ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Hosea 4.17

Book: Hosea · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

15. Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, As Jehovah liveth. 16. For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.

17. Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.

  1. Their drink is become sour; they play the harlot continually; her rulers dearly love shame. 19. The wind hath wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be put to shame because of their sacrifices. (Hosea 4:15-19, ASV)
WEB

15. “Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet don’t let Judah offend; and don’t come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, ‘As Yahweh lives.’ 16. For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow.

17. Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!

  1. Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way. 19. The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be disappointed because of their sacrifices. (Hosea 4:15-19, WEB)
KJV

15. Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth. 16. For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

17. Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.

  1. Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye. sour: Heb. gone rulers: Heb. shields 19. The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. (Hosea 4:15-19, KJV)
YLT

15. Though a harlot thou [art], O Israel, Let not Judah become guilty, And come not ye in to Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-Aven, Nor swear ye, Jehovah liveth. 16. For as a refractory heifer hath Israel turned aside, Now doth Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.

17. Joined to idols [is] Ephraim, let him alone.

  1. Sour [is] their drink, They have gone diligently a-whoring, Her protectors have loved shame thoroughly. 19. Distressed her hath wind with its wings, And they are ashamed of their sacrifices! (Hosea 4:15-19, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: YHWH, through Hosea
  • Audience: those who might still intervene for Ephraim
  • Location: the northern kingdom of Israel, repeatedly called Ephraim after its dominant tribe
  • Time period: c. 750-722 BC, from the last years of Jeroboam II through the dynastic chaos that followed to the eve of Samaria's fall to Assyria

Theological reading

The second clause is three words in Hebrew and among the severest sentences in the prophets. The judgment is not an additional punishment but the withdrawal of interference: a people is left to the thing it has attached itself to, and the attachment is allowed to complete its own work.

Paul describes the identical shape of judgment in Romans 1:24-28 with the repeated "God gave them over." Read against Hosea 11:8, where God recoils from the thought of giving Ephraim up at all, the two verses hold the book's central tension in place without resolving it early. Neither cancels the other, and the book does not tell the reader which one is the final word until chapter 14.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

  • TBD
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Quoted in

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.