Bible Strands
Hosea 7:5
The princes are inflamed with wine on the day of our king; so he joins hands with those who mock him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Hosea addresses the northern kingdom of Israel during a period of political instability and spiritual apostasy, specifically targeting the royal court and its leadership. He speaks at a moment when the nation's rulers are openly indulging in drunkenness and treachery during a royal celebration.
The words — The Hebrew root חֲמַת (cha.mat) literally means "fever" or "sickness," describing how the princes שָׂרִים (sa.rim) become inflamed from wine. The phrase מָשַׁ֥ךְ יָד֖/וֹ (ma.shakh ya.d/o) translates literally as "he stretched out his hand," indicating a gesture of alliance or complicity.
The thread — This motif of royal drunkenness and betrayal appears in Isaiah 28:1, which warns Ephraim’s drunkards, and echoes the political feasting in Genesis 40:20 where officials are gathered during a king’s celebration. The New Testament parallels this pattern of indulgence in 1 Peter 4:3, which catalogs Gentile debauchery and drunkenness as former lifestyles.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that political leadership’s moral collapse directly enables national treachery and idolatry. It requires the reader to identify how public indulgence and compromised alliances actively undermine covenant faithfulness.
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
In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.
Cross-references
- 1 Peter 4:3 For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
- Isaiah 28:1 Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.
- Genesis 40:20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.
- Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
- Daniel 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.
- Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
- 1 Kings 13:4 Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back.
- Psalms 69:12 Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.
- Proverbs 13:20 He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.