Hosea 13:4

4 And I [am] Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, And a God besides Me thou dost not know, And a Saviour -- there is none save Me.

Hosea 13:4 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 13:4

Yet I [am] the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt
Which brought thee out from thence, as the Targum; and ever since, from that time to this, had shown a regard unto them, as the Lord their God, both in the wilderness, as later mentioned, and in the land of Canaan, where they had been continued, and followed with instances of goodness to that day, and yet find sinned in so gross a manner; which argued great ingratitude in them, and forgetfulness of the Lord, and his mercies: and thou shalt know no God but me;
they ought to have known, acknowledged, and worshipped no other god, as was enjoined them in the law: or, "thou knowest not" F2; they did not know any other, which they in their own consciences were obliged to confess, if appealed to; however, they should know no other; by sad experience they would find that there was no other that could be of any service to them; their images and idols being unable to help them: for [there is] no saviour besides me;
that could save them out of their troubles, and deliver them out of their distresses; no other that is, or can be, the author, either of temporal or of spiritual and eternal salvation.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 (edt al) "non novisti, [vel] cognovisti", Liveleus, Drusius, Rivet.

Hosea 13:4 In-Context

2 And now do they add to sin, And make to them a molten image of their silver, By their own understanding -- idols, A work of artizans -- all of it, Of them they say, who [are] sacrificers among men, `The calves let them kiss.'
3 Therefore they are as a cloud of the morning, And as dew, rising early, going away, As chaff tossed about out of a floor, And as smoke out of a window.
4 And I [am] Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, And a God besides Me thou dost not know, And a Saviour -- there is none save Me.
5 I -- I have known thee in a wilderness, In a land of droughts.
6 According to their feedings they are satiated, They have been satiated, And their heart is lifted up, Therefore they have forgotten Me,
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.