Hosea 7 · Verse 9

Hosea 7:9

Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

Hosea 7:9, King James Version

Hosea 7:9 in other translations

BSB	Foreigners consume his strength, but he does not notice. Even his hair is streaked with gray, but he does not know.
WEB	Strangers have devoured his strength, and he doesn’t realize it. Indeed, gray hairs are here and there on him, and he doesn’t realize it.
ASV	Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, and he knoweth it not.
YLT	Devoured have strangers his power, And he hath not known, Also old age hath sprinkled itself on him, And he hath not known.
DARBY	Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not; yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, and he knoweth it not.
BBE	Men from other lands have made waste his strength, and he is not conscious of it; grey hairs have come on him here and there, and he has no knowledge of it.
Webster	Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yes, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

What does Hosea 7:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

9. Strangers--foreigners: the Syrians and Assyrians (2Ki 13:7; 15:19, 20; 17:3-6). gray hairs--that is, symptoms of approaching national dissolution. are here and there upon--literally, "are sprinkled on" him. yet he knoweth not--Though old age ought to bring with it wisdom, he neither knows of his senile decay, nor has the true knowledge which leads to reformation.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 9 Gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not - The kingdom is grown old in iniquity; the time of their captivity is at hand, and they are apprehensive of no danger. They are in the state of a silly old man, who through age and infirmities is become nearly bald, and the few remaining hairs on his head are quite gray. But he does not consider his latter end; is making no provision for that eternity on the brink of which he is constantly standing; does not apply to the sovereign Physician to heal his spiritual diseases; but calls in the doctors to cure him of old age and death! This miserable state and preposterous conduct we witness every day. O how fast does the human being cling to his native earth! Reader, hear the voice of an old man: - O my coevals! remnants of yourselves, Shall our pale withered hands be still stretched out? Trembling at once with eagerness and age; With avarice and ambition grasping-fast Grasping at air! For what hath earth beside? We want but little; nor That Little long.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hosea 7:8-16

Israel was as a cake not turned, half burnt and half dough, none of it fit for use; a mixture of idolatry and of the worship of Jehovah. There were tokens of approaching ruin, as grey hairs are of old age, but they noticed them not. The pride which leads to break the law of God leads to self-flattery. The mercy and grace of God are the only refuge to which obstinate sinners never think of fleeing. Though they may…

Read the full comment on Hosea 7:8-16 →

Hosea 7:9 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.

אָכְל֤וּ'a.khe.Luthey have consumedH398

זָרִים֙za.RimstrangersH2114

כֹּח֔וֹko.Chostrength hisH3581

וְה֖וּאve.Hu'and heH1931

לֹ֣אlo'notH3808

יָדָ֑עya.Da'he knowsH3045

גַּם\־gam-alsoH1571

שֵׂיבָה֙sei.Vahgray hairH7872

זָ֣רְקָהZa.re.kahit has sneaked inH2236

בּ֔וֹboon him

וְה֖וּאve.Hu'and heH1931

לֹ֥אlo'notH3808

יָדָֽע\׃ya.Da'he knowsH3045

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

Cross references for Hosea 7:9

Hosea 8:7
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
Isaiah 42:22-25
But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come? Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
Proverbs 23:35
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
2 Kings 13:3-7
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben–hadad the son of Hazael, all their days. And Jehoahaz besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. (And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime. Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.) …
Isaiah 1:7
Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
2 Kings 13:22
But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
Isaiah 57:1
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
2 Kings 15:19
And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

devoured.
8:7; 2Ki 13:3-7,22; 15:19; Pr 23:35; Isa 42:22-25; 57:1
here and there. Heb. sprinkled.

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

Context

Hosea 7:8
Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.
Hosea 7:9
Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
Hosea 7:10
And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this.

Read all of Hosea 7

Hosea 7:9 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Comieron extraños su sustancia, y él no lo supo; y aun vejez se ha esparcido por él, y él no lo entendió.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Des étrangers ont consumé sa force, et il ne le sait pas. Des cheveux gris sont aussi parsemés sur lui, et il ne le sait pas.
German Elberfelder 1871	Fremde haben seine Kraft verzehrt, und er weiß es nicht; auch ist graues Haar auf sein Haupt gesprengt, und er weiß es nicht.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Comederunt alieni robur ejus, et ipse nescivit; sed et cani effusi sunt in eo, et ipse ignoravit.