Hoshea 4:3

3 Therefore shall ha’aretz mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall waste away languishing, with the wild beasts of the sadeh, and with the fowls of Shomayim; yea, the dagim of the yam also shall disappear.

Hoshea 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.

Hoshea 4:3 In-Context

1 Hear the Devar Hashem, ye Bnei Yisroel: for Hashem hath a controversy with the yoshvei ha’aretz, because there is no emes, nor chesed, nor da’as Elohim in ha’aretz. [See 11:7-9; 1K 1:18-19 OJBC]

2 By aloh (false swearing, perjury), and kachash (lying), and ratzo’ach (murder), and ganov (stealing), and na’of (committing adultery) they break away, and damim b’damim they follow (bloodshed follows bloodshed).

3 Therefore shall ha’aretz mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall waste away languishing, with the wild beasts of the sadeh, and with the fowls of Shomayim; yea, the dagim of the yam also shall disappear.

4 Yet let no ish bring a point of contention, nor reprove another; for thy people are as they that strive with the kohen.

5 Therefore shalt thou stumble and fall in the yom, and the navi also shall stumble and fall with thee in the lailah, and I will destroy thy em.