Hosea 9:13
in Hosea 9I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a meadow. But Ephraim will bring out his children for slaughter.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ephraim, like as I have seen Tyre, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring out his children to the slayer.
KJV
Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
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This verse in Hosea 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place - Or (better) “as I saw (her) toward Tyre,” or “as I saw as to Tyre.” Ephraim stretched out, in her dependent tribes, “toward” or “to” Tyre itself. Like to Tyrus she was, “in her riches, her glory, her pleasantness, her strength, her pride,” and in the end, her fall. The picture is that of a fair tree, not chance-sown, but “planted” carefully by hand in a pleasant place. Beauty and strength were blended in her.
This site's exposition
their glory shall fly away like a bird
on Hosea 9:11-14
Ephraim's glory is pictured flying away like a bird from three points at once, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception, a judgment reaching back before life even begins. Even children raised past infancy give no security, though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, and Ephraim's own pleasant planting, compared to Tyrus at the height of her prosperity, is said to bring forth children only to the murderer rather than to a future. The prophet's own prayer in verse fourteen matches the judgment's severity, give them, O Lord, a miscarrying womb and dry breasts, one of the harshest lines in the book, and the bench reads it as the prophet's grief voiced as intercession rather than as his own wish.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, It is a great alloy to the comfort parents have in their children that they know not what they have brought them forth and brought them up for, perhaps for the murderer, or, which is worse, to be themselves the plagues of their generation.
6 For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles. The people of Israel are charged with spiritual adultery: O Israel! thou hast gone a whoring from thy God,
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:34w-of-52
Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus . . . in a pleasant place--that is, in looking towards Tyrus (on whose borders Ephraim lay) I saw Ephraim beautiful in situation like her (Eze 26:1-28:26). is planted--as a fruitful tree; image suggested by the meaning of "Ephraim" (Ho 9:11). bring forth his children to the murderer-- (Ho 9:16;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus - Tyre was strongly situated on a rock in the sea; Samaria was on a mountain, both strong and pleasant. But the strength and beauty of those cities shall not save them from destruction. Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer - The people shall be destroyed, or led into captivity by the Assyrians. Of the grandeur, wealth, power, etc., of Tyre, see the notes on Ezekiel 27 (note) and Ezekiel 28 (note).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Ephraim, as I saw Tyre in its tranquility, enjoying royalty and wealth more than all the provinces, so did I see Ephraim, planted in a dwelling place. But Ephraim what recompense did he recompense Me?
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Give them, O Lord, what You will give The prophet prays that they should die when young, for the mourning for a child is not as bad as the mourning for an adult.
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶפְרַ֛יִם | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁר־ | kaasher- | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| רָאִ֥יתִי | raiti | I have seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| לְצ֖וֹר | letzor | to Tyre | H6865 → | |
| שְׁתוּלָ֣ה | shetulah | [is] planted | H8362 → | |
| בְנָוֶ֑ה | venaveh | in pastureland | H5116 → | |
| וְאֶפְרַ֕יִם | veefrayim | and Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| לְהוֹצִ֥יא | lehotzi' | to bring out | H3318 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הֹרֵ֖ג | horeg | [one who] kills | H2026 → | |
| בָּנָֽיו׃ | banav | children his | H1121 → | 4930 times |
אֶפְרַ֛יִםEphraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 times
כַּאֲשֶׁר־just as
kaasher-H834 →5497 times
רָאִ֥יתִיI have seen
raitiH7200 →1300 times
לְצ֖וֹרto Tyre
letzorH6865 →
שְׁתוּלָ֣ה[is] planted
shetulahH8362 →
בְנָוֶ֑הin pastureland
venavehH5116 →
וְאֶפְרַ֕יִםand Ephraim
veefrayimH669 →180 times
לְהוֹצִ֥יאto bring out
lehotzi'H3318 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הֹרֵ֖ג[one who] kills
horegH2026 →
בָּנָֽיו׃children his
banavH1121 →4930 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
Hosea 13:16Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 8:12
“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword,…
- 2 Kings 15:16
At that time Menahem, starting from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in its vicinity, because they would not open their gates. So he attacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.
- Isaiah 13:16
Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.
- Psalms 137:8–9
O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
- 2 Kings 8:12
Through
Hosea 10:14the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with…
it leads to
- Hosea 13:16
Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
- Hosea 13:16
Through
Ezekiel 27:3Tell Tyre, who dwells at the gateway to the sea, merchant of the peoples on many coasts, that this is what the Lord GOD says: You have said, O Tyre, ‘I am perfect in…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 27:4
Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders perfected your beauty.
- Ezekiel 27:4
Through
Jeremiah 9:21For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:11
But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband…
- 2 Chronicles 36:17
So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God…
- Jeremiah 6:11
About Hosea
Who and where
2 names 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.