Hosea 2:8

8 And she knew not that I had given to her, The corn, and the new wine, and the oil. Yea, silver I did multiply to her, And the gold they prepared for Baal.

Hosea 2:8 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 2:8

For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil,
&c.] This is a reason, not of her resolution to return to her first husband, but to go after lovers, and of her ascribing these things to them, ( Hosea 2:5 ) , and why the Lord would behave towards her as he determined to do, ( Hosea 2:6 Hosea 2:7 ) , this ignorance was wilful and affected, and therefore blameable; she might have known, but she would not; she did not set her mind to know; she did not consider who gave her these things, nor behave as if she knew, as Jarchi: or she did not own and acknowledge God to be the author and giver of them, as she should have done; which was ingratitude rather than ignorance, and is a heinous sin, and to be resented; since all good things, temporal and spiritual, as daily bread, all the necessaries of life, signified by these things, so the word, and ordinances, and spiritual gifts, which they may be emblems of, come from God, and should be acknowledged; but the Jews, as in the times of Isaiah, did not know him, and acknowledge his benefits, ( Isaiah 1:2 Isaiah 1:3 ) , so, in the times of Christ, they did not know him to be the God of Israel, God over all, blessed for ever; from whom, and for whose sake, who was to be, and was born of them, they enjoyed the privileges they did, ( John 1:10 John 1:11 ) ( Romans 9:4 Romans 9:5 ) . And multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal;
the relative "which" may refer to all that goes before; and the sense be, that these gifts of God, and which should have been owned as such, and employed in his service, and to his glory; some were made use of in meat and drink offerings to Baal; and others in decking themselves to appear in his worship to his honour; or in ornamenting the idol therewith, or in making it thereof, so the Targum and Syriac version: and all this may be said to be done, when these things are spent in the service of other lords than the Lord himself; when they are abused to sinful purposes, and consumed on the lusts of men, to gratify their sensuality, pride, and vanity, which the Jews did.

Hosea 2:8 In-Context

6 Therefore, lo, I am hedging up thy way with thorns, And I have made for her a wall, And her paths she doth not find.
7 And she hath pursued her lovers, And she doth not overtake them, And hath sought them, and doth not find, And she hath said: I go, and I turn back unto My first husband, For -- better to me then than now.
8 And she knew not that I had given to her, The corn, and the new wine, and the oil. Yea, silver I did multiply to her, And the gold they prepared for Baal.
9 Therefore do I turn back, And I have taken My corn in its season, And My new wine in its appointed time, And I have taken away My wool and My flax, covering her nakedness.
10 And now do I reveal her dishonour before the eyes of her lovers, And none doth deliver her out of My hand.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.