The Meaning of Hosea 7:6 Explained

Hosea 7:6

KJV: For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.

YLT: For they have drawn near, As an oven is their heart, In their lying in wait all the night sleep doth their baker, Morning! he is burning as a flaming fire.

Darby: For they have applied their heart like an oven to their lying in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth like a flaming fire.

ASV: For they have made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For they have made ready  their heart  like an oven,  whiles they lie in wait:  their baker  sleepeth  all the night;  in the morning  it burneth  as a flaming  fire. 

What does Hosea 7:6 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The princes eagerly plotted to overthrow the king. Their anger with him smoldered for a long time and was not obvious to him, like a fire hidden in an oven ( Hosea 7:4), but at the proper time it flared up and consumed him and his supporters. Hosea saw this happen four times. Shallum assassinated Zechariah , Menahem assassinated Shallum, Pekah assassinated Pekahiah, and Hoshea assassinated Pekah ( 2 Kings 15:10; 2 Kings 15:14; 2 Kings 15:25; 2 Kings 15:30).

Context Summary

Hosea 7:1-16 - Iniquity Uncovered
The last clause of the previous chapter belongs to this. God desired to turn aside the captivity of His people and to heal Israel, but His pleading was unavailing because of their inveterate sin. This evil-doing witnessed against them, Hosea 7:2. Their passions did not need incitement, just as an oven retains its heat without the baker's continued attention. The royal birthday was celebrated with drunken orgies, and the national religion had become a confused mixture of Gentile superstition and the old Hebrew faith. In this Israel resembled a cake not turned-crisp on one side, sour and uneatable on the other, Hosea 7:8.
What a searching suggestion comes in Hosea 7:9! Can it be that strangers have been stealing away our strength, without our realizing that deterioration is creeping steadily through our religious life? Silently the frosty air steals the warmth from boiling water; silently the fungus pitches its tent in the autumn woods; silently old age fastens on the stalwart frame. Thus also our spiritual strength declines, unless we watch and pray; and when it ebbs away, we become foolish as the dove which flies straight into the snare, and useless as the deceitful bow which turns aside in the archer's hand, Hosea 7:11; Hosea 7:16. [source]

Chapter Summary: Hosea 7

1  A reproof of manifold sins
11  God's wrath against them for their hypocrisy

What do the individual words in Hosea 7:6 mean?

For they prepare like an oven their heart while they lie in wait all night sleeps their baker in the morning it burns like a fire flaming
כִּֽי־ קֵרְב֧וּ כַתַּנּ֛וּר לִבָּ֖ם בְּאָרְבָּ֑ם כָּל־ הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙ יָשֵׁ֣ן אֹֽפֵהֶ֔ם בֹּ֕קֶר ה֥וּא בֹעֵ֖ר כְּאֵ֥שׁ לֶהָבָֽה

קֵרְב֧וּ  they  prepare 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: קָרַב  
Sense: to come near, approach, enter into, draw near.
כַתַּנּ֛וּר  like  an  oven 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, common singular
Root: תַּנּוּר  
Sense: furnace, oven, fire-pot, (portable) stove.
לִבָּ֖ם  their  heart 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
בְּאָרְבָּ֑ם  while  they  lie  in  wait 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אָרַב  
Sense: to lie in wait, ambush, lurk.
הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙  night 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: לַיִל 
Sense: night.
יָשֵׁ֣ן  sleeps 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: יָשֵׁן 
Sense: to sleep, be asleep.
אֹֽפֵהֶ֔ם  their  baker 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אָפָה 
Sense: to bake.
בֹּ֕קֶר  in  the  morning 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בֹּקֶר 
Sense: morning, break of day.
בֹעֵ֖ר  burns 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: בָּעַר 
Sense: to burn, consume, kindle, be kindled.
כְּאֵ֥שׁ  like  a  fire 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, common singular construct
Root: אֵשׁ  
Sense: fire.
לֶהָבָֽה  flaming 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: לֶהָבָה  
Sense: flame.