Original Word: נַבְלוּת
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: nabluwth
Pronunciation: nab-LOOTH
Phonetic Spelling: (nab-looth')
KJV: lewdness
NASB: lewdness
Word Origin: [from H5036 (נָבָל - fool)]

1. (properly) disgrace, i.e. the (female) pudenda

lewdness

From nabal; properly, disgrace, i.e. The (female) pudenda -- lewdness.

see HEBREW nabal

Word Origin
from nabal
Definition
immodesty, shamelessness
NASB Translation
lewdness (1).

נַבְלוּת noun feminine immodesty, shamelessness, lewdness of Israel under figure of adulteress Hosea 2:12

Meaning and Nuance

נַבְלוּת denotes moral baseness—shameless, senseless lewdness that springs from spiritual folly rather than mere intellectual error. The term carries the flavor of something decomposed or withered, underscoring conduct that has lost all vitality of covenant faithfulness.

Occurrence in Scripture

• Hosea 2:10: “And now I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from My hand”.

This solitary appearance concentrates the concept in a prophetic indictment of Israel’s spiritual adultery.

Historical Setting

Hosea ministered in the eighth century B.C. as the Northern Kingdom pursued Baal worship. By likening Israel to an unfaithful wife, the prophet shows how Canaanite fertility rites produced not life but נַבְלוּת—decay of character. The public exposure predicted in 2:10 anticipates the Assyrian invasion (722 B.C.), when secret idolatry became national humiliation.

Thematic Significance

1. Covenant Shame
• Israel’s sin is not merely contractual breach but a disgrace that must be unmasked (cf. Ezekiel 16:37). God’s uncovering fulfills the covenant clause that hidden iniquity would bring public judgment (Deuteronomy 28:37).

2. Folly That Corrupts
• The root נבל (“to be foolish, senseless”) links נַבְלוּת to Psalm 53:1, where the fool denies God. In Hosea the same inward folly matures into outward impurity. Sin’s irrationality inevitably expresses itself in debased acts.

3. Redemptive Exposure
• Uncovering precedes cleansing. Immediately after exposing נַבְלוּת, the Lord declares, “Therefore, behold, I am going to allure her” (Hosea 2:14). Divine discipline strips away false coverings so that true restoration can follow.

Relation to the Wider Old Testament

The verbal and adjectival forms of the same root describe:
• Nabal, the “worthless fellow” opposed by David (1 Samuel 25).
• “Vile person” who will no longer be called noble (Isaiah 32:5-6).

Together these passages present a consistent portrait: folly divorced from the fear of the LORD culminates in moral rot.

Foreshadowing and Fulfillment in the New Testament

New Testament writers expose comparable corruption:
• Romans 1:26-27 speaks of “vile passions.”
• Ephesians 5:11-12 urges believers to “expose the unfruitful works of darkness.”

Where Hosea’s unfaithful wife stood stripped before human lovers, Calvary’s Lamb “despised the shame” (Hebrews 12:2) so that repentant sinners might be clothed in righteousness (Revelation 19:8).

Practical and Ministry Applications

• Preaching: Hosea 2:10 warns congregations that private sin will be brought to light; gospel proclamation must not shy away from unveiling present-day נַבְלוּת.
• Pastoral Care: Exposure is not an end in itself. Shepherds guide the penitent from shame to covering in Christ, echoing Hosea’s pattern of judgment-and-grace.
• Personal Holiness: Believers guard against the creeping folly that hardens into lewdness by daily renewing their minds (Romans 12:2) and walking in the light (1 John 1:7).

Summary

נַבְלוּת encapsulates the shameful foolishness of covenant infidelity. Its lone appearance in Hosea crystallizes a principle that resounds through both Testaments: God unmasks sin to heal, exposes baseness to bestow beauty, and turns disgrace into restored devotion for all who return to Him.

נַבְלֻתָ֖הּ נבלתה naḇ·lu·ṯāh naḇluṯāh navluTahInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts