Hosea 4:11

11 Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away [one's] understanding.

Hosea 4:11 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 4:11

Whoredom and wine, and new wine, take away the heart.
] Uncleanness and intemperance besot men, deprive them of reason and judgment, and even of common sense, make them downright fools, and so stupid as to do the following things; or they take away the heart from following the Lord, and taking heed to him, and lead to idolatry; or they "occupy" ^F26 the heart, and fill it up, and cause it to prefer sensual lusts and pleasures to the fear and love of God: their stupidity brought on hereby is exposed in the next verse; though it seems chiefly to respect the priests, who erred in vision through wine and strong drink, and stumbled in judgment, ( Isaiah 28:7 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F26 (bl xqy) "occupant cor", so some in Calvin and Rivet; "occupavit cor", Schmidt.

Hosea 4:11 In-Context

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.

13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and they burn offerings on the hills, and under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters act promiscuously and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.