They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.

HOSEA 9:4KJV
Know the Bible

Hosea 9:4 (KJV)

What does Hosea 9:4 mean?

Hosea 9:4 says that the people will not be able to offer wine or sacrifices to the LORD, and even if they try, their offerings will not please Him; instead, their sacrifices will be like the bread eaten during mourning, which makes anyone who eats it unclean, and none of it will enter the LORD’s house. This verse shows that their worship and rituals have become unacceptable to God because of their disobedience.

The prophet Hosea is speaking to the people of Israel, warning them about the consequences of their unfaithfulness to God. In ancient Israel, bread of mourners was considered ritually unclean because it was associated with death and sorrow. Hosea uses this image to show that, because of the people's actions, even their religious offerings have lost their meaning and purity in God’s eyes.

The Hebrew behind Hosea 9:4

  • "Wine" (יַיִן, yayin, H3196) refers to the drink offering that was a regular part of Israel’s worship. The verse says they will not be able to offer this to the LORD (יְהוָה, YHWH, H3068), highlighting a break in their relationship with God.
  • "Pleasing" (עָרַב, 'arav, H6149) means to be sweet or acceptable. Here, it stresses that their sacrifices will not be accepted by God, no matter what they do.
  • "Bread of mourners" (לֶחֶם אוֹנִים, lechem onim, H3899 + H205) refers to food eaten during mourning, which was considered unclean. Hosea uses this to show that their sacrifices, instead of being holy, have become defiled.
  • "Polluted" (טָמֵא, tame, H2930) means ritually unclean. The verse warns that anyone who eats their sacrifices will also become unclean, underlining the seriousness of their spiritual state.

Why Hosea 9:4 matters

  • Hosea 9:4 clears up the idea that religious rituals alone can please God; it shows that without genuine faithfulness, even the right actions are rejected.
  • The verse emphasizes the seriousness of Israel’s broken relationship with God, using strong images from their own worship practices to make the point clear.
  • Hosea 9:4 connects to the wider warning in the book that judgment is coming because the people have turned away from God, and even their attempts at worship cannot cover up their disobedience.

Where else these words appear

“pleasing” Hebrew H6149 · used in 8 verses

  • Psalms 104:34 My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.
  • Proverbs 13:19 The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.
  • Jeremiah 31:26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.

“offer” Hebrew H5258 · used in 24 verses

  • Genesis 35:14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.
  • 1 Chronicles 11:18 And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD,
  • Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

“mourners” Hebrew H205 · used in 78 verses

  • Numbers 23:21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
  • Psalms 41:6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
  • Proverbs 19:28 An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.

“wine” Hebrew H3196 · used in 134 verses

  • Genesis 9:21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
  • 2 Chronicles 2:10 And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
  • Isaiah 22:13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.