Hosea 4:8
in Hosea 4They feed on the sins of My people and set their hearts on iniquity.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.
KJV
They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
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This verse in Hosea 4
Commentary
12 notes on this verse"they will eat the sins of my people, and lift up their souls to their iniquity." LXX: "they will eat the sins of my people, and receive them in their iniquities; others their souls." For indeed, the priests eat the sins of my people, concerning whom it is written: "Those who devour my people, like bread" (Ps 13:8). And therefore they eat the sins of my people, consenting to the crimes of wrongdoers since, when they witness them sinning, not only do they not rebuke them, but they praise and exalt them and call them blessed.
This site's exposition
As they were increased
on Hosea 4:7-10
As the priests increased in number and prosperity they sinned the more, so their glory is turned into shame, a reversal the older writers call a fitting recompense for a caste that grew fat rather than faithful. They eat up the sin of my people is read as the priests profiting from the sin offerings brought for the people's guilt, feeding on wrongdoing instead of correcting it, so like people, like priest binds both under one coming punishment. They shall eat and not have enough, and shall commit whoredom and not increase, because they have left off taking heed to the Lord, futility built into the very acts meant to satisfy.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
[The priests] are feasting on the sins of my people, approving the crimes of the sinners. For when they behold them sinning, not only do they not argue but they praise and extol them, calling them fortunate.
The text wants you to make a more daring assertion if your hearing will still follow. What is the "sacrifice" that is offered "for sin" and is "very holy" except "the only begotten Son of God," Jesus Christ my Lord? He alone is the "sacrifice for sins," and he is "a very holy offering." But since it added that "the priest who offers it will eat it," it seems to be hard to understand. For that which it says must be eaten seems to be referring to the sin, just as in another place the prophet says concerning the priests that "they will eat the sins of my people." This also shows that the priest ought to eat the sin of the one who is offering. We frequently show from holy Scripture that Christ is also the sacrifice that is offered for the sin of the world and the priest who brings the offering.
They used to sacrifice goats for sin; for this reason the sacrifice was called sin. By offering a goat on the altar, the priests at the right time used to bring the intestines and the lard, and they ate the rest. This was ordered by the divine law. … "They eat the sins of my people" means they eat the offerings brought for sins.
The Medieval Church1 voice
But we must remember without ceasing what is written about certain ones: They shall eat the sins of my people. Why are they said to eat the sins of the people, unless because they encourage the sins of transgressors, lest they lose their temporal payments? But we also who live from the offerings of the faithful, which they offered for their sins, if we eat and remain silent, we without doubt eat their sins. Let us consider, therefore, what a crime it is before God to eat the price of sins and to do nothing against sins by preaching.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They set their heart upon the people's iniquities; they lifted up their soul to them, that is, they were glad then people did commit iniquity, that they might be obliged to bring an offering to make atonement for it, which they should have their share of; the more sins the more sacrifices, and therefore they cared not how much sin people were guilty of.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They - The priests who minister to the idols. The sin - Probably by sin is meant sin-offering, in which the priest had his share. And they - Covetous, luxurious, idolatrous priests.
They eat up the sin of my people,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
They eat up the sin of my people - חטאת chattath, the sin-offering, though it be offered contrary to the law; for their hearts are set on iniquity, they wish to do whatever is contrary to God.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Compare De 24:15, Margin; The priests set their own hearts on the iniquity of the people, instead of trying to suppress it. For the more the people sinned, the more sacrificial victims in atonement for sin the priests gained.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They eat up the sin of My people - The priests made a gain of the sins of the people, lived upon them and by them, conniving at or upholding the idolatries of the people, partaking in their idol-sacrifices and idolatrous rites, which, as involving the desertion of God, were “the sin of the people,” and the root of all their other sins. This the priests did knowingly. True or false, apostate or irregularly appointed, they knew that there was no truth in the golden calves; but they withheld the truth, they held it down in unrighteousness, and preached Jeroboam’s false-hood, “these be thy gods, O Israel.” The reputation, station, maintenance of the false priests depended upon it. Not being of the line of Aaron, they could be no priests except to the calves, and so they upheld the sin whereby they lived, and, that they might themselves be accounted priests of God, taught them to worship the calves, as representatives of God. The word, “sin,” may include indirectly the sin-offerings of the people, as if they loved the sin or encouraged it, in order that they might partake of the outward expiations for it. And they set their heart on their iniquity - , as the source of temporal profit to themselves. “Benefited by the people, they reproved them not in their sinful doings, but charged themselves with their souls, saying, on us be the judgment, as those who said to Pilate, His blood be upon us.” That which was, above all, “their iniquity,” the source of all the rest, was their departure from God and from His ordained worship. On this they “set their hearts;” in this they kept them secure by their lies; they feared any misgivings, which might rend the people from them, and restore them to the true worship of God. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חַטַּ֥את | chatat | [the] sin of | H2403 → | 295 times |
| עַמִּ֖י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| יֹאכֵ֑לוּ | yokhelu | they eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עֲוֹנָ֖ם | ʾavonam | iniquity their | H5771 → | 233 times |
| יִשְׂא֥וּ | yisu | they lift up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃ | nafsho | desire its | H5315 → |
חַטַּ֥את[the] sin of
chatatH2403 →295 times
עַמִּ֖יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
יֹאכֵ֑לוּthey eat
yokheluH398 →810 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
עֲוֹנָ֖םiniquity their
ʾavonamH5771 →233 times
יִשְׂא֥וּthey lift up
yisuH5375 →656 times
נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃desire its
nafshoH5315 →
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 6:13
Through
Isaiah 56:11Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:
it leads to
- Ezekiel 34:2–3
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the…
- Ezekiel 13:19
You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared…
- Ezekiel 34:2–3
Through
Titus 1:11who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 3:6
They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions,
- 1 Timothy 6:5
and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.
- 2 Timothy 3:6
Through
1 Samuel 2:29Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all…
it leads to
- Matthew 10:37
Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
- Matthew 10:37
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Hosea
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
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; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON HOSEA 3:40; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 17; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 4:7-9; Jerome, COMMENTARY ON HOSEA 1:4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 5:2.