Hosea 7:4

They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker who needs not stoke the fire from the kneading to the rising of the dough.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet Hosea addresses the northern kingdom of Israel during a period of political corruption and spiritual apostasy, specifically condemning the king and princes for their deceit and moral decay (Hosea 7:3–5).

The words — The Hebrew מְנָאֲפִ֔ים (me.Na.'a.Fim) literally means "adulterers," paired with כֻּלָּ/ם֙ (ku.La/m) for "all of them," while כְּמ֣וֹ (ke.Mo) "like" introduces the simile of a תַנּ֔וּר (ta.Nur) "oven" that remains בֹּעֵ֖רָה (bo.'E.rah) "burning" without a baker needing to stir it up (מֵעִ֔יר).

The thread — The text links this spiritual adultery to the broader biblical theme of covenant unfaithfulness, echoing Jeremiah 9:2’s description of the people as "all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people" and James 4:4’s warning that friendship with the world constitutes hostility toward God.

Why it lands — The passage declares that the nation’s moral corruption simmers continuously like a neglected oven, demanding immediate recognition of their unfaithfulness rather than comfort or delay.

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

כֻּלָּם֙ku.La/mall of/ them מְנָ֣אֲפִ֔יםme.Na.'a.Fim[are] adulterers כְּמ֣וֹke.Molike תַנּ֔וּרta.Nuran oven בֹּעֵ֖רָהbo.'E.rahburning מֵֽאֹפֶ֑הme./'o.Pehfrom/ a baker יִשְׁבּ֣וֹתyish.Bot[who] he ceases מֵעִ֔ירme.'Irstirring up מִלּ֥וּשׁmi./Lushfrom/ kneading בָּצֵ֖קba.Tzek[the] dough עַד־'ad-until חֻמְצָתֽוֹ׃chum.tza.T/ois leavened/ it

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 9:2 If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.
Jeremiah 5:7 “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.
James 4:4 You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
Hosea 4:2 Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
Hosea 4:12 My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.
Hosea 7:6 For they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.