Hosea 13:5

5 I took care of you in a dry, desert land. ¹

Hosea 13:5 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 13:5

I did know thee in the wilderness
Where there were no food nor drink, where were scorpions, serpents, and beasts of prey; there the Lord knew them, owned them, and showed a fatherly affection for them, and care of them; and fed them with manna and quails, and guided and directed them in the way, and protected and preserved them from their enemies, and from all hurt and danger. So the Targum explains it,

``I sufficiently supplied their necessities in the wilderness:''

in the land of great drought;
or, "of droughts" ^F3; the word is only used in this place; and is by Aben Ezra interpreted a dry and thirsty land; and so he says it signifies in the Arabic language and the same is observed by the father of Kimchi, and by R. Jonah ^F4; but is by some rendered "torrid" ^F5, or "inflamed", as if it had the signification of a Hebrew word which signifies a flame: and the Targum takes it to be akin to another, which signifies to "desire", rendering it,

``in a land in which thou desirest everything;''

that is, wants everything. The first seems best, and is a fit a description of the wilderness, which was a place of drought, wherein was no water, ( Deuteronomy 8:15 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (tbwalt Urab) "an terra siccitatum", Vatablus, Drusius, Schmidt.
F4 Apud R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed. fol. 35. 1.
F5 "In terra torridonum locorum", Montanus; "torridissima", Junius & Tremellius, Heb. "infammationum", Piscator.

Hosea 13:5 In-Context

3 And so these people will disappear like morning mist, like the dew that vanishes early in the day. They will be like chaff which the wind blows from the threshing place, like smoke from a chimney.

4 The Lord says, "I am the Lord your God, who led you out of Egypt. You have no God but me. I alone am your savior.

5 I took care of you in a dry, desert land.

6 But when you entered the good land, you became full and satisfied, and then you grew proud and forgot me.

7 So I will attack you like a lion. Like a leopard I will lie in wait along your path.

Cross References

• 1. 13.5, 6Deuteronomy 8.11-17.