Hosea 4:10

10 They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply; for they have abandoned their devotion to the Lord.

Hosea 4:10 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 4:10

For they shall eat, and not have enough
Namely, the priests; for of them the words are continued, who ate of the sacrifices of the people, and of feasts made in honour of idols; and yet, either what they ate did not satisfy or nourish them, or else their appetites were still greedy after more of the same kind: or this may respect a famine, either at the siege of Samaria, or in their captivity; when they who had lived so voluptuously should have so little to eat, that it should not satisfy them: or though, as others, they eat to the honour of their idols, expecting to be blessed with plenty by them, they shall not have it: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase;
that is, their offspring; they shall not beget children, so the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi; or the children they beget shall quickly die; yea, though they commit whoredom in the idol's temple with that view, where the women prostituted themselves for that purpose: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord;
to his word, and worship, and ordinances, which they formerly had some regard unto, but now had relinquished: or, "the Lord they have forsaken", or "left off to observe" F25; his ways, his word, and worship. R. Saadiah connects this with the following words, they have forsaken the Lord to observe fornication and wine; but wrongly.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 (rmvl wbze hwhy ta) "Jehovam desierunt observare", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Rivetus, Liveleus; "ad observandum", Schmidt; "reliquerunt observare", Cocceius; "deseruerunt observare", so some in Vatablus.

Hosea 4:10 In-Context

8 They feed on the sin of My people; they have an appetite for their transgressions.
9 [The same judgment] will happen to both people and priests. I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
10 They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply; for they have abandoned their devotion to the Lord.
11 Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away [one's] understanding.
12 My people consult their wooden [idols], and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray; they act promiscuously in disobedience to their God.
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