Hosea 8:11 kjv
Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
Hosea 8:11 nkjv
"Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin, They have become for him altars for sinning.
Hosea 8:11 niv
"Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning.
Hosea 8:11 esv
Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have become to him altars for sinning.
Hosea 8:11 nlt
"Israel has built many altars to take away sin,
but these very altars became places for sinning!
Hosea 8 11 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Hosea 8:11 | Ephraim hath multiplied altars to sin, they have been unto him altars for sin. | The consequence of turning from God |
| Jeremiah 3:6 | Moreover, I have seen that Israel has committed adultery with a stock and a post. | Idolatry described |
| Jeremiah 7:29 | "Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the high places; for the LORD hath despised and forsaken the generation of his wrath. | Condemnation of worship sites |
| Jeremiah 11:13 | For thy manufactures are as the manufactures of an idol, and their altars are altars to sin, and have been unto the calf in Samaria. | Direct parallel in condemnation |
| Hosea 5:1 | Hear ye this, O house of Jacob; and they that are called Israel, and that have come out of the house of Judah, and that swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. | Warning against false worship |
| Hosea 4:17 | Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. | Ephraim's entanglement with idols |
| Isaiah 1:11 | To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. | Rejection of insincere worship |
| Amos 5:5 | But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought. | Condemnation of specific sites |
| Micah 6:6-7 | Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? | Questioning superficial religion |
| 1 Corinthians 10:19-20 | What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I desire that ye should not be partakers with devils. | Connection of idols to demons |
| Deuteronomy 12:3-4 | And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. | Command to destroy idolatrous sites |
| Leviticus 26:1 | Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God. | Prohibition of idolatry |
| Psalm 5:4 | For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. | God's opposition to sin |
| Psalm 97:7 | Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods. | Shame of idol worship |
| Acts 7:41 | And they offered up the calf in these days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. | Israel's golden calf incident |
| 1 Kings 12:28-30 | Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one even unto Dan. | Creation of idolatrous centers |
| Romans 2:22 | Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, yet commitest thou adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? | Adultery with idols |
| Jeremiah 2:20 | For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress, when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou hast committed fornication. | Idolatry as spiritual adultery |
| Galatians 5:19-20 | Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, | Idolatry listed as fleshly work |
| Romans 1:23 | And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. | Depicting God falsely |
Hosea 8 verses
Hosea 8 11 Meaning
Hosea 8:11 states that Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin and has become altars for sinning. The verse describes how Israel's prolific production of religious sites has led to widespread idolatry and transgression, turning their very places of worship into instruments of sin.
Hosea 8 11 Context
Hosea prophesies to the Northern Kingdom of Israel during a period of political instability and spiritual apostasy. The people have turned away from Yahweh, embracing Canaanite fertility cults and syncretism. This verse appears in a section where Hosea denounces Israel's widespread idolatry and the resulting consequences. They have become so enamored with creating altars and religious sites for their false gods that these very structures have become focal points for their ongoing sin. The chapter speaks of their reliance on Egypt and Assyria instead of God, and their worship of man-made objects. The people of Israel are deeply entrenched in sin, and their attempts to worship are tainted by their idolatrous practices.
Hosea 8 11 Word analysis
"And" (וְ) (vav): Conjunction, linking clauses. Here, it connects the action of multiplying altars to the consequence of those altars becoming altars for sin.
"Ephraim" (אֶפְרַיִם) (Ephraim): Represents the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It signifies the entire nation as a collective entity being addressed.
"hath multiplied" (הִרְבָּה) (hirbah): Piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular of רָבָה (rabah), meaning "to be many, to multiply, to increase." Indicates an excessive and abundant increase.
"altars" (מִזְבְּחוֹת) (mizbechot): Plural of מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach), meaning "altar." These are places of sacrifice.
"to sin" (לַחֵטְא) (la Chet): Preposition לְ (le) meaning "to, for" followed by the noun חֵטְא (chet), meaning "sin, offense, wrongdoing." It implies these altars were intended for sin or became occasions for sin.
"they have been" (וַהֲי֫וּ) (vayih'yu): Vav conjunction with Hifil imperfect, 3rd person common plural of הָיָה (hayah), meaning "to be, become." Indicates a state or transformation.
"unto him" (ל֫וֹ) (lo): Preposition לְ (le) meaning "to, for" with the 3rd person masculine singular pronoun suffix. Here, "unto him" refers back to Ephraim.
"altars" (מִזְבְּחוֹת) (mizbechot): Again, plural of "altar."
"for sin" (לַחֵטְא) (la Chet): Repeated phrase, emphasizing that these altars are designated for or have become instruments of sin. The repetition underscores the persistent nature of their sinful acts and the corruption of their worship.
Phrase/Passage Analysis: The parallelism in the verse ("multiplied altars to sin... altars for sin") creates a strong indictment. It highlights not just the quantity of altars but the purpose and consequence. They aren't just building places of worship; they are building places that actively foster and facilitate sin. The repeated use of "altars" and "sin" signifies a deep-seated corruption where even religious activities become means of transgression.
Hosea 8 11 Bonus Section
The term "altars for sin" suggests a reciprocal relationship: the altars facilitate sin, and sin permeates the altars. This mirrors the concept of becoming accustomed to sin to the point where it becomes an ingrained part of one's identity and practices. It speaks to the deceptive nature of idolatry, where religious activity can masquerade as devotion while actually entrenching individuals further in their transgressions. The accumulation of these sin-laden altars also points to a gradual descent into apostasy, where the frequency and ubiquity of such sites normalize sin within the community.
Hosea 8 11 Commentary
Israel's obsession with creating numerous places for worship has ironically become the very mechanism of their spiritual downfall. Instead of hallowed ground, their altars have been perverted into sin magnets, amplifying their rebellion against God. This reflects a critical distortion where religious observance is detached from righteous living, leading to a culture where even attempts to commune with the divine are inherently flawed and sinful. The proliferation of such corrupted religious sites serves as a stark symbol of their unfaithfulness and the ultimate judgment they face.