Hosea 2:21
in Hosea 2“On that day I will respond—” declares the LORD—“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will answer, saith Jehovah, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth;
KJV
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
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This verse in Hosea 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I will hear the heavens ... - As all nature is closed, and would refuse her office to those who rebel against her God, so, when He hath withdrawn His curse and is reconciled to man all shall combine together for man’s good, and, by a kind of harmony, all parts thereof join their ministries for the service of those who are at unity with Him. And, as an image of love, all, from lowest to highest, are bound together, each depending on the ministry of that beyond it, and the highest on God.
This site's exposition
I will hear, saith the Lord
on Hosea 2:21-22
The chain of hearing runs from heaven down to the ground, the Lord hearing the heavens, the heavens hearing the earth, the earth hearing the corn, wine, and oil, and these hearing Jezreel, a cosmic order of intercession restoring exactly the provision withheld in verses 8 and 9. The commentators note the reversal is total, what was taken away as judgment, corn, wine, oil, is given back through a picture of creation itself interceding for the child whose name once meant scattered and now receives the increase his name always literally carried. Jezreel, God sows, is heard by the very things it will need to grow.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"And it shall come to pass in that day: I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth. And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezrael. And I will sow her unto me in the earth, and I will have mercy on her that was without mercy. And I will say to that which was not my people: Thou art my people: and they shall say: Thou art my God."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In that day - In the day of gospel-grace. I will hear - God the first and universal cause will influence the heavens, he will command their dew, and showers.
The Sinfulness of Israel. 1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah. 2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
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And it shall come to pass in that day,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
in that day--of grace to Israel. heavens . . . hear the earth--personification. However many be the intermediate instruments, God is the Great First Cause of all nature's phenomena.
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1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I will hear, saith the Lord - The sentence is repeated, to show how fully the thing was determined by the Almighty, and how implicitly they might depend on the Divine promise. I will hear the heavens - The visible heavens, the atmosphere, where vapours are collected. The clouds, when they wish to deposit their fertilizing showers upon the earth. They shall hear the earth - When it seems to supplicate for rain.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֣ה׀ | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בַּיּ֣וֹם | baiyom | in the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַה֗וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| אֶֽעֱנֶה֙ | ʾeeneh | I will answer | H6030 → | 331 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶעֱנֶ֖ה | ʾeeneh | I will answer | H6030 → | 331 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְהֵ֖ם | vehem | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| יַעֲנ֥וּ | yaanu | they will answer | H6030 → | 331 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
וְהָיָ֣ה׀and it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
בַּיּ֣וֹםin the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַה֗וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
אֶֽעֱנֶה֙I will answer
ʾeenehH6030 →331 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶעֱנֶ֖הI will answer
ʾeenehH6030 →331 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַשָּׁמָ֑יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְהֵ֖םand they
vehemH1992 →553 times
יַעֲנ֥וּthey will answer
yaanuH6030 →331 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the earth
haaretzH776 →2504 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
Matthew 6:33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
it leads to
- Luke 12:31
But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added unto you.
- Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
- John 6:27
Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of…
- Psalms 34:9–10
Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
- Psalms 84:11–12
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- Luke 12:31
Through
Romans 8:32He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
it leads to
- John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- Romans 8:28
And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- John 3:16
Through
Isaiah 65:24Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
it leads to
- Daniel 10:12
“Do not be afraid, Daniel,” he said, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response…
- Daniel 10:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Hosea
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 2:20-23; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.