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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hosea 4:6-11

God is here proceeding in his controversy both with the priests and with the people. The people were as those that strove with the priests (Hos. 4:4) when they had priests that did their duty; but the generality of them lived in the neglect of their duty, and here is a word for those priests, and for the people that love to have it so, Jer. 5:31. And it is observable here how the punishment answers to the sin, and how, for the justifying of his own proceedings, God sets the one over-against... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hosea 4:6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge ,.... This is not to be understood of those who are the Lord's people by special grace; for they cannot he destroyed, at least with everlasting destruction; God's love to them, his choice of them, covenant with them, the redemption of them by Christ, and the grace of God in them, secure them from such destruction: nor can they perish through want of knowledge; for though they are by nature as ignorant as others, yet it is the determinate will of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 4:6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge - They have not the knowledge of God, nor of sacred things, nor of their own interest, nor of the danger to which they are exposed. They walk on blindly, and perish. Because thou hast rejected knowledge - So they might have become wise, had they not rejected the means of improvement. Thou shalt be no priest to me - If this be the true reading, there must be reference to some particular priest, well known, to whom these words are... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 4:6

Verse 6 Here the Prophet distinctly touches on the idleness of the priests, whom the Lord, as it is well known, had set over the people. For though it could not have availed to excuse the people, or to extenuate their fault, that the priests were idle; yet the Prophet justly inveighs against them for not having performed the duty allotted to them by God. But what is said applies not to the priests only; for God, at the same time, indirectly blames the voluntary blindness of the people. For how... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Here the verb is plural and its subject singular, because, being collective, it comprehends all the individual members of the nation. The word כדמו is rendered read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:6

Ignorance and destruction. All classes in Israel were guilty of forsaking Jehovah, and all classes were reproached with the same sin. It is usually the case that rebellion against a righteous Lord, and neglect of sincere worship and devotion, are chargeable, if not equally so, upon high and low, learned and ignorant. And when none are free from guilt, none are exempt from condemnation. I. TRUE RELIGION IS BASED UPON KNOWLEDGE . Idolatry and superstition are compatible with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:6

Religious ignorance. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, 1 will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." These words suggest three things in relation to religious ignorance. I. IT IS DESTRUCTIVE . "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Ignorance is not the mother of devotion, it is the mother of destruction. 1. What does it... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:6-10

Priestly neglect and its consequences. This section deals with the sin and punishment of the priests, as the preceding one had described the sin and punishment of the people. The priests here referred to were probably Levitical priests still scattered through the northern kingdom, since God speaks of them as his priests; while those which Jeroboam appointed out of other tribes than that of Levi, and from all, even the lowest, ranks of society, were rather priests for the worship of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:6-11

Priests and people. The prophet addresses himself in this section to both priests and people, but chiefly to the priests, whom he regards as mainly responsible for the people's defection. I. PRIESTS AND PEOPLE ALIKE IN THE REJECTION OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD . ( Hosea 4:6 ) 1. The tack of the knowledge of God . Israel possessed this knowledge of God once. It did not possess it now. There was little right knowledge of God's character, of God's Law, and of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 4:6-14

Israel's guilt and punishment. Priests and people were guilty alike, and would be overtaken by one common doom. I. THE SIN OF THE PRIESTS . 1. They rejected the knowledge of God ( Hosea 4:6 ). They did not engage in the study of the Divine Law, and their lives were a violation of its precepts. 2. They consequently failed to teach the Law to the people ( Hosea 4:6 ). 3. They connived at the national idolatry, on account of the material profit which they obtained... read more

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