Hosea 7:2
in Hosea 7But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them; they are before My face.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now have their own doings beset them about; they are before my face.
KJV
And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face.
⋯
This verse in Hosea 7
Commentary
9 notes on this verse"And lest perhaps they should say in their hearts: all their wickedness (all wickedness Vulg.) I have remembered, they have encompassed me in the inventions of their own thoughts, before my face they are made." LXX: "That they may sing as it were a new song in their hearts, all their wickedness I have remembered." "Now their own devices have encompassed them about, they have been executed in my sight."
This site's exposition
When I would have healed Israel
on Hosea 7:1-3
The healer is refused before he can finish his work: when the Lord would have healed Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim only came into fuller view, a thief working within the walls and a troop of robbers ranging outside them. Verse two turns from the public crimes to the hidden ledger, they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness, their own doings surrounding them and standing before God's face whether they notice or not. Even the throne is implicated, princes made glad with lies rather than warned by truth, so no rank in the nation stands outside the corruption the prophet is describing.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 11:15 · Written before 253.
proposed
Therefore each one must keep his heart with all watchfulness, for when the Lord comes in the day of judgment, "He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts," "all the thoughts of men meanwhile accusing or else excusing them," "when their own devices have beset them about." But of such a nature are the evil thoughts that sometimes they make worthy of censure even those things which seem good and which, so far as the popular judgment is concerned, are indeed worthy of praise.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
This is the sinner's atheism; as good say that there is no God as say that he is either ignorant or forgetful, that there is none that judges in the earth as that he remembers not the things he is to give judgment upon.
Own doings - The guilt and punishment of the works they have done; their own doings, not their fathers, as the incorrigible are ready to complain. Beset them - As an enemy invests a town on every side.
And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness,....
When they began to prosper they grew more proud, wanton, and secure, and so stopped the progress of their cure. Note, It is sin that turns away good things from us when they are coming towards us; and it is the folly and ruin of multitudes that, when God would do well for them, they do ill for themselves.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They consider not in their hearts - They do not consider that my eye is upon all their ways; they do not think that I record all their wickedness; and they know not their own evil doings are as a host of enemies encompassing them about.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And they consider not in their hearts - Literally, (as in the E. M) “they say not to their hearts.” The conscience is God’s voice to the heart from within; man’s knowledge of the law of God, and his memory of it, is man’s voice, reminding his heart and rebellious affections to abide in their obedience to God. God speaks through the heart, when by His secret inspirations he recalls it to its duty. Man speaks to his own heart, when he checks its sinful or passionate impulses by the rule of God’s law, “Thou shalt not.” “At first, people feel the deformity of certain sorts of wickedness. When accustomed to them, people think that God is indifferent to what no longer shocks themselves.” “They say not to their heart” anymore, that “God remembers them.” I remember all their wickedness - This was the root of “all their wickedness,” want of thought. They would not stop to say to themselves, that God not only saw, but “remembered their wickedness,” and not only this, but that He remembered it all. Many will acknowledge that God sees them. He sees all things, and so them also. This is a part of His natural attribute of omniscience. It costs them nothing to own it. But what God “remembers, that” He will repay. This belongs to God’s attributes, as the moral Governor of the world; and this, man would gladly forget. But in vain. God does “remember,” and remembers in order to punish. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
When I would heal Israel When I wish to save them and heal them, their iniquities are revealed before Me, for they constantly commit falsehood, and thieves come constantly from them and steal their neighbors’ property, and also their bands spread out with lawlessness, to rob the people.
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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבַל־ | uval- | and not | H1077 → | |
| יֹֽאמְרוּ֙ | yomeru | they say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לִלְבָבָ֔ם | lilvavam | to heart their | H3824 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| רָעָתָ֖ם | raatam | evil their | H7451 → | 662 times |
| זָכָ֑רְתִּי | zakhareti | I remember | H2142 → | 230 times |
| עַתָּה֙ | ʾatah | now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| סְבָב֣וּם | sevavum | they have surrounded them | H5437 → | |
| מַֽעַלְלֵיהֶ֔ם | maaleihem | deeds their | H4611 → | 41 times |
| נֶ֥גֶד | neged | before | H5048 → | |
| פָּנַ֖י | panai | face my | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הָיֽוּ׃ | hayu | they are | H1961 → | 3559 times |
וּבַל־and not
uval-H1077 →
יֹֽאמְרוּ֙they say
yomeruH559 →5305 times
לִלְבָבָ֔םto heart their
lilvavamH3824 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
רָעָתָ֖םevil their
raatamH7451 →662 times
זָכָ֑רְתִּיI remember
zakharetiH2142 →230 times
עַתָּה֙now
ʾatahH6258 →433 times
סְבָב֣וּםthey have surrounded them
sevavumH5437 →
מַֽעַלְלֵיהֶ֔םdeeds their
maaleihemH4611 →41 times
נֶ֥גֶדbefore
negedH5048 →
פָּנַ֖יface my
panaiH6440 →2123 times
הָיֽוּ׃they are
hayuH1961 →3559 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
Luke 12:2There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 4:22
For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.
- Luke 8:17
For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light.
- 2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
- Matthew 10:26–33
So do not be afraid of them. For there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
Through
Amos 8:7The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds.
it leads to
- Hosea 9:9
They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 9:9
Through
Psalms 90:8You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 16:17
For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.
- Jeremiah 16:17
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; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 7:2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 11:15.