Hosea 9:11

11 Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird— no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.

Hosea 9:11 in Other Translations

11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.

11 Ephraim's glory shall fly away like a bird-- no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!

11 The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird, for your children will not be born or grow in the womb or even be conceived.

11 Ephraim is fickle and scattered, like a flock of blackbirds, their beauty dissipated in confusion and clamor, Frenetic and noisy, frigid and barren, and nothing to show for it - neither conception nor childbirth.

11 Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird: no birth, no gestation, no conception.

Hosea 9:11 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 9:11

[As for] Ephraim, their glory shall flee away like a bird,
&c.] That is, suddenly, swiftly, and irrecoverably, and never return more; which some understand of God their glory, and of his departure from them, as in ( Hosea 9:12 ) ; others of their wealth and riches, and whatever was glorious and valuable among them, which should fly away from them in a moment, when taken and carried captive; rather their numerous posterity, in which they were very fruitful, according to their name, and in which they gloried, as children are the glory of their parents, ( Proverbs 17:6 ) ; which sense agrees with what follows, and which explains the manner of their fleeing away, and the periods of it: from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception;
that is, some of them, as soon as they were born; others while in the womb, being abortives; or, however, when they should, or as soon as they did, come from thence; and others, as soon as conceived, never come to any thing; or not conceived at all, as Kimchi interprets it, the women being barren.

Hosea 9:11 In-Context

9 They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.

10 “When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.

11 Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird— no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.

12 Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. Woe to them when I turn away from them!

13 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer.”

Cross References

• 1. S Isaiah 17:3
• 2. S Hosea 4:7; Hosea 10:5
• 3. ver 14