Bible Strands
Hosea 9:16
Ephraim is struck down; their root is withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay the darlings of their wombs.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Hosea to Israel, pronouncing judgment immediately after condemning their rebellious leaders at Gilgal.
The words — The text uses הֻכָּה (hu.Kah) for "struck down" and יָבֵשׁ (ya.Vesh) for "dried up" to describe the physical and spiritual decay of Ephraim.
The thread — The motif of roots decaying appears in Isaiah 5:24, while the theme of barrenness and rejected offspring echoes Hosea 9:11 and Ezekiel 24:21.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that covenant rebellion produces irreversible consequences, leaving no room for self-sustained survival.
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
Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
Cross-references
- Hosea 9:11 Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.
- Ezekiel 24:21 Tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul. And the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.’
- Isaiah 5:24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
- Job 18:16 The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away.
- Isaiah 40:24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.
- Hosea 5:11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow worthless idols.
- Hosea 8:7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
- Malachi 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”