Hosea Chapter 4 verse 17 Holy Bible
Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.
read chapter 4 in ASV
Ephraim is joined to false gods; let him be.
read chapter 4 in BBE
-- Ephraim is joined to idols: leave him alone.
read chapter 4 in DARBY
Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
read chapter 4 in KJV
read chapter 4 in WBT
Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!
read chapter 4 in WEB
Joined to idols `is' Ephraim, let him alone.
read chapter 4 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 17. - Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. Ephraim being the dominant tribe, gave its name to the northern kingdom. The idols were Ephraim's folly, and to that they were wedded; and in consequence they are left to their folly, and at the same time surrendered to their fate. They may persist in their folly; they cannot be prevented. "Give him rest," as the words literally mean, from exhortations and expostulations, from remonstrances and reproofs; he will persist in his folly, prepare for his fate, and perish by his sin. This abandonment of Ephraim proves the desperate nature of his case. Left to his own recklessness, he is rushing towards ruin. Judah is warned to stand aloof from the contagion, lest by interference he might get implicated in the sin and involved in the punishment of Ephraim. The Hebrew commentators express the word rendered "joined to" in the Authorized Version (ver. 17) by words importing "yoked to," "allied with," and "cleaving to." Again, הַנַה, imperative of הֵנִחַ, is explained by them as follows: - Rashi: "Leave off, O prophet, and prophesy not to reprove him, for it is of no use." Aben Ezra: "Let him alone till God shall chastise him; perhaps his eyes shall then open." Kimchi: "Jehovah says to the prophet, Cease to reprove him, for it is of no use .... As a man who is angry with his fellow, because he will not hearken to him when he reproves him, and says, Since thou hearkenest not to me, I will cease for ever to reprove thee."
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(17) Ephraim . . . idols.--The prophet calls on Judah to leave Ephraim to himself. The Jewish interpreters Rashi and Kimchi understand this as the appeal of Jehovah to the prophet to leave Israel to her fate, that so perhaps her eyes might be opened to discern her doom.
