Hosea 4:15
in Hosea 4Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, As Jehovah liveth.
KJV
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth–aven, nor swear, The Lord liveth.
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This verse in Hosea 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Let not Judah offend - The sentence of Israel had been pronounced; she had been declared incorrigible. The prophet turns from her now to Judah. Israel had abandoned God’s worship, rejected or corrupted His priests, given herself to the worship of the calves; no marvel what further excess of riot she run into! But Judah, who had the law and the temple and the service of God, let not her, (he would say,) involve herself in Israel’s sin. If Israel, in willful blindness, had plunged herself in ruin, let not Judah involve herself in her sin and her ruin.
This site's exposition
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot
on Hosea 4:15-16
Though Israel plays the harlot, Judah is warned not to offend in the same way, and not to go up to the corrupted shrines at Gilgal or Beth-aven, the very name Bethel, house of God, deliberately twisted to Beth-aven, house of vanity, a wordplay the bench reads as the prophet's verdict on what the calf-worship had made of the place. Israel slides back like a stubborn heifer refusing the yoke, and yet the Lord's answer is not force but pasture, to feed them as a lamb in a large place, mercy answering rebellion rather than matching it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"If you fornicate, Israel, let not at least Judah sin, and do not enter into Gilgal, and do not ascend into Bethaven, neither shall you swear, by the living Lord, for as an wanton heifer, Israel has sinned. Now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place." LXX: "But you, Israel, do not ignore, and Judah, do not enter into Galgala, nor ascend into the house [ὢν] and do not swear, the Lord lives: for as a refuge-killed cow, Israel went insane. Now the Lord will feed them like a lamb in a spacious place."
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Offend - Commit like sins. Gilgal - Gilgal was chosen by Jeroboam, or by succeeding idolaters for the solemn worship of their idols. Beth-aven - Beth-el, where Jacob lodged, who called it Beth-el, the house of God; but when Jeroboam made it the place for his calf-worship, it became Beth-aven, the house of vanity or iniquity.
The men of Israel were brethren, and near neighbours, to the men of Judah; Israel was more numerous, and at this time in a prosperous condition, and therefore there was danger lest the men of Judah should learn their way and get a snare to their souls. Note, The nearer we are to the infection of sin the more need we have to stand upon our guard.
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend,....
The indictment read, by which the whole nation stands charged with crimes of a heinous nature, by which God is highly provoked. They are charged with national omissions of the most important duties: There is no truth nor mercy, neither justice nor charity, these most weighty matters of the law, as our Saviour accounts them ( Matt. xxiii. 23 ), judgment, mercy, and faith.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
35:7), but made by Jeroboam the seat of the worship of the calves (1Ki 12:28-33; "Go up" refers to the fact that Beth-el was on a hill (Jos 16:1). nor swear, The Lord liveth--This formula of oath was appointed by God Himself (De 6:13; It is therefore here forbidden not absolutely, but in conjunction with idolatry and falsehood (Isa 48:1;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Let not Judah offend - Israel was totally dissolute; Judah was not so. Here she is exhorted to maintain her integrity. If the former will go to what was once Beth-el, the house of God, now Beth-aven, the house of iniquity, because Jeroboam has set up his calves there, let not Judah imitate them. Gilgal was the place where the covenant of circumcision was renewed when the people passed over Jordan; but was rendered infamous by the worship of idols, after Jeroboam had set up his idolatry.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I will not punish your daughters anymore, to test them with the ‘bitter waters’ should they commit adultery. Why? Because their husbands join with harlots; for once the man is not free of sin, the waters do not test his wife. [based on Sifrei Num.:82 and Sotah 47a]
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | though | H518 → | 1069 times |
| זֹנֶ֤ה | zoneh | [are] prostituting yourself | H2181 → | 94 times |
| אַתָּה֙ | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | O Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| יֶאְשַׁ֖ם | ye'sham | it become guilty | H816 → | 35 times |
| יְהוּדָ֑ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תָּבֹ֣אוּ | tavou | you go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| הַגִּלְגָּ֗ל | hagilgal | <the> Gilgal | H1537 → | 41 times |
| וְאַֽל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תַּעֲלוּ֙ | taalu | you go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | Beth | H1007 → | 14 times |
| אָ֔וֶן | ʾaven | Aven | H1007 → | 14 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּשָּׁבְע֖וּ | tishaveu | you swear | H7650 → | |
| חַי־ | chai- | [by] [the] life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | of Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
אִם־though
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
זֹנֶ֤ה[are] prostituting yourself
zonehH2181 →94 times
אַתָּה֙you
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לO Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
יֶאְשַׁ֖םit become guilty
ye'shamH816 →35 times
יְהוּדָ֑הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תָּבֹ֣אוּyou go
tavouH935 →2568 times
הַגִּלְגָּ֗ל<the> Gilgal
hagilgalH1537 →41 times
וְאַֽל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תַּעֲלוּ֙you go up
taaluH5927 →890 times
בֵּ֣יתBeth
beitH1007 →14 times
אָ֔וֶןAven
ʾavenH1007 →14 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תִּשָּׁבְע֖וּyou swear
tishaveuH7650 →
חַי־[by] [the] life
chai-H2416 →498 times
יְהוָֽה׃of Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
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
Hosea 10:8The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall…
it leads to
- Revelation 6:16
And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
- Luke 23:30
At that time ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
- Isaiah 2:19
Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.
- Revelation 6:16
Through
Hosea 9:15All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are…
it leads to
- Amos 5:5
Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Amos 5:5
Through
Hosea 12:11Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
it leads to
- Hosea 9:15
All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 9:15
Through
Amos 4:4“Go to Bethel and transgress; rebel even more at Gilgal! Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:39
And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you…
- Ezekiel 20:39
Through
Amos 5:5Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.
it leads to
- Amos 8:14
Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the way of Beersheba lives’—they will fall, never to rise again.”
- Amos 8:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Hosea
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PlaceJordan valley near JerichoGilgalIsrael's first Canaan camp where the stones were set and the reproach rolled away (Josh 4-5); later a corrupted shrine the prophet…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 4:15-16; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.