Hosea 4:3

3 Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away With the beasts of the field And the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

Hosea 4:3 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 4:3

Therefore shall the land mourn
Because of the calamities on it, the devastations made in it; nothing growing upon it, through a violent drought; or the grass and corn being trodden down, or eaten up, by a foreign army: and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish;
that is, every man, an inhabitant thereof, shall become weak, languish away, and die through wounds received by the enemy; or for want of food, or being infected with the wasting and destroying pestilence: with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven;
the one shall die in the field for want of grass to eat, and the other shall drop to the earth through the infection of the air: yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away;
or "gathered" ^F16; to some other place, so as to disappear; or they shall be consumed and die, as Kimchi interprets it; and as all these creatures are for the good of men, for sustenance, comfort, and delight, when they are taken away, it is by way of punishment for their sins. So the Targum,

``the fishes of the sea shall be lessened for their sins.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 (wpoay) "congregabuntur", V. L.; "collgentur", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Schmidt.

Hosea 4:3 In-Context

1 Hear the word of the Lord, You children of Israel, For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.

2 By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed.

3 Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away With the beasts of the field And the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

4 "Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; For your people are like those who contend with the priest.

5 Therefore you shall stumble in the day; The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; And I will destroy your mother.