Hosea 9:4
in Hosea 9They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter the house of the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They shall not pour out wine-offerings to Jehovah, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted; for their bread shall be for their appetite; it shall not come into the house of Jehovah.
KJV
They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord.
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This verse in Hosea 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHaving collected the fruit of the vine into the wine-vats, they offered the firstlings as a libation to the demons, and not to the God who gave them. They also offered loaves of bread as firstfruits of the harvest—except that the sacrifice will become for them defiled and impure, he says, and the offerings will be considered as mourning breads (that is, disgusting, impure and odious). For what reason? For the law considered unclean anyone who approached a dead body either by blood relationship or rather by the very touching of the body.
This site's exposition
They shall not dwell in the Lord’s land
on Hosea 9:3-4
They shall not dwell in the Lord's land reverses the promise at the root of Israel's identity, exile pictured as a return to Egypt in one direction and captivity in Assyria in the other, both a forfeiture of the inheritance. Unclean food in a foreign land matters because worship and diet were bound together under the law, so exile itself becomes ritual defilement, a people unable to stay clean even if they wished to. Verse four extends the same logic to sacrifice, offerings made in exile counted as the bread of mourners, food touched by death and so polluting rather than pleasing, unable to come into the house of the Lord because no house will be left to bring it to.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Let not the people flatter themselves as if they could be safe from contagion of sin, communicating with a sinful priest and yielding their obedience to the unjust and unlawful episcopacy of their leader, when the divine censure threatens through the prophet Hosea and says, "Their sacrifices shall be like the bread of mourning: all who eat them shall be defiled." [This] teaching obviously [shows] that all are indeed involved in sin who have been contaminated by the sacrifice of a blasphemous and unjust priest.
"They shall not dwell in the land of the Lord. Ephraim returned to Egypt, and in Assyria he ate polluted food. They shall not offer wine to the Lord, nor shall their sacrifices please him; like the bread of mourners, all who eat it shall be defiled, because their bread does not enter the house of the Lord, which is their soul." LXX: "They did not dwell in the land of the Lord; Ephraim lived in Egypt and ate unclean things among the Assyrians.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Wine-offerings - These were appointed to be offered with the morning and evening sacrifice, the sacrifice representing Christ, and pardon by him; the wine-offering, the spirit of grace: the sacrifice repeated, daily continued their peace and pardon.
They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
As the bread of mourners - By the law, a dead body, and every thing that related to it, the house where it lay, and the persons who touched it, were all polluted and unclean, and whatever they touched was considered as defiled. See Deu 26:14; Num 19:11, Num 19:13, Num 19:14. For their bread for their soul - The bread for the common support of life shall not be sanctified to them by having the first-fruits presented at the temple.
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
offer wine offerings--literally, "pour as a libation (Ex 30:9; Le 23:13). neither shall they be pleasing unto him--as being offered on a profane soil. sacrifices . . . as the bread of mourners--which was unclean (De 26:14;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They shall not offer wine-offerings to the Lord - The “wine” or “drink-offering” was annexed to all their burnt-offerings, and so to all their public sacrifices. The burnt-offering (and with it the meal and the wine-offering,) was “the” daily morning and evening sacrifice Exo 29:38-41; Num 28:3-8, and the sacrifice of the Sabbath Num 28:9. It was offered, together with the sin-offering, on the first of the month, the Passover, the feast of the first-fruits, of trumpets, of tabernacles, and the Day of Atonement, besides the special sacrifices of that day Num 28:11, Num 28:15-16, Num 28:19, Num 28:22, Num 28:26, Num 28:7, Num 28:30; Num 29:11, Num 29:1-2, Num 29:5, Num 29:7-8, 12-38. It entered also into private life Lev. 1; Num 15:3, Num 15:10. The drink-offering accompanied also the peace-offering Num 15:8, Num 15:10. As the burnt-offering, on which the offerer laid his hand Lev 1:4, and which was wholly consumed by the sacred fire which at first fell from heaven, expressed the entire self-devotion of the offerer, that he owed himself wholly to his God; and as the peace-offering was the expression of thankfulness, which was at peace with God; so the outpouring of the wine betokened the joy, which accompanies that entire self oblation, that thankfulness in self-oblation of a soul accepted by God. In denying, then, that Israel should “offer wine-offerings,” the prophet says, that all the joy of their service of God, nay all their public service should cease. As he had before said, that they should be “for many days without sacrifice” Lev 3:4, so now, he says, in fact, that they should live without the prescribed means of pleading to God the atonement to come. Whence he adds, Neither shall they be pleasing to the Lord - For they should no longer have the means prescribed for reconciliation with God. Such is the state of Israel now. […]
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִסְּכ֨וּ | yisekhu | they will pour out | H5258 → | |
| לַיהוָ֥ה׀ | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| יַיִן֮ | yayin | wine | H3196 → | 141 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֶֽעֶרְבוּ־ | yeervu- | they will be pleasing | H6149 → | |
| לוֹ֒ | lo | to him | ||
| זִבְחֵיהֶ֗ם | zivcheihem | sacrifices their | H2077 → | 162 times |
| כְּלֶ֤חֶם | kelechem | [will be] like bread of | H3899 → | 298 times |
| אוֹנִים֙ | ʾonim | mourning<s> | H205 → | 77 times |
| לָהֶ֔ם | lahem | to them | ||
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֹכְלָ֖יו | ʾokhelav | [those who] eat it | H398 → | 810 times |
| יִטַמָּ֑אוּ | yitamau | they will make themselves unclean | H2930 → | 162 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לַחְמָ֣ם | lachmam | bread their | H3899 → | 298 times |
| לְנַפְשָׁ֔ם | lenafsham | [will be] for self their | H5315 → | |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָב֖וֹא | yavo' | it will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִסְּכ֨וּthey will pour out
yisekhuH5258 →
לַיהוָ֥ה׀to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
יַיִן֮wine
yayinH3196 →141 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יֶֽעֶרְבוּ־they will be pleasing
yeervu-H6149 →
לוֹ֒to him
lo
זִבְחֵיהֶ֗םsacrifices their
zivcheihemH2077 →162 times
כְּלֶ֤חֶם[will be] like bread of
kelechemH3899 →298 times
אוֹנִים֙mourning<s>
ʾonimH205 →77 times
לָהֶ֔םto them
lahem
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֹכְלָ֖יו[those who] eat it
ʾokhelavH398 →810 times
יִטַמָּ֑אוּthey will make themselves unclean
yitamauH2930 →162 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
לַחְמָ֣םbread their
lachmamH3899 →298 times
לְנַפְשָׁ֔ם[will be] for self their
lenafshamH5315 →
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָב֖וֹאit will go
yavo'H935 →2568 times
בֵּ֥ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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 6:20What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:11
“What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Amos 5:21–22
“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
- Micah 6:6–8
With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?
- Isaiah 1:11
Through
Joel 2:14Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him—grain and drink offerings for the LORD your God.
it leads to
- Jonah 3:9
Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
- Haggai 2:19
Is there still seed in the barn? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet yielded fruit. But from this day on, I will bless you.”
- Jonah 3:9
Through
Deuteronomy 26:14I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God;…
it leads to
- Leviticus 7:20
But if anyone who is unclean eats meat from the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people.
- Leviticus 21:1
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,
- Leviticus 21:11
He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.
- Leviticus 7:20
About Hosea
This page draws on 10 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); Cyprian, Epistle LXVII:3; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON HOSEA 4:96; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 9:3-4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.