Hosea 10:4

4 They make many promises, take false oaths and make agreements; therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.

Hosea 10:4 in Other Translations

4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

4 They utter mere words; with empty oaths they make covenants; so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.

4 They spout empty words and make covenants they don’t intend to keep. So injustice springs up among them like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field.

4 They talk big, lie through their teeth, make deals. But their high-sounding words turn out to be empty words, litter in the gutters.

4 They speak [vain] words, swearing falsely in making covenants: therefore judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

4 They say many things. They lie when they take oaths, and they make promises they don't intend to keep. That's why lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.

4 They speak [mere] words, taking false oaths while making covenants. So lawsuits break out like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.

4 They make a lot of promises. They make agreements among themselves. They take oaths they don't mean to keep. So court cases spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.

Hosea 10:4 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 10:4

They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant,
&c.] Those are other crimes they were guilty of, for which the wrath of God could not be awarded from them by a king, if they had one, or by any other. They had used vain and idle words in their common talk and conversation; and lying and deceitful ones to one another in trade and commerce, in contracts and promises; and so had deceived and overreached one another: they had belched out many "oaths of vanity" {u}: or vain oaths and curses; their mouths had been full of cursing and bitterness; and they made covenants with God, and their king, and with other kings and princes, and with one another, and had not kept them; and now for these things God had a controversy with them: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field;
either the judgment of God, his wrath and vengeance for the above sins, rose up and spread itself in all their cities, towns, and villages; or rather the judgment and justice they pretended to execute, instead of being what it should have been, useful and beneficial to the people, like a wholesome herb, sprung up like hemlock, bitter and poisonous, and spread itself in all parts of the kingdom. Injustice is meant; see ( Amos 6:12 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 (awv twla) "execrationes vanitatis", Schmidt.

Hosea 10:4 In-Context

2 Their heart is deceitful, and now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will demolish their altars and destroy their sacred stones.

3 Then they will say, “We have no king because we did not revere the LORD. But even if we had a king, what could he do for us?”

4 They make many promises, take false oaths and make agreements; therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.

5 The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol of Beth Aven.Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile.

6 It will be carried to Assyria as tribute for the great king. Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances.

Cross References

• 1. S Hosea 4:2
• 2. S Ezekiel 17:19; Amos 5:7
• 3. Amos 6:12