Hosea 4 · Verse 6

Hosea 4:6

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.

Hosea 4:6, King James Version

Hosea 4:6 in other translations

BSB	My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
WEB	My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.
ASV	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 also will forget thy children.
YLT	Cut off have been My people for lack of knowledge, Because thou knowledge hast rejected, I reject thee from being priest to Me, And thou forgettest the law of thy God, I forget thy sons, I also!
DARBY	My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; for thou hast rejected knowledge, and I will reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me; seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.
BBE	Destruction has overtaken my people because they have no knowledge; because you have given up knowledge, I will give you up, so that you will be no priest to me, because you have not kept in mind the law of your God, I will not keep your children in my memory.
Webster	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.

What does Hosea 4:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

6. lack of knowledge--"of God" (Ho 4:1), that is, lack of piety. Their ignorance was wilful, as the epithet, "My people," implies; they ought to have known, having the opportunity, as the people of God. thou--O priest, so-called. Not regularly constituted, but still bearing the name, while confounding the worship of Jehovah and of the calves in Beth-el (1Ki 12:29, 31). I will ... forget thy children--Not only those who then were alive should be deprived of the priesthood, but their children who, in the ordinary course would have succeeded them, should be set aside.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge - They have not the knowledge of God, nor of sacred things, nor of their own interest, nor of the danger to which they are exposed. They walk on blindly, and perish. Because thou hast rejected knowledge - So they might have become wise, had they not rejected the means of improvement. Thou shalt be no priest to me - If this be the true reading, there must be reference to some particular priest, well known, to whom these words are personally addressed; unless by priest the whole priesthood is meant, and then it may apply to the priests of Jeroboam's calves.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hosea 4:6-11

Both priests and people rejected knowledge; God will justly reject them. They forgot the law of God, neither desired nor endeavoured to retain it in mind, and to transmit the remembrance to their posterity; therefore God will justly forget them and their children. If we dishonour God with that which is our honour, it will, sooner or later, be turned into shame to us. Instead of warning the people against sin, from the consideration of the sacrifices, which showed what an offence sin was to God, since it needed an atonement, the priests encouraged the people to sin, since atonement might be made at so small an expense. It is very wicked to be pleased with the sins of others, because they may turn to our advantage. What is unlawfully gained, cannot be comfortably used. The people and the priests hardened one another in sin; therefore justly shall they share in the punishment. Sharers in sin must expect to share in ruin. Any lust harboured in the heart, in time will eat out all its strength and vigour. That is the reason why many professors grow so heavy, so dull, so dead in the way of religion. They have a liking for some secret lust, which takes away their hearts.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Hosea 4:6 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.

נִדְמ֥וּnid.Muthey have been destroyedH1820

עַמִּ֖י'a.Mipeople myH5971

מִבְּלִ֣יmi.be.Libecause notH1097

הַדָּ֑עַתha.Da.'at<the> knowledgeH1847

כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588

אַתָּ֞ה'a.TahyouH859

הַדַּ֣עַתha.Da.'at<the> knowledgeH1847

מָאַ֗סְתָּma.'As.tayou have rejectedH3988

וְאֶמְאָֽסְאךָ֙ve.'em.'a.se.Khaand I will reject youH3988

מִכַּהֵ֣ןmi.ka.Henfrom serving as a priestH3547

לִ֔יLi<to> me

וַתִּשְׁכַּח֙va.tish.Kachand you have forgottenH7911

תּוֹרַ֣תto.Rat[the] law ofH8451

אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ'e.lo.Hei.khaGod yourH430

אֶשְׁכַּ֥ח'esh.KachI will forgetH7911

בָּנֶ֖יךָba.Nei.khachildren yourH1121

גַּם\־gam-alsoH1571

אָֽנִי\׃'A.niIH589

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

Cross references for Hosea 4:6

Isaiah 5:13
Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
Proverbs 19:2
Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.
Hosea 6:6
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
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.
Matthew 15:8
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Proverbs 1:30-32
They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
Isaiah 17:10
Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:
Malachi 2:7-9
For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.
Hosea 8:14
For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
Jeremiah 2:8
The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
2 Chronicles 15:3
Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

My people.
12; Isa 1:3; 3:12; 5:13; Jer 4:22; 8:7
destroyed. Heb. cut off. for.
1; 6:6; 2Ch 15:3; Job 36:12; Pr 19:2; Isa 27:11; 45:20; Jer 5:3,4,21
Mt 15:14; 2Co 4:3-6
because.
1Sa 2:12; Pr 1:30-32; Isa 28:7; 56:10-12; Jer 2:8; 8:8,9; Mal 2:7,8
Mt 23:16-26
I will also reject.
Zec 11:8,9,15-17; Mal 2:1-3,9; Mt 21:41-45; Mr 12:8,9; Lu 20:16-18
seeing.
8:14; 13:6; 2Ki 17:16-20; Ps 119:61,139; Isa 17:10; Mt 15:3-68 I will also.
1:6; 1Sa 2:28-36; 3:12-15

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

Context

Hosea 4:5
Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.
Hosea 4:6
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.
Hosea 4:7
As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.

Read all of Hosea 4

Hosea 4:6 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Mi pueblo fué talado, porque le faltó sabiduría. Porque tú desechaste la sabiduría, yo te echaré del sacerdocio: y pues que olvidaste la ley de tu Dios, también yo me olvidaré de tus hijos.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Mon peuple est détruit, faute de connaissance; car toi, tu as rejeté la connaissance, et je te rejetterai afin que tu n’exerces plus la sacrificature devant moi. Car tu as oublié la loi de ton Dieu, et moi j’oublierai tes fils.
German Elberfelder 1871	Mein Volk wird vertilgt aus Mangel an Erkenntnis; weil du die Erkenntnis verworfen hast, so verwerfe ich dich, daß du mir nicht mehr Priesterdienst ausübest; und du hast das Gesetz deines Gottes vergessen: so werde auch ich deine Kinder vergessen.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Conticuit populus meus, eo quod non habuerit scientiam: quia tu scientiam repulisti, repellam te, ne sacerdotio fungaris mihi; et oblita es legis Dei tui, obliviscar filiorum tuorum et ego.