The Meaning of Hosea 5:10 Explained

Hosea 5:10

KJV: The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

YLT: Princes of Judah have been as those removing a border, On them I do pour out as water My wrath.

Darby: The princes of Judah are become like them that remove the landmark: I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

ASV: The princes of Judah are like them that remove the landmark: I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The princes  of Judah  were like them that remove  the bound:  [therefore] I will pour out  my wrath  upon them like water. 

What does Hosea 5:10 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The leaders of Judah had also broken covenant with the Lord (cf. Isaiah 5:8; Micah 2:1-2), as those who move boundary markers. Judah had Revelation -annexed Benjamite territory, thus violating the terms of the Mosaic Covenant regarding tribal allotments (cf. Deuteronomy 19:14; Deuteronomy 27:17). [1] Consequently God"s wrath would rain down on them. The boundaries that the leaders of Judah had moved were not just physical but also spiritual. They had moved the boundaries between right and wrong, true and false religion, and the true God and idols.

Context Summary

Hosea 5:1-15 - God's Rebuke Of Apostasy
The prophet continues his grave indictment of his people. The court and the priesthood were chiefly responsible for the awful degeneracy that was eating out the national heart. The seductions of idolatry that abounded everywhere resembled the snares and nets set by hunters on the wooded heights of Gilead and Tabor.
Suddenly, within a month, Hosea 5:7, an alarm sounds from hill to hill. The foreign invader has entered the country and is slowly marching southward. Even Benjamin is threatened. Ephraim must suffer because of the institutions of Omri and Ahab, Hosea 5:11; and Judah, because her princes were grasping and fraudulent. Though message after message was sent to procure the help of Jareb-a symbolical name for Assyria, "the warlike," he would not be able to avert the approaching dissolution of the Jewish state. You cannot stop the dry-rot by grand alliances. Nothing can save a nation in whose heart the worst forms of corruption are being nourished, except a wholesale return of God and a seeking of His face. It is certain that if this lesson were profoundly learned and then practiced, the horrors of a world in arms would come to a speedy and a blessed end. [source]

Chapter Summary: Hosea 5

1  The judgments of God are denounced against the priests, people, and princes,
9  both of Israel and Judah, for their manifold sins
15  An intimation is given of mercy on their repentance

What do the individual words in Hosea 5:10 mean?

Are the princes of Judah like those who remove a landmark on them I will pour out like water my wrath
הָיוּ֙ שָׂרֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֔ה כְּמַסִּיגֵ֖י גְּב֑וּל עֲלֵיהֶ֕ם אֶשְׁפּ֥וֹךְ כַּמַּ֖יִם עֶבְרָתִֽי

שָׂרֵ֣י  the  princes 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: סָרַר 
Sense: prince, ruler, leader, chief, chieftain, official, captain.
יְהוּדָ֔ה  of  Judah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יְהוּדָה  
Sense: the son of Jacob by Leah.
כְּמַסִּיגֵ֖י  like  those  who  remove 
Parse: Preposition-k, Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: שׂוּג  
Sense: to move away, backslide, move, go, turn back.
גְּב֑וּל  a  landmark 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: גְּבוּל  
Sense: border, territory.
עֲלֵיהֶ֕ם  on  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
אֶשְׁפּ֥וֹךְ  I  will  pour  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: שֶׂפֶק 
Sense: to pour, pour out, spill.
כַּמַּ֖יִם  like  water 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: מַיִם  
Sense: water, waters.
עֶבְרָתִֽי  my  wrath 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: עֶבְרָה  
Sense: outpouring, overflow, excess, fury, wrath, arrogance.