Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
Parallel translations
- WEB Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!
- BSB Ephraim is joined to idols; leave 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 unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
- Rev 22:11He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
- Hos 4:4Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
- 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.
- Hos 11:2As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
- Matt 15:14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
- Hos 12:1Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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.