Hosea 4 · Verse 14

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.
Hosea 4:14, King James Version

Hosea 4:14 in other translations

BSBI will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go off with prostitutes and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes. So a people without understanding will come to ruin.
WEBI will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; because the men consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes; so the people without understanding will come to ruin.
ASVI will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go apart with harlots, and they sacrifice with the prostitutes; and the people that doth not understand shall be overthrown.
YLTTherefore commit whoredom do your daughters, And your spouses commit adultery, I do not see after your daughters when they commit whoredom, And after your spouses when they commit adultery, For they with the harlots are separated, And with the whores they do sacrifice, A people that doth not understand kicketh.
DARBYI will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your daughters-in-law for their committing adultery; for they themselves go aside with harlots, and they sacrifice with prostitutes: and the people that doth not understand shall come to ruin.
BBEI will not give punishment to your daughters or your brides for their evil behaviour; for they make themselves separate with loose women, and make offerings with those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods: the people who have no wisdom will be sent away.
WebsterI will not punish your daughters when they are guilty of lewdness, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for they themselves are separated with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.

What does Hosea 4:14 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
14. I will not punish ... daughters--I will visit with the heaviest punishments "not" the unchaste "daughters and spouses," but the fathers and husbands; for it is these who "themselves" have set the bad example, so that as compared with the punishment of the latter, that of the former shall seem as nothing [Munster]. separated with whores--withdrawn from the assembly of worshippers to some receptacle of impurity for carnal connection with whores. sacrifice with harlots--They commit lewdness with women who devote their persons to be violated in honor of Astarte. (So the Hebrew for "harlots" means, as distinguished from "whores"). Compare Nu 25:1-3; and the prohibition, De 23:18. not understand--(Is 44:18; 45:20). shall fall--shall be cast down.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 14 I will not punish - Why should you be stricken any more; ye will revolt more and more. When God, in judgment, removes his judgments, the case of that people is desperate. While there is hope, there is correction. Themselves are separated - There is a reference here to certain debaucheries which should not be described. The state of the people at this time must have been abominable beyond all precedent; animal, sensual, bestial, diabolical: women consecrating themselves to serve their idols by public prostitution; boys dismembered like the Galli or priests of Cybele, men and women acting unnaturally; and all conjoining to act diabolically.

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 4:14 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.

לֹֽא\־lo'-notH3808
אֶפְק֨וֹד'ef.KodI will visit [judgment]H6485
עַל\־'al-onH5921
בְּנוֹתֵיכֶ֜םbe.no.tei.Khemdaughters yourH1323
כִּ֣יkiifH3588
תִזְנֶ֗ינָהtiz.Nei.nahthey prostitute themselvesH2181
וְעַל\־ve.'al-and onH5921
כַּלּֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙ka.lo.tei.Khembrides yourH3618
כִּ֣יkiifH3588
תְנָאַ֔פְנָהte.na.'Af.nahthey commit adulteryH5003
כִּי\־ki-forH3588
הֵם֙hemthey [masc]H1992
עִם\־'im-withH5973
הַזֹּנ֣וֹתha.zo.Notthe prostitutesH2181
יְפָרֵ֔דוּye.fa.Re.duthey go apartH6504
וְעִם\־ve.'im-and withH5973
הַקְּדֵשׁ֖וֹתha.ke.de.Shotthe cult prostitutesH6948
יְזַבֵּ֑חוּye.za.Be.chuthey sacrificeH2076
וְעָ֥םve.'Amand a peopleH5971
לֹֽא\־lo'-[which] notH3808
יָבִ֖יןya.Vinit understandsH995
יִלָּבֵֽט\׃yi.la.Vetit will be ruinedH3832

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

Cross references for Hosea 4:14

  • Hosea 4:1

    Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

  • 1 Corinthians 6:16

    What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

  • Ephesians 4:18

    Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

  • Proverbs 28:5

    Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the Lord understand all things.

  • Hosea 14:9

    Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

  • 2 Kings 23:7

    And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.

  • Daniel 12:10

    Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

  • Isaiah 44:18-20

    They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

  • Isaiah 56:11

    Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.

  • 1 Kings 14:23-24

    For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

  • Isaiah 1:5

    Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

  • Hosea 4:5-6

    Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I will not. or, Shall I not, etc. punish.
17; Isa 1:5; Heb 12:8
for.
1Co 6:16
and they.
1Ki 14:23,24; 15:12; 2Ki 23:7
therefore.
1,5,6; 14:9; Pr 28:5; Isa 44:18-20; 56:11; Da 12:10; Joh 8:43
Ro 3:11; Eph 4:18
fall. or, be punished.

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

Context

  • 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.

  • Hosea 4:15

    Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth–aven, nor swear, The Lord liveth.

Read all of Hosea 4

Hosea 4:14 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
No visitaré sobre vuestras hijas cuando fornicaren, ni sobre vuestras nueras cuando adulteraren: porque ellos ofrecen con las rameras, y con las malas mujeres sacrifican: por tanto, el pueblo sin entendimiento caerá.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Je ne punirai pas vos filles pour s’être prostituées, ni vos belles-filles pour avoir commis l’adultère; car ils se sont séparés eux-mêmes avec les prostituées, et sacrifient avec des femmes consacrées à la prostitution; et le peuple qui n’a pas d’intelligence court à sa perte.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Ich werde es an euren Töchtern nicht heimsuchen, daß sie huren, und an euren Schwiegertöchtern, daß sie Ehebruch treiben; denn sie selbst gehen mit den Huren beiseite und opfern mit den Buhldirnen; und das Volk, das keinen Verstand hat, kommt zu Fall.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Non visitabo super filias vestras cum fuerint fornicatæ, et super sponsas vestras cum adulteraverint, quoniam ipsi cum meretricibus conversabantur, et cum effeminatis sacrificabant; et populus non intelligens vapulabit.