to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
Judah
יְהוּדָ֑הye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
do
אֶעֱשֶׂה'e.'e.seh-
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
goodness
וְחַסְדְּכֶם֙ve.chas.de.Khem
H2617
kindness · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
morning
בֹּ֔קֶרBo.ker
H1242
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
cloud
כַּֽעֲנַןka.'a.nan-
H6051
a cloud (as covering the sky) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
early
מַשְׁכִּ֥יםmash.Kim
H7925
literally · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
dew
וְכַטַּ֖לve.kha.Tal
H2919
dew (as covering vegetation) · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
away
הֹלֵֽךְho.Lekh
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 78:34-37 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.
Hosea 11:8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine he…
Hosea 13:3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of…
Psalms 106:12-13 Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.
Matthew 13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is of…
Luke 13:7-9 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down;…
2 Peter 2:20-22 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entang…
Luke 19:41-42 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hosea 6:4–end
Two things, two evil things, both Judah and Ephraim are here charged with, and justly accused of: -
I. That they were not firm to their own convictions, but were unsteady, unstable as water, Hos 6:4, Hos 6:5. O Ephraim! what shall I do unto thee? O Judah! what shall I do unto thee? This is a strange expression. Can Infinite Wisdom be at a loss what to do? Can it be nonplussed, or put upon taking new measures? By no means; but God speaks after the manner of men, to show how absurd and unreasonable they were, and how just his proceedings against them were. Let them not complain of him as harsh and severe in tearing them, and smiting them, as he has done; for what else should he do? What other…
what shall I do unto thee--to bring thee back to piety. What more could be done that I have not done, both in mercies and chastenings (Isa 5:4)? At this verse a new discourse begins, resuming the threats (Hos 5:14). See opening remarks on this chapter.
goodness--godliness.
morning cloud--soon dispersed by the sun (Hos 13:3). There is a tacit contrast here to the promise of God's grace to Israel hereafter, in Hos 6:3. His going forth is "as the morning," shining more and more unto the perfect day; your goodness is "as a morning cloud," soon vanishing. His coming to His people is "as the (fertilizing) latter and former rains"; your coming to Him "as the early dew goeth away."
Adam Clarke on Hosea 6:4
O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? - This is the answer of the Lord to the above pious resolutions; sincere while they lasted, but frequently forgotten, because the people were fickle. Their goodness (for goodness it was while it endured) was like the morning cloud that fadeth away before the rising sun, or like the early dew which is speedily evaporated by heat. Ephraim and Judah had too much goodness in them to admit of their total rejection, and too much evil to admit of their being placed among the children. Speaking after the manner or men, the justice and mercy of Good seem puzzled how to act toward them. When justice was about to destroy them for their iniquity, it was prevented by…
"What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Judah? Your mercy is like the morning clouds and like the dew that goes away early: therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments shall go forth as the light." LXX: "What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Judah? Your mercy is like a morning cloud, and like dew that passes away early: therefore I have hewed your prophets, I have killed them with the words of my mouth, and your judgment shall come forth like the light." When He says, 'What shall I do to thee, Ephraim? What shall I do to thee, Juda?,' He shows the affection of a parent for his lost children, according to what we read in Isaiah: 'What is there that I ought to have done more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it?' (Isaiah 5:4) And in Micah: "My people, what have I done to you, or how have I caused trouble to you? Answer me; because I brought you out of the land of Egypt, I freed you from the house of slaves, and I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before your face" (Micah 6:2, 4). Therefore, what shall I do to you, Ephraim, what shall I do to you, Judah? Your mercy, with which I have always shown mercy to you, has passed like the morning clouds, and like the morning dew that dries up when the sun rises. For now captivity is near, I already see you being led captive into the Assyrians and chained to the Babylonians. I grieved for you in the prophets and threatened you with terrible words; I brandished a scalpel, fire and branding irons, so that you who despised my clemency might fear my offence, and I might kill the careless with the words of my mouth, punishing sinners beforehand with the terror of words before captivity should approach. And I did all this so that the truth of the judgement by which I am about to judge you might be made manifest and that no one might doubt that you have suffered what you have deserved. For what it is, 'I have grieved for the prophets,' the Seventy translated, 'I have cut down your prophets,' understanding that they had killed false prophets themselves, to the Lord: so that those who were the cause of error, promising prosperity, would be killed and turned into an opportunity for salvation. And the sense is: Lest you should say, we believed in the prophets, even we killed them: so that every occasion of sin might be taken away…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Cloud — The Hebrew so rendered means “a covering,” because clouds cover the sky. The word is used as a symbol of the Divine presence, as indicating the splendour of that glory which it conceals (Ex. 16:10;…
Dew — “There is no dew properly so called in Palestine, for there is no moisture in the hot summer air to be chilled into dew-drops by the coldness of the night. From May till October rain is unknown, the…
Cloud · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Clouds · Illustrative: (Passing away,) of the goodness and prosperity of hypocrites — Illustrative: (Passing away,) of the goodness and prosperity of hypocrites
Dew · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Instability · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Lukewarmness · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Meteorology And Celestial Phenomena · 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37; — 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37;
Morning · Illustrative: (Clouds in,) of the short lived profession of hypocrites — Illustrative: (Clouds in,) of the short lived profession of hypocrites
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Hosea 6:4
O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee?.... Or, "for thee" (x)? The Lord having observed the effect and consequence of his going and returning to his place, of his leaving his people for a long time under afflictions and in distress; namely, their thorough conversion to him in the latter day, and the blessings attending it; returns to the then present times again, and to the state and condition in which Ephraim and Judah, the ten and two tribes, were; and speaks as one at a loss, and under difficulties, to know what to do with them and for them; how as it were to give them up to ruin and destruction; and yet, having tried all ways with them, and in vain, ask…
Hosea 6:4
4. O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
4. Quid faciam tibi Ephraim? quid faciam tibi Jehudah? Nam bonitas vestra est quasi ros matutinus, quasi nebula mane transiens.
Some so expound this passage as that God would not once irrigate his people, but would continue this favor; as though he said, "He is deceived, who thinks that the redemption, which I bid you to hope from me, will be momentary, for I will, by a continued progress, lead my people to a full fruition of salvation." But this sense is altogether foreign. The Prophet then, no doubt, introduces God here as sp…
The prophet's address commences afresh, as in Hos 2:4, without any introduction, with the denunciation of the incurability of the Israelites. Hos 6:4-11 form the first strophe. Hos 6:4. "What shall I do to thee, Ephraim? what shall I do to thee, Judah? for your love is like the morning cloud, and like the dew which quickly passes away." That this verse is not to be taken in connection with the preceding one, as it has been by Luther ("how shall I do such good to thee?") and by many of the earlier expositors, is evident from the substance of the verse itself. For ‛âsâh, in the sense of doing good, is neither possible in itself, nor reconcilable with the explanatory clause which follows. The…
The response of Israel was inadequate; God lamented that their love disappeared like morning mist and dew.
Rashi on Hosea 6:4
What shall I do for you because of the Divine Standard of Justice; how can I bring out your verdicts to the light?
For your loving-kindness is like a morning cloud All your goodness and your righteousness is naught.
