Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!
Parallel translations
- WEB Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!
- KJV Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
- NKJV “Ephraim is joined to idols, Let him alone.
- NASB Ephraim is allied with idols; Leave him alone.
- NLT Leave Israel alone, because she is married to idolatry.
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
Ephraim is so wedded to idols that God says, 'Leave him alone.' Persistent rebellion can lead to being given over to its consequences.
Overview
Ephraim, representing the northern kingdom, has bound itself to idols so firmly that God issues a sobering command to leave it to its chosen path. This is among the most fearful expressions of divine judgment, where God hands a people over to the sin they refuse to release. The verse warns that obstinate idolatry can harden into a state where God withdraws His restraining hand, a danger echoed in the New Testament's warnings about being given over to sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 81:12So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
- Rev 22:11Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”
- Hos 4:4But let no man contend; let no man offer reproof; for your people are like those who contend with a priest.
- Hos 13:2Now they sin more and more and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say of them, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves!”
- Hos 11:2But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.
- Matt 15:14Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
- Hos 12:1Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:17 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.