Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Hosea 5:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse contrasts divine knowledge of Ephraim with Ephraim's unfaithfulness and Israel's defilement.
Read It With
- Hosea 5:1-7
Read Hosea 5:3 with 5:1-7. This verse contrasts divine knowledge of Ephraim with Ephraim's unfaithfulness and Israel's defilement. The complete unit establishes this movement: Religious, national, and royal leaders are charged with trapping people; entrenched unfaithfulness prevents return, pride testifies, Judah joins the fall, and sacrificial seeking cannot overcome divine withdrawal.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The summons concentrates responsibility in cultic and royal institutions, then shows why ritual search without changed conduct fails. Within that movement, this verse contrasts divine knowledge of Ephraim with Ephraim's unfaithfulness and Israel's defilement.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“Israel is not hid”
In plain language: the community's conduct remains known before God
contrasts divine knowledge of Ephraim with Ephraim's unfaithfulness and Israel's defilement. Conduct hidden from people is not hidden from God, while sexualized language remains metaphorical and risky.
Why it matters: The wording identifies this verse's distinct contribution to the complete unit.
How certain? strongWhat Remains True
Conduct hidden from people is not hidden from God, while sexualized language remains metaphorical and risky.
How It Can Shape Life
- Promote transparent review without subjecting people to sexual shame.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Hosea 5:1-7 — Priests, People, and Royal House Become a Snare and Cannot Find the LORDSources 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 5:1-7, 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, 5:1-7
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. 1681-1682, translation and notes on 5:1-7
Open source ↗