Hosea 8:7

7 “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.

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Hosea 8:7 in Other Translations

KJV

7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

ESV

7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.

NLT

7 “They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind. The stalks of grain wither and produce nothing to eat. And even if there is any grain, foreigners will eat it.

MSG

7 Look at them! Planting wind-seeds, they'll harvest tornadoes. Wheat with no head produces no flour. And even if it did, strangers would gulp it down.

CSB

7 Indeed, they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if they did, foreigners would swallow it up.

Hosea 8:7 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 8:7

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind,
&c.] The sense is, the Israelites took a great deal of pains in the idolatrous worship of the calves, and made a great stir, bustle, and noise in it, like the wind; were very vainglorious and ostentatious, made a great show of religion and devotion, and promised themselves great things from it, peace and plenty, wealth and riches, all prosperity and happiness, enjoyed by Heathen nations; but this was lost labour, it was labouring for the wind, or sowing that; they got nothing by it, or what was worse than nothing; it proved not only useless, but hurtful, to them; for, for their idolatry, and continuance in it, the whirlwind of God's wrath would be raised up against them, and the Assyrian army, like a vehement storm of wind, would rush in upon them, and destroy them; so they that sow to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption, ( Galatians 6:8 ) ; it hath no stalk;
what they sowed did not rise up above ground; or, if it did, it did not spring up in a blade or stalk, which was promising of fruit; no real good, profit, and advantage, sprung from their idolatrous practices: the bud shall yield no meal;
yea, though it rise up into a stalk, and this stalk produced ears of corn, yet those so thin, that no meal or flour could be got out of them, and so of no worth and use: and if so be it yield:
any meal or flour: the strangers shall swallow it up;
the Israelites should not be the better for it; it should till come into the hands of foreigners, the Assyrian army. The meaning is, that if they did prosper and increase in riches, yet they should not long enjoy them themselves, but be pillaged and spoiled of them; as they were by the exactions of Pul, and by the depredations of Shalmaneser, kings of Assyria. So the Targum,

``if they got substance, the nations shall spoil them of it.''

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Hosea 8:7 In-Context

5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity?

6 They are from Israel! This calf—a metalworker has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria.

7 “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.

8 Israel is swallowed up; now she is among the nations like something no one wants.

9 For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.

Cross References 3

1. S Job 4:8; Proverbs 22:8; Isaiah 66:15; Hosea 10:12-13; Nahum 1:3; Galatians 6:8
2. S Deuteronomy 28:38; S Isaiah 17:11; Hosea 9:16
3. Hosea 2:9; S Hosea 7:9