Hosea 7:16
in Hosea 7They turn, but not to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue; for this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They return, but not to him that is on high; they are like a deceitful bow; their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
KJV
They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
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This verse in Hosea 7
Commentary
9 notes on this verse"They turned back, so as to be without a yoke: they became as a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword, by the rage of their tongue: this their derision in the land of Egypt." LXX: "they were turned into nothing, they became like a tense bow, their rulers shall fall by the sword because of their lack of understanding; this is their derision in the land of Egypt."
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 Awakening4 voices
Such were their essays towards repentance and reformation. (2.) The sin of the princes of Israel. That which is charged upon them is the rage of their tongue, quarrelling with God and his providence and with all about them when they are crossed.
6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire. 7 They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Not to the most high - What shew soever of repentance was among them, yet they never throughly repented. A deceitful bow - Tho' they seemed bent for, and aiming at the mark, yet like a weak bow they carried not the arrow home, and like a false bow they never carried it strait toward the mark.
They return, but not to the most High,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They return, but not to the Most High - They go to their idols. They are like a deceitful bow - Which, when it is reflexed, in order to be strung, suddenly springs back into its quiescent curve; for the eastern bows stand in their quiescent state in a curve; and in order to be strung must be beaded back in the opposite direction.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
return, but not to the Most High--or, "to one who is not the Most High," one very different from Him, a stock or a stone. So the Septuagint. deceitful bow-- (Ps 78:57).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They return, but not to the most High - God exhorts by Jeremiah, “If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto Me” Jer 4:1. They changed, whenever they did change, with a feigned, hypocritical conversion, but not to God, nor acknowledging His Majesty. Man, until truly converted, turns to and fro, unstably, hither and thither, changing from one evil to another, from the sins of youth to the sins of age, from the sins of prosperity to the sin of adversity; but he remains himself unchanged. He “turns, not to the most High.” The prophet says this in three, as it were, broken words, “They turn, not most High.” The hearer readily filled up the broken sentence, which fell, drop by drop, from the prophet’s choked heart. They are like a deceitful bow - Which, “howsoever the archer directs it, will not carry the arrow right home to the mark,” but to other objects clean contrary to his will. : “God had, as it were, bent Israel, as His own bow, against the tyranny of the devil and the deceit of idolatry. For Israel alone in the whole world cast aside the worship of idols, and was attached to the true and natural Lord of all things. But they turned themselves to the contrary. For, being bound to this, they fought against God for the glory of idols. They became then as a warped bow, shooting their arrows contrariwise.” In like way doth every sinner act, using against God, in the service of Satan, God’s gifts of nature or of outward means, talents, or wealth, or strength, or beauty, or power of speech. God gave all for His own glory; and man turns all aside to do honor and service to Satan. Their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue - The word, rendered “rage,” is everywhere else used of the wrath of God; here, of the “wrath” and “foaming” of man against God. […]
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָשׁ֣וּבוּ׀ | yashuvu | they turn | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עָ֗ל | ʾal | height | H5920 → | |
| הָיוּ֙ | hayu | they have become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כְּקֶ֣שֶׁת | kekeshet | like a bow of | H7198 → | 76 times |
| רְמִיָּ֔ה | remiyah | slackness | H7423 → | |
| יִפְּל֥וּ | yipelu | they will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| בַחֶ֛רֶב | vacherev | by the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| שָׂרֵיהֶ֖ם | sareihem | leaders their | H8269 → | 421 times |
| מִזַּ֣עַם | mizaam | from [the] indignation of | H2195 → | |
| לְשׁוֹנָ֑ם | leshonam | tongue their | H3956 → | |
| ז֥וֹ | zo | this | H2097 → | |
| לַעְגָּ֖ם | la'gam | [will be] mockery their | H3933 → | |
| בְּאֶ֥רֶץ | beeretz | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִצְרָֽיִם׃ | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
יָשׁ֣וּבוּ׀they turn
yashuvuH7725 →1056 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
עָ֗לheight
ʾalH5920 →
הָיוּ֙they have become
hayuH1961 →3559 times
כְּקֶ֣שֶׁתlike a bow of
kekeshetH7198 →76 times
רְמִיָּ֔הslackness
remiyahH7423 →
יִפְּל֥וּthey will fall
yipeluH5307 →435 times
בַחֶ֛רֶבby the sword
vacherevH2719 →413 times
שָׂרֵיהֶ֖םleaders their
sareihemH8269 →421 times
מִזַּ֣עַםfrom [the] indignation of
mizaamH2195 →
לְשׁוֹנָ֑םtongue their
leshonamH3956 →
ז֥וֹthis
zoH2097 →
לַעְגָּ֖ם[will be] mockery their
la'gamH3933 →
בְּאֶ֥רֶץin [the] land of
beeretzH776 →2504 times
מִצְרָֽיִם׃Egypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 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
Psalms 12:4They say, “With our tongues we will prevail. We own our lips—who can be our master?”
it leads to
- Exodus 5:2
But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 3:5–6
In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:4
He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
- Exodus 5:2
Through
Hosea 9:3They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 4:13
Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”
- Hosea 8:13
Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to…
- Leviticus 25:23
The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
- Jeremiah 2:7
I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land, and made My inheritance detestable.
- Ezekiel 4:13
Through
Psalms 73:9They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut across the earth.
it leads to
- Revelation 13:6
And the beast opened its mouth to speak blasphemies against God and to slander His name and His tabernacle—those who dwell in heaven.
- Revelation 13:6
About Hosea
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.