Hosea 4:10

10 "My people will eat. But they will not have enough. They will have sex with prostitutes. But they will not have any children. That is because they have deserted me.

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.

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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 live off the sins of my people. And they want them to keep on sinning.

9 So here is what I will do. I will punish people and priests alike. I will judge them because of their sinful lives. I will pay them back for the evil things they have done.

10 "My people will eat. But they will not have enough. They will have sex with prostitutes. But they will not have any children. That is because they have deserted me.

11 They have sex with prostitutes. They drink old wine and fresh wine. When they do those things, it destroys their ability to understand.

12 They ask a wooden statue of a god for advice. They expect to get answers from a stick of wood. They act like prostitutes. That leads them down the wrong path. I am their God. But they are not faithful to me.