The Meaning of Hosea 9:10 Explained

Hosea 9:10

KJV: I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

YLT: As grapes in a wilderness I found Israel, As the first-fruit in a fig-tree, at its beginning, I have seen your fathers, They -- they have gone in to Baal-Peor, And are separated to a shameful thing, And are become abominable like their love.

Darby: I found Israel as grapes in the wilderness; as first-ripe fruit on the fig-tree, I saw your fathers at the beginning: they went to Baal-Peor, and separated themselves unto that shame, and became abominations like their lover.

ASV: I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first-ripe in the fig-tree at its first season: but they came to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves unto the shameful thing, and became abominable like that which they loved.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I found  Israel  like grapes  in the wilderness;  I saw  your fathers  as the firstripe  in the fig tree  at her first time:  [but] they went  to Baalpeor,  and separated  themselves unto [that] shame;  and [their] abominations  were according as they loved. 

What does Hosea 9:10 Mean?

Verse Meaning

In the early days of Israel"s history in the wilderness, the Lord took great delight in His people, as one rejoices to find grapes in a desert or the first figs of the season. However, when they came to Baal-Peor, where they worshipped Baal and committed ritual sex with the Moabite and Midianite women ( Numbers 25), they became as detestable to Yahweh as the idols they loved. This first instance of Baal worship set the pattern of Israel"s idolatry that followed in the land and resulted in her present judgment.

Context Summary

Hosea 9:10-17 - "wanderers Among The Nations"
At the Exodus the love and thanks of Israel were as delightful to God as grapes in the desert or as the first ripe figs. But they gave themselves up to the idols of the heathen, and soon became as abominable as the impure gods which they chose.
The prophet does not hesitate to speak plainly of the effects of the awful license of that age. He says that a nation which sins as Israel had sinned must, in the very nature of things, cease to exist. The birth-rate declines and the family-life is stricken at its roots. So long as the home is reverenced, and there is a pure and holy love between man and woman, so long, and only so long, is the nation safe. All the battalions that tyrant ever mustered, break on that rock of chrysolyte in vain. But sin is like dry-rot, which eats out the vitality and virility of a people. It is an awful verdict when God says, They shall bear no fruit, Hosea 9:16. We all know the fate of the unfruitful bough. It is only as we yield fruit that we are worth sparing. Will the nations of today learn this lesson? And may we not all question whether the lack of spiritual children does not betoken some degeneracy of our secret life? [source]

Chapter Summary: Hosea 9

1  The distress and captivity of Israel for their sins

What do the individual words in Hosea 9:10 mean?

Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season I saw your fathers they [But] went to Baal Peor and separated themselves [to [that] shame and they became an abomination like the thing they loved
כַּעֲנָבִ֣ים בַּמִּדְבָּ֗ר מָצָ֙אתִי֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל כְּבִכּוּרָ֤ה בִתְאֵנָה֙ בְּרֵ֣אשִׁיתָ֔הּ רָאִ֖יתִי אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם הֵ֜מָּה בָּ֣אוּ בַֽעַל־ פְּע֗וֹר וַיִּנָּֽזְרוּ֙ לַבֹּ֔שֶׁת וַיִּהְי֥וּ שִׁקּוּצִ֖ים כְּאָהֳבָֽם

כַּעֲנָבִ֣ים  Like  grapes 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine plural
Root: עֵנָב  
Sense: grape(s).
בַּמִּדְבָּ֗ר  in  the  wilderness 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִדְבָּר 
Sense: wilderness.
מָצָ֙אתִי֙  I  found 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: מָצָא  
Sense: to find, attain to.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל  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.
כְּבִכּוּרָ֤ה  as  the  firstfruits 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, feminine singular
Root: בִּכּוּרָה  
Sense: first-ripe fig, early fig.
בִתְאֵנָה֙  on  the  fig  tree 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular
Root: תְּאֵנָה  
Sense: fig, fig tree.
בְּרֵ֣אשִׁיתָ֔הּ  in  its  first  season 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: רֵאשִׁית  
Sense: first, beginning, best, chief.
רָאִ֖יתִי  I  saw 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם  your  fathers 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
בָּ֣אוּ  [But]  went 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
פְּע֗וֹר  Baal  Peor 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: בַּעַל פְּעֹור  
Sense: the deity worshipped at Peor with probable licentious rites.
וַיִּנָּֽזְרוּ֙  and  separated  themselves 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: נָזַר 
Sense: to dedicate, consecrate, separate.
לַבֹּ֔שֶׁת  [to  [that]  shame 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: בֹּשֶׁת  
Sense: shame.
וַיִּהְי֥וּ  and  they  became 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
שִׁקּוּצִ֖ים  an  abomination 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: שִׁקּוּץ  
Sense: detestable thing or idol, abominable thing, abomination, idol, detested thing.
כְּאָהֳבָֽם  like  the  thing  they  loved 
Parse: Preposition-k, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אָהַב  
Sense: to love.