Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.
Parallel translations
- WEB Israel is a luxuriant vine that produces his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.
- BSB Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.
- NKJV Israel empties his vine; He brings forth fruit for himself. According to the multitude of his fruit He has increased the altars; According to the bounty of his land They have embellished his sacred pillars.
- NASB Israel is a luxuriant vine; He produces fruit for himself. The more his fruit, The more altars he made; The richer his land, The better he made the memorial stones.
- NLT How prosperous Israel is— a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit. But the richer the people get, the more pagan altars they build. The more bountiful their harvests, the more beautiful their sacred pillars.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel is a lush vine, but as his fruit and prosperity increased, he multiplied altars and adorned idolatrous pillars.
Overview
God blessed Israel with abundance like a flourishing vine, yet the people used their increasing wealth to build more pagan altars and shrines. Prosperity, rather than producing gratitude, fueled deeper idolatry. This warns that God's gifts can become occasions for sin when hearts are unfaithful, and calls for fruit that honors the Giver, as Christ seeks fruit from His vine.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Hos 8:11Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
- Isa 5:1–7Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
- Phil 2:21For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
- Hos 12:11Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
- Lev 26:1Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
- Jer 2:28But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
- 1 Kgs 14:23For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
- Rom 14:7–8For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
- Ezek 15:1–5And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
- John 15:1–6I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
- 2 Cor 5:16Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
- Hos 13:6According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
- Hos 13:2And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
- Zech 7:5–6Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
- Hos 12:8And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
- Nah 2:2For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.
- Hos 2:8For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
- Hos 8:4They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
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Christ at the center
God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.
How Hosea 10:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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