Hosea 4 · Verse 13

Hosea 4:13

They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
Hosea 4:13, King James Version

Hosea 4:13 in other translations

BSBThey sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
WEBThey sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute, and your brides commit adultery.
ASVThey sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery.
YLTOn tops of the mountains they do sacrifice, And on the hills they make perfume, Under oak, and poplar, and terebinth, For good is its shade.
DARBYthey sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oak and poplar and terebinth, because the shade thereof is good; therefore your daughters play the harlot and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
BBEThey make offerings on the tops of mountains, burning perfumes in high places, under trees of every sort, because their shade is good: and so your daughters are given up to loose ways and your brides are false to their husbands.
WebsterThey sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shade of them is agreeable: therefore your daughters shall be guilty of lewdness, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

What does Hosea 4:13 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
13. upon ... mountains--High places were selected by idolaters on which to sacrifice, because of their greater nearness to the heavenly hosts which they worshipped (De 12:2). elms--rather, "terebinths" [Maurer]. shadow ... good--screening the lascivious worshippers from the heat of the sun. daughters ... commit whoredom ... spouses ... adultery--in the polluted worship of Astarte, the Phoenician goddess of love.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 13 Under oaks - אלון allon, from אלל alal, he was strong. Hence, the oak, in Latin, is called robur; which word means also, strength, the oak being the strongest of all the trees of the forest. The shadow thereof is good - Their "daughters committed whoredom, and their spouses committed adultery." 1. Their deities were worshipped by prostitution. 2. They drank much in their idol worship, Hos 4:11, and thus their passions became inflamed. 3. The thick groves were favorable to the whoredoms and adulteries mentioned here. In imitation of these, some nations have their public gardens.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hosea 4:12-19

The people consulted images, and not the Divine word. This would lead to disorder and sin. Thus men prepare scourges for themselves, and vice is spread through a people. Let not Judah come near the idolatrous worship of Israel. For Israel was devoted to idols, and must now be let alone. When sinners cast off the easy yoke of Christ, they go on in sin till the Lord saith, Let them alone. Then they receive no more…

Read the full comment on Hosea 4:12-19 →

Hosea 4:13 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.

עַל\־'al-onH5921
רָאשֵׁ֨יra.Shei[the] tops ofH7218
הֶהָרִ֜יםhe.ha.Rimthe mountainsH2022
יְזַבֵּ֗חוּye.za.Be.chuthey sacrificeH2076
וְעַל\־ve.'al-and onH5921
הַגְּבָעוֹת֙ha.ge.va.'Otthe hillsH1389
יְקַטֵּ֔רוּye.ka.Te.ruthey make smokeH6999
תַּ֣חַתTa.chatunderH8478
אַלּ֧וֹן'a.LonoakH437
וְלִבְנֶ֛הve.liv.Nehand poplarH3839
וְאֵלָ֖הve.'e.Lahand terebinthH424
כִּ֣יkiforH3588
ט֣וֹבTov[is] goodH2896
צִלָּ֑הּtzi.Lahshade itsH6738
עַל\־'al-there-H5921
כֵּ֗ןKen-foreH3651
תִּזְנֶ֙ינָה֙tiz.Nei.nahthey prostitute themselvesH2181
בְּנ֣וֹתֵיכֶ֔םbe.No.tei.Khemdaughters yourH1323
וְכַלּוֹתֵיכֶ֖םve.kha.lo.tei.Khemand brides yourH3618
תְּנָאַֽפְנָה\׃te.na.'Af.nahthey commit adulteryH5003

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

Cross references for Hosea 4:13

  • Jeremiah 3:6

    The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

  • Ezekiel 6:13

    Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.

  • Isaiah 1:29

    For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.

  • Amos 7:17

    Therefore thus saith the Lord; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.

  • Jeremiah 2:20

    For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

  • Hosea 11:2

    As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

  • Jeremiah 3:13

    Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord.

  • 2 Samuel 12:10-12

    Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

  • Job 31:9-10

    If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door; Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

  • Romans 1:23-28

    And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: …

  • Ezekiel 20:28-29

    For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings. Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.

  • Ezekiel 16:25

    Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
sacrifice.
Isa 1:29; 57:5,7; Jer 3:6,13; Eze 6:13; 16:16,25; 20:28,29
therefore.
2Sa 12:10-12; Job 31:9,10; Am 7:17; Ro 1:23-28

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

Context

  • Hosea 4:12

    My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

  • Hosea 4:13

    They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

  • Hosea 4:14

    I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.

Read all of Hosea 4

Hosea 4:13 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Sobre las cabezas de los montes sacrificaron, é incensaron sobre los collados, debajo de encinas, y álamos, y olmos que tuviesen buena sombra: por tanto, vuestras hijas fornicarán, y adulterarán vuestras nueras.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Ils offrent des sacrifices sur les sommets des montagnes, et font fumer de l’encens sur les collines, sous le chêne et le peuplier et le térébinthe, parce que leur ombre est bonne. C’est pourquoi vos filles se prostituent et vos belles-filles commettent l’adultère.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Sie opfern auf den Gipfeln der Berge und räuchern auf den Hügeln, unter Eiche und Pappel und Terebinthe, weil ihr Schatten gut ist; darum huren eure Töchter und treiben eure Schwiegertöchter Ehebruch.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Super capita montium sacrificabant, et super colles ascendebant thymiama; subtus quercum, et populum, et terebinthum, quia bona erat umbra ejus; ideo fornicabuntur filiæ vestræ, et sponsæ vestræ adulteræ erunt.