Hosea 4:18
in Hosea 4When their liquor is gone, they turn to prostitution; their rulers dearly love disgrace.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Their drink is become sour; they play the harlot continually; her rulers dearly love shame.
KJV
Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
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This verse in Hosea 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Or, unbridled licentiousness; not mere ordinary sin, but as abandoned as drunkards who vomit and smell sour with wine potations [CALVIN]. MAURER not so well translates, "When their drinking is over, they commit whoredoms," namely, in honor of Astarte (Ho 4:13, 14). her rulers--Israel's; literally, "shields" (compare Ps 47:9). with shame . . . love, Give ye-- (Pr 30:15).
This site's exposition
Ephraim is joined to idols
on Hosea 4:17-19
Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone, one of Scripture's most severe sentences, and the older writers read it as judicial abandonment rather than simple neglect, a people given over to the course they insisted on. Their drink grown sour, their rulers loving shame more than glory, the chapter closes with the wind binding the nation up in its own wings, carried off by the very forces it courted, and shame following the sacrifices offered to gods that could not save. The chapter's whole indictment, priest and people alike, sets up chapter 5's declaration that the same charge now falls on the house of the king.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"he is separated from their congregation: they have committed fornication in their fornication; they loved to bring disgrace upon their protectors." LXX: "he has provoked the Canaanites, they have committed fornication, they have loved disgrace from his roar." They serve idols once, sacrificed to devils, fornicating every day, and loving their fornication. Indeed, its leaders and protectors, that is, the kings, took pleasure in bringing dishonor to the people, that is, in the vice of the princes.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
They drove a trade of uncleanness; it was not a single act now and then, but their constant practice, as it is of many that have eyes full of adultery and which cannot cease from that sin, 2 Pet. ii.
Perhaps this is intended in that part of the charge here, Their drink is sour; it is dead; it is gone. Justice, duly administered, is refreshing, like drink to the thirsty, but when it is perverted, and rulers take rewards either to acquit the guilty or to condemn the innocent, the drink is sour; they turn judgment into wormwood, Amos
Their drink - Their wine is corrupt and hurtful. Continually - Without ceasing from Jeroboam's time to this day. Give ye - Beside there is shameful oppression and bribery among them.
Their drink is sour,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Their drink is sour - Or rather, he is gone after their wine. The enticements of idolatry have carried them away. Her rulers with shame do love - Rather, have loved shame; they glory in their abominations. Give ye - Perhaps it would be better to read, Her rulers have committed, etc. They have loved gifts. What a shame! These were their rulers, literally, their shields. Justice and judgment were perverted.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Their drink is sour - Literally, “turned,” as we say of milk. So Isaiah says, “Thy silver is become dross; thy wine is mingled,” i. e., adulterated, “with water” Isa 1:22; and our lord speaks of “salt which had lost its savor.” The wine or the salt, when once turned or become insipid, is spoiled, irrecoverably, as we speak of “dead wine.” They had lost all their life, and taste of goodness. Her rulers with shame do love, give ye - Avarice and luxury are continually banded together according to the saying, “covetous of another’s, prodigal of his own.” Yet it were perhaps more correct to render, “her rulers do love, do love, shame.” They love that which brings shame, which is bound up with shame, and ends in it; and so the prophet says that they “love the shame” itself. They act, as if they were in love with the shame, which, all their lives long, they are unceasingly and, as it were, by system, drawing upon themselves. They chase diligently after all the occasions of sins and sinful pleasures which end in shame; they omit nothing which brings it, do nothing which can avoid it. What else or what more could they do, if they “loved the shame” for its own sake?
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| סָ֖ר | sar | it has come to an end | H5493 → | 299 times |
| סָבְאָ֑ם | saveam | drink their | H5435 → | |
| הַזְנֵ֣ה | hazneh | certainly <to prostitute themselves> | H2181 → | 94 times |
| הִזְנ֔וּ | hiznu | they have prostituted themselves | H2181 → | 94 times |
| אָהֲב֥וּ | ʾahavu | they have loved | H157 → | 211 times |
| הֵב֛וּ | hevu | love | H157 → | 211 times |
| קָל֖וֹן | kalon | shame | H7036 → | |
| מָגִנֶּֽיהָ׃ | magineiha | shields its | H4043 → |
סָ֖רit has come to an end
sarH5493 →299 times
סָבְאָ֑םdrink their
saveamH5435 →
הַזְנֵ֣הcertainly <to prostitute themselves>
haznehH2181 →94 times
הִזְנ֔וּthey have prostituted themselves
hiznuH2181 →94 times
אָהֲב֥וּthey have loved
ʾahavuH157 →211 times
הֵב֛וּlove
hevuH157 →211 times
קָל֖וֹןshame
kalonH7036 →
מָגִנֶּֽיהָ׃shields its
magineihaH4043 →
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
Micah 3:11Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:13
“For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
- 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.
- Micah 3:5
This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their…
- Jeremiah 7:4
Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
- Acts 8:18–20
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.
- Jeremiah 6:13
Through
1 Samuel 8:3But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 16:19
Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
- 1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
- Psalms 15:5
who lends his money without interest and refuses a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.
- Deuteronomy 16:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Hosea
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 4:17-19; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.