Hosea 4:2

2 There is only cursing,[a] lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Hosea 4:2 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
English Standard Version (ESV)
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
New Living Translation (NLT)
2 You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another.
The Message Bible (MSG)
2 All this cussing and lying and killing, theft and loose sex, sheer anarchy, one murder after another!
American Standard Version (ASV)
2 There is nought but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
2 There is cursing, lying, murdering, stealing, and adultery. People break [my laws], and there is one murder after another.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
2 Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
2 People call down curses on others. They tell lies and commit murder. They steal and commit adultery. They break all of my laws. They keep on spilling the blood of others.

Hosea 4:2 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 4:2

By swearing, and lying
Which some join together, and make but one sin of it, false swearing, so Jarchi and Kimchi; but that swearing itself signifies, as the Targum interprets it; for it not only takes in all cursing and imprecations, profane oaths, and taking the name of God in vain, and swearing by the creatures, but may chiefly design perjury; which, though one kind of "lying", may be distinguished from it here; the latter intending "lying" in common, which the devil is the father of, mankind are incident unto, and which is abominable to God, whether in civil or in religious things: "and killing, and stealing and committing adultery"; murders, thefts, and adulteries, were very common with them; sins against the sixth, eighth, and seventh commandments: they break out;
through all the restraints of the laws of God and man, like an unruly horse that breaks his bridle and runs away; or like wild beasts, that break down the fences and enclosures about them, and break out, and get away; or like a torrent of water, that breaks down its dams and banks, and overflows the meadows and plains; such a flood and deluge of sin abounded in the nation. Some render it, "they thieve" F15; or act the part of thieves and robbers: and the Targum,

``they beget sons of their neighbours' wives;''
and so Abarbinel interprets it of breaking through the hedge of another man's wife; but these sins are observed before: and blood toucheth blood;
which some understand of sins in general, so called, because filthy and abominable; and of the addition and multiplication of them, there being as it were heaps of them, or rather a chain of them linked together. So the Targum, ``and they add sins to sins.'' Others interpret it of impure mixtures, of incestuous lusts, or marriages contrary to the ties of blood, and laws of consanguinity, ( Leviticus 18:6 ) ( Ezekiel 22:11 ) , or rather it is to be understood of the great effusion of blood, and frequency of murders; so that there was scarce any interval between them, but a continued series of them. Some think respect is had to the frequent slaughter of their kings; Zachariah the son of Jeroboam was slain by Shallum, when he had reigned but six months; and Shallum was slain by Menahem when he had reigned but one month; and this Menahem was a murderer of many, smote many places, and ripped up the women with child; Pekahiah his son was killed by Pekah the son of Remaliah, and he again by Hoshea, ( 2 Kings 15:8 2 Kings 15:10 2 Kings 15:13 2 Kings 15:14 2 Kings 15:16 2 Kings 15:25 2 Kings 15:30 ) .
FOOTNOTES:

F15 (wurp) "latrocinantur, [vel] latrones agunt", Schmidt

Hosea 4:2 In-Context

1 Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
2 There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are swept away.
4 “But let no one bring a charge, let no one accuse another, for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.
5 You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother—

Cross References 5

  • 1. Isaiah 59:3; Hosea 7:3; Hosea 10:4; Hosea 11:12
  • 2. Hosea 5:2; Hosea 6:9
  • 3. Hosea 7:1
  • 4. S Jeremiah 9:2
  • 5. S 2 Kings 21:16; S Isaiah 1:15; S Ezekiel 22:2,9; Hosea 5:2; Hosea 10:13

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. That is, to pronounce a curse on
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