The Meaning of Hosea 5:6 Explained

Hosea 5:6

KJV: They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

YLT: With their flock and with their herd, They go to seek Jehovah, and do not find, He hath withdrawn from them.

Darby: They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them.

ASV: They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They shall go  with their flocks  and with their herds  to seek  the LORD;  but they shall not find  [him]; he hath withdrawn  himself from them. 

What does Hosea 5:6 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The guilty might seek the Lord, bringing their animal sacrifices to Him, but they would not find Him because He had withdrawn from them. Whereas holiness makes fellowship with God possible, sin and hypocrisy rule it out. He would withdraw His help and blessing from them.

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 5:6 mean?

With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek - Yahweh but not they will find [Him] He has withdrawn Himself from them
בְּצֹאנָ֣ם וּבִבְקָרָ֗ם יֵֽלְכ֛וּ לְבַקֵּ֥שׁ אֶת־ יְהוָ֖ה וְלֹ֣א יִמְצָ֑אוּ חָלַ֖ץ מֵהֶֽם

בְּצֹאנָ֣ם  With  their  flocks 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: צֹאן  
Sense: small cattle, sheep, sheep and goats, flock, flocks.
וּבִבְקָרָ֗ם  and  herds 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: בָּקָר  
Sense: cattle, herd, oxen, ox.
יֵֽלְכ֛וּ  they  shall  go 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
לְבַקֵּ֥שׁ  to  seek 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Piel, Infinitive construct
Root: בָּקַשׁ  
Sense: to seek, require, desire, exact, request.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
יְהוָ֖ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
וְלֹ֣א  but  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יִמְצָ֑אוּ  they  will  find  [Him] 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: מָצָא  
Sense: to find, attain to.
חָלַ֖ץ  He  has  withdrawn  Himself 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חָלַץ 
Sense: to remove, draw out, draw off, take off, withdraw, equip (for war), arm for war, rescue, be rescued.
מֵהֶֽם  from  them 
Parse: Preposition-m, Pronoun, third person masculine plural
Root: הֵם 
Sense: they, these, the same, who.