Hosea 13:4

4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt; therefore thou shalt know no God other than me, nor any other saviour but 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 they sin more and more, and of their silver they have made molten images according to their own intelligence, idols, all of it the work of the craftsmen; they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
3 Therefore they shall be as the morning mist and as the early dew that passes away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt; therefore thou shalt know no God other than me, nor any other saviour but me.
5 I knew thee in the wilderness, in the dry land.
6 In their pastures, they filled themselves; they were satisfied, and their heart was exalted; for this reason they have forgotten me.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010