Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
Parallel translations
- WEB Let Samaria throw out his calf idol! My anger burns against them! How long will it be until they are capable of purity?
- BSB He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?
- NKJV Your calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them— How long until they attain to innocence?
- NASB He has rejected your calf, Samaria, saying, “My anger burns against them!” How long will they be incapable of innocence?
- NLT “O Samaria, I reject this calf— this idol you have made. My fury burns against you. How long will you be incapable of innocence?
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
God rejects Samaria's calf idol, His anger burning, and asks how long until the people become capable of purity.
Overview
The golden calf worship of the northern kingdom is utterly repudiated, kindling God's righteous anger. His question, how long until they can attain innocence, reveals both judgment and a yearning for their cleansing. This longing for a purity Israel cannot achieve points to the gospel, where God Himself provides the cleansing His people need.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Jer 13:27I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?
- Hos 10:5The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
- Prov 1:22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
- Acts 7:41And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
- Deut 32:22For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
- Hos 8:6For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
- Jer 4:14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
- Isa 45:20Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
- 2 Kgs 17:21–23For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.
- 2 Kgs 17:16–18And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
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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 8:5 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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