Hosea 4:10

‘And they will eat, and not have enough, they will play the harlot, and will not increase, because they have left off taking heed to YHWH.'

And part of their punishment will lie in the fact that when they eat they will not have enough, and when the women have relations with men they will produce no children, both factors which can result from bad conditions, or from cruel exile, whilst there are certain transferable sexual diseases which can result in infertility. And this will happen to them because they have ceased listening to, and taking notice of, YHWH. ‘Playing the harlot' may refer either to acting as cult prostitutes, or simply to behaving loosely as a result of becoming drunk at ritual feasts and sacrifices. Alternately it may simply indicate participating in the false worship of Baal instead of the true worship of YHWH. In the latter case the ‘increase' may then refer to their increase in wealth and fruitfulness.

Some would add the word ‘whoredom' from Hosea 4:11 to this verse on the grounds of rhythm (there are no verse divisions in the Hebrew text). Then we would read, ‘because they have left off taking heed to YHWH to indulge in whoredom'. But ‘whoredom' fits well into the threefold description in Hosea 4:11, whilst ‘the spirit of whoredom causing them to err' in Hosea 4:12 parallels the idea in Hosea 4:11 in terms of whoredom ‘taking away the understanding'. Thus we feel that it should be left where it is.