Hosea 11:6
in Hosea 11A sword will flash through their cities; it will destroy the bars of their gates and consume them in their own plans.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the sword shall fall upon their cities, and shall consume their bars, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
KJV
And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
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This verse in Hosea 11
Commentary
7 notes on this verse"It won't return to the land of Egypt, and Assur himself" (The Vulgate adds "is") "its king, because they refused to convert. The sword has begun in its cities, and will consume its chosen ones: it will eat their heads, and my people will hang in my return. But a yoke will be imposed on them together, which will not be removed." LXX: "Ephraim will dwell in Egypt, and Assur himself will be its king: because he did not want to convert.
This site's exposition
the Assyrian shall be his king
on Hosea 11:5-7
He shall not return into the land of Egypt reads with the readings named: some of the bench take it literally against a flight to Egypt for help, others read it as Egypt standing for the old bondage now to be exchanged for a new one under Assyria, since they refused to return to the Lord who called them. The sword shall abide on his cities pictures the coming invasion consuming what their own counsels built, and my people are bent to backsliding names a settled posture rather than a single lapse, called to the most High yet none exalting him, the plea met with silence.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(3.) It shall make a full end: It shall consume their branches, and devour them, and lay all waste, and this because of their own counsels, that is, because they would have their own projects, which God therefore, in a way of righteous judgment, gave them up to. Note, The confusion of sinners is owing to their contrivance.
And the sword shall abide on the cities,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The sword shall abide on his cities - Israel was agitated with external and intestine wars from the time of Jeroboam the Second. Although Zechariah his son reigned twelve years, yet it was in continual troubles; and he was at last slain by the rebel Shallum, who, having reigned one month, was slain by Menahem. Pekahiah succeeded his father Menahem, and reigned two years, and was killed by Pekah, son of Remaliah.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
abide--or, "fall upon" [CALVIN]. branches--that is, his villages, which are the branches or dependencies of the cities [CALVIN]. GROTIUS translates, "his bars" (so La 2:9), that is, the warriors who were the bulwarks of the state.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the sword shall abide on his cities - Literally, “shall light, shall whirl” down upon. It shall come with violence upon them as a thing whirled with force, and then it shall alight and abide, to their destruction; as Jeremiah says, “a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, a grievous whirlwind; it shall fall grievously (literally, whirl down) on the head of the wicked” Jer 23:19. As God said to David, after the murder of Uriah, “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house” 2Sa 12:10, so as to Israel, whose kings were inaugurated by bloodshed. By God’s appointment, “blood will have blood.” Their own sword first came down and rested upon them; then the sword of the Assyrian. So after they “had killed the Holy One and the Just,” the sword of the Zealots came down and rested upon them, before the destruction by the Romans. And shall consume his branches - that is, his mighty men. It is all one, whether the mighty men are so called, by metaphor, from the “branches of” a tree, or from the “bars” of a city, made out of those branches. Their mighty men, so far from escaping for their might, should be the first to perish. And devour them, because of their own counsels - Their counsels, wise after this world’s wisdom, were without God, against the counsels of God. Their destruction then should come from their own wisdom, as it is said, “Let them fall by their own counsels” Psa 5:10, and Job saith, “He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong” Job 5:13, i. e., it is the clean contrary of what they intend or plan; they purpose, as they think, warily; an unseen power whirls their scheme on and precipitates it. “And his own counsel shall cast him down” Job 18:7; and above; “Israel shall be ashamed through his own counsels” Job 10:6. […]
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְחָלָ֥ה | vechalah | and it will whirl | H2342 → | |
| חֶ֙רֶב֙ | cherev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| בְּעָרָ֔יו | bearav | in cities his | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וְכִלְּתָ֥ה | vekhiletah | and it will put an end to | H3615 → | |
| בַדָּ֖יו | vadav | bars his | H907 → | |
| וְאָכָ֑לָה | veakhalah | and it will devour [them] | H398 → | 810 times |
| מִֽמֹּעֲצ֖וֹתֵיהֶֽם׃ | mimoatzoteihem | from schemes their | H4156 → |
וְחָלָ֥הand it will whirl
vechalahH2342 →
חֶ֙רֶב֙a sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
בְּעָרָ֔יוin cities his
bearavH5892 →1090 times
וְכִלְּתָ֥הand it will put an end to
vekhiletahH3615 →
בַדָּ֖יוbars his
vadavH907 →
וְאָכָ֑לָהand it will devour [them]
veakhalahH398 →810 times
מִֽמֹּעֲצ֖וֹתֵיהֶֽם׃from schemes their
mimoatzoteihemH4156 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 30:1“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.
it leads to
- Isaiah 65:2
All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,
- Isaiah 1:2
Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
- Hosea 7:13
Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against Me.
- Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
- Isaiah 29:15
Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”
- Isaiah 65:2
Through
Hosea 13:16Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 15:16
At that time Menahem, starting from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in its vicinity, because they would not open their gates. So he attacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.
- 2 Kings 8:12
“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword,…
- 2 Kings 15:16
Through
Hosea 10:14the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with…
it leads to
- Hosea 13:16
Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
- Hosea 13:16
Where this verse is studied
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About Hosea
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 11:5-7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.