The Meaning of Hosea 4:6 Explained

Hosea 4:6

KJV: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I 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.

YLT: Cut off have been My people for lack of knowledge, Because thou knowledge hast rejected, I reject thee from being priest to Me, And thou forgettest the law of thy God, I forget thy sons, I also!

Darby: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; for thou hast rejected knowledge, and I will reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me; seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.

ASV: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

My people  are destroyed  for lack of knowledge:  because thou hast rejected  knowledge,  I 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. 

What does Hosea 4:6 Mean?

Verse Meaning

God would destroy the Israelites because of their lack of knowledge of Himself. That Isaiah , they failed to acknowledge Him as their God (cf. Hosea 4:1). God would reject them as His priests on the earth, whose task it was to mediate the knowledge of God to the nations ( Exodus 19:6), because they rejected the knowledge that He gave them in His law. He would abandon (forget) their children because they had abandoned (forgotten) His law.
"To the modern Western mind, it might seem unfair that the priests" mothers and children should be punished for their sins. But the concept of corporate guilt and punishment was common in ancient Israel and is frequently reflected in the Hebrew Bible." [1]

Context Summary

Hosea 4:1-10 - "like People, Like Priest"
This chapter contains a terrible indictment against the whole kingdom. There was neither truth nor mercy in the land, but swearing, lying, and adultery. Apart from the restraints of religion, such would be the condition of human society today. Even atheists have been known to remove from mining-camps, where there was no semblance of religion, to places within the sound of the church-bell. Notice in Hosea 4:3 how man's sin seems to affect even the animals. "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth"¦ waiting for our adoption" as the recognized sons of God, Romans 8:22-23.
Rightly enough, the prophet remonstrates with the priests. They were drunken and sensual; they rejected the knowledge and rule of God; they promoted outward ritual in order to fatten on the offerings of the people; and as it was with them, so it became with the deluded worshipers. What a solemn lesson is contained in the proverb which originated in this passage, Like people, like priest! It is not what we teach, but what we are, that really affects men. The colorless rays of the sun, lying outside the prismatic band of color, give health. [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 4:6 mean?

Are destroyed My people for lack of knowledge Because you knowledge have rejected and I will reject you from being priest for Me and because you have forgotten the law of your God will forget your children also I
נִדְמ֥וּ עַמִּ֖י מִבְּלִ֣י הַדָּ֑עַת כִּֽי־ אַתָּ֞ה הַדַּ֣עַת מָאַ֗סְתָּ וְאֶמְאָֽסְאךָ֙ מִכַּהֵ֣ן לִ֔י וַתִּשְׁכַּח֙ תּוֹרַ֣ת אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ אֶשְׁכַּ֥ח בָּנֶ֖יךָ גַּם־ אָֽנִי

נִדְמ֥וּ  Are  destroyed 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: דָּמָה 
Sense: to cease, cause to cease, cut off, destroy, perish.
עַמִּ֖י  My  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
מִבְּלִ֣י  for  lack 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adverb
Root: בְּלִי 
Sense: wearing out adv of negation.
הַדָּ֑עַת  of  knowledge 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: דַּעַת 
Sense: knowledge.
כִּֽי־  Because 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
הַדַּ֣עַת  knowledge 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: דַּעַת 
Sense: knowledge.
מָאַ֗סְתָּ  have  rejected 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: מָאַס 
Sense: to reject, despise, refuse.
וְאֶמְאָֽסְאךָ֙  and  I  will  reject  you 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, first person common singular, second person masculine singular
Root: מָאַס 
Sense: to reject, despise, refuse.
מִכַּהֵ֣ן  from  being  priest 
Parse: Preposition-m, Verb, Piel, Infinitive construct
Root: כָּהַן  
Sense: to act as a priest, minister in a priest’s office.
לִ֔י  for  Me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
וַתִּשְׁכַּח֙  and  because  you  have  forgotten 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: כָּשַׁח 
Sense: to forget, ignore, wither.
תּוֹרַ֣ת  the  law 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: תֹּורָה  
Sense: law, direction, instruction.
אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ  of  your  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
אֶשְׁכַּ֥ח  will  forget 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: כָּשַׁח 
Sense: to forget, ignore, wither.
בָּנֶ֖יךָ  your  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
גַּם־  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.