Hosea 11 · Verse 9

Hosea 11:9

I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.
Hosea 11:9, King James Version

Hosea 11:9 in other translations

BSBI will not execute the full fury of My anger; I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man— the Holy One among you— and I will not come in wrath.
WEBI will not execute the fierceness of my anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.
ASVI will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee; and I will not come in wrath.
YLTI do not the fierceness of My anger, I turn not back to destroy Ephraim, For God I am, and not a man. In thy midst the Holy One, and I enter not in enmity,
DARBYI will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God, and not man, — the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not come in anger.
BBEI will not put into effect the heat of my wrath; I will not again send destruction on Ephraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One among you; I will not put an end to you.
WebsterI will not execute the fierceness of my anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.

What does Hosea 11:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
9. I will not return to destroy Ephraim--that is, I will no more, as in past times, destroy Ephraim. The destruction primarily meant is probably that by Tiglath-pileser, who, as the Jewish king Ahaz' ally against Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria, deprived Israel of Gilead, Galilee, and Naphtali (2Ki 15:29). The ulterior reference is to the long dispersion hereafter, to be ended by God's covenant mercy restoring His people, not for their merits, but of His grace. God, ... not man--not dealing as man would, with implacable wrath under awful provocation (Is 55:7-9; Mal 3:6). I do not, like man, change when once I have made a covenant of everlasting love, as with Israel (Nu 23:19). We measure God by the human standard, and hence are slow to credit fully His promises; these, however, belong to the faithful remnant, not to the obstinately impenitent. in the midst of thee--as peculiarly thy God (Ex 19:5, 6). not enter into the city--as an enemy: as I entered Admah, Zeboim, and Sodom, utterly destroying them, whereas I will not utterly destroy thee. Somewhat similarly Jerome: "I am not one such as human dwellers in a city, who take cruel vengeance; I save those whom I correct." Thus "not man," and "in the midst of thee," are parallel to "into the city." Though I am in the midst of thee, it is not as man entering a rebellious city to destroy utterly. Maurer needlessly translates, "I will not come in wrath."

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 I will not execute - Here is the issue of this conflict in the Divine mind. Mercy triumphs over Judgment; Ephraim shall be spared. He is God, and not man. He cannot be affected by human caprices. They are now penitent, and implore mercy; he will not, as man would do, punish them for former offenses, when they have fallen into his hand. The holy place is in Ephraim, and God is in this holy place; and he will not go into the cities, as he did into Sodom and Gomorrah, to destroy them. Judgment is his strange work. How exceedingly affecting are these two verses!

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hosea 11:8-12

God is slow to anger, and is loth to abandon a people to utter ruin, who have been called by his name. When God was to give a sacrifice for sin, and a Saviour for sinners, he spared not his own Son, that he might spare us. This is the language of the day of his patience; but when men sin that away, then the great day of his wrath comes. Man's compassions are nothing in comparison with the tender mercies of our God…

Read the full comment on Hosea 11:8-12 →

Hosea 11:9 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.

לֹ֤אlo'notH3808
אֶֽעֱשֶׂה֙'e.'e.SehI will carry outH6213
חֲר֣וֹןcha.Ron[the] burning ofH2740
אַפִּ֔י'a.Pianger myH639
לֹ֥אlo'notH3808
אָשׁ֖וּב'a.ShuvI will repeatH7725
לְשַׁחֵ֣תle.sha.Chetto destroyH7843
אֶפְרָ֑יִם'ef.Ra.yimEphraimH669
כִּ֣יkiforH3588
אֵ֤ל'el[am] GodH410
אָֽנֹכִי֙'a.no.KhiIH595
וְלֹא\־ve.lo'-and notH3808
אִ֔ישׁ'Isha humanH376
בְּקִרְבְּךָ֣be.kir.be.Chain midst yourH7130
קָד֔וֹשׁka.Do.osh[the] holy [one]H6918
וְלֹ֥אve.Lo'and notH3808
אָב֖וֹא'a.Vo'I will comeH935
בְּעִֽיר\׃be.'Irin rageH5892

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

Cross references for Hosea 11:9

  • Numbers 23:19

    God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

  • Isaiah 55:8-9

    For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

  • Jeremiah 30:11

    For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

  • Isaiah 12:6

    Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

  • Micah 7:18-20

    Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

  • Ezekiel 37:27-28

    My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

  • Malachi 3:6

    For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

  • Romans 11:28-29

    As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

  • Zephaniah 3:15-17

    The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

  • Hosea 14:4

    I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

  • Jeremiah 31:1-3

    At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

  • 2 Samuel 20:10

    But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
not execute.
14:4; Ex 32:10-14; De 32:26,27; Ps 78:38; Isa 27:4-8; 48:9
Jer 30:11; 31:1-3; Eze 20:8,9,13,14,21-23
return.
1Sa 26:8; 2Sa 20:10
for.
Nu 23:19; Isa 55:8,9; Mic 7:18-20; Mal 3:6; Ro 11:28,29
the Holy One.
Isa 12:6; Eze 37:27,28; Zep 3:15-17

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

Context

  • Hosea 11:8

    How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

  • Hosea 11:9

    I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.

  • Hosea 11:10

    They shall walk after the Lord: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.

Read all of Hosea 11

Hosea 11:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		No ejecutaré el furor de mi ira, no volveré para destruir á Ephraim: porque Dios soy, y no hombre; el Santo en medio de ti: y no entraré en la ciudad.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Je ne donnerai pas cours à l’ardeur de ma colère, je ne détruirai pas de nouveau Éphraïm; car je suis ✶Dieu, et non pas un homme, – le Saint, au milieu de toi; et je ne viendrai pas avec colère.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Nicht will ich ausführen die Glut meines Zornes, nicht wiederum Ephraim verderben; denn ich bin Gott und nicht ein Mensch, der Heilige in deiner Mitte, und ich will nicht in Zornesglut kommen. -
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Non faciam furorem iræ meæ; non convertar ut disperdam Ephraim, quoniam Deus ego, et non homo; in medio tui sanctus, et non ingrediar civitatem.