Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Hosea 4:11 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 11. 11Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse states that whoredom, wine, and new wine take away the heart.
Read It With
- Hosea 4:11-19
Read Hosea 4:11 with 4:11-19. This verse states that whoredom, wine, and new wine take away the heart. The complete unit establishes this movement: Israel seeks guidance from wood, sacrifices at attractive high places, practices sexual and cultic unfaithfulness, is told to keep Judah away, and becomes bound to idols and shame.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The unit shows how guidance, place, intoxication, sexuality, leadership, and worship reinforce one another and warns Judah against joining the pattern. Within that movement, this verse states that whoredom, wine, and new wine take away the heart.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“take away the heart”
In plain language: remove sound judgment and covenant attention
states that whoredom, wine, and new wine take away the heart. The proverb links sexualized unfaithfulness and intoxication with impaired judgment.
Why it matters: The wording identifies this verse's distinct contribution to the complete unit.
How certain? strongWhat Remains True
The proverb links sexualized unfaithfulness and intoxication with impaired judgment.
How It Can Shape Life
- Protect sober decision-making while avoiding shame toward people with addiction or sexual histories.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Hosea 4:11-19 — Divination, Hill Worship, and Sexual Double Standards Expose a Captive CultSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Hosea 4:11-19, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Hosea
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew, morphology, syntax, names, wordplay, repetitions, and the base text for translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Hos.xml, 4:11-19
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Hosea with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, textual, grammatical, historical, rhetorical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Hosea PDF, printed pp. 1680-1681, translation and notes on 4:11-19
Open source ↗