The Meaning of Hosea 7:4 Explained

Hosea 7:4

KJV: They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.

YLT: All of them are adulterers, Like a burning oven of a baker, He ceaseth from stirring up after kneading the dough, till its leavening.

Darby: They all practise adultery, as an oven heated by the baker: he ceaseth from stirring the fire after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.

ASV: They are all adulterers; they are as an oven heated by the baker; he ceaseth to stir the fire , from the kneading of the dough, until it be leavened.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They [are] all adulterers,  as an oven  heated  by the baker,  [who] ceaseth  from raising  after he hath kneaded  the dough,  until it be leavened. 

What does Hosea 7:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Israelites as a whole were all adulterers, both physically and spiritually. Their passion for wickedness was like the fire in a baker"s oven: very hot and constantly burning.
"The oven was so hot that a baker could cease tending the fire during an entire night-while the dough he had mixed was rising-and then, with a fresh tending of the fire in the morning, have sufficient heat for baking at that time." [1]

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 7:4 mean?

They [are] all adulterers Like an oven heated by a baker He ceases stirring [the fire] after kneading the dough Until it is leavened
כֻּלָּם֙ מְנָ֣אֲפִ֔ים כְּמ֣וֹ תַנּ֔וּר בֹּעֵ֖רָה מֵֽאֹפֶ֑ה יִשְׁבּ֣וֹת מֵעִ֔יר מִלּ֥וּשׁ בָּצֵ֖ק עַד־ חֻמְצָתֽוֹ

כֻּלָּם֙  They  [are]  all 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
מְנָ֣אֲפִ֔ים  adulterers 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine plural
Root: נָאַף  
Sense: to commit adultery.
כְּמ֣וֹ  Like 
Parse: Preposition
Root: כְּמֹו  
Sense: like, as, the like of which conj.
תַנּ֔וּר  an  oven 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: תַּנּוּר  
Sense: furnace, oven, fire-pot, (portable) stove.
בֹּעֵ֖רָה  heated 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine singular
Root: בָּעַר 
Sense: to burn, consume, kindle, be kindled.
מֵֽאֹפֶ֑ה  by  a  baker 
Parse: Preposition-m, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: אָפָה 
Sense: to bake.
יִשְׁבּ֣וֹת  He  ceases 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁבַת 
Sense: to cease, desist, rest.
מֵעִ֔יר  stirring  [the  fire] 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine singular
Root: עוּר 
Sense: to rouse oneself, awake, awaken, incite.
מִלּ֥וּשׁ  after  kneading 
Parse: Preposition-m, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: לוּשׁ  
Sense: (Qal) to knead (dough).
בָּצֵ֖ק  the  dough 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בָּצֵק  
Sense: dough (unleavened).
עַד־  Until 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
חֻמְצָתֽוֹ  it  is  leavened 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person masculine singular
Root: חָמוּץ 
Sense: to be leavened, be sour.

What are the major concepts related to Hosea 7:4?

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