Hosea 8:9
in Hosea 8For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For they are gone up to Assyria, like a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
KJV
For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
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This verse in Hosea 8
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For they are gone up to Assyria - The ground of this their captivity is that wherein they placed their hope of safety. They shall be presently swallowed up; “for” they went to Asshur. The holy land being then honored by the spectral presence of God, all nations are said to “go up” to it. Now, since Israel forgetting God, their strength and their glory, went to the Assyrian for help, he is said to “go up” there, where he went as a suppliant.
This site's exposition
gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself
on Hosea 8:9-10
Ephraim's diplomacy is pictured as a wild ass wandering alone toward Assyria, an animal without herd or master, and hiring lovers turns the marriage language of the book's opening chapters onto foreign policy itself, alliance treated as adultery. The nations Ephraim paid for protection become, in verse ten, the very peoples among whom the Lord will gather Israel for judgment instead of rescue. The burden of the king of princes points most naturally to Assyria's own emperor, whose tribute demands were themselves part of the sorrow Israel had purchased with her hired alliances, the price of borrowed safety finally coming due.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath given gifts to his lovers, yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them together, and they shall rest a little from the burden of the king and the princes." LXX: "Because they went up to the Assyrians, Ephraim has flourished within himself: they have loved gifts, therefore they shall be given to the Gentiles: now will I gather them together, and they shall rest a little from the labour of the king and the princes."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
They take a course by themselves, and the effect will be that, like a wild ass by himself, they will be the easier and surer prey to the lion. Note, Man is in nothing more like the wild ass's colt than in seeking for that succour and that satisfaction in the creature which are to be had in God only.
Gone up - Israel is like a wild ass. A wild ass - Stubborn, wild, untamed. Alone - Solitary, where is no path or tract; so they were in their captivity.
For they are gone up to Assyria,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
gone . . . to Assyria--referring to Menahem's application for Pul's aid in establishing him on the throne (compare Ho 5:13; Menahem's name is read in the inscriptions in the southwest palace of Nimrod, as a tributary to the Assyrian king in his eighth year. The dynasty of Pul, or Phalluka, was supplanted at Nineveh by that of Tiglath-pileser, about 768 (or 760) B.C.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They are gone up to Assyria - For succor. A wild ass alone by himself - Like that animal, jealous of its liberty, and suffering no rival. If we may credit Pliny and others, one male wild ass will keep a whole flock of females to himself, suffer no other to approach them, and even bite off the genitals of the colts, lest in process of time they should become his rivals. “Mares singuli faeminarum gregibus imperitant; timent libidinis aemulos, et ideo gravidas custodiunt, morsuque natos mares castrant.” - Hist. Nat., lib. viii., c. 30. The Israelites, with all this selfishness and love of liberty, took no step that did not necessarily lead to their thraldom and destruction. Ephraim hath hired lovers - Hath subsidized the neighboring heathen states.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Although they pay hire among the nations Although they did this, that they paid for lovers of the nations.
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
10 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 |
| הֵ֙מָּה֙ | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| עָל֣וּ | ʾalu | they have gone up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אַשּׁ֔וּר | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
| פֶּ֖רֶא | pere' | a wild donkey | H6501 → | |
| בּוֹדֵ֣ד | boded | isolated | H909 → | |
| ל֑וֹ | lo | to itself | ||
| אֶפְרַ֖יִם | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| הִתְנ֥וּ | hitnu | they have hired | H8566 → | |
| אֲהָבִֽים | ʾahavim | lovers | H158 → |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הֵ֙מָּה֙they
hemahH1992 →553 times
עָל֣וּthey have gone up
ʾaluH5927 →890 times
אַשּׁ֔וּרAssyria
ʾashurH804 →151 times
פֶּ֖רֶאa wild donkey
pere'H6501 →
בּוֹדֵ֣דisolated
bodedH909 →
ל֑וֹto itself
lo
אֶפְרַ֖יִםEphraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 times
הִתְנ֥וּthey have hired
hitnuH8566 →
אֲהָבִֽיםlovers
ʾahavimH158 →
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
Hosea 5:13When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
it leads to
- Hosea 12:1
Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 7:11
So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.
- Jeremiah 30:12
For this is what the LORD says: “Your injury is incurable; your wound is grievous.
- 2 Kings 15:19
Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in order to gain his support and strengthen his own grip on the kingdom.
- Hosea 10:6
Yes, it will be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim will be seized with shame; Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.
- Hosea 12:1
Through
Hosea 7:11So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.
it leads to
- Hosea 5:13
When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
- Hosea 4:11
Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
- Hosea 5:13
Through
Jeremiah 2:24a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 14:6
Wild donkeys stand on barren heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of pasture.”
- Jeremiah 14:6
About Hosea
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
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; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 8:9-10; 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.