Hosea 7:15
in Hosea 7Although I trained and strengthened their arms, they plot evil against Me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet do they devise mischief against me.
KJV
Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.
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This verse in Hosea 7
Commentary
8 notes on this verse"and I taught them a lesson. I strengthened their arms, and they thought evil against me." LXX: "they were instructed in me, and I strengthened their arms, and they thought evil against me." The Lord says, "I have taught them, I have provided strength, and they have raised their necks against me; not that they can do anything and harm their Creator, but what they could do, they thought evil against me." But those who do this depart from the Lord who taught them in the Church, and gave them the strength to fight their enemies.
This site's exposition
yet do they imagine mischief against me
on Hosea 7:15-16
The Lord had bound and strengthened Ephraim's arms himself, in mercy and in past deliverance, and the return on that strength is plotted mischief rather than gratitude. They return, but not to the most High turns the covenant word return into a bitter play on words, motion without direction, a bow that looks drawn true yet throws its arrow wide of the target. The chapter's last picture is national rather than private, princes falling by the sword for their own raging tongue, and derision waiting for them in the very Egypt they had once courted for safety.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
25, 26 ), had girded them with strength for battle. "Though I have chastened them" (so the margin reads it), "sometimes corrected them for their faults and thereby taught them, at other times strengthened their arms and relieved them, though I have used both fair means and foul to work upon them, it was all to no purpose; they were mercy-proof and judgment-proof." 2.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
Though I have bound and strengthened their arms,....
Sin is a mischievous thin; it is mischief against God, for it is treason against his crown and dignity; not that the sinners can do any thing to hurt their Creator (as one of the ancients observes on these words), but what they can they do; and it is so much the worse when it is not done by surprise, or through inadvertency, but designedly and with contrivance.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Though I have bound - Rather, (as in the E. M) “And I have chastened, I have strenghened their arms, and they imagine mischief against Me.” God had tried all ways with them, but it was all one. He chastened them in love, and in love He strengthened them; He brought the enemy upon them, (as aforetime in the days of the Judges,) and He gave them strength to repel the enemy; as He raised up judges of old, and lately had fulfilled His promise which He had made to Joash through Elisha. But it was all in vain.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
I . . . bound--when I saw their arms as it were relaxed with various disasters, I bound them so as to strengthen their sinews; image from surgery [CALVIN]. MAURER translates, "I instructed them" to war (Ps 18:34; 144:1), namely, under Jeroboam II (2Ki 14:25).
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Though I have bound and strengthened their arms - Whether I dealt with them in judgment or mercy, it was all one; in all circumstances they rebelled against me.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
therefore, they will wail on their beds Because, therefore, a wail will come to them. So did Jonathan render it.
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. 4 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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַאֲנִ֣י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יִסַּ֔רְתִּי | yisarti | I instructed [them] | H3256 → | 43 times |
| חִזַּ֖קְתִּי | chizakti | I strengthened | H2388 → | |
| זְרֽוֹעֹתָ֑ם | zerootam | arms their | H2220 → | |
| וְאֵלַ֖י | veelai | and against me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְחַשְּׁבוּ־ | yechashevu- | they plot | H2803 → | |
| רָֽע׃ | ra' | evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
וַאֲנִ֣יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
יִסַּ֔רְתִּיI instructed [them]
yisartiH3256 →43 times
חִזַּ֖קְתִּיI strengthened
chizaktiH2388 →
זְרֽוֹעֹתָ֑םarms their
zerootamH2220 →
וְאֵלַ֖יand against me
veelaiH413 →5510 times
יְחַשְּׁבוּ־they plot
yechashevu-H2803 →
רָֽע׃evil
ra'H7451 →662 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
Nahum 1:9Whatever you plot against the LORD, He will bring to an end. Affliction will not rise up a second time.
it leads to
- Psalms 21:11
Though they intend You harm, the schemes they devise will not prevail.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 21:30
There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- Psalms 21:11
Through
Job 5:17Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:11–12
My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 3:19
Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
- Psalms 94:12
Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, and teach from Your law,
- Proverbs 3:11–12
Through
Psalms 2:1Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
it leads to
- Acts 4:25–26
You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- Acts 4:25–26
Through
Acts 4:25You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
it leads to
- Psalms 2:1–6
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- Psalms 2:1–6
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 7:14-16; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.