Bible Strands
Hosea 5:12
So I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Ephraim and Judah immediately after describing their oppression for idolatry and before their failed diplomatic appeal to Assyria.
The words — The Hebrew term עָשׁ (‘āš) translates literally to “moth,” while רָקֵב (rāqēḇ) means “rottenness” or “decay.”
The thread — The moth imagery recurs in Isaiah 51:8 and Job 13:28 to describe consuming destruction, while Jonah 4:7 parallels the theme with a divinely appointed worm destroying a plant.
Why it lands — The text declares that divine judgment operates as a silent, consuming force that destroys both kingdoms from within. It requires the reader to recognize that political alliances cannot reverse spiritual decay.
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
Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 51:8 For the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever, My salvation through all generations.”
- Job 13:28 So man wastes away like something rotten, like a moth-eaten garment.
- Jonah 4:7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.
- Proverbs 12:4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
- Isaiah 50:9 Surely the Lord GOD helps Me. Who is there to condemn Me? See, they will all wear out like a garment; the moths will devour them.
- Mark 9:43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.