Hosea 3:4
New International Version
For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods.

New Living Translation
This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols!

English Standard Version
For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.

Berean Standard Bible
For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.

King James Bible
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

New King James Version
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.

New American Standard Bible
For the sons of Israel will live for many days without a king or leader, without sacrifice or memorial stone, and without ephod or household idols.

NASB 1995
For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols.

NASB 1977
For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.

Legacy Standard Bible
For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.

Amplified Bible
For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or [idolatrous] pillar, and without ephod or teraphim (household idols).

Christian Standard Bible
For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.

American Standard Version
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because for many days the children of Israel will dwell without a King and without a Ruler and without a sacrifice and without an altar and without one wearing an ephod and setting incense

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an altar, and without a priesthood, and without manifestations.

Contemporary English Version
It will also be a long time before Israel has a king or before sacrifices are offered at the temple or before there is any way to get guidance from God.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For the children of Israel shall sit many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without theraphim.

English Revised Version
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
In the same way, the Israelites will wait a long time without kings or officials, without sacrifices or sacred stones, and without ephods or family idols.

Good News Translation
In just this way the people of Israel will have to live for a long time without kings or leaders, without sacrifices or sacred stone pillars, without idols or images to use for divination.

International Standard Version
Likewise, the people of Israel will dwell a long time without a king, without a prince, without sacrifice, without sacred pillars, and with neither ephod nor teraphim.

JPS Tanakh 1917
For the children of Israel shall sit solitary many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim;

Literal Standard Version
For the sons of Israel remain without a king for many days, and there is no prince, and there is no sacrifice, and there is no standing pillar, and there is no ephod and teraphim.

Majority Standard Bible
For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.

New American Bible
For the Israelites will remain many days without king or prince, Without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or household gods.

NET Bible
For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.

New Revised Standard Version
For the Israelites shall remain many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim.

New Heart English Bible
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.

Webster's Bible Translation
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

World English Bible
For the children of Israel shall live many days without king, without prince, without sacrifice, without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.

Young's Literal Translation
For many days remain do the sons of Israel without a king, and there is no prince, and there is no sacrifice, and there is no standing pillar, and there is no ephod and teraphim.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Hosea Redeems His Wife
3Then I said to her, “You must live with me for many days; you must not be promiscuous or belong to another, and I will do the same for you.” 4For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol. 5Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.…

Cross References
Genesis 31:19
Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household idols.

Genesis 31:34
Now Rachel had taken Laban's household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing.

Exodus 28:4
These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make these holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that they may serve Me as priests.

Judges 17:5
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

Judges 18:14
Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, "Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do."

Judges 18:17
And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men.

1 Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king."


Treasury of Scripture

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

without a king.

Hosea 10:3
For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?

Genesis 49:10
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Jeremiah 15:4,5
And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem…

without a sacrifice.

2 Chronicles 15:2
And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

Daniel 8:11-13
Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down…

Daniel 9:27
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

an image.

Isaiah 19:19,20
In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD…

ephod.

Exodus 28:4
And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

Leviticus 8:7
And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.

Judges 8:27
And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

without teraphim.

Genesis 31:19
And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's.

Judges 17:5
And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

Judges 18:17-24
And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war…

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Hosea 3
1. The Lord's intended future kindness to Israel, not withstanding their wickedness,
2. illustrated by the emblem of Hosea's conduct toward his adulterous wife.
4. The desolation of Israel before their restoration.














(4) The prophet suddenly passes from his personal history to that of Israel, which it symbolised.

Without a king . . .--The isolation of Gomer's position pre-figured that of Israel in the exile. Her bitter experience was a parable of Israel's utter deprivation of all civil and religious privilege. There was to be no king, or prince, or sacred ritual of any kind. Observe that the terms of both cultus are here intermingled, suggesting the idolatrous conceptions of the pure ancient practice which Jeroboam's calf-worship was only too likely to introduce. By "image" we are to understand upright stones, representing Baal or the sun-god. (Comp. Hosea 10:1 and Exodus 24:4.) On "ephod," see Judges 17:5; Judges 18:14; Judges 18:17-20; on "teraphim," Genesis 31:19-35; 1Samuel 19:13-16; Ezekiel 21:21; Zechariah 10:2. In the last two passages the word is translated "idols," "images," their use as instruments of divination being condemned. . . .

Verse 4. - For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and teraphim. For a long series of years they were thus doomed to be without civil polity, or ecclesiastical privilege, or prophetic intimations. More particularly they were to remain without royal rule, or princely power, or priestly function, or prophetic instruction. As the prophet's wife was neither to be, strictly speaking, her husband's nor yet belong to another man; so Israel, as represented by her, was destined to be deprived of independent self-government and princely sovereignty; of Divine service, whether allowed as by sacrifice - the central part of Hebrew worship - or disallowed as by statue; of oracular responses, whether lawful as by the ephod or unlawful as by teraphim. There was thus an entire breaking up of Church and state as they had long existed; of all civil and ecclesiastical relations and privileges as they had been long enjoyed. Without a king of their own nationality to sit upon the throne, or a prince of their own race as heir apparent to the kingdom, or princes as the great officers of state; without offering by sacrifice to Jehovah, or statue by way of memorial to Baal; without means of ascertaining the will of Heaven in relation to the future by the Urim and Thummim of the high-priestly ephod, only the more than questionable means of soothsaying by the teraphim; - the children of Israel were to be left. And what attaches special importance to this remarkable passage is the undeniable tact that these predictions were uttered, not only before the dissolution of the monarchy and the cessation of sacrifices, but at a time when no human sagacity could foresee and no human power foretell the future abstention of the Hebrew race from idol-worship so long practiced, and from heathenish divination resorted to from such an early period of their history. Rashi, in his comment, has the following: "I said to her, Many days shalt thou abide for me; thou shalt not go a-whoring after other gods; for if thou shalt play the harlot, thy sons shall remain many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice in the sanctuary in Judah, and without a statue of Baal in Samaria of the kings of Israel, and without an ephod with Urim and Thummim which declared to them secrets, and without teraphim; they are images that are made with the observation of one hour composed for the purpose, and which speak of themselves and declare secrets; and so Jonathan has translated, "Neither will there be an ephod nor one to give a response.'" Similarly Aben Ezra: "Without king, nor is there any objection from the Chasmoneans, for they were not of the children of Judah... without sacrifice to Jehovah nor statue to Baal, without ephod to Jehovah and without teraphim to the worshippers of idols, which Laban called his gods." It is a matter of much consequence that some of the ablest of the Jewish expositors realize these predictions as applicable to their own case and the existing circumstances of their nation. Thus Kimchi, in commenting on this verse, says, "These are the days of the exile in which we are this day, and we have neither king nor prince of Israel, for we are in the power of the Gentiles, and in the power of their kings and princes... no sacrifice to God and no statue for worshippers of idols... and no ephod which shall declare future things by Urim and Thummim, and no teraphim for idolaters which declare the future according to the notion of those who believe in them; and thus we are this day in this exile, all the children of Israel;" he then cites the Targum of Jonathan in confirmation of his sentiments. For the ephod, comp. Exodus 28:6-14, from which we learn that it was "a short cloak, covering shoulders and breast, wrought with colors and gold, formed of two halves connected by two shoulder-pieces, on each of which was an onyx engraved with six names of tribes, and held together round the waist by a girdle of the same material;" it was part of the high priest's attire. The teraphim - from the Arabic tarifa, to live comfortably, and turfator, a comfortable life, were the household gods and domestic oracles, like the Roman penates, and deriving the name from being thought the givers and guardians of a comfortable life, חֶרֶפ. They were images in human form and stature, either graven of wood or stone (pesel), or molten out of precious metal (mas-sekhah). The first mention of them is in Genesis 31:19, and the name occurs fifteen times in the Old Testament. They appear to have been of Syrian or Chaldean origin. Aben Ezra says of them, "What appears to me most probable is that they had a human form and were made for the purpose of receiving supernal power, nor can I explain it further." The two principal species of offerings were the זבח, or bloody sacrifice, and the מנחה, or unbloody oblation. The former comprehended those entirely burnt on the altar, עֹלָח rad. עלה, to ascend, from going up entirely in the altar-smoke; and חלב, or those of which only the fat was burnt. According to the object of the offerer, they were chattah, sin offering, pointing to expiation or pardon for something done demanding punishment; or asham, trespass offering, implying satisfaction and acceptance, or something undone demanding amends; and shelamim, peace offerings.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
For
כִּ֣י ׀ (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

the Israelites
בְּנֵ֣י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

must live
יֵֽשְׁבוּ֙ (yê·šə·ḇū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

many
רַבִּ֗ים (rab·bîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 7227: Much, many, great

days
יָמִ֣ים (yā·mîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117: A day

without
אֵ֥ין (’ên)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

king
מֶ֙לֶךְ֙ (me·leḵ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king

or prince,
שָׂ֔ר (śār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8269: Chieftain, chief, ruler, official, captain, prince

without
וְאֵ֣ין (wə·’ên)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

sacrifice
זֶ֖בַח (ze·ḇaḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2077: A slaughter, the flesh of an animal, a sacrifice

or
וְאֵ֣ין (wə·’ên)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

sacred pillar,
מַצֵּבָ֑ה (maṣ·ṣê·ḇāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4676: Something stationed, a column, an idol

and without
וְאֵ֥ין (wə·’ên)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

ephod
אֵפ֖וֹד (’ê·p̄ō·wḏ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 646: A girdle, the ephod, highpriest's shoulder-piece, an image

or idol.
וּתְרָפִֽים׃ (ū·ṯə·rā·p̄îm)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 8655: (a kind of idol) perhaps household idol


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OT Prophets: Hosea 3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide (Ho Hs Hos.)
Hosea 3:3
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