Hosea 10 · Verse 8

Hosea 10:8

The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
Hosea 10:8, King James Version

Hosea 10:8 in other translations

BSBThe high places of Aven will be destroyed— it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
WEBThe high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, “Cover us!” and the hills, “Fall on us!”
ASVThe high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
YLTAnd destroyed have been high places of Aven, the sin of Israel. Thorn and bramble go up on their altars, And they have said to hills, Cover us, And to heights, Fall upon us.
DARBYAnd the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up upon their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us! and to the hills, Fall on us!
BBEAnd the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will come to destruction; thorns and waste plants will come up on their altars; they will say to the mountains, Be a cover over us; and to the hills, Come down on us.
WebsterThe high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

What does Hosea 10:8 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
8. Aven--that is, Beth-aven. the sin--that is, the occasion of sin (De 9:21; 1Ki 12:30). they shall say to ... mountains, Cover us--So terrible shall be the calamity, that men shall prefer death to life (Lu 23:30; Re 6:16; 9:6). Those very hills on which were their idolatrous altars (one source of their confidence, as their "king," Ho 10:7, was the other), so far from helping them, shall be called on by them to overwhelm them.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 The high-places - Idol temples. Of Aven - Beth-aven. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars - Owing to the uncultivated and unfrequented state of the land, and of their places of idol worship, the people being all carried away into captivity. "And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, And to the hills, Fall on us." "This sublime description of fear and distress our Lord had in view, Luk 23:30, which may be a reference, and not a quotation. However, the Septuagint, in the Codex Alexandrinus, has the same order of words as occurs in the evangelist. The parallelism makes the passages more beautiful than Rev 6:16; and Isa 2:19 wants the animated dramatic form. That there is a reference to the caverns that abounded in the mountainous countries of Palestine, see the note on Isa 2:19 (note)." - Newcome.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hosea 10:1-8

The idolatry of Israel. (Hos. 10:1-8) They are exhorted to repentance. (Hos. 10:9-15) Verses 1-8 A vine is only valuable for its fruit; but Israel now brought no fruit to perfection. Their hearts were divided. God is the Sovereign of the heart; he will have all, or none. Were the stream of the heart wholly after God, it would run strongly, and bear down all before it. Their pretences to covenant with God were false…

Read the full comment on Hosea 10:1-8 →

Hosea 10:8 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.

וְנִשְׁמְד֞וּve.nish.me.Duand they will be destroyedH8045
בָּמ֣וֹתba.Mot[the] high places ofH1116
אָ֗וֶן'A.venwickednessH206
חַטַּאת֙cha.taT[the] sin ofH2403
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
ק֣וֹץKotzthorn[s]H6975
וְדַרְדַּ֔רve.dar.Darand thistle[s]H1863
יַעֲלֶ֖הya.'a.Lehit will grow upH5927
עַל\־'al-overH5921
מִזְבְּחוֹתָ֑םmiz.be.cho.Tamaltars theirH4196
וְאָמְר֤וּve.'a.me.Ruand they will sayH559
לֶֽהָרִים֙le.ha.Rimto the mountainsH2022
כַּסּ֔וּנוּka.Su.nucover usH3680
וְלַגְּבָע֖וֹתve.la.ge.va.'otand to the hillsH1389
נִפְל֥וּnif.LufallH5307
עָלֵֽינוּ\׃\ \ס'a.Lei.nuon usH5921

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

Cross references for Hosea 10:8

  • Revelation 6:16

    And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

  • Luke 23:30

    Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.

  • Isaiah 2:19

    And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

  • 1 Kings 12:28-30

    Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Beth–el, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

  • Amos 8:14

    They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beer–sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

  • Isaiah 32:13

    Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:

  • Hosea 9:6

    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.

  • 1 Kings 13:2

    And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.

  • Hosea 5:8

    Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth–aven, after thee, O Benjamin.

  • 2 Chronicles 31:1

    Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

  • 2 Chronicles 34:5-7

    And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

  • Hosea 10:5

    The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth–aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
high places.
5; 4:15; 5:8
the sin.
De 9:21; 1Ki 12:28-30; 13:34; 14:16; Am 8:14; Mic 1:5,13
the thorn.
9:6; Isa 32:13; 34:13
their altars.
1Ki 13:2; 2Ki 23:15; 2Ch 31:1; 34:5-7
they shall.
Isa 2:19; Lu 23:30; Re 6:16; 9:6

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

Context

  • Hosea 10:7

    As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.

  • Hosea 10:8

    The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

  • Hosea 10:9

    O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.

Read all of Hosea 10

Hosea 10:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y los altares de Avén serán destruídos, el pecado de Israel; crecerá sobre sus altares espino y cardo. Y dirán á los montes: Cubridnos; y á los collados: Caed sobre nosotros.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
et les hauts lieux d’Aven, le péché d’Israël, seront détruits. L’épine et la ronce monteront sur leurs autels; et ils diront aux montagnes: Couvrez-nous! et aux collines: Tombez sur nous!
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und die Höhen von Awen, die Sünde Israels, werden vertilgt werden; Dornen und Disteln werden über ihre Altäre wachsen. Und sie werden zu den Bergen sagen: Bedecket uns! und zu den Hügeln: Fallet auf uns!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et disperdentur excelsa idoli, peccatum Israël; lappa et tribulus ascendet super aras eorum: et dicent montibus: Operite nos, et collibus: Cadite super nos.