Hosea 9:1

¶ Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as [other] people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.

Rejoice {H8055} not, O Israel {H3478}, for joy {H1524}, as other people {H5971}: for thou hast gone a whoring {H2181} from thy God {H430}, thou hast loved {H157} a reward {H868} upon every cornfloor {H1637}{H1715}.

Don't rejoice, Isra'el! Don't enjoy yourselves as other peoples do; for you have gone whoring away from your God, you love being hired as a whore on every grain-floor.

Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations, for you have played the harlot against your God; you have made love for hire on every threshing floor.

Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, like the peoples; for thou hast played the harlot, departing from thy God; thou hast loved hire upon every grain-floor.

Context of Hosea 9:1

Hosea, a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel (also called Ephraim) in the 8th century BC, delivers a stark message of judgment. This verse opens a section detailing the severe consequences of Israel's unfaithfulness. At this time, Israel was experiencing a period of relative prosperity, but they attributed their blessings to pagan deities like Baal rather than to the Lord, their covenant God. The "cornfloor" refers to the threshing floor, a place associated with harvest and agricultural abundance, highlighting the source of their misguided joy.

Key Themes and Messages

  • False Joy and Misplaced Celebration: The command "Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as [other] people" condemns Israel's celebrations. Unlike gentile nations who did not have a covenant with God, Israel's joy was rooted in blessings obtained through spiritual infidelity. Their prosperity, symbolized by the "cornfloor," was seen as a reward from their idolatrous practices, not as a gift from their true God.
  • Spiritual Adultery and Idolatry: The core accusation is, "thou hast gone a whoring from thy God." This powerful metaphor of spiritual prostitution (Hebrew: zanah) vividly describes Israel's betrayal of their exclusive covenant relationship with the Lord. They had abandoned the true God for false gods, a direct violation of the First Commandment.
  • Love of Illicit Gain: "thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor" indicates that Israel's motivation for idolatry was the desire for material prosperity. They believed that engaging in pagan fertility rites would guarantee bountiful harvests. They valued the perceived "reward" from false worship more than their fidelity to God, seeking worldly gain through forbidden means.

Linguistic Insights

The phrase "gone a whoring from thy God" uses the Hebrew verb zanah, which literally means "to commit fornication" or "to be a harlot." In prophetic literature, especially in Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, this term is consistently used to describe Israel's spiritual unfaithfulness and idolatry, portraying their relationship with God as a marriage covenant that they have broken through their worship of other gods. The "reward upon every cornfloor" signifies the illicit gains or perceived blessings they sought from their idolatrous practices, particularly those associated with agricultural fertility cults like Baal worship.

Practical Application

Hosea 9:1 serves as a timeless warning against seeking joy, security, or prosperity from sources other than God, or through means that compromise one's spiritual fidelity. For believers today, this verse challenges us to examine the foundations of our own happiness and pursuits:

  • Are we seeking material gain or worldly success at the expense of our devotion to God?
  • Is our joy rooted in God's presence and faithfulness, or in temporary circumstances and possessions?
  • Do we allow cultural pressures or desires for worldly "rewards" to lead us into spiritual compromise, effectively "whoring" from God by pursuing idols of wealth, power, or pleasure?

True and lasting joy comes from a faithful relationship with God, not from the fleeting pleasures or perceived benefits gained through ungodly means. As Proverbs 14:13 reminds us, "Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness."

Note: Commentary was generated by an advanced AI, utilizing a prompt that emphasized Biblical fidelity over bias. We've found these insights to be consistently reliable, yet we always encourage prayerful discernment through the Holy Spirit. The Scripture text and cross-references are from verified, non-AI sources.

  • Hosea 10:5

    The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof [that] rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.

  • Hosea 4:12

    ¶ My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused [them] to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

  • Jeremiah 44:17

    But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for [then] had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

  • Ezekiel 20:32

    And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

  • Isaiah 17:11

    In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: [but] the harvest [shall be] a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

  • Amos 6:6

    That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

  • Amos 6:7

    Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

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