel humps, to a people who cannot profit them.
- Ezekiel 16:33To all prostitutes gifts are given—but you gave your gifts to all your lovers! You bribed them to come to you from every side in your harlotry.
Commentaries on Hosea 8:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9They are gone up to Assyria - For succor. A wild ass alone by himself - Like that animal, jealous of its liberty, and suffering no rival. If we may credit Pliny and others, one male wild ass will keep a whole flock of females to himself, suffer no other to approach them, and even bite off the genitals of the colts, lest in process of time they should become his rivals. "Mares singuli faeminarum gregibus imperitant; timent libidinis aemulos, et ideo…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9For they are gone up to Assyria - The ground of this their captivity is that wherein they placed their hope of safety. They shall be presently swallowed up; “for” they went to Asshur. The holy land being then honored by the spectral presence of God, all nations are said to “go up” to it. Now, since Israel forgetting God, their strength and their glory, went to the Assyrian for help, he is said to “go up” there, where he went as a suppliant. A wild donkey…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-10Verses 5-10 They promised themselves plenty, peace, and victory, by worshipping idols, but their expectations came to nothing. What they sow has no stalk, no blade, or, if it have, the bud shall yield no fruit, there was nothing in them. The works of darkness are unfruitful; nay, the end of those things is death. The hopes of sinners will deceive them, and their gains will be snares. In times of danger, especially in the day of judgment, all carnal…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9like a wild donkey: Hosea compared Israel's worship of the Canaanite fertility gods to an animal eager to mate (see Jeremiah 2:23–24).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. gone ... to Assyria--referring to Menahem's application for Pul's aid in establishing him on the throne (compare Ho 5:13; 7:11). Menahem's name is read in the inscriptions in the southwest palace of Nimrod, as a tributary to the Assyrian king in his eighth year. The dynasty of Pul, or Phalluka, was supplanted at Nineveh by that of Tiglath-pileser, about 768 (or 760) B.C. Semiramis seems to have been Pul's wife, and to have withdrawn to Babylon in 768…Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 8:9
In the dictionaries
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
Tree of Life Version — © 2015 The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Commentaries