Hosea 2:9
in Hosea 2Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore will I take back my grain in the time thereof, and my new wine in the season thereof, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.
KJV
Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
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This verse in Hosea 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verse"Therefore, I will return and take my grain in its time, and my wine in its time, and I will free my wool, and my flax, which covered her disgrace." LXX: "Therefore I will return and take my wheat in its time, and my wine in its time, and I will take away my garments, and my coverings, not to cover her nakedness." A heavier punishment is when, in the time of harvest and the expected vintage, the crops are taken and the wine, and in a sense the tried ones are taken from the hands.
This site's exposition
For she did not know that I gave her corn
on Hosea 2:8-9
The verdict against her is stated as ignorance of the true giver, she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal, crediting the wrong god with the Lord's own provision. Because the gifts were misattributed the Lord will recover them, take away my corn in the time thereof, language of ownership the commentators note undercuts any claim Baal's worshippers made to the harvest as reward for their devotion. The withdrawal of provision is framed as reclaiming what was always his rather than as a new act of cruelty.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"And if [the adulterous spirit] comes and finds the house vacant, clean, and furnished, it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself and enters that house and lives in it. And the last of that man is worse than the first." If we give attention to these words, how can we give place to carelessness even in a small matter? For the unclean spirit dwelled in us before we believed, before we came to Christ when our soul, as I said previously, was still committing fornication against God and was with its lovers, the demons. But afterward it said, "I will return to my first husband," and it came to Christ who "created" it from the beginning "in his image." Necessarily the adulterous spirit yielded when it saw the legitimate husband. We therefore have been received by Christ, and our house has been "cleansed" from its former sins and has been "furnished" with the furnishing of the sacraments of the faithful which they who have been initiated know. But this house does not deserve to have Christ as its resident immediately unless its life and conduct are so holy, so pure and incapable of being defiled that it deserves to be called the "temple of God."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Their land was plenteous. How graciously their plenty was given to them. God gave them not only corn for necessity, but wine for delight, and oil for ornament.
Therefore will I return, and take away,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Therefore I will return - God is, as it were, absent from men, when He lets them go on in their abuse of His gifts. “His judgments are far above out of their sight.” He returns to them, and His presence is felt in chastisements, as it might have been in mercies. He is not out of sight or out of mind, then. Others render it, “I will turn, i. e.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
"Return, and take away," is equivalent to, "I will take back again," namely, by sending storms, locusts, Assyrian enemies, &c. "Therefore," that is, because she did not acknowledge Me as the Giver. in the time thereof--in the harvest-time.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2252: “The Unknown Giver and the Misused Gifts” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IN reading any of the records concerning the people of Israel and the people of Judah, one stands amazed at two things, and scarcely knows which to wonder at the most. The first thing which causes astonishment is the great sin of the people. And the next thing, which is even more marvelous, is the great patience of God. I scarcely know which of the two things causes me greater surprise—that men should be so guilty, or that God should be so gracious!
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2252: “The Unknown Giver and the Misused Gifts” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IN reading any of the records concerning the people of Israel and the people of Judah, one stands amazed at two things, and scarcely knows which to wonder at the most. The first thing which causes astonishment is the great sin of the people. And the next thing, which is even more marvelous, is the great patience of God. I scarcely know which of the two things causes me greater surprise—that men should be so guilty, or that God should be so gracious! On every page of Israel's history, the kindness and forbearance of Jehovah are manifested towards the people whom He had betrothed unto Himself. Even in the midst of their backsliding and idolatry, He did not forget the Covenant which He had made with their fathers. Yet, in spite of all this goodness, the people sinned times without number and grieved His Spirit again and again! Instead of being led to repentance, they sinned yet more and more! Their iniquity and the forbearance of God stand like two mountain summits of the history of the chosen yet wayward people. Let us transfer these thoughts to ourselves and see if we can, with any justice, cast a stone at the people who, in spite of such love, went so far astray. Alas, we are condemned by the comparison! We are nothing better than they were! Our case is, perhaps, fuller of contradictions and inconsistencies, if that is possible.
Therefore will I return, and take away - In the course of my providence, I will withhold those benefits which she has prostituted to her idolatrous services. And I will neither give the land rain, nor fruitful seasons.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
But she did not know She did not lay it to her heart, but showed herself as unknowing.
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. 5 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֣ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אָשׁ֔וּב | ʾashuv | I will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וְלָקַחְתִּ֤י | velakachti | and I will take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| דְגָנִי֙ | degani | grain my | H1715 → | 40 times |
| בְּעִתּ֔וֹ | beito | at appropriate time its | H6256 → | 296 times |
| וְתִירוֹשִׁ֖י | vetiroshi | and new wine my | H8492 → | 38 times |
| בְּמֽוֹעֲד֑וֹ | bemoado | at appointed time its | H4150 → | 223 times |
| וְהִצַּלְתִּי֙ | vehitzalti | and I will take away | H5337 → | 212 times |
| צַמְרִ֣י | tzamri | wool my | H6785 → | |
| וּפִשְׁתִּ֔י | ufishti | and flax my | H6593 → | |
| לְכַסּ֖וֹת | lekhasot | to cover | H3680 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֶרְוָתָֽהּ׃ | ʾervatah | nakedness her | H6172 → |
לָכֵ֣ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
אָשׁ֔וּבI will return
ʾashuvH7725 →1056 times
וְלָקַחְתִּ֤יand I will take
velakachtiH3947 →966 times
דְגָנִי֙grain my
deganiH1715 →40 times
בְּעִתּ֔וֹat appropriate time its
beitoH6256 →296 times
וְתִירוֹשִׁ֖יand new wine my
vetiroshiH8492 →38 times
בְּמֽוֹעֲד֑וֹat appointed time its
bemoadoH4150 →223 times
וְהִצַּלְתִּי֙and I will take away
vehitzaltiH5337 →212 times
צַמְרִ֣יwool my
tzamriH6785 →
וּפִשְׁתִּ֔יand flax my
ufishtiH6593 →
לְכַסּ֖וֹתto cover
lekhasotH3680 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֶרְוָתָֽהּ׃nakedness her
ʾervatahH6172 →
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
Malachi 3:18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
it leads to
- Matthew 25:46
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- Genesis 18:25
Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the…
- Psalms 58:10–11
The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
- Joshua 24:15
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…
- Malachi 3:14–15
You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
- Matthew 25:46
Through
Hosea 2:3Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and turn her into a parched land, and I will let her…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 13:22
And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 16:22
And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.
- Jeremiah 13:22
Through
Malachi 1:4Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 25:14
I will take My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, and they will deal with Edom according to My anger and wrath. Then they will know My vengeance, declares the…
- Ezekiel 25:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Hosea
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2252: “The Unknown Giver and the Misused Gifts” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 2:9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EXODUS 8:4.