Hosea 5:9
in Hosea 5Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.
KJV
Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.
⋯
This verse in Hosea 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseBlow the horn in Gabaa, trumpet in Rama: howl at Bethaven after your back, O Benjamin: Ephraim shall be in desolation in the day of rebuke, among the tribes of Israel have I made known the truth." LXX: "Blow the trumpet on the hills, sound on the high places," "proclaim it in the house." ὢν: "Benjamin's mind has failed, Ephraim has become desolate in the days of reproof, in the tribes of Israel I have shown faithfulness." Ephraim and Israel and Judah shall each month, or the rust with its parts, devour.
This site's exposition
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah
on Hosea 5:8-10
The trumpet call rings across Benjamin's own territory, Gibeah and Ramah and Beth-aven all named, an alarm sounding for an invasion the prophet already sees coming rather than a summons to battle the nation can win. Ephraim will be desolate in the day of rebuke, the certainty stated among the tribes as a settled fact rather than a threat that might yet be turned aside. The princes of Judah are likened to those who remove the ancient boundary stone, a crime Deuteronomy curses by name, and the bench reads it of Judah's encroachment on Israelite territory during this era's border wars, drawing the Lord's wrath down on Judah for the same greed that undoes Ephraim.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Ephraim - The whole kingdom of the ten tribes. Rebuke - When Salmaneser shall besiege, sack and captivate all thy cities, rebuked for their sins. Of Israel - To the house of Israel openly.
Note, The destruction of impenitent sinners is a thing which shall surely be; it is not mere talk, to frighten them, but it is an irrevocable sentence. And it is a mercy to us that it is made known to us, that we have timely warning given us of it, that we may flee from the wrath to come.
, Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke. Note, Daring sinners must expect that a day of rebuke will come, and such a day of rebuke as will make them desolate, will deprive them of the comfort of all they have and all they hope for.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Ephraim shall he desolate in the day of rebuke,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ephraim shall be desolate - It shall not be lightly rebuked, nor even more grievously chastened; it shall not simply be wasted by famine, pestilence, and the sword; it shall be not simply desolate, but a desolation, one waste, in the day of rebuke, when God brings home to it its sin and punishment. Ephraim was not taken away for a time; it was never restored.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Among the tribes of Israel have I made known - They have got sufficient warning; it is their own fault that they have not taken it.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
like those who remove the landmark As a person who attaches the landmark of his neighbor, so did they hasten to grasp the ways of Israel, their colleagues, the kings. Therefore, “upon them will I pour My wrath like water.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙ | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| לְשַׁמָּ֣ה | leshamah | <into> a waste | H8047 → | |
| תִֽהְיֶ֔ה | tihyeh | it will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְּי֖וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| תּֽוֹכֵחָ֑ה | tokhechah | rebuke | H8433 → | |
| בְּשִׁבְטֵי֙ | beshivtei | among [the] tribes of | H7626 → | |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הוֹדַ֖עְתִּי | hoda'ti | I make known | H3045 → | 945 times |
| נֶאֱמָנָֽה׃ | neemanah | [something] trustworthy | H539 → |
אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙Ephraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 times
לְשַׁמָּ֣ה<into> a waste
leshamahH8047 →
תִֽהְיֶ֔הit will become
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
בְּי֖וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
תּֽוֹכֵחָ֑הrebuke
tokhechahH8433 →
בְּשִׁבְטֵי֙among [the] tribes of
beshivteiH7626 →
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הוֹדַ֖עְתִּיI make known
hoda'tiH3045 →945 times
נֶאֱמָנָֽה׃[something] trustworthy
neemanahH539 →
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
Isaiah 46:10I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:21
Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
- Psalms 33:11
The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.
- Ephesians 1:9–11
And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ
- Isaiah 43:13
Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”
- Isaiah 45:21
Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but…
- Proverbs 19:21
Through
John 16:4But I have told you these things so that when their hour comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I…
it leads to
- John 14:29
And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.
- Mark 13:23
So be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance.
- John 14:29
Through
Zechariah 1:6But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according…
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:17
The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and…
- Lamentations 2:17
About Hosea
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 5:8-9; 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.