The Meaning of Hosea 5:3 Explained

Hosea 5:3

KJV: I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

YLT: I have known Ephraim, And Israel hath not been hid from me, For now thou hast gone a-whoring, Ephraim, Defiled is Israel.

Darby: I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; for now, Ephraim, thou hast committed whoredom; Israel is defiled.

ASV: I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; for now, O Ephraim, thou hast played the harlot, Israel is defiled.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I know  Ephraim,  and Israel  is not hid  from me: for now, O Ephraim,  thou committest whoredom,  [and] Israel  is defiled. 

What does Hosea 5:3 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Yahweh knew Israel well; He had not been deceived and fallen into a trap, as the Israelites had. Ephraim had played the harlot against her husband, the Lord, and had defiled herself by doing so (cf. Leviticus 18:20; Leviticus 18:24; Numbers 5:20; Numbers 5:27-28). Ephraim was the largest tribe in Israel and Song of Solomon , frequently, was a synonym for the Northern Kingdom (e.g, Hosea 4:17). Hosea may have referred to it here because this tribe was foremost in idolatry. [1] It was part of the priests" responsibility to distinguish between clean and unclean ( Leviticus 10:10), but they had not done their Job , so Israel had defiled herself.

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 5:3 mean?

I know Ephraim and Israel not is hidden from Me for now you commit harlotry is defiled Israel
אֲנִי֙ יָדַ֣עְתִּי אֶפְרַ֔יִם וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֹֽא־ נִכְחַ֣ד מִמֶּ֑נִּי כִּ֤י עַתָּה֙ הִזְנֵ֣יתָ נִטְמָ֖א יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

יָדַ֣עְתִּי  know 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
אֶפְרַ֔יִם  Ephraim 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֶפְרַיִם  
Sense: second son of Joseph, blessed by him and given preference over first son, Manasseh.
וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל  and  Israel 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, 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.
נִכְחַ֣ד  is  hidden 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: כָּחַד  
Sense: to hide, conceal, cut off, cut down, make desolate, kick.
מִמֶּ֑נִּי  from  Me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
עַתָּה֙  now 
Parse: Adverb
Root: עַתָּה  
Sense: now.
הִזְנֵ֣יתָ  you  commit  harlotry 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: זָנָה 
Sense: to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot.
נִטְמָ֖א  is  defiled 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: טָמֵא 
Sense: to be unclean, become unclean, become impure.
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל  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.