The Meaning of Hosea 4:16 Explained

Hosea 4:16

KJV: For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.

YLT: For as a refractory heifer hath Israel turned aside, Now doth Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.

Darby: For Israel is refractory as an untractable heifer; now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a wide pasture.

ASV: For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For Israel  slideth back  as a backsliding  heifer:  now the LORD  will feed  them as a lamb  in a large place. 

What does Hosea 4:16 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord asked rhetorically if He could continue to guide Israel as its Shepherd since it was not behaving like a compliant heifer or lamb but had become stubborn and obstinate. No, He could not.

Context Summary

Hosea 4:11-19 - "joined To Idols"
The prophet does not mince his words in describing the morals of his time. We are reminded of Bunyan's words: "My original and inward pollution was my plague. It was always putting itself forth in me, and I was more loathsome in my own eyes than a toad, and I thought I was in God's eyes also. Corruption bubbled up in my heart as naturally as water in a fountain, and I thought that everyone had a better heart than I." Of course in Christ "we have redemption through His blood," and that means more than forgiveness; it implies the deliverance of the soul from the love and power of evil. But if the soul of man refuses this, obstinately and persistently, a time arrives when God gives him up to reap as he has sown.
The greatest gift we can make to our generation is that of unblemished character. Sir Leslie Stephen, the brilliant agnostic, in his mature life, went back to the grave of an undergraduate, who had been his pupil and had died in early life without having distinguished himself in his studies or athletics, but had lived the Christian life with transparent simplicity and lovableness. [source]

Chapter Summary: Hosea 4

1  God denounces judgments on Israel, for their aggravated impieties and iniquities
12  He exposes the ignorance and wickedness of the priests,
13  and moral dissolution of the people,
14  he will leave their wives and daughters to commit lewdness, without present punishment
15  He warns Judah, not to imitate Israel's crimes, which are still further reproved

What do the individual words in Hosea 4:16 mean?

For Like a calf stubborn is stubborn Israel now will let them forage Yahweh Like a lamb in open country
כִּ֚י כְּפָרָ֣ה סֹֽרֵרָ֔ה סָרַ֖ר יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל עַתָּה֙ יִרְעֵ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה כְּכֶ֖בֶשׂ בַּמֶּרְחָֽב

כְּפָרָ֣ה  Like  a  calf 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, feminine singular
Root: פָּרָה  
Sense: cow, heifer.
סֹֽרֵרָ֔ה  stubborn 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine singular
Root: סָרַר  
Sense: to rebel, be stubborn, be rebellious, be refractory.
סָרַ֖ר  is  stubborn 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: סָרַר  
Sense: to rebel, be stubborn, be rebellious, be refractory.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
עַתָּה֙  now 
Parse: Adverb
Root: עַתָּה  
Sense: now.
יִרְעֵ֣ם  will  let  them  forage 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular, third person masculine plural
Root: רָעָה 
Sense: to pasture, tend, graze, feed.
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
כְּכֶ֖בֶשׂ  Like  a  lamb 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֶּבֶשׂ  
Sense: lamb, sheep, young ram.
בַּמֶּרְחָֽב  in  open  country 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֶרְחָב 
Sense: broad or roomy place, wide, expanses.