Hosea 14:6
in Hosea 14His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
KJV
His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
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This verse in Hosea 14
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHis branches shall spread,.... As the well rooted cedars in Lebanon; see Num 24:6. This respects the propagation of the church of God, and the interest of Christ in the world, as in the first times of the Gospel, and will be in the latter day; when the Gospel shall be spread everywhere; churches set up in all places; the Jews converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; and these like spreading branches, and fruitful boughs, abounding in grace and good works.
This site's exposition
heal their backsliding
on Hosea 14:4-7
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for mine anger is turned away from him, answers the appeal without one condition attached, the healing offered before any repayment is named. The dew, the lily, the roots of Lebanon, the spreading olive tree, and the corn and vine of verse 7 gather nearly every image of quiet, unforced growth the Hebrew Bible owns into four verses, a deliberate reversal of the drought and blight of chapter 13. Pusey reads the return of the Lebanon fragrance in verse 7 as answering the withered fountain of 13:15 point for point, judgment's picture undone by grace's.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
His branches - His branches which are new sprung out, shall gather strength, and shall multiply in number. The olive-tree - Which retains its verdure all the winter and is rich in fruit; so the true Israel of God shall flourish not in fruitless beauty, but in lovely fruit, even in winter's of affliction and trouble.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The lily depicts its lovely growth; but as it wants duration and firmness, the deeply rooted cedars of Lebanon are added; these, however, are fruitless, therefore the fruitful, peace-bearing, fragrant, ever green olive is added. smell as Lebanon--which exhaled from it the fragrance of odoriferous trees and flowers.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3176: “The Beauty Of The Olive Tree” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
[This Sermon was one of several preached by Mr. Spurgeon after various visits to the Riviera. He had intended to prepare a volume upon the olive, but illness and the pressure of other work prevented. He had revised nearly half of the manuscript of this discourse and the revision of the remainder has followed as closely as possible the lines laid down by him.] OUR present objective will be to bring out the resemblance in point of beauty between the godly man and the olive tree.
N READING THIS PASSAGE, does it ever fail to charm you? How full of beauty, and how full of poetry it is! Every word is a figure. Fair flowers that adorn, and corn that enricheth the fields; the olive tree, and the vine; the scent of the wine of Lebanon, and all rich things are here gathered and clustered together, to set forth the beauty of Israel under the reviving influences of God's favor. And as this one portion of Sacred Writ is full of poetry, the like holds good of all the Word Of God. There is no book so poetic in its character as the Book of Inspiration. We had rather for poetry's sake, lose all the books that have ever been written by all the poets that ever lived, than lose the sacred Scriptures; yea, if a collection could be made of all the gems of all the noted books; could they all be bound into one volume, there could not be found so many beauties as lie here, some of them hidden, and others of them manifest, in this most blessed volume of Revelation. Altogether apart from the sublimity of the matters treated, and the glory of the doctrines, the style itself is enough to make the book precious to every reader. It is a wondrous book; it is the book of God: yea, as Herbert says, "The god of books." It is a book full of stars; every page blazes with light, from almost every sentence there beams forth some beautiful metaphor, some glorious figure. In expounding the words of the text, we shall observe, first, the promise of grace made to Israel, notwithstanding, Israel's sin: "I will be as the dew unto Israel." Secondly, the influences of divine grace sweetly set forth in divers metaphors; and thirdly, the effect of divine grace upon those around: "they that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." I.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3176: “The Beauty Of The Olive Tree” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
[This Sermon was one of several preached by Mr. Spurgeon after various visits to the Riviera. He had intended to prepare a volume upon the olive, but illness and the pressure of other work prevented. He had revised nearly half of the manuscript of this discourse and the revision of the remainder has followed as closely as possible the lines laid down by him.] OUR present objective will be to bring out the resemblance in point of beauty between the godly man and the olive tree. But please note that the parallel does not hold good of all who profess and call themselves Christians—it is only true of those whose backsliding has been healed—to whom the Lord has been as a refreshing dew. It is the Believer in a healthy, growing and useful condition whose beauty is "as the olive tree." Things of beauty were evidently intended to be gazed upon. God created beauty on purpose that it might enchain our eyes, rivet our attention and command our thoughts. Whether it is the beauty of a tree or the beauty of a man, it was meant to be a joy forever, but this it cannot be if it is left unnoticed. Beautiful objects are intended to be thought upon and spoken of—and we shall not be doing ill if we now consider and commend a Christian. We shall be doing no dishonor to the Master if we admire the disciple, if we confess, at the very outset, that our whole intent is not to magnify Believers, but to glorify God in them.
N READING THIS PASSAGE, does it ever fail to charm you? How full of beauty, and how full of poetry it is! Every word is a figure. Fair flowers that adorn, and corn that enricheth the fields; the olive tree, and the vine; the scent of the wine of Lebanon, and all rich things are here gathered and clustered together, to set forth the beauty of Israel under the reviving influences of God's favor. And as this one portion of Sacred Writ is full of poetry, the like holds good of all the Word Of God.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I will remedy their backsliding Said the prophet: So has the Holy Spirit said to me. After they say this before Me, I will remedy their backsliding, and I will love them with My charitable spirit.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יֵֽלְכוּ֙ | yelekhu | they will go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| יֹֽנְקוֹתָ֔יו | yonekotav | young shoots its | H3127 → | |
| וִיהִ֥י | vihi | and it may be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כַזַּ֖יִת | khazayit | like <the> olive tree | H2132 → | |
| הוֹד֑וֹ | hodo | splendor its | H1935 → | |
| וְרֵ֥יחַֽ | vereiach | and fragrance | H7381 → | |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | of it | ||
| כַּלְּבָנֽוֹן׃ | kalevanon | like <the> Lebanon | H3844 → | 71 times |
יֵֽלְכוּ֙they will go
yelekhuH1980 →1546 times
יֹֽנְקוֹתָ֔יוyoung shoots its
yonekotavH3127 →
וִיהִ֥יand it may be
vihiH1961 →3559 times
כַזַּ֖יִתlike <the> olive tree
khazayitH2132 →
הוֹד֑וֹsplendor its
hodoH1935 →
וְרֵ֥יחַֽand fragrance
vereiachH7381 →
ל֖וֹof it
lo
כַּלְּבָנֽוֹן׃like <the> Lebanon
kalevanonH3844 →71 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 15:1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:21
I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?
- Isaiah 27:2–3
In that day: “Sing about a fruitful vineyard.
- 1 Corinthians 3:9
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
- Isaiah 60:21
Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.
- Psalms 80:8–19
You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.
- Jeremiah 2:21
Through
Psalms 52:8But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.
it leads to
- Psalms 92:12–14
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- Hosea 14:6–8
His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
- Psalms 1:3
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
- Psalms 92:12–14
About Hosea
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3176: “The Beauty Of The Olive Tree” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 342: “Grace Reviving Israel” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 14:5-9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.