Hosea 9 7

Hosea 9:7 kjv

The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.

Hosea 9:7 nkjv

The days of punishment have come; The days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, The spiritual man is insane, Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity.

Hosea 9:7 niv

The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this. Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired person a maniac.

Hosea 9:7 esv

The days of punishment have come; the days of recompense have come; Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool; the man of the spirit is mad, because of your great iniquity and great hatred.

Hosea 9:7 nlt

The time of Israel's punishment has come;
the day of payment is here.
Soon Israel will know this all too well.
Because of your great sin and hostility,
you say, "The prophets are crazy
and the inspired men are fools!"

Hosea 9 verses

Hosea 9 7 Meaning

The verse speaks of Israel's prophets facing repercussions because of their transgressions and corrupt spiritual practices, which led to God's prophetic pronouncements being treated as foolishness and a snare by the people. This resulted in the prophets experiencing wrath and punishment.

Hosea 9 7 Context

Hosea 9 is part of a larger prophetic message denouncing Israel's persistent idolatry and covenant unfaithfulness, particularly their devotion to Baal and participation in pagan rituals. The chapter describes the impending judgment and exile as a consequence of these sins. Verse 7 specifically addresses the experience of the prophets themselves amidst this national apostasy. They were tasked with delivering God's message of warning and repentance, but their words were dismissed and ridiculed by a people steeped in sin and rebellion, leading to the prophets suffering personal consequences and the perception of being "mad." This was a direct result of Israel's widespread "guilt" and "enmity" towards God and His messengers.

Hosea 9 7 Word Analysis

• בֹּא — Bō (to come, to arrive)
  • Emphasizes the inevitable arrival of divine judgment and retribution.
• יְמֵי — Yemei (days of)
  • Signifies a period or appointed time, here specifically the time for reckoning.
• פְּקֻדָּת — Pəquddāt (punishment, visitation, reckoning, punishment)
  • Highlights the active divine intervention for the purpose of accounting for sin. It carries a dual meaning of visitation and the consequence of that visitation, often punishment.
• קָצִיר — Qāṣîr (reaping, harvest, reward, punishment)
  • A metaphor for the consequence of actions, particularly the reaping of what has been sown. Here, it signifies the culmination of sin and the resultant punishment.
• יָדְעוּ — Yādə‘ū (they knew, they will know)
  • Implies a future experiential knowledge, a certainty of understanding the consequences of their actions.
• יִשְׂרָאֵל — Yiśrā’ēl (Israel)
  • Refers to the chosen people, who are now facing the consequences of breaking their covenant with God.
• נָבִיא — Nāḇî’ (prophet)
  • One who speaks forth God's message, often of warning and judgment.
• הוֹלֵל — Hōlēl (foolish, mad)
  • Describes the perception of the prophets by the rebellious nation. Their divine message was seen as nonsensical or irrational.
• בַּעַל — Baʻal (master, lord, Baal)
  • In this context, referring to the Canaanite god, but also a broader term for a "lord" or "owner," used polemically against idolatry. The "spirit of prophecy" is contrasted with the deceptive spirits of paganism.
• רִיב — Rîḇ (contention, dispute, lawsuit)
  • Points to the broken covenant and the divine controversy against Israel.
• רוּחַ — Rûaḥ (spirit, wind)
  • Here, "spirit" refers to divine inspiration, the power of God enabling prophecy, contrasted with the people's hostility. It can also be interpreted as the disposition or mindset of the people.
• הָפַךְ — Hāp̄aḵ (turned, overturned, became)
  • Indicates a fundamental change or inversion, here in how the message of God was received and how the prophets' ministry was characterized.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "The days of punishment have come, the days of reckoning have arrived" (הִגִּיעוּ יְמֵי פְּקֻדָּת יְמֵי־שִׁלּוּמֶיךָ יֵדְעוּ־יִשְׂרָאֵל): This phrase signifies a divinely ordained appointed time for recompense. It's not random misfortune but a judicial act by God. The repetition of "days" emphasizes the certainty and totality of this period of judgment. The knowledge imparted to Israel will be experiential, through suffering.
• "The prophets are fools; the inspired are madmen" (הַנְּבִיא שִׁגָּעוֹן הָאִישׁ הָרוּחַ): This encapsulates Israel's rejection of God's messengers and His Spirit-given word. The terms "foolish" (שִׁגָּעוֹן - literally 'madness') and "madmen" (הָאִישׁ הָרוּחַ - lit. 'the man of the spirit', indicating the divinely inspired prophet) highlight the complete perversion of understanding in Israel. They scorned divine truth and embraced spiritual deception. This points to a spiritual blindness and an opposition to God's direct communication.
• "Because of your great guilt and your rampant hostility" (בַּעֲבוּר רָב־תַּפְשִׁיעֶךָ וְשֶׁנֶאֶמְרָה): This connects the prophetic suffering and the people's mockery directly to the nation's abundant sin ("great guilt," רָב־תַּפְשִׁיעֶךָ) and their aggressive, ongoing antagonism towards God and His message ("rampant hostility," וְשֶׁנֶאֶמְרָה – lit. 'and spoken against', indicating vehement opposition, particularly towards God's word and messengers). This establishes a cause-and-effect relationship for the impending judgment and the prophets' distress.

Hosea 9 7 Bonus Section

The phrase "the inspired are madmen" (הָאִישׁ הָרוּחַ) is a significant statement. While usually "spirit" (רוּחַ - ruach) denotes God's divine power and inspiration for prophecy, here the context shifts to imply that Israel saw these divinely enabled men as embodying a wild, uncontrolled, or even demonic spirit. This stark contrast between true, Spirit-led prophecy and the people's embrace of pagan practices and spirits highlights the spiritual confusion and delusion gripping the nation. The prophets were, in essence, bearing the brunt of the people’s rejection of God’s Spirit, their messages being perverted into what the people, in their corrupted state, deemed irrational and foolish. The prophets were literally embodying the message of judgment from God's Spirit, and because the people hated God's spirit of truth, they hated and ridiculed its human vessel.

Hosea 9 7 Commentary

This verse poignantly captures the dire spiritual condition of Israel during Hosea's ministry. The people, entrenched in their sin and idolatry, had become so corrupted that they viewed God's prophets – His direct representatives – as delusional. Their rebellion against God manifested as hostility towards His word and messengers, leading to the prophets being labelled "fools" and "madmen." This ostracization and ridicule were not the fault of the prophets, but a consequence of the people's own deep-seated spiritual depravity and guilt. God’s pronouncements of judgment were understood as merely the ravings of deranged individuals. This situation underscores a critical theme: the rejection of God's truth inevitably leads to a distorted worldview where divine messages are misconstrued and God's messengers are persecuted. The impending "punishment" and "reckoning" were direct results of this rejection and animosity. The ultimate sorrow was that Israel’s spiritual leaders and the prophetic voice were themselves caught in the destructive wave caused by the nation's sins, experiencing God's judgment in the form of the people's derision and the subsequent national disaster.