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Hosea 4:3

in Hosea 4

Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

KJV

Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

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This verse in Hosea 4

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Hosea 4:3 · Written before 420.

Therefore the earth will mourn, and all who dwell in it will be weakened: in the beast of the field and in the bird of the sky, and even the fish of the sea will be gathered. " LXX: "Therefore the earth will mourn and be diminished with all who dwell in it, with the beasts of the field," "with the serpents of the earth, and with the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea will fail."

This site's exposition

Hear the word of the Lord

on Hosea 4:1-3

The book turns from Gomer's household to the whole land with a lawsuit form, a controversy the Lord brings against Israel for the absence of truth, mercy and the knowledge of God. Swearing, lying, killing, stealing and adultery break out until blood toucheth blood, one sin overtaking another the way flood water rises, and the commentators read the list as the second table of the commandments broken in order. The land itself mourns and the beasts, birds and fish are taken away, creation drawn into the covenant's collapse the way Genesis ties the ground to Adam's fall.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

The tamer either were killed by enemies, or offended with stench, forsook the country, or were devoured by birds of prey. Taken away - Whether by drying up the waters, or by corrupting them with blood and carcasses.
Therefore shall the land mourn,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The whole land is infected with sin, and therefore the whole land shall mourn under God's sore judgments, shall sit in mourning, being stripped of all its wealth and beauty. As the valleys are said to shout for joy, and sing, when there are plenty and peace, so here they are said to mourn when by war and famine they are made desolate.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Therefore shall the land mourn - Dumb inanimate nature seems to rejoice and to be in unison with our sense of joy, when bedewed and fresh through rain and radiant with light; and, again, to mourn, when smitten with drought or blight or disease, or devoured by the creatures which God employs to lay it waste for man’s sins. Dumb nature is, as it were, in sympathy with man, cursed in Adam, smitten amid man’s offences, its outward show responding to man’s inward heart, wasted, parched, desolate, when man himself was marred and wasted by his sins.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

land . . . languish-- (Isa 19:8; Joe 1:10, 12). sea--including all bodies of water, as pools and even rivers (see on Isa 19:5). A general drought, the greatest calamity in the East, is threatened.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Therefore shall the land mourn - Fruitful seasons shall be denied. That dwelleth therein shall languish - Endemic and epidemic disorders shall prevail, and multitudes shall die; so that mourning shall be found in all quarters. The beasts of the field, and with the fowls - There is a death of cattle and domestic animals, in consequence of the badness of the season. The fishes of the sea also shall be taken away - Those immense shoals which at certain seasons frequent the coasts, which are caught in millions, and become a very useful home supply, and a branch of most profitable traffic, they shall be directed by the unseen influence of God to avoid our coasts, as has frequently been the case with herrings, mackerel, pilchards, etc.; and so this source of supply and wealth has been shut up, because of the iniquities of the land.

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • עַל־there-

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • כֵּ֣ן׀-fore

    kenH3651 →771 times

  • תֶּאֱבַ֣לit will dry up

    teevalH56 →

  • הָאָ֗רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • וְאֻמְלַל֙and he will wither

    veumlalH535 →

  • כָּל־every

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • יוֹשֵׁ֣ב[one who] dwells

    yoshevH3427 →1079 times

  • בָּ֔הּin it

    bah

  • בְּחַיַּ֥תamong [the] animal[s] of

    bechaiyatH2416 →498 times

  • הַשָּׂדֶ֖הthe field

    hasadehH7704 →334 times

  • וּבְע֣וֹףand among [the] bird[s] of

    uveofH5775 →71 times

  • הַשָּׁמָ֑יִםthe heavens

    hashamayimH8064 →421 times

  • וְגַם־and also

    vegam-H1571 →769 times

  • דְּגֵ֥י[the] fish of

    degeiH1709 →

  • הַיָּ֖םthe sea

    haiyamH3220 →396 times

  • יֵאָסֵֽפוּ׃they will be removed

    yeasefuH622 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Zephaniah 1:3“I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and the idols with their wicked worshipers. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.9 worksRomans 8:20For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope7 worksIsaiah 24:4–12The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.6 worksNahum 1:4He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.6 worksAmos 8:8Will not the land quake for this, and all its dwellers mourn? All of it will swell like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.6 worksJeremiah 12:4How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”5 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Ezekiel 38:20The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that crawls upon the ground, and all mankind on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence. The mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground.5 worksAmos 5:16Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail.5 worksJeremiah 4:28Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above will grow dark. I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back.”5 worksJeremiah 9:10I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.5 worksJoel 1:10The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.5 worksJoel 1:18How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.5 worksJeremiah 4:27–28For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.4 worksIsaiah 33:9The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.3 worksJeremiah 4:25I looked, and no man was left; all the birds of the air had fled.3 worksJeremiah 21:6I will strike down the residents of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a terrible plague.’3 worksGenesis 6:7So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”3 worksAmos 1:2He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Nahum 1:4

    He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 33:9

      The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

    • Psalms 106:9

      He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.

    • Isaiah 51:10

      Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea for the redeemed to cross over?

    • Isaiah 19:5–10

      The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.

    • Psalms 74:15

      You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 12:4

    How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said,…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 9:10

      I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not…

    • Psalms 107:34

      and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.

    • Jeremiah 4:25

      I looked, and no man was left; all the birds of the air had fled.

Where this verse is studied

About Hosea

Hosea: the study guide →Read Hosea 4 →

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 4:3; 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.

Read on in Hosea 4 →