Hosea 3:4

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּ֣י ׀ יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֗ים יֵֽשְׁבוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֵ֥ין מֶ֙לֶךְ֙ וְאֵ֣ין שָׂ֔ר וְאֵ֥ין זֶ֖בַח וְאֵ֣ין מַצֵּבָ֑ה וְאֵ֥ין אֵפ֖וֹד וּתְרָפִֽים׃

Transliteration

For yāmîm rabbîm yēšəbû sons-of Yiśrāʾēl without melek and-without śār and-without zebaḥ and-without maṣṣēbāh and-without ʾēpôd and-tərāpîm.

Grammar Details

• *yāmîm*: noun, masculine plural - days
• *rabbîm*: adjective, masculine plural - many
• *yēšəbû*: qal imperfect, 3rd masculine plural - they will dwell/remain/sit
• *melek*: noun, masculine singular - king
• *śār*: noun, masculine singular - prince/ruler/official
• *zebaḥ*: noun, masculine singular - sacrifice
• *maṣṣēbāh*: noun, feminine singular - pillar/sacred stone
• *ʾēpôd*: noun, masculine singular - ephod (priestly garment)
• *tərāpîm*: noun, masculine plural - teraphim (household idols/cult objects)

Word Meanings

• *yēšəbû*: they will dwell/remain/sit/inhabit/stay
• *maṣṣēbāh*: pillar/sacred stone/standing stone (often used in worship)
• *ʾēpôd*: ephod (priestly garment used for divination)
• *tərāpîm*: teraphim/household idols/cult objects/divination tools

Referenced Verses

• Judg 17:5 : 5 Now this man Micah owned a shrine. He made an ephod and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest.
• Gen 31:19 : 19 While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole the household idols that belonged to her father.
• Exod 28:4 : 4 Now these are the garments that they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a fitted tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and for his sons, that they may minister as my priests.
• 1 Sam 23:9 : 9 When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, he told Abiathar the priest,“Bring the ephod!”
• 2 Chr 15:2 : 2 He met Asa and told him,“Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The LORD is with you when you are loyal to him. If you seek him, he will respond to you, but if you reject him, he will reject you.
• Dan 12:11 : 11 From the time that the daily sacrifice is removed and the abomination that causes desolation is set in place, there are 1,290 days.
• Dan 9:27 : 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. On the wing of abominations will come one who destroys, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”
• Judg 8:27 : 27 Gideon used all this to make an ephod, which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
• Dan 11:31 : 31 His forces will rise up and profane the fortified sanctuary, stopping the daily sacrifice. In its place they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.
• Hos 2:11 : 11 I will put an end to all her celebration: her annual religious festivals, monthly new moon celebrations, and weekly Sabbath festivities– all her appointed festivals.
• Hos 10:1-3 : 1 Israel is Guilty of Fertility Cult Worship Israel was a fertile vine that yielded fruit. As his fruit multiplied, he multiplied altars to Baal. As his land prospered, they adorned the fertility pillars. 2 Their hearts are slipping; soon they will be punished for their guilt. The LORD will break their altars; he will completely destroy their fertility pillars. 3 The Lord Will Punish Israel by Removing Its Kings Very soon they will say,“We have no king since we did not fear the LORD. But what can a king do for us anyway?”
• Hos 13:11 : 11 I granted you a king in my anger, and I will take him away in my wrath!
• Mic 5:11-14 : 11 I will destroy the cities of your land, and tear down all your fortresses. 12 I will remove the sorcery that you practice, and you will no longer have omen readers living among you. 13 I will remove your idols and sacred pillars from your midst; you will no longer worship what your own hands made. 14 I will uproot your images of Asherah from your midst, and destroy your idols.
• Zech 13:2 : 2 And also on that day,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,“I will remove the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.
• Matt 24:1-2 : 1 The Destruction of the Temple Now as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings. 2 And he said to them,“Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!”
• Luke 21:24 : 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away as captives among all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
• John 19:15 : 15 Then they shouted out,“Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked,“Shall I crucify your king?” The high priests replied,“We have no king except Caesar!”
• Acts 6:13-14 : 13 They brought forward false witnesses who said,“This man does not stop saying things against this holy place and the law. 14 For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”
• Heb 10:26 : 26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us,
• Isa 19:19-20 : 19 At that time there will be an altar for the LORD in the middle of the land of Egypt, as well as a sacred pillar dedicated to the LORD at its border. 20 It will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. When they cry out to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender who will rescue them.
• Jer 15:4-5 : 4 I will make all the people in all the kingdoms of the world horrified at what has happened to them because of what Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.” 5 The LORD cried out,“Who in the world will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will grieve over you? Who will stop long enough to inquire about how you are doing?
• Ezek 20:32 : 32 “‘What you plan will never happen. You say,“We will be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.”
• Ezek 21:21 : 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: He shakes arrows, he consults idols, he examines animal livers.
• Dan 8:11-13 : 11 It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army, from whom the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary was thrown down. 12 The army was given over, along with the daily sacrifice, in the course of his sinful rebellion. It hurled truth to the ground and enjoyed success. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking. Another holy one said to the one who was speaking,“To what period of time does the vision pertain– this vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the destructive act of rebellion and the giving over of both the sanctuary and army to be trampled?”
• 1 Sam 30:7 : 7 Then David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech,“Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
• 2 Sam 6:14 : 14 Now David, wearing a linen ephod, was dancing with all his strength before the LORD.
• 2 Kgs 23:24 : 24 Josiah also got rid of the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the LORD’s temple.
• Lev 8:7 : 7 Then he put the tunic on Aaron, wrapped the sash around him, and clothed him with the robe. Next he put the ephod on him and placed on him the decorated band of the ephod, and fastened the ephod closely to him with the band.
• Gen 49:10 : 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will obey him.
• Judg 18:17-24 : 17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men. 18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them,“What are you doing?” 19 They said to him,“Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” 20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group. 21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children, the cattle, and their possessions. 22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors gathered together and caught up with the Danites. 23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites turned around and said to Micah,“Why have you gathered together?” 24 He said,“You stole my gods that I made, as well as this priest, and then went away. What do I have left? How can you have the audacity to say to me,‘What do you want?’”
• 1 Sam 2:18 : 18 Now Samuel was ministering with the favor of the LORD. The boy was dressed in a linen ephod.
• 1 Sam 14:3 : 3 Now Ahijah was carrying an ephod. He was the son of Ahitub, who was the brother of Ichabod and a son of Phineas, son of Eli, the priest of the LORD in Shiloh. The army was unaware that Jonathan had left.
• 1 Sam 21:9 : 9 David Goes to Gath The priest replied,“The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the valley of Elah, is wrapped in a garment behind the ephod. If you wish, take it for yourself. Other than that, there’s nothing here.” David said,“There’s nothing like it! Give it to me!”
• 1 Sam 22:18 : 18 Then the king said to Doeg,“You turn and strike down the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests. He killed on that day eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.
• 1 Sam 23:6 : 6 David Eludes Saul Again Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech had fled to David at Keilah, he had brought with him an ephod.