Hosea 1 · Verse 4

Hosea 1:4

And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
Hosea 1:4, King James Version

Hosea 1:4 in other translations

BSBThen the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
WEBThe LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
ASVAnd Jehovah said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
YLTand Jehovah saith unto him, ‘Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little, and I have charged the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and have caused to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel;
DARBYAnd Jehovah said unto him, Call his name Jizreel; for yet a little, and I will visit the blood of Jizreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
BBEAnd the Lord said to him, Give him the name of Jezreel, for after a little time I will send punishment for the blood of Jezreel on the line of Jehu, and put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
WebsterAnd the LORD said to him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

What does Hosea 1:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. Jezreel--that is, "God will scatter" (compare Zec 10:9). It was the royal city of Ahab and his successors, in the tribe of Issachar. Here Jehu exercised his greatest cruelties (2Ki 9:16, 25, 33; 10:11, 14, 17). There is in the name an allusion to "Israel" by a play of letters and sounds.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 Call his name Jezreel - יזרעאל that is, God will disperse. This seems to intimate that a dispersion or sowing of Israel shall take place; which happened under Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, 2Kgs 17:5, 2Kgs 17:6. But the word refers also to the name of a city, where Jehu slew Jezebel and all the children of Ahab. 2Kgs 9:10, 2Kgs 9:36; 2Kgs 10:6. This was one of those prophetic names which we so often meet with in the Scriptures; e.g. Japheth Abraham, Israel, Judah, Joshua, Zerubbabel, Solomon, Sheer-jashub, etc. The blood of Jezreel - Not Jehu's vengeance on Ahab's family, but his acts of cruelty while he resided at Jezreel, a city in the tribe of Issachar, Jos 19:18, where the kings of Israel had a palace, 1Kgs 21:1. Will cause to cease the kingdom - Either relating to the cutting off of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, see 1Kgs 21:6, or to the ceasing of the kingdom of Israel from the house of Jehu, 2Kgs 10:30, and which was fulfilled, 2Kgs 15:10. - Newcome.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hosea 1:1-7

Under a figure, is represented the shameful idolatry of the ten tribes. (Hos. 1:1-7) The calling of the Gentiles, and the uniting Israel and Judah under the Messiah. (Hos. 1:8-11) Verses 1-7 Israel was prosperous, yet then Hosea boldly tells them of their sins, and foretells their destruction. Men are not to be flattered in sinful ways because they prosper in the world; nor will it last long if they go on still in…

Read the full comment on Hosea 1:1-7 →

Hosea 1:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֤אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
יְהוָה֙Yah.wehYahwehH3068
אֵלָ֔יו'e.Lavto himH413
קְרָ֥אke.Ra'callH7121
שְׁמ֖וֹshe.Moname hisH8034
יִזְרְעֶ֑אלyiz.re.'ElJezreelH3157
כִּי\־ki-forH3588
ע֣וֹדodyetH5750
מְעַ֗טme.'Ata littleH4592
וּפָ֨קַדְתִּ֜יu.Fa.kad.Tiand I will visitH6485
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
דְּמֵ֤יde.Mei[the] blood<s> ofH1818
יִזְרְעֶאל֙yiz.re.'eLJezreelH3157
עַל\־'al-onH5921
בֵּ֣יתbeit[the] house ofH1004
יֵה֔וּאye.Hu'JehuH3058
וְהִ֨שְׁבַּתִּ֔יve.Hish.ba.Tiand I will put an end toH7673
מַמְלְכ֖וּתmam.le.Khut[the] kingdom ofH4468
בֵּ֥יתbeit[the] house ofH1004
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל\׃Yis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Hosea 1:4

  • 2 Kings 10:10-11

    Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the Lord hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah. So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

  • 2 Kings 10:7-8

    And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel. And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king’s sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.

  • Jeremiah 3:8

    And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

  • 2 Kings 10:29-31

    Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Beth–el, and that were in Dan. And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.

  • Hosea 1:6

    And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Lo–ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.

  • 2 Kings 18:9-12

    And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.

  • 2 Kings 9:24-25

    And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden upon him;

  • 2 Kings 17:6-23

    In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. …

  • Hosea 1:9

    Then said God, Call his name Lo–ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.

  • Hosea 9:17

    My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

  • Hosea 2:13

    And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord.

  • Hosea 2:22

    And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Call.
6,9; Isa 7:14; 9:6; Mt 1:21; Lu 1:13,31,63; Joh 1:42
Jezreel.[Yizrel ,] God will disperse, as seed is when sown; probably intimating also the speedy dispersion of Israel by Shalmaneser.
and I.
2Ki 9:24,25; 10:7,8,10,11,17,29-31; 15:10-12
avenge. Heb. visit.
2:13; 9:17; Jer 23:2
will cause.
2Ki 15:29; 17:6-23; 18:9-12; 1Ch 5:25,26; Jer 3:8; Eze 23:10,31

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Hosea 1:3

    So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.

  • Hosea 1:4

    And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

  • Hosea 1:5

    And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

Read all of Hosea 1

Hosea 1:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y díjole Jehová: Ponle por nombre Jezreel; porque de aquí á poco yo visitaré las sangres de Jezreel sobre la casa de Jehú, y haré cesar el reino de la casa de Israel.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et l’ Éternel lui dit: Appelle son nom Jizreël, car encore un peu de temps, et je visiterai le sang de Jizreël sur la maison de Jéhu, et je ferai cesser le royaume de la maison d’Israël;
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und Jehova sprach zu ihm: Gib ihm den Namen Jisreel; denn noch um ein Kleines, so werde ich die Blutschuld von Jisreel an dem Hause Jehus heimsuchen und dem Königtum des Hauses Israel ein Ende machen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et dixit Dominus ad eum: Voca nomen ejus Jezrahel, quoniam adhuc modicum, et visitabo sanguinem Jezrahel super domum Jehu, et quiescere faciam regnum domus Israël.