properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
mercy
חֶ֥סֶדChe.sed
H2617
kindness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sacrifice
זָ֑בַחZa.vach
H2077
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
knowledge
וְדַ֥עַתve.Da.'at
H1847
knowledge · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
God
אֱלֹהִ֖ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
offerings
מֵעֹלֽוֹתme.'o.Lot
H5930
a step or (collectively · preposition + noun, common feminine plural 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
Matthew 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repenta…
Matthew 12:7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is b…
Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
Ecclesiastes 5:1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not tha…
Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed be…
Jeremiah 22:16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
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…
mercy--put for piety in general, of which mercy or charity is a branch.
not sacrifice--that is, "rather than sacrifice." So "not" is merely comparative (Exo 16:8; Joe 2:13; Joh 6:27; Ti1 2:14). As God Himself instituted sacrifices, it cannot mean that He desired them not absolutely, but that even in the Old Testament, He valued moral obedience as the only end for which positive ordinances, such as sacrifices, were instituted--as of more importance than a mere external ritual obedience (Sa1 15:22; Psa 50:8-9; Psa 51:16; Isa 1:11-12; Mic 6:6-8; Mat 9:13; Mat 12:7).
knowledge of God--experimental and practical, not merely theoretical (Hos 6:3; Jer 22:16; Jo1 2:3-4). "Mercy" refers to the se…
I desired mercy, and not sacrifice - I taught them righteousness by my prophets; for I desired mercy. I was more willing to save than to destroy; and would rather see them full of penitent and holy resolutions, than behold them offering the best and most numerous victims upon my altar. See Mat 9:13.
John Gill on Hosea 6:6
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice,.... That is, the one rather than the other, as the next clause explains it. Sacrifices were of early use, even before the law of Moses; they were of divine appointment, and were approved and accepted of by the Lord; they were types of Christ, and led to him, and were continued unto his death; but in comparison of moral duties, which respect love to God, and to our neighbour, the Lord did not will them, desire them, and delight in them; or he had more regard for the former than the latter; see 1 Samuel 15:22; nor did he will or accept at all of the sacrifices ordered to the calves at Dan and Bethel; nor others, when they were not such as the law require…
The Church Fathers
Most of all, worship of God displays love.… For truly the compassion from beside the Father is Christ, as he takes away the sins, dismisses the charges and justifies by faith, and recovers the lost and makes [them] stronger than death. For what is good and he does not give? Therefore the knowledge of God is better than sacrifice and holocausts, as it is brought to perfection in Christ. For by him and in him we have known the Father, and we have become rich in the justification by faith.
But he would not threaten the impenitent if he failed to pardon the penitent. This would be doubtful only if he had not revealed elsewhere the profusion of his mercy. Has he not said, "He who is fallen shall rise, and he who was turned away shall return"? He it is, most assuredly, who "will have mercy rather than sacrifice." The heavens and the angels who are there rejoice at human repentance. Look at you now, sinner, be of good heart! You see where it is that you are a cause of joy.
For the Word of God Himself tells us that He prefers the performance of His commandments to the offering of sacrifice. God proclaims this, Moses declares it to the people, Paul preaches it to the Gentiles. Do that which you understand is most profitable for the time. "I prefer mercy," it is said, "rather than sacrifice." Are they not, then, rather Christians in truth who condemn their own sin, than they who think to defend it? "The just is an accuser of himself in the beginning of his words." He who accuses himself when he has sinned is just, not he who praises himself.
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
Burnt Offering, The · Knowledge of God better than — Knowledge of God better than
Formalism · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Knowledge · Of God more than burnt offering — Of God more than burnt offering
Quotations And Allusions · with — with
Wisdom · .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
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).
Hosea 6:6-7
6. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
6. Quia misericordiam volo (vel, quia humanitas placet mihi) et non sacrificuim; et cognitio Dei (placet mihi, subaudiendum est) prae holocaustis.
7. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
7. Et ipsi tanquam homines ransgressi sunt pactum; [33] illic perfide egerunt in me (vel, Tanquam hominis pactum transgressi sunt, ut postea videbimus.)
God in this place declares that he desires mercy, and not sacrifices; and he does so to prevent an objections and to anticipate all frivolous pretenses. There is never wanting to hypocrit…
The reason why God was obliged to punish in this manner is given in the following verses. Hos 6:6. "For I take pleasure in love, and not in sacrifices; and in the knowledge of God more than in burnt-offerings. Hos 6:7. But they have transgressed the covenant like Adam: there have they acted treacherously towards me." Chesed is love to one's neighbour, manifesting itself in righteousness, love which has its roots in the knowledge of God, and therefore is connected with "the knowledge of God" here as in Hos 4:1. For the thought itself, compare the remarks on the similar declaration made by the prophet Samuel in Sa1 15:22; and for parallels as to the fact, see Isa 1:11-17; Mic 6:8; Psa 40:7-9,…
In one of Hosea’s key verses, God names the most important qualities that should characterize the Israelites’ covenant lives with him. First, the Lord wants his people to show love more than he wants sacrifices. Love (Hebrew khesed) includes faithfulness (see 4:1; 6:4). God is always faithful (Ps 136), and he requires the same of his people. Second, the Lord wants Israel to know him more than he wants burnt offerings. Knowing God is much more than simply knowing facts about God (see “Knowing God” Theme Note). An intimate personal relationship with God is characterized by complete trust and integrity. Sacrifice still had a proper place in Israelite religion, but only when it was offered by a…
