Bible Strands
Hosea 4:8
They feed on the sins of My people and set their hearts on iniquity.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Hosea addresses the northern kingdom of Israel during a period of widespread covenant betrayal, specifically targeting the religious leadership for their role in national apostasy.
The words — The Hebrew יֹאכֵ֑לוּ (yo.Khe.lu) means "they eat," combined with נַפְשֽ/וֹ (naf.Sh/o) for "desire" or "soul," forming an idiomatic phrase for craving rather than physical consumption.
The thread — This structural corruption appears in Isaiah 56:11, Micah 3:11, and Titus 1:11, where religious figures abandon their duties for personal profit or self-directed paths.
Why it lands — The text states that leaders cultivate an appetite for iniquity and literally feed on the sins of the people before noting that this complicity guarantees shared punishment. Readers must acknowledge that spiritual authority becomes guilty when it actively desires and consumes the transgressions it should oversee.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 56:11 Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:
- Micah 3:11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”
- Titus 1:11 who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.
- Leviticus 6:26 The priest who offers it shall eat it; it must be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.
- 1 Samuel 2:29 Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’
- Leviticus 7:6 Every male among the priests may eat of it. It must be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy.
- Psalms 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.
- Malachi 1:10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.
- Romans 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Psalms 25:1 Of David. To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul;