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Texts -- Hosea 4:11-14 (NET)

Context
Judgment of Pagan Idolatry and Cultic Prostitution
4:11 Old and new wine wine take away the understanding of my people. 4:12 They consult their wooden idols, and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle. The wind of prostitution blows them astray ; they commit spiritual adultery against their God . 4:13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops , and burn offerings on the hills ; they sacrifice under oak , poplar , and terebinth , because their shade is so pleasant . As a result , your daughters have become cult prostitutes , and your daughters-in-law commit adultery ! 4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit prostitution , nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery . For the men consort with harlots , they sacrifice with temple prostitutes . It is true: “A people that lacks understanding will come to ruin !”

Pericope

NET
  • Hos 4:11-14 -- Judgment of Pagan Idolatry and Cultic Prostitution

Bible Dictionary

  • Teil tree

    [ebd] (an old name for the lime-tree, the tilia), Isa. 6:13, the terebinth, or turpentine-tree, the Pistacia terebinthus of botanists. The Hebrew word here used (elah) is rendered oak (q.v.) in Gen. 35:4; Judg. 6:11, 19; Isa. 1:29...

  • SPOUSE

    [ebd] (Cant. 4:8-12; Hos. 4:13, 14) may denote either husband or wife, but in the Scriptures it denotes only the latter.
    [isbe] SPOUSE - spouz (kallah, "bride," "daughter-in-law"): the Revised Version (British and American) gives "bride" for the King James Version "spouse" in Song 4:8 ff, and "brides" for "spouses" in Hos 4:13 f (margin "daughters-in...

  • SALVATION

    [isbe] SALVATION - sal-va'-shun: I. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT 1. General 2. Individualism 3. Faith 4. Moral Law 5. Sacrifices 6. Ritual Law II. INTERMEDIATE LITERATURE 1. General 2. The Law III. THE TEACHING OF CHRIST 1. The Baptist 2. ...

  • OAK

    [isbe] OAK - ok: Several Hebrew words are so translated, but there has always been great doubt as to which words should be translated "oak" and which "terebinth." This uncertainty appears in the Septuagint and all through English V...

  • LAW IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

    [isbe] LAW IN THE OLD TESTAMENT - || I. TERMS USED 1. Torah ("Law") 2. Synonyms of Torah (1) Mitswah ("Command") (2) `Edhah ("Witness," "Testimony") (3) MishpaTim ("Judgments") (4) Chuqqim ("Statutes") (5) Piqqudhim ("Precepts") II...

  • Jotham

    [nave] JOTHAM 1. Son of Gideon, Judg. 9:5, 57. Rebukes the Shechemites in the parable of the trees, Judg. 9:7-21. 2. Son of Azariah, king of Judah, 2 Kin. 15:5-7, 32, 38; 1 Chr. 3:12; 2 Chr. 26:21-23; 27. Piety of, 2 Chr. 27. T...

  • Jeroboam

    [ebd] increase of the people. (1.) The son of Nebat (1 Kings 11:26-39), "an Ephrathite," the first king of the ten tribes, over whom he reigned twenty-two years (B.C. 976-945). He was the son of a widow of Zereda, and while still ...

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • Idolatry

    [isbe] IDOLATRY - i-dol'-a-tri (teraphim, "household idols," "idolatry"; eidololatreia): There is ever in the human mind a craving for visible forms to express religious conceptions, and this tendency does not disappear with the ac...
    [smith] strictly speaking denotes the worship of deity in a visible form, whether the images to which homage is paid are symbolical representations of the true God or of the false divinities which have been made the objects of worshi...
    [nave] IDOLATRY. Wicked Practices of Human sacrifices, Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; Deut. 12:31; 18:10; 2 Kin. 3:26, 27; 16:3; 17:17, 18; 21:6; 23:10; 2 Chr. 28:3; 33:6; Psa. 106:37, 38; Isa. 57:5; Jer. 7:31; 19:4-7; 32:35; Ezek. 16:20, 2...

  • HOSEA

    [isbe] HOSEA - ho-ze'-a: I. THE PROPHET 1. Name 2. Native Place 3. Date 4. Personal History (Marriage) (1) Allegorical View (2) Literal View II. THE BOOK 1. Style and Scope 2. Historical Background 3. Contents and Divisions (1) Hos...

  • HILL; MOUNT; MOUNTAIN

    [isbe] HILL; MOUNT; MOUNTAIN - 1. Names: (1) The commonest word is har (also harar, and herer), which is rendered "hill," "mount" or "mountain." It occurs several hundreds of times. In a number of places the Revised Version (Britis...

  • HIGH PLACE

    [isbe] HIGH PLACE - 1. General: (1) "High place" is the normal translation of bamah, a word that means simply "elevation" (Jer 26:18; Ezek 36:2, etc.; compare the use in Job 9:8 of the waves of the sea. For the plural as a proper n...

  • HARLOT

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. zonah (Gen. 34:31; 38:15). In verses 21, 22 the Hebrew word used in kedeshah, i.e., a woman consecrated or devoted to prostitution in connection with the abominable worship of Asherah or Astarte, the Syrian Venus. ...
    [isbe] HARLOT - har'-lot: This name replaces in the Revised Version (British and American) "whore" of the King James Version. It stands for several words and phrases used to designate or describe the unchaste woman, married or unma...

  • DRUNKENNESS

    [isbe] DRUNKENNESS - drunk'-'-n-nes (raweh, shikkaron, shethi; methe): I. Its Prevalance. The Bible affords ample proof that excessive drinking of intoxicants was a common vice among the Hebrews, as among other ancient peoples. Thi...

  • DIVINATION

    [isbe] DIVINATION - div-i-na'-shun: 1. Definition 2. Kinds of Divination 3. Fundamental Assumption in Divination 4. Legitimate and Illegitimate Divination 5. The Bible and Divination 6. Modes of Divination Mentioned in the Bible: T...
    [smith] is a "foretelling future events, or discovering things secret by the aid of superior beings, or other than human means." It is used in Scripture of false systems of ascertaining the divine will. It has been universal in all a...

  • DEUTERONOMY

    [isbe] DEUTERONOMY - du-ter-on'-o-mi: 1. Name 2. What Deuteronomy Is 3. Analysis 4. Ruling Ideas 5. Unity 6. Authorship 7. Deuteronomy Spoken Twice 8. Deuteronomy's Influence in Israel's History 9. The Critical Theory LITERATURE 1....

  • Church

    [nave] CHURCH, the collective body of believers. Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics Called in the O.T., The Congregation, Ex. 12:3, 6, 19, 47; 16:1, 2, 9, 10, 22; Lev. 4:13, 15; 10:17; 24:14. Called in the N.T., Church, Matt. 16:18; ...

  • CRIME; CRIMES

    [isbe] CRIME; CRIMES - krim, krimz: This. term is used in English as the equivalent of the Hebrew mishpaT, "judgment," "verdict" (Ezek 7:23); zimmah, "a heinous crime" (Job 31:11); 'asham = "a fault," "sin" (Gen 26:10, English Vers...

  • AUGURY

    [isbe] AUGURY - o'-gu-ri o'-gur-i: This word occurs in the Revised Version (British and American) in Lev 19:26; Dt 18:10,14; 2 Ki 21:6, and the parallel in 2 Ch 33:6. In all these cases the verb "practice augury" is in the King Jam...

  • ASHERAH

    [isbe] ASHERAH - a-she'-ra, ash'-er-im ('asherah; alsos, mistranslated "grove" in the King James Version, after the Septuagint and Vulgate): 1. References to the Goddess 2. Assyrian Origin of the Goddess 3. Her Symbol 4. The Attrib...

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The major biblical doctrines that Hosea stressed were sin, judgment, salvation, and the loyal love of God.Regarding sin, the prophet stressed the idolatry of the Israelites, which he compared to spiritual adultery. Israel had...
  • I. Introduction 1:1II. The first series of messages of judgment and restoration: Hosea's family 1:2-2:1A. Signs of coming judgment 1:2-9B. A promise of restoration 1:10-2:1III. The second series of messages of judgment and re...
  • The Lord used Hosea's family members as signs to communicate His message of coming judgment on Israel.1:2 At the beginning of Hosea's ministry, Yahweh commanded him to take a wife of harlotry and to have children of harlotry....
  • Chapters 4 and 5 contain more messages of judgment. Chapter 4 focuses on the sins of the Northern Kingdom. Chapter 5 describes the guilt of all the Israelites in both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms and announces judgment ...
  • The Lord brought a legal charge against the Israelites for breaking the Mosaic Covenant. Again the literary form of this section is a legal confrontation (Heb. rib, cf. 2:2). The Lord stated His charges against Israel in 4:1-...
  • The following section is a general indictment of the people of Israel for their idolatry.4:11 The practice of idolatry (spiritual harlotry), with its emphasis on drinking wine, had turned the heart of the Israelites from Yahw...
  • 4:15 The Lord warned the Israelites not to pollute their brethren in the Southern Kingdom with their unfaithfulness. He also warned them not to go to the pagan shrines and take an oath in His name since they did not really wo...
  • The general pattern of accusation of guilt followed by announcement of judgment that marked the messages in chapter 4 is also evident in chapter 5. One significant difference, however, is that in chapter 5 Judah falls under t...
  • This warning confronted the tribe of Ephraim, or perhaps all Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.5:8 Blowing trumpets in cities announced the coming of an invader. Throughout Israel's towns the sentries would blow alarm...
  • Joel called on four different entities to mourn the results of the locust invasion: drunkards (vv. 5-7), the land (vv. 8-10), farmers (vv. 11-12), and priests (v. 13). In each section there is a call to mourn followed by reas...
  • In the first subsection he explained his need to present this evidence.11:1 Paul found it necessary to remind and reveal to the Corinthians some of the evidences of the Lord's commendation of his ministry (cf. 10:18). He call...
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