Bible Strands
Hosea 6:10
In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: Ephraim practices prostitution there, and Israel is defiled.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses the northern tribes of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah immediately after rejecting their superficial repentance in Hosea 6:4–9. This declaration occurs during a prophetic confrontation highlighting national covenant failure.
The words — The Hebrew שַׁעֲרֽוּרִיָּ֑ה (shaʿărūriyyâ) denotes a detestable or abhorrent condition, while זְנוּת (zenûṯ) literally means prostitution or sexual immorality. These terms establish the text's claim that Israel's spiritual state is both morally repulsive and ritually defiled.
The thread — This pattern of covenant unfaithfulness recurs in Hosea 5:3, where Yahweh declares He knows Ephraim has turned to prostitution, and appears in Jeremiah 23:14 regarding the prophets of Jerusalem. The motif extends to Jeremiah 3:6, which records Yahweh pointing out what faithless Israel has done.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that national idolatry and moral collapse are direct violations of the covenant, not merely private sins. It requires the reader to acknowledge divine observation of systemic corruption before any promise of restoration.
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
I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
Cross-references
- Hosea 5:3 I know all about Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, O Ephraim, you have turned to prostitution; Israel is defiled.
- Jeremiah 23:14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”
- Jeremiah 3:6 Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there.
- Jeremiah 5:30 A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.
- Ezekiel 23:5 Oholah prostituted herself while she was still Mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors
- 1 Kings 12:8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him.
- 1 Kings 15:30 because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he had provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger.
- 2 Kings 17:7 All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods
- Jeremiah 2:12 Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,” declares the LORD.
- Hosea 4:17 Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!