Hosea 4:9
in Hosea 4And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will requite them their doings.
KJV
And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
⋯
This verse in Hosea 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verse"and it shall be as the people, so the priest, and I will visit upon him his ways, and render to him his thoughts." LXX: "and it will be as the people, so also the priest, and I will take vengeance on him for his ways, and render to him his thoughts." Hence, both the people and the priest will equally endure the sentence of God's indignation; for not only will He visit the works that they call "ways," in which they walk, but also the thoughts which they have entertained to do such things.
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 Fathers1 voice
Seemingly he calls "ways" the walking in works and "counsels" the faults from outrageous thoughts. Then, he says, she [Israel] did not go rightly, having turned aside from the straight road. As if marching the footpath of all profanity, they devised the most shameful and absurd things, dishonoring the God of all while turning toward idolatry.
The Medieval Church1 voice
We seek no gain of souls, we attend daily to our own pursuits, we desire earthly things, we eagerly chase human glory with intent mind. And because by the very fact that we are placed over others, we have greater license to do whatever we wish, we turn the ministry of the blessing we received into an instrument of ambition; we abandon God's cause, we attend to earthly business; we receive a place of holiness, and we are entangled in earthly activities. What is written has surely been fulfilled in us: "And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest." For the priest does not differ from the people when by no merit of his own does he transcend the common conduct.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thus God will punish them both for their ways, and reward them for their doings. God will cause their doings to return upon them (so the word is); when a sin is committed the sinner thinks it is gone and he shall hear no more of it, but he shall find it called over again, and made to return, either to his humiliation or to his condemnation.
And there shall be, like people, like priest,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And there shall be like people, like priest - Priest and people were alike in sin. Yea they are wont, if bad, to foment each other’s sin. The bad priest copies the sins which he should reprove, and excuses himself by the frailty of our common nature. The people, acutely enough, detect the worldliness or self-indulgence of the priest, and shelter themselves under his example. Their defense stands good before people; but what before God?
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
like people, like priest--They are one in guilt; therefore they shall be one in punishment (Isa 24:2). reward them their doings--in homely phrase, "pay them back in their own coin" (Pr 1:31).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Like people, like priest - “The priest a wanderer from the narrow way; The silly sheep, no wonder that they stray.” I will punish them - Both priest and people; both equally bad.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֥ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כָעָ֖ם | khaam | as the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כַּכֹּהֵ֑ן | kakohen | as the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| וּפָקַדְתִּ֤י | ufakadti | and I will visit | H6485 → | 303 times |
| עָלָיו֙ | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דְּרָכָ֔יו | derakhav | ways his | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וּמַעֲלָלָ֖יו | umaalalav | and deeds his | H4611 → | 41 times |
| אָשִׁ֥יב | ʾashiv | I will repay | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | to him |
וְהָיָ֥הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
כָעָ֖םas the people
khaamH5971 →1873 times
כַּכֹּהֵ֑ןas the priest
kakohenH3548 →750 times
וּפָקַדְתִּ֤יand I will visit
ufakadtiH6485 →303 times
עָלָיו֙on him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
דְּרָכָ֔יוways his
derakhavH1870 →707 times
וּמַעֲלָלָ֖יוand deeds his
umaalalavH4611 →41 times
אָשִׁ֥יבI will repay
ʾashivH7725 →1056 times
לֽוֹ׃to him
lo
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
Matthew 15:14Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
it leads to
- Luke 6:39
Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
- Isaiah 56:10
Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
- Matthew 23:16–24
Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
- Isaiah 9:16
For those who guide this people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.
- Luke 6:39
Through
Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
it leads to
- Ezekiel 13:6
They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
- Jeremiah 14:14
“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination,…
- Micah 2:11
If a man of wind were to come and say falsely, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be just the preacher for this people!
- Ezekiel 13:6
Through
Hosea 1:4Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 10:7–8
And when the letter arrived, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
- 2 Kings 10:7–8
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON HOSEA 3:41; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.