Hosea 8:11
in Hosea 8Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been unto him for sinning.
KJV
Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
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This verse in Hosea 8
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall indeed be unto him to sin - that is, they shall be proved to him to be so, by the punishment which they shall draw upon him. The prophet had first shown them their folly in forsaking God for the help of man; now he shows them the folly of attempting to “secure themselves by their great shew and pretences of religion and devotion in a false way.” God had appointed “one” altar at Jerusalem. There He willed the sacrifices to be offered, which He would accept.
This site's exposition
Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin
on Hosea 8:11-13
Multiplied altars meant to atone for sin become, by their sheer number, altars unto sin, worship increased past what the law commanded and turned into the very offense it was meant to remove. The great things of the Lord's law were treated as a strange thing, a foreign document rather than Israel's own covenant, so the sacrifices offered afterward are flesh eaten for its own sake, not fellowship the Lord will accept. He will remember their iniquity and visit their sins, and the sentence given is a return to Egypt, the exodus reversed, the place of bondage waiting again for a people who had made themselves strangers to their own God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Because Ephraim has multiplied altars to sin, altars have been made for him to sin on. He said, led into captivity, they'll cease for a short while from the burden of the king and prince. And this they suffer, because Ephraim their prince has multiplied altars, not in which to sacrifice to the Lord, but in which to join sins and sins: these altars, that is, will turn into a sin for them, so that the more there are, the more their crimes will multiply. Then as he had said before: "What shall I do to you, Ephraim?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Because Ephraim hath, made many altars to sin,....
No, they made many altars to sin (that is, they did that which turned into sin to them), and therefore these altars shall be unto them to sin, that is, God will charge it upon them as a heinous sin, and put that upon the score of their crimes which they designed to be for the expiation of their crimes.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
God in righteous retribution gives them up to their own way; the sin becomes its own punishment (Pr 1:31). many altars--in opposition to God's law (De 12:5, 6, 13, 14). to sin . . . to sin--Their altars which were "sin" (whatever religious intentions they might plead) should be treated as such, and be the source of their punishment (1Ki 12:30;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Many altars to sin - Though it does not appear that the Jews in Babylon were obliged to worship the idols of the country, except in the case mentioned by Daniel, yet it was far otherwise with the Israelites in Assyria, and the other countries of their dispersion. Because they had made many altars to sin while they were in their own land, they were obliged to continue in the land of their captivity a similar system of idolatry against their will. Thus they felt and saw the evil of their idolatry, without power to help themselves.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For Ephraim has increased Therefore, I will humble them with the burden of the king and the princes.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Although they pay hire among the nations Although they did this, that they paid for lovers of the nations.
I write for them I constantly reprimand them through My prophets, and write for them the great things of My Law, but they are considered a strange thing.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִרְבָּ֥ה | hirbah | he has multiplied | H7235 → | 227 times |
| אֶפְרַ֛יִם | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| מִזְבְּחֹ֖ת | mizbechot | altars | H4196 → | 401 times |
| לַחֲטֹ֑א | lachato' | for sinning | H2398 → | 238 times |
| הָיוּ־ | hayu- | they have become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| ל֥וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| מִזְבְּח֖וֹת | mizbechot | altars | H4196 → | 401 times |
| לַחֲטֹֽא׃ | lachato' | for sinning | H2398 → | 238 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הִרְבָּ֥הhe has multiplied
hirbahH7235 →227 times
אֶפְרַ֛יִםEphraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 times
מִזְבְּחֹ֖תaltars
mizbechotH4196 →401 times
לַחֲטֹ֑אfor sinning
lachato'H2398 →238 times
הָיוּ־they have become
hayu-H1961 →3559 times
ל֥וֹto him
lo
מִזְבְּח֖וֹתaltars
mizbechotH4196 →401 times
לַחֲטֹֽא׃for sinning
lachato'H2398 →238 times
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
Jeremiah 16:13So I will cast you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:36
The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 4:26–28
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it,…
- Jeremiah 15:14
Then I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for My anger will kindle a fire that will burn against you.”
- Deuteronomy 28:36
Through
Hosea 10:8The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall…
it leads to
- Revelation 6:16
And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
- Luke 23:30
At that time ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
- Isaiah 2:19
Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.
- Revelation 6:16
Through
Deuteronomy 4:28And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:64
Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you…
- Jeremiah 16:13
So I will cast you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you…
- Deuteronomy 28:64
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 8:11; 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.