The Meaning of Hosea 3:4 Explained

Hosea 3:4

KJV: 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:

YLT: 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.

Darby: For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without statue, and without ephod and teraphim.

ASV: 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:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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: 

What does Hosea 3:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord explained that the Israelites would remain for a long time separated from their idolatrous practices. During this time they would not have a king or leader (i.e, enjoy national sovereignty), sacrifices or sacred pillar (or stone, i.e, engage in formal religious activity), ephod or household idols (Heb. teraphim, i.e, use methods of divination, cf. Judges 18:27-31). Large stone pillars often stood at Canaanite shrines and were probably symbolic of deity. The Mosaic Law banned these standing stones ( Deuteronomy 16:22), but the Israelites ignored the prohibition. They would have none of the things that marked them as God"s people or that they had used to worship idols.

Context Summary

Hosea 3:1-5 - "a Door Of Hope"
The valley of Achor was a long wild pass up through the hills. The prophet says that a door of hope would open there, like the Mont Cenis tunnel which leads from the precipices and torrents on the northern slopes of the Alps to the sunny plains of Italy. That door opens hard by the heap of stones beneath which that troubler of Israel, Achan, was laid. We must put away our Achans before we can see doors of hope swing wide before us.
The prophet was bidden to make one further overture to his truant wife. She had been faithless, but the old love burnt in her husband's soul, and he was prepared to buy her back to himself at half the price of a female slave, Exodus 21:32. His only stipulation was that she should abide with him for many days. This was to be a time of testing, with the assurance that, if she were penitent and faithful, she would be perfectly restored.
What a wonderful verse is Hosea 2:3! We are purchased to God by the death of His Son. He only asks us to be for Himself and He promises to be for us. "The best of all," cried the dying Wesley, "is that God is for us!" Shall we not close with the offer and give ourselves to Him? [source]

Chapter Summary: 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

What do the individual words in Hosea 3:4 mean?

For days many shall abide the sons of Israel without king or prince and without sacrifice sacred pillar ephod or teraphim
כִּ֣י ׀ יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֗ים יֵֽשְׁבוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֵ֥ין מֶ֙לֶךְ֙ וְאֵ֣ין שָׂ֔ר וְאֵ֥ין זֶ֖בַח מַצֵּבָ֑ה אֵפ֖וֹד וּתְרָפִֽים

יָמִ֣ים  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
רַבִּ֗ים  many 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
יֵֽשְׁבוּ֙  shall  abide 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.
בְּנֵ֣י  the  sons 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל  of  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.
אֵ֥ין  without 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
מֶ֙לֶךְ֙  king 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
שָׂ֔ר  prince 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: סָרַר 
Sense: prince, ruler, leader, chief, chieftain, official, captain.
וְאֵ֥ין  and  without 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
זֶ֖בַח  sacrifice 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: זֶבַח  
Sense: sacrifice.
מַצֵּבָ֑ה  sacred  pillar 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: מַצֵּבָה  
Sense: pillar, mastaba, stump.
אֵפ֖וֹד  ephod 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֵפֹד  
Sense: ephod.
וּתְרָפִֽים  or  teraphim 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural
Root: תְּרָפִים  
Sense: idolatry, idols, image(s), teraphim, family idol.