Hosea 9:17
in Hosea 9My God will reject them because they have not obeyed Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
KJV
My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
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This verse in Hosea 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseMy God will cast them away,.... With loathsomeness and contempt, having sinned against him, and done such abominable things; cast them out of their own land, as men not fit to live in it; cast them out of his sight, as not able to endure them; cast them away, as unprofitable and good for nothing; reject them from being his people; no more own them in the relation they had stood in to him; nor show them any more favour, at least until the conversion of them in the times of the Messiah.
This site's exposition
All their wickedness is in Gilgal
on Hosea 9:15-17
All their wickedness is in Gilgal names the site where Saul was made king, which the bench reads as marking where Israel's monarchy first began drifting from obedience, so the Lord's hatred there is dated to a specific historical wound rather than a vague general charge. I will love them no more answers Hosea's own children's names from chapter one, Lo-ruhamah's withheld mercy spoken again here in the Lord's own voice against a nation that will not turn. The chapter closes on Ephraim smitten, root dried up, no fruit, and the final verdict, my God will cast them away, and they shall be wanderers among the nations, a sentence the bench connects to the covenant curses of Deuteronomy twenty-eight finally falling due.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Ephraim is struck: their root has dried up, they will bear no fruit. Even if they do, I will kill the beloved offspring of their womb. My God will reject them because they did not listen to him, and they will wander among the nations." LXX: "Ephraim grieves over his roots: they are withered, and bear no fruit, and even if they give birth, I will kill the cherished offspring of their wombs. God will reject them because they have not listened to him, and they will wander among the nations."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, When others disown God, and are disowned by him, it is a very great satisfaction to good people that they can call God their God, can cheerfully own him and see themselves owned by him--all revolters, all ruined, yet God is my God. The fruit of this displeasure, in the cutting off and abandoning of their posterity, which is the judgment here threatened again and again.
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
); they did not give attention to the voice either of his word or of his rod; they did not believe what he said, nor would they be ruled by him. He told them their duty, their interest, their danger, but they regarded him not; all he said to them by his words and by his prophets was to them as a tale that is told; and then no wonder that we hear, 2.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
My God hath cast them away - “My God” (he saith) as if God were his God only who clave to him, not their’s who had, by their disobedience, departed from Him. “My God.” “He had then authority from Him,” whom he owned and who owned “him,” and who bade him so Speak, as though God were “his” God, and no longer their’s.
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
My God--"My," in contrast to "them," that is, the people, whose God Jehovah no longer is. Also Hosea appeals to God as supporting his authority against the whole people. wanderers among . . . nations-- (2Ki 15:29;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
My God will cast them away - Here the prophet seems to apologize for the severity of these denunciations; and to vindicate the Divine justice, from which they proceeded. It is: - Because they did not hearken unto him - That “my God,” the fountain of mercy and kindness, “will cast them away.” And they shall be wanderers among the nations - And where they have wandered to, who can tell? and in what nations to be found, no man knows. Wanderers they are; and perhaps even now unknown to themselves. Some have thought they have found them in one country; some, in another; and a very pious writer, in a book entitled, The Star in the West, thinks he has found their descendants in the American Indians; among whom he has discovered many customs, apparently the same with those of the ancient Jews, and commanded in the Law. He even thinks that the word Je-ho-vah is found in their solemn festal cry, Ye-ho-wa-he. If they be this long lost people, they are utterly unknown to themselves; their origin being lost in a very remote antiquity.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִמְאָסֵ֣ם | yimasem | he will reject them | H3988 → | 76 times |
| אֱלֹהַ֔י | ʾelohai | God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמְע֖וּ | shameu | they have listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| ל֑וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| וְיִהְי֥וּ | veyihyu | so they may be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| נֹדְדִ֖ים | nodedim | wanderers | H5074 → | |
| בַּגּוֹיִֽם׃ ס | bagoyim | among the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
יִמְאָסֵ֣םhe will reject them
yimasemH3988 →76 times
אֱלֹהַ֔יGod my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמְע֖וּthey have listened
shameuH8085 →1159 times
ל֑וֹto him
lo
וְיִהְי֥וּso they may be
veyihyuH1961 →3559 times
נֹדְדִ֖יםwanderers
nodedimH5074 →
בַּגּוֹיִֽם׃ סamong the nations
bagoyimH1471 →561 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
Isaiah 48:18If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 5:29
If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
- Isaiah 66:12
For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm,…
- Psalms 119:165
Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.
- Psalms 81:13–16
If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
- Deuteronomy 32:29
If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
- Deuteronomy 5:29
Through
Acts 3:23Everyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from among his people.’
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 18:19
And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name.
- Deuteronomy 18:19
Through
Zechariah 1:4Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen…
it leads to
- Psalms 78:8
Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
- Psalms 78:8
Through
Hosea 7:13Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against Me.
it leads to
- Hosea 9:12
Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them!
- Hosea 9:12
About Hosea
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 9:16-17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.