Hosea 6:4

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

מָ֤ה אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־לְּךָ֙ אֶפְרַ֔יִם מָ֥ה אֶעֱשֶׂה־לְּךָ֖ יְהוּדָ֑ה וְחַסְדְּכֶם֙ כַּֽעֲנַן־בֹּ֔קֶר וְכַטַּ֖ל מַשְׁכִּ֥ים הֹלֵֽךְ׃

Transliteration

What ʾe'ĕśeh-to-you ʾep̄rayim, what ʾe'ĕśeh-to-you yәhûḏāh? And-ḥasdәḵem like-'ănan-bōqer and-like-the-ṭal maškîm hōlēḵ

Grammar Details

• *ʾe'ĕśeh*: imperfect, 1st person singular - I shall do
• *ʾep̄rayim*: proper noun - Ephraim
• *yәhûḏāh*: proper noun - Judah
• *ḥasdәḵem*: noun + 2nd person masculine plural suffix - your loyalty/devotion
• *'ănan*: construct noun, masculine singular - cloud of
• *bōqer*: noun, masculine singular - morning
• *ṭal*: noun, masculine singular - dew
• *maškîm*: Hiphil participle, masculine singular - rising early
• *hōlēḵ*: Qal participle, masculine singular - going/disappearing

Word Meanings

• *ḥasdәḵem*: your loyalty/your faithfulness/your loving-kindness/your covenant faithfulness
• *'ănan*: cloud/mist
• *maškîm*: early-rising/early-appearing
• *hōlēḵ*: goes away/disappears/departs

Referenced Verses

• Hos 11:8 : 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.
• Hos 13:3 : 3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
• Ps 78:34-37 : 34 When he slew{H8804)} them, then they sought{H8804)} him: and they returned{H8804)} and enquired early{H8765)} after God. 35 And they remembered{H8799)} that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer{H8802)}. 36 Nevertheless they did flatter{H8762)} him with their mouth, and they lied{H8762)} unto him with their tongues. 37 For their heart was not right{H8737)} with him, neither were they stedfast{H8738)} in his covenant.
• Ps 106:12-13 : 12 Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. 13 They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:
• Isa 5:3-4 : 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
• Jer 3:10 : 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
• Jer 3:19 : 19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
• Jer 5:7 : 7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
• Jer 5:9 : 9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
• Jer 5:23 : 23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
• Jer 9:7 : 7 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
• Jer 34:15 : 15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
• Matt 13:21 : 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
• Luke 13:7-9 : 7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
• Luke 19:41-42 : 41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
• 2 Pet 2:20-22 : 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
• Judg 2:18-19 : 18 And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.
• Hos 7:1 : 1 When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.